Tantan Lake.
It was called a lake, but it was not very large. It lay surrounded by mountains, however, so its waters were extremely deep, and few people ever came here.
When Yu Xiu arrived with Yu Shang leading the way, the last thing Yu Shang expected was to be stopped before they had even gotten close.
"Friends, please stop." A middle-aged man in a loose robe appeared before them, his bearing refined.
His temples were streaked with white, and in his black-and-white robe, he had the air of a true master.
Hm? Yu Xiu looked at Yu Shang, asking with his eyes, Where did this fellow come from?
Yu Shang looked back at him. Wasn't this someone you arranged?
In an instant, they both understood what the other was thinking.
So he was just some nobody!
Yu Shang cupped his hands in greeting. "Why have you stopped us?"
The man flicked his wide sleeve, looking rather displeased. "Stopped you? I'm saving your lives!
"You're both young and inexperienced. You don't know how rampant demons are in this world!"
He pointed toward a lake partly hidden by the surrounding mountains. "A Shadow Demon is hiding in that lake. It's taken countless lives. If you go any closer, you'll be killed by it in an instant!"
Yu Shang was surprised. "How do you know there's a Shadow Demon hiding in the lake?"
He had gone to great lengths to track down those enormous creatures, yet even the Demon-Seeking Bead had failed to find a trace. This man, though, knew there was a Shadow Demon in the lake. Yu Shang couldn't help but think more highly of him.
The man smiled smugly. "These eyes of mine can see demonic aura by nature. No matter how well it hides, it can't escape my sight."
Yu Shang studied the man's eyes but saw nothing unusual, so he asked, "Since you know there's a Shadow Demon in the lake, why are you still here?"
The man's expression darkened. "When you encounter a Shadow Demon, you slay it. Why would I retreat?"
So he was one of those chivalrous swordsmen who roamed the land, slaying demons and exorcising evil...
Yu Shang didn't believe a word of it. He saw none of those qualities in the man.
Two green boys, barely old enough to have cultivated anything, yet they dare come here to kill demons and claim spiritual treasures. They really don't know the height of the heavens! The man impatiently waved them away. "My friend has already gone ahead to search the lake for the demon. You two should leave at once, before the Shadow Demon goes berserk and you lose your lives for nothing!"
Yu Xiu chuckled. "We won't disturb you while you slay the demon. Farewell."
He exchanged a smile with Yu Shang, and they went around to the other side of the mountain.
"He's probably a demon slayer by trade," Yu Shang said, pointing at the man in the distance.
After a Shadow Demon was slain, it turned into a spiritual treasure. Many cultivators traveled the land specifically to hunt Shadow Demons and collect spiritual treasures, which they could trade for cultivation resources or money.
They were known as demon slayers.
They didn't just slay demons; they also hunted monsters. The things obtained from monsters were no less valuable than spiritual treasures.
Some demon slayers, however, also made a business of killing people and robbing them of their treasures.
That man hadn't even been able to see through their strength. He was probably an unaffiliated Rogue Cultivator. Fortunately, he didn't seem intent on killing them; he was actually kind-hearted.
He had probably stopped them because he was afraid they would take the Shadow Demon in the lake from him.
If they hadn't both been dressed without the Qingwei Sword Sect's disciple robes, the demon slayer would probably have recognized them.
"Let's see what they can do." Yu Xiu wasn't in a hurry. If he could learn some new martial arts or techniques from these two demon slayers, all the better.
The demon slayer was only of average strength, nowhere near as formidable as the Shadow Demon at the second of the Four Great Passes. He certainly wouldn't be able to ruin Yu Xiu's mission.
Meanwhile.
"Brother Du, what do you think?" an old man who looked to be over fifty asked from the lake.
"They seem to be two demon slayers fresh out of the gate. I sent them away. They shouldn't cause us any trouble," Du Yue replied. His temples were streaked with white, and he wore a loose robe.
"Brother Yan Zhi, have you found any trace of the Shadow Demon in the lake?"
