Bloodstained Mountain Gate, Sword Slaying Foes

Night was as black as ink. The Flowing Cloud Sword Sect's mountain-guarding grand array, the "Flowing Cloud Array," glimmered with a cyan barrier that was being gnawed full of fine cracks by strands of black demonic qi. The Soul Devouring Banner's sinister power seeped through gaps in the array core, falling onto the bluestone ground and corroding even the hard rock into specks of black stains—the Black Crow Emissary and Zhao Kun's men had already silently encircled the eastern gate.

"Attack!" The Black Crow Emissary's hoarse voice tore through the night sky. Twelve Blood Fiend Guards simultaneously produced black daggers, the demonic qi on their blades flowing into the Soul Devouring Banner. Soul shadows upon the banner twisted wildly as a thick black beam of light smashed into the eastern gate of the Flowing Cloud Array. The cyan barrier instantly caved in, cracks spreading like a spiderweb.

"Wind Chant Sword, emerge!" At the eastern gate's array core, Murong Shuang's cyan figure soared into the air. The Wind Chant Sword carved several translucent sword traces through the air, Wind Sword Intent slashing toward the black beam like keen blades. "Flowing Cloud Seven Forms: Wind Sweeping Clouds!" The sword traces wove into a net, forcibly tearing open a gap in the beam. Yet the demonic qi surged back along the sword traces, winding around her blade in an attempt to taint her Sword Intent.

"Demon Cleansing Pill!" Murong Shuang crushed the pill in her mouth. Its crisp medicinal power instantly spread through her entire body, and her Wind Sword Intent surged, blasting away the demonic qi on her sword. But the Blood Fiend Guards had already rushed before the array, their black daggers stabbing toward the array-core stone pillar—the energy core of the Flowing Cloud Array. Once it was destroyed, the eastern gate's defenses would collapse completely.

"Don't even think about it!" Several inner disciples raised their swords and charged forward. Scarlet and yellow Sword Intent intertwined, only to be easily pierced through by the Blood Fiend Guards' demonic qi. The moment one disciple's sword touched the demonic qi, its blade rusted away instantly. With a squelch, a dagger plunged into his chest, and blood splattered across the cyan barrier before being swallowed by demonic qi.

At that moment, a tri-colored sword shadow swept out from within the array like a meteor. Fire's blazing heat, wind's swiftness, and earth's weight intertwined as it cleaved straight at the foremost Blood Fiend Guard. "Three Talents Sky Burning Sword!" Ling Yun's voice carried icy killing intent. The Power of Seeing Through Illusion within the Sky-Rending Sword pierced through the demonic qi, severing the Blood Fiend Guard's arm in one stroke. His black dagger fell to the ground with a clang.

"Ling Yun!" The Black Crow Emissary's scarlet eyes locked onto him. With a sweep of the Soul Devouring Banner, several soul shadows transformed into black chains and coiled toward Ling Yun's limbs. "You killed my Blood Fiend Guards. Today, I will make your soul scatter and your spirit perish!"

Ling Yun shifted his feet, using Breath Concealing Steps to shatter the bluestone beneath him. His body drifted away from the chains like willow down. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and the Sky-Rending Sword drew a yellow-brown arc. Earth Attribute Sword Intent condensed into a shield, blocking the Blood Fiend Guards attacking from behind. "Senior Sister Murong, guard the array core! Leave this to me!"

Murong Shuang nodded and drew the Wind Chant Sword again. This time, she no longer resisted head-on. Instead, she used Wind Sword Intent to guide the spiritual qi within the array, temporarily reinforcing the eastern gate's barrier. She knew that Ling Yun was facing an opponent a hundred times more terrifying than the Blood Fiend Guards—the Black Crow Emissary.

Elsewhere, in the plaza before the sect master's hall, Zhao Kun's lone arm gripped the Blood-red Longsword as he fought Ye Chen fiercely. The Sword Devouring Art had been pushed to its limit. The blood-red spiritual power around him carried a trace of devouring intent, every strike attempting to drain away Ye Chen's Sword Intent. "Ye Chen, your Flowing Cloud Sword Sect will perish today! The vengeance for my son and the hatred of my severed arm—I will make you repay them with the lives of every disciple in this sect!"

