Dragon-Slaying Sword

It turned out this snake demon lived in the nearby mountains. Five hundred years ago, he had been enlightened by a Daoist who had come to gather herbs, and only then had he embarked upon the path of cultivation.

For five hundred years, the snake demon had always obeyed the teachings of that Daoist. He had never harmed living creatures; all his magic power had been accumulated by breathing in the essence of the sun and moon. In his spare time, he even helped regulate the earth qi within the mountains, enrich the surrounding land, harmonize the moisture in the air, and suppress possible droughts, thereby accumulating a measure of merit.

Unfortunately, this snake demon's aptitude was truly mediocre. Furthermore, when his intelligence had first awakened, he had not understood the importance of study. He often drifted off while the Daoist taught him Daoist arts, so he had failed to remember everything the Daoist taught him.

The incomplete cultivation method greatly delayed his cultivation. In the end, only now had he gradually touched upon the threshold of transforming into a flood dragon.

Transforming into a dragon was the finest cultivation path for serpents, a great road leading straight to the heavens, capable in the end of achieving the body of a true dragon.

Yet although this method was excellent, dragons were divine beasts nurtured by heaven and earth, born able to commune with yin and yang and command clouds and rain. For serpents to transform into dragons, they had to choose one of condensing dragon qi, gathering dragon blood, nurturing dragon scales, or gestating dragon horns as the foundation of their transformation, thus opening the path to becoming a flood dragon.

But condensing dragon qi, gathering dragon blood, nurturing dragon scales, and gestating dragon horns each required an immense investment of time.

Serpents without special bloodline inheritances had lifespans of only around five hundred years even after becoming demons. They simply had no time to condense dragon qi, gather dragon blood, nurture dragon scales, or gestate dragon horns. Thus, when most serpents reached five hundred years of age, they chose to flood the land. By gaining mastery over stirring floods and tides, riding clouds and spreading rain, they earned heaven and earth's recognition and accelerated their transformation into dragons.

This was the origin of the saying: a snake became a flood dragon after five hundred years, and a flood dragon became a dragon after a thousand.

The snake demon before him was precisely nearing the end of his lifespan and had no choice but to flood the land, hoping to use it to become a flood dragon and extend his life.

"So, while flooding the land, you ran into some expert and got slashed?" Yu Chen looked at the snake demon's leg. There was a sharp aura there, clearly indicating that the snake demon had been wounded by some keen weapon.

"This little demon has been wronged!" the snake demon hurriedly explained.

At first, the snake demon's plan had been sound. He had used a lake in the mountains as his starting point. Several days ago, taking advantage of the rain, he had caused the lake water to overflow and become a mountain flood, rushing downstream. So long as it passed through several fertile fields, it could flow into the channel of the nearby Clearwater River, then enter the great river from there, shake free of his serpent body, shed his scales, and transform into a flood dragon.

Who would have thought that a new bridge had been built across the lowest stretch of Clearwater River? When the snake demon had surveyed the route a month earlier, construction on the bridge had not even begun. He had known nothing of its existence.

There were many taboos involved in a snake demon flooding the land to become a flood dragon. When encountering an obstacle such as a bridge, it was like a carp leaping the Dragon Gate—they absolutely could not pass beneath it.

Forced into a corner, the snake demon could only curl the floodwaters around himself and crash toward the new bridge. Unexpectedly, when the stone bridge had been built, a Dragon-Slaying Sword had been buried beneath it.

Yu Chen had also known something of Dragon-Slaying Swords from his experiences in his previous life. They were somewhat similar to Money Swords, both being ritual implements forged through the power of the wishes of all living beings.

At the beginning of its forging, an expert would be invited to write talismans. After they were burned, their ashes would be mixed into molten iron. Then, under the guidance of that expert and in a ceremony attended by at least a hundred people, the blacksmith would worship the sacred beings of the ten directions, invite divine power, and forge it with painstaking care. Only then could a Dragon-Slaying Sword be made.

Moreover, the forging of a Dragon-Slaying Sword came with many restrictions, and the required materials were exceedingly complex. Thus, once completed, it contained a force of pure yang that slew evil, as well as an intent to kill dragons and serpents. It was especially effective against great snakes attempting to become flood dragons.

The reason this snake demon could appear before Yu Chen was that he had accumulated a certain amount of merit over the years, which had blocked part of the Dragon-Slaying Sword intent when it fell. Otherwise, the moment he encountered the Dragon-Slaying Sword, he would already have been cut down in a single stroke.

However, Yu Chen glanced at the snake demon. He sensed no pure yang intent at all; instead, he felt a frigid Sha Qi. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Are you sure the thing that wounded you was a Dragon-Slaying Sword?"

"This little demon would never dare deceive you, Senior!" As he spoke, the snake demon reached out and lifted the hem of his long robe. A sword wound so deep that bone could be seen was clearly revealed on his leg.

Yu Chen's expression turned grave. Mist swirled from his mouth and nose, forming a snake shadow that descended.

The snake demon's entire body became incomparably stiff. He felt an utterly overwhelming aura descend upon him—ancient and savage, as though that snake shadow were an ancient monster that had walked out of the primordial wilderness.

