Chapter 256 - 251: Calm and Casual, Slaying a Sage with a Single Sword

Du Youqian quietly took stock. He could feel that the Blood Slaughter Sword, while not sated, had at least taken the edge off its hunger. It was like a robust man, starved for seven days and nights to the point of collapse, who had finally managed to drink a bowl of millet porridge with a few specks of meat and oil.

Though not full, it had regained some strength. It could now stand up and stretch its arms.

Before, Du Youqian would have been afraid that the Blood Slaughter Sword would shatter if he swung it, as it was far too weak.

But now, he could at least swing it with some force a couple of times.

After the Core Formation Cultivators from the two sects, now turned into the Living Dead, were carried away, Shi Shentong produced a small scroll.

"This is a part of Elder Jiang Shan’s incarnation. Hold it, and you will be able to sense the location of that Unparalleled Great Demon. Then, sacrifice these people and swing the sword."

"MMMPH... MMMPH..." The gagged Core Formation Cultivators, ready for the sacrifice, reacted in different ways. Some struggled violently, their eyes wide with rage. Others had looks of supplication. And some simply closed their eyes, tilted their heads back, and awaited their doom.

Du Youqian grasped the Scroll and extended his Divine Sense to perceive it.

He instantly felt as if his soul was leaving his body. An immense, irresistible power lifted his spiritual perspective, pulling it up through the crown of his head, through the roof, through the sky protected by the Holy Blood Sect’s Grand Array, and high above the clouds.

The power held him high in the air, letting him gaze down at will. Then, as if it had found its target, it aimed in one direction and plunged downward with a WHOOSH. For a moment, Du Youqian was dizzy and disoriented, reminded of riding a roller coaster back on Earth.

When he came to his senses, he found his perspective floating about thirty zhang in the air, looking down at a monkey in tattered armor. Its fur was matted and scabbed from bloodstains and burns.

The monkey was swaggering along, followed by a woman with a graceful figure.

Du Youqian knew at once that this was the Great Saint Incarnation and Yin Ruozhen.

He was a bit surprised that the Great Saint Incarnation was a monkey, but on second thought, it made perfect sense.

’It’s not that I wasn’t prepared for it. After all, if the Little Monkey has the Great Sage Bloodline, why can’t a big monkey be the Great Saint Incarnation?’

Du Youqian observed the surroundings. Though he had never been here, a sudden understanding washed over him: this was Sui Shou Mountain, near the Taihe Sect.

It was as if there was a voice, but one at a frequency he couldn’t hear. Yet he received some kind of signal, and through it, he knew this place.

Then he stared at the back of the Great Saint Incarnation.

The moment he focused his gaze, the Great Saint Incarnation spun around and bared its teeth fiercely. "Who’s spyin’ on me?"

A moment later, the large monkey paused. "Oh, it’s you."

It hadn’t opened its mouth, but Du Youqian was certain a voice was echoing in the depths of his mind.

A chill ran down his spine.

’The might of these Great Powers is truly inconceivable.’

If not for the protection of the Blood Slaughter Sword and the Rivers and Mountains Map, Du Youqian was certain this monkey could take his life from thousands of miles away.

And it wouldn’t even be difficult.

The monkey grinned. "So you’re the one who’s gonna wield the sword against me later? Not bad. Xue Tu, you’d better show some real skill, or I, Sixth Son, will break you in two!"

Du Youqian didn’t know how to respond and simply watched in silence.

The Blood Slaughter Sword didn’t seem to be in the mood for idle chat either.

Seeing the Great Saint Incarnation stop and turn, Yin Ruozhen also looked back, but she saw nothing.

But her fundamental level was, after all, that of a Tier Five Demon Emperor. She vaguely sensed that something was spying on them.

She couldn’t help but ask in confusion, "Great Saint, what are you looking at? Is someone spying on us? I feel a little uneasy."

Yuan Liulang bared his teeth. "It’s nothin’. Just an old friend stoppin’ by to say hello. Ignore it. We keep movin’. We’re gonna take down the Taihe Sect, and I’m gonna piss on the ancestral tablets of all their past masters! You have no idea. Over ten thousand years ago, there was this old Daoist coot from the Taihe Sect... he was real tough. Gave me a hell of a time."

Watching the Great Saint Incarnation and Yin Ruozhen ascend Sui Shou Mountain at a seemingly slow but actually rapid pace, Du Youqian knew it was time for him to act. They were clearly about to reach the Taihe Sect.

As soon as the thought arose, the world spun around him in that same roller-coaster-like fashion. He found himself back in his body, the Scroll in his left hand and the Blood Slaughter Sword in his right.

He collected himself and looked at the ten Core Formation Cultivators about to be sacrificed. "Let them speak."

"Fellow Daoists, I have no personal grudge against any of you. This is official business. If you can understand, then understand. If you can’t... then so be it. I’ll give you this final moment to leave your last words."

Once the gags were removed, one of them immediately began to curse, "Fuck all the ancestors of your Holy Blood Sect! Yu Fei, you bastard! Shi Shentong, you bastard! Why don’t you start the sacrifices with yourselves! Why the hell does it have to be me!"

Du Youqian couldn’t be bothered to waste words on him, much less argue. He simply pointed. "This one’s finished with his last words. Gag him."

"MMMPH... MMMPH!" The man was quickly gagged again.

"What about the rest of you? Curse if you want. It makes no difference to me. I don’t argue with dead men. But take my advice: you’d best use this time to leave your last words," Du Youqian said faintly.

