“Flying Sword Dividing Clouds” was “Get Down Here.”
“Full-Screen AOE” was clearly an area-of-effect attack; having the momentum of “Sun-Chasing Sea-Patrol” was quite normal.
As for “Crow Riding an Airplane” corresponding to “Meteor White Feather”…
He couldn’t justify that one.
Qin Jinghan: “Me? An anti-fan? A fan?”
He looked at the little monk before him with disbelief. “You’re insulting me.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve already become a monk. The four elements are void; I can no longer re-enter the mortal world or change my immortal path, or else…” Rechen looked at Li Weiyi with a hateful gaze, “or else such a good thing would never have fallen to you.”
Li Weiyi: “…”
I think you want to join Fuxi more than I do. How about you take this player role instead? He coughed a few times and said, “I heard that in a few days, that Duan… whatever…”
“Duan Nanyun!”
“Duan Nanyun will be here. You can just go ask him for his autograph yourself…”
Rechen’s eyes lit up. “What, he’s coming?!”
…What part of you is “void of the four elements”?!
Magistrate Kong timely stepped in to smooth things over. “Since you are all Immortals sent by the great sects to subdue Demons and exterminate Devils, perhaps we should first discuss how to… uh… capture the escaped Devil Cultivator? I’ve heard that the Devil Cultivator seems to have escaped. I fear he might return to the city to kill and harm more people!”
Fu Mingxia nodded. “Indeed. That day, the Devil Cultivator also had a Puppet Demon with him, which possessed a maidservant. It also escaped at the time. Only afterwards did I learn that the Puppet Demon had already taken Su Yun’s Soul Spirit. We must track down this Demon before we can retrieve the Soul Spirit and save her.”
Li Weiyi asked, “How do we track it?”
Fu Mingxia looked towards the direction of the City Lord’s daughter’s bedroom. “It’s simple, but it will take some time. Tonight, when the moonlight is at its peak, we’ll use Su Yun’s commonly used items as a guide, adding some Soul-Seeking Incense. When the time comes, the direction the incense diffuses will be the direction the Soul Spirit is located. I’ve already investigated today; the Soul Spirit should still be in Xuzhou Prefecture, but the presence is very faint.”
She was a disciple of the Wind Subduing Sect, studying the Arts of Yin-Yang Destiny. Seeking souls and asking for directions was her specialty.
Having offered his condolences, Magistrate Kong hurried off. Rechen should have gone back to report, but upon hearing that Duan Nanyun was coming, he refused to leave at all costs, saying he would “lend them a hand.”
Honestly, to catch a Puppet Lesser Demon, deploying two Origin Return cultivators and one Bright Hall Buddhist disciple was somewhat using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
When the time reached the beginning of Hai hour, the moon hung over the willow tips, and Xuzhou’s night was cold.
Qin Jinghan stood with his sword, while Li Weiyi and Rechen also waited by the door. Fu Mingxia emerged from the room.
“Where?”
“Towards the east of the city.”
~
Ten li outside the east outskirts of Xuzhou City.
A crescent moon hung on the tree tips. The desolate outskirts were overgrown with weeds, and willow branches swayed eerily in the night wind.
All around was silent and deserted, yet someone unafraid of death was walking alone on this desolate path.
A cold, white mist flickered in and out of visibility around him.
In the past, if he released his Devil Qi, it would be hard for anyone not to know something was wrong with Duan Nanyun.
But over several centuries, the people who took his blood had used countless treasures and medicines to conceal his Devil Qi. Over time, he became even more adept at hiding his presence than monsters that specialized in disguise.
Furthermore, the Devil Qi emanating from him had also become vastly different from the norm due to the side effects of the drugs. Devil Qi was typically sinister, accompanied by a profound black aura that instantly marked one as a Devil Chief.
Yet his aura carried a chilling coldness, a luminescent white that resembled moonlight itself.
Later, when Duan Nanyun obtained the Moon-Chasing Sword and used the single move, Meteor White Feather, to lay the foundation of his Sword Dao, his fame spread even further across the world.
He established his foundation in plain sight of countless people, yet no one recognized that this aura came from a monster. Truly absurd.
“Sir~”
A young maiden leaned against a willow tree by the roadside, watching him the entire way. Only when he reached this desolate, unpopulated spot did she reveal herself. “This humble maiden has lost her way. Could you please help me…”
The host body the Puppet Demon possessed had a fine face, and combined with this tone and demeanor, she was fully confident she could ensnare this young cultivator.
No matter how well a cultivator preserved their looks, they wouldn’t remain frozen in adolescence. This must be a novice.
He truly seemed “entranced,” turning and walking towards her.
But in the next instant, instead of a hand to help her up, she was met with a flash of sword light!
The Puppet Demon immediately dodged to the side, but the sword light was too fast, instantly piercing through her body.
It was only half an inch from shattering her puppet heart and killing her on the spot!
Clutching her heart, she raised her head to glare hatefully, but met a pair of utterly indifferent eyes.
