Peerless Sword Intent, Slaying Water Demon

Chapter 35: Unrivaled Sword Intent, Slashing the Water Demon at Tantan Lake.

It was called a lake, but in truth, it was not very large. Because it was nestled deep within a ring of mountains, the water was exceptionally deep and rarely visited by humans.

When Yu Xiu arrived under the guidance of Yu Shang, to Yu Shang's surprise, they were intercepted before they could even get close.

"Two friends, halt." A middle-aged man dressed in wide robes with an elegant, scholarly air appeared.

His temples were streaked with gray, and combined with his black-and-white robes, he possessed quite the air of an expert.

Hm? Yu Xiu looked at Yu Shang, his expression asking, Where did this person pop out from?

Yu Shang looked back at Yu Xiu, Isn't this someone you arranged?

In an instant, both understood the meaning in each other's eyes.

It was just some random nobody!

Yu Shang cupped his hands in a salute: "Why does Your Excellency block our path?"

The man flicked his wide sleeves, looking rather displeased: "Blocking your path? I am saving your lives!

"You two are so young, yet you do not recognize how rampant the demons of this world have become!"

He pointed toward the lake, surrounded by mountains, of which only a corner was visible: "A Shadow Demon is hiding in this lake. It has already claimed countless lives. If you two take another step forward, you will perish at the hands of the Shadow Demon in an instant!"

Yu Shang was surprised: "How do you know there is a Shadow Demon hiding in this lake?"

He had spent a great deal of effort tracking these large beasts, and even his Demon-Seeking Bead had failed to find a clue. The person before him was actually able to detect the Shadow Demon in the lake, which made Yu Shang hold him in slightly higher regard.

The man smiled smugly: "This pair of eyes of mine is naturally gifted at seeing demonic aura. No matter how well it hides, it cannot escape my gaze."

Yu Shang looked at the man's eyes but saw nothing unusual, so he asked: "Since you know there is a Shadow Demon in the lake, why are you still lingering here?"

The man looked dissatisfied: "Since I have seen a Shadow Demon, I must naturally slay the demon and eliminate the evil. How could I possibly retreat?"

So he was a wandering hero who traveled with a sword to slay demons...

Yu Shang didn't believe a single word of it; he saw no such quality in this person.

Two greenhorns, what kind of reputation could they have built at such a young age? Yet they dare to come here to slay demons for spiritual items. They truly do not know the immensity of heaven and earth! The man waved his hand impatiently to shoo them away: "My friend has already gone ahead into the lake to find the demon. You two should leave quickly, lest the Shadow Demon goes mad and you lose your lives for nothing!"

Yu Xiu chuckled: "We won't disturb your demon-slaying, farewell."

He exchanged a smile with Yu Shang, took a detour, and headed to the other side of the mountain.

"He should be a demon-slayer who makes a living by hunting demons," Yu Shang said, pointing toward the man from a distance.

After a Shadow Demon is slain, it turns into a spiritual item. Many cultivators travel the world specifically to hunt Shadow Demons and find these items to exchange for cultivation resources or money.

These people are known as demon-slayers.

They don't just hunt demons; they also slay monsters, as the items obtained from monsters are no less valuable than spiritual items.

However, some demon-slayers also engage in killing people to seize their treasures.

This man couldn't even gauge their strength, so he was likely a rogue cultivator from the wild. Fortunately, he didn't harbor any murderous intent toward them, so his heart wasn't actually bad.

Blocking their path was likely just out of fear that the two of them would steal the Shadow Demon in the lake.

It was a good thing they weren't wearing their Qingwei Sword Sect disciple robes, otherwise, this demon-slayer would have surely recognized them.

"Let's see what methods they have." Yu Xiu was in no rush. If he could learn a few martial arts or techniques from these two demon-slayers, that would be even better.

This demon-slayer's strength was actually quite average, far less formidable than the Shadow Demon of the second of the Four Great Passes, so he naturally wouldn't ruin his mission.

On the other side.

"Brother Du, how is it?" On the surface of the lake, an old man who looked to be over fifty spoke up.

"They were likely just two greenhorn demon-slayers. I've already sent them away, so they shouldn't cause any trouble," replied Du Yue, the middle-aged man with graying temples and wide robes.

