Chapter 6
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The fierce ghost probably didn’t expect him to come forward, and slightly tilted its head, a subtle movement that at first glance seemed a bit like Gong Wei himself.
Immediately, it drew its sword, “Bai Tai Shou” unsheathed with a clang, instantly stirring up a huge vortex of qi around it, and fiercely collided with the Suqing sword edge!
With a deafening roar, an invisible force swept out in a circular motion, causing countless trees to sway and bricks and tiles to rise from the ground.
The Suqing sword couldn’t bear the pressure from the top-tier immortal sword Bai Tai Shou, immediately emitting a buzzing sound of being overwhelmed. But Gong Wei remained undaunted, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of moves had passed. The fierce ghost was forced to fly backwards, and the two of them crossed half of Linqing City like shooting stars, until they were out of the city area. With a bang, Gong Wei’s hands holding the sword firmly blocked the Bai Tai Shou’s sword edge, and he stared closely at the fierce ghost’s empty head:
“—-How did you get hold of my corpse?”
The strong wind howled in the high altitude, and the ghostly figure approached, the flickering crimson light in its head position seemed to be laughing, and then it reached out towards Gong Wei’s right eye.
Although this fierce ghost had no physical form, its spiritual power was astonishingly fierce and surging, even surpassing that of the ghosts in the Yellow Springs. Gong Wei, trapped in the weak body of a little demon cultivator, cursed silently, and turned his head to avoid its sharp claws. But the fierce ghost seemed to be very familiar with his usual sword techniques. After a few moves, the Suqing sword was forced to retreat step by step. Suddenly, it thrust like a snake towards Gong Wei’s right eye!
Xiang Xiaoyuan’s body constrained his spiritual power, and even though his own skills were profound and sensitive, he couldn’t withstand such a powerful blow from Bai Tai Shou. He hurriedly flew backwards, but the fierce ghost suddenly disappeared in front of him.
In the next instant, a cold light struck, and the ghostly figure appeared behind him, with immense force slashing towards the back of his neck!
Just at the moment of imminent bloodshed, a sword light approached from afar, and Yuchi Xiao shouted, “Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin—”
The spirit of the Guochen Sword suddenly awakened, enveloping him in a golden armor, and he collided head-on with Bai Tai Shou, grabbing Gong Wei and the sword, and flew out!
With a loud bang, Yuchi Xiao smashed into the ground, coughing as he climbed up. Gong Wei, with excitement, exclaimed, “Well done! Battery Brother! Quickly, take the ghost sword from it, hurry!”
Yuchi Xiao exclaimed, “Didn’t I tell you to run away?! Who’s Battery Brother?! Where is that thing?!”
“It’s above! Be careful!”
The fierce ghost seemed surprised that this young man in his twenties could withstand the divine sword Bai Tai Shou. Immediately, it let out a piercing whistle, slashing a sword towards Yuchi Xiao’s head—Yuchi Xiao resisted hastily under the huge pressure of the sword, and in an instant, a sandstorm rose, and the overwhelmingly powerful golden sword spirit was suppressed and left struggling. With a clang, it was sent flying far away.
“D*mn it!” Yuchi Xiao cursed, and before he could finish, Gong Wei threw a green light towards him. “Catch it!”
It was Suqing!
Yuchi Xiao caught it and, at the same time, roared angrily, and the golden light of the Guochen sword spirit came instantly. He wielded both swords at the same time, firmly resisting Bai Tai Shou. The ground for several dozen meters in all directions cracked open with a loud noise.
Gong Wei bit his middle finger, quickly drawing a huge and complicated rune in mid-air with blood, and passionately said, “Hold on, Battery Brother!”
Yuchi Xiao gritted his teeth and said with difficulty, “Why do you… what… call me… Battery Brother…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the fierce ghost was thoroughly enraged. The Bai Tai Shou sword body flashed with scarlet light, and it took both Yuchi Xiao and Guochen Suqing swords and sent them flying dozens of meters away!
Gong Wei immediately changed his face and disowned him, “Useless!”
He didn’t have time to finish drawing the rune. He quickly scooped up the red seal characters in his palm and imprinted them in mid-air. Then, as the fierce ghost approached, he struck out with his sleeve, catching Bai Tai Shou with a snap.
The fierce ghost’s movements were forced to freeze in mid-air, and it faced Gong Wei’s pale face at close range. Countless tiny charms, as if alive, spread from the youth’s palm upwards and downwards, covering the entire sword body in the blink of an eye. The dim red light reflected Gong Wei’s blood-red right eye:
“Bai Tai Shou is not used like this. Let me show you.”