The Puppet Demon flew into a rage. “Which sect are you a disciple of?!”
Duan Nanyun didn’t speak. The sword in his hand flew up, piercing her back and forth repeatedly. The Puppet Demon dodged desperately, battered and exhausted, barely escaping death several times.
Finally, she collapsed to her knees, completely drained. Yet the sword stopped moving.
The Puppet Demon trembled all over.
It turned out… he hadn’t accidentally missed her vital points. He was…
deliberately making her death slow and painful.
The sword light shuttled back and forth, gnawing at her bones, following her like a shadow. She couldn’t shake it off. He hadn’t even used a sword move, yet he was already slaughtering her to the brink of collapse.
She finally broke down and begged for mercy. “Spare me! Please, sir, spare me!”
Duan Nanyun let out an “Oh?”, then asked, “What do you think is the reason I haven’t killed you?”
The Puppet Demon creature: “You… you…”
Saying ‘you’re a pervert’ would probably get her killed immediately, so she could only say, “You are merciful! You are willing to give me a chance to be a new Demon, to reform and turn from evil!”
He let out a snort of laughter.
The Moon-Chasing Sword hovered by his side, concealed but ready to strike.
The youth in the tree shadows showed neither joy nor anger. A brocade cloud-patterned belt cinched his moon-white robe, outlining a lean, strong waist. His hair was bound with a Spiritual Jade crown. Anyone who saw him would feel an instinctive goodwill.
When he tilted his head slightly, his ponytail fell over his shoulder. Though he clearly had the appearance of a bright, handsome youth, at this moment, he seemed born to merge as one with the shadows and darkness behind him, sending chills down one’s spine.
The youth asked, “Telling me this, do you even believe it yourself?”
The Puppet Demon trembled uncontrollably.
The moon had shifted west. He was losing patience. “Hand over that girl’s Soul Spirit.”
So it was for the Soul Spirit of the City Lord’s daughter. She knew she couldn’t hide it. “Yes, yes, it’s in this box. I didn’t dare use it. I heard the son of Xuzhou City’s City Lord has Innate Sword Bones and the daughter’s soul is one of a reincarnated fortune. Both are excellent tonics. I am willing to hand it over. Please, spare my life!”
“I see…”
He asked, “Then why didn’t you just eat it yourself to nourish yourself?”
“I… I wouldn’t dare!”
She knelt and begged for mercy. “I’m just a mere Lesser Demon. This Fortune Soul was meant as an offering for the Temple Master. How could I dare touch it…”
She was now bringing up the Evil Nightmare Temple and its mysterious Temple Master to pressure him.
For the Temple Master to eat?
Duan Nanyun smiled. Though his face was handsome and clear, it filled her with a bone-chilling terror.
He asked, “But I heard your Temple Master is suppressed under the Southern Miasma Sea. Can he even eat it?”
The Moon-Chasing Sword lifted the box and flew towards the youth.
Duan Nanyun reached out to catch it; his fair fingers were slender and pale.
The Demon creature tried to patch things up. “It’s… it’s for Mister first. Mister will offer it to the Temple Master later…”
Duan Nanyun: “I don’t like people who lie.”
His voice hadn’t even faded when the Moon-Chasing Sword suddenly surged with momentum, fiercely stabbing at the Puppet Demon. This strike carried Spiritual Power; a low-level Demon would die on contact!
A vortex of swirling Devil Qi erupted behind her. The Puppet Demon’s face contorted hideously. “I knew you wouldn’t let me go! But I’ve stalled long enough! I’ve used the summoning talisman. When Mister arrives, he’ll take your life!”
Within the black qi vortex, a white-clothed figure began to materialize.
The Puppet Demon was overjoyed. “Mister, save me!”
The moment she finished shouting, the Moon-Chasing Sword cleaved through her puppet body, absorbing her entire Demon soul. It was even more sinister and terrifying than a Devil Cultivator’s treasure!
Zhuyong had just arrived and sensed a terrifying fluctuation of Spiritual Power at the Foundation Establishment level… no, at the peak of the Origin Return level! A sword light filled with slaughter and the aura of death flashed before his eyes.
A few characters surfaced in his mind.
The Zongyue Sword Immortal, Duan Nanyun.
Flying Sword Dividing Clouds — it could even cleave the clouds above, let alone him, right here, right before his very eyes?!
Ignoring the now-thoroughly dead Puppet Demon, Zhuyong, terrified, severed his own tail like a gecko. He didn’t hesitate to split off a part of his soul spirit to resist, while the rest of his body fled at top speed through the still-open vortex.
But the sword light relentlessly followed. Even though it would be wounded by the self-detonation of the soul spirit fragment he left behind, it did not flinch. It charged into the vortex without hesitation and pierced into his remaining shattered soul spirit.
In the next moment, Zhuyong was torn to shreds by the terrifying, merciless sword light.
Duan Nanyun was nothing like the rumored Sword Immortal of noble spirit and pure integrity. He was a complete madman.