Chapter 425: No Killing Sword, Yet Kills One at Last! (Three More Updates Tonight)
Chapter 425: The Sword of No Killing Finally Kills One! (Three More Updates Tonight)
Lü Yang felt this was the moment he needed to step forward.
By now, he had discerned the mastermind's intentions—they sought to fundamentally negate True Person Dangmo's lifelong principle of wielding a sword without killing.
'This is killing both body and spirit.'
[Sword intent] was the fixation of a cultivator's lifetime, the convergence of their will. At its strongest, it was unshakable as tempered steel; at its weakest, it could collapse like a house of cards.
True Person Dangmo's [Sword of No Killing Intent] was precisely such. If those he had once saved were to question, refute, and ultimately shake his conviction, the [Sword of No Killing Intent] would inevitably weaken. Then, it would no longer suppress the vast fortune upon him, and True Person Dangmo would immediately begin seeking gold!
'We can't let them have their way!'
Confident he had unraveled the schemes of Evil-Banishing True Person and Buddhist cultivator Guang Ming, Lü Yang stepped forward to assist True Person Dangmo—only to feel a slight pressure on his shoulder.
"No need."
True Person Dangmo pressed down on him and shook his head before stepping forward to address the old man: "Though the Pure Land appears resplendent, it is no benevolent place."
"Though Buddhist cultivators are now called orthodox, in my eyes, they remain akin to demons. Allying with them may bring temporary benefits, but the poison lingers eternally... I know you listened to their temptations out of fear as your lifespan nears its end. That's understandable—human nature."
True Person Dangmo gazed calmly at the old man.
His eyes were peaceful, devoid of any killing intent or pressure. Yet under that gaze, the old man found himself almost involuntarily averting his eyes.
Unable to meet them.
Out of guilt? Shame?
Neither.
—It was anger.
"...Don't look at me like that."
The next moment, the old man gritted his trembling teeth and muttered, "Has anyone ever told you? Your eyes don't look at people as people at all!"
It was a peculiar sensation. To the old man, True Person Dangmo's gaze didn't regard him as a living person but as an object—one covered in cracks that required careful handling. Hence, the excessive patience.
How could he trust True Person Dangmo then?
From start to finish, the other party hadn't treated him as human. So how credible were his words? Might they not be mere deception and placation?
For a moment, a stifling resentment congealed in the old man's chest.
Meanwhile, True Person Dangmo was also taken aback.
"My gaze?"
After a moment's thought, he smiled. "So that's the reason for your suspicion? You misunderstand... It's not just you I see this way."
Then Lü Yang noticed True Person Dangmo glancing back at him.
It was eerie—just a single look, yet he could read the other's thoughts: as if regarding a thriving stalk of wheat or a rare true treasure.
Even without such a gaze, Lü Yang would have suspected True Person Dangmo had ulterior motives toward him. But this look turned suspicion into certainty.
The spiritual intuition of a Foundation Establishment True Person was exceedingly sharp.
Compared to that, True Person Dangmo's gaze was simply too bizarre.
It clearly contained some profound divine ability, enough to stir a Foundation Establishment cultivator's intuition—hence why a mere glance could evoke such unease.
But what divine mystery lay within?
"In this life, I do not kill."
True Person Dangmo offered an explanation: "Yet the [Sword of No Killing Intent] is easy to cultivate but hard to uphold. Thus, sometimes I must refrain from seeing people as people..."
At these words, both Lü Yang and the old man were stunned.
That simple?
Because he didn't kill, sometimes he couldn't see people as people... So in True Person Dangmo's eyes, was I truly just premium wheat?
Literally?
'This is too absurd.'
Lü Yang kept these words to himself, but the old man voiced them aloud with a cold laugh: "You expect to brush me off with such absurdity?"
True Person Dangmo didn't elaborate further but countered: "Then Mo Shiyuan, what would you have me do?"
His gaze remained utterly calm.
To him, the old man before him was merely being manipulated by certain schemers. It would be best to persuade him to withdraw before he became entangled in this conflict.
