The wind was fierce, the rain heavy, the entire courtyard a scene of utter devastation.
Qin Jinghan carried the unconscious daughter of the City Lord into the bedroom and promptly came back out. Fu Mingxia led Li Weiyi elsewhere, had him fetch a basin of water to wash his face and change his clothes.
There were no other living people in the mansion; even the servants had not been spared.
Late at night, within the vast Magistrate Manor of Xuzhou City, silence reigned, broken only by the sound of rain.
Fu Mingxia lit a lamp in the main hall and explained their purpose.
Besides Immortal Second Generations, Fuxi Mountain also sought suitable mortals from the Mortal Realm.
Li Weiyi’s father, the City Lord of Xuzhou Prefecture, had hired specialists to examine his children’s aptitudes when they were five or six.
The younger sister had no Spiritual Root, but the older brother did, and his aptitude was exceptional.
Logically, being able to enter the immortal path was a blessing earned over several lifetimes. He should have been sent to Fuxi Mountain immediately, perhaps even catching the tailwind of Qin Jinghan’s cultivation speed.
But that “specialist” said that the older brother must not leave home until he turned eighteen.
Otherwise, the City Lord’s entire family would inevitably face a bloody calamity.
That’s right. That person was none other than Mr. Zhuyong, the one who had just barely escaped being cut in half by Qin Jinghan.
What “bloody calamity”? It was simply that Mr. Zhuyong, seeing the older brother’s remarkable aptitude, wanted to deceive them into keeping him there for several years to cultivate him and later use him for pill refinement.
Earlier, the Xuzhou City Lord had occasionally sensed something was wrong.
But how could a mere mortal oppose a Devil Creature?
He had some connections and secretly wrote a letter, entrusting someone to send it to the three great cultivation sects, seeking help.
The distances from Xixu Prefecture, where Xuzhou Prefecture was located, to Fuxi, Kunlun, and Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple varied. Moreover, given the Mortal Realm’s sheer size, his plea, sent by non-immortal communication methods, naturally arrived with a delay.
Fuxi Mountain was the closest and thus the quickest to arrive, but still arrived a step too late.
Li Weiyi also felt saddened. After all, the game’s immersion was incredibly strong. The moment his “mother” was killed after pushing him aside, and when Zhuyong had him surrounded, he felt a genuine rage at his own powerlessness.
Fu Mingxia: “The Sect Leader dispatched three of us to Xuzhou Prefecture. Exterminating Devils is one reason. The second is to bring you back to Fuxi. Given the current state of the City Lord’s Mansion, you likely can’t stay here either. Being targeted by the Evil Nightmare Temple, raised as a Medicine Body for years, they certainly won’t easily let you go. If you remain here, sooner or later, Devil Creatures will refine you into medicine.”
She concisely arranged the immediate future. “Once day breaks and the Government Office opens, officials will be called to handle matters here. We’ll settle your sister first, then set out.”
Xuzhou Prefecture was jointly managed by the City Lord and the Magistrate. The City Lord was the local nobility, while the Magistrate was an imperial appointee, serving three-year terms.
Among commoners, there was a saying: A City Lord is forged of iron; a Magistrate flows like water.
Though now only two survivors remained from the entire City Lord’s household, the vast wealth left to the young miss would be enough for her to live well in the Mortal Realm.
Besides, after today, she would have a cultivator as an older brother. Who would dare bully her?
Li Weiyi asked, puzzled, “Three people?”
He glanced at Fu Mingxia, then at the black-clad youth standing nearby. “Who’s the other one?”
Qin Jinghan sneered coldly. “Maybe someone got blown away by a mundane wind along the road and is now stuck in some gutter, unable to crawl out.”
Li Weiyi: “…?
What? Fuxi Mountain also has paper-thin characters who’d blow away?”
Fu Mingxia smiled. “Don’t listen to his nonsense. The third person is a fellow disciple named Duan Nanyun.”
Thanks to the talkative villain Zhuyong, Li Weiyi had already heard about this person’s deeds just moments ago.
Instantly, his feelings were complicated.
What status do I have, that Fuxi Mountain would send its three great geniuses to receive me personally…
Fu Mingxia, thinking he didn’t understand, explained, “He wasn’t feeling well and set out a few days after us. Perhaps he’ll arrive in a couple of days.”
It was strange, but true.
Duan Nanyun’s body, despite being an Origin-Returning Cultivator who feared no demons or devils, was afraid of cold weather and chilling winds. He even had a fixed date each month for his old ailment to act up, as punctual as clockwork. These past few days were those days.
