Borrowing a Knife to Kill

"Send someone to the Tyrant Blade Sect."

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Sihai instructed his trusted scout standing below.

"The Tyrant Blade Sect?" The scout replied in a deep voice, his tone tinged with hesitation. "Boss, we don't seem to have any dealings with them. Will they even take action?"

"You only need to tell the sect leader of the Tyrant Blade Sect the truth of the matter," Qin Sihai said. "It is a fact known to the entire martial arts world that the Vajra Sect was wiped out by the Tyrant Blade Sect. Now that Chen Xuan has saved a Vajra Sect disciple from their hands and has successfully mastered the Vajra Technique, do you really think his actions were just out of a sense of justice?"

"Does the boss mean...?"

The scout's pupils constricted slightly, having roughly grasped the underlying implication.

"The Vajra Sect was completely eradicated, and that survivor harbors a deep blood feud. Chen Xuan saved him and even practiced the Vajra Technique; it's possible he has already struck some kind of deal with the other party," Qin Sihai said. "Think about it: if you were Lei Hu, the leader of the Tyrant Blade Sect, and you learned that an outsider had mastered the Vajra Technique, what would you think? Wouldn't this involve matters of revenge?"

"This subordinate understands." The scout nodded. "The Tyrant Blade Sect leader is suspicious by nature. If he sees Chen Xuan has mastered the Vajra Technique, he will surely believe that Chen Xuan intends to avenge the Vajra Sect in the future."

"Exactly." Qin Sihai nodded, then added, "However, there are some things you don't need to report truthfully, such as Chen Xuan taking Wan Guiyun's ultimate sword art head-on with his bare body and remaining unscathed."

The scout felt a chill in his heart.

Who was Wan Guiyun?

He was a direct descendant of the Ten Thousand Sword Villa, possessing a cultivation at the peak of the ninth level of Body Tempering, and he practiced a sword art at the ultimate level.

The power of that strike was enough to kill an ordinary expert at the first level of the Zhuqi Realm, yet it couldn't break through Chen Xuan's defense?

If this news were reported truthfully, Lei Hu of the Tyrant Blade Sect might not dare to take action.

"Understood, I know what to say."

The trusted scout nodded.

"Go, set off immediately," Qin Sihai said. "The Tyrant Blade Sect is over three hundred miles away from Lianshan City. Ride hard; it would be best if Lei Hu moves against Chen Xuan tonight. Delay brings changes."

"Yes!"

The scout took the order and left.

"Lei Hu of the Tyrant Blade Sect... that still might not be enough."

Qin Sihai muttered to himself in a low voice.

Lei Hu of the Tyrant Blade Sect had only just broken through to the first level of the Zhuqi Realm. The Tyrant Blade Art he practiced was a superior martial art, making him stronger than an average first-level Zhuqi expert, but the ultimate sword art displayed by Wan Guiyun, a direct descendant of the Ten Thousand Sword Villa, was also powerful enough to kill an ordinary first-level Zhuqi expert.

Yet, it still couldn't break Chen Xuan's defense.

This kid, Chen Xuan, might have already reached the Zhuqi Realm.

To master a top-tier martial art to the Zhuqi Realm level in such a short time—while hard to believe, Qin Sihai had to consider it.

Therefore, having Lei Hu of the Tyrant Blade Sect take action was only the first link in his plan to kill with a borrowed knife. With Lei Hu's strength, even if he couldn't kill Chen Xuan, he could at least force out some of Chen Xuan's trump cards.

The second link would be to have the inner sect disciple Liu Feng take action.

According to news previously sent back from the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, Liu Feng had requested the help of the ninth-level Body Tempering outer sect disciple Zhou Kang, but Chen Xuan was still alive and well, while Zhou Kang had vanished without a trace. The outcome went without saying.

Liu Feng practiced a superior martial art, and calculating the time, he should have come out of seclusion by now, having broken through to the third level of the Zhuqi Realm.

With him taking action, success would be guaranteed.

Baishui Town branch, meeting hall.

"Senior Brother Zhao, if I want to exchange for an ultimate art or a divine art from the sect, how many great contributions would I need?"

