Killing precisely Kunwu’s innocent…

Wang Que had only joined the sect over four hundred years ago. By then, Qu Zhengfeng was already a figure renowned throughout the Nineteen Provinces. Though Wang Que had little contact with him, he had witnessed the man’s extraordinary courtesy and manners like others had, appearing in every aspect to be Yashan’s well-deserved “senior brother.”

Yet now such words came from his mouth.

In that instant, Wang Que felt murderous intent rise in his heart. After all, so many people from Kunwu who had lived together day and night had perished under his sword without regard for right or wrong!

But after anger came sorrow.

Today’s consequence, yesterday’s cause—what must be repaid will eventually be repaid.

Throughout the mountains and valleys, the thick stench of blood made one retch upon smelling it.

The elite Kunwu cultivators who had rushed back from the Extreme Domain, upon suddenly witnessing this hellish scene, all felt their chests heave with grief and terror, not to mention hearing Qu Zhengfeng’s arrogant words.

Their rage could not be contained, and they all drew their swords in unison!

Only Master Hengxu, after landing before the great hall, turned to survey the surroundings. He saw that not a single living soul remained atop the surrounding ten peaks, that pavilions and towers had been completely destroyed, that towering ancient trees lay fallen, and that even the mountain streams ran with blood. Corpses lay in the water, washed by the current, not moving at all.

Who could believe this was the Kunwu of old?!

After just this one look around, before he could even speak, the body that had been depleted in the previous battle at Eight Directions City could not suppress the urgent fire attacking his heart. With a “puff,” he spat out another mouthful of fresh blood!

“Master!”

“Master—”

“Master…”

All the elders and disciples knew Master Hengxu’s condition was poor, but they had taken many spiritual pills and wonderful medicines to suppress it on the way back. Who would have expected to return to Kunwu and see such a situation?

For cultivators, the most taboo thing was emotional turbulence.

Moreover, it was such great hatred that was difficult to calm!

Even if the previous injuries had been suppressed, being stirred by such surging emotions at this moment would likely result in a tenfold or hundredfold backlash!

Master Hengxu only felt a buzzing in his head, as if struck by five thunderbolts. His vision was stained with blood, and he couldn’t even see clearly the concerned and worried faces before him.

It shouldn’t be like this…

It shouldn’t be like this!

He had clearly used the Zhou Tian Star Formation to calculate that Kunwu would face a great calamity within a hundred years. He had taken Xie Buchen, one who could resolve calamities, as his disciple, and had even received the Nine-Headed Bird’s indication of where “the most demonic and evil” was located, drawing his sword to eliminate it despite the world’s condemnation!

But why did the great calamity still arrive as scheduled?

It was just that the blood-stained long sword standing atop his Kunwu peaks belonged neither to ghost cultivators from the Extreme Domain nor to the mysterious Fu Chaosheng, but to Qu Zhengfeng, who had once originated from Yashan!

And he had ultimately failed to prevent it!

The devastation before his eyes made his heart tremble, his lips quiver, and anger and sorrow alternately flashed through his eyes that had accumulated the vicissitudes of time.

In the end, it became a kind of vast bewilderment.

He could fight against people, but ultimately couldn’t fight against Heaven itself?

At this moment, Hengxu suddenly burst into loud laughter. Those beside him wanted to reach out and support his tottering body, but he swept them all away with a palm!

In this extremely weakened state, he forced himself to stand firm.

A pair of blood-red eyes turned to stare at Qu Zhengfeng.

One truly couldn’t judge a person by appearance!

He had begun scheming from the moment he defected from Yashan eighty years ago!

Stealing the Yashan Sword, slaughtering the Jianzhu Sect;

Controlling Mingri Xinghai, ascending to the position of Xinghai Sword Emperor.

Thus, he had gained control over the most chaotic place in the Nineteen Provinces. In the subsequent Yin-Yang Realm war, no one would suspect that the number of cultivators sent by his Mingri Xinghai faction was unusual or too few. After all, Mingri Xinghai was filled with desperate criminals who had always lived day by day without hope for tomorrow—their lack of concern for the Yin-Yang Realm war that concerned reincarnation was perfectly normal.

