Embers of Sword

Chapter 5
"I really am 'old'."

Xie Xuanyi weighed the umbrella sword in his hand, looked at the blood-stained mountain, and laughed at himself in his heart.

If it were back then, even without the natal sword, why would it take a second strike to kill such an evil cultivator?

Just point.

Now he swung out two swords, but only broke one of his arms.

“Heh…ha…”

The barren mountain was covered with weeds and stained with blood. The Taoist priest Chongwu, who had lost half his life, was crawling on the ground like a wild dog, his body covered in blood. He tried his best to grab a huge rock, sat up, turned around, and gasped for breath.

Taoist Chongwu knew that he was doomed.

This sword seemed to only break an arm, but in fact, the extremely sharp sword energy had already penetrated into the internal organs and reached the dantian within a few breaths.

Soon, his qi sea will be torn and shredded.

Before he died, he just wanted to see the other person's face clearly and find out who this great Bodhisattva who came to Yuzhu Town for no reason was.

Xie Xuanyi fulfilled his wish and inserted the "unparalleled sharp" paper umbrella into the mud.

"You really want to know who I am?"

Xie Xuanyi walked slowly to the front of Taoist Chongwu and squatted down.

Eyes facing each other.

Taoist Chongwu, who kept coughing up blood, looked at the young man in confusion.

"……Who are you?"

"My last name is Xie, which means thank you."

Xie Xuanyi spoke lightly.

Just this one word of thank you made the Taoist Chongwu, who was sitting dejectedly, tremble suddenly, as if he was struck by lightning.

In Chongwu's mind, a face that had terrified him for half his life popped up.

"Da Sui Sword Palace...Xie Xuanyi?"

He uttered the horrible name in a trembling voice.

Chong Wu stared at the young man in front of him, his face turning paler than paper: "Impossible, Xie Xuanyi is dead...ten years ago, he died in the North Sea."

"The White Ghost chased me for three thousand miles. He only gave up after he saw my heart meridians severed, my innate sword energy ignited, and I fell into the North Sea."

Xie Xuanyi said word by word: "Among the guys who chased me back then, he contributed the most. It can be seen that Yinshan really wanted me to die, but unfortunately, I didn't die."

"How is it possible, how is it possible?"

Chong Wu couldn't believe what he saw, and his breathing became rapid.

Staring at this strange yet familiar face, Chong Wu discovered that Xie Xuanyi's face at this moment seemed different from what he remembered.

Ten years have passed...the young swordsman who should have died not only did not die, but became even younger!

After staring for a while, Chong Wu discovered something very ironic. The young man in front of him was not much ahead of him in realm and deliberately concealed his vital energy, but his body was empty and there was not a trace of vital energy.

This is an empty shell.

The reason why he was able to severely injure himself and kill the monsters under his command... was simply because Xie Xuanyi knew too much about "sword energy". Even if he did not have Yuanli in his body as a catalyst, he could still mobilize the power of heaven and earth.

This discovery confirmed the identity of "Xie Xuanyi".

Because in the whole world, there are very few sword practitioners who have cultivated sword energy to this level.

The heavy fog suddenly became aware of it and a huge regret arose in my heart...

Ninety-nine percent of practitioners in the world need Yuanli to fight.

If the physical body is the container of a lake, then the energy is the water droplets in this container.

A sword cultivator without Yuanli is nothing but a paper tiger, an empty shell. Even a sword immortal like Xie Xuanyi, who can borrow the power of heaven and earth as sword energy, is not as scary as imagined.

If it happened again, and he chose to fight instead of running away... perhaps he would have a chance to survive.

He even had a chance to fight back!

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap shattered his fantasy.

Xie Xuanyi squatted in front of the half-dead Chongwu Taoist, slapped him, and said lightly: "Hey, wake up, it's not time to die yet."

"……you!"

Taoist Chongwu dared to be angry but not to speak.

He gnashed his teeth and said, "Since you are Xie Xuanyi, I only wish to die quickly!"

If Xie Xuanyi were still alive, the entire Da Chu would be shocked when this news spread!
Ten years ago, the sensational siege and killing incident was so huge and large-scale that it was an "event" that had not been seen in sixty years.

On the first day after Xie Xuanyi's death, Beihai was turned upside down.

Countless people can't sleep at night.

They could not accept the ending that Xie Xuanyi was still alive, because they knew the character of this killer. If Xie Xuanyi was still alive, all the people involved in this killing would be liquidated!

Until a year passed, Da Chu was peaceful and nothing happened.

These people can barely sleep peacefully.

Taoist Chongwu knew very well what kind of "bad luck" he had encountered today. Knowing that Xie Xuanyi was still alive, he would not survive anyway. "Of course you will die, but not now."

Xie Xuanyi said coldly: "I know that the Yinshan demon cultivators like to huddle together for warmth and usually never leave the southern border, but Jiayong Pass is a full ten thousand miles away from Yinshan. Why would Master Jinyuan send you to such a place?"

"..."

Chong Wu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and looked ready to die.

hum!
Xie Xuanyi raised his hand as usual, and the paper umbrella that was stuck in the mud in the distance suddenly pulled out of the ground and drilled into his palm. He swung the sword hard and nailed the paper umbrella into the shoulder of Taoist Chongwu. He used so much force that the tip of the umbrella protruded from the back of the boulder!

