by <unknown>
He paused for a moment before continuing while shaking his head, “But the Shui Tu Clan young lady is not that lucky, her neck was nearly slashed off by you, I hear that the elder was only able to heal her neck by opening her neck and poured a pot of the medicine onto the wound.”
Zhong Yue said in an indifferent tone, “Her prowess is not weaker than mine, she is probably all healed up now.”
Senior Martial Brother Gu nodded and said, “I hear that the junior martial sister of the Shui Tu Clan is recovering fast, she might just be fully healed up now, the elders requested to meet with you and at the at same time summoned her too.”
Zhong Yue’s heart shifted, the elders summoned him and also ‘Shui Qingyan’, could it be that they were also suspecting ‘Shui Qingyan’?
Not long later, they have come to the side of a steep escarpment, Zhong Yue glanced around, the steep escarpment was a few miles wide and the bottom of the cliff lurked with surges of dark black rays. In the escarpment there was an ever-present evil and demonic aura, Zhong Yue lowered his head and as the dark black rays entered his sights, an extreme dizziness struck Zhong Yue as if his soul was getting sucked into the bottom of the escarpment!
Billowing waves of dark black rays surged and lurked their way up to the escarpment, but every time the dark waves gushed its way up there would be totem carvings at the slopes of the escarpments emerging out and suppressed the malevolent dark rays. The totem carvings were complex, majestic and awe-inspiring.
This air, this aura, it feels so familiar….
Zhong Yue’s heart shifted, he immediately recognized where he had felt it before, “The Devil Soul Yin Effluvium! These dark black rays, their aura is the same as the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium!”
Just right the moment when the dark black rays were suppressed, he could see flesh and blood all around the escarpment from the bottom to the top, without skins, this flesh and blood were squirming their way up to the escarpment as if they were trying to crawl out it.
“What is at the bottom of this escarpment?”
Zhong Yue repressed his shock, in his inner mind Xin Huo was all pumped up, he glanced around through Zhong Yue’s eyes and exclaimed out, “The devil souls, they are really repressed here. Hehe, this is surely the seals of the gods, Swords Gate is established on top of an active volcano, a moment of neglect could have turned everything into ash and dust….”
“These seals are not placed by Swords Gate Qi Practitioners?” Zhong Yue’s calmed heart was again disrupted, he quickly asked.
“The Swords Gate Qi Practitioners are not strong enough to repress these underground devil souls.”
Xin Huo shook his head and said, “The totem carvings below are the seals of the gods, the gods have turned their psyches and images into totem carvings, that is why they are able to repress whatever is underneath. I suppose the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium only got triggered because there is a crack in the seals, thankfully it is not in Swords Gate or otherwise, Swords Gate would be in deep trouble.”
Senior Martial Brother Gu smiled and said, “Junior martial brother, below this escarpment, is the forbidden land of Swords Gate, there is a force of strange power that can wipe off every art and skill above it, not a single technique can be cast right here. To cross the escarpment to the other side, we can only wait for the Croc Dragon.”
“Croc Dragon?”
Zhong Yue was puzzled, there were two swords gates on each side of the escarpments with clouds billowing in between them, Senior Martial Gu led him to one of the swords gates and he rang the copper gong that was dangling in the wind. Dang dang – a deep and yet bright sound echoed, in the clouds, a giant crocodile made its appearance and swam over, it had wings and flew in the air towards the source of the echoing sounds of the gong.
The crocodile was like a floating island, Zhong Yue looked at it, it had four eyes and on its back were a few pairs of wings, its conformation was weird and peculiar.
No one could visualize any arts around the escarpments, thence the wings on the crocodile’s back were not visualizations but rather flesh and blood wings, it could fly in the air and therefore the strange power that represses every technique had no effect on it.
The duo jumped onto the crocodile’s back, Senior Martial Gu said with a smile, “Croc Dragon, please bring us up to the mountain.”
The giant crocodile nodded and its wings fluttered, it turned around and flew towards Swords Gate on the other side of the escarpment, in a deep and yet loud voice it said, “Brother Gu, this little brother is looking unfamiliar, is he a new Qi Practitioner?”
