Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 267 "Work A"

Kill someone with a borrowed knife?
Song Yan raised an eyebrow.

"..."

Ok……

Yeah.

The hidden killing intent was like a demon in his heart; this kind of thing lurking in the shadows always made Song Yan feel uncomfortable.

It's better to see it for yourself; that will bring you peace of mind.

"Elder Yang, I will naturally follow your instructions."

Xu Ziqing said, "However, as for Song Yan or the other disciples, whether they stay here or return to the sect with the two elders, we still need to ask them for their own opinions."

He's right.

Song Yan, like Xu Ziqing and Li Yi, is now a disciple of Bamo Peak and should, in principle, be directly under the jurisdiction of the sect leader.

Song Yan has the right to choose his next course of action.

In fact, staying here and participating in the purge of the Hu family wouldn't take long.

If what the elders say is true, then the collusion with demonic cultivators is irrefutable, with undeniable evidence...

Then perhaps half a day would be enough.

Including the trivial matters such as dividing up its resources, it will take at most three days.

The Hu and Yang families on Longtan Mountain are both affiliated with the Xuanyuan Sect, so the majority of the profits could not possibly fall into the hands of the Dongyuan Sect.

It'll probably just be a token gesture then; Elder Xu Ziqing should be well aware of that.

Upon hearing this, Yang Wenxuan frowned and looked at Song Yan: "What's your opinion?"

A smile suddenly appeared on Song Yan's lips.

"This disciple will naturally obey."

That day, he had already drawn his sword, yet he still believed that it could kill him.

Jin Dan was someone Yang Wenxuan couldn't persuade to join.

Below the Golden Core stage...

With that secret technique as a safety net, and Elder Xu Ziqing by my side, I shouldn't die.

Perhaps, this time, we can use Yang Wenxuan to figure out a lot of things.

It solved many problems.

A hint of danger flashed in Song Yan's eyes.

Let's take a look.

What other demons and monsters are still around us...?

Seeing Song Yan's reaction, Yang Wenxuan was slightly taken aback, but felt somewhat relieved.

With the Foundation Establishment cultivators Xu Ziqing and Song Yan already confirmed, the Qi Refining cultivators will be confirmed soon as well.

After all, apart from Shao Sichao, who was a rather timid Qi Refining cultivator, the other disciples, even if they were dissatisfied, would not voice any objections.

A moment later, the list of all the disciples remaining here was finalized.

Han Yuan, Kong You, Lin Qing, Zhao Xuan, and Chen Chen.

All other cultivators, including the disciples who attended the ceremony, were to return to their sect with the two elders that same day.

This time, after much deliberation, Song Yan decided to let Xiao Ju return to the sect with everyone else.

With the demonic invasion underway, I might have to rush to the front lines in the future and wouldn't have time to attend to anything else.

With Xiao Ju's current cultivation level, coupled with his status as my disciple, he is more than qualified to join the Dongyuan Sect, which would provide him with some protection.

Moreover, she has already been taught and guided on all the things from the Sword Sect that she is currently able to cultivate.

Every swordsman has their own path to follow; if they remain forever under their own protection, they will never grow.

Back in the cave, he told Xiao Ju about the whole thing.

"Once I officially join the sect, I will follow the arrangements of Senior Sister Yuwen and Junior Sister Qingqing and cultivate diligently at Lianyou Peak for the time being."

"Yes, Master."

Although Xiao Ju was reluctant, she knew that her cultivation level was too low to be of any help to Song Yan.

Things were fine before, but now demonic cultivators have invaded, and the cultivation world is in turmoil.

If you can't help... then you're a burden.

Only by becoming stronger can I always stand by my master's side.

……

Master Mingxin and his large entourage from various sects soon set off and left Longtan Mountain.

After seeing off the sect members, Song Yan returned to his cave dwelling.

First, he summoned a set of spirit array beads and activated all the small arrays in the cave.

For some time now, Xiao Ju has been taking care of these trivial matters, and it's really hard to get used to her leaving.

However, since the disciple was sent back by himself, there was no reason to call him back.

The cave was somewhat empty, and a sense of loneliness inevitably arose in my heart.

Xiao He was no longer cultivating; she was playing with the mechanical toy in the corner by herself.

If Sister Xiaoju leaves, and Yanyan has to cultivate again, then there will be no one to play with her.

