Chapter 6
Editor: Sahloknir
A reminder for readers – Su Qing, Gou Chen and Bai Taishou are swords. Sahl tried to preserve the flow of the action, yet maintain sense in English, so sometimes it seems like they’re human.
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The evil spirit did not seem to expect him to charge over, and slightly tilted its head. At first glance, that subtle movement made it look a little like Gong Wei himself.
Immediately after, it drew the sword Bai Taishou out of its sheath, instantly setting off a huge swirl of qi, and hit Su Qing’s blade head-on!
The invisible qi swept out in a circular motion and with a loud boom!, countless trees were swiftly snapped, brick debris and dust were raised from the ground.
Su Qing could not withstand the pressure from the superior sword, Bai Taishou and immediately let out an overwhelming buzz, but Gong Wei was not afraid and countered it with more than a hundred moves in the blink of an eye.
The evil spirit was forced to fly backwards. The two of them fought, and crossed half of Linjiang City like a meteor until they were out of the city borders. Clang! Gong Wei gripped his sword with both hands, and deadlocked Bai Taishou. He looked at the apparently headless torso of the evil spirit up close. “How did you get my body?”
The wind howled up high in the sky, the ghostly figure came even closer, in place of its head was a scarlet light which flickered seemingly in laughter, and then reached out towards Gong Wei’s right eye.
Although this evil spirit had no form, its spiritual power was remarkably strong and far beyond any Underworld ghost cultivator. Gong Wei, trapped in the body of a small Mei demon, muttered a curse under his breath. He then tilted his head to avoid its sharp claws, but the evil spirit seemed to be familiar with his usual gestures. In just a couple of moves, it forced Su Qing to a defeat and suddenly, like a viper, extended Bai Taishou towards Gong Wei’s right eye again!
Xiang Xiaoyuan’s body severely limited Gong Wei’s spiritual power. Despite Gong Wei’s mastery of skills, he could not withstand such a devastating blow and hastily retreated backward. Only to realise that the evil spirit had suddenly disappeared.
In the next moment, a cold white light flashed by as the ghostly figure appeared behind him and swung the sword around with huge force, straight towards the back of his neck!
At the same time, before any blood could be shed by this action, a sword glare illuminated from afar as Yuchi Xiao sternly shouted, “Return of Ten Thousand Swords!“
The spirit of the Gou Chen awoke and enveloped his whole body with golden armour. In the nick of time, it crashed into Bai Taishou, as Yuchi Xiao grabbed Gong Wei and sent them both flying forward together!
Yuchi Xiao crashed onto the ground with a loud bang and got up coughing, only to hear Gong Wei say with a certain amount of glee, “Good timing Brother Fort! I want to get the sword from him, quick!”
Yuchi Xiao was still a bit dazed, “Didn’t I tell you to run? Who is Brother Fort!? Where is that thing?!”
“Up there! Watch out!”
The evil spirit also seemed to not expect this young man to be able to deflect the divine sword Bai Taishou. It immediately let out a scream that cut through the air and swung the sword towards the top of Yuchi Xiao’s head—Gou Chen sensed the staggering sword pressure and hastily resisted.
In a flash, the clashing qi formed a swirling wind, which sent sand and stones flying and the overbearing and unparalleled Gou Chen sword spirit was actually suppressed.
With a resounding ‘clang!’ it was knocked far away.
“Fuck!” Yuchi Xiao swore, but before he words got far, Gong Wei tossed over an object glowing with green light, “Catch!”
It was Su Qing!
Yuchi Xiao caught it with one hand, and at the same time roared a command at Gou Chen, and the golden light of the sword came up in a flash. Holding a sword in each hand, he swung them at the same time and deadlocked Bai Taishou’s next attack with an earth-shattering sound. The ground under his feet cracked with the terrifying force.
Gong Wei bit his middle finger and used his own blood to quickly draw a huge complex talisman in mid-air, saying, “Brother Fort! Hang in there!”
Yuchi Xiao gritted his teeth under the pressure from Bai Taishou and possibly Gong Wei’s cheekiness, “Who are you…calling…a fort…”
By the time he finished his sentence, the evil spirit was completely enraged. Bai Taishou’s sword glare was now a bright scarlet red, and blew Yuchi Xiao with Gou Chen and Su Qing off to a great distance.
Gong Wei immediately turned his face away from this scene, “Useless!”
He did not have time to finish drawing the talisman. Instead, he imprinted the red seal in the palm of his hand. As the evil spirit charged towards him through the air, he threw up his sleeves and grabbed at Bai Taishou.
The evil spirit was forced to a halt in mid-air, close to the pale, white face of Gong Wei. Countless enchantments came to life from the teenager’s palm, glowing symbols drifted up and quickly enveloped the entire sword. The sword now shone an eerie blood-red, which was now the exact same colour as Gong Wei’s right eye.
