A Fatal Trap

Su Chunyi's sword could even break through Monk Ku'e's golden body.

Monk Ku'e had no choice but to throw out a Blood Sarira and a Human Skin Scripture.

Both were magical treasures he had refined and nourished with countless lives. They were true treasures of the demonic sect.

But the moment the two treasures began to shine, they collided with Su Chunyi's sword. And then... there was no then.

The sarira shattered, and the scripture was torn apart.

Countless vengeful spirits flew out, only to be shredded by the sword light as well. They did nothing to Su Chunyi.

Just as Su Chunyi had said, a sword heart aligned as one could not be shaken.

Layer upon layer of golden body shattered like paper at a single thrust of the sword light. Even the kasaya Monk Ku'e had pinned his hopes on proved useless. The hundreds of talismans sewn inside it never got the chance to work before they were torn to pieces along with the robe.

At last, the sword pierced Monk Ku'e's body. His flesh fell away, and his bones were ground to dust.

Even then, Monk Ku'e couldn't help recalling the stories his sect elders had told him.

During the war between the righteous and demonic sects, the leader of the Qinghe Sword Sect had destroyed the Nirvana Sect leader's golden body with a single sword strike.

That leader had possessed thirty-six divine abilities, yet none had been enough to withstand that earth-shattering strike.

Monk Ku'e was only at the Tongxuan Realm. After hundreds of years of bitter cultivation, he had mastered just one Kaikou Chan. Witnessing that sword light streak across the sky, he finally understood what it meant for the Qinghe Sword Technique to be "the best under heaven."

Those hundreds of years of cultivation had only let him hold out a little longer when the sword light reached him, giving him a chance to preserve his soul.

Fortunately, I prepared a Cursed Spirit Child.

That was Monk Ku'e's final thought.

Demonic cultivators had committed countless atrocities, and sooner or later, they were bound to slip up. He had long made preparations for that day.

The Cursed Spirit Child was refined through a method of unspeakable cruelty, but its effect was excellent. It could be called the best method of taking over a body available to a cultivator at the Tongxuan Realm.

Moreover, the Nirvana Sect had secret arts that caused less damage during possession and allowed for a faster recovery.

He had also left behind magical treasures, spirit talismans, and pills. Even with his soul weakened, half a day would be enough to recover eighty percent of his cultivation.

Then he could return straight to the Nirvana Sect. Surely the junior of the Qinghe Sword Sect wouldn't dare follow him there.

Monk Ku'e felt smug. No matter how skilled this junior of the Qinghe Sword Sect was with a sword, his lack of experience was his greatest weakness.

He hadn't even disabled his opponent's means of survival first, yet he still wanted to slay demons and vanquish evil?

Still gloating, Monk Ku'e suddenly felt a tremendous force tugging at his soul, dragging him somewhere against his will. Rather than panic, he let himself drift along with the pull.

It's happening. The seal I carved into the Cursed Spirit Child has taken effect. My soul will be drawn inside on its own. Once I take over its body and am reborn, I'll... Hmm? Wait, something's wrong!

Monk Ku'e suddenly sensed something amiss. Taking over a body and being reborn should have meant merging swiftly with the flesh, like a baby coming into the world. It should have felt warm and comfortable, but all he felt now was a bone-deep chill.

He focused his senses and heard only the wails and shrieks of vengeful spirits. Something strange seemed to be binding his soul, leaving him unable to move.

Monk Ku'e struggled with all his might. Chains clanked around him, as though he were bound hand and foot.

But he was a soul now. Where had these chains come from?

His soul was too weak just after leaving his body to sense clearly what was happening. Once he had recovered a little, he saw countless spirits swirling around him, roaring and wailing in grief, their cries shaking his soul.

Monk Ku'e's soul was indeed bound by chains, and the other end of those chains was attached to a pitch-black banner.

Monk Ku'e cried out in shock, "The Ten Thousand Soul Banner?! No, this is my Ten Thousand Soul Banner!"

Looking around again, Monk Ku'e finally spotted a boulder ten zhang away.

Someone was hiding behind the enormous blue-green boulder, four meters tall and covered in moss!

Without hesitation, Monk Ku'e gathered what little spiritual energy he had left and condensed it into a Vajra Pestle, hurling it at the boulder.

The Vajra Pestle was made entirely of spiritual energy. It looked insubstantial, but held the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.

That one blow would reduce the boulder and the person behind it to dust.