So at this moment, he could take advantage of the void to destroy Kunwu!

The hundreds of cultivators opposite were all skilled killers without blinking an eye, desperate criminals from Mingri Xinghai, naturally including demonic path cultivators who had old grudges against Kunwu.

Kunwu and the demonic path were indeed ancient enemies.

Even before the Eight Extremes Dao Venerable had ascended, both sides had several encounters over the “Nine Bends River Map,” but back then the Dao Venerable was powerful, beating the demonic path into cowering submission.

Now both sides had joined forces and returned with renewed strength. How could the remaining weak cultivators in the sect resist?

But those were truly Kunwu’s backbone!

Their cultivation might not yet be top-tier, but they represented the most common cultivation level in a sect. Given time, these gifted disciples would all grow up to replace the continuously aging and weakening high-level cultivators, supporting all of Kunwu!

But Qu Zhengfeng had killed precisely this group of people!

Even if sixty to seventy percent of Kunwu’s elites who participated in the Extreme Domain battle still survived, they were now either exhausted or injured, requiring unknown amounts of time to recover. How could they possibly support Kunwu after having their stronghold slaughtered and their next generation exterminated?

With just this one massacre, Kunwu’s ranks were broken!

It was completely achieving maximum results with minimal cost!

For Kunwu, this was currently a great calamity that might not be safely weathered; but even if they were fortunate enough to survive, the next several hundred years would be the real ordeal Kunwu would need to face…

A vast sect with hollow strength.

With only senior cultivators for support while junior disciples hadn’t yet matured, in the survival-of-the-fittest Nineteen Provinces, it would be like infants and elderly people seeking survival in cruel crevices!

“What excellent calculations, what a poisonous scheme!”

Master Hengxu had calculated everything but never calculated that this great Kunwu calamity would ultimately be fulfilled by Qu Zhengfeng. When he gritted his teeth to speak these words, his throat seemed to be bleeding!

But Qu Zhengfeng merely calmly released his palm, as if he hadn’t been the one who had just killed several Kunwu disciples with the Houtu Seal. His gaze fell only on Master Hengxu and the many Kunwu cultivators who had finally returned behind him, and he smiled peacefully: “Master flatters me. My calculations are merely some superficial knowledge learned from Master—showing off before an expert, I truly don’t deserve such praise. The more poisonous parts are still to come…”

The moment his words fell, cultivators from the demonic path behind him had already acted!

They were puppet sect cultivators from the demonic path!

They specialized in refining only one thing called soul puppets—using human corpses as puppets that could obey commands and display half their strength from when alive!

The sound of incantations rose from the mountains and wilderness, and those many Kunwu cultivators who had already fallen to the ground lifeless actually swayed and stood up!

How familiar was this scene?

The human puppets of the Nineteen Provinces were really no different from the soul puppets of the Extreme Domain.

At first glance, it was both bone-chilling and infinitely enraging!

Qu Zhengfeng’s side was actually using the corpses of these dead to launch another attack on Kunwu, with most attacks falling upon this group of reinforcements who had returned.

Having just returned from the Extreme Domain, the Kunwu cultivators faced tremendous difficulty against this group from Mingri Xinghai and the demonic path. They had sustained losses, while Qu Zhengfeng’s side had expended little effort in the previous slaughter, confronting them with nearly complete strength.

Fresh blood that had just ceased flowing began to spray again.

Compared to the one-sided massacre before the Kunwu cultivators returned, the current situation could naturally be considered evenly matched, with both sides exchanging blows, swords clashing, and mutual casualties. But whether they were cultivators from Mingri Xinghai or the demonic path, all were fearless of death, acting without the slightest hesitation. Most were desperate criminals with ruthless methods. Even though the Kunwu cultivators generally had higher cultivation, under these fierce and violent attacks, they were actually retreating steadily!

The ground around One Crane Hall was instantly covered in fresh blood.

Cultivators who had lost their lives while flying on swords continuously fell from above, and scattered blood rain fell down, landing on the hundreds of disciples with insufficient cultivation behind the hall. Some younger, more naive ones had already begun crying.

