Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 10 Interception
……

When Song Yan entered the sect, he did not bring Xiao He with him, mainly because he knew nothing about cultivation at that time and was worried that the sect would not tolerate demons.

Unexpectedly, immortal sects even raise spirit beasts and demons, which put my mind at ease.

Of course, we'll bring Xiaohe with us on this trip down the mountain.

Xiao He was a little green snake spirit he met in the mountains when he was a child, when he went up the mountain with his grandfather to collect herbs. At that time, it had just gained sentience, and Song Yan was the first human she had ever seen.

Grandpa said Xiaohe is a monster.

He also said that not all monsters are evil.

Just as there are wicked and criminal people among humans, there are also "good demons" among monsters who are cold-faced but warm-hearted and do good deeds.

Song Yan thought her grandfather was right.

Xiao He is a good demon.

However, looking back now, Song Yan wondered how her grandfather had been able to tell at a glance that Xiao He was a monster...

Inside the thatched hut, Xiao He scurried into the bed that Song Yan had just made, its tail tugging at the blankets. A muffled sound came from under the covers, interrupting Song Yan's thoughts: "Go to sleep, I'm so sleepy."

According to Xiaohe, they should still be hibernating in March.

"Go to sleep first."

"No! It's too cold in bed. You won't get warm unless you lie down."

Do snakes also feel cold?

"..."

Despite saying it was sleepy, the little snake tossed and turned and didn't get any proper sleep at all.

The thought of Yan Yan taking her out to play made Xu Youhe so happy that she couldn't sleep.

If Song Yan could sense it, then this feeling would be just like the night before his first school field trip in elementary school.

Unfortunately, he was completely immersed in practicing the nameless incantation.

This space is only black and white, much like the Yin and Yang yin and yang, so Song Yan cleverly called it the "Yin and Yang Realm".

In just one day, his divine sense was naturally not as strong as that of the Thirteen Steles, but he still found something different.

As his divine sense grew stronger, Song Yan seemed to be able to vaguely make out the first few small characters on the stone tablet in the boundary.

"five……"

"star……"

"catch……"

……

"Five-Star Pulse Grasping..."

What a peculiar name.

Song Yan pondered, trying to recall carefully, but had never heard of it before.

It was still the twelfth stele, but his divine sense could not continue, and he was blasted out of the Yin-Yang boundary by the thirteenth stele.

"call……"

Take a deep breath.

This time, the splitting headache didn't occur; I only felt a little mentally fatigued.

"Could it be that his spiritual consciousness has improved again?"

Song Yan was overjoyed.

While one can use elixirs and spirit-gathering formations to aid in the cultivation of spiritual power, there is absolutely no shortcut to strengthening one's divine sense.

Or rather, this incomplete Five-Star Pulse-Catching Manual is already the shortcut among shortcuts.

Song Yan is a content person.

From this perspective, even if this is the only fragment of the training manual for divine consciousness in the Yin-Yang Realm, he is already quite fortunate.

His powerful divine sense would grant him many advantages, but what if, in the future, there was truly no hope for the Great Dao...?

Alchemy, weapon crafting, formations, talismans...

He can't possibly starve to death in this world of cultivation.

"Ok?"

With a thought, Song Yan took out a light purple talisman from his Qiankun bag.

A slight purple light flickered, and three points of light appeared before our eyes.

Song Yan frowned slightly.

"I haven't even investigated yet, and it's delivered itself to my door..."

This purple talisman doesn't belong to him.

This is a tracking talisman issued by the sect, mainly to ensure that these cultivators truly leave the Shiliang area.

When the mission is completed, it will still have to be returned. The sect will keep it for several months by a designated elder before the aura on it is completely erased.

"Xiao He, wake up and come out with me."

"Uh-huh?"

The little snake, its excitement just fading and about to drift off to sleep, was shaken awake by Song Yan. Peeking out from under the covers, it flicked its tongue, somewhat annoyed: "Where are you going so late at night...?"