"Xiao He." Song Yan did not immediately enter the cultivation room, but instead sat down next to Xiao He.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Snake Baby was still turning the mechanism in its hand, but it raised its eyes and looked at Song Yan.

"Do you still have family among the demons?"

"No, that's all." Xiao He was a little puzzled as to why Song Yan asked that, but she still answered honestly.

Parents you've never met aren't considered family.

"Oh……"

Song Yan pondered for a moment and asked, "What would you do if I died?"

"what?"

Xiao He suddenly raised her head, and in her not-so-bright little brain, she had already begun to imagine what would happen after Yan Yan died.

Tiny, glistening pearls had already welled up in her eyes.

"Wow--!"

Snake Baby roared and burst into tears: "Then I won't live either!"

"Hey, hey, no, no, I'm not really dead."

Song Yan gently patted her back.

"Ah..." Snake Baby wiped away her tears: "Oh."

"However, perhaps in the future, I will pretend to die once."

Song Yan whispered to Xiao He, "When the time comes, don't let anyone get close to me, understand?"

Xiaohe is not smart.

She couldn't understand why Yan Yan had to die once.

But he must have his reasons for doing this.

"Ok."

Xiao He looked at Song Yan with worry: "Then you mustn't lie to people, you have to come back to life."

"Of course."

Song Yan gently patted Xiao He's head: "You can continue playing."

Only then did he return to the quiet room.

Open the Qiankun bag that belongs to "Yang Kaijun".

"Tsk..."

Every time you open the Qiankun bag belonging to a demonic cultivator, you really need to mentally prepare yourself beforehand.

There were piles of dead heads, white skulls, and some bloody materials; Song Yan couldn't bear to look at them.

To cultivate this kind of demonic art and face all this rubbish every day without being affected in thought or mind, one must truly be a ruthless person.

He muttered and cursed for a long time amidst a pile of indescribable things before finally sorting everything out.

In terms of materials, some rare and precious herbs that could be used for alchemy were taken out.

For the magical artifact, he chose the highest quality flying sword.

There was something else here that piqued Song Yan's curiosity.

A mask with an antique design.

The mask is mostly made of a type of jade, with a smooth and translucent surface that emits a faint fluorescence.

In addition, there is a layer of black wood inlaid on it. The front is in the shape of a Kui dragon, a fierce and rugged beast.

The mask has the characters "甲" and "作" engraved on its left and right edges, respectively, and it feels quite heavy in your hand.

This must be the mask used by the Yang family in the Nuo ritual during their sacrificial ceremony.

Didn't Yang Kaijun throw this thing away...?

Or... is there something special about it?
After searching through the Qiankun bag for a while, they found a jade slip, which Yang Kaijun must have obtained from the Yang clan ancestral hall when he slaughtered the remaining disciples of the Yang clan.

There is some information about this Nuo mask.

In order to exorcise evil spirits and ward off plagues, the ancient people created the Nuo ritual.

At specific times each year, they pray that the Nuo gods they imagine will descend, slay evil spirits, and drive away calamities.

Legend has it that in ancient times, a young clan chief lost his daughter.

The daughter was tormented by a vengeful ghost and ultimately died a violent death.

He knelt before his daughter's body, wailing loudly and roaring to the sky.

"Gods..."

"I have read countless ancient books, learning the principles of farming and abundance in the mountains, and I have also heard of boundless mysteries that reach to the heavens and the earth..."

"I deeply regret my own dullness, that I am unable to make any contribution to this world..."

“My daughter once asked me, ‘What do you want to achieve in your life? What kind of courage do I have to protect all my people?’”

"My divine being..."

I don't ask for anything.

"Those enviable powers, those heroes who turned the tide. Those legendary blessings..."

"Just a little bit, just a little bit of what I can do."

"I am content as long as my loved ones are safe and sound by my side, and my people live together in harmony."

"This is fine..."

"That's all I want!"

His wailing somehow resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

Then, these legendary Nuo gods...

It has truly arrived.

Perhaps they weren't actually called Nuo gods; this title was simply a respectful name given to them by our ancestors.

The Nuo god easily killed the vengeful ghost, then threw it into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it.

This tribe and the surrounding people enjoyed a long period of peace and tranquility.

From then on, every few hundred years, a person who could summon the Nuo god would appear in this tribe.

He would then be elected as the clan chief.

Such stories don't just happen in one place; they occur in many places around the world.

Some have summarized that there are a total of twelve Nuo gods in the legend.