Senior Martial Gu smiled and answered, “This is Junior Martial Brother Zhong from the Zhong Shan Clan, he has claimed the first place in the Lawless Battles.”
“I see.”
The giant crocodile said, “To be able to claim the throne out of a few thousands of disciples, one must be very talented. Zhong Shan Clan's member, if you eventually manage to strive to the sky, please don’t forget to look after the Croc Dragon.”
Zhong Yue nodded and answered.
The giant crocodile shook its head and swung its tail, its wings fluttered in the wind and brought the two up to the other side of the escarpment. When Senior Martial Brother Gu and Zhong Yue landed down safely, the giant crocodile flew back into the clouds and disappeared from their sights.
“Junior Martial Brother Zhong, the escarpment is the dividing line between the inner hall and outer hall, pass through the boundary of the escarpment and you are an inner hall disciple.”
Senior Martial Brother Gu said, “The Croc Dragon is the guardian of the escarpment, do not belittle him because he is of the monster race. He is already over hundreds of years old, a mutant among the monster race that lived in the Lei Hu Clan, he was later brought over to Swords Gate by the Leihu Qi Practitioners to guard the escarpment. Junior martial brother, the Valley of Swords is just right in front, the elders are waiting for you in the Hearts of Swords Palace.”
Zhong Yue walked into the Valley of Swords, the high-pitched keening of swords could be heard accompanied by the flashing sword rays. Vaguely, Zhong Yue could tell that the sword rays were actually soul weapons, they clashed with each other in mid-air and loomed over across the air, they would often turn into a multitude of forms such as fishes, birds, and beasts – the scene was fairly strange.
“The Valley of Swords is can be called the final resting place of the soul weapons that formerly belonged to the elders. All these soul weapons were left behind by the previous elders, some elders died centuries or even millennia ago but their soul weapons continue on living in this valley.”
Senior Martial Brother Gu said, “The Ten Malefic Weapons are also sealed here. Ordinarily, we the inner hall disciples would have no access to the Valley of Swords. We are here today because the elders wanted to meet with Junior Martial Brother Zhong here, only then could I have the chance to enter this place.”
“The Ten Malefic Weapons?”
Zhong Yue’s heart skipped a beat, he glanced around and asked, “Where are they?”
“Sealed in the Hearts of Swords Palace, the inner hall disciples can’t even enter the Valley of Swords, not to mention entering the Hearts of Swords Palace to have a look at the Ten Malefic Weapons. This time, junior martial brother, you are summoned by the elders to the Hearts of Swords Palace, there are so many disciples out there that are envious of you.”
Senior Martial Brother Gu led him to the entrance of the Hearts of Swords Palace, he bowed and said, “Elder Yu, Zhong Yue of the Zhong Shan Clan has arrived.”
When the doors of Hearts of Swords Palace opened widely, it feels like as if there were countless rays of Sword Qi that rushed out from the Palace, they shuddered as if the Sword Qi could really hurt their souls.
“Let him come in.” an old and yet loud voice said.
Senior Martial Brother Gu whispered to him, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, Elder Yu is the grand elder of Swords Gate, you must not lose your formalities after you enter. J
unior martial brother,I will not accompany you to enter the Palace.”
Zhong Yue thanked him and strode forward into the Hearts of Swords Palace.
The moment he entered the Palace, he could see a fifty feet wide and eighty feet tall shrine beside him. On it, a soul weapon was enshrined, it was few dozen feet long and pierced into the shrine at an oblique angle, it looked like a sword and a saw, the edges of the dark-red blade were serrated and were rusted with dried blood stains.
“Blood Ray Sword, ranked number nine among the Ten Malefic Weapons, the soul weapon of Lei Hu Clan’s Lei Fang, it was soaked in blood for too long, eventually giving birth to an evil spirit inside of it. It was a baneful sword that defied and devoured its owners; it’s killed ten of its previous masters.”
Zhong Yue was shocked by the tidal surges of demonic aura surrounded the Blood Ray Sword as a demon lived in the sword enticing the humans to worship it and soak it in blood!
