Yuntai Grand Tournament, Part Eight

Qin Jiu opened her eyes to complete darkness. She felt almost numb all over, as if she were immersed in warm amniotic fluid.

"Am I... dead...?"

Then a fish fin pushed aside the bandages covering Qin Jiu's eyes, and the Kun's head, with its three large eyes bulging out, stared at Qin Jiu.

Qin Jiu, "... I'm having another nightmare."

Kun stuck out its tongue and licked Qin Jiu's eyeball with a "slurp".

Qin Jiu let out a feeble scream of "Ahhh..."

Hearing the noise, Shi Kai returned to the bronze cauldron and checked on the seriously injured patient who was soaking in the medicine pot.

"Brother Qin, you're awake! You're really tough. Don't move around too much; you're covered in sores, your bones are about to fall apart. Just rest and recover; the Yuntai Competition is over."

"Wh... who..." Qin Jiu couldn't move, and could only turn his eyes to Shi Kai.

Shi Kai knew he definitely cared about this, "You win, you're the next Yuntai Sword Master."

Qin Jiu remained expressionless. He was practically in the stew pot; how could he possibly win?

Shi Kai scratched his head. "I don't know the specifics either. After the other peak sword masters were decided, when it came to the final stage of the nine peak sword masters competing for the Cloud Platform sword master, the Xuanmen disciples suddenly all withdrew and left. As a result, only the two of us were left in Nine Yin Mountain."

Elder Ji of Mount Song said that if I conceded defeat and Mount Song won, he would accept me as a true disciple. I also needed to find a place to stay, and seeing that the elder was kind and spoke so gently, I agreed. "Just focus on recovering from your injuries. Now that you are the Master of the Cloud Platform Sword, the Xuanmen will definitely help you heal. Once you're fully recovered, we can have another good fight."

"That's all?..."

Qin Jiu still didn't understand, but she was too tired, sleepy and exhausted, and her brain couldn't keep up. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again.

Shi Kai and Kun exchanged a glance. "This... Senior Ink Bamboo Mountain, do you have anything to eat?"

The Kun flapped its fins and vomited out a large amount of bloody, fresh beast meat.

Shi Kai: "... Sigh, fine then."

So the two of them, one human and one Kun, started grilling meat over the charcoal fire that Qin Jiu had been using to cook. Kun would occasionally hum and point out things, teaching the art of grilling in Ink Bamboo Mountain. Although Shi Kai couldn't understand it, he felt it was quite impressive. The meat grilled in this way was golden brown and had a wonderful aroma. Shi Kai and Kun split it in half and were about to enjoy their meal when suddenly a hand snatched their grilled meat away.

Kun was enraged! Its three eyes glared to the side... and its red eye on its head snapped shut as if pricked by a needle! Kun was terrified! Kun leaped! Kun hid in the pot!

Shi Kai was baffled. Turning his head, he saw a young man with wolf-like, fierce eyes, about his age, chewing on roasted meat, his dark eyes fixed on Qin Jiu in the pot... or perhaps on Kun?

"You are disciples of the Xuanmen sect who have come to participate in the Yuntai Grand Competition. Which sect are you from?"

Shi Kai couldn't discern the other party's cultivation level, but he figured they were probably referees like Elder Ji from the Cloud Platform Competition. So he stood up, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I am Shi Kai, a disciple of Songshan Mountain. These two are Kun and Qin Jiu from Ink Bamboo Mountain."

The young man immediately focused his eyes on Shi Kai. "You're a disciple of Mount Song? I've never seen you before?"

Shi Kai had nothing to hide, "I was originally Outer Sect of Emei. During this competition, Senior Ji appreciated my skills and accepted me into the sect."

"Ji Qingyan's disciple..."

The young man frowned, looked at Shi Kai, then at Qin Jiu, and sighed.

"It seems I still have some lingering connection with Mount Song, and this connection should be resolved with you."

"Young Shi, since I've eaten your food, I should give you a couple of pointers. Judging from your foundation, are you a martial arts practitioner? What weapon do you usually use?"

