In the early days of the great upheaval, demonic cultivators still did as they pleased, slaughtering entire cities at the drop of a hat.
But the cultivation arts had spread far and wide, and when demonic cultivators slaughtered living beings to refine their techniques, a few lucky individuals often managed to survive.
One of them not only joined a sect but also became a disciple of the Founder Ancestor of an Immortal Sect. Once her cultivation had matured, she killed every demonic cultivator she came across.
Many old devils' descendants were killed and sought revenge, but that Immortal Sect's Founder Ancestor was fiercely protective of her disciples. She personally stepped in, and heads rolled.
The demonic path's own founders, meanwhile, cared only about themselves. If a few unrelated demonic cultivators were killed, so be it. It was simply their own bad luck.
As a result, the demonic path gradually weakened. After all, many demonic artifacts required refining living souls or sacrificing living beings.
To improve matters, some old devils in the demonic path gathered together. Using the cloning technology Saint Emperor Abyss had mentioned, and combining it with induced illusions, they actually managed to create divine souls on a mass scale.
Though the world still would not tolerate this act, it claimed far fewer victims in the end.
Only then did the demonic path gradually regain its footing.
"Ahh... True Person, you're right. I'm not much of a demonic cultivator." The young man sighed. "So I had no choice but to resort to this."
Forging divine souls was convenient, but it was expensive.
A forged divine soul on par with True Person Xiaoning would cost more than he could afford, even if he sold himself.
Ahh... It was tough being a demonic cultivator these days.
He shook the Ten Thousand Soul Banner again.
"True Person, it's time for you to go."
Clear light poured down like a waterfall. The banner ghosts, each bearing a solemn expression like a deity, spoke in unison as rays of light filled the sky.
True Person Xiaoning's heart jolted. A dark-red mask of armor covered his entire head, but it did no good. The sound of chanting Buddhist hymns rang in his ears.
His opponent was already more powerful, and on top of that, the Soul-Snaring Array bolstered him. Having lost the initiative, Xiaoning was overcome in an instant by boundless exhaustion rising from the depths of his soul. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep until the end of time.
In a single exchange, True Person Xiaoning, a Void Return Realm cultivator, was about to be captured!
His soul was about to be sucked into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, where he'd spend the rest of his life as a miserable grunt.
"Don't sleep!"
A thunderous roar rang out, sending ripples across the clear light that filled the sky.
The sky seemed to catch fire in an instant. Surging blood and qi whipped up scorching waves, and a crimson beam pierced the boundless clear light like a blood-red spear thrusting into the heavens.
The young man, who had been in the midst of dealing with True Person Xiaoning, raised an eyebrow. He shifted aside to dodge, then lightly slapped out with his left hand.
Boom!
The blood-red light shattered. A nearly three-meter-tall man, his muscles knotted and bulging, crossed his arms to block the young man's slap.
A body cultivator—and a Void Return Realm body cultivator at that!
"Isn't that Old Jiang?!" A student at Xuanjian City No. 3 Middle School quickly recognized him.
Most of the others, however, were still utterly baffled.
"Old Jiang? Who's Old Jiang? Do we have a grand cultivator like that at our school?"
"He's the librarian!"
"What? Wasn't he only at Foundation Establishment?"
For a moment, the students buzzed with disbelief. None of them had imagined that the elderly man, who looked so frail a gust of wind could knock him over, was actually a hidden master!
A grand cultivator of the Void Return Realm—and a body cultivator, no less!
Zhang Yunlu had just recovered enough to struggle to her feet. She stared blankly at the sky.
She liked going to the library to read, so she'd chatted with the librarian a few times. But what was happening now was completely beyond her expectations.
"So it's true that grand cultivators like to wander among the common folk," she murmured.
"Maybe, but his injuries are severe. He's probably about to die."
Huh?
How could he tell?
Zhang Yunlu froze, then suddenly turned to look at Xu Xing's back. An absurd suspicion surfaced in her mind.
High above, Old Jiang's eyes were bloodshot, and the few strands of hair remaining on his head fluttered in the wind.
Because of the old injuries inside his body, he'd already reached his limit after blocking that one strike.