“Demon Scabbard, ranked number ten in the Ten Ominous Weapons.”
Zhong Yue saw another shrine on the other side, a sword scabbard of a man’s height stood on it, there was fresh blood flowing out from the bottom of the sword scabbard, it looked very wicked and pernicious.
“Soul weapon of Tian Feng Clan’s Tian Tuozi. In the sword scabbard, is contained 130 soul weapons as light as the cicada’s wings that goes by the moniker of the Soul Devourers and it has devoured eight masters.”
Zhong Yue was startled as he gazed at the Demon Scabbard, “This soul weapon also devours its masters?”
He walked forward and saw another shrine, this time, the shrine contained over sixty Sword Cocoons, his heart thumped quicker, “The Sword Cocoons!”
“Sword Cocoons, ranked number eight in the Ten Malefic Weapons, the soul weapon of Shui Tu Clan’s Shui Zian, a total of sixty-four soul weapons, blood-soaked for too long and exhibited elementary signs of devouring its master, hence, they are now sealed in the shrine.”
Zhong Yue inhaled deeply, he mumbled, “Such strong soul weapons can only be ranked as number eight in the Ten Malefic Weapons, then how strong would the first seven ominous soul weapons be?”
“If you think that the first seven ominous soul weapons are stronger than the Sword Cocoons, then I am afraid you are wrong.”
A white-haired elder came out of nowhere and walked to the side of Zhong Yue, hairs on his timeworn face were winter-white, he said in a casual manner, “The Sword Cocoon sword silk was placed at number eight but it is not any weaker than the others. Rather, it is actually much stronger, it only was placed at number eight for the reason that it had yet to spawn an evil spirit, therefore, its name was not as famous as the others.”
“Zhong Yue of the Zhong Shan Clan, greets the grand elder.” Zhong Yue bowed and greeted the elder in a manner of neither humble nor pert.
The white-haired elder was the grand elder from the You Yu Clan, he raised his arm and made a gesture as he said, “Rise. The Sword Cocoons sword silk is incredibly strong, that is why I summoned you here, to see how can a disciple without the prowess of a Qi Practitioner can survive so long under the onslaught of the Sword Cocoon and even more so manage to nearly killed his opponent!”
Chapter 56: Besieged by the Malefic Weapons |
The tone with which he uttered the last few words suddenly deepened and turned gravelly, “killed his opponents!” The three words resounded through the whole palace, resonating with the malefic weapons!
In the Hearts of Swords Palace, the malefic weapons quivered on the shrines with great killing intent, the temperature of the surrounding air plummeted down rapidly while some parts of the palace turned burning hot and another corner was filled with blood-red fumes, all of a sudden, the palace turned into an unearthly and wicked place!
Zhong Yue was a man that could face squarely with the terror of the boundary between life and death, he would surely not be afraid of the palpitation of the Ten Malefic Weapons, he said in an indifferent tone, “Did the grand elder notice anything?”
Grand elder’s sights fixated on him, he stared at the young man with his eyes filled with praise, he shook his head and said, “Not yet. But you are able to face squarely with the Ten Malefic Weapons without the slightest ripple of fear, your guts are way better than the others. Even among the Qi Practitioners, not many can be as steadfast as you are. To be courageous and brave enough to face the malefic weapons, I suppose this is one of the reasons why you were able to survive through the assaults of the Sword Cocoon.”
How intense was the killing intent of the Ten Malefic Weapons?
With the dreadful and fearful aura of the malefic weapons, even some Qi Practitioners would shudder in fear when faced with the Ten Malefic Weapons, their courage and bravery would crumble like a thin layer of ice and would they have no guts to even to put up a fight – they could only be slaughtered like pigs.
While Zhong Yue had the courage and bravery, his fortitude was better than the others, he did not waver in front of the dreadful and deadly aura, hence, he was able to unleash all of his prowess without any fear detracting from his focus.
The Grand elder walked forward and Zhong Yue followed behind him, he saw another shrine with a malefic soul weapon of the name “Flying Swallow”, left behind by a Swords Gate female elder from the You Yu Clan. On the opposite side was another shrine, the malefic soul weapon occupying it was the “Cloud Sword” from another female elder from the Tao Lin Clan.
