Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 354 Mirror Flower Shadow (Part 2)
The hand suddenly burst into flames of corpse fire, completely disregarding Xin Shan Sanren's protective spiritual power, and grabbed his ankle.

The raging corpse fire, following the protective spiritual energy, suddenly began to spread.

The ghost lingers.

Even a lowly corpse puppet dares to rebel...

Although Xin Shan was surprised and suspicious, he did not lose his composure. He unleashed his powerful spiritual energy, and his body surged with blood-red light. The small white bone shield spun around again and suddenly split into three, hovering around him.

The spread of the corpse fire suddenly stopped.

At the same time, he made a hand seal with his left hand and struck down with a palm towards A Yuan's crown.

Instead of retreating, A Yuan advanced, grabbed Xin Shan's ankle, pulled him sharply, and delivered a knee strike that collided violently with Xin Shan's hand.

The corpses, flames, and blood clashed violently, corroding each other and emitting a hissing, burning sound.

The blood-red light fluctuated violently, creating a large crater, while A Yuan's right knee began to shatter inch by inch, and his left hand was engulfed in blood flames.

But he seemed oblivious and persisted relentlessly.

"Are you willing to die?"

Xin Shan Sanren sneered: "You should be the real you now, right?"

As he spoke, the blood flames around him suddenly surged and expanded.

"I'm starting to forget."

Without any apparent reason, A-Yuan suddenly said this.

"What?" Xin Shan Sanren frowned, wondering what the corpse puppet was saying.

"Ah Hao, Xiao Lian, Ah Ming..."

A Yuan raised her eyes to look at Xin Shan, her eyes filled with murderous intent: "I still remember what they look like, I remember their names..."

"But I've forgotten who they are."

"I know they are the most important people to me, but one day I will completely forget them."

"All of this is thanks to you."

Bang!
A Yuan suddenly leaped up, and without hesitation, turned around and kicked out, knocking Xin Shan Sanren's head to the side through the small white bone shield.

"Are you out of your mind?! Those are just a burden to you!"

"Without me, you would forever remain a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator!!"

Xin Shan Sanren roared.

The corpse puppet A Yuan was engulfed in flames; he was completely consumed by the blood flames.

The blood flames burned away the mask on A Yuan's face, revealing a face with distinct features.

"I am a human being, not a beast like you."

Bang!
His body suddenly vanished, transforming into a dreamlike color.

"fake?"

Before he could react, a tremendous sense of crisis rose up from behind him.

A black and white flying sword pierced straight at the small white bone shield that had been hit by A Yuan's desperate attack, just as its new power was beginning to emerge.

He had no choice but to withdraw most of the blood-red light and solidify it behind him.

laugh.

The sword light pierced through, and although it was weakened by the protective spiritual power, it still pierced a bloody hole in Xin Shan's lower back.

"Uh……"

Xin Shan Sanren groaned as a sharp pain shot through him. He turned around abruptly and pointed a finger out with lightning speed.

But Song Yan's figure appeared and disappeared amidst the dissipating clouds, his eyes cold.

Xin Shan was stunned for a moment, and then finally felt an overwhelming sense of fear.

He was completely unable to distinguish what was real from what was fake in front of him.

However, this is just the beginning.

In his prime, the sword strikes were relentless, almost every strike aimed at mutual destruction, a fight to the death, forcing Xin Shan to divide his body to defend himself.

A Yuan, like a leech, disregarded his own injuries and launched a frenzied attack with his body and the corpse fire.

Song Yan seems to be everywhere, yet it also seems to be nowhere.

Every time Xin Shan expended his spiritual power to kill the three, they were fakes.

However, the knife wounds and sword marks, all the injuries that fell on him, accumulated little by little, accompanied by real, excruciating pain and the depletion of his spiritual energy.

In a daze, Xinshan Sanren's cognition began to become confused.

"Was that knife real? No... I blocked it, and Sheng Nian's arm was shattered by the impact."

"Is the sword energy fake? I don't know..."

Where is the wound?

Am I... injured?

"It's fake! It's fake! This pain is also an illusion!" Xin Shan roared, trying to convince himself.

However, the next moment, A Yuan's large hand, burning with corpse fire, slammed down hard.

The immense impact shook his internal organs and caused his blood and qi to surge.

"Gulu."

Xin Shan swallowed a mouthful of blood, his expression already somewhat dazed, and his eyes beginning to glaze over.

The stinging pain in his soul was like a tide, repeatedly assaulting his reason, overturning his past common sense, and causing his judgment of his own perception to dissipate.

"what--"

Xin Shan Sanren roared wildly, the excruciating pain in his soul almost driving him mad.

His offensive became frantic, his Painful Blood Finger shooting wildly, leaving countless deep craters in the mountainside.