"what……"

Beads of sweat the size of beans oozed out of Taoist Chongwu's forehead. At this moment, he didn't even have the strength to scream. He just opened his mouth and groaned in pain, as if he was going to vomit out his soul.

"I know Yinshan and the monks of Yinshan better than anyone else in the world. You are second to those who are afraid of death, and no one is first."

Xie Xuanyi said, "If you are a stubborn person, then just keep silent. Doesn't Yinshan usually like to peel off the skin and bones, refine weapons and set up formations? This time it's your turn, I will let you experience the feeling of 'living a life worse than death'."

Say it.

Xie Xuanyi grasped the handle of the paper umbrella and was about to pull it out slowly——

The veins on Chongwu Taoist's forehead bulged, and he shouted in a mournful voice: "I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!"

Xie Xuanyi stopped drawing his sword and smiled to signal that the heavy fog could begin.

"The reason why I came to Yuzhu Town is because Yinshan has no room for me. In addition to me, there are many Yinshan disciples who have been expelled from Southern Xinjiang. If we want to survive, we can only go north and escape from Dachu."

Chong Wu's words were full of joking as he spoke later: "The Yinshan Mountain today is no longer as glorious as it was in the past. It is surrounded by enemies and is in a difficult situation, so it is forced to close the mountain... In this respect, it is very similar to the Dasui Sword Palace."

“Why is Yinshan Mountain closed?”

Hearing the sarcasm, Xie Xuanyi continued to exert force and slowly turned the umbrella handle.

Taoist Chongwu was sweating like raindrops. He gritted his teeth and spoke faster, continuing to sneer: "Perhaps the price Yinshan paid to kill you was too high? A lot of things have happened in recent years... Many new forces have appeared in the southern border. In a place where the laws of Dachu cannot shine, it is naturally the law of the jungle. If you can't win, you can only retreat and defend. As for the real reason for closing the mountain, I am just a disciple who has not even reached the Cave Heaven Realm. You ask me this question, do you think I know?"

"..."

Xie Xuanyi knew what Chong Wu meant by this.

Provoke yourself to a quick death.

He nodded and said, "Forget that you are just a small follower."

Chongwu closed his eyes again, preparing to face death.

But the next moment, Xie Xuanyi's voice made him open his eyes.

"You seem to have not yet explained the 'real reason' for forming a formation to practice in Yuzhu Town."

Xie Xuanyi said softly: "As you said before, as an evil cultivator, you were expelled from the sect. If you want to survive, you can only go north and escape from Da Chu... This makes sense, but Yuzhu Town is still within the territory of Da Chu."

"A disciple from Yinshan who has not even reached the Cave Heaven Realm has traveled thousands of miles to the northern border. If he wants to survive, why doesn't he go a little further north? If he goes a little further north, he can completely escape the constraints of the Great Chu Law and be free and unfettered."

Chongwu's heart was touched and his face turned pale.

"If it is for cultivation, why do you need to meditate in this place where your vitality is exhausted?"

Xie Xuanyi lowered his eyebrows and smiled, saying, "After thinking about it, there is only one possibility... You originally wanted to go north with those 'brothers' and escape from Da Chu. But when you passed through Yuzhu Town, you found something full of temptation. This thing made you hesitate, and finally you decided to stay here."

"What kind of good fortune could there be in this place where vitality is exhausted that would make you stay here at all costs? Is it a sage's cave that has never been seen before, or an elixir that can help you ascend quickly?"

Xie Xuanyi stared at Taoist Chongwu.

He shook his head and said calmly, "I don't think so. With your strength, you may see the fortune in the sage's cave, but you won't be able to get it. As for the latter, if there really is a panacea, you wouldn't be in your current state."

Killing someone, but also killing your heart? !
Such naked humiliation caused a blush to appear on Taoist Chongwu’s pale face.

He really wanted to use this last burst of strength to fight a life or death battle with Xie Xuanyi.

But it's a pity.

He had no strength left, not even to move a little finger.

"After thinking it over, the only possibility is that you have encountered good fortune in the art of controlling spirits..."

Xie Xuanyi stood up, looked down at the dying man, and spoke with a smile.

"Everyone in the world says that Bai Gui was able to achieve the position of the Three Saints of Yinshan Mountain because of luck. It was only because when he was still at a low level, he picked up a half-dead 'earth dragon' and signed a spirit control contract with it, which led to his subsequent success... This kind of luck is hard to come by in a hundred years, or even a thousand years."

this moment.

Taoist Chongwu's face turned pale again out of control.

He wanted to say something.

But it was too late.

Countless sword energies flowed along the blood, penetrated into the Dantian, and tore apart the Qi Sea. Countless complicated pictures burst out in Taoist Chongwu's mind, and these memories flashed by like a passing show.

At this moment, he can no longer distinguish between reality and illusion...

A moment later, Xie Xuanyi folded his arms, stood in the heavy rain, looking in the direction that Chong Wu had looked before he died, as if thinking about something.

It is the "highest place" surrounded by mountains.

The night ends and the day dawns.

A ray of sunlight tore through the clouds, shot out from the haze, and fell straight to the top of the mountain.

　Thanks to Sister Ziyu for being the leader~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)