The malevolent spirit seemed to sense something, but Gong Wei moved faster. He tightened his grip on the sword’s blade, and blood rushed down from his palm along the sword, as he softly uttered:
“—Northern Hope Heaven’s Wolf.”
The Sword Technique of Bai Tai Shou!
The malevolent spirit immediately released its grip and retreated. Just at this moment, after sixteen years of slumber, the sword spirit of Bai Tai Shou was suddenly awakened. It let out a clear cry that pierced the sky, and thousands of crimson lights projected a deep red robe with intricate golden maple embroidery into the void. The robe sleeves fluttered in the wind, revealing the phantom of a handsome-faced immortal with tightly closed eyes.
He appeared to be quite young, with slender shoulders, a straight posture, and a pale complexion that didn’t resemble that of a living person. Every eyelash was distinct. The crimson light swiftly covered him with shoulder guards, arm guards, and a golden waistband, and then the phantom descended behind “Xiang Xiaoyuan,” resembling an invincible guardian deity.
It was the former Grand Elder of the Immortal Alliance’s Punishment Hall, the Law Flower Immortal Bai Tai Shou Gong Wei!
“See that,” Gong Wei said coldly, “This is how it’s done.”
He grabbed Bai Tai Shou, and the spiritual power of the sword surged, doubling with just one hand. With a single stroke, he split the ghostly shadow in half, screaming as it burned into billowing smoke!
The black smoke disappeared in the void in the blink of an eye. Gong Wei finally spat out the blood in his throat, staggering to the ground. Behind him, the guardian figure summoned by the sword technique disappeared into nothingness.
Using Bai Tai Shou to support his body, he breathed heavily for a while, then turned and walked towards the distant Yuchi Xiao.
Yuchi Xiao had smashed a deep pit into the ground, and smoke rose from the top of the pit. He was half unconscious at the bottom of the pit. Generally, when facing the divine sword Bai Tai Shou, cultivators would break and die on the spot, but this brother still had some life left in him. He was indeed the potential successor to Yuchi Rui’s lineage, destined to become a new generation of human cannon.
“Hey,” Gong Wei squatted on the edge of the deep pit, looking down at Yuchi Xiao from above, and smiled, “Nephew? Are you awake?”
Yuchi Xiao’s soul gradually returned, and he asked laboriously, “What… what do you… call me again?”
Gong Wei said, “It’s nothing, Young Master Yuchi. Are you alright?”
Yuchi Xiao shook his dizzy head vigorously. “What about that ghost cultivator?”
“I don’t know, it ran away, but it definitely didn’t die,” Gong Wei casually replied without much concern, standing up with a smile. “The situation in Linjiang City has exceeded our capabilities. The urgent matter is to have Young Master Yuchi return to Yejinmen and pay respects to your uncle, kneeling three times and bowing nine times to ask your uncle to come out of seclusion. By the way, I have long admired the Sect Master of the Sword Sect. Could you help introduce me? I’ve heard that he is wise, martial, young, and talented…”
Because of his illustrious past achievements, Yuchi Xiao immediately misunderstood the flattery: “What do you want to do?! My uncle is a respectable person!”
“…” Gong Wei said, “Young hero, you’re thinking too much.”
Yuchi Xiao picked up the Guochen and Suqing swords, climbed up dizzyingly, and flexed his shoulder muscles. “How did that ghost cultivator disappear? Did you expend your heart’s blood again?”
The heart’s blood of a youth was one of the weapons to restrain ghost cultivators, but it was rare and seriously depleted one’s lifespan. Gong Wei blinked and said, “What else can I do? I thought Young Master Yuchi was handsome, talented, and capable, able to scare away all evil spirits, and would surely protect me, a lowly non-human being. Who knew…”
Yuchi Xiao said angrily, “Alright, stop talking. I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’ll send you back to Cangyang Mountain right away!”
“No need for that,” Gong Wei said with a smile, “Let’s go back first and clean up the mess in front of the Linjiang Mansion. We’ll figure out how to wake up Young Master Meng, and then we’ll go together to pay respects to the Sword Sect. We can’t count on Sect Master Xu’s icy face. As long as Lord Yuchi of the Sword Sect comes out…”
As long as he could get in touch with his former companion, Yuchi Rui, and shed some tears of regret while apologizing, even if Xu Shuangce knew he had come back to life in another body, there was nothing he could do. Could he still bring him back to suffer the consequences personally?