"You walk the crooked path of demons, yet you dare speak of revenge!" Ye Chen's sword, the Flowing Cloud Sword, glowed cyan as the pressure of an Early Stage Sword Emperor erupted. "Ling Yun was right. Your Zhao family annihilated the Ling family and cultivated wicked arts. Today is the day you die!" His sword momentum shifted, and he unleashed "Flowing Cloud Seven Forms: Falling Meteor!" Cyan sword shadows crashed toward Zhao Kun's left shoulder like falling stars.

Yet Zhao Kun neither dodged nor evaded. He met the attack with his Blood-red Longsword, actually drawing Ye Chen's Sword Intent into his body. "Hahaha! Your Sword Intent is just what I need to break through!" His aura abruptly soared. Black droplets of blood seeped from the stump of his left arm—he had clearly used the Sword Devouring Art to forcibly raise his strength. Ye Chen's expression changed slightly. The strangeness of this wicked art far exceeded his expectations.

Outside the pill room behind the array, Su Qingyuan's white figure moved among the injured disciples. Her Wood Spirit Body emitted a faint green glow, which fell upon disciples infected by demonic qi. Wherever the green light reached, the black demonic qi gradually dispersed. An outer disciple's chest had been scorched by demonic qi, the wound festering and oozing pus. Su Qingyuan pressed her palm against the wound, and green light seeped in. Fresh flesh slowly began to grow over the rotten wound.

"Senior Sister Su, over at the eastern gate..." The injured disciple looked toward the demonic qi at the eastern gate, his voice full of worry.

Su Qingyuan raised her head, determination flashing through her eyes. "Brother Ling Yun will hold it. What we need to do is heal more people and not let them die for nothing." As soon as she spoke, she suddenly caught sight of the Soul Devouring Banner in the distance. The soul shadows upon it seemed to share the same origin as the demonic qi left behind during the Ling Family's Annihilation three years ago—could the Ling Family's Annihilation also be connected to the Blood Fiend Hall?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when a tremendous crash suddenly rang out from the eastern gate. Su Qingyuan turned to see Ling Yun blasted away by the Black Crow Emissary's demonic qi, crashing into a bluestone railing with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The Sky-Rending Sword was embedded in the ground, the gray light on its blade dimming somewhat.

"Brother Ling Yun!" Su Qingyuan's heart clenched. Just as she was about to rush over, two injured disciples grabbed her. "Senior Sister Su, it's dangerous!"

The Black Crow Emissary slowly approached Ling Yun, while the soul shadows on the Soul Devouring Banner shrieked. "So what if you possess a Chaos Sword Body? Without enough strength, you are still nothing but trash!" He raised the banner, ready to draw Ling Yun's soul into it.

"Elder Sword!" Ling Yun cried out urgently in his sea of consciousness as the chaotic aura in his dantian spun madly.

"Fully unleash the Chaos Sword Body. Draw the three attribute Sword Intents into the Sky-Rending Sword and awaken the power of the sword manual fragment!" Elder Sword's voice was urgent. "The Ling Family Sword Manual Fragment and the Sky-Rending Sword share the same origin. They can destroy evil!"

Ling Yun acted as instructed. Gray aura spread from his dantian through his limbs, while Fire, Wind, and Earth Attribute Sword Intent wound around the Sky-Rending Sword. The golden patterns on the blade abruptly lit up. He seized the hilt and poured the remaining Ancient Sword Intent within the sword manual fragment into the sword. "Heaven and Earth Three Forms: Chaos Evil Banishing!"

Tri-colored sword shadows intertwined with gray chaotic aura, transforming into a massive sword arc that slashed toward the Black Crow Emissary with the vast righteous qi of ancient sword cultivators. This strike did not produce an earthshaking boom, yet it instantly silenced the soul shadows on the Soul Devouring Banner. Before the sword arc, the black demonic qi melted away like ice and snow.

"Impossible!" The Black Crow Emissary's face changed drastically. He hastily raised the Soul Devouring Banner to block, but the sword arc passed directly through the banner and cut across his chest. The evil artifact was destroyed, and the soul shadows' backlash instantly tore his body apart with demonic qi. Leaving behind only a miserable scream, he turned into black ash that scattered through the sky.