But before the Vajra Pestle could land, a bamboo pole flew out from behind the boulder. Something bulging had been wrapped around it, and it met the Vajra Pestle head-on.

The two collided. Golden light burst apart, and the immense impact left the boulder webbed with cracks.

The bamboo pole had already crumbled to dust, its splinters scattering around like a sudden downpour of pear blossoms.

Monk Ku'e frowned. Something about that exchange felt wrong. There had seemed to be something on the bamboo pole that had dissipated the Vajra Pestle's force.

Behind the boulder, Chen Ye stared in amazement and couldn't help exclaiming, "Now that's a real cultivator at the Tongxuan Realm." If he hadn't taken cover in time, that strike would have turned him into a sieve.

Mo Ci shot her disciple a glare. Who was that brat mocking?

But even Mo Ci had to admit, looking at the shattered boulder, that even during her first possession, her soul had been nowhere near as resilient as this demon's.

A soul was supposed to be extremely fragile after leaving the body. It couldn't endure wind or rain, let alone suffer the slightest injury, or it risked being scattered into oblivion.

But this demon's soul was incredibly solid. It could even resist the pull of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. If he were free, he could truly kill Chen Ye with a single glance.

Still, Mo Ci wasn't worried.

Chen Ye had made plenty of preparations to deal with this demon.

First, he had used a formation to divert the connection between the Cursed Spirit Child and Monk Ku'e. Monk Ku'e should have descended directly into the Cursed Spirit Child, but Chen Ye had used the formation to redirect him to a spot ten zhang away.

Compared to a soul crossing hundreds of li, an error of ten zhang was hardly anything. Yet that short distance made the difference between life and death.

Mo Ci hadn't imagined that even the connection between a Cursed Spirit Child and its master could be misdirected. The books had never mentioned such a thing.

Even more astonishing to Mo Ci was how quickly Chen Ye had turned the Ten Thousand Soul Banner into his own magical treasure.

A magical treasure without its master's control was like a slave with a price on his head, but it was still a magical treasure.

Chen Ye explained that he had spent months studying everything related to the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in order to save himself. This black Ten Thousand Soul Banner had been refined using the most traditional method, and Chen Ye had long since mastered every detail. If it had been some other treasure, he wouldn't have been able to break through its defenses so easily.

But to Mo Ci, that was just Chen Ye being modest. She had cultivated for hundreds of years and still hadn't studied the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to such a degree.

This disciple of hers truly was a cultivation prodigy.

The trap had been sprung, but the result wasn't perfect.

Monk Ku'e's soul had been bound by the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, but he was still struggling desperately and showed no sign of tiring.

Chen Ye hadn't expected the demon to be so difficult to handle. He already had the last Sword Talisman pinched between his fingers.

He had planned to capture Monk Ku'e in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and deal with him at his leisure, but if he really couldn't hold him, then he would cut him down with a single sword strike.

Chen Ye wasn't the sort to think that earning less meant losing out. As far as he was concerned, this was all a windfall, and when the time came to give something up, he would do so.

Cultivators sought immortality, but staying alive came first.

Monk Ku'e sensed the danger, as if boundless killing intent were bearing down on him.

He wanted to use the spell that struck like a rod to the head again, but as his spiritual energy ran low, the chains tightened, drawing him closer to the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

He turned to destroy the banner instead, but the moment he summoned the Vajra Pestle, countless resentful spirits flew from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. They sacrificed themselves to block his spell, and his soul was dragged closer to the banner, almost sucked inside.

The Ten Thousand Soul Banner was a common treasure among demonic cultivators, but it was popular precisely because it combined offense and defense and was practical to use. It wasn't something that could be destroyed so easily.

A soul would only weaken rapidly. Its spiritual energy was always running out, and fighting even an ordinary magical treasure was incredibly difficult. And this was a treasure he had refined himself. Monk Ku'e knew full well how much care and how many materials had gone into making it.

Who would have thought this treasure would instead become the instrument of his death?

He had no idea how his opponent had severed his connection to the Cursed Spirit Child or stolen his magical treasure. But with his life hanging by a thread, he had to save himself.

"Amitabha. Benefactor, we have no enmity between us. Why steal my treasure and take my life? Though I know I am burdened with karmic sin, retribution will surely follow."

The only thing left that could save his life was his Kaikou Chan divine ability. It consumed far less spiritual energy than his other spells. If he could cover himself in two more layers of golden body, he could at least hold out a little longer.

Monk Ku'e refused to believe the brat could break through his golden body with a single sword strike too.