“That is not the way to wield Bai Taishou. Let me teach you.”
Ktf fnli rqlgla rffwfv ab tjnf rfcrfv rbwfatlcu jwlrr, yea Xbcu Qfl wbnfv ojrafg atjc lar atbeutar. Lf uglqqfv atf yijvf klat tlr olcufgr jcv ogfrt yibbv oibkfv ogbw tlr qjiw vbkc atf rkbgv yfobgf tf rboais rjlv,”—Rbgatfgc Jfifralji Qbio.”
The Bai Taishou Sword Art!
The evil spirit immediately released the sword and retreated. But right at this time, Bai Taishou’s sword spirit, which had been deep in slumber for the past sixteen years was suddenly awakened.
C mifjg, mglrq rbecv rtba eq ab atf tfjnfcr, jcv lcolclaf gjsr bo rmjgifa iluta qgbpfmafv ogbw klatlc j mglwrbc gbyf klat lcaglmjafis fwygblvfgfv, vjgx-ubiv wjqif ifjnfr. Cr atf gbyf, oieaafglcu lc atf klcv, mjwf ab j rabq, jc jqqjglalbc bo jc lwwbgaji jqqfjgfv, jcv j tjcvrbwf ojmf klat alutais rtea fsfr kjr gfnfjifv.
The man seemed to be very young, with thin shoulders, a straight body, and a deathly pale face with long, delicate eyelashes. The scarlet light quickly enveloped his whole body and armoured his shoulders and body. A waist seal of bright gold appeared, before the apparition then passed through and stood in the air behind ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan’, like an invincible guardian.
It was the Chief of the Immortal Alliance’s Department of Discipline, Lotus Immortal, Gong Wei!
“See,” Gong Wei coldly said, “this is how it should be used.”
He snatched Bai Taishou over, and the sword’s spiritual power surged exponentially. He then swung it single-handedly and slashed the ghostly figure in half, burning it into rolls of thick smoke!
The black smoke disappeared into the void instantly. Gong Wei was finally able to spit out the mouthful of blood in his throat and then stumbled and fell to the ground. The apparition of the immortal disappeared into thin air as the sword art was released.
He supported his body with Bai Taishou. Now completely exhausted, he paused to pant for a moment, before turning towards Yuchi Xiao, who was a distance away.
Yuchi Xiao was half conscious as he had been smashed into the ground by the last attack, forming a deep crater with swirling clouds of dust above him. Any regular cultivator receiving a direct blow from the divine sword Bai Taishou would have died immediately but this young man was still alive. He was indeed the eldest nephew of Yuchi Rui, and was absolutely worthy to inherit the mantle of Sword Sect Master as a next generation force to be reckoned with.
“Hey,” Gong Wei squatted at the edge of the deep pit, facing Yuchi Xiao from above, smiled and asked, “Eldest nephew? Are you still awake?”
Yuchi Xiao woke up in a daze and replied with much difficulty, “You…what are you…calling me this time?”
Gong Wei said, “Nothing, Young Master Yuchi. Are you okay?”
Yuchi Xiao shook his groggy head to collect himself, “Where’s the ghost cultivator?”
“I don’t know, it ran away, but it’s definitely not dead.” Gong Wei said casually with little care, stood up and said with another smile, “The matter within the Linjiang City is beyond our ability to resolve. The most urgent thing right now is for you to return to the Golden Gate and beg your uncle to come out of the mountain to help. Anyway, I have always admired the Sword Sect Master—could you introduce us? I heard that he is wise and heroic, talented since a young age, his cultivation realm is deep and profound…”
Xiang Xiaoyuan’s recollection of Yuchi Rui’s past battle records were too impressive, causing Yuchi Xiao to immediately interpret the praises as an ulterior motive, “What do you want?! My uncle is a decent person!”
“…” Gong Wei blinked then said, “You really think too much, young swordsman.”
Yuchi Xiao was carrying both Gou Chen and Su Qing as he dizzily climbed out of the crater and flexed his shoulder muscles, “How did that ghost cultivator disappear, don’t tell me you depleted your blood again?”
A virgin’s blood is one of the most effective tools to counter ghost cultivators, but rare to obtain and depreciates the donor’s life span. Gong Wei blinked and said, “Then what else can I do? I thought that the handsome young swordsman Yuchi has a high level of cultivation, such that all kinds of evil spirits will flee in his presence, and is someone who can protect a lowly non-human like myself. Who knew…”
Yuchi Xiao snapped, “Alright, stop talking! I am sorry, it is my fault. Let me send you back to Cang Yang Sect right now!!”
