Chapter 37

For a moment, Shen Ye thought it was Master Han himself who had arrived. Otherwise, how could the third move of the Four Sacred Swords appear right before him just as he thought of it?

But he quickly realized something was off.

This sword’s intent was completely different from Master Han’s.

If Master Han’s sword was a mighty mountain, then the sword before him was the sharp and steep peak of that mountain!

The snake’s head was sliced by the sword intent, its mouth and nose shattered, and the poisonous fangs cracked by the sword wind. The giant snake let out a strange screech and tried to retreat as it had before—

Shen Ye, having narrowly escaped death, was still in shock, looking up in the same posture.

He saw the familiar Kunwu robes descending from the sky, blue and sword lights cutting through the sky together, and several sword lights slashing down simultaneously!

“Seven inches! Where are you going to chop it off? Aim for the seven-inch mark!”

“How the hell do I know how long this snake is? Where is the seven-inch mark?”

“Never mind, just chop first! With so many of us, at least one of us will hit the right spot!”

Voices shouted from all directions.

Shen Ye watched in a daze as numerous Kunwu disciples, wielding their swords, blocked the snake’s path and hacked at it indiscriminately!

More disciples from the Xuecan Peak charged in.

Gao Xiude, though unaccustomed to such bloodshed, was a medicine cultivator after all. His face paled, but his hands remained steady as he swiftly bandaged Zheng Chengxu’s wound to staunch the bleeding.

He even had time to say, “Senior Brother Shen, while the Jinyu Fracture Mending Powder is effective, using so much of it is really unnecessary! This medicine is expensive; we can’t afford to be so wasteful!”

He then pinched Ning Shuangsi’s nose and mouth, infused spiritual energy into him, and after checking his condition, exclaimed joyfully, “Junior Brother Ning is still alive! Someone who knows the Qingguang Technique, come help me heal him!”

“Coming!” Someone immediately rushed over. Under Gao Xiude’s guidance, they first fed Ning Shuangsi a pill and then jointly performed the Qingguang Technique on him.

As the spiritual energy circulated repeatedly, Ning Shuangsi’s pale face gradually regained some color, and his eyelashes fluttered, indicating that although he couldn’t wake up immediately, his life was no longer in danger.

Shen Ye watched the busy and familiar or unfamiliar faces around him, with a girl hovering on her sword looking in his direction. Though she saw his disheveled state, she seemed undecided, raising her voice with a smile, “Senior Brother Shen, can you still wield your sword?”

Behind her, Yu Si slashed his sword, cutting the snake’s body in half!

Shen Ye took a deep breath, his heart pounding. He closed his eyes slightly, feeling the stifling air in his chest suddenly dissipate. Ignoring the scattered medicine bottles, he gripped his sword again.

The young man stood up swiftly.

“Who just used the Four Sacred Swords? Watch how I wield my sword!” Shen Ye laughed heartily, raising his sword and charging forward. With his Kunwu comrades behind him and friends fighting beside him, what did Shen Ye have to fear?

His sword moved like a dragon.

With so many people attacking the snake demon, Yu Xizhi quietly took a few steps back. She had blocked the snake demon’s fierce and violent first strike, which had consumed a lot of her energy.

Although she had just shouted encouragement to Shen Ye, it was to boost his morale. She turned and found a secluded spot, coughed softly a few times to suppress the rising metallic taste in her throat, and took a pill, which made her complexion improve.

The little Xie Junzhi, who had been silently perched on her shoulder, blinked his eyes.

“Did you forget that you just broke through yourself?”

Yu Xizhi almost forgot about the little figure on her shoulder. The voice was so close, and it was Xie Junzhi’s voice… No, to be precise, it was a slightly more childish version of Xie Junzhi’s voice. She was startled, turned her head, and saw that the small figure looked serious, with dark eyes exactly like Xie Junzhi’s.

If this had been Xie Junzhi himself, he would have his own unique aura. But the paper figure, being only palm-sized, looked extremely cute with a bun-like face, despite its serious expression.

