Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

A secret place, with precipitous peaks and surging clouds and thunder.

A fat, burly monk in a cassock walked through the vast mountains, like a mayfly in a forest of green. Who could be so fearless in the face of such an extraordinary sight?

This fat monk was none other than the Smiling Buddha. He walked into a cave and came to the end, stopping beside a lake where lava and lightning were about to meet.

In the center of the lake, a short sword shrouded in malevolent energy hangs high, its blade enveloped by a black barrier that teeters on the brink of collapse amidst the occasional flashes of lightning.

The Smiling Buddha stood quietly, watching for a long while, witnessing the crack torn open by the short sword being instantly destroyed by the power of heaven and earth. He smiled and sighed with empathy:

"Hey, don't try it. You can't go back to the Heavenly Realm. Don't get carried away and ruin yourself here. Otherwise, this humble monk will be chanting sutras for a sword for the first time in his life."

The Laughing Buddha's voice echoed several times in the cave, but was quickly drowned out by the thunder and the sound of bubbling lava.

The sword finally stopped its futile efforts. It left the center of the lake, flew to the shore, and transformed into a tall and slender man. The black short sword that had been there earlier hovered behind him.

The word "slender" is usually used to describe someone who is tall and graceful. However, this man's true slenderness is disproportionate; his legs are almost twice the length of his body, yet he doesn't appear as thin as a stick.

"Zhong Lianhua, you managed to get a Buddhist identity in the mortal realm, and you even pretended to be a Buddhist with the name Lotus. How foolish. The title 'Smiling Buddha' is passable, as long as it suits your appearance." The tall, slender man sneered.

The Smiling Buddha, however, paid no attention and continued to maintain his strange smile.

"What does a name matter? It can be whatever it is needed to be. Wu Yiling, now that you've reached this point, it's hard to return to the Heavenly Realm. It must be painful, right? Don't worry, you'll get used to it most of the time!"

"Humph!"

A deep gloom settled on Wu Yiling's face. The words of the Smiling Buddha pierced his heart. What was even more painful was that he could no longer return to the Heavenly Realm, and all the sacrifices he had made for it had been in vain.

"It was all for nothing that I spent so much effort to tamper with the Yin-Yang Chaos Soul Formation and went to great lengths to trick Li Tairan into entering the formation. But he was completely unlucky and kept looking for someone to fill the gap. There are quite a few living sword immortals in the Sword Emperor Dynasty, but in the end, none of them succeeded, and the great formation was destroyed as a result."

I've lost a swordsman to serve me!

The Smiling Buddha seemed to have lost patience with his mundane chatter, and his high-arched eyebrows lowered.

"If we could return to the Heavenly Realm, who would want to stay here forever? My Heavenly Demon Clan's little prince branch has been entangled with the Daoist sect in Jianmu for so long, just waiting for the little prince to emerge from his cocoon, settle the score in Jianmu, and then take me back. But my unborn child was injured by Chu Mingkong, who entered the capital and killed the emperor!"

You've been trapped in this world for so long, you should have realized long ago that there's no way to go back. You might as well take advantage of your anger and do something to vent it.

Your Sword Tyrant Mountain was utterly ravaged by that Female Sword Emperor in the past. Now, by destroying this kingdom and seizing the sword manual's inheritance, you can at least be considered to have reduced it to ashes. Otherwise, once your spirit has been tempered, venting your anger in the future will lack the same sense of satisfaction.

Wu Yiling certainly knew this principle. He had tried many times to open the passage and return to the Heavenly Realm, but the repeated failures had long forced him to face reality.

Even though that small group of celestial beings looked down on all living things in the lower realm, they still didn't have much power to resist the world below.

All we can do now is vent our anger and wait for the right opportunity to help the Smiling Buddha's Heavenly Demon Clan resolve the stalemate in Jianmu.

In this way, Wu Yiling would have the opportunity to return to the Heavenly Realm.

Otherwise, this world would be a shackle, binding him and the Smiling Buddha here forever.

"Smiling Buddha, remember to make it clear to your rabble from the lower realms that they should not kill the sword cultivators of the Sword Dynasty indiscriminately!" Wu Yiling warned.

"Oh? You've developed compassion? You can't bear to harm the people of Basheng! It seems you're also suited to join the Buddhist order. I may not say I'm compassionate, but my face is full of compassion. You may not have compassion on your face, but your words are full of compassion. Perfect match!"