Oh, what else is there to say?

Shi Kai's hand flashed, "A knife."

"A knife... a fine knife..."

The young man picked up the Zanma Knife from Shi Kai's hand, pointed it vertically to the sky, and

"I've never actually wielded a sword myself before... Alright, then I'll take this opportunity to teach you a sword technique."

Shi Kai, "...???"

What, you can't use a knife? You figured it out on the spot, huh...?

But who knows? Maybe even gods have such sudden whims. Anyway, Shi Kai was too exhausted to continue, so he just watched the young man brandishing the Zanma Knife... uh...

"This, senior, you really haven't learned how to use a knife?"

Shi Kai watched for a while but couldn't bear it any longer. He got up and helped the other person correct their posture and stance.

"The saber and the sword are different. The Emei sword technique teaches that swordsmanship generally involves a process of simplification and then simplification, but saber techniques are not so complicated. They always emphasize moving forward without hesitation. When a saber is slashed, one must be free of distractions and pursue the ultimate state of purity and perfection..."

"Look, this move is the Shi Family's Riding Waves and Splitting Waves Slash. The entire stance and the exertion of power are all for concentrating all the cultivation in the body to unleash a supreme slash that can split the sea and cleave the waves..."

The young man watched Shi Kai talk eloquently about his insights into the way of the sword, and couldn't help but ask in surprise,

"Can you just casually share your family's secret techniques like that?"

Shi Kai didn't care. "What kind of secret manual is this? It's just simple martial arts moves. It can't compare to the secret techniques of the Xuanmen sect at all. You'll learn it with more practice."

My grandfather taught me that the way of the sword is to be pure. When you make a cut, it is either cut or it is not cut. Only you know the extent of your own cultivation. If you neglect your practice and try to be clever or take shortcuts, you will only harm yourself in the end.

Therefore, forging a sword is very simple. Just be serious, practice each move carefully, and don't let yourself down. The sword will definitely not let you down.

"With a knife, one can split stone; where there's a will, there's a way. Hehe, that's why I'm called 'Shi Kai'."

The Southern Country boy smiled, revealing a set of white teeth. The smile was so dazzling that even the fierce-looking youth was momentarily stunned.

"Being earnest and sincere, with utmost dedication, is a powerful force that can move mountains. Well said, it makes sense..."

"What demons dare to invade my sacred Yuntai Peak!"

Suddenly, the clouds and mist on the Yuntai Peak dissipated, the sky changed abruptly, and the auspicious clouds and light suddenly turned into the False Moon in the sky. Shi Kai up and saw a towering immortal peak suddenly appear above his head. The mountain was majestic and lofty, with only a willow leaf-like tip showing from the clouds, like a sword pointing straight to the blue sky.

Meanwhile, rolling thunderclouds gathered from all directions, transforming into countless divine forms that encircled the immortal peak, surrounding the surrounding sea of clouds and revealing only a corner of the peak and the purple moon hanging high in the starless sky.

Shi Kai his mouth, gazing up at the scene before him. He was momentarily overwhelmed by the oncoming gale, and under the pressure of the endless immortal energy from the heavens, he knelt on the ground, unable to move. He was almost suffocated by the dense spiritual energy, as thick as bricks and stones.

The fierce-looking young man smiled, picked up Shi Kai's knife, and said, "Lend it to me."

The next instant, the young man vanished into the sky, hoisting his Zanma Knife onto his shoulder, and appeared atop the clouds of Yuntai Peak. Looking down upon the myriad divine beings filling the heavens, he laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! Fellow Daoists, you've come at a good time! The Heavenly Demon pays homage to the mountain! Please lend me the Heavenly Book for a look!"

The Heavenly Immortal and gods shouted in unison, "Bah! Fallen into the demonic path! Seeking your own death! Disciples! Defend the righteous path and eliminate the demon! Activate the formation!"

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens Maiden, Holy Mother, Great Heavenly Venerable!"

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, Purple Mansion Ancestor, Great Heavenly Venerable!"