“That’s not necessary.” Gong Wei said with a smile, “Let’s go back first to clean up the mess in front of the Prince’s Residence, find a way to wake Young Master Meng, and then visit the Golden Gate together to look for the Sword Sect Master. We can’t count on that icy cold Lord Xu, but as long as the Sword Sect Master Yuchi agrees to help—”
As long as he and his former sworn buddy Yuchi Rui could reconnect, and then find Ying Kai to tearfully confess to his faults, then there was nothing Xu Shuangtze could do, even if he were to know that Gong Wei’s soul had returned.
…Of course, unless he wields No Way Out to personally capture him from Golden Gate and tear him apart again.
Suddenly, he sensed something at the back of his head. An ominous chill slid right into his heart.
Gong Wei’s expression changed and he moved in reflex but suddenly felt something icy cold dig into his shoulder blade!
“…” He gasped and dropped his gaze down, only to see a crimson sword tip pierced through his left shoulder, followed by a gush of blood.
The evil spirit did not leave!
Gong Wei could not react quickly enough, and heard an unbearable ringing in his ears as time seemed to stretch indefinitely.
He saw his own blood gush along the tip of the blade and hit the ground in bright red droplets. He then saw the ghastly grey robe of the evil spirit rise up beside him, and also saw the expression of Yuchi Xiao change from a look of confusion to one of disbelief.
Immediately after, Yuchi Xiao flew into a rage, with a powerful tug, he pulled Gong Wei behind his body and swung his sword at the ghostly figure!
Gong Wei dropped to the ground on his knees, clutching Bai Taishou to support his body and gritted his teeth without making a sound. The sword seemed to be wrapped in a blood-coloured film that glowed in a red that did not seem to be of this world.
Although Yuchi Xiao could not see the ghostly figure, he was raging and relied on his keen hearing of the wind movements to determine its position and was able to level with it. The ghostly figure almost broke through his defence to target Gong Wei, but was pushed back fiercely by Yuchi Xiao every time. It was forced to fight more and more violently until it could break through and reach towards Gong Wei.
Bai Taishou reacted to it. At this point, Gong Wei had exhausted his strength to control the sword and could only watch as it turned into grey smoke in his palm and disappeared into the air—
Thud.
Losing his only support, Gong Wei fell to the ground and saw blood gurgling out of his wound and quickly accumulating into a puddle on the grass.
Bai Taishou appeared in mid-air, wielded in the hand of the ghostly figure. Using both swords, it began to attack Yuchi Xiao, turning the tables on him in an instant.
Just at this moment, the wind brought in a sweet fragrance.
Gong Wei’s eyes widened in shock.
Blood which trickled down from the tips of his fingers dripped onto a swaying wildflower blooming amongst the grass. From the stamen of the flower a tendril of mist appeared, before several criss-crossing red lines, like blood veins, extended out in all directions, glowing with scarlet light as they seeped right into the ground.
In an instant, the trees all over the mountain blossomed.
On long dormant trees, the peach blossoms began budding, then blooming. They looked like layers upon layers of scarlet clouds spreading into the distance, boundless as the sea. Outside of the Prince’s Residence, the wind sent millions of peach blossom petals flying and drifting down among the rows of houses and onto the streets. This astonishing scene was reflected in everyone’s eyes.
The peach blossoms, which had been extinct in this world for sixteen years, all bloomed in one moment.
Cang Yang Sect, Tianji Tower…
In the quiet hall, countless phantom images could be seen encircling a high platform. Upon closer inspection, there were mountains and valleys, there were also rivers and villages. Even the pedestrians and horse carriages were also clearly visible and appeared like tiny ants. Three thousand worlds could be seen in miniature here. It was an amazing but perplexing sight.
On a jade seat on the platform, a meditating Xu Shuangtze suddenly opened his eyes and reached out in mid-air.
One out of the millions of images magnified in reaction to his movement. What appeared before him was a bustling city with massive scarlet clouds, which appeared to be rapidly spreading. It was clearly Linjiang City.
“Peach Scourge?” A guard disciple in the hall lost his voice in shock and simply could not believe his eyes at the scene Master had enlarged, “How, how can it be the Peach Scourge?!”
The northern families had used the term ‘Peach Scourge’ to allude to Gong Wei ever since the events of that day at the Ascension Platform—but that demonic and treacherous fox, who had been at war with the Cang Yang Sect, had been dead for sixteen years!
As he said those words, he felt a chill down his spine and caught Xu Shuangtze glancing over at him without any expression. The disciple’s knees went weak and before he could even apologise for his behaviour, Lord Xu began to stride down from the high platform. The train of his robe whisked up due to his pace and the millions of images gathered and disappeared within his sleeves. It was a spectacular and magnificent sight.
He stood at the side of a jade pillar, which rose to over a hundred feet high, reached out and called out in a deep voice, “No Way Out.”
The sword’s cold light came whistling from the direction of the Xuan Gui Hall, right into his palm. Xu Shuangtze then rose up with the sword, like a meteor cutting through the sky, and headed in the direction of Linjiang City—
“The Master has completed his closed-door cultivation!”