"I'm talking about sword cultivators. They can let me forge slave swords, which are very suitable for people from the lower realms. As long as I can't leave the lower realms, I'll forge one more slave sword. As these people from the lower realms continue to live, my slave swords will also continue to live."

As soon as Wu Yiling finished speaking, she took out a brand-new flying sword with the character "slave" engraved on its blade. The sword "obediently" hovered beside Wu Yiling.

"I originally intended to threaten Li Tairan's son into joining the army, otherwise I would have wiped out his bloodline and descendants. Now I can only forge his son into a sword to guide your rabble."

......

Chu Mingkong returned to his female relatives, chatted with them, and finally returned to his master's room.

Now Zuo Qiuchi and Zuo Donglu no longer sleep in separate rooms. Zuo Qiuchi needs a good body pillow, so when Chu Mingkong goes to her room to find one person, it's like finding two, which is very convenient, but there are also some inconveniences.

For example, if you want to be intimate with Zuo Qiuchi, you have to take care of Aunt Donglu.

Of course, they already had a real relationship, and there was no need to hide anything between him and Aunt Donglu. But if she were there, Chu Mingkong would have to consider how to get close to her too, and he couldn't just leave her out in the cold.

Fortunately, this time we're here to discuss serious matters, and the main task doesn't fall into the category of intimacy, so there aren't many concerns.

Chu Mingkong boldly pounced over and embraced the beautiful sisters, who were covered in fragrant perfume, and then recounted the information he had gathered from the Rakshasa Society.

"My dear Master, you'll definitely have to lend a hand then," Chu Mingkong said earnestly.

Zuo Qiuchi will definitely lend a hand at that time. Although she has been avoiding visits and contact from her Zuo family relatives these days, dealing with these external enemies is not just for these clansmen with whom she has no close relationship, but also for the Sword Dynasty, which can be called her homeland.

However, this did not stop Zuo Qiuchi from complaining. She patted her younger sister Zuo Donglu's plump peach. Although she did not exert much effort, Zuo Donglu's fair and delicate skin was patted until it became rosy and glossy, making it look slightly delicious.

"I'll have Donglu take my Extinction over there, fly around on her sword a few times, and that will be considered as if I were there in person. I can just strategize from my bed and protect the babies!"

"Your reason is quite convincing~" Chu Mingkong glanced at Zuo Donglu, whose half-red peach petal looked so pitiful.

The two sisters probably hadn't gone out much all day; one was a couch potato, and the other was a studious cultivator. They hadn't changed into their usual clothes yet, only wearing the thin gauze slip dresses that Chu Mingkong had given them, their jade-like legs lying across the room, looking alluring.

"Aunt Donglu, Master just hit you. Give me your authorization, and I'll hit you back for you!"

"Okay." Zuo Donglu didn't mind much, but she still nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Donglu, why did you actually agree?!"

......

Some time later, Balan and Queen Balan suddenly received a message from their subordinates.

"Hmm? Li Tairan's son, who fled a while ago, has returned? He's already run away, why does he dare to come back?"

Chapter 108 Sword Hidden in Corpse

Neither of them believed that this guy would "repent and return to the right path." If he were truly innocent, he certainly wouldn't have run away so quickly. His father, Li Tairan, had just gotten into trouble, and his son, Li Wenhong, disappeared and ran away. No matter how you looked at it, he seemed guilty and didn't even have the confidence to stay and face the royal family to defend himself.

But now they've actually come back!

After pondering for a moment, Balan said to Queen Balan:

"Do not bring him to the capital. Just question him outside. I will take care of this matter. Your Majesty, please check the situation in the Sword Domain, just in case."

"Yes." Queen Ba nodded, entrusting the matter to Ba Lan with trust.

Balan flew into the air on his sword, a flash of cold light, and his figure disappeared, heading towards the place his subordinate had mentioned.

Queen Ba remained in the Sword Emperor's Palace, pacing back and forth, before finally heading alone to the underground chamber within the palace.

In the dimly lit corridor illuminated by torches, the graceful figure of the Queen of Ba stopped before a stone gate.

After a short wait, the stone gate slowly rose with a rumbling sound, and the entire long corridor trembled slightly.

Empress Ba walked in. This was one of the core magic arrays that constructed the Sword Domain. Similar magic arrays were buried in many places in the Sword Dynasty, but this one in the Sword Palace was a very important one.

"If chaos really breaks out, it will be difficult for Mingkong and Balan to completely suppress the situation on their own..." Queen Ba muttered to herself, looking down at the magic array left by her ancestors.

