Phantom Shadow Demon Trace

Volume 2: Phantom Shadow Demon Trace, Chapter 29: Qingming Sword Ancestor

Tang Ruowei glanced at Pei Shan and Pei Dao. After a pause, he continued, "However, this time, I am truly not lying to you. I am suppressing my realm to break through the shackles of the Foundation Establishment Stage, and the strength I can exert while maintaining this state is indeed less than one-tenth."

Bai Qiuran released his grip on the old Daoist's collar, stood up, and said, "Logically speaking, since that Baiyue Temple disciple sent a transmission spirit talisman, you all should have received the news at roughly the same time. You have already arrived for so long, so why haven't they come over yet..."

That patch of vines seemed to have suffered damage and retreated slightly. Then, from within the emerald green creepers, a resentful female voice emerged.

"Yes, yes."

Bai Qiuran lowered his head to ponder for a moment, then shouted at the old Daoist.

"I dare not claim the title of Sword Ancestor; I am merely a humble Qi Refining Stage cultivator."

Tang Ruowei glanced at Pei Dao and Pei Shan.

Discarding the iron sword that was now nothing but a hilt, Bai Qiuran stepped on the air, his figure rising high, and he vanished from the old Daoist's sight in an instant.

The old Daoist muttered in a low voice.

"I... I was previously leading my disciples to guard the east side. The Sect Master is in the north, and another junior brother is in the west."

"Yes, long time no see."

"I don't know either, but I suspect it is the existence behind those few foxes."

"Strange."

"Qingming Sword Ancestor!"

Just as the four of them were about to be enveloped by this massive net of vines, a sheet of sword qi suddenly appeared in the sky. Sword light shuttled back and forth, forming a continuous cloud of swords that spanned dozens of miles. It descended with a roar in front of the four, shredding the vine net, the nearby vines, and the very ground beneath them into dust.

Bai Qiuran looked provocatively at a certain spot and said, "So, do you want to come and try?"

"Present."

Zuo Yanfei said, "Watch out, it's coming!"

Zuo Yanfei gasped.

"He is actually my Master."

Zuo Yanfei looked at Bai Qiuran and suddenly realized something. She hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back. After thinking about it, she decided to follow Tang Ruowei to hide in the distance. Pei Shan and Pei Dao exchanged a glance and hurriedly followed the two young women to hide far away.

Pei Shan's face turned ashen.

Seeing his disciple so sensible, Bai Qiuran nodded with satisfaction, then addressed the vines covering the mountains and plains: "Long time no see, Cuiluo."

He opened his eyes and said, "This creature has already started to go mad."

The vines covering the mountains and plains writhed like tentacles, then suddenly spat out an object from a gap between them.

The old Daoist hurriedly begged for mercy: "Senior, please show mercy! I will persuade them to leave. We of Baiyue Temple do not want those few little monsters anymore; we will leave them all to you..."

"Yes, it is the Sect Master's Baiyue Command."

"Hmm."

"How is that possible? The Sect Master, he..."

"Calamity."

"Spare me that act."

"Don't worry about that so much!"

"Hey, you lot!"

On the other side, Zuo Yanfei, Tang Ruowei, and the two disciples of Baiyue Temple all watched the vines covering the mountains and plains in horror.

"I don't know about that..."

"What?"

The female voice said, filled with hatred: "For two thousand years, I have spent every day and night thinking about how to tear that hypocritical face of yours to shreds!"

"Hey, are you awake?"

The entire mountain shook, and the soil erupted like surging waves. Countless vines burst from underground, weaving into a massive net that covered the sky, descending upon Zuo Yanfei, Tang Ruowei, and the other two.

The old Daoist hurriedly replied.

Beneath the statue of the former emperor at Ding Jiangshan, Bai Qiuran swung his arms and walked up to the Golden Core stage old Daoist he had knocked unconscious with a single slap of his sword. He grabbed the man by the collar and began patting his face.

"Heh."

"Don't worry about the Sect Master or whoever."

The faces of the two from Baiyue Temple looked as if they had just swallowed aged excrement.

"If I hadn't spared your life, you would have died just now. How could you still be alive?"

Bai Qiuran touched his chin and said solemnly, "So, do you want to come and try? Right now. To tell you the truth, I have been suppressing my realm recently, so I am only using one-tenth of my strength in fights. It is a golden opportunity for you."

The old Daoist said, "They might converge on the way and come from the north."

Zuo Yanfei opened her mouth in astonishment.

"Now..."

Bai Qiuran ignored him, closed his eyes, and released his spiritual sense, radiating it out along the Ding Jiangshan mountain range. Then, he saw the emerald vines covering the mountains and plains.

"Stay here, guard your disciples, don't go anywhere, and don't touch those few monsters, understand?"

Bai Qiuran grabbed his collar and demanded, "I am asking you, does your sect still have a group of people on the way?"

"What... what level of monster is this?"

The four of them looked closely and discovered it was a severed hand, still clutching a golden command flag.

Bai Qiuran continued to press him: "From which direction will your sect's people arrive?"

Zuo Yanfei smiled bitterly: "If we don't think of a way now, I'm afraid we will have to accompany him. Ruowei, can you use your Earth Escape?"

Tang Ruowei tried and replied, "No, the ground beneath us has been sealed by this monster's demonic power... Ah!"

The female voice sneered: "Do you think I would believe you? In the war two thousand years ago, how many of the Monster Race died due to the schemes of the Qingming Sword Ancestor?"

"The young ones are beaten, so the old ones come out. But it seems this old one is far beyond your imagination."

"Hmph."

"Junior Brother Bai Qiuran?"

"Understood."

Bai Qiuran waved his hand: "That's not fair to say. Bai Qiuran has always treated people with sincerity. It's just that those monsters refused to believe me. They walked into the traps themselves; what could I do? I couldn't even pull them back."

"Sigh."

Tang Ruowei held Zuo Yanfei's hand and said, "Let's go, Sister Zuo. Let's get further away; leave this to Master."

Bai Qiuran said this while taking a plain-looking iron sword from his storage bag, drawing it, and swinging it toward the sky.

The old Daoist nodded.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Accompanied by her scream, the vines covering the mountains and plains stood upright. Several nearby mountain peaks also exploded simultaneously, revealing countless vines inside. The ground in this vicinity had been hollowed out by this great monster, leaving only a thin shell. These vines that burst through the shell condensed in the sky into a tall, towering giant. It roared, and with a fist gathered from vines, it struck toward Bai Qiuran.

Whether it was Zuo Yanfei's spear light or Tang Ruowei's sword light, they were like ants before this vine net—insignificant and completely useless.

"What?"

A white figure appeared before the four of them before anyone could react. With white hair and white eyebrows, his robes fluttering, it was Bai Qiuran.

"No, I just remembered that I buried their Senior Disciple Brother in the ground."

The female voice chuckled, then said sternly: "Do you think I wouldn't dare?!"

The old Daoist, his face covered in blood, woke up in a daze. Seeing Bai Qiuran in front of him, he was instantly terrified into full consciousness, waving his hands repeatedly and saying: "Senior, please spare my life!"