"Beat up bad guys."

"it is good!"

The snake slipped into his sleeve, and Song Yan rose and left the thatched hut.

……

At the summit of Xiaogushan Mountain, a waterfall cascades down a precipice.

A mountain breeze, carrying the damp scent of grass and trees, wafted towards us.

Song Yan sat cross-legged, a blue-gold longsword hanging across his lap, his fingertips caressing the cool purple talisman in his sleeve.

The three points of light on the purple talisman flickered on and off, like fireflies in the pitch-black night.

"About thirty zhang..."

For cultivators, it's within reach.

Song Yan stood up, his fingertips gently tracing the blade of the sword.

"Lu Xiaowei's protective jade talisman is broken, and the remaining two are only at the first level of Qi Refining."

"Xiao He, what level have you reached now?"

"I do not know……"

A faint, indistinct voice came from within the sleeve: "I have never fought with a human cultivator."

Song Yan didn't know much about demons either.

However, logically speaking, since Xiao He is already able to transform into human form, dealing with two cultivators at the first level of Qi Refining should not be a problem, right?

He flicked his finger to extinguish the talisman fire, and a green snake snaked out from his sleeve.

"Yan Yan, you're already at the fifth level of Qi Refining, what's there to be afraid of? You could beat them all by yourself."

Song Yan shook his head.

"When lions and elephants hunt rabbits, they use their full strength. In the battles between cultivators, a single careless move can lead to death and the annihilation of one's cultivation."

"Besides..."

"I have never sensed the aura emanating from those three people in anyone else."

"Although his spiritual power level is low, he exudes a sinister aura..."

"During the day, one of them had a copper bell hanging from his waist. When I got close to Lu Xiaowei, I could smell the stench of corpse oil."

He learned medicine from his grandfather from a young age, having lived two lives. He was precocious and showed amazing talent in medicine at the age of eleven or twelve.

In addition, he had a good relationship with Sheng Nian and Constable Ling, and often helped the coroner of the yamen examine corpses, so he was very familiar with this smell.

"..."

"I've seen it in the sect's records..."

"Magic artifacts like copper bells are suitable for cultivation techniques and spells, such as illusion magic, corpse driving, spirit summoning, and soul disturbance..."

"Senior Brother Zhao said that during the few days they were there, three people from Yunding Village went missing on their way back to the village..."

Song Yan's expression was cold.

"They acted suspiciously, abducted a woman, and even injured Officer Ling. If the disappearance of the villagers is related to these three..."

His eyes narrowed, revealing a dangerous aura.

"Kill them all right here today."

Song Yan is a kind person, but that doesn't mean he's gentle.

Quite the opposite.

My grandfather once said that he hated evil and acted bravely and recklessly. If he did not learn some skills to cultivate his character, he would probably break easily due to his extreme rigidity.

Before joining the sect, a notorious martial artist had wandered to Shiliang.

Based solely on a rumor circulating in the martial arts world about the immortal sects, that man slaughtered all 124 members of the Qingyuan Lin family overnight.

And this person died at the hands of two teenagers, Song Yan and Sheng Nian.

With his divine sense spreading out, he could clearly see every rustle of grass and the wind in the valley.

Mixed with the sound of the waterfall, the curses grew closer.

"Senior brother, if that man surnamed Song was prepared in advance, then..."

"No matter how skilled he is, at most he is only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. His spiritual power is insufficient to support him in using magic weapons to attack from a great distance, and his divine sense is no different from ours."

"During the day, we were only worried about alerting the enemy. Now that it's dark and windy, we can just kidnap that constable surnamed Sheng and escape. With the treasure bestowed by our master, what is there to be afraid of?"

jingle……

The monk with the bell hanging from his waist suddenly stopped, a look of doubt on his face.

"Senior brother, why is the ghost bell ringing..."

Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, vines burst forth from the ground beneath his feet, sprang up like venomous snakes, and instantly wrapped around his ankles.

(End of this chapter)