Yet the old man refused.
Gritting his teeth—Lü Yang had guessed correctly on one point: had this not targeted True Person Dangmo, and had there not been powerful backers ensuring his safety, a mere rogue cultivator faction leader would never dare cause trouble at Sword Pavilion. Yet here he was.
"...Kill me."
After a moment's silence, the old man spoke, staring straight at True Person Dangmo: "Behead me. If I survive, everything you said is true."
"If I die, then let my death expose your hypocrisy to all."
"Good method. Let's proceed."
True Person Dangmo nodded approvingly, brimming with confidence—for those beheaded by him truly did not die.
"Clang! Clang!"
Without waiting for the old man's response, True Person Dangmo drew his sword. The [Sword of No Killing] moved like an antelope hanging its horns—leaving no trace as it swept across the old man's neck.
In the next instant, a head was cleanly severed.
Not a drop of blood spilled.
Yet before True Person Dangmo could speak, the severed head's eyes suddenly widened, its face contorting as a thunderous cry erupted from its mouth:
"The pain is unbearable!"
As the words fell, the head and body—previously bloodless despite decapitation—suddenly gushed rivers of blood!
In moments, True Person Dangmo's hand cradling the head was drenched crimson. The old man, having uttered his final cry, closed his eyes as all vitality drained from his face. Within moments, it was unmistakably a dead man's head, tumbling from True Person Dangmo's grip to the ground.
A wisp of soul quietly drifted away, carrying boundless resentment into the [Netherworld].
'Dead.'
"Dead..."
The first murmur rose from the crowd, swiftly amplifying into a thunderous roar proclaiming the same truth:
Mo Shiyuan was dead!
The [Sword of No Killing], renowned throughout the world for never taking a life, had claimed its first victim—slain by True Person Dangmo's own hand!
"Shifu..."
Lü Yang cautiously looked toward True Person Dangmo.
The latter suddenly shook his head:
"Alas..."
A second sigh carried such potent "intent" that even Lü Yang felt an inexplicable, overwhelming sorrow.
As for the others, they burst into wails.
'[Sword intent]!?'
For a moment, Lü Yang was awestruck. Though both wielded [sword intent], True Person Dangmo's [Sword of No Killing Intent] existed on an entirely different plane.
Now, even without actively channeling his [sword intent], merely the uncontrolled outpouring of True Person Dangmo's genuine emotion influenced everyone present! Not even Lü Yang, who had also forged [sword intent], was immune—revealing just how far he had advanced on this Great Dao.
Simultaneously, within the Piercing-Earth Abyss:
Evil-Banishing True Person abruptly stood, excitement flashing across his face: "It's done...! His [sword intent] is out of control!"
From the start, he hadn't expected Mo Shiyuan's psychological attack to achieve much. Only the final death was the linchpin of his scheme!
'Could someone as singular as True Person Dangmo be shaken by mere words?'
'To break his sword intent and force him to lose control over his accumulating fortune—compelling him to seek gold and sacrifice his sword—we must strike at the foundation: his [Sword of No Killing Intent].'
'[Sword of No Killing Intent]?'
'I'll make you kill one! Once you do, your [sword intent] collapses instantly!'
True Person Dangmo grasped this scheme the moment he saw Mo Shiyuan die—hence his second sigh.
'My [Sword of No Killing Intent], including its sword formula, is enshrined within my family.'
'To target my sword intent and make my blade claim a life... someone must have gone to my family and obtained the sword formula I left behind.'
'If stolen by force, I would have known.'
'Therefore... the Ye Family must have willingly offered it.'
Realizing this, True Person Dangmo couldn't suppress a surge of desolation, losing control over his [sword intent].
Today's events were orchestrated by someone within Sword Pavilion; the old man's death resulted from betrayal within his own family.
'So it's like this... Neither sect nor family wishes me to live.'
"Boom!"
The next instant, True Person Dangmo's Daoist robes turned blood-red. From beneath the shattered [Sword of No Killing Intent] erupted a cataclysmic tide of killing intent!