Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword

[You slew a creature formed from the convergence of negative emotions. Merit +325.]

Zhao Zhi pulled the constable's saber from the humanoid creature's head.

There was no white brain matter or red blood.

The humanoid creature's body gradually turned into a pool of black, viscous liquid that slid onto the ground, giving off an inexplicably fishy stench that instinctively disgusted him.

Zhao Zhi lowered his head and glanced at the black liquid, an inscrutable light gathering in his eyes.

He took a deep breath.

Only after gradually calming his emotions did he notice the prompt that had appeared on the Merit Panel.

A creature formed from negative emotions?

It seemed unlike ordinary humans, perhaps not even a creature of flesh and blood.

The 325 Merit gained from killing it shocked Zhao Zhi even more.

Even when he had killed Lu Yuanshan, the Greater Xiantian master of Iron Horse Manor, he had gained far less Merit than from slaying this strange creature.

Zhao Zhi fixed his gaze ahead.

[Martial Arts: Innate Unity Qi Technique (Perfected), Iron Horse Grounding Stance (Perfected), Giant Gate Palm (Perfected), Wild Wind Saber Technique (Perfected), Diamond Force (Perfected), Moon-Treading Step (Perfected)...]

[Merit: 726]

That was no small amount of Merit, enough to raise two Xiantian martial arts to the perfected realm.

He reined in his thoughts.

Only then did Zhao Zhi examine where he was.

A crude, cramped stone chamber.

There was no bed in the chamber, only a cotton meditation cushion.

Several items lay beside the cushion.

A damaged stone stele the length of an arm, a medicine gourd, and three booklets.

This place should have been someone's secluded cultivation chamber in Flying Cloud Stronghold. Its location was extremely hidden; had he not been pursuing the humanoid creature, Zhao Zhi likely would never have come here.

His gaze passed over the items beside the cushion one by one before landing on the three booklets.

Zhao Zhi picked up the booklets and gave them a cursory look.

Three Xiantian-level martial arts: one internal qi cultivation method, one fist technique, and one sword technique.

To Zhao Zhi now, Xiantian martial arts held very limited appeal—better than nothing, perhaps.

He casually put away the three martial arts manuals, then picked up the medicine gourd and gave it a light shake. A faint clinking sound came from within.

There were still pills inside.

He opened the stopper, and a bloody scent carrying the fragrance of grass and wood wafted out.

Human Elixir.

Zhao Zhi's expression darkened. Internal qi surged forth as his five fingers suddenly clenched, shattering the medicine gourd along with the two Human Elixirs inside into tiny fragments.

Human Elixirs might have been able to increase Zhao Zhi's current strength.

But Zhao Zhi would never consume Human Elixirs.

He then looked toward the final item.

The arm-length damaged stone stele was carved with words. Because it was incomplete, some of the characters remained only in part, making it impossible to decipher the full content.

Could this be a martial art?

Zhao Zhi carefully studied the contents on the damaged stone stele once more, light gathering in his eyes.

Profound and mysterious.

Even though Zhao Zhi had mastered several Xiantian martial arts and cultivated every one of them to perfection, he still could not grasp this incomplete martial art.

Its difficulty far surpassed that of Xiantian martial arts.

A martial art of an even higher level.

Zhao Zhi's heart stirred, and he forcibly committed every bit of the damaged stone stele's contents to memory.

[Martial Art: Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword (Uninitiated)]

"Little Netherworld Sword?"

Zhao Zhi murmured, recalling that one of the three manuals had been a sword technique. That sword technique was likely meant to serve as the foundation for cultivating the Little Netherworld Sword.

"This?"

When his gaze fell upon the Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword, Zhao Zhi sucked in a breath.

Even the incomplete Little Netherworld Sword required three hundred Merit just to raise it to the entry level.

Three hundred Merit was enough to bring a Xiantian martial art to the perfected realm.

By comparison, the power of this Little Netherworld Sword left Zhao Zhi in awe.

He looked solemnly at the Merit Panel, remaining silent as he pondered inwardly.

The Merit required to cultivate the Little Netherworld Sword was far too great. Even with more than seven hundred Merit now, he could not squander it so recklessly.

Then his thoughts shifted.

Precisely because the Little Netherworld Sword consumed so much Merit, its power was beyond doubt. It could completely serve as one of Zhao Zhi's trump cards.

With that thought.

Zhao Zhi no longer hesitated and poured Merit into the Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword.

[300 Merit consumed. Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword has reached the entry level.]

[300 Merit consumed. Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword has reached Minor Achievement.]

In an instant.

A vast flood of memories, both real and unreal, surged madly into Zhao Zhi's mind, engraving themselves into his memories and becoming a part of him that could never be erased.

These were cultivation memories related to the Little Netherworld Sword.

Without rest through sun and moon, without pause through cold and heat, Zhao Zhi devoted himself wholly to cultivating the Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword. After no short span of time, he finally raised this peerlessly profound martial art to the Minor Achievement realm.

Zhao Zhi slowly opened his eyes, light flickering within them.

What an extraordinary Little Netherworld Sword.

Its profound and unique aspects far exceeded those of Xiantian martial arts.

The Giant Gate Palm and Wild Wind Saber Technique were nothing before the Little Netherworld Sword.

Having merely raised the Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword to Minor Achievement, Zhao Zhi already had sufficient confidence to sweep aside Xiantian martial artists.

This was the confidence the Incomplete Little Netherworld Sword gave him.

If he could master the complete Little Netherworld Sword, he had no idea to what extent his strength would rise.

His restless thoughts gradually calmed.

Zhao Zhi raised his head, his clear black-and-white eyes seeming to pierce through the mountain itself and see the situation within Flying Cloud Stronghold's main fortress.

The Qingfeng County expeditionary army had launched its campaign against Flying Cloud Stronghold partly to set a trap and kill him within Cloudflight Mountain. But not everyone had participated in that scheme. Most still believed this operation truly was a campaign to wipe out Flying Cloud Stronghold completely.

The expeditionary army's strongest experts had died by Zhao Zhi's hand, while Ma Zhuo, the chief of Flying Cloud Stronghold, had most likely cultivated the Little Netherworld Sword.

As one side waned and the other waxed, the expeditionary army was no match for them. Quite a few people would likely fall within Flying Cloud Stronghold.

How innocent were the common people?

Zhao Zhi swept his gaze over the cramped stone chamber, then turned and left.

Flying Cloud Stronghold, main fortress.

Not long after Zhao Zhi, Cao Yun, Li Muguang, and the others left, the resistance at the front stronghold was swiftly broken through.

The two nominal commanders had vanished.

The expeditionary army did not stop. Among those who remained, an Evergreen Gang hall master at Innate Minor Achievement was the strongest and most prestigious, so he naturally took over command.

Hall Master Fang of the Evergreen Gang led the crowd charging toward the main fortress. After suffering a round of casualties, they finally broke into it.

The expeditionary army and the bandits of Flying Cloud Stronghold fell into an all-out melee.

The expeditionary army held an absolute advantage in numbers, but most of them had never seen blood and could not compare to Flying Cloud Stronghold's savage, brutal bandits.

Thus, despite their overwhelming numerical advantage, the expeditionary army still could do nothing against Flying Cloud Stronghold.