Empty-Handed

Inside the hall of the Ai Residence.

Xu Xuan evaded the sneak attack and finally saw what the [Heart-Eating Puppet] looked like. It stood as tall as a grown man, its entire body coated in murky yellow mud that kept dripping onto the floor.

The creature came at him menacingly, its cultivation at the eighth level of qi refining, but after testing it, Xu Xuan felt no fear.

"What a weak monster."

This mud puppet was probably weaker than Xu Xuan had been when he first broke through to the seventh level of qi refining. It had nothing but cultivation, relying on its yellow mud to withstand a few spells and on its slightly greater strength.

There was nothing remarkable about it. In terms of strength, it was probably inferior to the Mountain Ogre Beast Gu he had encountered on Horse-Tethering Road. It was truly a flowery display with no substance, almost laughable.

Ai Chenghui fled some distance away, wearing an expression of certain victory. His mud puppet was at the eighth level of qi refining, with monstrous strength. This rogue cultivator had truly come seeking his own death.

Xu Xuan's current flood dragon body had been formed from a Purple Mansion Dragon King's reverse scale. His powerful physique was equal to that of a pureblood dragon son, so he truly thought nothing of this mud puppet.

He immediately struck his palms together. Without using any secret art, he simply drummed up thunder. Streak after streak of purple lightning flashed, heavenly sounds rolling in waves. The mud puppet was blasted backward again and again, shedding much of its mud to reveal a pale, bloodless face.

Xu Xuan showed no mercy. Bringing two fingers together like a sword, he conjured a hazy point of purple light between them. Sword Qi surged forth as he pointed at the space between the face's brows. The mud puppet's Bright Hall was pierced, and it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

It all happened so quickly that Ai Chenghui was still smiling when the mud puppet fell.

Xu Xuan walked over, and the old cultivator at the sixth level of qi refining immediately knelt and begged for mercy. Hearing the commotion, everyone else in the residence fell into chaos. Many servants saw that their master had lost and seized the chance to gather valuables and flee. Xu Xuan did not stop them.

His attention was drawn to something else. Beneath the blue bricks paving the Ai Residence, there seemed to be another world: an underground chamber containing numerous instruments of torture and imprisoned cultivators and mortals.

"You've hidden quite a few things away, fellow Daoist."

With a faint, ambiguous smile, Xu Xuan sealed Ai Chenghui's qi sea with his magical power, leaving him unable to act. The old cultivator did not resist, submitting to everything while endlessly pleading for mercy.

"Tell me, what is going on with the people in that underground chamber?"

Xu Xuan was about to interrogate him thoroughly, but unexpectedly, Ai Chenghui had no intention of resisting and confessed outright:

"My lord, they are people of the Wei Household."

"What?"

Xu Xuan looked into the chamber again. Men and women, old and young, had all been tortured beyond recognition. Chained up and smeared with yellow mud, they neither cried nor laughed, as though already dead.

"What grudge do you have against the Wei Household that you would do this?"

Xu Xuan was somewhat curious. Ai Chenghui did not seem motivated by profit. Torture like this looked more like a personal vendetta.

"My son and my grandson both died at this family's hands. How could I not hate them?"

"The Wei Household fed my clansmen to an earth essence. I merely repaid them in their own coin."

"If you wish to stand up for the Wei Household, my lord, you are already too late. I erased the minds of everyone down there. They are nothing but mud slaves now."

With that, Ai Chenghui laughed, his voice filled with both bitter grief and satisfaction.

"I have no quarrel with you, fellow Daoist. I only wanted to ask whether there are any traces of the Wei Household's descendants. Have you heard anything?"

Xu Xuan asked softly. He had examined the people in the chamber. The highest cultivation among them was only fetal breath, so they were presumably from collateral branches, not the direct line. Their minds had all been erased, leaving them akin to living corpses.

Still kneeling, Ai Chenghui seemed to think of something. He looked over and said with a smile:

"With your cultivation, my lord, you clearly come from an aristocratic clan. The Wei Household fell many years ago, and its spiritual artifacts and cultivation methods have all been divided up. What use is there in finding its surviving bloodlines?"

"I have my own considerations. Just tell me."

