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The elders often said: if a weapon had been stained with too much blood, it would become a lethal weapon. As a lethal weapon was used to commit countless evil, vengeful emotions were bound to acc.u.mulate in it.

There are thousands of lethal weapons in the world, each of them malicious in their own way. But none of them had the special honor of leaving such an indelible impression in people"s hearts the way the ‘Sword of Miserable Death" did.

The moment Shuangren touched blood, Cheng Qian could almost hear hoa.r.s.e screams coming from the blade even though he hadn"t reached Concretion, his spine turning numb from the pain. At the same time, with the difference in capability between a legendary sword and a wooden sword, the speed at which they drained one"s energy also differed greatly. As Cheng Qian wielded Shuangren, for the first time in his life, he experienced how it felt for his ability to fall short of his wishes.

The masked men never expected a little brat to be so troublesome. After a slight pause, they made some signs that outsiders didn"t understand and immediately disregarded everyone else to surround Cheng Qian.

Cheng Qian exhaled slowly, feeling as if he"d breathed out a mouthful of frost. The coldness from Shuangren seemed to have permeated his entire body, that even his innards had cooled.

Seven to eight sword auras came toward him at the same time. Cheng Qian knew that receiving them directly was asking for death, so he moved in between the gaps to avoid the attacks. He"d have to thank Zhang Dasen, who kept stirring up trouble with him, for training his dodging ability to this point.

While avoiding the attacks, Cheng Qian had meant to lead these masked men away from Shuikeng and the others. But right when it seemed like he could still keep going, his entire body suddenly staggered, as if he"d received a heavy hit. One of the masked men"s sword aura cut into him, blood instantly drenching his left shoulder.

But Cheng Qian had no s.p.a.ce of mind to feel the pain. There was a deafening ringing in his head — it was the Puppet Charm that he"d given to Xueqing. Just now, he"d sensed clearly that the Qi in the Puppet Charm had dispersed. The Puppet Charm was one of the Seven Great Charms, carved with one hundred and eight strokes, how could the Qi contained within in disperse so easily? Xueqing must have encountered a mortal threat.

Then he… was he still alive?

He was just a Daoist child who"d gone out all by himself. There was nothing valuable on his person, and his temperament was kind and gentle. What kind of person would want to harm him?

Was this an accident, or was someone intentionally getting in his way?

If it was intentional, what about last year, when the Eldest Shixiong sent Xiao-Yue"er to deliver a letter back home? There was still no reply until now, was the letter not delivered, or…

Also… What about Fuyao Mountain?

For a moment, Cheng Qian couldn"t help panicking despite his usual calmness, those thoughts entering his mind in this inopportune time. Because of the Puppet Charm and his panic, his sight went blurry and he lost his balance. Before he could figure things out, blood had risen up his throat.

“Xiao-Qian!”

Li Yun seemed to have called out to him. Cheng Qian abruptly started and struggled to dodge the masked men"s attacks.

The sounds of metal clashing rang in his ears. At this moment, Cheng Qian"s back had been drenched in cold sweat. Mind barely present, he turned his eyes to his Eldest Shixiong in the air. With just one glance, Cheng Qian could tell that he was also struggling hard — with enough numbers, even ants could kill an elephant. Moreover, none of these masked men were weak in the slightest. Yan Zhengming probably hadn"t reached Concretion for long. His ability to stand so steadily on his sword right now might be an exhibition of abnormal ability due to the circ.u.mstances.

The clones in the air kept being cut down by the masked men. Yan Zhengming really had his hands full, unable to manage so many things at once. Each time one of the clones were killed, his face would pale further. He also had to constantly keep his Shidi"s safety in mind. He wished he could gain a thousand eyes and limbs [1], or have three heads and six arms [2].

Cheng Qian didn"t want to distract him, so he steeled himself and swallowed the metallic taste in his throat.