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, Mysterious Ancestor, Primordial Sovereign, Great Heavenly Venerable!"

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, Great Celestial Venerable Great Yi Dao Mother!"

"The Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens Maiden, the Great Heavenly Venerable Who Promotes Confucianism and Saves the World"

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, Supreme Emperor, Great Heavenly Venerable!"

"The Holy Mother of the Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, the Great Heavenly Venerable!"

As the celestial music resounded and dazzling light filled the earth, seven Profound Maiden appeared one after another in the sky. They bowed to the Yuntai Peak, each making a hand gesture and shooting out seven divine rays that shone directly on the summit of Jiuyin.

In an instant, the light of the Dharma shone everywhere, and countless flying swords, like a cluster of brilliant stars, rose slowly from the golden summit. The rainbows stretched in all directions, and the unparalleled rain of swords swept across the sky, attacking head-on!

The Celestial Devil Emperor held his Zanma Knife horizontally, dragging it diagonally to his side, and swung it, mimicking the move Shi Kai had just taught him.

He swung the knife very slowly, so slowly that even Shi Kai could see it clearly.

He swung the blade very quickly, so quickly that it left a clearly visible cut mark in the air as it sliced through the void.

The blade of the Zanma Knife withstood forces far exceeding the material's limits, shattering into dust mid-swing! Yet the blade itself did not break!

Under the moonlight, the sky, clouds, mountains, and stars all seemed like a curtain, with an invisible blade drawing back the clearly visible cuts, like a black blade ten, a hundred, or even a million feet long, cleaving the heavens and earth in two! It divided the treacherous mountains and rivers, the starry sky, and the seven-colored sword rainbow in two!

In that instant when swords clashed, the countless sword lights fell into the spatial rift created by the Celestial Devil Emperor's strike, vanishing into nothingness!

"Splitting the waves, shattering the Milky Way"

The stars shift and the constellations sway, nothing can withstand their power.

The northernmost point of the Heavenly Gang cannot be deciphered.

Tai Su First! Open! Heaven! Slash!

With a single strike, all the supreme beings in the heavens were severed! The seven Xuan Profound Maiden Grand Celestial Venerables were instantly beheaded! The howling sword wind that enveloped the Yuntai Peak was also swept away!

Nine Yin Sword Formation! Break!

Yes! The moment this strike was unleashed, the Heavenly Demon King, who had reached the peak of the Divine Transformation, broke through all illusions, severed all ties with the mortal world, and stepped across the threshold! He entered the realm of enlightenment and became the Celestial Devil Emperor!

Upon seeing that the Demon Emperor had broken through so quickly in the midst of battle, his momentum soaring, the divine lords of the Xuanmen sects naturally dared not forcibly stop him, lest they run into their doom. They immediately transformed into rainbow light and scattered into the sky, fearing that they would be caught up and cut down by a single blade.

However, the Celestial Devil Emperor did not intend to exterminate them all.

He threw the broken blade in his hand, which had cleaved the Cloud Platform Realm and was now almost entirely reduced to its hilt, in front of Shi Kai.

"Can you see it clearly now?"

Shi Kai stared blankly at the broken sword. No, it wasn't broken. Although the blade couldn't withstand the power of enlightenment and had long since turned to dust, the sword intent remained clearly. A black crack, like lightning, extended from the hilt. This residual sword intent alone was enough to shatter the void of the plane!

"Open the Heavens, Slash."

Holding the broken blade, Shi Kai repeated each word slowly and deliberately, trying to comprehend the purest essence of the sword. He was momentarily mesmerized.

Seeing that the boy had gained some understanding and knew how to resolve the cause and effect, the Celestial Devil Emperor did not linger any longer. He flashed into the cave and arrived at the gate of the Nine Luminaries Sword Pavilion.

Led by the two elders of Songshan, the Nine Great Xuan Sects —Danxia Mountain Songshan, Hengshan, Maoshan, Mao Mountain, Hotong Mountain, Wangwu Mountain, Magu Mountain, Penglai Mountain, Xieluo Mountain, and Yuntai—have all gathered here, awaiting the second strong person since the Divine Lord to attempt to challenge the Xuanmen Sects.