As Qin Jinghan put it, if the wind blew, Duan Nanyun might just get blown all the way to Penglai Island. Yet, with such a body, he could endure the most terrifying Ten Thousand Sword Cuts. Even Qin Jinghan himself only endured Three Thousand Saber Cuts back then.
If he hadn’t personally witnessed how terrifying Duan Nanyun’s old ailment flare-ups were, Qin Jinghan would have jumped up and cried foul.
Qin Jinghan: “Lucky we didn’t wait for him. If we’d arrived a step later, we’d only be collecting the corpse of Number One Sword God Under Heaven, Li Weiyi.”
Hearing that title, Li Weiyi almost lost his footing. “Brother, Brother, you… you are the real Sword God.”
Are you kidding? After witnessing that courtyard-clearing saber technique that chopped monsters like fruit, who would dare claim such a title in front of him?
But game IDs were automatically substituted. Whatever a Player named themselves, the NPCs would call them that…
Qin Jinghan’s smile was dangerous. “I use a saber.”
Li Weiyi: “…”
Never mind, better to shut up.
But he still had questions.
How come such an awesome character like Duan Nanyun didn’t seem to appear in the promotional trailer?
Even Qin Jinghan seemed to have flashed by for a couple of seconds.
Oh well, probably just a strong minor character for the early game.
Seeing his state, Fu Mingxia proactively comforted Li Weiyi. “Don’t be afraid. Jinghan just has that personality. He’s actually very good. Duan Nanyun… has always been easy to get along with too. He’s a good person and very kind.”
Li Weiyi, who originally thought Qin Jinghan might become a romantic rival, immediately sighed in relief upon hearing this. Fu Mingxia had basically handed out two “good person” cards in one breath.
Tsk, these two definitely have no chance.
Fu Mingxia sighed. “What I’m worried about is whether he’ll run into scammers if he goes down the mountain alone. Back then, he was penniless and owed a huge debt. I applied to the sect for an inner sect monthly allowance for him, but because he sympathized with others, he gave the Spirit Stones to outer sect cultivators… Coming down the mountain this time, he wouldn’t get scammed even by mortals, would he?”
That was indeed true. The incident of Duan Nanyun giving away Spirit Stones had even been posted on the sect’s bulletin board as a classic case of being scammed.
However, Qin Jinghan, thinking of Duan Nanyun traveling alone down the mountain, getting scammed and sold off to work in Penglai, couldn’t suppress the upward curve of his lips. “Hard to say. After all, the Mortal Realm is very simple; it’s the people that are complicated.”
Fu Mingxia: “You seem quite happy?”
The corner of Qin Jinghan’s mouth wouldn’t stay down. “Not at all. I’m very worried about him.”
When Duan Nanyun was first rescued and revived, it cost the Head of the Healing Arts Sect all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures he had accumulated over five hundred years. From then on, Duan Nanyun was saddled with a lifetime—no, a debt of a lifetime.
Fu Mingxia had helped him calculate the accounts. He would have to work for Fuxi Mountain for at least two thousand six hundred and twenty-four years to pay it off. But this person showed no despair or resentment. Instead, he gratefully acknowledged the debt.
Though, within this debt, the Head of the Healing Arts Sect had secretly doubled the price of his own heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Before the accounts were calculated, many junior and senior sisters from the sect would often sneak over just to glimpse his face—said to be more handsome than a mortal, more aloof than a Sword Immortal, more beautiful than a divine being. The entrance of the Healing Arts Sect was daily filled with voice-transmitting paper cranes fluttering about, carrying secret admiring messages.
But Qin Jinghan’s path for saber practice passed right by there.
Others only began cultivating once they reached their destination, but he practiced Mad Saber while walking. Before any voice-transmitting paper cranes could transmit their voices, they were already shredded, falling like snow all over the ground.
Then, the Head of the Healing Arts Sect would, after Qin Jinghan left, secretly open the door and collect the yet-to-disperse Spiritual Power from the scattered paper crane fragments on the ground.
Thus, the Sect Head could get the Spiritual Power equivalent of thirty to forty low-grade Spirit Stones for free each day.
Later, when Duan Nanyun’s body recovered and he was about to leave, the Sect Head was somewhat reluctant to see him go.
Upon his departure, Fu Mingxia calculated his accounts.
Thus, Duan Nanyun’s “debt of a lifetime” was born and became known throughout the entire sect.