This was a terrible feeling. Cheng Qian"s face turned ashen instantly, sword almost falling from his grip. Shuangren seemed like it could sense his weakness too, as it quickly showed signs of turning on him.

While in a daze, Cheng Qian somehow felt as if he was standing on an ancient tumultuous sea. The waters in front of him seemed like they"d come from the desolate and dark Northern Underworld, the chill cutting right into his bones, the silence so palpable it was deafening. A strange vengeful fury suddenly rose in his chest — Why did a weapon that should"ve been legendary have to be falsely accused by the people? Why must a rare genius with extraordinary talent carry the infamy of the ancestors and successors?

Suddenly, a child"s voice rang out from behind him, “Bad people! Stab the bad people! Don"t bully my Third Shixiong!”

Something flew past Cheng Qian"s ear. With a crisp sound, a Soul-Searching Needle flew toward one of the masked men. The masked man"s sword aura had practically torn the fabric covering Cheng Qian"s chest, but because of the Soul-Searching Needle, the man retracted his sword to defend himself. Somehow, Cheng Qian"s skin was unharmed.

Cheng Qian immediately came back to himself and gasped for breath. He realized that his core had been drained because of Shuangren turning on him. The terrible thing was, he couldn"t just toss this sword away, because the masked men had no mercy. More and more of them came forward to attack.

Cheng Qian didn"t turn around, but when he reached back, his hand found Shuikeng"s head without mistake. He said lightly, “Shh, don"t cry. It"s alright, save up your Soul-Searching Needles.”

The boat can"t leave, if it really can"t be helped… Cheng Qian raised his face to look at Yan Zhengming, who was almost at his limit, and thought, Might as well let Eldest Shixiong bring this little one to break through the siege on his sword.

Bringing Shuikeng out was already difficult for Yan Zhengming, but what about Han Yuan and Li Yun?

Before Cheng Qian could figure things out, he suddenly heard Li Yun"s surprised exclaim.

At long last, Yan Zhengming couldn"t continue flying on his sword while keeping up so many clones, and abruptly fell from the air. Li Yun hurriedly made a seal with his hands, forming an invisible net above the ground. At least their Sect Leader got to avoid landing on his face.

Yan Zhengming half-knelt on the ground, staggering slightly. For a moment, he didn"t even have the strength to stand.

Cheng Qian was forced to act again. He leapt into the air with Han Yuan"s shoulder as a step, Shuangren cutting a swift and fierce arch. With this legendary lethal weapon"s chilling Qi, he forced the masked men to retreat. His limbs felt like they had been p.r.i.c.ked by countless needles, as if his core had been exhausted by charms numerous times — Cheng Qian knew, this meant his meridians had been thoroughly drained.

But in this moment, even if he had been drained, could he retreat?

The taste of iron filled Cheng Qian"s mouth as he stabbed Shuangren into the ground, unconcerned with breaking the famed sword. With a sharp sound, Shuangren sent him back into the air. Cheng Qian instinctively struck again, but before he could finish carrying out the sword technique, he could no longer keep moving. The sword aura guarding his body dispersed. Countless weapons pressed down on Shuangren, as if trying to tear him to shreds.

It was too late for the others to save him.

Right then, someone suddenly exclaimed, “Impudent!”

A great surge of energy swept forth, powerful yet gentle, effortlessly cancelling out the attacks toward Cheng Qian in one fell swoop while not harming him the slightest bit.

Cheng Qian"s body suddenly felt light as he fell. Yan Zhengming threw himself forward to catch him.

Yan Zhengming had no idea how he"d reached him in time. When those weapons closed in on Cheng Qian, Yan Zhengming could feel his own heart dropping heavily, as if his insides were about to burst.

Cheng Qian lost consciousness for a brief moment. Fortunately, it didn"t last too long. When his gaze finally regained focus, he found that the masked men filling up the port seemed to have been swept over, a large s.p.a.ce cleared up in the middle. Some of the men were crying out in pain not too far away, unable to stand, while others had fallen into the sea.