"A dying man dares to ruin my plans?"
After delivering the remark in a flat voice, the young man swatted him away like a fly.
This Void Return Realm body cultivator had been his original choice. But now he had a better one. Once he dealt with Xiaoning, he'd extract the old man's soul.
At school, Xu Xing watched everything without moving.
In the sky, True Person Xiaoning saw the fellow cultivator who'd come to save him get swatted away, his life or death unknown. He was even more torn.
He'd been caught off guard just now, but having learned his lesson, he was confident he could hold out for two minutes until help from his sect arrived.
That Void-Evil-Breaking Sword Qi was also a cultivation material he desperately needed...
That fellow cultivator was a body cultivator. One slap wouldn't do him any harm...
"Fuck!"
"Fuck you, you broke-ass bastard! You broke-ass piece of shit! Refine your fucking Ten Thousand Soul Banner! I'll send your broke ass down to hell to meet your fucking—"
All kinds of utterly foul curses poured from True Person Xiaoning's mouth. Even the young demonic cultivator opposite him was left dumbfounded.
"True Person, surely that's beneath your sta—fuck you!"
Purple light glimmered between True Person Xiaoning's brows, and a dazzling sword intent surged into the sky.
Void-Evil-Breaking Sword Qi!
Hum—
Everything in the city froze and turned black and white. Only that streak of purple light grew more and more dazzling.
Everyone at the school was frozen in the moment the sword qi appeared. The only ones unaffected were Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu.
"Don't look at me. Look at them."
At his words, Zhang Yunlu turned her gaze toward the sky, her suspicions only growing stronger.
"Slay!"
In the black-and-white world, the purple sword qi surged like a swimming dragon, roaring as it rushed to tear the demonic cultivator to shreds.
Crack!
At the very last moment, something in the sky broke. A huge hand wreathed in demonic qi reached through, crushed the sword qi in its grip, and grabbed for True Person Xiaoning.
Above the Void Return Realm!
A mighty expert had intervened!
The change came too quickly. True Person Xiaoning didn't have time to react, and he was about to lose his life.
Suddenly, the shattered Void-Evil-Breaking Sword Qi gathered itself together again. It was dozens of times more powerful than before. Even the demonic hand slowed under its influence!
The next instant, the sword qi came down.
Roar!
A roar, neither beast nor human, filled with agony, rang out. The shattered sky returned to normal.
The severed hand wreathed in demonic qi shrank back to the size of an ordinary arm and fell into the crater below.
As for the young demonic cultivator, the sword qi shredded his body and soul. He was dead beyond a doubt, leaving only the Ten Thousand Soul Banner floating quietly in the sky.
At school, everyone around them was still frozen. Xu Xing turned back to Zhang Yunlu.
"How do you feel, young lady?"
"I..."
Zhang Yunlu opened her mouth, but no words came out.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. The twists had come too fast and too many. She'd thought that True Person Xiaoning, a grand cultivator of the Void Return Realm, was already incredibly powerful, but the demonic cultivator had been stronger still.
And the demonic cultivator who'd outclassed True Person Xiaoning had been utterly helpless against that sword qi.
The demonic hand that appeared at the end had clearly come from someone on an even higher level, perhaps beyond the Void Return Realm. Yet the sword qi had gathered itself again and severed it.
"What'll happen to the demon who appeared at the end?"
"He'll probably die."
Other Immortal Sects might let it go, but after offending the Supreme Dao Sect and losing an arm, that demonic expert had very little chance of surviving.
"That sword qi..."
"Void-Evil-Breaking Sword Qi. It came from a sword cultivator who practiced the Great Void Sword Canon."
She'd seen the Great Void Sword Canon on the Spirit Net before. It was the Sword Sect's supreme art!
"So you're...?" Zhang Yunlu's voice trembled.
"Just as you thought."
Xu Xing had never stated his identity, but he'd never made any effort to conceal it, either.
As the purple sword qi faded, the world's colors gradually began to return.
"This is a wonderful era. I like it, so I'll be staying in this city for a while." Xu Xing looked at Zhang Yunlu and smiled. "If we meet again, I'll give you a pretty decent little gift."
With that, his figure vanished.
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