Xu Xuan's voice deepened, purple lightning flickering in his palm with a hint of menace. Ai Chenghui answered obediently:

"I heard that someone escaped back then, started a family elsewhere, and had a son. There were traces of them in the Cloudsunken Desert west of Heavenwater."

That was precisely the place. Xu Xuan could faintly sense the child's location. The last thing he had seen in his consciousness sea was a band of men carrying the child into a vast desert. It must have been the Cloudsunken Desert.

"Tell me clearly what factions exist in the Cloudsunken Desert. If anything you say is wrong, I will not let you off lightly."

Xu Xuan gave a sharp command, increasing the pressure on Ai Chenghui below him. The old cultivator dared not delay and hurriedly replied:

"The Cloudsunken Desert lies between Heaven Province and Liang Province. No one can say clearly which side it belongs to. It has little spiritual energy and is utterly barren. Cultivators who remain there too long can even find their cultivation hindered."

"So most who enter are bandits, all petty nobodies. But I have heard of one thief at the eighth level of qi refining, a man with an odd temperament and profound cultivation. People call him Empty-Handed."

The name was rather strange. Xu Xuan assumed it was a nickname others had given him and asked:

"Has this man ever fought?"

"He has the bearing of a chivalrous hero. He once infiltrated a Foundation Establishment aristocratic clan that refined Blood Pills, slipped past its great formation, and stole the Spirit Treasures from its ancestral hall before burning it to the ground. They say he used Sword Qi while escaping."

Ai Chenghui answered truthfully, but Xu Xuan was surprised. A mere thief had actually cultivated Sword Qi. How peculiar.

Those skilled in weapon arts would not be weak in battle. At the very least, they would match the direct descendants of Foundation Establishment aristocratic clans. With Sword Qi alone, Xu Xuan could firmly hold a place among the foremost of his generation in southern Red Cloud.

"An interesting fellow. I only hope he has nothing to do with the Wei Household's descendant."

Xu Xuan was no longer too worried about Purple Mansion cultivators watching him. First, Tiantuo could sense them. Second, his inquiries had revealed that, after all these years, the Wei Household's valuable Spirit Treasures and cultivation methods had already been divided up. They had not made enemies of any Purple Mansion clan either, so there was little reason to slaughter them to the last.

It was time to enter the Cloudsunken Desert and take a look. There were no Foundation Establishment cultivators inside, and Xu Xuan was confident he could travel freely. At most, meeting Empty-Handed might prove somewhat troublesome.

"How do you intend to deal with the people in your underground chamber?"

Xu Xuan asked softly. He thought he would probably recruit the Wei Household's descendant into his sect. Since these were the child's clansmen, he should offer them some help.

"My lord, you destroyed the [Heart-Eating Puppet]. The people below lost their connection to it, and their final breath has dissipated. They have become corpses in earnest."

Thinking of this, Ai Chenghui let out a sinister laugh.

"You have vented enough. Some people of the Wei Household still survive. Do not take things too far. Bury these bodies."

Xu Xuan gave his instructions. Ai Chenghui agreed, not daring to disobey, and hurriedly sent people to handle it.

Leaving the Ai Residence, Xu Xuan continued west. After several days of traveling with Wind-Riding, he saw a vast, desolate desert, almost devoid of people. Compared with the prosperity of Heavenwater Commandery, it seemed even more savage and wild, dotted with dead desert poplars and yellowing grasses.

Occasionally, insects, mice, or rabbits emerged from the sand, providing what little life the place possessed.

Xu Xuan silently sensed the location of the Wei Household's descendant and continued deeper into the desert. Yellow sand filled the sky, whipping up clouds of dust. It did not trouble him, but ordinary fetal breath cultivators would probably have been blown away.

Continuing onward, he finally reached the vicinity of the location he sensed. An oasis lay here, perhaps the only inhabited place in the Cloudsunken Desert. Several lakes connected to underground waters, with shrubs growing thickly beside them.

A market stood beside the oasis, apparently a trading place for the bandits who had drifted into the desert.

The moment Xu Xuan entered, he felt numerous gazes turn toward him, reminding him of the first time he had entered the Ghost Market beneath Jade Glass Market.