At the same time, he realized that his hand was still holding onto Shuangren tightly, grip not loosening even on the verge of death.

Cheng Qian was about to climb up, but an arm immediately pressed him back down, leaving no room for argument. Without turning his head, Cheng Qian could hear Yan Zhengming"s heart still racing wildly. He was half-kneeling on the ground, hands trembling as he held on tight to Cheng Qian. Only when Cheng Qian opened his eyes did Yan Zhengming sigh in relief, speaking in a low voice, “Don"t move!”

Tang Wanqiu was laying on the side. She probably hadn"t managed to gain any advantage against Zhou Hanzheng. Her face seemed sickly, so she might have been wounded too.

But even so, when she saw their rescuer, she didn"t seem happy in the slightest, instead becoming even more worried. She greeted in a low voice, “Island Lord.”

Zhou Hanzheng looked at her coldly, probably thinking that he"d remember the crazy woman"s grudge. But when he turned around, his face returned to its pleasant look. He made a great show of moving the Sansi Fan in his hand slowly and cupped his fist with his other hand in greeting toward the Island Lord, who was standing on a gigantic rock, “Greetings to the Island Lord.”

The Island Lord didn"t even spare him a glance as he turned to Tang Wanqiu, “Wanqiu, bring the kids here. I"ve made a miscalculation.”

Tang Wanqiu said nothing. With her eyes, she signaled for Yan Zhengming to follow her, and went up the stone steps behind the large rock.

Cheng Qian clenched his teeth. He was about to stand with his Eldest Shixiong"s shoulder for support, but Yan Zhengming pressed him down again.

And then he realized that he was hovering in midair. His Eldest Shixiong had picked him up in his arms.

Cheng Qian"s originally muddled mind was instantly shocked awake. Like a puppy that had fallen from a high place, he scrambled around and grabbed Yan Zhengming"s shoulder in panic, worried that his ‘delicate" Shixiong would drop him. He probably wouldn"t die from the fall, but there was the question of what he would land on.

Yan Zhengming had almost been scared to death thanks to him earlier. His face still hadn"t smoothed over, clearly agitated as he said sternly, “Stay still!”

Cheng Qian fell silent and went stiff as a rock, allowing Yan Zhengming to move him as he pleased.

The Island Lord"s stern face softened slightly. After looking at Yan Zhengming, his eyes turned to Cheng Qian"s sword.

The Island Lord"s pupils shrunk. He stared at the frost of blood on the sword for a moment, and then turned around. He aimlessly swept his gaze over the place, as if searching for someone. But other than the darkness of the heavens and the sea, and the deadly-looking uneven rocks rising amid them, he found nothing.

The Island Lord retracted his gaze and sighed lightly. The pressuring aura of a formidable master was dispersed, making him look like a gloomy scholar once again. He turned around and said, “Let"s go back.”

Seeing this, some of the masked men were about to give chase, but Zhou Hanzheng raised his hand to stop them.

With a faint smile, Zhou Hanzheng looked at the Island Lord"s back. The words he spoke were cold and threatening, “What kind of man do you think Gu Yanxue is, who do you think you are to go against him? Are you trying to seek death by chasing him?”

Tang Wanqiu hadn"t gone far, so she"d heard these words. She gave him a sharp glare and said, “Island Lord, why would you keep this vile person named Zhou, it"d be better to kill him early!”

The Island Lord didn"t turn back and continued walking ahead. Hearing those words, he chuckled lightly, his intention unclear.

Speaking of this, some cultivators might not know of the emperor or the prime minister, but none of them would be ignorant of Azure Dragon Island. All the cultivator sects valued its own people highly. Quite a number of rogue cultivators had only truly begun cultivating from the Azure Dragon Island"s Lecture Hall. Not only was the Island Lord"s cultivation extremely powerful, he was also referred to as the ‘Greatest Master Under the Heavens".