The very next day, no more junior or senior sisters sent voice transmissions. Those who originally had ideas also cut off any thought of dual cultivating with him.
Before even Unsealing his Spiritual Light, he was already in debt for several lifetimes’ worth of Spirit Stones. Even the Sect Leader’s pockets couldn’t withstand that.
A good-looking face can’t be used as Spirit Stones. Moreover, when he arrived, his bones and tendons were severed, injuring his foundation. Even the Head of the Healing Arts Sect said there would likely be hidden ailments affecting his cultivation in the future. Whether he could even Unseal his Spiritual Light was debatable. Even if he did, he’d probably remain a lower-stage cultivator for life.
Only Fu Mingxia sighed for him. “Duan Nanyun, what will you do? You’ll have to pay this back for two thousand six hundred and twenty-four years.”
Duan Nanyun’s face was still as pale as paper, but at least his voice had recovered somewhat. His natural voice was clear and pleasant, naturally making people feel favorably disposed. “It’s fine. It’s what I owe.”
Once he regained his power and flattened all three great Righteous Path sects, who would still be honestly repaying debts? Owing for thirty thousand years wouldn’t matter then either.
Fu Mingxia: “You’re so kind, Uncle Song will scam you out of everything.”
Song Ya was the Head of the Healing Arts Sect, a rare medical cultivator who could bring the dying back to life.
“Restoring life to the dead, growing flesh on bones” was no exaggeration when it came to him.
Aside from him, probably no one under heaven could reconnect Duan Nanyun’s meridians, restore his Soul Spirit, and pull him back from the gates of death.
Even Song Ya was curious then—the injuries on Duan Nanyun’s body damaged his fundamental Spiritual Body. His Soul Spirit looked like it had been pierced into a sieve. He wondered what kind of enemy he had offended.
However, some of the traces seemed to be puncture marks that could only be left by a forbidden technique of Fuxi Mountain…
But the Sect Leader forbade him from investigating, so he pretended not to notice.
Song Ya was good in every way, except he was too “poor.” Buying all sorts of heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and raw materials for Spirit Medicine, even with sect funding, was never enough. Every immortal crane passing his Healing Arts Sect’s gate had several Spirit Feathers plucked before it could leave.
He even specifically instructed Fu Mingxia: “This is Uncle Song’s four hundred thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones. You must keep an eye on him for me. If he dies, I’ll be at a huge loss.”
Fu Mingxia: “Where are four hundred thousand Spirit Stones?”
Song Ya pointed at the innocent-looking person in the distance. “Duan Nanyun is a walking four hundred thousand.”
Duan Nanyun was the incarnation of Malice. Murderous intent, Malicious Will, and Resentful Will were his essence. Originally, he shouldn’t be controlled by Malevolent Will. But his injuries were so severe, everything had collapsed, starting anew from scratch. There were always times when he couldn’t suppress it.
In the past, he killed whenever he wanted, an absolute lawless fiend. But on Fuxi Mountain, such freedom was impossible.
That day, using the low-grade Spirit Stones the sect distributed monthly to inner disciples as bait, he lured a rogue outer disciple with no good reputation and poor connections to the back mountain.
That person received his Spirit Stones and thought his tactic of playing on sympathy had worked. Greedily, he asked if he could also receive next month’s Spirit Stone allowance.
“You know, I’m just one step away from opening Bright Hall. You haven’t even Unsealed your Spiritual Light yet, so you can’t use these anyway. How about next month—”
Duan Nanyun’s figure was hidden in the moonlight, his face unreadable. His body was frail and couldn’t stand the cold, so he wore a thick fur cloak.
The man couldn’t see his face, only heard his voice.
Duan Nanyun: “Alright.”
Tear the living being before him apart, let the killing intent vent, let the Malevolent Will break through the night, rather than twisting savagely within his own chest.
The cultivator was overjoyed, not realizing he already had one foot in the gates of hell. “You’re such a fool… No, you’re a good man!”
Kill…
“Duan Nanyun!”
A clear, pleasant female voice rang out from behind him. His hand was touched by something soft, tender, and warm—it was her hand.
“What are you doing here?”
He turned to look at the girl who had appeared behind him.
Fu Mingxia.
The sun-warmed scent clung to her, warm and fragrant, dispersing somewhat the piercing coldness deep within his soul, something he couldn’t escape day or night.
In Song Ya’s words, how could it not be cold? Other cultivators’ souls grew smoother and more lustrous with cultivation; only his was riddled with holes, tattered and leaking all over.
But this warmth lasted only a moment.