The two female elders had been dead for thousands of years, they were both killed by their own soul weapons, devoured by their own “Flying Swallow” and “Cloud Sword”.
Other than the two elders, these two soul weapons had a few masters after, but none of them lived long as they were also devoured by the two ominous weapons, dying in the most tragic way.
“Grand elder, the malefic weapons had their own spirits, why did they kill the souls of their masters?” Zhong Yue was puzzled and he asked.
“The Ten Malefic Weapons are from the top ten clans, they were all carved with the totem carvings of the techniques from the top ten clans that could be said to be the consummate techniques of the Great Wilderness.”
Another elder walked over, his voice sounded as if thunders were rumbling, he said, “When the soul devours its master, it was actually the heart of sword that devours. The heart of sword is the heart of the Qi Practitioner and also the heart of the soul weapon. The soul weapon kills in tandem with the Qi Practitioner and when the inner evil burgeons within the Qi Practitioner’s heart, the heart of sword of the soul weapon will also be corrupted. These elders, they were not killed by their soul weapons but rather, they died because they could not win over their inner evil, bedeviled by the demons of their hearts that were engendered by the slaughter they committed in the past!”
He was a brawny man with a psyche larger than the ordinary humans, his voice rumbled like thunder and when he walked, lightning trailed behind him in the air, the thunder and lightning around him clearly denoted his identity as an elder that comes from the Lei Hu Clan.
The elder from Lei Hu Clan had an imposing manner with thick hairs and strong muscles, he stood beside the shrine that contained Lei Hu Clan’s Blood Ray Sword and continued, “Elder Shui Zian willingly gave up the Sword Cocoons as he was able to defeat the inner evil within him, it is also why his prowess is incredibly strong, he is one of the strongest men in Swords Gate. Zhong Shan Clan member, you have the ability to survive under his malefic weapon and you practice the lighting refining soul technique of my Lei Hu Clan, you are suspicious, very suspicious!”
His aura was like a lightning god standing in the lightning clouds, his aura surrounded Zhong Yue and his sights struck like lightning intending to see through the secrets behind Zhong Yue’s unusual prowess!
Zhong Yue bowed and greeted the elder, “Zhong Yue of Zhang Shan Clan, greets Elder Lei. Did Elder Lei spotted anything?”
“No, not yet.”
The elder from Leihu Clan was startled for a moment, he then l
aughed and said, “Although I didn’t know where you learn the Lei Hu Clan’s secret technique of refining your soul with lightning, but the techniques of the Lei Hu Clan, hehe, are not any weaker than the Shui Tu Clan’s. Hence, it is only natural for you to be able to survive the attacks of the Sword Cocoon. Otherwise, if you are killed in the battle, doesn’t it indicate that the Lei Hu Clan’s techniques are weaker than the Shui Tu Clan’s? But….”
His voice turned cold and dense, “Where did you steal this technique from the Lei Hu Clan?”
“Other than the Lei Hu Clan’s techniques, you still practiced the extreme training of between life and death.”
You Yu Clan grand elder stood beside the shrine of the ominous sword Flying Swallow, he said, “Training in the state of between life and death, although one can cultivate very fast and increase his prowess rapidly, the death rate is too high. Only the headmaster of Swords Gate had once practiced with such a training method and survived. I had heard from Feiyan that you practiced such a foolhardy method but still survived. Such an extreme training method, who taught you about it?”
Just when he finished his sentence, another elder came out with his hands on the back, he said, “During the battle between you and the Shui Tu Clan young lady disciple, you used a strange visualization art, the Xiang Dragon. You have been to the Beast God Ridge where thousands of monster race elites eternally rest. That place is the tomb of the beast god while the beast god was a Xiang Dragon. Zhong Shan Clan member, your prowess increased rapidly after you’ve returned from the Beast God Ridge, your psyche was now able to materialize the virtuality to the level of a Qi Practitioner’s.”
His aura was like a mountain that crushed downwards compressing the surrounding air to become denser and he walked to the side of the shrine that contained the Nan Lu Clan’s malefic weapon.