“We humbly congratulate the Master for completing closed-door cultivation!”
Disciples he passed by bowed respectfully. They were shocked and frightened at his cold aura, but also excited and curious about their Master’s actions.
Xu Shuangtze rarely left Cang Yang Mountain, and in his early years, he only showed up when there were massive events. In recent years, he did not appear in front of people easily. When the magnificent aura of the sword swept across the sky, the news also seemed to have grown wings. Through word of mouth, it quickly travelled, bringing excitement and fear across the entire cultivation world.
Why was Lord Xu going there?
What has happened to Linjiang City?
Thousands of miles of mountains and rivers were traversed in a snap of a finger. The white golden light of No Way Out swooped down towards the Prince’s Residence. As he crossed the lofty city walls, the sky full of gorgeous peach blossoms came into view.
Xu Shuangtze’s eyebrows tightened, with a sudden flick of his hand, a pale gold sword tassel with an embroidered character ‘Xu’ was tossed from his sleeve towards Linjiang City.
The next moment, a layer of transparent protective shielding, invisible to ordinary people rose from the ground. It surrounded the huge Linjiang City from all sides, then towered straight up to the sky, forming a dome and momentarily revealing a metallic golden character ‘Xu’!
“Xu Shuangtze has sealed Linjiang City?”
Dai Mountain Immortal Alliance…
Within the Correctional Palace, a sturdy man clad in a dark linen robe was frowning. His face was handsome and gentle but held an expression of incredulity as he spoke again, “Using the ‘Mahayana Seal’ ?”
The disciple who rushed in to report earlier lowered his head and said, “I humbly answer to the Alliance Master, it has been confirmed that the Mahayana Seal was used.”
The man was none other than Martial Sovereign, Ying Kai, who had helmed the Immortal Alliance for many years.
As the name of the Mahayana Seal implies, it was an item that only Sovereign Level cultivators, who have gone beyond achieving a golden core and ascended into the Mahayana realm were qualified to use. It is an immortal magic weapon used for sending a signal.
No matter where evil spirits appear, as long as a Sovereign Level cultivator casts the Mahayana Seal, it would signify that he had put the matter and area under his protection. He can decide to take any kind of action he deems necessary and all the dangers he faces would be his sole responsibility.
This was to avoid strife in the decision-making process and also to allow these cultivators to cast their secret techniques without fear and restraint. According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, until the turmoil was fully resolved, all other Sovereign Level cultivators were not permitted to enter the realm protected by this great seal.
“Reporting in–! Alliance Master!” Another disciple briskly stepped up to the hall and held up a glowing messenger token, “The Sword Sovereign of Golden Gate requests an audience!”
Ying Kai raised his hand and tossed the token into the air. The jade tiled floor suddenly rippled and a visualisation formation was cast. In the middle of the formation, a youth in a sandalwood-coloured robe with dark-gold light armour over the top appeared. He resembled Yuchi Xiao to an extent, but was a few years older and had a pair of eyebrows which were more cold, handsome and arrogant. This man was Sword Sect’s Yuchi Rui.
An uneasiness rose in Ying Kai’s heart, “What happened, Chang Sheng?”
“It is Lingjiang City. A ghost cultivator has appeared. Many are dead and injured.”
Yuchi Rui was a man of few words. When he spoke, he tended to use simple words and strung them in short sentences. The next sentence he uttered changed the expression of everyone present,“The city is full of peach blossoms. It has become a strange spectacle.”
At the same time, in Lingjiang City…
The ghost cultivator seemed to be stunned by the scene of the peach blossoms, and Yuchi Xiao took the opportunity to force it back with his sword, while releasing a few more moves and keeping Gong Wei protected behind him. At the same time, he pulled out a medicine bottle from his sleeves and poured the contents on Gong Wei’s right shoulder to stop his bleeding without looking. “Are you okay? How did these peach blossoms come about?”
“…” Gong Wei said hoarsely, “I don’t know.”
He felt an intensifying shiver down his spine, seemingly foreshadowing something ominous. Soon he felt the familiar stabbing pain coming from his left chest, as if he was once again being pierced by a sharp, cold blade.
It was No Way Out.
The city is full of peach blossoms, a replica of the scene from sixteen years ago. And it had caught the attention of the person he least wanted to see again in this life!
Yuchi Xiao raised his head and looked into the distance,”Lord Xu?!”
Gong Wei’s mind went completely blank and he involuntarily shuffled back. The excruciating pain in his chest intensified multifold in an instant.
The raging sword aura, enough to destroy the mountains and split the seas came crashing down. A single person standing on a sword descended from the skies revealing his cold expression. It was Xu Shuangtze.
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Sahl – who else gets Wangxian vibes from these two? Also, finally Xu Shuangtze’s here! Hiya, Daddy Xu!