Master Hengxu’s complexion changed several times. He had several true disciples first hold off Qu Zhengfeng, who simultaneously controlled the Houtu Seal and the Yashan Sword, while he himself formed hand seals with both hands and bit his tongue tip, spraying blood onto the hand seals, forcibly executing a translocation technique!

All cultivators before One Crane Hall instantly vanished!

Qu Zhengfeng was being besieged by several people simultaneously and almost immediately sensed that powerful spatial fluctuation, but he couldn’t break free to stop it. After forcing back Zhao Zhuo with a sword strike, he looked up again to see One Crane Hall completely empty, with most Kunwu cultivators forcibly transferred by Master Hengxu to the vast sea of clouds before the Celestial Hall!

His originally smiling expression instantly darkened.

Qu Zhengfeng easily understood Hengxu’s calculation. The Celestial Hall was three hundred feet from the ground, built above the sea of clouds with white clouds as its plaza, able to overlook the entire earth—it was a place beyond the control of his Houtu Seal. If they fought here, the Houtu Seal in his hand would be nearly useless.

Worthy of being Hengxu—even in this situation, his mind remained so clear.

But after this second round of slaughter, the Kunwu cultivators who had returned had lost nearly half again, leaving only a pitiful four to five hundred people.

Each showed panic and hatred on their faces, yet could do nothing about him.

Even the formerly mighty Master Hengxu appeared tottering and weak, having apparently suffered greatly during the decisive battle at Eight Directions City.

Qu Zhengfeng pointed his fingers like a blade. The moment Yue He’s Jiangliu sword intent pierced toward him, he flashed to avoid it while simultaneously grasping what should have been intangible sword intent, coldly laughing: “Do you have the qualification to draw a sword before me?”

When Yue He heard this voice, he already sensed trouble.

But his usually fluid Jiangliu sword intent was pressed between Qu Zhengfeng’s fingers like a real sword, unable to be withdrawn. Before he could react to this, a faintly cool warmth had already penetrated from behind his head, piercing through his entire skull!

A section of dark blue sword tip stained with blood emerged from his brow.

The clear blue light flowed like surging tide, rippling outward layer by layer, instantly dispelling his soul and making all his expressions freeze in that moment of shock and confusion.

The Jiangliu sword intent collapsed thunderously!

Qu Zhengfeng merely pushed lightly, and Yue He’s entire body plummeted from the high peak. Countless agonized cries rang out around them—

“Junior Brother Yue He!”

“Senior Brother Yue!!!”

“Master…”

But what could they do? They could only watch helplessly as he fell into the cloud layer, and see that dark blue long sword fly into Qu Zhengfeng’s hand—it was the Haiguang Sword that had accompanied him longest.

The sea of clouds before the Celestial Hall was truly extremely vast.

In the past, when Kunwu cultivators stood upon it, they formed a dense, full expanse. Now they gathered sparsely together, showing a kind of decline at the end of their rope.

Qu Zhengfeng didn’t need to attack upward at all—he simply used the Houtu Seal to manipulate this entire main peak of Kunwu, pulling it straight up from the ground!

“Rumble!”

The mountain peak shook, rocks fell, but those standing on it remained unmoved.

The rising mountain wind instantly pierced through the sea of clouds, reaching the height of heaven!

The cultivators from Mingri Xinghai and the demonic path were about to seize the opportunity to act, but at this moment, countless magical artifact lights came howling from the distance!

They actually turned the entire sky into brilliant colors!

Wangjiang Tower, Wanghai Tower, Baiyue Valley, Southwest aristocratic families, Wuyi Sect, Dragon Gate, Fengmo Sword Sect, Tongling Pavilion, even Western Sea Chanzong, Northern Domain’s Yin-Yang Twin Sects—all had arrived!

At Kunwu, events had occurred suddenly. At first, they only heard Master Hengxu ask Qu Zhengfeng something, then saw all Kunwu cultivators quickly evacuate for unknown reasons. The major sects initially didn’t know what had happened, until after the teleportation array at Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate was destroyed and then repaired, definite news finally came through.

