Chapter 429
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Assault on the Empty Shell
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Not only did Perfected Being Demon-Quelling fail to understand, but Lu Yang didn't understand either.
*He actually chased after him.*
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's sword intent had been shattered, yet he showed no sign of returning to the Sword Pavilion. Instead, he left straightaway. Didn't that say enough about his attitude toward the Sword Pavilion?
Even Lu Yang could see it clearly. Perfected Being Demon-Quelling still harbored mercy, sparing the Sword Pavilion's people by choosing to head for the Pure Land. Otherwise, with the ferocity of his [All-Slaying] sword intent, turning back to slaughter them all would have been a simple matter—at least far easier than clashing head-on with Guang Ming Buddha Son in the Pure Land!
And yet.
These sword seeds still failed to get the hint. Even Perfected Being Quexie—a perfected being at the peak of Foundation Establishment—hadn't grasped the unspoken meaning in Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's words.
At the same time, Perfected Being Quexie remained dazed.
*. . . Kill me?*
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling wanted to kill him? He knew every single one of those seven characters, but strung together, they suddenly filled him with an absurd sense of disbelief the likes of which he'd never felt before.
Because Perfected Being Demon-Quelling didn't kill people.
That had been his guiding principle ever since he'd awakened his third life and formed his foundation as a sword cultivator. And now, he was in the twilight of his fifth life.
At his age, things shouldn't have turned out this way.
It could only be attributed to the Ye family—to that [Heaven-Receiving Orthodox Virtue True Lord]. Even Perfected Being Quexie didn't know the full details.
He'd only vaguely heard hints from another True Lord in the Sword Pavilion.
With that thought, Perfected Being Quexie fixed Perfected Being Demon-Quelling with a deathly glare.
"In the past, [Heaven-Receiving Orthodox Virtue True Lord] rebuilt your fleshly body for you. How highly did he regard you?"
"And now this is how you repay him? How you repay the Sword Pavilion?"
"No wonder the True Lord called you a heartless man back then—innately attuned to the Dao, treating all things like grass and dogs. Now I see it. You truly are a cold-blooded monster!"
Perfected Being Quexie rebuked him outright.
But Lu Yang detected a note of false bravado in the outburst. Even as he railed, Perfected Being Quexie's body inched backward bit by bit.
"Senior, why the retreat?"
Lu Yang offered helpfully.
"Come closer. Get a better look."
Perfected Being Quexie made no reply. He wasn't an idiot. It was just as Perfected Being Demon-Quelling had said—he'd spent too long cooped up in the Sword Pavilion, following its rigid code of conduct. Add to that his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation and his stubborn preconceptions about Perfected Being Demon-Quelling, and he'd simply failed to react in time.
Now that Perfected Being Demon-Quelling was getting serious.
How could he linger?
In a flash of insight, Perfected Being Quexie pinched a sword art. His fingertip already gripped a divine ability. Without another word, he hurled it straight at Perfected Being Demon-Quelling:
[Gold-Burying Earth]!
This was a [Xin Metal] divine ability, paired perfectly with [Si Fire]. Si governed furnace flames for smelting, harboring Wu Earth within. Gold buried inside couldn't shift form. What difference did that make from death?
"Boom!"
In an instant, Lu Yang's vision went black. Even his sword foundation within grew leaden—he'd been caught in the aftershocks of the divine ability, his condition disrupted.
*This divine ability counters metal and iron outright!*
Sword cultivators were no exception!
*If this had been my prior immortal spirit body, he'd have subdued me effortlessly with just this one move, backed by his peak Foundation Establishment stature!*
*If I'm right, he refined this specifically to deal with Perfected Being Demon-Quelling. What grudge do Perfected Being Quexie and Perfected Being Demon-Quelling share? It's so targeted—he's even burning a key innate divine ability. Isn't he afraid it'll sever his path forward? Oh, right. He cultivates [White Wax Metal].*
His path was severed long ago.
If that was the case for him, then what of Perfected Being Demon-Quelling?
Lu Yang whipped his head aside. What he saw was a beam of light.
The light held no brilliance. It carried a gentle softness instead, yet it pinned the gaze inescapably. It drifted casually toward distant Quexie.
"Crack!"
There was no drama to it. Perfected Being Quexie's full-force [Gold-Burying Earth]—a sword cultivator's perfect counter—shattered like a bad joke.
"Ah!!!"
In that moment, Perfected Being Quexie cast aside all his usual composure and superiority. With a flick of his sleeve, he unleashed a torrent of spirit treasures beyond counting!
This marked the first time he'd faced Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's sword head-on. From afar, it had never seemed impressive. Even when he'd spectated Demon-Quelling's three-sword beheading of Jingguan Buddha Maiden, it came off as nothing special—just three utterly ordinary strikes. Perhaps the Buddha Maiden had simply been too weak.