The Celestial Devil Emperor said, "Who will challenge me for the title of Lord of the Cloud Platform? Did you win that round just now?"

Xia Baishu frowned and scolded, "Wuyang! You've caused quite a mess! You really don't know what's good for you!"

Ji Qingyan sighed, "What a pity, what a pity! He's courting death. He's courting death."

The Celestial Devil Emperor shook his head. "You two don't need to persuade me anymore. Where is Manifestation? If he hasn't arrived yet, Master Wei arrives first?"

Purple Void Dao Lord bowed and said, "Congratulations on breaking through to the Enlightenment Stage. I would also like to learn about the mysteries of the Tai Su Heavenly Demon Dao. In this tribulation, we, the Supreme Purity Dao, will naturally not shirk our duty to protect the Dao and eliminate demons. However, in this year's Yuntai Grand Competition, the Sword Master was awarded to Songshan. Shouldn't it be the Great Yi Dao's fellow Daoists who start the first round?"

Xia Baishu shrugged, "We owe him a lot of money, so we can't help. Little Xu is off fighting the Divine Cult right now and won't be back for a while. You guys go ahead and don't be shy."

Purple Void Dao Lord smiled but remained silent.

Ji Qingyan smiled and pointed to the pot on another immortal peak, "Why don't we have that Qin kid's master come? That little bastard took the benefits we promised but didn't do his job properly. He should pay the price."

Xia Baishu nodded, "That makes sense."

Purple Void Dao Lord smiled and said, "Of course it's possible."

Since the three of them had said so, the others naturally wouldn't object. After all, this so-called First Ancestor of the Primordial Celestial Devil Emperor seemed quite powerful, wielding excellent swordsmanship. They wanted to see what other skills he had up his sleeve.

Then the two elders of Mount Song exchanged a glance, looked up to the sky, and roared, "Qingyue!"

The roar echoed outwards, shaking the heavens and the earth, reverberating throughout the Jingji. Then, the two calculated with their fingers and suddenly flew into the sky together. In the blink of an eye, each of them carried Li Fan by an arm to the top of Yuntai Peak.

Li Fan looked them over and over, "... What a pair of bastards."

Xia Baishu was startled. "Oh my, you old beast, listen! This little bastard is cursing us. I haven't heard that nickname in years. Anyone who dares to curse like that should be dead by now. Who taught you to call us that?"

Ji Qingyan chuckled, "Who cares? Kid, you have to keep your promise. You have to hold them off for us no matter what. There's no escaping it, so go for it."

The two men raised their hands and threw Li Fan into the sword mound.

Li Fan turned his head and found that a group of Dao Lords had already hidden far away to watch the show, on the mountain where Qin Jiu Shi Kai Kun were.

What a bunch of scum...

The Celestial Devil Emperor looked at Li Fan with his hands behind his back, "Fellow Daoist, you're a bit late. What were you doing just now?"

Li Fan glanced at him, then looked at the Dao Lords and Immortal Lords in the distance, and said coldly.

"I circled around the Three Enclosures and saw that demonic forces were massacring the city, while the guards in the capital were only concerned with killing each other, with no one offering any assistance. As a minor official with a salary of four hundred bushels of grain, I had no intention of rescuing the imperial officials of Ziwei or the nobles of the Three Enclosures. However, it was my duty to check on the people who were digging the river outside the city, so I went to see how they were doing and if I could lend a hand and at least help some people escape the calamity."

The Celestial Devil Emperor looked at him with great interest. "When Heaven unleashes its killing intent, stars shift and constellations change; when Earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land; when Man unleashes his killing intent, Heaven and Earth are overturned. When this calamity began, they had already sealed off all twenty-eight guards in Guanzhong. Tonight, they will surely ensure that no one in the Three Enclosures who is destined to die will escape. Fellow Daoist, can you really not foresee this...? Has anyone escaped?"