Chapter 6
Editor: Sahloknir
A reminder for readers – Su Qing, Gou Chen and Bai Taishou are swords. Sahl tried to preserve the flow of the action, yet maintain sense in English, so sometimes it seems like they’re human.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
The evil spirit did not seem to expect him to charge over, and slightly tilted its head. At first glance, that subtle movement made it look a little like Gong Wei himself.
Immediately after, it drew the sword Bai Taishou out of its sheath, instantly setting off a huge swirl of qi, and hit Su Qing’s blade head-on!
The invisible qi swept out in a circular motion and with a loud boom!, countless trees were swiftly snapped, brick debris and dust were raised from the ground.
Su Qing could not withstand the pressure from the superior sword, Bai Taishou and immediately let out an overwhelming buzz, but Gong Wei was not afraid and countered it with more than a hundred moves in the blink of an eye.
The evil spirit was forced to fly backwards. The two of them fought, and crossed half of Linjiang City like a meteor until they were out of the city borders. Clang! Gong Wei gripped his sword with both hands, and deadlocked Bai Taishou. He looked at the apparently headless torso of the evil spirit up close. “How did you get my body?”
The wind howled up high in the sky, the ghostly figure came even closer, in place of its head was a scarlet light which flickered seemingly in laughter, and then reached out towards Gong Wei’s right eye.
Although this evil spirit had no form, its spiritual power was remarkably strong and far beyond any Underworld ghost cultivator. Gong Wei, trapped in the body of a small Mei demon, muttered a curse under his breath. He then tilted his head to avoid its sharp claws, but the evil spirit seemed to be familiar with his usual gestures. In just a couple of moves, it forced Su Qing to a defeat and suddenly, like a viper, extended Bai Taishou towards Gong Wei’s right eye again!
Xiang Xiaoyuan’s body severely limited Gong Wei’s spiritual power. Despite Gong Wei’s mastery of skills, he could not withstand such a devastating blow and hastily retreated backward. Only to realise that the evil spirit had suddenly disappeared.
In the next moment, a cold white light flashed by as the ghostly figure appeared behind him and swung the sword around with huge force, straight towards the back of his neck!
At the same time, before any blood could be shed by this action, a sword glare illuminated from afar as Yuchi Xiao sternly shouted, “Return of Ten Thousand Swords!“
The spirit of the Gou Chen awoke and enveloped his whole body with golden armour. In the nick of time, it crashed into Bai Taishou, as Yuchi Xiao grabbed Gong Wei and sent them both flying forward together!
Yuchi Xiao crashed onto the ground with a loud bang and got up coughing, only to hear Gong Wei say with a certain amount of glee, “Good timing Brother Fort! I want to get the sword from him, quick!”
Yuchi Xiao was still a bit dazed, “Didn’t I tell you to run? Who is Brother Fort!? Where is that thing?!”
“Up there! Watch out!”
The evil spirit also seemed to not expect this young man to be able to deflect the divine sword Bai Taishou. It immediately let out a scream that cut through the air and swung the sword towards the top of Yuchi Xiao’s head—Gou Chen sensed the staggering sword pressure and hastily resisted.
In a flash, the clashing qi formed a swirling wind, which sent sand and stones flying and the overbearing and unparalleled Gou Chen sword spirit was actually suppressed.
With a resounding ‘clang!’ it was knocked far away.
“Fuck!” Yuchi Xiao swore, but before he words got far, Gong Wei tossed over an object glowing with green light, “Catch!”
It was Su Qing!
Yuchi Xiao caught it with one hand, and at the same time roared a command at Gou Chen, and the golden light of the sword came up in a flash. Holding a sword in each hand, he swung them at the same time and deadlocked Bai Taishou’s next attack with an earth-shattering sound. The ground under his feet cracked with the terrifying force.
Gong Wei bit his middle finger and used his own blood to quickly draw a huge complex talisman in mid-air, saying, “Brother Fort! Hang in there!”
Yuchi Xiao gritted his teeth under the pressure from Bai Taishou and possibly Gong Wei’s cheekiness, “Who are you…calling…a fort…”
By the time he finished his sentence, the evil spirit was completely enraged. Bai Taishou’s sword glare was now a bright scarlet red, and blew Yuchi Xiao with Gou Chen and Su Qing off to a great distance.
Gong Wei immediately turned his face away from this scene, “Useless!”
He did not have time to finish drawing the talisman. Instead, he imprinted the red seal in the palm of his hand. As the evil spirit charged towards him through the air, he threw up his sleeves and grabbed at Bai Taishou.
The evil spirit was forced to a halt in mid-air, close to the pale, white face of Gong Wei. Countless enchantments came to life from the teenager’s palm, glowing symbols drifted up and quickly enveloped the entire sword. The sword now shone an eerie blood-red, which was now the exact same colour as Gong Wei’s right eye.