But he didn't think that anymore.
Only by facing Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's sword directly could one grasp its sheer terror. It didn't feel like something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could comprehend!
*Aside from Golden Core True Lords, who could stand against this sword?*
*Am I dying? No. Impossible!*
Perfected Being Quexie poured everything into his divine abilities, desperate to flee the area. Disbelief still churned in his mind:
*He dares kill me? He's really going to kill me!*
*Of course. . . a dying man. What wouldn't he dare? Why did I even come here? Someone's been pulling strings from the shadows!?*
*—Who!?*
In that instant, Perfected Being Quexie felt himself plunge into an icy abyss. But he had no time left for deduction. Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's sword light was upon him.
"Boom!"
In a heartbeat, heaven and earth cleaved into black and white.
One side blazed like the sun rising in the east, daylight glaring.
The other side roiled in murky gloom, vision obscured.
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling's sword light held the center.
"Ah!!!"
Amid the black-and-white vista, Perfected Being Quexie's five divine abilities flared to life in unison—only to be extinguished together. His dharma body burst into a spray of blood and flesh, scattering in all directions. None escaped. The sword light refined it all to drifting ash. Only a single wisp of spirit light winked away toward the horizon.
*Trying to flee. . .*
Lu Yang cracked his knuckles on reflex.
After all, that was prime metal essence! Demon-Quelling had wounded it gravely. As a model Primal Saint Sect perfected being, nothing pleased him more than kicking a man while he was down!
"No need to pursue."
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling shook his head at the sight.
"Struck by my [All-Slaying], death is merely a matter of time. My own days are numbered. Better to reach the Pure Land and bring it to a close swiftly."
Lu Yang schooled his features at once.
"Disciple obeys."
*No rush anyway.*
This vessel was just an avatar, after all. Low cultivation, built for grunt work. Chasing it down might not even succeed.
Better to leave the fun to his main body.
Sword Pavilion, Extreme Heaven Cliff.
The clash between Perfected Being Quexie and Perfected Being Demon-Quelling went unmasked. At minimum, late Foundation Establishment perfected beings could spectate without issue.
And yet Ye Shaoying now wished he were blind to it.
"He killed someone."
The Ye family head hadn't even recovered his wits. His soul seemed to have fled.
"Guangji. . . not manipulated into it, but killed of his own volition?"
How could that be?
Wasn't his principle [no killing]?
Even with his sword intent broken, he should still be that kindly old pushover who swept floors without harming ants. Why the sudden urge to kill?
At the thought, cold sweat beaded across Ye Shaoying's face. It thickened when he saw Perfected Being Quexie—the one who'd lavished promises on the Ye family—flee in abject rout. His teeth chattered.
Only when he confirmed Perfected Being Demon-Quelling wasn't returning—merely vanishing into the distance—did he finally exhale.
*Phew. Safe!*
Ye Shaoying cracked a grin.
*Guangji. . . Demon-Quelling still honors old bonds, after all. The Ye family birthed him, raised him. He remembers. No massacre.*
The realization set his mind racing.
[All-Slaying Sword Intent]?
*What sort of ferocious sword intent and technique is that? He never passed down the matching method to the family. Lack of trust?*
A sword intent even Perfected Being Quexie couldn't withstand. If the Ye family obtained it. . .
Ye Shaoying hadn't even pulled free from his reverie.
"Boom!"
A thunderous crash erupted beyond the Sword Pavilion's gates. Countless disciples craned their necks, faces etched with disbelief.
"Who. . . dares assault our Sword Pavilion?"
"Bear heart and leopard guts—what demon is this?"
"Seeking death!"
Even Ye Shaoying peered over curiously. In the clouds beyond the Sword Pavilion hovered a handsome young man, standing at ease with hands clasped behind his back.
"This. . . that rogue cultivator from beyond the heavens?"
"Why is he here?"
Ye Shaoying recognized him. The youth seemed to sense his divine sense, whipping his head around to flash an amiable smile.
In that instant, a chill premonition gripped Ye Shaoying's heart.
This visitor meant trouble!
*—And indeed he did.*
Outside the Sword Pavilion, Lu Yang's gaze burned into the mountain gates. Raw greed blazed like an inferno within him, spurring his excitement higher.
This was a golden opportunity, one in a thousand years!
In the lands of Jiangnan, True Lords secluded themselves from the world. Of the Sword Pavilion's two peak Foundation Establishment perfected beings, one was gone, the other gravely wounded. The Sword Pavilion now stood as an empty shell!
*Perfected Being Demon-Quelling won't slaughter the Sword Pavilion. He has principles—a bottom line. He can't bring himself to strike his birth family, the Ye. Nor does he wish to drag the innocent into it.*
*I lack any such restraint.*