They can easily dispel eleven kinds of ghostly plagues, including ghost tigers, plagues, demons, ominous signs, calamities, dreams, death by dismemberment, parasites, spectacles, giants, and Gu.

The appearance of the Nuo god not only drives them away, but also makes them escape in a very short time.

Otherwise, they would tear these calamities apart and devour them alive.

Those humans who possess the power to summon the Nuo gods have a special title.

His name was "Fang Xiang Shi".

They engraved the appearance of the Nuo god who had descended before into their minds and used the best materials they could find to create Nuo god masks.

Each Fangxiangshi would constantly explore the fundamental reasons that could bring down the gods, and this process would be summarized and passed down from generation to generation.

Let everyone keep trying in this way.

The names for this method and means varied from place to place in ancient times.

However, in Song Yan's view, it can actually be seen as a special cultivation method.

Visualization method.

The Fangxiangshi put on the masks of the Nuo gods and contemplated the appearances they had once appeared in.

At the same time, imagine that your most cherished possessions have been taken away by evil spirits and disasters.

The Nuo god will then descend to drive away and kill the evil spirits, protecting their peace.

Song Yan couldn't determine whether these stories were true or false.

He previously believed that the so-called Nuo gods were nothing more than highly skilled cultivators or kind-hearted spirit beasts.

However, according to these legends, the situation differs somewhat from one's own imagination and speculation.

After a moment's hesitation, he picked up the mask again.

Could this mask be one of the legendary Nuo masks passed down through generations in ancient times?

In ancient times, the Yang clan was one of the twelve major tribes of antiquity, a fact that was discovered unintentionally by their ancestors...

The details of the Song banquet are unknown.

He channeled a little spiritual energy into it, trying to refine it, but it had no effect whatsoever.

He unleashed another burst of sword energy, but with the same result.

It seems that this thing is not a magic weapon or treasure.

Song Yan suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Of course not.

Otherwise, how could those people in ancient times who did not master the art of refining spirits have been able to summon the so-called "Nuo God"?

Perhaps it's just an ordinary mask.

It is an antique after all, so it's good to keep it as a souvenir.

Just as Song Yan was about to put it down, he inexplicably stopped what he was doing.

He took the Nuo mask in his hand again and probed it with his divine sense.

Nothing happened, but Song Yan still sensed something was wrong.

Unlike the spiritual energy and sword energy just now, the divine sense did not flow away and dissipate.

Instead, it disappeared within the mask.

There was no sense of his divine sense being absorbed or pulled away; it simply disappeared like ordinary dust.

Song Yan frowned and continued to probe into it with his divine sense.

Despite the continuous depletion of spiritual power, the Nuo mask remained unchanged.

This left him somewhat unsure whether it would actually work.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Song Yan slowed down slightly, but continued to channel his divine soul power into the device.

"..."

This mask is like a black hole; if one's divine sense probes into it, it will vanish into thin air without a sound.

I don't know where they went.

Fortunately, Song Yan's divine sense is now strong enough due to his continuous practice of the Five Star Pulse-Grasping Technique.

After an unknown amount of time, the mask finally showed a slight change!
Song Yan let out a soft breath, his heart filled with astonishment.

My current spiritual sense should be stronger than that of an ordinary mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, but slightly weaker than that of an ordinary late-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Only with such a strong divine sense could this mask undergo a change.

Could it be that in the ancient, barbaric era, those people did not need to cultivate to have such a strong spiritual sense?

Right now, the once lifeless black wood part on the front of the mask, with its Kui dragon-shaped monster image, is faintly glowing and has become lifelike.

After a moment's hesitation, Song Yan put it on his face.

buzz-

In that instant, a ringing sound suddenly began in my ears, and a strange sense of dizziness surged up.

At the same time, black mist spread out before his eyes, boundless and endless.

Once the brief dizziness subsided, Song Yan's thoughts became focused and her mind became peaceful.

However, all that remained was a thick black fog, and only vague outlines could be made out.

Although the black mist in front of him was gradually dissipating, Song Yan still subconsciously activated his Void-Observing Sword Eyes.

In an instant, the scene before my eyes became incredibly clear.

"This is where……"

Before them lay a space shrouded in black mist, and behind them stood an enormous humanoid statue.

The statue wore a simple mask, with its hands outstretched as if it wanted to embrace something.

And at this very moment, I am standing on the right thumb of this statue.

(End of this chapter)