At this moment, he no longer wanted to distinguish between what was real and what was fake; he only wanted to use his power to destroy everything in front of him.

"Gah——"

A crow's cry rang out, and that strange feeling returned.

The world seemed to collapse, and a wave of dizziness surged up. Xin Shan Sanren almost vomited, and the stinging pain in his soul abruptly halted his frenzied actions.

He then collapsed uncontrollably.

However, this time, he was horrified to discover that he had not fallen into another world.

Instead, it's stuck right in the middle of two worlds.

On one side of my body, there is an endless night, illuminated by the moon.

On the other side, the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly.

"..."

Both worlds contain Song Yan, Sheng Nian, and the corpse puppet A Yuan.

At this very moment, Song Yan from both worlds simultaneously raised his hand slightly, joining his middle and index fingers together.

"Mirror image".

"Mirror image".

Two identical voices overlapped.

Beneath the Sword Palace, surging sword energy erupted instantly, converging on the black and white flying sword.

A dreamlike color drifted from the lotus seed, gathering into a radiant glow behind Song Yan's head.

Above the clouds, one after another, white jade palaces rose up in the mist.

Dust and wind surged between heaven and earth, and clouds rushed forth.

Song Yan from both worlds opened his eyes simultaneously, his pupils tinged with a golden-white hue by the sword energy.

This scene seemed familiar to Xinshan Sanren.

He had seen Song Yan unleash this sword technique on Dragon Pool Mountain, but it was obvious that its power now far surpassed that of that time.

Even more terrifying is that Song Yan from both worlds is simultaneously suspended in the air, looking down at him.

"Which one is real, and which one is fake?! Which one can kill me, and which one can't..."

Xin Shan Sanren was on the verge of collapse, and the pain in his soul reached its peak, almost tearing his consciousness apart.

He was unable to think, unable to judge; extreme fear overwhelmed all reason, and the only remaining thought was the instinct to survive.

"No, I can't die! Get out of my way!"

Xin Shan Sanren let out a sharp cry, his survival instinct overpowering all his chaotic thoughts.

He frantically squeezed out the spiritual energy within his body.

A surge of powerful crimson spiritual energy erupted forth, condensing into layers upon layers of incredibly thick crimson cocoons around his body.

This is not enough!

He slapped the storage bag hard, and several beams of spiritual light shot out.

An ancient, tortoise-shell-shaped shield swelled in the wind, encircling the entire body and radiating a thick, earthy-yellow aura.

Three golden talismans transformed into three layers of golden bell-shaped phantoms on the outermost layer, with the bells ringing.

Even the gray robe he wore emitted a strong spiritual light, and countless fine runes appeared, clinging tightly to his body to form a final defense.

Layer upon layer, shimmering with light, it wrapped itself up completely.

But then, Song Yan, from both the left and right worlds, was surrounded by countless sword energies. The white jade palaces in the sky, layer upon layer, merged into the sword light of the Unmoored Boat.

At the same time, the moon sank and the sun set, both converging towards the border where Xinshan Sanren was located.

hum-

Under this overwhelming sword energy, the tortoise shell, the small white bone shield, the three golden talismans, and Xinshan Sanren's protective aura all crumbled one by one.

"Uhhh-!!!"

Xin Shan Sanren let out a shrill scream.

His eyes widened. Why were both sword energies real...?

However, just before the killing intent was about to strike, the sword energy dissipated.

The scene before me seemed like a dream, then returned to normal.

Xin Shan Sanren slumped to the ground, looked up and saw Song Yan sitting cross-legged, looking somewhat weak.

"I survived, I..."

His voice stopped abruptly.

He slowly moved his head and looked around.

He then saw eight different directions where the young man, along with six illusory figures and the corpse puppet A Yuan, surrounded him.

The six figures suddenly transformed into jet-black light, surging into the blade of the horizontal sword in Sheng Nian's hand.

"No, my good disciple, don't kill me."

"I know many secrets, and I have clues to many treasures."

The night was completely over, and the sun gradually rose.

In his prime, he slowly sheathed his sword behind his back.

woo-

However, the ancient treasure sword suddenly emitted an unprecedented dark light.

"Master, there's no need to say more. I'll see for myself after you die."

"you……"

In his prime, he raised his left hand, bringing his middle and index fingers together.

He held it horizontally in front of his chest and nodded slightly.

He uttered a single word softly.

"boundary."

hum-

Almost instantly, Sheng Nian appeared in front of Xin Shan from where he had been, the trembling sound of his sword echoing through the valley.

Amidst the dust and grime, the glint of swords flashed.

A violent yet refined blade of energy swept across the ruins at the bottom of the valley.