Stalls on the ground displayed Spirit Treasures and cultivation supplies of widely varying quality. One glance revealed their dubious origins, but no one here had any scruples. Some even exchanged information and discussed where to plunder and steal next.

Several gazes seemed ill-intentioned. Xu Xuan merely let a little of his seventh-level qi refining aura leak out, and no one dared provoke him again.

Xu Xuan strolled along, pretending to browse while actually searching for anyone he remembered abducting the child. After making a circuit, he really did spot one.

But the man was already a corpse.

He should have been the bandits' leader: a rugged, bare-chested middle-aged man whose cultivation had reached the sixth level of qi refining. Among this crowd ranging from fetal breath to the first level of qi refining, he counted as a capable fighter.

The bandit leader's corpse was laid out here. Several minor cultivators at the first level of qi refining had displayed it for sale alongside various valuables. Apparently, blood energy was also a sought-after commodity in this place.

Xu Xuan walked over. The minor cultivators tending the stall all became flustered at the arrival of a seventh-level qi refining cultivator.

"Tell me who this corpse belonged to and how you obtained it."

Xu Xuan asked in a deep voice, imbuing his words with magical power to intimidate them.

"My lord, we found this corpse in the Gobi. He was a local bandit leader named Bai Er."

The minor cultivators answered, trembling.

Xu Xuan examined the cause of death and finally found a needle-sized hole in the man's neck. A faint strand of Sword Qi lingered there, almost imperceptible.

It was an extremely sophisticated technique. Xu Xuan felt that killing an enemy this way would be very difficult even for him. His Sword Qi was aligned with shock thunder, and whenever it moved, heavenly sounds thundered forth, impossible to conceal.

"This was probably Empty-Handed's work."

As the cultivator with the highest cultivation in the entire Cloudsunken Desert, with Sword Qi at his command, the man truly possessed exquisite methods. Xu Xuan felt the hunter's delight at worthy prey.

He could clearly sense that the Wei Household's descendant was somewhere in this area, though he did not know the precise location. It seemed the child really had fallen into Empty-Handed's hands.

After asking where the corpse had been found, Xu Xuan headed for that stretch of Gobi.

After traveling for a short while, he finally reached the Gobi those men had described. It was utterly barren, with scattered sandstone everywhere he looked. Bodies lay on the ground. Xu Xuan examined them and confirmed that they were the bandits from his memories. All had died the same way, with needle-sized holes pierced through their throats.

Xu Xuan silently studied that strand of Sword Qi. It was exceedingly fine and subtle. In motion, it scattered like the wind, impossible to detect; when condensed, it could pierce anything, specializing in breaking magical bodies.

He sensed the Wei Household descendant's position shift, drawing slightly closer to him.

He's coming.

Xu Xuan prepared to meet his opponent amid the flying sand and dust. He took out Cinnabar Thunder and sat with the sword in his arms.

He waited a long time. The Wei Household's descendant drew nearer and nearer, yet no one attacked.

The red sun sank westward, and night approached the vast desert.

The twilight made this place seem even more sinister, almost unlike the mortal world, as though some demon lurked within the windblown sand, watching.

Xu Xuan waited quietly, carefully observing the movement of every gust of sand. His mind sank into concentration, and he remained motionless as a mountain.

A gust of sand drifted gently over and settled on Xu Xuan's left sleeve. A spark of lightning rose, shattering a ghostly wind. A finger-length tear opened in his cuff.

Another gust changed direction and suddenly fell behind Xu Xuan. This attack was faster, but he still caught it firmly. Purple lightning merged with Sword Qi as he compressed it as finely as he could. A tear half a finger long opened in the back of his robe.

Finally, even the windblown sand ceased. Only a ripple passed through the air as something invisible slashed swiftly toward Xu Xuan's collar.

This time, Xu Xuan was forced to get serious. He circulated [Upper Firmament Thundercloud], controlling his lightning with minute precision, and barely blocked it. A fingertip-sized hole appeared in his collar.

"What sort of thief is this? He has probably already reached the threshold of a Purple Mansion clan's direct descendants."

Xu Xuan marveled. It seemed Ai Chenghui did not understand this man and had underestimated him.

