Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 580 Innate Sword Heart
In front of the dilapidated main hall of the Snow Cloud Sect.

The divine flame that ignited at Zhang Yuan's fingertips illuminated the old man's empty eye sockets. "Tell me, why did the Seven Profound Sword Pavilion slaughter your entire family?"

The old man's remnant soul suddenly trembled violently, and black Dao patterns spilled from his broken lips as they opened and closed.

This is not a demonic method, but an obstruction of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

The remnant soul is separated from the living being; even with Zhang Yuan's power to communicate with the underworld, he cannot truly break through this barrier.

The workings of nature follow their own rules.

Capturing souls and communicating with the spirits are already violations of the rules.

The old man standing in front of Zhang Yuan was a distorted phantom, his face showing pain. Just as he was about to speak, nine beams of azure lightning struck down from the surging dark clouds.

"Noisy."

Zhang Yuan's face showed impatience. He clenched his left hand, which was hanging down, and threw a punch.

When the crimson lightning snake touched Zhang Yuan's hair, it was twisted into countless stardust by the Crimson Dragon Rope.

Back in Qingtianzhou, Zhang Yuan used the power of thunder to temper his body.

What are these mere tribulation lightning bolts for the souls of the dead?
With a punch, Zhang Yuan shattered the lightning, and raised the Autumn Cold Blade in his right hand.

He clenched his fist, and the Autumn Cold Longsword resounded with a thunderous roar. The sword intent on it intertwined with the power of the Great Dao, transforming into a dark sword light that flashed and disappeared.

With Zhang Yuanxiu's swordsmanship reaching its pinnacle, and further enhanced by the power of the Heavenly Dao contained in the longsword bestowed by the Emperor, the Autumn Cold Blade had not yet been drawn when the churning thunderclouds in the eastern sky were cleaved open by the Soaring Blade Intent.

As the first ray of sunlight pierced through the cloud-covered cave and illuminated Gu Changfeng's remnant soul, the old man finally raised his transparent finger and slowly pointed to the faintly visible buildings on the opposite bank of Egret Island, outlining four characters with his fingertip.

"Born with the heart of a swordsman."

……

The sound of horses' hooves shattered the hustle and bustle of the streets. People stood on the eaves of their houses to watch the black war cavalry gallop away and the blue double-drawn carriages speed off.

The wooden cart frame rolled over the bluestone slabs. The old man at the street corner steamed bun stall gripped the rolling pin and muttered, "The Black Riders from the Black Ice Guard have come three times already. Could it be that they want to investigate the bloodshed at White Frost Tower that night?"

"When the entire Xueyun Sect was slaughtered, the sword light in the sky was denser than the fireworks on New Year's Eve." The porter squatting under the eaves of the teahouse spat out a mouthful of tea dregs. "I heard that a sword immortal from the Wei Kingdom came to steal some treasure."

"Hey, I heard that Marquis Qingyang is going to stay in the Eastern Territory. He's a man of great integrity and righteousness. If he really stays in the Eastern Territory, we common folk might have a better life." A tall, sword-wielding warrior looked at the fluttering banner passing by and spoke in a deep voice.

Suddenly, an old woman's trembling voice pierced the clamor outside the carriage: "With Marquis Qingyang here, the sky over our Donghan County will not fall! The Marquis has slain those evil Taoists from Xuanwei Temple, and my youngest son finally dares to travel at night!"

A wooden frame was parked on the side of the street.

Sunlight filtering through the curtains shone on the scabbard of Qiu Han's sword on Zhang Yuan's knees. A tense voice, mixed with the discussions outside the carriage, came from outside: "Reporting to the Marquis, on the eve of the Xueyun Sect's annihilation, Bai Shuang Lou in Bailu Town received a cargo ship at Bailuzhou Wharf."

"Three days ago, Bai Shuang Lou was ambushed and killed, including the staff and manager."

The person speaking stood outside the car, looking reserved.

His name is Sun Cai, and he is the manager of the Sun Family Restaurant in Bailu Town.

This is his public identity; he also has another identity: a secret agent of the Great Qin Black Ice Guard.

As a secret agent of the Black Ice Guard, he was just a nobody stationed in Bailu Town.

He never imagined that he would one day be reporting directly to Marquis Qingyang.

Zhang Yuan narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Do you know who did it?"

Sun Cai said in a low voice, "When the White Frost Tower caught fire, I personally investigated and saw the Zhou family guards from Donghan County..."

He said no more.

Martial arts families are as numerous as hairs on a cow in the Eastern Territory. Families that are renowned in a prefecture possess immense power and influence, and have many powerful members.

Such families are deeply rooted in the Eastern Territory, and a single move from them can have far-reaching consequences.

Inside the carriage, Zhang Yuan placed his palm on Qiu Han's long sword.

Gu Qingzhou, a newly promoted disciple of the Snow Cloud Sect, possesses a "natural sword heart." With such talent, he does not need any cultivation techniques to guide him; he can understand all the ways of the sword simply by communicating with the sword intent.

Five hundred years ago, Yang Qingfeng, a sword master who roamed Yongtian Continent, possessed such a clear sword mind, and at the young age of twenty, his sword skills dominated three continents.

