“Who dares block me?” He suddenly attacked with shocking momentum.
The three sect masters of Yunxiao Sect, Xundao Sect, and Danhe Sect didn’t want to interfere at this time and all stepped back in unison.
In her previous life, Xundao Sect had good relations with Dong Fushang Sect, and Danhe Sect’s master had also shared drinks and conversation with Gujian Sect’s Duan Linshu. The relationships here probably weren’t much different from her previous life.
And Yunxiao Sect’s influence in recent centuries wasn’t as strong as before. Seeing the rise of the Gujian Sect, another sword dao sect, likely gave their hearts some sense of urgency. Therefore at this time, when Donglin wanted to cripple her meridians, the Yunxiao Sect master would probably be quite pleased to see it happen.
After all, the aptitude she had just displayed was far too heaven-defying, much stronger than even Qin Chuan. If she were allowed to grow, she would be the next Luo Ying, or even stronger than Luo Ying. In that case, wouldn’t Yunxiao Sect’s title as the world’s number one sword sect become even more unstable? In other words, among the five sect masters now, probably three of them wanted to cripple her in their hearts.
Understanding these connections, Su Zhuyi deployed a spiritual energy barrier to firmly protect herself, then sent her divine sense into a transmission talisman to contact Qinghe.
No matter what difficult situation, only strength could break through it.
Qinghe was that sword that could easily break the deadlock.
They had now left the barrier of the Quicksand River Spirit Spring Pool, but there was still another barrier outside. Originally, the five sect masters each held a key, and only when the keys combined could the formation barrier be opened. She didn’t know if Qinghe could rush over – he was the Longquan Evil Sword, so formations should not be able to stop him.
She didn’t need him to kill anyone. He just needed to stand there overlooking the entire scene, making the others wary.
Qinghe’s current strength was unfathomable. Even these top experts of the cultivation world might not be able to deal with him. You must know that in her previous life, they had joined forces to kill Qinghe but failed. In the end, no one knew how Qinghe had fallen – they only knew his soul lamp had extinguished.
…
Donglin thrust out his spear, targeting Su Zhuyi behind Duan Linshu.
The long sword in Duan Linshu’s hand manifested thousands of brilliant lights. His flying sword blocked the long spear with a loud clang, and at the same time, he stepped back half a step with his right foot, his expression becoming very grave.
Su Zhuyi’s eyes narrowed. From just this one exchange, she could see that Duan Linshu’s strength was somewhat inferior to Donglin’s.
The one with the highest cultivation in the Gujian Sect wasn’t Duan Linshu.
In many sects, the sect master didn’t have the highest cultivation. Sect masters had to handle sect affairs daily and couldn’t spend years in seclusion, especially sword dao sects like Gujian Sect – those who achieved great accomplishments in sword dao usually went into seclusion for a hundred years without showing their faces.
Like the sword maniac Luo Ying, who only came down the mountain once every five hundred years.
Duan Linshu’s strength could rank in the top five in the sect. He often said that managing such a large sect relied not on sword dao strength, but on charisma. His cultivation realm was still slightly inferior compared to Dong Fushang Sect’s Donglin.
Especially since he had to protect the disciple behind him, being slightly distracted could allow his opponent to exploit, putting Su Zhuyi in danger. The current situation was unfavorable for the Gujian Sect. While wielding his sword to parry, Duan Linshu said, “Donglin, the conditions can still be negotiated. Aside from crippling her cultivation, everything else can be discussed.”
When Su Zhuyi killed, she acted on whim. She had been under the influence of the Liuguang Mirror, filled with killing intent, and had nearly killed Qin Jianglan. After her divine sense withdrew, and she found someone delivering themselves to her door, with her temperament, even cutting Dong Richen into a thousand pieces wouldn’t vent her fury.
Weren’t prestigious righteous sects all about face? She contacted the others to go out together and explain the whole story. With Gujian Sect protecting her, Su Zhuyi believed that Donglin wouldn’t dare go too far. All her thoughts and considerations had run through her mind – she felt there wouldn’t be any life-threatening danger. But she hadn’t expected that although Dong Fushang Sect wouldn’t take her life, they were determined to cripple her cultivation.
Now with her sect master blocking in front of her, Su Zhuyi felt a strange sensation in her heart. Her master’s sect in her previous life had been Xueluo Sect.
