Roar

At that instant, his pupils dilated as well. All the shifting light and shadow outside branded themselves within them, then flowed through his heart like clear water. Yu Ci suddenly felt that everything around him grew quiet, while his own body vibrated like the pulsing of blood, yet that frequency was far more marvelous.

Soon he found the true pulse. His blood vessels thundered like beating drums under the impact of Sword Qi, and at the same time, the newly born vibration continued to display its power.

It was as if he had suddenly gained an extra heart, or directly gained an extra "self."

The marvelous sensation lingered. Slowly, or perhaps in an extremely brief flash, the once-familiarly pulsing blood retreated to the background, naturally masking the pain of the flesh. Only that newborn "self" expanded infinitely, touching the surrounding heaven and earth in an indescribable manner, then extracting unimaginable, complex information from heaven and earth to feed back into his brain.

His brain had ceased functioning and could not comprehend all of this, yet felt an inexplicable joy. The feelings of confusion and clarity intertwined, ultimately dissolving into a primordial chaos, with only a single spark of spiritual light suspended in the sky that guided him back to that initial, pure thought:

The Daoist ahead, slaughter him!

Once the thought arose, it was as though spirits answered!

Amidst the chaos, boundless void suddenly split open. Stars all across the sky shone with brilliant light together, among which a few stars were as large as chicken eggs and as bright as jade, casting their light downward. Responding in kind, the half-section of the Seven Star Talisman Sword flying outward in a tumble suddenly had its radiance flare outward. Cyan light and bloody shadows swirled like smoke and mist, and its speed increased abruptly, transforming into a blurred rainbow. With just a flash, it flew past Daoist Yan's neck.

Daoist Yan did not even mean to parry, truly leaving himself exposed at every turn.

Then that man's head dropped off.

It was a speed exceeding thought conversion. Daoist Yan did not even have time for his expression to change before he was slain by a single sword. The Nine Yang Talisman Sword was still gripped in his hand, and his tall, sturdy body still stood upright, but he was truly and surely dead—dead so cleanly and decisively that it bordered on the absurd.

Yu Ci did not blink his eyes, staring fixedly at the scene unfolding before him until the opponent's head landed on the ground.

What vibrated was the soul. Truly marvelous!

In truth, calling the Seven Star Talisman Sword a "talisman sword" was not entirely accurate. Even though it could condense the vital energy of heaven and earth, using vital blood as a skeleton to transform into a physical object, when all was said and done, it was still a talisman. Since it was a talisman, it naturally required spiritual response and activation. The sensation just now of the soul vibrating, the void opening, and spiritual responses bursting forth simultaneously was unprecedented—truly thoroughly gratifying.

Having tasted the sweetness, Yu Ci desperately wanted to cast another talisman to test it.

At this moment, however, his mood suddenly relaxed. A heavy wave of fatigue suddenly crashed down upon him, and a sense of weakness swept through his entire body. Yu Ci hurriedly bit the tip of his tongue. The wound left from spitting blood onto the Seven Star Talisman Sword earlier was still there, burning with pain that made him shiver and chased away some of the drowsiness.

This place was hardly safe. Yu Ci reminded himself. He laboriously climbed to his feet and staggered toward Daoist Yan's mutilated corpse ten paces away.

At some unknown point, a fine drizzle had begun to fall through the mountain forest. The raindrops pressed down the raging wildfires, sending up wisps of blue smoke. A trace of chill seeped in through his skin, further driving away his sleepiness.

Just as he took two steps, Daoist Yan's headless corpse collapsed with a crash, slamming into the damp mud.

Walking up to the remains, Yu Ci still felt somewhat dazed. A legendary Spirit cultivator had actually been slaughtered by him just like that?

Of course, purely based on the facts, Yu Ci did not think this was luck. From beginning to end, his and Daoist Yan's grasp of life and death had been a fifty-fifty split; it was simply that he was more familiar with this gambling-style choice, whereas Daoist Yan lacked this skill and deserved to be slain here by him.

He merely felt that Daoist Yan was a bit weaker than he had imagined.

During the battle, the thing that posed the greatest threat to him was naturally Daoist Yan's final method of projecting a sword from afar. That truly possessed the power of an imagined Spirit cultivator. As for the rest—such as keener senses, superior swordsmanship, and deeper cultivation base—there was no fundamental difference.

Carrying this doubt, Yu Ci lowered his head to examine the weapon that had put him through so much suffering. The Nine Yang Talisman Sword lay horizontally in the mud, its crimson glow dimmed to the point of almost extinguishing, but up close, one could still feel a heat completely distinct from the outside air radiating and permeating the surroundings.

So this is the sword? Yu Ci picked up the talisman sword, holding it in his hand to toy with it. To his slight surprise, the body of this incomparably sharp Nine Yang Talisman Sword was actually made of wood, only a foot long—no wonder it looked like a short stick from afar. Countless dark red patterns were carved onto the sword body using a spiritual guide similar to cinnabar, nearly obscuring the original material and color of the sword.

Waving it casually through the air, it emitted a low, humming sound without the slightest feel of a sharp blade cleaving the void. Only when he poured true qi into it did it ignite the blazing red glow seen last night. Yet the sword radiance sweeping the air, though carrying the sound of metal cleaving the wind, still felt less ferocious than it had in Daoist Yan's hands.

Should this be considered a difference in realm? Yu Ci did not dwell on it and began searching Daoist Yan's corpse instead, seeing if there were any treasures left on this person.

The result was extremely bizarre.

Nothing... there's nothing at all?

After searching for a long time, he came away completely empty-handed. Not only were there no treasures, but even all the items one ought to carry when traveling outside were entirely absent. It was as if this villain, aside from a talisman sword and a set of clothes to cover his body, was an absolute pauper—which was clearly impossible!

Yu Ci considered his own financial situation modest, but living outside, he always carried a few commonly used items. Over years of accumulation, they had grown to a decent scale, and the all-purpose pouch at his waist was stuffed full year-round. Reasoning from himself to others, someone wandering the martial world should be much the same. Yet this Daoist Yan was so impeccably clean—could it be that he truly did not partake of mortal food, and that stripping off his clothes left him bare without a single worldly attachment?

Impossible. Daoist Yan had sneaked in among the medicine pickers under the pretext of gathering Shrimp Whisker Grass; could he not even have prepared a stone box?

Seizing upon this unreasonableness, Yu Ci felt not the slightest bit of frustration. Instead, his gaze was sharp as a torch, sweeping over Daoist Yan's body time and time again.

Abruptly, his gaze froze, locking onto the pinky finger of Daoist Yan's left hand.

There was a black ring there, like a finger ring, worn at the base of the digit. For some reason, the moment Yu Ci's gaze touched the ring, a clear clink seemed to sound inside his skull, as if two forces had collided—though faint, it was distinct.

What was that?

Clutching this thought, Yu Ci bent down, pulled the ring off, and brought it before his eyes to observe.