Suddenly, he felt something behind his head, a chill creeping into his heart from behind.
Gong Wei’s expression changed, instinctively dodging, and his scapula instantly felt cold!
“…” He gasped and lowered his gaze, only to see a red sword tip protruding from his left shoulder, followed by a gush of blood.
The fierce ghost hadn’t left!
The sudden turn of events caught them off guard, and Gong Wei’s ears rang, as if time had infinitely elongated.
He saw his blood drip down the sword tip and fall to the ground in strings, saw the fierce ghost’s grim gray robe rise by his side, saw Yuchi Xiao’s expression change from confusion to astonishment to disbelief.
Then, Yuchi Xiao erupted in fury, grabbing him and pulling him behind him, a sky-shaking sword strike towards the ghostly figure!
Gong Wei’s knees collided with the ground, gripping Bai Tai Shou to support his body, gritting his teeth without making a sound.
The ghostly figure lost Bai Tai Shou, but from somewhere, it drew out a red sword, entirely crimson, as if a layer of blood membrane was wrapped around the surface of the sword for some unknown reason. Yuchi Xiao, full of rage, although unable to see the ghostly figure, relied on his keen hearing to discern its position, and they fought evenly matched. Several times, the ghostly figure almost lunged at Gong Wei behind him, only to be forcibly pushed back by Yuchi Xiao. Becoming increasingly ferocious, it suddenly reached out towards Gong Wei across the space.
Bai Tai Shou instantly sensed it, but Gong Wei had no strength left to control it. He could only watch as it turned into ashes in his palm and disappeared on the spot—
Thunk.
Losing the only support, Gong Wei fell to the ground in exhaustion, seeing blood gushing out of the wound, quickly pooling into a small puddle of blood on the grass.
The next moment, Bai Tai Shou appeared out of thin air in the hands of the ghostly figure, and both swords slashed towards Yuchi Xiao, the situation instantly reversed!
In the blink of an eye, a sweet fragrance wafted in on the wind.
Gong Wei widened his eyes in astonishment.
—Only to see drops of blood falling from his fingertips, dripping into a nameless swaying wildflower beside him. The stigma seemed to have been scorched for a moment, and then several crisscrossing red lines, like blood vessels, extended in all directions, emitting a crimson light and disappearing into the earth.
Suddenly, trees all over the mountains and fields burst into bloom.
Peach blossoms budded, bloomed, and opened their stamens, crimson clouds spreading to the distance, layer upon layer extending into the sea. Inside and outside the gates of the royal mansion, in the streets and alleys of thousands of households, the wind stirred up countless peach blossoms, reflecting the amazement in everyone’s eyes.
The peach blossoms that had disappeared from the world for sixteen years bloomed overnight.
***
Cangyang Mountain, Heaven Extreme Tower.
A nine-story tall tower, with deep bronze eaves and a sky so close you could almost touch it.
In the quiet hall, countless illusions intertwined and overlapped, slowly revolving around the high platform. Upon closer inspection, it was the geographical features of mountains and rivers, rivers and villages, and the tiny figures of pedestrians and carriages were clearly visible, with three thousand worlds microscopically presented here, like the sun and moon in a fairy’s pot, extremely mysterious.
On the jade throne of the high platform, Xu Shuangce, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes and reached out to flick in the air.
One of the countless illusions enlarged with his movement, revealing a bustling nine-story capital city, with large patches of crimson clouds spreading rapidly throughout the entire city, which turned out to be Linjiang City.
“Peach disaster?” a disciple guard in the hall exclaimed in disbelief, unable to trust his own eyes. “H-How could it be a peach disaster?!”
The various noble families in the north had once used “peach disaster” to refer to Gong Wei—but the eerie and insidious Grand Elder of the Punishment Hall, who had always opposed the Cangyang Sect, had been dead for sixteen years!
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a chill down his spine as Xu Shuangce glanced at him with an indistinct meaning. The disciple’s knees went weak, unable to apologize for his loss of composure in time. Sect Master Xu strode down from the high platform, his robe fluttering with each step, and the three thousand illusions of the world converged into his sleeves, magnificent and grand.
Standing at the edge of the hundred-foot-high jade railing, he reached out his hand and said in a deep voice, “No Way Out.”
A sword’s cold light whistled from the direction of the Xuanji Palace, gripped in his palm. Then, he soared on his sword, like a shooting star cutting through the sky, heading towards Linjiang City—
“The sect master is coming out of seclusion!”