Because she let go of his hand, turning her head to look at the person greedily counting Spirit Stones. Then she frowned. “It’s you? Isn’t that Duan Nanyun’s monthly allowance pouch? Why is it in your hand?”
She knew this person—a notorious rogue from the outer sect. Fuxi Mountain was huge, the Number One Righteous Immortal Sect, with many disciples divided into inner and outer sects. The outer sect had all sorts, and this man was one, infamous for his swindling. Even she had heard of him.
“Hey! He gave these to me himself! No takesies-backsies with given Spirit Stones.”
The rogue cultivator stashed the Spirit Stones back into his pouch and retreated a step.
Fu Mingxia looked back at Duan Nanyun, wanting to ask what was going on. But she was instantly frightened by his appearance.
Under the moonlight, the young man’s typically indifferent eyes had turned blood-red. His frame was hunched, as if even the fur cloak on his body could snap him.
His tightly pressed lips were thin and white, adding a touch of tragic beauty. His brows were tightly furrowed, as if enduring immense pain.
Duan Nanyun’s voice was hoarse. “I gave them to him. He had no Spirit Stones to pay a debt, said the creditor whipped him several times… You…”
You…
Fu Mingxia…
Kill…
Suppressing the roiling Malevolent Will in his chest, he could no longer speak, his mind filled with the thought that maybe killing her too would be fine.
Killing one is killing, killing two is also…
No.
She was the daughter of the Fuxi Sect Leader, unlike the scoundrel next to him. Killing her now would inevitably bring pursuit and execution upon him. He hadn’t even re-unsealed his Spiritual Light and couldn’t withstand that.
But he himself didn’t know if it was because she was the Sect Leader’s daughter, or because she was the first he saw when he lifted his eyes from the brink of death… the first person sitting in the warm, clear sunlight.
The rogue, afraid he’d change his mind, immediately fled. Fu Mingxia, fearing the person behind her might truly keel over on the spot, didn’t chase him. She turned to Duan Nanyun. “Could it be… your old ailment is acting up again?”
She had promised Uncle Song to keep an eye on him, so he wouldn’t die before repaying his debt. Surely this wasn’t the end for him, right?
Didn’t Uncle Song say the treatment was almost complete?
Unexpectedly, the person before her said not a word. His body began to tremble. He was tall and slender; normally, even she had to tilt her head up to look at him. But now, he was curled up inside the thick outer cloak, looking quite pitiful.
Duan Nanyun hung his head, gasping slightly.
She even leaned closer to look.
His eyes were tightly shut, shivering like a half-dead withered leaf in an autumn wind, hanging onto the branch by a single breath.
He couldn’t speak; the moment he opened his mouth, he would kill.
Fu Mingxia hurriedly supported him—supported the “four hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones” Uncle Song had repeatedly told her to protect carefully.
When she took hold of him, she only felt his body was terrifyingly heavy, though it should have been weak and frail.
But on second thought, four hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones—being heavy was perfectly reasonable.
She called out several times with no response before realizing Duan Nanyun had fainted.
Forcibly suppressing his killing intent, he was severely wounded by the backlash of Malevolent Will. In that moment, his soul, which he had painstakingly gathered—scarred and battered—was once again on the verge of collapse.
“The Nine Heavens Calamity Thunder is the foremost of Fuxi’s Five Great Forbidden Techniques! A Golden Core Cultivator grazed by it will be annihilated; those in Spirit Silence flee at its rumble! Even a Nascent Soul can’t withstand five Heavenly Thunders! Now, with nine descending, I don’t believe it won’t smash this Devil Chief’s evil bones to pieces!”
“How is this possible? He’s already under Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple’s Thousand Buddha Curse, poisoned by Kunlun’s tens of thousands of exotic venoms, yet still standing after five thunderbolts without kneeling??”
“Seven thunders, the mountain cracks, yet he still lives…”
“Nine thunders annihilation… impossible…!!”
Rain pounded the Southern Miasma Sea, monstrous waves surging to the heavens.
Someone shouted through the storm—
“Continue! Grind his bones to dust, devour his flesh and blood, tear his soul apart! Use that Heaven-Rank Supreme Treasure of Kunlun! I don’t believe we can’t kill him this way!”
Amidst that blood-red sea and flashing lightning stood one man. His robes were shredded, his body covered in wounds, unrecognizable, yet he still lived.
He was even still smiling. “You’d best be able to…”
“Kill me.”
Otherwise…
Otherwise…
I will return and kill everyone.