After dealing with the Black Crow Emissary, Ling Yun suppressed the roiling blood and qi within him and rushed toward the plaza with the Sky-Rending Sword in hand. There, Ye Chen was being suppressed by Zhao Kun's wicked art. The Flowing Cloud Sword had been wrapped in blood-red spiritual power, and the light on its blade was gradually dimming.

"Zhao Kun! I'm your opponent!" Ling Yun's voice boomed like thunder as the Sky-Rending Sword, carrying tri-colored Sword Intent, stabbed straight toward Zhao Kun's back.

Zhao Kun turned. Seeing that the Black Crow Emissary was dead, madness flashed through his eyes. "Remnant of a ruined family, do you think killing him means you can defeat me? Today, I will use the forbidden art of the Sword Devouring Art and make you and the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect accompany me to the grave!" He fiercely bit through his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. The sinister power on the Blood-red Longsword surged wildly, faintly taking on the momentum to devour the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

"Ling Yun, be careful! This is the Sword Devouring Art's 'Blood Sacrifice Forbidden Art'! He's burning his own blood essence for power!" Ye Chen urgently warned him. At the same time, he activated the last trace of his spiritual power, placing the Flowing Cloud Sword before Ling Yun.

Yet Ling Yun pushed Ye Chen aside. The Chaos Sword Body circulated at full force, gray aura enveloping his body. "Three years ago, you annihilated my Ling family. Today, I will use your blood to console the souls of my clansmen!" He drew a deep breath, completely merging the three attribute Sword Intents with the Chaos Origin. The Sky-Rending Sword's Power of Seeing Through Illusion erupted in full. "Meteor Shattering Moon Sword!"

This sword strike was an ancient sword technique taught by Elder Sword, and also his promise to the Ling family's departed souls. The scarlet sword shadow was like a falling moon, crashing into Zhao Kun's Blood-red Longsword with unstoppable force. With a crack, the Blood-red Longsword shattered. The sword shadow pierced Zhao Kun's chest and nailed him to a stone pillar of the sect master's hall.

Zhao Kun looked down at the sword in his chest, his eyes filled with unwillingness and madness. "I refuse to accept this... the Ling family's sword manual... the Blood Fiend Hall..." Before he could finish, his body was torn apart by Sword Intent, and he died completely.

As dawn began to show, the mountain gate of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect finally returned to peace. Bloodstains and demonic qi interwove across the bluestone ground. Injured disciples were carried to the pill room, while the surviving disciples silently cleaned up the battlefield. Ye Chen stood at the eastern gate, gazing at the gradually brightening sky in the distance. His eyes were full of exhaustion, but also a trace of relief—the sect had held.

Leaning on the Sky-Rending Sword, Ling Yun stood beside Zhao Kun's corpse and looked toward the rising sun in the east. Three years of hatred had finally been settled, yet Su Qingyuan's discovery lingered in his heart—the Ling Family's Annihilation seemed connected to the Blood Fiend Hall and perhaps even greater powers above it.

"Brother Ling Yun." Su Qingyuan walked over and handed him a Healing Pill. "It's all over."

Ling Yun accepted the pill and looked at her. "Qingyuan, do you think... the Ling Family's Annihilation was truly the work of Zhao Kun alone?"

Su Qingyuan fell silent for a moment, then softly said, "My father once said that the Blood Fiend Hall's activities in the mortal realm are far more frequent than we imagine. Perhaps there is an even greater secret behind this."

Elder Sword's voice sounded in his sea of consciousness. "Zhao Kun was merely a pawn. The Blood Fiend Hall is the true problem. If you wish to uncover the truth behind the family's annihilation, you must raise your strength quickly and participate in the Qingyun Region Inter-Regional Sword Convention—only by going to the Spirit Realm can you come into contact with the Blood Fiend Hall's core."

Ling Yun clenched the Sky-Rending Sword, the golden patterns on its blade slowly dimming. He knew that killing Zhao Kun was only the first step on his road to vengeance. Ahead awaited the Blood Fiend Hall of the Spirit Realm, the Heavenly Dao Sword Master of the Immortal Realm, and countless unknown trials.

Beneath the morning sun of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect, the youth in cyan martial attire gazed into the distance. There was no confusion in his eyes, only resolve. His sword would not only avenge his clansmen—it would also cleave through the fog, seek the true meaning of the sword path, and protect everyone he cared about. And the Inter-Regional Sword Convention leading to the Spirit Realm was quietly drawing near.