"Brother Yan Zhi, has the Shadow Demon in the lake revealed its trail?"

The old man, Yan Zhi, nodded: "I have already found its aura. I fear it is very strong!"

The old man opened his hand, revealing a small green insect. It could be seen flapping its wings toward the lake, as if it had caught a specific scent.

"Are you confident?" Du Yue felt a chill in his heart.

Yan Zhi held up four fingers: "Forty percent."

"Only forty percent?" Du Yue felt the urge to retreat: "If it's truly impossible, why don't we retreat first?"

And those two greenhorns outside—they shouldn't be allowed to linger either!

Young people don't know the gravity of the situation and are easily blinded by greed for spiritual items. It would be a pity if they died!

"Slow down." Old Man Yan grabbed Du Yue, who was about to retreat: "It's too late."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the lake water began to churn silently. Then, demonic aura surged, whipping the water into chains that came rushing toward them from all directions at high speed.

"Boom!"

Only then did the deafening roar of the exploding lake water finally reach their ears.

"What the hell is this!" Du Yue felt a jolt of alarm, his True Qi surging as he unleashed a palm strike like fire—swift, explosive, and violent.

Old Man Yan Zhi stepped forward as if flying, each stride erupting with thick, formidable True Qi.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The sound of water chains shattering was incessant, either trampled apart by Old Man Yan Zhi or evaporated by Du Yue's fiery palms.

But as the lake surged, two Shadow Demons with bodies of water and steaming demonic aura emerged silently from the surface.

"With such meager strength, you dare to play at demon-slaying?" one of the Shadow Demons spoke indifferently. With a flicker of its form, it appeared in the water beneath Du Yue's feet, striking him with a single palm that sent him flying backward, spitting blood.

The other Shadow Demon likewise vanished from its spot, reappearing in the water beneath Old Man Yan Zhi's feet; with a casual grab, it seized his ankle and slammed him straight into the lake.

"Damn it, where did that forty percent chance of winning come from!" Du Yue's heart turned cold, sensing his impending death.

This Old Man Yan had ruined him; he had claimed a forty percent chance of victory, yet who would have thought they wouldn't even last four breaths before losing their lives.

Fortunately, he had driven those two young boys away earlier, or there would be two more lives lost in this lake today.

"Your aura is impure; even this bit of strength was forced up by medicinal pills. Very well, it's better than nothing!" The water-bodied Shadow Demon emerged eerily from the water beneath Du Yue again, reaching out to grab him, intent on devouring his yang energy.

Now. At that same moment, a flash of sword light seemed to cross Yu Xiu's eyes.

With the Riding the Wind state imbued upon him, he stepped into the air.

"Clang!" Another sword hum rang out, and the sword light flared, momentarily becoming even more blinding than the sun in the sky.

Before the sword arrived, the metal-cleaving, iron-shattering Sword Intent had already swept across like a gale, permeating the surface of the lake.

Visible to the naked eye, the lake water shattered as if slashed by thousands upon thousands of swords, tearing open one sword mark after another.

"Sword Intent?!" The Shadow Demon reaching for Du Yue felt its heart sink and prepared to dissolve into water to escape.

But it had already manifested to grab Du Yue; to turn back into water required a momentary window, and the master of that Sword Intent had seized exactly that split-second opening.

"An expert!" The Shadow Demon tried to manipulate the lake water, but the Sword Intent was peerlessly sharp, having already shredded the entire lake.

"Ssh!" The Shadow Demon shattered, sliced into green smoke by the blinding sword light.

At that same moment, the Shadow Demon grabbing Old Man Yan Zhi began to smoke; the invisible Sword Intent that suppressed and extinguished everything was upon it, and before the blade even arrived, it was already half-destroyed!

"Damned Sword Cultivator!" It was filled with shock and rage, wanting to flee but held back by the Sword Intent; it was a split second too late, and the sword radiance had arrived.

Before it could see or understand, the sword radiance had already sliced it into a wisp of green smoke.

Two Shadow Demons, one after the other, were completely annihilated in the blink of an eye.

On the lake surface stood a young figure treading upon the water, holding his sword, his Sword Intent peerless and sharp, so formidable that one dared not look him in the eye.