They had departed later than Kunwu and naturally arrived even later.

On the journey back, they had felt alarmed, but upon reaching Kunwu and seeing this scene of unprecedented carnage and the cold, ruthless methods of the slaughterer, they were so shocked their scalps went numb. When they landed on the sea of clouds, none could speak.

The hot-tempered Fengmo Sword Sect leader Zhang Yuandai stood beside the others next to Master Hengxu. Upon seeing Qu Zhengfeng’s seemingly normal appearance, he had already clearly judged that he had likely completely entered demonism!

Swords were born for killing.

When sword cultivators entered demonism, they were called “sword demons,” and their murderous, ruthless nature would only increase ten or hundredfold!

He gripped the sword at his waist tightly, saying to all the surrounding cultivators: “Everyone be careful. This person has entered demonism through the sword and become a sword demon. His cultivation is definitely not as simple as it appears. Now Kunwu is in crisis, which means our righteous path is in crisis. If we allow this villain to run rampant at Kunwu, all our sects will surely suffer his poison in the future! Today we first finished the Extreme Domain battle, and now we should unite again to eliminate these evil demons and heretical cultivators! My Fengmo Sword Sect will never forgive the demons and evil spirits of this world!”

How could the other cultivators not understand the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold?

When Qu Zhengfeng had entered demonism years ago, he had slaughtered half the Jianzhu Sect to seize the “Nine Bends River Map.” Now he was raising his sword against Kunwu—clearly he had fallen into the demonic path beyond redemption!

The cultivators’ expressions were all cold and grave as they pressed down on their magical artifacts.

The situation in the field suddenly changed.

Previously, with reinforcements not yet arrived, Qu Zhengfeng’s side and Kunwu were evenly matched, having killed half of each other’s cultivators.

Now the entire Nineteen Provinces had thousands of cultivators present!

With Qu Zhengfeng having only a few hundred people, surrounded by thousands of cultivators, he was at a complete disadvantage.

But his expression showed no panic whatsoever.

His mocking gaze swept across Zhang Yuandai. Qu Zhengfeng savored those two words “demons and evil spirits,” merely lowering the Yashan Sword in his hand and laughing: “Your Fengmo Sword Sect won’t forgive the demons and evil spirits of this world? If that’s truly the case, how can you still associate with Kunwu? Such a great demon and evil spirit stands right beside you, Surname Zhang, yet you turn a blind eye. Leader Zhang, how long have you been blind?”

Beside him?

Zhang Yuandai had just spoken with righteous indignation, but suddenly faced with this rebuttal, he was momentarily stunned and instinctively glanced to his side.

Standing beside him was none other than Master Hengxu!

In that instant, Zhang Yuandai felt a surge of anger, thinking he was being played by Qu Zhengfeng. With a cold expression, he said: “I originally thought that even though you defected from Yashan, having once been under Yashan’s banner, you should have some of Yashan’s integrity. I never expected that entering demonism today, you would speak such nonsense! Not only have you created such deep karmic killing at Kunwu, but you also want to confuse black and white, mixing up righteous and evil—you deserve to be killed and die!”

“Hahahaha…”

This time Qu Zhengfeng laughed loudly, but his eyes held no trace of mirth. That sharp gaze penetrated through the void between them and fell unobstructed upon Master Hengxu.

“Master, listen carefully—confusing black and white, mixing up righteous and evil, deserving to be killed and die! Your Kunwu is not wronged at all!”

What… what does that mean?

Zhang Yuandai was completely bewildered.

He had clearly been speaking word for word to Qu Zhengfeng, so why didn’t Qu Zhengfeng answer him, but instead spoke word for word to Master Hengxu?

Among the many cultivators, whispered discussions arose.

Northern Domain Yin Sect’s Xuanyue Fairy had already frowned.