“We respectfully welcome the sect master out of seclusion!”
Disciples along the way bowed down one after another, some shocked, some fearful, but more excited and curious.
Xu Shuangce rarely left Cangyang Mountain. In his early years, he only appeared for major events, and in recent years, he rarely showed himself in public. As the magnificent aura of the No Way Out Sword swept across the sky, this news also spread like wildfire in the excitement and fear of the people, quickly spreading throughout the entire cultivation world.
Where is Sect Master Xu going?
What happened in Linjiang City?
—In the blink of an eye, a thousand miles of mountains and rivers changed. No Way Out, like a golden lightning bolt, plunged downward. At the moment of crossing over the towering city walls, a sea of splendid peach blossoms rushed toward him.
Xu Shuangce’s sword eyebrows slightly furrowed, and suddenly he flicked his hand, throwing a golden tassel embroidered with the character “Xu” into the city of Linjiang.
The next moment, an invisible protective barrier, imperceptible to ordinary people, rose from the ground, surrounding the immense Linjiang City from all directions. It soared high into the sky, reaching up to the heavens, and beneath the celestial dome, a majestic “Xu” emerged, reminiscent of a formation of spears and halberds!
“Xu Shuangce has sealed Linjiang City?”
Daishan Immortal Alliance, within the Chenshu Palace, a tall, dark-clothed man frowned. His face was handsome and gentle, but at this moment, he looked incredulous and asked again, “Did he use the ‘Great Vehicle Seal’?”
The disciple who had just rushed in to report bowed and said, “Yes, Sect Master, it’s the Great Vehicle Seal, confirmed without error.”
The man in dark clothing was none other than Venerable Wuyuan, who had ruled the Immortal Alliance for many years, Ying Kai.
As the name implies, the Great Vehicle Seal is an immortal treasure that can only be used by masters who have broken through the Golden Core stage and reached the Great immortalization realm. It is used for marking. Wherever there is unrest or disturbance, as long as a master drops the Great Vehicle Seal, it means that he has marked this place and this matter as within his protection range. All actions are decided by him alone, and any dangers that arise are solely his responsibility.
This is to avoid disputes arising from the multitude of voices in decision-making, and also to allow all major masters to use their secret techniques without reservation. According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, before the turmoil is resolved, other masters cannot easily enter the territory protected by the Great Vehicle Seal.
“Report—! Alliance Leader!” Another disciple hurriedly entered the hall, holding up a glowing transmission token. “The Sword Sect Master of Yejinmen requests an audience!”
Ying Kai raised his hand, and the token flew into the air. The ground, made of blue jade tiles, suddenly spread out a thousand-mile display array, and a young man dressed in arrow-sleeved robes with dark gold arm guards and light armor appeared in the array. His appearance was somewhat similar to Yuchi Xiao’s, but several years older, with colder and more handsome features. He was none other than Yuchi Rui, one of the “one men, two zun, three zong” of the current era—the Sword Sect Master.
Ying Kai’s heart faintly rose with a bad premonition. “What happened, Changsheng?”
“Linjiang City. The ghost cultivator has appeared. Many casualties.”
Yuchi Rui had been taciturn since he was young, speaking succinctly and directly, often bouncing off a few words at a time. Then, the next sentence made everyone present change their color:
“The entire city is filled with peach blossoms, a strange phenomenon has occurred.”
—At the same time, in Linjiang City.
The ghost cultivator seemed stunned, and Yuchi Xiao took the opportunity to force it back with a sword, at the same time retreating several meters and standing in front of Gong Wei. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a hemostatic holy medicine, pouring it over the wound on Gong Wei’s left shoulder, saying urgently, “Are you alright?! What’s going on with these peach blossoms?”
“…I don’t know,” Gong Wei hoarsely replied.
An increasingly intense tremor was rising from his spine, seemingly foreshadowing something ominous. Soon, he felt a familiar piercing pain in the left side of his chest, as if he were once again being pierced by some sharp, icy blade.
It was No Way Out.
The city filled with peach blossoms was just like sixteen years ago, disturbing the person he least wanted to see again in his life!
Yuchi Xiao looked up into the distance. “Sect Master Xu?!”
Gong Wei’s mind went blank, instinctively stepping back, but the intense pain was already approaching in an instant—
Rushing sword qi shattered mountains and split seas, and a figure descended from the sky, standing with a sword in hand, with a cold expression. It was Xu Shuangce!
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