Zhang Enning endured the nausea and stopped struggling.
He silently lowered his head, contemplating how he should escape. Although a foul stench tormented him, Zhang Enning felt his consciousness had never been so clear.
Su Zhuyi was strong, so strong that she could even crack Ji Wuxin’s techniques. He had relied on those very skills to take down several small cultivation sects, including those with Golden Core stage cultivators. Yet none of them could handle those strange formations and secret arts, but she could see through them all.
Su Zhuyi was from the Su family of Yongan Town. The highest cultivation level in the Su family was merely the Qi Refining stage. Although in his childhood, the Su family of Yongan Town seemed like gods to the villagers of Changning Village, once he embarked on the cultivation path, Zhang Enning understood they had no real foundation or heritage.
How could such a Su family possibly raise someone as formidable as Su Zhuyi?
Su Zhuyi was the daughter of the deceased first wife, expelled from the Su family. Unable to survive in town, she fled to places with fewer people, somehow stumbling her way to Changning Village. Despite the considerable distance, she somehow didn’t die on the road.
At that time, the villagers thought she had offended the Su family, and no one helped her, leaving her to fend for herself, or rather, they wished she would die sooner. Then one day, she left the village and was never seen again. The villagers assumed she had been eaten by wild beasts and weren’t surprised; they might have even felt relieved. When the little monk appeared later, no one connected that handsome and spirited little monk with the girl who had curled up on the ground, only knowing how to dig for worms, scrape mud, and strip bark to eat, so filthy that her appearance was unrecognizable.
How could the Su family’s daughter know so many secret arts?
Why did Su Zhuyi, who had been bullied for years and was so thin she was just skin and bones, suddenly become a completely different person?
Zhang Enning looked at Su Zhuyi standing not far away, his eyes turning as he said, “I wonder which demonic path senior has possessed this body, occupying a little girl’s shell? Now you’ve even joined a famous righteous sect. If the cultivators of Gujian Sect knew your true identity, what do you think they would do to you?”
“Although you have me trapped now, I have ways to announce your secret to the world. When that time comes, I wonder if you could pass the Soul-Examining Stone’s test?”
Su Zhuyi ignored him. This brat had threatened her ten years ago, and now he was trying the same trick again. Ten years ago, she had been somewhat wary, but now, using possession as a threat meant nothing to her.
The cultivation world indeed allowed possession, but such rebirth through possession carried great risks and limitations, with minimal chance of success. Unless absolutely desperate, no one would consider this step. The Soul-Examining Stone was a magic treasure that could reveal a cultivator’s primordial spirit—if someone had been possessed, one examination would expose them completely.
Seeing Su Zhuyi unmoved, Zhang Enning steeled his heart and continued, “My goal is to find the Blood Asura Sect’s lair and avenge my mother. Since you were forced to possess a little girl’s body, you must also have enemies. Why don’t we join forces?”
His eyes darkened, “I can be the blade for your killings.”
Only then did Su Zhuyi turn to glance at him.
It was truly remarkable that in such a short time, under such foul conditions, he could think of so much.
“The Blood Asura Sect’s movements are mysterious; no one knows where their lair is. You think you can find it?” Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows. In her previous life, the Blood Asura Sect hid extremely well—even the Yunxiao Sect couldn’t dig out their true lair back then.
“I placed a curse on one of their disciples,” Zhang Enning raised his head, saying, “You know that person too—Su Qingxun. I didn’t massacre the Su family of Yongan Town, but I took the bodies because they died horribly with heavy resentment, far exceeding ordinary corpses. I happened to have great use for them.”
“It seems Village Chief Su Xiang had discovered some anomaly back then and ran to Yongan Town seeking help from the Su family, but the Su family ignored him. Later, Changning Village was burned to the ground.” However, he didn’t mention that when Su Xiang noticed something wrong, it wasn’t signs of the demonic path appearing, but rather the old tree at the village entrance had vanished overnight, which made them panic. Su Xiang went to ask the town’s cultivators to take a look. He traveled there alone in travel-worn condition and returned to the village alone, dejected.
Perhaps this was the root cause of Su Qingxun’s massacre of the entire Su family.
When the Su family was massacred, it was big news in Yongan Town, but it only spread among nearby towns. Zhang Enning knew that people who died violently carried heavy resentment, especially when an entire family was killed without leaving a single survivor alive. So he went to take a look, and judging by the killing methods, he speculated the murderer was only at the late Qi Refining stage. Therefore, he harbored thoughts of capturing this ruthless person to refine into a living corpse.
Following the trail of clues, he tracked down the killer, only to discover the woman looked somewhat familiar—it was Su Qingxun, who had grown up with him.
Su Qingxun hadn’t died and had become a demonic cultivator. So he suspected Su Qingxun was now a disciple of the Blood Asura Sect, secretly placing a curse on her. It was a curse technique from Ji Wuxin’s secret manual, extremely difficult to detect. Over the years, the curse remained intact, and through it, he could sense Su Qingxun’s approximate location.
Therefore, he could roughly estimate the Blood Asura Sect’s location too.
Hearing Zhang Enning’s words, Su Zhuyi remained silent for a long time. Although she had long suspected this, having it confirmed now still made her feel complicated. She hadn’t expected Su Qingxun to stand out among the Blood Asura Sect disciples’ trials either. Back then, she had been a soft-hearted little girl who later became a famous righteous heroine slaying demons and monsters.