To be fair, she had once greatly admired Qu Zhengfeng, but this time’s actions were truly excessive: “Your Majesty Sword Emperor already controls Mingri Xinghai. Though you have entered demonism, you should not harm Kunwu or our righteous path. Now these many Kunwu cultivators have neither hatred nor grievances with you, nor have they wronged you. If you kill them, you are also creating karmic killing for yourself. Now cultivators from all sides have arrived, and we cannot possibly allow you to continue running rampant here. Cultivation is not easily obtained. Your Majesty Sword Emperor, if you don’t stop in time…”

“Stop? For someone to make me stop is really simple.”

Qu Zhengfeng raised an eyebrow, glancing at Xuanyue Fairy once. That gaze, which faintly harbored some fierce evil, fell back upon Master Hengxu.

His voice turned ice-cold at this moment!

“As long as Kunwu can hand over Shen Juhan to confront me, I will not only stop but also willingly submit to Kunwu’s judgment!”

“Whoosh…”

Above the sea of clouds, everyone was shocked, and various discussions could no longer be suppressed, spreading in all directions.

Everyone thought Qu Zhengfeng must have gone mad!

Such elaborate schemes and great efforts, all just to force Kunwu to hand over one person—this was too incredible!

“There must be trickery!”

“Who is this Shen Juhan?”

“Does he have some grudge with him?”

“I heard he’s Master Hengxu’s junior brother…”

Master Hengxu’s complexion had not looked good to begin with, and these discussions reached his ears one by one, but no one could tell whether his expression was getting better or worse.

Zhang Yuandai pondered and felt Qu Zhengfeng was talking nonsense: “What complete bullshit! If you only wanted such a person, Kunwu has always been reasonable. Even if there were some grudge, it could be discussed openly. How big a deal is giving up one person? Now you’ve already attacked Kunwu, then come saying you’re only here for one person—do you think us righteous cultivators are easily fooled?! Everyone listen to me—this villain speaks nothing but lies. We needn’t waste words with him. Attack directly!”

“Who dares attack?!”

“Wait!”

No one expected that just as the word “attack” fell, two shouts of restraint rang out simultaneously from the cultivator formation!

Everyone turned to look—one was Yashan’s Fudao Shanren, the other was Yin Sect’s Xuanyue Fairy!

Fudao Shanren held a nine-section bamboo staff, his face showing not a trace of the relaxed expression that used to put people at ease, appearing even more grim than Master Hengxu.

When he spoke, all Yashan cultivators drew their swords!

Instantly, sword intent shot skyward, startling hearts!

Everyone felt surprised and very confused about what Fudao Shanren meant, questioning: “What does Elder Fudao mean by this? Though this Qu Zhengfeng once came from Yashan, today he has already entered demonism! Are we to eliminate demons today, yet Elder would actually show favoritism and protect him?!”

Above the sea of clouds, swords were drawn and tempers flared.

However, Xuanyue Fairy studied Qu Zhengfeng for a long time, hearing everyone’s arguments, her brow furrowing once more, but she calmly advised: “Please everyone remain calm.”

As a foremost great power of the Northern Domain, her voice carried across the entire sea of clouds.

Everyone quieted down.

Qu Zhengfeng also looked toward her.

Xuanyue Fairy then said: “Though our Nineteen Provinces follow the law of the jungle, killing ultimately harms harmony among all families. If it can be avoided, it should be avoided. Moreover, the Yin-Yang Realm war has just ended, and no one wishes to see war resume. Since Your Majesty Sword Emperor says you want to confront Kunwu’s Fellow Daoist Shen Juhan, though we don’t know truth from falsehood nor the original circumstances, why not have Fellow Daoist Shen come forward for a meeting? He has been in closed-door cultivation for over six hundred years. Encountering this great calamity, he should naturally contribute his part for Kunwu, and presumably he wouldn’t refuse. If Your Majesty Sword Emperor keeps his word, today’s matter should have a conclusion; if Your Majesty Sword Emperor breaks his word, then we can proceed with elimination—that would be name-justified and heart-clear. What do you all think?”

“This…”

Several great cultivators glanced at each other. Except for the direct-minded Zhang Yuandai, they were all shrewd people who could understand the reasoning in Xuanyue Fairy’s words.

No one wanted more killing—the Yin-Yang Realm war had already severely damaged all major sects.