“That is not the way to wield Bai Taishou. Let me teach you.”
Ktf fnli rqlgla rffwfv ab tjnf rfcrfv rbwfatlcu jwlrr, yea Xbcu Qfl wbnfv ojrafg atjc lar atbeutar. Lf uglqqfv atf yijvf klat tlr olcufgr jcv ogfrt yibbv oibkfv ogbw tlr qjiw vbkc atf rkbgv yfobgf tf rboais rjlv,”—Rbgatfgc Jfifralji Qbio.”
The Bai Taishou Sword Art!
The evil spirit immediately released the sword and retreated. But right at this time, Bai Taishou’s sword spirit, which had been deep in slumber for the past sixteen years was suddenly awakened.
C mifjg, mglrq rbecv rtba eq ab atf tfjnfcr, jcv lcolclaf gjsr bo rmjgifa iluta qgbpfmafv ogbw klatlc j mglwrbc gbyf klat lcaglmjafis fwygblvfgfv, vjgx-ubiv wjqif ifjnfr. Cr atf gbyf, oieaafglcu lc atf klcv, mjwf ab j rabq, jc jqqjglalbc bo jc lwwbgaji jqqfjgfv, jcv j tjcvrbwf ojmf klat alutais rtea fsfr kjr gfnfjifv.
The man seemed to be very young, with thin shoulders, a straight body, and a deathly pale face with long, delicate eyelashes. The scarlet light quickly enveloped his whole body and armoured his shoulders and body. A waist seal of bright gold appeared, before the apparition then passed through and stood in the air behind ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan’, like an invincible guardian.
It was the Chief of the Immortal Alliance’s Department of Discipline, Lotus Immortal, Gong Wei!
“See,” Gong Wei coldly said, “this is how it should be used.”
He snatched Bai Taishou over, and the sword’s spiritual power surged exponentially. He then swung it single-handedly and slashed the ghostly figure in half, burning it into rolls of thick smoke!
The black smoke disappeared into the void instantly. Gong Wei was finally able to spit out the mouthful of blood in his throat and then stumbled and fell to the ground. The apparition of the immortal disappeared into thin air as the sword art was released.
He supported his body with Bai Taishou. Now completely exhausted, he paused to pant for a moment, before turning towards Yuchi Xiao, who was a distance away.
Yuchi Xiao was half conscious as he had been smashed into the ground by the last attack, forming a deep crater with swirling clouds of dust above him. Any regular cultivator receiving a direct blow from the divine sword Bai Taishou would have died immediately but this young man was still alive. He was indeed the eldest nephew of Yuchi Rui, and was absolutely worthy to inherit the mantle of Sword Sect Master as a next generation force to be reckoned with.
“Hey,” Gong Wei squatted at the edge of the deep pit, facing Yuchi Xiao from above, smiled and asked, “Eldest nephew? Are you still awake?”
Yuchi Xiao woke up in a daze and replied with much difficulty, “You…what are you…calling me this time?”
Gong Wei said, “Nothing, Young Master Yuchi. Are you okay?”
Yuchi Xiao shook his groggy head to collect himself, “Where’s the ghost cultivator?”
“I don’t know, it ran away, but it’s definitely not dead.” Gong Wei said casually with little care, stood up and said with another smile, “The matter within the Linjiang City is beyond our ability to resolve. The most urgent thing right now is for you to return to the Golden Gate and beg your uncle to come out of the mountain to help. Anyway, I have always admired the Sword Sect Master—could you introduce us? I heard that he is wise and heroic, talented since a young age, his cultivation realm is deep and profound…”
Xiang Xiaoyuan’s recollection of Yuchi Rui’s past battle records were too impressive, causing Yuchi Xiao to immediately interpret the praises as an ulterior motive, “What do you want?! My uncle is a decent person!”
“…” Gong Wei blinked then said, “You really think too much, young swordsman.”
Yuchi Xiao was carrying both Gou Chen and Su Qing as he dizzily climbed out of the crater and flexed his shoulder muscles, “How did that ghost cultivator disappear, don’t tell me you depleted your blood again?”
A virgin’s blood is one of the most effective tools to counter ghost cultivators, but rare to obtain and depreciates the donor’s life span. Gong Wei blinked and said, “Then what else can I do? I thought that the handsome young swordsman Yuchi has a high level of cultivation, such that all kinds of evil spirits will flee in his presence, and is someone who can protect a lowly non-human like myself. Who knew…”
Yuchi Xiao snapped, “Alright, stop talking! I am sorry, it is my fault. Let me send you back to Cang Yang Sect right now!!”
