In the mountains.
Beside a stream, morning light filtered through gaps in the forest canopy, casting luminous beams that painted a magnificent scene. By the stream, Gu Yanshu, clad in a crimson purple long gown, was tending to his wounds. Three swords were strapped to his back: Xunlu, Hongchen, and Lengxue. Any other swords deemed unworthy had been discarded.
As he unbound the cloth bandaging his wound, he found that it had already healed by more than half, the injury rapidly closing. He scooped up stream water, wetting the wound and cleansing the dried bloodstains. The blood flowed downstream with the current. After washing his wound, Gu Yanshu retrieved a deer leg from his storage pouch, and without much ceremony, bit off a large chunk, tearing into the bloody raw meat.
Although Gu Yanshu was arrogant, he knew that many were hunting him in the mountains, so he dared not start a fire to cook. Fortunately, having lived in the mountains for many years, he was no stranger to eating raw food, and had grown accustomed to it.
After devouring half the deer leg in one go, he leaped onto an ancient tree. Embracing the Xunlu sword, he closed his eyes to rest. The Xunlu sword had slain many, drinking the fresh blood of Xiao Cong, Li Chuyun, and others. The rust on its blade seemed to have melted away considerably with the blood. Now, the Xunlu sword possessed a hint of divine power, with milky white patterns rotating around its edge, quite extraordinary.
...
Downstream.
Several sword lights streaked through the air. Huang Tingyu led the way, stepping on a flying sword. He sniffed the air; the scent of blood was present, but not particularly strong. A more potent smell of blood emanated from the stream. He frowned, pointing at the gurgling water. "If the person who fought Lin Zhujie by the lake earlier was Gu Yanshu, then he should be upstream. I can smell his blood essence in the stream."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao nodded, his gaze shifting to Wu Zhi and Su Qingjiu. "Suppress your auras to the absolute minimum. Once we encounter Gu Yanshu, ignore everything else and kill him with all your might."
"Understood."
Su Qingjiu and Wu Zhi nodded in unison.
"I'll take you there."
Lin Zhao raised his hand. The flying sword Haoran carved out a small dimension, enveloping the group and whisking them upstream. There was no sound in the wind; the Haoran dimension moved as if traversing the void. In a flash, they reached upstream. Not far away, a young sword cultivator in a crimson purple long gown leaned against a tree branch, eyes closed in meditation. At a certain instant, he seemed to sense something and abruptly opened his eyes.
"Who?!"
He shouted, but it was too late. The moment the Haoran dimension vanished, Su Qingjiu unleashed a sword strike imbued with intense sword intent, aimed directly at Gu Yanshu's head.
"What?!"
Gu Yanshu's heart was stunned. The opponent's sword intent was overwhelmingly potent, far more terrifying than Lin Zhujie's. In the blink of an eye, Gu Yanshu parried with the Xunlu sword, unleashing a fierce strike of his own in an attempt to block Su Qingjiu's attack. A dull, resonant boom echoed, and the surrounding forest canopy was shredded by a chaotic, dense sword qi. The stream water was flung everywhere.
Su Qingjiu, clad in a red skirt and white robes, hovered in mid-air like a celestial being from the mountains. Gu Yanshu, having hastily blocked one strike, was sent flying backward by the impact, crashing through a thick tree trunk before coming to a halt in disarray. Blood streamed from his palm gripping the Xunlu sword; with just one strike, the tiger's mouth had split open.
"Kill!"
Lin Zhao, in white robes, swept forward. The flying swords Mingyue and Xinhuo attacked in tandem. Simultaneously, the myriad Ephemera sword flies from Cheng Hulu's orange gourd swarmed out of the gourd's opening, sweeping towards Gu Yanshu in the wind, killing invisibly.
"Hmph!"
Gu Yanshu was naturally arrogant. He might have harbored some apprehension towards Su Qingjiu and the others, but facing Lin Zhao, a ninth-stage cultivator, he paid him no mind. A streak of sword light flashed, and rolling sword qi swept away all the Ephemera sword flies. With a thought, his natal flying sword shot out from the Sword Containment Lake, repelling Mingyue. However, as he prepared to shatter Xinhuo with a punch, he found the flying sword suddenly changing direction in mid-air. With a "hiss," it pierced through his protective sword qi, leaving a bloody gash on Gu Yanshu's neck. A flying sword of the Nascent Soul realm had actually injured an eleventh-stage sword cultivator!
A sword light descended from the sky, crushing towards Gu Yanshu's shoulder. It was Wu Zhi, who had unleashed a strike with her sword, Chengxin.
"What?!"
Gu Yanshu looked up arrogantly, his entire being erupting with sword intent, forming a beam of sword qi that shot towards the sky to collide with Wu Zhi's sword. His eyes were filled with disdain. "What are you, to dare oppose me?"
But in the next moment, Wu Zhi's sword light split into three. Two streaks of sword light attacked from the sides, while one streak transformed into Wu Zhi's snow-white figure. She brought down a fierce kick. With a "bang," sword qi erupted, forcefully stomping Gu Yanshu to his knees, his head hitting the ground. Wu Zhi hovered in the air, her long, slender, fair leg a divine manifestation, stepping on the back of Gu Yanshu's head. She spoke calmly, "What are you, to be so arrogant?"
Huang Tingyu grunted, "Kill him first!"