Since the paper figure was just a wisp of spiritual consciousness, unless Xie Junzhi specifically focused his consciousness here, he wouldn’t know what was happening. He must be busy suppressing the sword aura at Qianya Peak, having no time to manage her.

Thinking of this, Yu Xizhi couldn’t resist rubbing her fingers together, then lifted one finger and flicked the little Xie Junzhi, whom she decided to call “Xiao Zhizhi,” on the face.

Xiao Zhizhi’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting such audacity from her.

After a moment, he raised a hand to cover his face.

Far away at Qianya Snow Peak, a young man nestled in a chair reading a book furrowed his brows slightly and made the same face-covering motion as Xiao Zhizhi.

“So what if I just broke through?” Yu Xizhi chuckled.

“We sword cultivators should nurture our skills through battle, hone our swords through killing, and temper our intent with blood. My practical experience is just that one time with you at Lengbei Town. Now is a great opportunity. Speaking of which, am I the only one who can see you? Otherwise, why didn’t other people react when they saw such a small Xie Junzhi sitting on my shoulder?”

Xiao Zhizhi was silent for a moment before replying, “If I don’t want to be seen, no one can see me.”

Yu Xizhi responded with an “Oh,” then said, “Xiao Zhizhi, you’re so powerful!”

Xiao Zhizhi choked on his words, incredulous. “What did you call me?”

“You’re a miniature version of Xie Junzhi, so you’re Xiao Zhizhi,” Yu Xizhi explained as she picked up her sword and started walking.

“For example, I am Yu Xizhi. The one staying at Qianya Peak with the little Junior Uncle would be called Xiao Zhizhi.”

Her explanation was rather chaotic and a bit hard to understand due to the homophones, but Xiao Zhizhi understood. His expression on the bun-like face was extremely complicated.

When Yu Xizhi lifted her sword to check on the snake demon that had just attacked Shen Ye and was now chopped into pieces by the Kunwu disciples, Xiao Zhizhi suddenly spoke, “There is more than one snake demon here.”

Yu Xizhi halted. “Aren’t snakes solitary animals?”

“…You said animals. Who told you that demons are animals? Once an animal becomes a demon, is it still an animal?” Xiao Zhizhi retorted coldly.

“Moreover, it’s winter now.”

Snakes prefer solitude, but in winter they gather in caves.

If the cave is disturbed, naturally all the snakes gathered there will emerge.

And what if there is more than one cave?

In an instant, Yu Xizhi understood all the crucial points, her face turning slightly pale as she looked into the distance.

This was a village outside Tianjiu Town, already very close to the desert. The outermost house was half-buried in yellow sand. Outside Tianjiu Town, there were high walls, and the city gates were tightly closed. On the city wall, cold gleams were faintly visible, indicating that the local garrison was stationed there. In case of an emergency, the civilians would be evacuated first.

The winter sky lacked the sun, and though it was bright, it was pale gray. This part of the northern city called this time of day “white night,” meaning the day was as lightless as night.

Under this sky, the vast Kongti Desert stretched endlessly. Looking out, there was only the shifting windblown sand, with dunes rising and falling. Further away, a deeper yellow-brown line merged into a thin black line with the endless desert.

As Yu Xizhi scanned the horizon, her gaze suddenly paused.

The faint rustling sound was so far away that she almost thought it was an illusion, but she clearly saw that thin black line seem to move slightly.

Yu Xizhi’s heart skipped a beat. Sensing something was wrong, she didn’t have time to think. She took off into the air with her sword, heading into the wind and sand!

“Zhizhi!”

Yu Si couldn’t help but shout when he saw her action.

“I’m going to check it out!”

Leaving those brief words, Yu Xizhi shot toward the depths of the desert like an arrow!

…

Cheng Luocen took a deep breath.

His journey from being an ordinary person to cultivating spiritual energy had not been smooth. Obtaining the remnant soul of the old man was a near-death experience, achieved in a perilous secret realm, battling against all odds.

But perhaps due to his carefree life at Qianya Peak over the past six months, he had slept in icy caves on winter nights and trudged through muddy, dirty alleys. He had walked blood-soaked paths but had never felt at home.