The others who also started cursing were immediately gagged on Du Youqian’s command.

Some obediently left their last words.

Another sighed deeply. "As a Core Formation Master, all my power is my own. What last words could I have to leave? If I cannot achieve eternal life, then I’d rather the world be destroyed with me."

As long as they weren’t just spewing curses, Du Youqian let them finish.

Finally, he raised the Blood Slaughter Sword high. "My apologies, Fellow Daoists. Farewell!"

A flash of sword light.

Sacrifice!

The terrifying Sword Intent of the "Blood Sacrifice" spread toward each of them. Even if they weren’t restrained, there was no escape, no way to evade it.

Even if they fled to the Nine Heavens above or the Yellow Springs below, this terrifying Sword Intent would hunt them down!

They didn’t even struggle.

All of their Essence, Qi, and Spirit, along with their souls, converged on the Blood Slaughter Sword, elevating its power to a new level.

Someone’s breath hitched audibly. The bodies of the ten Core Formation Cultivators disintegrated into fine ash, drifting through the small hall.

But no one paid it any mind.

The eyes of everyone still living were fixed on the Blood Slaughter Sword.

The aura it exuded—one that could kill anything, slaughter gods and buddhas—made everyone in the small hall, including Shi Shentong, tremble to their core.

Du Youqian looked in the direction of the Dai Kingdom.

The Rivers and Mountains Map in his left hand carried his vision across countless mountains and rivers. He saw the Great Saint Incarnation, who had just arrived at the gates of the Taihe Sect and was about to smash the Sect Protection Array with a single punch. He saw Yin Ruozhen at its side, eager for action. He saw the cultivators of the Taihe Sect, who, though tense, were not panicked, methodically setting up their defenses—even though those defenses were no better than paper before the Great Saint Incarnation.

"Strike!" Du Youqian roared.

The Blood Slaughter Sword shot from his hand, rushed out of the small hall, and flew out of the Holy Blood Sect at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye before vanishing.

Almost at the exact moment Du Youqian’s voice fell, the Blood Slaughter Sword appeared at the Taihe Sect. It had somehow crossed a distance of thousands of miles in an instant, and it slashed down at the monkey in tattered armor.

Du Youqian’s perspective was also brought to the scene by the Rivers and Mountains Map, allowing him to observe.

His Divine Sense also seemed to have been elevated by the Rivers and Mountains Map, allowing him to see things that a Core Formation Cultivator could never possibly perceive.

He suddenly discovered that the symbols and patterns making up the body of the Blood Slaughter Sword were actually all repeating.

There were only a few runes, circulating endlessly.

"Hahaha! A fine welcome!" the monkey roared with laughter. A white club appeared in its hand as it leaped into the air to meet the Blood Slaughter Sword.

"The Great Saint is invincible!" Yin Ruozhen shouted, suppressing her worry with a fanatical smile.

Upon closer inspection, the white club was actually a leg bone. It was impossible to tell what creature it had been taken from, but it radiated a jade-like luster.

The club and the Blood Slaughter Sword never made contact.

The Blood Slaughter Sword seemed to only feint a strike before pulling back.

Compared to the strike at the Cyan Yang Sect that day, today’s Blood Slaughter Sword seemed nonchalant, as if it wasn’t using its full power.

But Du Youqian could feel that the might of today’s strike was in no way inferior to the one from that day.

It was just that on that day, one strike had swept away so many cultivators from the Cyan Yang Sect and the Demon Race.

Today, however, the Blood Slaughter Sword was incredibly focused. All of its power was contained, aimed solely at the Great Saint Incarnation. At most, a tiny ripple of its power would sweep away the woman beside it, like dusting off a speck of dirt.

After swinging the club, the monkey landed, a calm and joyful smile on its face.

The fanatical smile on Yin Ruozhen’s face seemed to freeze. The light in her eyes faded, and her body collapsed limply. But before she even hit the ground, a gust of wind blew her body away, scattering it into countless motes of dust in the air. Not even her Demon Core remained.

"Haha... haha... Satisfying, yet not satisfying enough," the monkey’s gaze began to dissipate, and its voice grew hoarse, no longer as vigorous as before. "You old thing, you got off easy! You must be pretty happy about that!"

A resonant, metallic voice rang out. "Slaying a mere monkey is nothing for me to be happy about."

"Haha... haha... It was my true body that knocked you down a tier back in the day, Blood Slaughter Old Man! If you run into my true body again, you won’t just be knocked down a tier. It’ll break you to pieces!"

"Then let it come," the Blood Slaughter Sword said indifferently.

With that, it flew a short distance in the direction of the Holy Blood Sect and abruptly vanished.

The divine light in the monkey’s eyes faded completely. Its body, though it didn’t look heavy, made a deafening BOOM as it collapsed, as if a great mountain were toppling over.

The white bone club fell to the ground, embedding itself several zhang deep into the earth.

Du Youqian’s perspective rose high into the air once more. He knew he was about to return to his body.

Just then, out of the corner of his vision, he saw the monkey’s tail twitch and lift slightly.

Then, the world spun once more.

He tried to steady himself... only to find he couldn’t even lift his eyelids. He was completely in darkness.

’Have I become one of the Living Dead?’ Du Youqian realized.

He desperately wanted to tell someone what he had just seen. Was that monkey’s movement just a final death throe, or was something else going on?

But darkness enveloped him, and his consciousness slowly sank beneath a black plane.