In an instant, Huang Lao Jianxian, exuding demonic energy, swept his sword horizontally, shattering Gu Yanshu's protective sword qi. Dense sword qi enveloped him, blasting Gu Yanshu away. Upon landing, Gu Yanshu's crimson purple long gown was already more than half shredded, his body covered in wounds. He knelt on the ground, propping himself up with the Xunlu sword in one hand. The three individuals before him were all peak twelfth-stage cultivators; any one of them was someone Gu Yanshu could not handle.
...
Suddenly, Lin Zhao, Su Qingjiu, and the others grew alert, turning their attention to the distance. A powerful demonic aura was rapidly approaching, and a familiar voice drifted on the wind—
"Tsk tsk, what a fine mountain villa. Bullying the weak with numbers, such a righteous and upright sect!"
On the wind, a figure in a gray and white robe arrived with the breeze. It was Fu Sheng, a thirteenth-stage great demon. The moment he descended, he had crushed a mid-grade text scroll, transforming it into strands of golden characters that swirled around Gu Yanshu. He looked at Lin Zhao, Su Qingjiu, and the others, sneering, "Ganging up on one, bullying the weak, do you feel no shame?"
Huang Tingyu clasped his sword to his chest and retorted with a cold smile, "Isn't that your specialty?"
"Huang Tingyu!"
Fu Sheng's gaze turned sharp. "Just wait. You've sown too much karma; your end will be more tragic than any of the five upper realms of the demon race."
Huang Tingyu said calmly, "I've already tasted the bitterness of loneliness and desolation in the human world during my century in Qingliang Mountain. What is there to fear now? On the other hand, I'm very curious about this arrangement by Ancestral Mountain. Aren't you afraid of the backlash from the Great Dao, you old Qingkui on Ancestral Mountain?"
"Hmph, empty words are useless."
Fu Sheng raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled. "Let's settle this with action."
As soon as he spoke, two figures appeared to his left and right. To the left was Lu Hai, a twelfth-stage great demon, clad in a long robe and wielding a spear forged from the spine of a true dragon, his face filled with murderous intent. To his right was Long Zheng, a twelfth-stage demon sword cultivator, dressed in a blue skirt and holding a sharp sword. Her eyes were fixed on Su Qingjiu. As a peak twelfth-stage sword cultivator of the human realm, she had long wished to test her skills against the master of Changming Mountain.
...
"How do we fight?" Su Qingjiu thought.
Lin Zhao frowned, also communicating mentally with the three. "Old Huang, you'll tie down Fu Sheng. Little Jiu'er, you'll keep Long Zheng occupied. Wu Zhi, you'll face Lu Hai. Little Jiu'er, try to suppress Long Zheng quickly, then lend Wu Zhi a hand to deal with Lu Hai first. We'll use Lu Hai as our breakthrough point, then deal with Long Zheng, and finally, join forces to attack Fu Sheng. We don't know if more demon cultivators will arrive, so we must finish this quickly. If we can't resolve it within half an incense stick's time, find a way to disengage. If more demons reinforce us, find a way to escape. Also, be wary of Gu Yanshu; he might take the opportunity to strike."
"Understood."
Su Qingjiu nodded.
"Come, come, come!"
Huang Tingyu stepped forward boldly. Behind him, the majestic dharma image of a mighty yellow dog appeared, sword intent soaring into the sky. He laughed, "Fu Sheng, you decided not to be a proper sword cultivator and insist on dabbling in Confucian arts. Today, I, Huang Tingyu, will have the honor of teaching you, a monkey in scholarly robes, how much you've learned from the scholars."
The phrase "monkey in scholarly robes" directly ignited a fierce killing intent in Fu Sheng's heart. He waved his sleeves, arranging bamboo slips, and smiled, "I fear your mere twelfth-stage Huang Tingyu is not enough to fight!"
"Let's fight first!"
Huang Tingyu lightly swung his sword, charging at Fu Sheng with ten thousand sword intents. What a cultivator Huang Tingyu was, initiating a desperate fight, crashing into Fu Sheng and forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
Su Qingjiu pointed her sword directly at Long Zheng. "Die?"
"Do you have the ability?"
Long Zheng sneered, waved her long sword, and instantly, boundless water-element sword qi surged around her, enveloping a patch of forest. Su Qingjiu similarly waved her long sword, immediately activating Sword Heart Communion with the Gods, creating a divine and potent sword dao restriction, continuously suppressing Long Zheng's sword dao restriction. Before the two twelfth-stage sword cultivators engaged, they first competed on whose sword intent was stronger. The one with the stronger intent would naturally have an advantage in the realm of sword dao.
In a flash, Long Zheng's face had turned quite pale. Frowning, a green dragon dharma image appeared behind her. Biting her silver teeth, she charged at Su Qingjiu with her sword, her strike severing the sky. Su Qingjiu met her with a sword strike as well. The moment the two twelfth-stage cultivators engaged, the forest and the nearby lake were engulfed in boundless sword qi.
...
"Only we are left."
Lu Hai narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on Wu Zhi. He chuckled, "Tsk tsk, I never imagined that a mere seventh-stage sword cultivator from Mountain Villa a hundred years ago, who lost an arm, could actually cultivate to this formidable twelfth-stage. Wu Zhi, you are considered one of the top figures in the human north. Why follow that idiot Lin Baiyi to your death? How about we make a deal today? If you lose, you will come back to the demon race and be my wife, Lu Hai, how about it?"
Wu Zhi's pretty face was covered in frost. A cold smile curved her lips. "We'll talk about such things after you've managed to live until tomorrow!"