Those three words “Xueluo Sect” were just a blood-dripping blade to the young Su Zhuyi of her previous life – a blade that could harvest her life at any time.
As for the Gujian Sect, Su Zhuyi originally had no sense of belonging either. She killed as she pleased, never considering what bad influence it might bring to the sect. But now, her sect master was at a disadvantage because she had killed someone.
She shouldn’t have delivered the finishing blow in front of so many people.
Either kill with one strike, or find another opportunity to act. She shouldn’t have added several lightning techniques in front of everyone when Dong Richen could not resist. It was precisely because of those lightning techniques that she was now in a passive, disadvantageous position.
Donglin was like a mad dog, filled with killing intent. He could go mad, but Sect Master Duan Linshu couldn’t. To protect her completely, Duan Linshu fought Donglin while humbly negotiating conditions with him…
Hearing her sect master’s voice, Su Zhuyi reflected in her heart. She felt that before her cultivation reached the Nascent Soul stage, she could slightly modify some of her behaviors and not let people catch her weaknesses.
“Good…”
Donglin’s spear momentum slightly withdrew. “Then bind her with soul-devouring whips and have her kneel before Chen’er’s coffin in repentance for forty-nine days to comfort his spirit in heaven!”
“You!” Duan Linshu’s pupils contracted. He hadn’t expected Donglin’s withdrawal to be fake. After making a show of bluster, he directly sacrificed the Soul-Suppressing Nail. That Soul-Suppressing Nail flew like a rainbow – even though he had covered Su Zhuyi with a defensive barrier, it was now broken by the Soul-Suppressing Nail, heading straight for Su Zhuyi’s brow center.
Duan Linshu’s eyes were about to split with rage. He wanted to swing his sword to stop it, but it was too late.
Su Zhuyi had long been prepared. She had set up defensive barriers and even held a Straw Man substitute in her hand, but she hadn’t expected Donglin would sacrifice the immortal treasure, Soul-Suppressing Nail, to deal with her, a mere Golden Core stage cultivator.
The Soul-Suppressing Nail was a magical treasure that attacked the primordial spirit. This nail wouldn’t immediately take someone’s life when it invaded their primordial spirit – it would only take root in the primordial spirit, causing day and night agony. Even if one managed to pull out the nail, the damage to the primordial spirit would be difficult to repair. And with primordial spirit damage, even if cultivation wasn’t crippled, future cultivation would be extremely difficult – not much different from having cultivation destroyed.
As the Soul-Suppressing Nail penetrated the defensive barrier, the Songfeng sword qi in her heart suddenly burst forth with dazzling brilliance. That sword qi met the Soul-Suppressing Nail, causing it to pause slightly, while Su Zhuyi, with nowhere to dodge, directly placed the Broken Sword in front of her face to block.
With a “ding” sound, the Soul-Suppressing Nail struck the Broken Sword. The enormous force sent Su Zhuyi flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into a red maple tree behind her. The trunk was directly broken by the impact, but she still didn’t slow down, crashing into a second tree. One after another, the maple trees by the pool fell in a line, red leaves falling with rustling sounds, instantly burying her entire person in a pile of red leaves.
“Su Zhuyi!” Duan Linshu’s eyes were about to split with rage. Su Zhuyi had been knocked into the barrier. Deep in the maple forest, when the sect master tried to go over, he found he couldn’t enter. His heart burned with anxiety. He tried to probe with divine sense, but couldn’t sense how badly Su Zhuyi was injured.
The Soul-Suppressing Nail wouldn’t take a life, but it would make the primordial spirit suffer unbearably. Duan Linshu hadn’t expected this immortal treasure Soul-Suppressing Nail, to appear in the world and be in Donglin’s hands. What he found even more unthinkable was that Donglin would use the Soul-Suppressing Nail against a junior who was only at the Golden Core stage!
“If anything happens to Su Zhuyi…” The long sword in Duan Linshu’s hand let out a long howl. His robes moved without wind, and his aura was shocking.
Donglin held his long spear in his right hand and a very delicate crossbow in his left. The Soul-Suppressing Nail had just been shot from that crossbow.
“Your current mood is exactly what mine was before,” Donglin said with a cold laugh.