After discussing the follow-up matters of Baishui Town with Zhao Yuanshan, Chen Xuan asked.

Having just experienced the battle against Wan Guiyun, he had seen the power of an ultimate sword art with his own eyes. The sharpness of the Yiyuan Sword Art, driven by Wan Guiyun's ninth-level Body Tempering cultivation, had already made him feel threatened.

If Wan Guiyun reached the Zhuqi Realm and cultivated true energy, using that true energy to drive an ultimate sword art, the outcome would be hard to predict.

"Why? Did seeing Wan Guiyun, a direct descendant of the Ten Thousand Sword Villa, display an ultimate sword art make you itch to try it yourself? You want to practice an ultimate art or a divine art?"

Zhao Yuanshan smiled and said.

"I do have some thoughts on it." Chen Xuan nodded. "Although I blocked the power of that strike, it left a deep impression on me."

"Wan Guiyun is indeed a natural-born talent to be able to master an ultimate art. As long as he doesn't die young, he will surely be a top combatant for the Ten Thousand Sword Villa in the future." Zhao Yuanshan nodded, then said, "Our sect's Scripture Pavilion has five floors in total. The first floor contains ordinary techniques, the second floor superior techniques, the third floor top-tier techniques, the fourth floor ultimate arts, and the fifth floor divine arts."

"Among them, the techniques on the first three floors can be exchanged for with contribution points, while the ultimate arts on the fourth floor and the divine arts on the fifth floor... do not require contribution points to read."

"No contribution points required?"

Chen Xuan looked puzzled.

Ultimate arts and divine arts were the pinnacle of martial arts.

The sect actually allowed disciples to read them without needing contribution points.

"Correct!" Zhao Yuanshan nodded. "Because the difficulty of practicing ultimate arts and divine arts is too high. Even if ordinary disciples get their hands on them, they simply cannot master them. Therefore, the sect's rule is that as long as you become an inner sect disciple, you can freely enter the fourth and fifth floors to read any ultimate or divine art."

"Just read them freely?"

Chen Xuan was somewhat surprised.

"Just read them freely." Zhao Yuanshan nodded affirmatively, picking up the teapot on the table to pour a cup of tea for both himself and Chen Xuan. "The sect is actually eager for disciples to master these ultimate and divine arts. Do you know how many divine art manuals are collected on the fifth floor of the Scripture Pavilion since our sect was founded over eight hundred years ago?"

"I don't know."

Chen Xuan shook his head and said.

"Five!" Zhao Yuanshan said: "At the beginning, our sect only had one divine technique manual practiced by the founding patriarch, but over these eight hundred years, more have been collected one after another, totaling five divine technique manuals. However, there has been no one capable of cultivating a divine technique to great success.

Unique skills are a bit better; in the last hundred years, over ten people have cultivated them to great success, but divine techniques... without a special constitution, that is, the legendary Spirit Body, it is simply impossible to cultivate them to great success."

"Spirit Body?"

Chen Xuan revealed a thoughtful expression.

"A Spirit Body is born with all meridians unobstructed, making the cultivation of any technique as simple as breathing or drinking water." A look of yearning flashed in Zhao Yuanshan's eyes: "Our sect's founding patriarch was a Spirit Body. It is precisely because of this that he was able to cultivate a divine technique to great success, and that is how the Guiyuan Sect has had its foundation for these eight hundred years."

"Apart from a Spirit Body, no one can master a divine technique?"

Chen Xuan asked.

"That's not exactly true." Zhao Yuanshan shook his head: "If one has superior bone quality and aptitude and is willing to spend the painstaking effort, one can also cultivate a divine technique to the introductory level. However, after reaching the Zhuqi Realm, the time required to increase each level grows exponentially. To reach the ninth level of the Zhuqi Realm, even someone with superior bone quality would need to spend a thousand years."

"A thousand years?"

Chen Xuan's tone was surprised.

"Correct." Zhao Yuanshan sighed: "A martial artist in the Zhuqi Realm only has a lifespan of one hundred and fifty to two hundred years; where would they find a thousand years of time? Even if they cultivated until death without sleeping or resting, they wouldn't be able to break through beyond the third level of the Zhuqi Realm."

Chen Xuan was lost in thought.