Although Yang Qingfeng ultimately perished in his battle against the powerful demonic cultivators of Tengzhou, his legend endures.

According to the message conveyed by Gu Changfeng's remnant soul from the Xueyun Sect, the Seven Profound Sword Pavilion's annihilation of the Xueyun Sect concealed two layers of murderous intent.

One reason was to snatch Gu Qingzhou, who possessed a natural swordsmanship.

Secondly, it was to seize the fragments of the "Nine Heavens Sword Manual" secretly kept by the Snow Cloud Sect. This golden scroll was a priceless treasure that had fallen into the mortal world from the Sword Tomb of Yangtian Continent. If the Seven Profound Sword Pavilion offered this item to the Blood Demon Sect, it could obtain the assistance of three Grandmasters of the Demonic Path from across the border.

The Yunxue Sect was targeted by the Seven Profound Sword Pavilion more than ten years ago, and many spies were planted there.

"The Zhou family..."

Zhang Yuan beckoned, and Yin Jiuyou presented him with a pale blue jade pendant.

The information recorded in this jade pendant is about the noble families of the Eastern Territory.

Zhang Yuan probed the jade pendant with his divine sense, his eyes slowly narrowing, revealing a profound depth.

"Send a message to Young Master Tao."

"Destroy the Zhou family."

----------------------

Eastern Border Army Camp.

As the flying sand swept past the iron chains of the gate, Zhou Dingyue's knuckles turned white as he gripped the transfer order.

The sounds of drills from the distant training ground, mixed with the sand and dust, drifted over. The youngest lieutenant of the Zhou family's collateral branch had just removed his black iron wrist guards when he was invited to the council tent.

"General Zhou, come with us." The three men in black robes had icicle patterns embroidered on their black robes that shimmered with a bluish-gray hue in the sunlight.

The man in the lead slipped half of an ebony ruler from his sleeve, and the character "镇" (zhen, meaning town) carved on the end of the ruler caused the pupils of the guards in front of the tent to shrink abruptly.

Black Ice Platform, the Heavenly Guardian.

Zhou Dingyue slammed the transfer order on the table and sneered, "I just received the transfer order to be promoted to the position of Assistant Commander of the Flying Cavalry Battalion. You dogs of the Black Ice Guard—"

"laugh!"

The ebony ruler grazed his ear and pierced the desk, shattering the seven-inch-thick ironwood desk into dust from the force of the ruler's energy.

The power of the master!

The Black Ice Platform sent a Grandmaster directly!
The flying wood chips drew blood from Zhou Dingyue's face, while the black-robed leader conjured a three-zhang-long phantom of the Styx River in his palm: "By order of Marquis Qingyang, capture the Zhou family members."

The three men in black robes trembled with aura, and their surging malevolent energy condensed into faint shadows of a grotto.

Master of the Profound Realm!

One Dongxuan, two Vajra!

The sound of clashing armor came from outside the tent, and more than a dozen guards with crossbows surrounded the tent.

Zhou Dingyue gripped the "Broken Army Blade" at his waist, gritting his teeth as he spoke: "This general is a border army commander. If you want to arrest me, it requires approval from the Ministry of War. What right does your Black Ice Guard have—"

Before the words were finished, nine ice chains shot out from the leader of the black-robed men, and blood-red runes appeared on the black iron chains that wrapped around the military tent.

The moment Zhou Dingyue's sword flashed against the ice lock, his body flew backward, spitting out blood.

He was a Vajra Realm Grandmaster, yet he couldn't withstand a single blow from his opponent.

The leader in black robes stepped out of the main tent with his hands behind his back, looking at the soldiers protecting Zhou Dingyue and the officers who had rushed over upon hearing the news: "The Marquis of Qingyang has ordered that anyone who obstructs the enforcement of the law shall be punished as a traitor!"

His gaze fell on several military officers clad in armor. The man in black robes raised his hand, and a black jade tiger tally hovered in his palm.

The Armor and Tiger Tally of the Martial Guard!
"When this family came, Marquis Qingyang instructed that the knife in his hand would not discriminate between people."

The black-robed man's voice was gentle, yet it seemed to come from the depths of the abyss.

In front of the main tent, the generals looked at each other, their expressions shifting.

"Remove General Zhou's armor—no, remove the armor of Zhou the Rebel!" An old figure walked over and shouted.

Upon seeing the white-haired old general, the crowd immediately felt reassured and rushed forward to pull Zhou Dingyue up and strip him of his armor.

The man in black robes raised his hand and used ice locks to restrain the pale-faced Zhou Dingyue. Then he looked at the white-haired old general and said, "Lord Chenyang, Marquis Qingyang said that you can rest assured, Lord, that he will only question the Zhou family and will not implicate anyone else."

After saying that, he waved his hand and led the squad of black-clad riders guarding outside the tent away.

The old general looked at Zhou Dingyue, who was being dragged out of the camp by the ice lock, and placed his palm on the slightly trembling Azure Dragon Halberd. His expression changed, and he said in a low voice: "Send an order to all camps that all members of the Zhou family be immediately relieved of their military command and detained for trial."

The generals exchanged glances, clasped their hands in greeting, bowed, and turned back.

Looking up at the distant sky, the white-haired old general murmured, "The sky over the Eastern Territory is about to change."

(End of this chapter)