The common people followed the saying of respecting five things: ‘Heavens, Earth, Emperor, Family, and Master". But cultivators usually had much longer lifespans, so familial relations weren"t very important, and thus ‘Family" was crossed out. They also refused to bow to the influence of mortal laws, so there was no ‘Emperor" to take into account. From those five, only ‘Heavens, Earth, and Master" were left. One"s cultivation sect was regarded more highly than family. It was easy to figure out the weight of the t.i.tle ‘Greatest Master Under the Heavens".

If they were to tell others, would anyone believe that the Lord of Azure Dragon Island, the leader of the Four Saints, Gu Yanxue, would look so gloomy and vulnerable?

Among the Four Saints, the Lord of Azure Dragon Island might not have the greatest cultivation, but everyone had always silently acknowledged him as the leader of the Four Saints. Of course, this was done for a reason.

When the group hurried to the main port of Azure Dragon Island, a fierce battle had broken out there.

Turns out, the night patrols and disciples had all gathered here, currently tangled in battle with another party.

The decennial Celestial Market was a great event in the cultivator world, was there any formidable master from any respectable sect who wouldn"t be mindful of courtesy? But these visitors had no friendly intentions. The tides were violent on the sea, countless large ships faintly visible on the dark expanse of the waters. The light emitted from the sword riders twinkled in the sky like stars, billows of waves rising to the heavens.

Looking closely, the rogue cultivators" rumor was true, the figure of a flood dragon could be seen among the approaching crowd!

As if being next to the Island Lord was an a.s.surance of safety, Li Yun finally snapped out of his panic and once again returned to his knowledgeable self. He said, “That"s not an Azure Dragon. The Azure Dragon is an ancient celestial beast, why would it appear in the human realm? It"s just a flood dragon. Strange, aren"t flood dragons only found in Xixing Palace? Why would it be on the East Sea?”

Han Yuan said, “It"s probably stolen by some demonic cultivator.”

Li Yun paused for a moment and gathered his Qi toward his eyes, gazing into the distance. He said in surprise, “The Panlong Banner — There"s the Xixing Palace"s Panlong Banner on the boat! But why would Xixing Palace…”

Azure Dragon Island and Xixing Palace were both part of the Ten Great Sects. Xixing Palace was located in a rather secluded place, always emphasizing that they cultivated away from the outside world. They never cared about the affairs outside their sect, and there didn"t seem to be any news of a feud, so why would they cross such great distance to stir up trouble at Azure Dragon Island?

Before Li Yun could finish speaking, the Island Lord suddenly whistled. The seemingly invincible flood dragon on the sea instantly fell into the water, producing a large surge of waves that overturned three boats at the same time. Their surrounding abruptly went silent — even the ferocious tides seemed to have been calmed.

Both sides of the conflict stopped involuntarily, the crowd clearing to make way. The Island Lord stepped up and declared aloud, “My good fellows from Xixing Palace, you"ve come here in the dead of night and caused such a stir, I wonder what business you might have?”

A horn was sounded, the densely packed ships on the sea parting away. From the pitch black waters, a large Panlong ship emerged to the surface. An old man whose hair was entirely white stood at the bow of the ship. Even though there was a strange air around him that made him seem like he was waning, his intimidating aura wasn"t affected in the slightest. His gaze was solid as he swept his eyes over the crowd. “Gu Yanxue, a century has pa.s.sed, but the Lord of Azure Dragon Island is impressive as always.”

The Island Lord frowned slightly and cupped his own hand in greeting, “Bai Ji Daoyou is too generous.”

Yan Zhengming was a rather aloof Sect Leader. Other than looking into important events in the records when he first came to Azure Dragon Island, he didn"t care to take note of other things. When he heard those words, he asked in a low voice, “Who is Bai Ji?”