Yan Zhi nodded. "I've sensed its aura. I'm afraid it's very strong!"
The old man opened his hand, revealing a small green insect. It was facing the lake and beating its wings, as though it had caught the scent of something unusual.
"Are you confident?" Du Yue's heart tightened.
Yan Zhi held up four fingers. "Forty percent."
"Only forty percent?" Du Yue grew hesitant. "If there's no other choice, we should retreat for now."
And they couldn't let those two inexperienced young men outside keep hanging around, either!
Young people didn't know when to quit. The promise of a spiritual treasure could easily cloud their judgment. It would be a real shame if they died!
"Wait." Old Man Yan grabbed Du Yue just as he turned to leave. "It's too late."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the lake silently surged. Demonic aura swept up the water, forming chain after chain that hurtled toward them from every direction.
"Boom!"
Only then did the lake explode with a deafening roar.
"What the hell is that?" Du Yue's heart lurched. His true qi surged, and he struck out with a palm as swift and explosive as fire.
Old Man Yan, meanwhile, bounded forward. Every step he took unleashed a powerful surge of thick, vigorous true qi.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The water chains burst one after another, either shattered beneath Old Man Yan's feet or evaporated under Du Yue's fiery palms.
The lake churned, and two Shadow Demons emerged silently from the water, their bodies made of water and their forms wreathed in demonic aura.
"With strength like that, you dare pretend to be demon slayers?" one Shadow Demon said coldly. Its form shifted, and it appeared in the water beneath Du Yue's feet. One palm struck him, sending him flying as he spat blood.
The other Shadow Demon vanished from where it stood. When it reappeared, it was in the water beneath Old Man Yan's feet. It grabbed his ankle and slammed him straight into the lake.
"Damn it, where did that forty percent chance come from?" Du Yue felt a chill in his heart. He knew he was about to die.
That Old Man Yan had done him in. He'd claimed they had a forty percent chance, but they hadn't even lasted four breaths before they were about to lose their lives.
At least he'd driven off those two young men earlier. Otherwise, there would have been two more bodies in the lake today.
"Your aura is impure. Even this little strength of yours came from forcing it up with pills. Well, something is better than nothing!" The water-bodied Shadow Demon eerily rose from the water beneath Du Yue again. It reached for him, ready to devour his yang energy.
Now! In that same instant, a flash of sword light seemed to cross Yu Xiu's eyes.
Riding the Wind surged around him, and he strode through the air.
"Clang!" Another sword cry rang out. Sword light blazed, brighter even than the sun overhead.
The sword had yet to arrive, but its intent, sharp enough to cleave metal, swept across the lake like a gale.
The water visibly shattered, as if thousands upon thousands of swords had struck it at once, leaving one sword scar after another.
"Sword intent?!" The Shadow Demon reaching for Du Yue felt its heart sink and tried to turn into a stream of water to escape.
But it had already taken form to seize Du Yue. It couldn't turn back into water without a brief opening—and the master of that sword intent seized that very instant.
"A master!" The Shadow Demon tried to command the lake water, but the sword intent was peerlessly sharp and had already cleaved the entire lake apart.
"Whoosh!" The Shadow Demon shattered into pieces, cut into wisps of smoke by the dazzling sword light.
At the same time, the Shadow Demon reaching for Old Man Yan began to smoke all over. The invisible sword intent, capable of suppressing and destroying everything, had fallen upon it. The sword had yet to arrive, but half of it was already on the verge of being destroyed!
"Damn sword cultivator!" Enraged, it tried to flee, but the sword intent bore down on it. It was a moment too late; the sword's radiance had already arrived.
It was impossible to see, impossible to make out. The sword's radiance had already cut it into a wisp of smoke.
The two Shadow Demons were wiped out one after the other in the span of a moment.
On the lake's surface, a young figure now stood upon the water, sword in hand. His sword intent was peerless and unmatched in its sharpness, so fierce that no one dared look directly at him!
Before you continue