“That’s not necessary.” Gong Wei said with a smile, “Let’s go back first to clean up the mess in front of the Prince’s Residence, find a way to wake Young Master Meng, and then visit the Golden Gate together to look for the Sword Sect Master. We can’t count on that icy cold Lord Xu, but as long as the Sword Sect Master Yuchi agrees to help—”
As long as he and his former sworn buddy Yuchi Rui could reconnect, and then find Ying Kai to tearfully confess to his faults, then there was nothing Xu Shuangtze could do, even if he were to know that Gong Wei’s soul had returned.
…Of course, unless he wields No Way Out to personally capture him from Golden Gate and tear him apart again.
Suddenly, he sensed something at the back of his head. An ominous chill slid right into his heart.
Gong Wei’s expression changed and he moved in reflex but suddenly felt something icy cold dig into his shoulder blade!
“…” He gasped and dropped his gaze down, only to see a crimson sword tip pierced through his left shoulder, followed by a gush of blood.
The evil spirit did not leave!
Gong Wei could not react quickly enough, and heard an unbearable ringing in his ears as time seemed to stretch indefinitely.
He saw his own blood gush along the tip of the blade and hit the ground in bright red droplets. He then saw the ghastly grey robe of the evil spirit rise up beside him, and also saw the expression of Yuchi Xiao change from a look of confusion to one of disbelief.
Immediately after, Yuchi Xiao flew into a rage, with a powerful tug, he pulled Gong Wei behind his body and swung his sword at the ghostly figure!
Gong Wei dropped to the ground on his knees, clutching Bai Taishou to support his body and gritted his teeth without making a sound. The sword seemed to be wrapped in a blood-coloured film that glowed in a red that did not seem to be of this world.
Although Yuchi Xiao could not see the ghostly figure, he was raging and relied on his keen hearing of the wind movements to determine its position and was able to level with it. The ghostly figure almost broke through his defence to target Gong Wei, but was pushed back fiercely by Yuchi Xiao every time. It was forced to fight more and more violently until it could break through and reach towards Gong Wei.
Bai Taishou reacted to it. At this point, Gong Wei had exhausted his strength to control the sword and could only watch as it turned into grey smoke in his palm and disappeared into the air—
Thud.
Losing his only support, Gong Wei fell to the ground and saw blood gurgling out of his wound and quickly accumulating into a puddle on the grass.
Bai Taishou appeared in mid-air, wielded in the hand of the ghostly figure. Using both swords, it began to attack Yuchi Xiao, turning the tables on him in an instant.
Just at this moment, the wind brought in a sweet fragrance.
Gong Wei’s eyes widened in shock.
Blood which trickled down from the tips of his fingers dripped onto a swaying wildflower blooming amongst the grass. From the stamen of the flower a tendril of mist appeared, before several criss-crossing red lines, like blood veins, extended out in all directions, glowing with scarlet light as they seeped right into the ground.
In an instant, the trees all over the mountain blossomed.
On long dormant trees, the peach blossoms began budding, then blooming. They looked like layers upon layers of scarlet clouds spreading into the distance, boundless as the sea. Outside of the Prince’s Residence, the wind sent millions of peach blossom petals flying and drifting down among the rows of houses and onto the streets. This astonishing scene was reflected in everyone’s eyes.
The peach blossoms, which had been extinct in this world for sixteen years, all bloomed in one moment.
Cang Yang Sect, Tianji Tower…
In the quiet hall, countless phantom images could be seen encircling a high platform. Upon closer inspection, there were mountains and valleys, there were also rivers and villages. Even the pedestrians and horse carriages were also clearly visible and appeared like tiny ants. Three thousand worlds could be seen in miniature here. It was an amazing but perplexing sight.
On a jade seat on the platform, a meditating Xu Shuangtze suddenly opened his eyes and reached out in mid-air.
One out of the millions of images magnified in reaction to his movement. What appeared before him was a bustling city with massive scarlet clouds, which appeared to be rapidly spreading. It was clearly Linjiang City.
“Peach Scourge?” A guard disciple in the hall lost his voice in shock and simply could not believe his eyes at the scene Master had enlarged, “How, how can it be the Peach Scourge?!”
The northern families had used the term ‘Peach Scourge’ to allude to Gong Wei ever since the events of that day at the Ascension Platform—but that demonic and treacherous fox, who had been at war with the Cang Yang Sect, had been dead for sixteen years!
As he said those words, he felt a chill down his spine and caught Xu Shuangtze glancing over at him without any expression. The disciple’s knees went weak and before he could even apologise for his behaviour, Lord Xu began to stride down from the high platform. The train of his robe whisked up due to his pace and the millions of images gathered and disappeared within his sleeves. It was a spectacular and magnificent sight.
He stood at the side of a jade pillar, which rose to over a hundred feet high, reached out and called out in a deep voice, “No Way Out.”
The sword’s cold light came whistling from the direction of the Xuan Gui Hall, right into his palm. Xu Shuangtze then rose up with the sword, like a meteor cutting through the sky, and headed in the direction of Linjiang City—
“The Master has completed his closed-door cultivation!”