“Little Master!” Qin Chuan’s eyes were bloodshot, full of red. He wanted to go forward to help, but under the pressure of these great powers, he couldn’t even move. He wanted to go over and see how Su Zhuyi was doing.
But the sect master wouldn’t let him leave. Qin Chuan said hoarsely: “Sect Master!”
“Su Zhuyi killed Dong Richen, and Donglin wants to cripple her cultivation to avenge his disciple. This is a conflict between their two sects – it’s not convenient for us to interfere.”
The Gujian Sect and the Dong Fushang Sect had long been at odds. Previously, the Dong Fushang Sect had always wanted to drag the Yunxiao Sect into it, even inviting a Yunxiao Sect elder to witness. They had stirred up muddy waters last time, so at this time, Yunxiao Sect had to stay out of it.
“I also struck Dong Richen with my sword – is he going to cripple my cultivation too?” Qin Chuan looked at his sect master with red eyes. His bloodshot eyes stared at the Yunxiao Sect master, making the sect master’s brow furrow. He sighed and said, “Donglin, since you’ve already used the Soul-Suppressing Nail, her primordial spirit must be severely damaged. There’s no need to cripple her cultivation too, right? How about we end this matter here?”
He hadn’t expected Dong Fushang Sect to have gained another immortal artifact. In today’s cultivation world, immortal artifacts are rare. The appearance of one immortal artifact could greatly increase a sect’s strength. If he had used that Soul-Suppressing Nail to catch any of the others present off-guard, even cultivators of their level might very well fall victim.
Donglin didn’t answer. He couldn’t sense what state Su Zhuyi was in under the red leaves in the barrier, and the Soul-Suppressing Nail he had just shot had also fallen into the barrier, where he couldn’t retrieve it, making him feel somewhat uneasy and unable to answer directly.
After a moment, he lowered his eyes and said: “Cultivation need not be crippled, but wrongs cannot go unacknowledged. Just have her kowtow and admit her mistakes before Chen’er’s coffin to comfort his spirit in heaven.”
“Don’t go too far!” Duan Linshu swung his sword to strike, but the Xundao Sect master used Thousand Leaves Hand to manifest a tree wall blocking in front of him. “Brother Duan, though injuries from the Soul-Suppressing Nail are difficult to heal, there’s still hope for recovery. But the dead cannot be brought back to life. If you’re still not satisfied with this result, it’s somewhat unreasonable.”
He looked toward Dan Qingshan. “Don’t you think so, Brother Dan?”
“The Cinnabar Blood Yan flowers of Phoenix Mountain can heal primordial spirit damage caused by the Soul-Suppressing Nail.” Dan Qingshan slowly replied. It’s just that those Cinnabar Blood Yan flowers hadn’t appeared in the world for nearly ten thousand years – they weren’t so easily found.
As the several were speaking, they saw movement deep in the forest.
Su Zhuyi had crashed through several trees.
She discovered those trees were also part of a formation. Now she was trapped within the formation, and the red leaves on her body seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, pressing down so she could barely breathe.
She had also heard the conversation outside.
They still wanted her to kowtow and admit her mistakes to Dong Richen – in their dreams. Su Zhuyi gripped the Broken Sword and tried to stand up shakily. However, at this moment, the red leaves pressed down on her. She had barely managed to get up when a force pressed her down again, nearly making her kneel on the ground.
Before her eyes seemed to appear Dong Richen’s coffin, and a voice angrily shouted: “Kneel!”
The pressure was heavy, pressing down on her body. Su Zhuyi’s bones were compressed with crackling sounds. She used to have a nature of self-preservation above all else – commonly called spineless – and would never fight hard when encountering trouble. But at this moment, for some reason, she didn’t want to kneel.
She held a sword in her hand and had an unyielding spirit in her heart.
Her bones seemed to be broken inch by inch, and both legs were also broken. She supported herself with the Broken Sword, still holding her head high. Blood splattered on the Broken Sword, but she showed no intention of giving up.
For such a worthless person to demand that I kneel?
“Wrong? If I had to do it again, I would still kill him.”
Her eyes were crimson red, surrounded by murderous aura. Everything before her eyes was blood red, her vision blurred. Then Su Zhuyi swung the Broken Sword in her hand toward the source of that voice. As the sword moved, a dark green sword intent separated from the sword, shredding the layers upon layers of red leaves to pieces.