But unlike Xuanyue Fairy, who came from the Northern Domain and could say whatever she wanted, they all had concerns.

No one took the initiative to express their position.

Seeing this, Qu Zhengfeng sneered coldly.

A long sigh arose from the field: “Amitabha! In that realm war eleven jiazi ago, our Chan Sect also had oversights, and the fall of Yashan’s thousand cultivators leaves many puzzling aspects. When the Buddhist sects split and migrated north, we had no time to inquire further. Now that all matters are concluded, thinking of those days, we feel immense guilt and cannot find peace. We only ask that since Yashan and Kunwu have developed discord over this, and this Fellow Daoist Shen Juhan has since entered closed-door cultivation and disappeared, though Your Majesty Sword Emperor has killed thousands of Kunwu cultivators, this humble monk dares to request Master Hengxu to have Fellow Daoist Shen come out and give justice to those past events…”

Everyone turned to look, all shocked.

The speaker was none other than the Western Sea Chanzong, who rarely interfered in worldly matters!

Monk Yichen, Abbot Wugou, and Zen Master Xuelang stood before the Buddhist cultivators, all bearing somewhat heavy expressions, their words clearly expressing the Chan Sect’s position.

At this, the atmosphere in the field suddenly became subtle.

No one understood what was really happening.

Clearly Qu Zhengfeng had already defected from Yashan, yet Fudao Shanren and Yashan still spoke in mutual support—such failure to distinguish black from white; Xuanyue Fairy kept calling him “Your Majesty Sword Emperor,” speaking with real politeness; Western Sea Chanzong was even stranger—how did this matter involve you bunch of bald monks?

But upon further discussion, they all sensed something peculiar.

Just from the attitudes of these great cultivators in the field, one could glimpse some indescribable subtle secrets.

Immediately, scattered voices of suspicion about hidden circumstances arose everywhere.

The Kunwu cultivators’ faces all darkened upon hearing this.

An elder pointed at Qu Zhengfeng’s nose and shouted sternly: “Who doesn’t know that Junior Brother Shen is in death-door cultivation, having not emerged for over six hundred years! How can an evil demon and heretical cultivator like you see him whenever you want?!”

“Is that so?”

Qu Zhengfeng truly didn’t regard this elder seriously—after all, he had slaughtered most of Kunwu from top to bottom. At this moment, he merely curved his lips, looking at Master Hengxu and questioning word by word:

“Over six hundred years of death-door cultivation—is that truly the case, Master?”

Though Master Hengxu had suffered severe cultivation losses, the acuity and wisdom befitting Kunwu’s leader remained. Just from seeing Qu Zhengfeng’s calm, shocking expression and hearing the words that faintly concealed deeper meaning, his heart sank, knowing what would happen next.

His eyes turned cold, and he didn’t answer.

But Qu Zhengfeng laughed coldly, his voice suddenly rising: “At Kunwu’s life-and-death moment, he doesn’t emerge. Master has always been reasonable, yet now refuses to hand him over! Is it because you’re unwilling to hand him over, or because you simply cannot hand him over?”

“Bang!”

As his words fell, he reached into the void and grabbed something, hurling it onto the sea of clouds!

The cloud qi was struck and scattered.

The object rolled once and stopped.

When everyone looked closely, it was actually a mummified corpse!

It had been dead for unknown years, the internal muscles already dried and withered, its face barely recognizable. They could only see it was a male cultivator wearing Kunwu dao robes, with a dust-covered deep purple long sword piercing through his chest!

Most people didn’t recognize it, but several Kunwu elders immediately cried out in shock: “The Xuanyuan Sword!”

Hengxu slowly closed his eyes.

Qu Zhengfeng looked down at him, standing with hands behind his back, sighing with some mockery and lament: “Poor Shen Juhan—despite his exceptional talent and high cultivation, beloved by his master, he was still unintelligent, a fool played in Master’s palm. Not only did he not obtain Kunwu’s leadership position, he even lost his life! Master, having sat high in the Celestial Hall for these eleven jiazi, honored as Kunwu’s leader and a pillar of the righteous path, have you never felt the slightest guilt or fear?”