Yet, Qianya Peak felt like home.

He could have a bowl of hot noodles after practicing his sword, a room of his own to sleep in, and laugh out loud when he wanted to.

Even the snow at Qianya Peak felt warm in his heart.

It had been a long time since he had smelled blood.

The blood of the snake demon was foul and stinking. Many Kunwu disciples had never seen so much blood. Some who were joking around one moment were vomiting the next. The giant snake demon, hacked into pieces, had a long section turned into a mess of flesh, looking ghastly and disgusting.

The old man’s remnant soul clicked his tongue.

“Such weaklings, vomiting so easily. If they were to fight in the demon realm, scenes like this would be common. How much could they possibly vomit? And you, what are you standing around for? Go dig out the demon core! This giant snake demon, especially being a mutant, has a precious core—a great supplement! Hurry, before the snake tide comes, it will be too late to extract the core!”

Cheng Luocen was cleverly positioned right under the snake’s head, where the demon core was located.

He only needed to reach out with his sword to extract the core. The scene was chaotic, with people fatigued from the battle and sick from the aftermath. If he moved quickly, no one would notice his actions.

It wasn’t his first time extracting a demon core. The young man’s eyes flickered, and he raised his sword, tearing open the snake demon’s outer layer. With a swift move, he held the goose-egg-sized demon core in his palm.

However, he suddenly saw a figure in blue, flying on a sword, heading toward the depths of the desert.

“This girl, tsk.” The remnant soul of the old man followed his gaze.

“Just now, she blocked that snake’s attack fiercely enough. Such a snake demon, gathering power for a strike, was nearly like a strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator. Coupled with that sword strike back at Taiqing Peak, for her to still stand now, it’s truly remarkable.”

“What did you say?” Cheng Luocen’s hand, holding the sword, paused slightly.

“What did I say?” The remnant soul of the old man said, “Aren’t I just saying what you saw? Don’t tell me you think she’s unharmed after taking those hits? True, pills can suppress it for a while, but though I can’t see through her cultivation level, she can’t possibly be a Grandmaster, right? That sect leader is only at Soul Accumulation stage; I reckon her sword intent might dominate, but she shouldn’t be at Nascent Soul yet. After a Nascent Soul strike followed by that, an ordinary person would probably need to go for seclusion for at least half a year…”

“Then why did she… go to the desert?”

Cheng Luocen interrupted the old man’s rambling, staring only at the figure flying away on a sword. Yet the girl’s speed was so fast that she had already become a small dot in the sky.

“What else could it be?” The old man rolled his eyes.

“I already said the snake tide is coming. Among so many people, it seems only she noticed. Quickly stash away the demon core. I know of a secret realm right here in this Kongti desert. When the snake tide arrives, these foolish kids will surely scatter. Pretend to disappear, and we can explore the secret realm! If I remember correctly, there’s a good sword in that secret realm and a few immortal treasures. With luck, one trip could set you on the Foundation Building path, better than fooling around with swords at Kunwu Mountain Sect, right?”

Cheng Luocen, however, was struck dumb.

What secret realm, what good sword, what immortal treasures.

He only heard one thing—she was injured.

Cheng Luocen clenched the demon core, blood running down his arm. The demon core in his palm was scalding hot, with a faint glow flickering within. Though not from an ancient great demon,it was still precious enough in such a withering demon realm.

“Second Senior Sister!” He suddenly called out.

The Qi Refinement realm youth had just learned to control the sword. His sword was nothing more than an iron sword bought with three low-grade spirit stones. Now, he stepped on it underfoot, yet it exuded the aura of a peerless sword.

“Eh? Hey? What are you doing? Where are you going—?! Are you sick?!” The old man shouted in confusion.

Yi Zui also turned back.

“Cheng Luocen, what are you doing?”

“Delivering the demon core!”

The youth didn’t look back, stepping on the sword and rushing into the swirling yellow sand.

Yi Zui hesitated for a moment, then also soared on his sword.

“Why is this kid suddenly acting crazy? Wait for me—!”