“We humbly congratulate the Master for completing closed-door cultivation!”
Disciples he passed by bowed respectfully. They were shocked and frightened at his cold aura, but also excited and curious about their Master’s actions.
Xu Shuangtze rarely left Cang Yang Mountain, and in his early years, he only showed up when there were massive events. In recent years, he did not appear in front of people easily. When the magnificent aura of the sword swept across the sky, the news also seemed to have grown wings. Through word of mouth, it quickly travelled, bringing excitement and fear across the entire cultivation world.
Why was Lord Xu going there?
What has happened to Linjiang City?
Thousands of miles of mountains and rivers were traversed in a snap of a finger. The white golden light of No Way Out swooped down towards the Prince’s Residence. As he crossed the lofty city walls, the sky full of gorgeous peach blossoms came into view.
Xu Shuangtze’s eyebrows tightened, with a sudden flick of his hand, a pale gold sword tassel with an embroidered character ‘Xu’ was tossed from his sleeve towards Linjiang City.
The next moment, a layer of transparent protective shielding, invisible to ordinary people rose from the ground. It surrounded the huge Linjiang City from all sides, then towered straight up to the sky, forming a dome and momentarily revealing a metallic golden character ‘Xu’!
“Xu Shuangtze has sealed Linjiang City?”
Dai Mountain Immortal Alliance…
Within the Correctional Palace, a sturdy man clad in a dark linen robe was frowning. His face was handsome and gentle but held an expression of incredulity as he spoke again, “Using the ‘Mahayana Seal’ ?”
The disciple who rushed in to report earlier lowered his head and said, “I humbly answer to the Alliance Master, it has been confirmed that the Mahayana Seal was used.”
The man was none other than Martial Sovereign, Ying Kai, who had helmed the Immortal Alliance for many years.
As the name of the Mahayana Seal implies, it was an item that only Sovereign Level cultivators, who have gone beyond achieving a golden core and ascended into the Mahayana realm were qualified to use. It is an immortal magic weapon used for sending a signal.
No matter where evil spirits appear, as long as a Sovereign Level cultivator casts the Mahayana Seal, it would signify that he had put the matter and area under his protection. He can decide to take any kind of action he deems necessary and all the dangers he faces would be his sole responsibility.
This was to avoid strife in the decision-making process and also to allow these cultivators to cast their secret techniques without fear and restraint. According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, until the turmoil was fully resolved, all other Sovereign Level cultivators were not permitted to enter the realm protected by this great seal.
“Reporting in–! Alliance Master!” Another disciple briskly stepped up to the hall and held up a glowing messenger token, “The Sword Sovereign of Golden Gate requests an audience!”
Ying Kai raised his hand and tossed the token into the air. The jade tiled floor suddenly rippled and a visualisation formation was cast. In the middle of the formation, a youth in a sandalwood-coloured robe with dark-gold light armour over the top appeared. He resembled Yuchi Xiao to an extent, but was a few years older and had a pair of eyebrows which were more cold, handsome and arrogant. This man was Sword Sect’s Yuchi Rui.
An uneasiness rose in Ying Kai’s heart, “What happened, Chang Sheng?”
“It is Lingjiang City. A ghost cultivator has appeared. Many are dead and injured.”
Yuchi Rui was a man of few words. When he spoke, he tended to use simple words and strung them in short sentences. The next sentence he uttered changed the expression of everyone present,“The city is full of peach blossoms. It has become a strange spectacle.”
At the same time, in Lingjiang City…
The ghost cultivator seemed to be stunned by the scene of the peach blossoms, and Yuchi Xiao took the opportunity to force it back with his sword, while releasing a few more moves and keeping Gong Wei protected behind him. At the same time, he pulled out a medicine bottle from his sleeves and poured the contents on Gong Wei’s right shoulder to stop his bleeding without looking. “Are you okay? How did these peach blossoms come about?”
“…” Gong Wei said hoarsely, “I don’t know.”
He felt an intensifying shiver down his spine, seemingly foreshadowing something ominous. Soon he felt the familiar stabbing pain coming from his left chest, as if he was once again being pierced by a sharp, cold blade.
It was No Way Out.
The city is full of peach blossoms, a replica of the scene from sixteen years ago. And it had caught the attention of the person he least wanted to see again in this life!
Yuchi Xiao raised his head and looked into the distance,”Lord Xu?!”
Gong Wei’s mind went completely blank and he involuntarily shuffled back. The excruciating pain in his chest intensified multifold in an instant.
The raging sword aura, enough to destroy the mountains and split the seas came crashing down. A single person standing on a sword descended from the skies revealing his cold expression. It was Xu Shuangtze.
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Sahl – who else gets Wangxian vibes from these two? Also, finally Xu Shuangtze’s here! Hiya, Daddy Xu!