The final strike should be coming. The man locked onto Xu Xuan's neck, and this time, there was not even a ripple in the air.

Xu Xuan felt a chilling sensation at his neck, but rather than block, he locked onto his opponent's aura.

That ghostly wind reached Xu Xuan's neck in an instant, turning into a streak of Green light that darted toward him like a snake.

Xu Xuan did not block. He swung his sword in a diagonal slash, unleashing [Great Thunder-Prayer Radiance]. Purple lightning sprang from the sword's tip, and Sword Qi roamed like a dragon, striking the man out of concealment.

At the same moment, the Green light was about to land on Xu Xuan's neck. He activated his [Mysterious Yin Reverse Scale] at full power. A deep, mysterious yin light flashed, barely dissolving the Green gleam before it could injure him.

A figure appeared in the wind: a young man in flowing white robes, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes. He looked nothing like a thief, but rather a young master from a great aristocratic clan.

The man unleashed Sword Qi, ghostly winds rising all around him, but he could not withstand Xu Xuan's boundless lightning. Somewhat bedraggled, he took several hits, and his aura weakened.

"Empty-Handed, the master thief."

"Duxin."

The two exchanged names and faced one another silently, both injured, each harboring his own thoughts.

The sun finally set, its last red glow vanishing at the edge of the horizon. Night fell, and the two moved almost simultaneously.

Empty-Handed's figure vanished instantly like a phantom. Ghostly winds rose on every side, accompanied by a great chorus of wailing ghosts.

"This lad cultivates the path of [Hearing the Nether]. He has karma tangled around him. Even I cannot see through it."

Tiantuo spoke in warning. Xu Xuan met every change by remaining constant, using the [Marsh-Descending Soaring Dragon Art] for the first time. He had barely crossed its threshold and could only conjure a small thunder marsh, but it was enough for him to leap and soar within.

Time had been short, and he had studied only this one secret art. This was also his first time using it. Only the toughness of his dragon body allowed him to control the thunder marsh around him.

"[Hearing the Nether] binds spirits and commands ghostly generals, captures yin beings and seizes strange entities. This man still has methods hidden away. You must be careful."

Tiantuo's voice reached him, making Xu Xuan even more vigilant.

Xu Xuan entered the thunder marsh. He heard ghostly cries drifting through the wind, while spectral blue ghost flames floated everywhere. A ghostly gust blew toward him and transformed into three streaks of Green light, targeting his Bright Hall, heart aperture, and qi sea respectively.

The Green streaks pierced through, but Xu Xuan's body dissolved into liquid lightning and fell away. His true body had already moved elsewhere.

This man was almost the most troublesome opponent Xu Xuan had ever encountered. Moreover, he could not reveal his identity now, so he could not use the [Universalizing Thunderfire Pearl] or readily manifest his dragon body. It was truly stifling.

If they fought face-to-face, meeting strength with strength, his opponent would certainly be no match for Xu Xuan. But now Empty-Handed used the favorable time and terrain to conceal himself and seize the initiative, refusing to clash with Xu Xuan head-on.

The ghostly wind fell silent for a moment. This time, six streaks of Green light shot out, stabbing toward him simultaneously.

Xu Xuan was about to dodge when he saw some enormous creature stir within the darkness.

It had a bull's head and a human body, hooves for feet, and skin black as ink. Holding a steel fork, it gave a long roar, causing boundless fear and endless remorse to well up in Xu Xuan's heart. But the pure qi in his qi sea stirred, and he instantly regained his clarity.

The six Green streaks were already before his eyes, their might terrifying, like venomous snakes flicking out their tongues.

There was indeed a problem with the protagonist's alias, so I have changed it to Duxin here.

As for coming to Heavenwater, I had originally planned for him to take in a disciple here. It may have been a little abrupt. Thank you all for pointing it out; I will explain it later.

Also, I hope everyone can turn to the latest-reading page on Mondays and Tuesdays. It affects recommendations, and I would be very grateful.

Readers are welcome to offer suggestions. I will try to take as many of them into account as possible.

This is my first book, and there are still many rough edges. I hope it will keep getting better (⌒ω⌒)

(End of chapter)