It wasn't that she lacked information about Chu Mingkong and the others, but rather that she dared not underestimate the difficulty of completely resisting them. If the powerful figures at the same level as Balan and the others could not be killed immediately, the subsequent entanglement and stalemate, and the aftershocks of their battle, would be a disaster for the Sword Dynasty.

The best solution would be to move the battlefield outside, but how could she hope things would go that smoothly?

With so many people invading, intending to seize the Sword Emperor Scripture, they must have been trying to sneak into the Sword Emperor Dynasty by any means necessary.

If the Sword Dynasty were to lose most of its territory in the aftermath, and in a more serious case, only a handful of people might escape unscathed, then it would be of little significance for us to remain unharmed in our positions.

"Alas, my talent is limited, and I cannot give back much to the Sword Domain..."

Queen Ba reached out and touched the core of the great formation. In this dark room, the core still appeared dim, much dimmer than its previous light, so the sword domain that was unfolded would naturally be much weaker.

"Back then, Li Tairan and that Peng Bao Daoist consumed too much of the Sword Domain's power." She lamented, as if one misfortune had come upon another.

The woman raised her delicate hand, and a small porcelain bottle appeared in her palm. Through the crystal-clear bottle, one could vaguely see that it was filled with a thick, turbid rice paste-like medicine—this was given to her by Balan.

It is said to be a miraculous medicine that can temporarily improve one's understanding of swordsmanship.

Queen Ba knew that Ba Lan meant well, wanting her not to worry too much about her swordsmanship level, but this was too much of a reliance on so-called "folk remedies".

You can't improve your understanding by relying on external things. Hitting someone on the head with a stick might be more effective than taking random medicine.

However, since it was ultimately a gift from Balan, Queen Balan did not believe she would make a mistake in such a matter.

...Maybe?

Especially given the sudden turn of events, if Li Tairan's son's return is indeed suspicious, then he might be able to use this item to improve his swordsmanship and unleash his sword intent to restore the strength of his sword domain.

Queen Ba opened the bottle, and a strong aroma of heather wafted out. She dipped her little finger in it and tasted it.

A strange and subtle taste spread across her lips, and she couldn't help but furrow her brow.

"Why does it seem like there's a faint aura of light in the sky? But if this stuff really works on sword cultivation, maybe pouring this bottle of stuff onto this formation can help the sword domain recover a bit."

Queen Ba held her breath and pondered, and it seemed that her swordsmanship, which had not progressed for many years, had indeed loosened up a bit.

When I felt lost and hesitant, I was guided by a force.

This feeling is not very clear, and it does not directly elevate one's level of understanding, but it can give those who are stuck in a bottleneck a sweet feeling!

"What kind of miraculous medicine is this? How... can it really benefit one's swordsmanship?!"

Queen Ba stared in disbelief at the small porcelain bottle, then tried pouring a little into the formation, but there was no other reaction.

Sure enough, this stuff can only be used for medicinal purposes.

"Drink it first, and try to understand it. We can't just wait for Balan to come back. If Li Wenhong really causes any trouble later, I might be able to help. If we just wait now, we'll only be able to watch helplessly later!"

......

When Balan arrived at Li Wenhong's location, according to his subordinates, Li Wenhong had appeared unexpectedly and was stopped by the cultivators of the Sword Dynasty in the outskirts.

On the way here, Balan was already communicating with Chu Mingkong, telling him to get ready.

"The person has disappeared?"

When Balan arrived, he saw only traces of battle everywhere. The aura of the clash of sword intent lingered in various places. The ground was a mess, as if a meteorite had struck, with deep pits everywhere. The vegetation and trees within sight were collapsed and broken.

The corpses of seven or eight sword cultivators lay scattered on the ground.

I didn't expect these people to arrive so much faster than I thought!

The Sword Dynasty is located far from the major regions. They thought that after they finished their planning, it would take some time before they came over. But they launched their attack in just a few days.

"Has Li Wenhong joined forces with them? He suddenly appeared and was discovered, and now he's killed someone and left. What kind of trick is he trying to pull?"

Balan further extended his senses, his spiritual power searching every corner, trying to pinpoint the location of Li Wenhong's sword intent, in preparation for confirming his escape route.

Li Wenhong is Li Tairan's son. He received Li Tairan's private training in the past and his strength is quite good, but he is not yet able to completely erase his sword intent aura.

Especially after such an intense battle, if you want to erase the remnants of your aura, you can only erase the aura in this place completely.