Li Fan chuckled and said, "Hehe, no, anyway, I didn't see a single living person. All I saw was a pond full of blood, overflowing the river, and the current rushing against the city, washing away the outer city walls and flooding into the houses. The blood was knee-deep. Hehe, I guess this is what they call being destined for this calamity, and being unable to defy fate?"

The Celestial Devil Emperor nodded.

"The floodwaters swept up blood and gore, the world was plunged into darkness and a murderous aura emanated from it. No matter how refined your Divine Essence Body may be, once it is stained with blood, you will not return to your life."

The Divine Cult's Ten Deadly Blood Transformation Array truly lives up to its name. With a mere wave of its hand, it wiped out my entire city. Young friend, you're right; in this world, there is truly no way out."

"Hey kid, stop talking nonsense and get to the fight! Show me your real skills!"

"Hey you old fool, you don't understand! He's stalling for time. Good for you, kid! Keep stalling! He'll manifest and save you soon!"

The Celestial Devil Emperor, however, knew what kind of old geezers those two were, so he ignored them. Instead, he looked at Li Fan's expression and asked with a curious smile,

"Among all the cultivators, the one I can't understand the most is you, young friend. You are clearly a fierce tiger, so why do you always try to protect those pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses? Don't you know that they are just meat on a plate and wine in a cup?"

Li Fan's smile faded, and he bowed to the Celestial Devil Emperor. "Your Majesty is a dragon among men, but don't forget that you too Yang Sheng, and raised by cattle and horses. I Mu Long in the mountains, and I hope that one day I can herd all the pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses in the world into dragons."

The Celestial Devil Emperor narrowed his eyes. "I've learned a lot."

Li Fan nodded, stood in front of the Nine Luminaries Sword Pavilion, and surveyed the sword mounds covering the mountain.

All the swords here were broken, shattered by that peerless strike, the Heaven-Splitting Slash, losing all their sword spirit Sword Qi.

Five hundred years of guarding the mountain peaks, destroyed in a single night.

Because this is the destiny of the sword.

"Whatever, we're all in this mess, everyone deserves to die, screw it all."

So Li Fan made a hand seal and raised his hand.

"Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, Ruyi True Lord, Great Heavenly Venerable! Sword, come!"

The immortal lords and Dao lords who were just laughing and joking fell silent in an instant, turning their heads in unison, countless eyes coldly staring at Li Fan.

In this suffocating silence, a deafening roar, as if the earth were splitting open, came clearly from the foot of the mountains. A golden sound, like a dragon's roar, like the rising wind, like the striking of jade, swirled upstream from the Nine Yin Mountain. A soaring sword intent rose from the ground, its light as bright as stars and its blade as blazing as fire, and flew into the palm of the hand.

This sword is three feet and three inches long. Its brilliance is like a lotus just emerging from the Phoebe. Its hilt is as dazzling as a row of stars. Its light is as clear as water overflowing a pond. Its cut is as sharp as a jagged rock. Its blade is as radiant as ice melting.

Whether it was the Celestial Devil Emperor or the Two Elders of Mount Song, everyone's eyes were fixed on that sword.

Chun Jun.

Beichen Sword Sect, Sword Ancestor Xuantian, Sect Leader's Sword, Chun Jun Sword Lord!

But Li Fan didn't look at it. He just randomly summoned one from Yuntai Peak. Why should a sword be such an inconvenient thing? As long as it's handy for killing, that's fine.

So he held the sword in his left hand, and with his right hand swept across the blade, he spread his own dusty Dao body like silk and wrapped it around the sword.

Like a magic trick, in the next instant, the Sword Light vanished, and the demon disappeared without a trace.

Only the moon's shadow enveloped Jian Pavilion, Yuntai Peak, and Nine Yin Mountain.

They plunged the heavens and the earth into darkness.

The Celestial Devil Emperor and the nine sect leaders of the Xuanmen were also swallowed up by the closing string.

"You want to see my real skills? Then come on over and see for yourselves!"