Red Spirit Stone Marrow

Both were at the Five Viscera realm, the first of the Four Great Passes, and both were inner sect disciples who had yet to enter the main sect; naturally, neither possessed the cultivation techniques for the Five Viscera realm of the Four Great Passes.

It could be said that their realms were identical, and their cultivation levels were the same!

Yet, Fang Jiming felt as if he were facing a top-tier expert at the second or even third of the Four Great Passes. The suffocation and the sense of oppression were absolute!

He couldn't fight; there was simply no way to fight. The two were not on the same level at all!

But where this gap originated, Fang Jiming could not explain.

Why... why is the gap so massive... Fang Jiming raged impotently in his heart.

Yu Xiu casually rotated the long sword in his palm and said unhurriedly, "You say that spreading the news of the secret treasure I possess might indeed bring me trouble, but there is one problem: you are going to die right now."

"How, then, would this news be spread?"

Fang Jiming sighed as if resigning himself to his fate. "I have one thing I do not understand. Could you clear my doubts?"

Yu Xiu shook his head. "No."

You— Fang Jiming's words choked in his throat, and the long sword in his hand trembled. "The sword in my hand is forged from Black Iron Essence, supplemented with North Sea Cold Iron Essence. It can sever a throat with a single strike, and it can freeze the blood in a person's body. It kills without shedding blood or leaving a trace. If nurtured properly, it has the potential to ascend to a Spirit Weapon."

He looked at the sword in Yu Xiu's hand. "My sword is a hundred, a thousand times superior to yours. If I die today, you may take this 'Clear Cold Sword' and nurture it until it becomes a Spirit Weapon."

Yu Xiu smiled. "To kill you and then carry your sword back to the sect would be no different than telling everyone that you all died by my hand."

"The Law Enforcement seniors would likely throw me into the Earth Fire Prison the moment I arrived. You use this Clear Cold Sword as bait to stir my greed, only to have me return to the sect to die."

"If I am not mistaken, this sword of yours likely has a history and is very easily recognized."

"Borrowing a sword to kill, seeking revenge for yourself—you still haven't learned to be honest, even now!"

Fang Jiming listened quietly until the end, then let out a long sigh. "It seems I cannot kill you!"

"Very well, come and duel with me. Let us see where your swordsmanship truly excels."

The long sword in Yu Xiu's hand suddenly vibrated, emitting a "clanging" sword hum. The next instant, his figure blurred, leaving only faint words drifting in the air: "As you wish."

Such a fast sword! Fang Jiming's gaze sharpened. He pushed his essence, energy, and spirit to the limit, erupting with the True Qi of the first of the Four Great Passes. It transformed into Sword Qi, and the Clear Cold Sword in his hand instantly unleashed a flurry of strikes, dancing so densely that not even a drop of water could pass through, shrouding his entire body.

This swordplay was not meant to kill; it was meant only to block Yu Xiu's sword, which was too fast to see!

However, no matter how fast his sword was, how could it possibly be faster than Yu Xiu's sword, bolstered by Riding the Wind?

Almost the moment Yu Xiu's figure blurred, a line of blood appeared on Fang Jiming's throat. He did not know it yet and continued to dance his sword.

But his speed grew slower and slower, while the line of red at his throat grew larger and deeper.

Invisible Sword Qi poured into his body from his throat, shattering his Five Viscera and Six Entrails, shredding his meridians and Qi Sea, and severing his very life force!

His eyes filled with unwillingness and confusion, finally leaving only a whisper: "Is the gap... truly this large?"

Thud! Fang Jiming stopped his swordplay and collapsed to the ground.

He was dead!

Too weak! Yu Xiu sheathed his sword.

Even though they were both at the Five Viscera realm of the Four Great Passes—and Fang Jiming had lingered in this realm for much longer—he did not even have the qualifications to draw his sword before Yu Xiu.

Wind Movement: Riding the Wind!

Sword Heart: Hidden Edge!

These two points were what clearly distinguished Yu Xiu from others.

But beyond that, what made him even more unreasonable were his lifespan and his comprehension.

A lifespan exceeding fifteen hundred years made his Life Spring vast and deep, his vitality seemingly endless. Reflected in his True Qi, it was similarly pure and formidable, far beyond what anyone of the same realm could compare to.

His comprehension of 1429 meant that every sword technique in his hands reached a state of perfection without a single flaw.

Once these sword techniques reached perfection, every time he used them, he acted according to his heart. Countless flashes of inspiration would cross his mind, and even he did not know how a strike would be delivered or how it would manifest.

His swordsmanship had long since transcended the framework of sword techniques themselves. Every strike was untraceable, and its power exceeded that of standard perfected forms. Even if it were the same technique, others could not see his flaws, let alone find a way to parry them.

Therefore, even without using Wind Movement, Riding the Wind, or Sword Heart, Hidden Edge, his true strength was far beyond any practitioner of the same realm.

In his eyes, Fang Jiming was no different from a stationary piece of wood.

As for Song Yue, Pang Wei, Zhang Yun, and the others, they were even less than wood; the moment Yu Xiu's sword left its sheath, those people were already dead.

Fang Jiming's attempt to use their lives to restrain Yu Xiu and buy himself time to escape was nothing more than a futile gesture.

Ignoring the dead Fang Jiming, Yu Xiu turned and walked back into the thatched cottage.

He did not even glance at Qin Shu, Zhao Zheng, and the others lying helter-skelter on the ground. He sat down unhurriedly at the old table in the center of the main room. "Will you come out yourself, or must I invite you out?"

As his voice fell, a low, deep sound echoed. "I have existed in Guiping County for a long time. Aside from you, many other practitioners have come here, yet I have lived safely until today."

Yu Xiu nodded, stood up, and drew his long sword, his figure blurring instantly. "Understood. You are reminding me to kill you as quickly as possible."

"What do you mean, kill me as quickly as possible?" the low voice cried out in panicked rage. "I am reminding you that I have a backer behind me! You dare—"

Before the words could finish, the sword's edge was already before its eyes.

This was a Shadow Demon that had possessed the body of a middle-aged man. On the surface, no aura of a Shadow Demon could be detected, which was why it had hidden so well.

But Yu Xiu had come too quickly, too fiercely, giving it absolutely no chance to react!

Sshhh! A flash of sword light passed, and a head hit the ground. More terrifyingly, that formless Sword Qi followed the blade into the body, instantly hacking through the middle-aged man from head to toe, and slicing into the Shadow Demon that had possessed his flesh.

"Ah..." The Shadow Demon let out a low, furious roar, but it was meaningless.

Even though Yu Xiu had not activated his Sword Heart or Hidden Edge, his Sword Qi had been steeped in the Sword Heart and was far from comparable to ordinary Sword Qi. It was extremely difficult to extinguish and sharp to the extreme; even though the Shadow Demon was formless, it still could not escape the chaotic slashing of that invisible Sword Qi, instantly turning into a mass of black mist and dissipating into nothingness.

Cling!

A crisp sound rang out as it hit the ground. With the Shadow Demon gone, an object that seemed neither gold nor jade fell to the floor.

Yu Xiu hooked his finger, and the object drifted into his palm.

It felt warm and smooth to the touch, dark red in color, and hard in texture.

"Red Spirit Stone Marrow!" Yu Xiu recognized this item. It was a medicinal spirit material used for alchemy, considered a relatively common medicinal stone of little value.

Better than nothing, he supposed.

Yu Xiu stowed it away, quickly searched Fang Jiming and the others, then casually slashed a deep trench into the floor of the room to bury them before vanishing from sight.