Immortal Slaughtering Cuts, Immortal Slaying Kills, Immortal Trapping Raises Red Light on All Sides!

Though he had never seen the man before him, he could more or less guess his identity: Zhao Guizhen, one of his Top Disciples in the original story.

The man had originally been a legitimate successor of the Maoshan Shangqing School. Unable to endure the hardships of austere cultivation, he had betrayed the righteous path and fallen in with Wild Maoshan. Later, he had murdered seven people through a cruel secret method to master the evil art of Seven Fiends Gathering in the Body, ultimately hiding in Biyou Village to escape his former school's pursuit.

Ma Xianhong had heard a rough explanation of Seven Fiends Gathering in the Body through Jin Yong's Sage Thief inheritance. The method required its practitioner to murder people whose birth dates and times met particular requirements in a prescribed manner, then refine their souls into vicious fiend spirits to command.

The method drew the victims' fiend spirits into the practitioner's body to be slowly refined. Once those spirits had been completely dissolved, they became a potent supplement for the cultivator, whose cultivation would then advance a thousand miles a day.

In the original story, poor old Ma had admitted him into the village without knowing the details. Once Seven Fiends Gathering in the Body was fully cultivated, it even gave him a balanced, peaceful aura, leading Ma to mistake him for an austere Daoist of profound merit.

He had even flown into a genuine rage when Xiao Zizai turned Zhao Guizhen into a lamb-spine hot pot, fighting six opponents alone.

Now, however, Xiao Zizai would never get the chance to make lamb-spine hot pot out of Zhao Guizhen. Ma would chop the bastard into mince first.

Old Ma did not consider himself a particularly good person, but people still needed a bottom line.

There was no point reasoning with someone like Zhao Guizhen anymore. He did not deserve to hear it.

Wanted to pull some "a prodigal's return is worth more than gold" nonsense? And Zhao Guizhen had once belonged to Shangqing, of all places. Fucking bastard. As the new master of Jiejiao, Ma would send him off to meet Lingbao Heavenly Venerable first. How that venerable elder dealt with this scum was none of Ma Xianhong's concern. He only handled the trip there, not the return.

At Ma Xianhong's utterly merciless words, Zhao Guizhen's brows tightened, and a little clarity returned to his eyes. He lightly tapped his toes against the ground and retreated several steps. Rather than act rashly, he offered Ma Xianhong a formal Daoist salute and said gravely, "This humble Daoist does not know what brings you here, benefactor. Whatever guidance you have, please speak freely."

Meanwhile, his gaze settled on the several Ruhua behind Ma Xianhong.

Although the Kui Ox beneath Ma Xianhong seemed remarkably intelligent, Zhao Guizhen's discerning eyes could tell that it, too, appeared to be a mechanical creation.

Was this a puppeteer?

"Fucking bastard, you're pretty eager." Ma Xianhong raised a brow and revealed an uncanny smile.

He formed a sword gesture with his fingers and swept his hand forward. The Four Immortal-Slaying Swords behind him became streaks of light that flew toward Zhao Guizhen.

Through his refinement, the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords actually possessed the functions of both the Three-in-One Bead and the Six-in-One Bead from the original story. They could be considered an upgraded, plus version of the two combined, capable of attacking on the advance and defending on the retreat.

He would deal with this Shangqing traitor using the methods of Jiejiao's master.

Though his Jiejiao had little to do with Shangqing, he had at least inherited the name. Helping clean a traitor out of their ranks was only proper.

Zhao Guizhen's expression changed, and he dared not show the slightest carelessness. With a sweep of his hand, yellow talismans flew out one after another, followed by a surge of sinister black qi that barely managed to deflect the Immortal Slaughtering Sword's edge. Seizing that fleeting opening, he rapidly pushed off the ground and retreated some distance in considerable disarray.

Then his expression changed sharply again. He had assumed Ma Xianhong was merely an insignificant puppeteer. Never had he imagined that a simple raise of his hand would nearly take his life.

"He is neither copper, nor iron, nor steel; once beneath Mount Sumeru he lay concealed." Leaping off the Kui Ox, Ma Xianhong performed the heavily modified Celestial Pace he had obtained from Jin Yong. His eyes flashed as he chanted in a ringing voice. With the infusion of qi, the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords blazed with light and took up positions on four sides, pinning Zhao Guizhen in the center as he darted and dodged, his counterattacks utterly futile.