Li Yun whispered into his ear, “The Master of Xixing Palace. It is said that he"s almost a thousand years old. In the past, people often speculated that he would be the first person in Jiuzhou [3] to achieve the Dao and ascend to immortality. If he can"t ascend, his life force might be exhausted soon.”

Cheng Qian settled his breathing and struggled to push Yan Zhengming away. He stood by himself and asked in curiosity, “Second Shixiong, why do you know so many things?”

“Shut your mouth, it has nothing to do with you.” Yan Zhengming instantly forgot about asking what kind of formidable person Bai Ji was and lowered his head to feel Cheng Qian"s pulse, frowning while checking his wounds.

The two greatest formidable masters" exchange had caused a great stir among the crowd. Some of the rogue cultivators from the Lecture Hall only cared about watching the excitement and were extremely audacious, climbing onto the trees and rocks nearby, looking on and discussing among themselves.

The Island Lord questioned, “If the Xixing Palace is sending people here, why did you not send a message beforehand? Even though our Island is but a barren isolated land, would we fail to understand the common courtesy of hosts? Palace Master Bai, what is your intention, bringing your people here to intrude in this manner?”

The Panlong ship had drawn near in an instant. Bai Ji said, “Of course, this humble person hadn"t come here for a simple visit this time. Five years ago, one of my worthless grandsons had left to go on a journey. Hearing that your island"s Celestial Market was quite merry, he came here with his fellow cultivators, intending to join in the fun. Afterward, he sent a message back to the palace, saying that he"d seen your island"s Lecture Hall and wanted to learn some new things, so he entered the Lecture Hall as a rogue cultivator, and lost contact for the past few years. We all thought that he"d been cultivating on your Island, but a few days ago, my grandson"s Life Lamp was suddenly extinguished. I used soul-searching methods to summon his soul back, but I couldn"t find it no matter what. And then I realized, he, he…”

When Bai Ji spoke to this point, he choked on a sob and couldn"t continue.

Han Yuan frowned as he listened. Unlike his Shixiong, who never cared about the affairs of the outside world, he was the type who would poke his nose into everyone"s business. Every single rumor and news on the island would pa.s.s through his ears, and he"d never heard that any life had been lost in the Lecture Hall.

With a wave of the Island Lord"s hand, a disciple came forward, presenting a book of names with both hands. He asked Bai Ji, “Might I inquire, what is your grandson"s true name?”

Bai Ji forcefully suppressed his sorrow and said in a quivering voice, “First part Yan, second part Li.”

The Island Lord tossed the book of names into the air, lips moving slightly as he murmured something. The thick book"s pages were quickly flipped through from the beginning to the end, never stopping even once, and finally fell with its back facing up.

The disciple said, “Island Lord, no person named Bai Yanli was ever registered in the Lecture Hall.”

From not too far away, someone spoke up, “Maybe he used an alias…”

Tang Wanqiu, who was standing in attendance on the side, answered, “Impudent. What kind of place do you think Azure Dragon Island is, to allow entry for some small fry using an alias? If it"s not their real surname and given name, it wouldn"t appear in the book of names!”

The moment she opened her mouth, everyone around them could sense that something bad was about to happen. As expected, Bai Ji became furious when he heard her. His hair frizzled up as he said, “What are you implying?”

[1] ‘gain a thousand eyes and limbs" The phrase used here is 「千手千眼」. This is basically a reference to Sahasrbhuja Sahasrnetra Avalokiteśvara, a bodhisattva who embodies the compa.s.sion of all Buddhas.

[2] ‘have three heads and six arms" The phrase used here is 「三頭六臂」. It means ‘to possess remarkable abilities; to gain superhuman powers". Originally, the phrase refers to the image of Buddha, who was said to have three heads and six arms (But I think people are more likely to think of Nezha when hearing this phrase now).

[3] ‘Jiuzhou" The word used here is 「九州」. It"s a poetic name for China, which was a reference to the nine divisions of China in the earliest dynasties.

Some new terms and names:

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