The snake shadow landed on the wound and swiftly drew out a strand of Sword Qi. The Sword Qi burst forth, pointing directly at Yu Chen's brow.

Yu Chen's expression shifted slightly. A great amount of mist emerged from his mouth and nose, transforming into snake shadows that rushed forward, only to be effortlessly severed.

Yet with the snake shadows buying him time, Yu Chen completed a new incantation and bound the descending Sword Qi. After a simple analysis, he could not help frowning. This Sword Intent really is the intent of a Dragon-Slaying Sword? But this aura is far too venomous and sinister. It doesn't seem like a Dragon-Slaying Sword refined through orthodox methods! It resembles the witchcraft path somewhat—no! Compared to the witchcraft path, this aura is even more extreme, carrying fierce corrosiveness. It is closer to the demonic path.

Thinking this, Yu Chen could not help sighing at the snake demon's luck. These days were the Dragon Boat Festival, when the yang qi between heaven and earth was at its peak. Logically speaking, if the black snake flooded the land at this time and encountered a Dragon-Slaying Sword, death would have been inevitable.

Yet this Dragon-Slaying Sword was itself incomparably yin and evil, and was likewise suppressed by the yang qi of heaven and earth. Together with the protection of the black snake's merit, it had merely wounded his tail rather than cutting him in two with a single stroke.

Shaking his head silently, Yu Chen recited the Golden Light Mantra. A faint golden radiance emerged, gradually extracting the Sword Qi lingering in the snake demon's body. He said calmly, "I have removed the remaining Dragon-Slaying Sword Qi from your body. Later, I will go and inspect the situation myself. Come back in seven days."

Having said that, Yu Chen spoke no more, plainly assuming the posture of closing his door to see off a guest.

The snake demon was no fool. After bowing in salute, he rose and left. Once the snake demon had departed, Yu Chen looked at the Sword Qi before him and frowned again.

It has been nearly ten years since I deduced the Golden Light Mantra. I recite it at least ten times every day, and when I have free time, I recite it a hundred or two hundred times. By now, even if I have not recited the Golden Light Mantra a hundred thousand times, it must be eighty or ninety thousand times. It can be called the foremost method in my possession for protecting the Dharma and slaying evil. Yet I can do nothing to the most core fragment of power within this Sword Qi. It seems the matter behind this Dragon-Slaying Sword is even more troublesome than I imagined!

As he pondered, Yu Chen looked at the progress bar at the bottom of his system that represented transmigration. At present, more than half of the white had faded. According to the conventions of game worlds from his previous life, he could probably remain in this instance dungeon for a little over half a month.

"I can go take a look!" With the mindset that time was short and he could test the waters a little, Yu Chen picked up his belongings before dawn the next day and left his residence. After traveling for half the day, he arrived beside the newly built stone bridge mentioned by the snake demon.

The stone bridge was built entirely from bluestone slabs. Perhaps because the construction period had been rather short, it had no superfluous decorations and appeared quite plain and unadorned.

But the moment Yu Chen stepped onto the stone bridge, he knew something was wrong. As a former snake shaman, Yu Chen did not dare claim that his divine abilities and Daoist arts were particularly profound, but he had an exceptionally deep understanding of the way of sacrifice. Others might not see the issue with this stone bridge, but Yu Chen saw at a glance that it had undergone a Human Pillar Sacrifice.

The so-called Human Pillar Sacrifice, also known as a Living Human Stake or a Living Stake Ritual, was something similar to a Dragon-Slaying Sword but with a far more ancient lineage. Step by step, it had transformed from a sound method of governance into a vile custom and evil art.

From the era in which Yu Chen had lived, there had been a saying that heaven and earth possessed spirits. Thus, among the common folk, there had always been the saying that every landscape had its own god. Of course, the gods mentioned here did not refer to deities, but rather a spark of spirituality condensed from the local earth qi and spiritual energies. Given the proper fate, they might perhaps one day be granted godhood. Before that, they were closer to mountain spirits and wild monsters.

Most such things lived in deep mountains, ancient forests, and places untouched by human footsteps. If people opened mountains to build roads or dug rivers and erected bridges in such places, they might encounter them.

If they encountered a benevolent one, burning incense and offering prayers would be enough to ensure safety. But if they encountered an evil one, they had to rely on sacrifice.

In ancient times, sacrifices used the three domestic animals or three kinds of fowl. When faced with something particularly fierce, sacrifices might even be required multiple times.

Over time, this method of sacrifice gave rise to more convenient yet utterly inhuman methods—using living people as offerings.

Such things had still been fairly common in ancient times. People had little food, and tribes frequently waged wars and slaughtered one another, creating many slaves. Besides being used for hard labor, these slaves were often kept as offerings in reserve.

But after Qin and Han reestablished human ethics and abolished living human sacrifice, Human Pillar Sacrifice had completely degenerated into an evil art.

PS: Human Pillar Sacrifice is a vile custom. The text's description of it transforming from a sound method of governance into a vile custom and evil art is based on the immortal-and-god system and the notion that all things possess spirits. Please do not take it seriously!

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