"No inverted yin and yang forged his frame; no water or fire need temper his blade."

The Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, previously shrouded in radiance, gradually revealed their true forms. Like that suit of armor, they had been forged with Ma Xianhong's painstaking devotion, their blades brought to life through Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

Alarm bells screamed in Zhao Guizhen's heart as he stood trapped in the sword formation. The pressure Ma Xianhong exerted was simply too great. Recalling his attire, Zhao Guizhen even began to wonder in his mounting paranoia whether his countless crimes and the murder of his fellow disciples had truly been exposed, prompting the school leader to summon a god to deal with him personally.

According to a fairly popular interpretation, Laozi appeared as an old man, Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable as a middle-aged man, and Tongtian Cult Master as a young man. The appearance matched, too-but their Shangqing school worshipped Lingbao Heavenly Venerable! Fuck, could his senior brother, the school leader, have wanted him eliminated so thoroughly that, unable to summon their patriarch, he had settled for an alternate incarnation of him?

Two beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead. Though his aura continued to grow stronger as he absorbed yin qi and fiend spirits, Zhao Guizhen kept feeling as though a bright-red word, "death," hung over his brow.

Seeing through Zhao Guizhen's thoughts, Ma Xianhong chuckled softly.

What are you staring at? I've come to take you!

Zhao Guizhen, I see you've already chosen the road to your own death!

"Immortal Slaughtering cuts!"

He formed a hand seal, and razor-sharp energy erupted from the golden Immortal Slaughtering Sword. Forged from geng metal, the divine sword possessed the utmost sharpness, and Ma Xianhong had further endowed it with properties that vanquished evil and shattered spells. Divine lightning coiled around it in streaks. The instant the Immortal Slaughtering Sword activated, the sinister yin energy on Zhao Guizhen's body was almost entirely shattered.

"Immortal Slaying kills!" The emerald-green Immortal Slaying Sword brimmed with vitality, as though merely approaching it would extend one's lifespan. Yet under Ma Xianhong's control, that vitality reached its peak and abruptly erupted, reversing into the intent of death and endlessly devouring the boundless life around it.

Zhao Guizhen scarcely had time to react before, to his horror, his qi and life force began pouring out like water from a punctured wooden barrel.

"Immortal Trapping raises red light on all sides!" Flames suddenly appeared across the crimson Immortal Trapping Sword. The temperature inside the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation soared as though it would burn everything to nothing. Zhao Guizhen's eyes turned bloodshot, and he collapsed helplessly to his knees. Karmic flames ignited across his body, bringing pain as though every inch of his skin were being sliced by a thousand blades.

"Immortal Extinction's transformations hold wonders without end; even a Great Luo Golden Immortal's robes shall be stained with blood!"

He clapped his hands together. Endless radiance flashed across the translucent silver Immortal Extinction Sword, merging with the auras of the other three swords before locking down the surrounding space and dividing the inside from the outside. Aside from extraordinary techniques such as the Time-Stopping Technique, the only way out of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation was to break it by force. Neither a yin spirit nor any other means could escape it. There were no shortcuts whatsoever.

"Sever!"

He spread his arms, qi surging wildly around him. At Ma Xianhong's urging, the fully activated Four Immortal-Slaying Swords began to move.

Vast, mighty power poured forth in all directions. That utterly majestic force made no attempt to conceal itself as it roared toward Zhao Guizhen.

In a mere instant, Zhao Guizhen's consciousness plunged into darkness, his eyes filled with despair and fury.

"No!"

Only a little drifting ash remained where he had stood. First, geng metal sword qi had chopped him into mince; then all his vitality and power had been drained away. Heavenly lightning and divine fire had subsequently intertwined, reducing both his spirit and flesh to ashes of annihilation, while space itself had been sealed to cut off every escape.

"So weak, yet you still dared do something like this. You must've been sick of living." Curling his lip, Ma Xianhong waved the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords back. They transformed into four sword-pellet pendants hanging from his wrist. Two crystals, one black and one white, appeared in his hand. One held Zhao Guizhen's sinister yin energy; the other held his purified life force and qi.

He was about to crush them, but after a moment's consideration, Ma Xianhong tucked the black crystal away at his waist. He activated Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements on the white crystal, sending it flying to the wrist of the unconscious boy nearby, where it became a wristguard.

This child shared a karmic connection with him. If he wished to in the future, joining his Jiejiao would not be out of the question.