Even more unexpected was that the one who massacred the Su family was Su Qingxun.
Could it be that fate’s trajectory would ultimately be the same as in her previous life, where she would die at Su Qingxun’s hands while trying to deal with her?
Qin Jianglan had placed a Zhuxin Curse on her—she couldn’t kill Su Qingxun. Thinking of this, Su Zhuyi’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated greatly. She could even hear her thundering heartbeat.
That heart seemed ready to leap from her chest, the pounding sound like heavy hammers beating drums, making her breathing quicken as well. Yet at this moment, her hands and feet were ice cold, and cold sweat broke out on her back.
Su Zhuyi raised her head to look at the sky. It was already dusk, and though the light above wasn’t glaring, it made her eyes sting and her mind wander.
It was as if someone had drawn a circle on the ground—no matter how much the people inside jumped around or switched identities, they couldn’t escape this circle.
The Liuguang Mirror was a Dao artifact. If she still couldn’t break free from this fate, what was the point of turning back time?
It shouldn’t be this way.
She was wrong.
Having obtained the Liuguang Mirror, she was originally contending against the Heavenly Dao, yet after returning a thousand years, she had been cautious step by step, afraid of angering the Heavenly Dao’s rules and bringing down heavenly punishment. Such a version of herself had merely changed identities, but still couldn’t escape the predetermined outcome.
Whether black piece or white piece, she was still a chess piece on the board, subject to others’ manipulation.
She didn’t want to be a chess piece.
She wanted to break this fate!
With this thought in her heart, Su Zhuyi felt her chest grow hot, scalding to a frightening degree. At the same time, the sky darkened, and dark clouds rolled, as if lightning would strike at any moment.
The Liuguang Mirror!
In that instant, Su Zhuyi sensed the Liuguang Mirror’s presence, though it only appeared for a moment before disappearing again. Overhead, muffled thunder rumbled, and soon heavy rain poured down from the sky.
Bean-sized raindrops pelted her body, but she didn’t use spiritual energy to shield herself; instead, she let the rain drench her.
She didn’t know how long she had stood in the rain.
She suddenly felt the rain disappear. Looking up, a fan had appeared above her, blocking the torrential downpour.
“Why are you standing here getting soaked?” Qinghe stood on the fan, asking coldly.
Su Zhuyi stood there in a daze without speaking. After a long while, she smiled, “Getting rid of the smell. Senior Brother, the sacrifice is over there!” She pointed toward Zhang Enning in the cesspit. Since she wanted to contend with the Heavenly Dao, she could try to save Qinghe and Luo Ying from death!
At this moment, Zhang Enning’s face was full of terror as he looked at Qinghe with particular fear. He seemed unable to control himself. Only one thought filled his mind: go, go to him, and gladly die for him…
He roared and struggled, clearly trying desperately to resist, yet still frantically wanted to break through the Spirit Binding Rope and spiritual energy barrier to sacrifice himself!
Qinghe’s expression also changed. Behind him appeared a black shadow—the Longquan Sword manifesting its sword form.
The moment the Longquan Sword appeared, Su Zhuyi felt a chill throughout her body. The Broken Sword suddenly manifested, azure light pouring out in a sheet, completely enveloping her. This sword ancestor usually disappeared to who knows where, but now it has appeared on its initiative?
Su Zhuyi looked up to see Qinghe’s face turn strange as he retreated a full zhang before stopping, frowning as he asked, “Songfeng Sword?”
Qinghe knew Su Zhuyi had obtained the immortal sword Songfeng Sword, though he’d never seen it. Now seeing this azure light, its power was indeed extraordinary. But this sword, how to put it, felt like fire and water with him. His brows furrowed slightly as he looked toward Zhang Enning in the cesspit, then took a step forward. But with just this small movement, Su Zhuyi’s Broken Sword flashed with azure light. The Broken Sword flew into the air, slashing out a brilliant radiance while simultaneously letting out a long cry.
However, perhaps because it was a broken sword, the cry was short, as if it had shouted halfway before its voice went hoarse.
Qinghe didn’t directly receive that sword beam. He flashed away at extreme speed, and even so, the sword beam still cut away a piece of his clothing.
“That’s my senior brother.” Su Zhuyi touched her toes lightly, leaping up to grasp the Broken Sword flying in the air with both hands. “Sword Ancestor, that’s my senior brother.”
“Evil… sword…”
“Devours… sword spirits… must slay…”
Fragmented words entered Su Zhuyi’s mind. This was the first time she heard the Broken Sword speak—previously, it would only hum.
The Longquan Sword not only killed people, but it also devoured sword spirits, which was why the Broken Sword reacted so strongly upon seeing it.
“You don’t come out when I’m fighting enemies, but now that my senior brother comes over, you pop out instead?”
“He’s temporarily suppressing that evil sword. If you injure him and let the evil sword control his body, what then?”
Su Zhuyi gripped the sword hilt, her hands scraped raw by the handle. She shouted, “If you can slay the Longquan Sword, then go ahead! I won’t stop you!”
The Broken Sword paused slightly, finally ceasing to emit intimidating azure light. Its blade trembled as it said, “Hmph!”