The moment the sword energy dissipated, Xin Shan Sanren's body was split in two.

puff--

A large amount of blood gushed out along the path where the blade light had just disappeared, forming a blood-red ring that spread outwards and lay across the ruins at the bottom of the valley.

"Woo..."

"Uh……"

Before his death, Xin Shan Sanren seemed to be saying something, but unfortunately, no one heard him.

His head was lifted and landed.

This pseudo-Core Formation cultivator perished completely.

"what……"

Sheng Nian plopped down on Xin Shan Sanren's corpse, leaning his sword against the ground: "The old bastard is finally dead."

"Ah Yuan, go and bring Sister Ping over."

"Yes, my lord."

A Yuan is a corpse puppet, so he doesn't need to regulate his breathing.

Before long, Chen Jiping was brought into the valley by A Yuan.

When she saw the corpse on the ground, a look of surprise appeared in her eyes, and she immediately said, "Mountain Lord."

"Mr. Song."

"No need to change your tune." Sheng Nian stood up and waved his hand: "Help A Yuan refine this old demon's corpse."

"Yes."

He took a moment to regulate his breathing and calm his spiritual energy before casually asking, "Old Song, what was that just now?"

"Is it an illusion? How can it affect me and A-Yuan too..."

"Don't ask, you won't be able to learn it." Song Yan glanced at him: "Don't pry into the affairs of experts."

"...I don't need to ask you anything."

Actually, it's not that Song Yan didn't want to talk about it, it's just that he couldn't explain it clearly himself.

After mastering the Mirror Flower Water Moon Sword Intent, one can wield it with even greater ease.

If the opponent can truly be affected by the sword intent, then the only thing limiting its use is Song Yan's imagination.

However, fundamentally, the sword intent of "Mirror Flower Water Moon" is a suppression of mental power.

The pressure on Song Yan's mind was also immense.

This is why Xiao Song didn't actually expend much sword energy or spiritual power, but stopped at the end, letting Sheng Nian finish off his opponent.

I am utterly exhausted.

However, this battle elevated his control and application of sword intent to a new level.

"That knife of yours, was it obtained from the battlefield of the Immortal Dynasty?"

“Not bad.” Sheng Nian nodded upon hearing this, then flashed the item in front of Song Yan: “Ancient treasure, Water Dragon.”

"The knife you gave to your junior sister at Heyan Mountain before was a replica of this."

Sheng Nian cherished this knife.

"Why is it that with your current level of cultivation, you can already use..."

This is what Song Yan cares about.

The so-called ancient treasures are actually magical artifacts.

However, unlike the refining methods of today, cultivators in ancient times emphasized purity when refining magical artifacts.

Its function and effect are very simple, but this simplicity means reaching the pinnacle, bringing out the ultimate effect of this part of the material for refining.

Furthermore, the refining techniques and materials used in ancient times are vastly different from those used today.

Most ancient treasures cannot be absorbed into a cultivator's body.

However, in any case, the ancient treasure is definitely not something that Sheng Nian, a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, can wield.

"Is this..."

Sheng Nian looked around mysteriously, then beckoned Song Yan over.

"Don't pry into the affairs of experts."

"..."

"Hahaha, I'll tell you in a bit, let's go, let's go." Sheng Nian patted Song Yan on the shoulder: "Let's go and turn Xin Shan's lair upside down."

A cultivator at the Pseudo-Core Formation stage must possess quite a few treasures.

However, considering that this person is a demonic cultivator, we shouldn't have too much hope.

With a casual gesture, Sheng Nian took Xin Shan's Qiankun bag into his hand, then fiddled with it and took out a jade talisman.

This allowed them to open the cave dwelling of Xinshan Sanren.

As the two stepped into the cave, a complex smell wafted towards them.

The smell of stale medicine, a faint trace of blood, and a certain chilling spiritual aura.

The cave was not as narrow as Song Yan had imagined; on the contrary, it was quite spacious, with several stone chambers carved into the sides of the stone walls.

Fluorite is embedded in the walls, illuminating the cave.

A soft rustling sound came from behind.

From the shadows emerged more than a dozen small figures, each the size of a palm-sized paper doll.

"Xin Shan is dead, everyone disperse."

Sheng Nian pointed to the entrance of the cave: "While your souls haven't dissipated yet, go out for a walk and feel the sense of freedom."

"Go."

A dozen or so small paper figures hopped and skipped, walked up to the two of them one by one, bowed in unison, and then walked out of the cave.

"These paper figures were made from the souls and blood of the cultivators that Xin Shan killed during his lifetime."

"Now that Xinshan is dead, they are free."

"Once the spiritual power on the paper figure dissipates, it can enter the cycle of reincarnation."

(End of this chapter)