Qing Feng's face was etched with worry. He caressed the newly hung Dark Iron Sword at his waist, secretly thinking that the cold-faced Dao Lord's way of giving pointers was truly suffocating.
Although Nascent Soul cultivators had abstained from grains for many years, the sleeping habits developed in his previous life had long been ingrained in his bones, like a biological clock carved into his soul, which couldn't be changed just by saying so.
The sound of sword light piercing the air startled the roosting birds in the forest. Qing Feng's wrist flicked lightly, and the sword's edge traced a profound trajectory, revealing the secret technique “Heavenly Gang Sword Art,” which only direct disciples of the Peak Lord could access.
Dao Lord Zisu stood with her hands behind her back, her ice-jade-like knuckles unconsciously tapping the sword guard. This secret technique, which even Chenming Peak Lord was not qualified to instruct, Qing Feng wielded as if it were an extension of his arm. She suddenly felt that the Zhijian Peak's cumbersome transmission process might need to be an exception for the uncut jade before her.
“When the seventh form turns, your Qi should sink three inches.” The Dao Lord's fingertip flicked out a wisp of sword Qi, precisely correcting the arc of Qing Feng's wrist.
Looking at the sword shadow, as graceful as a startled swan under the moon, he suddenly remembered his own unruly disciple who spent all his days engrossed in storybooks.
They were both sixteen or seventeen years old, yet the difference was like heaven and earth.
The mountain wind suddenly picked up.
Dao Lord Zisu's wide sleeves moved without wind, and the golden Pattern on her brow flickered. The strange aura that had just been entwined among the pine needles clearly carried the unique bone-corroding chill of the Blood Fiend Alliance.
She calmly ran her fingers across the sword's spine, and fine, thread-like dark red patterns appeared on the Qingzhu sword sheath.
When did such demonic scoundrels infiltrate this pure cultivation ground of Chen Ming Peak?
As Dao Lord Zisu recalled the old events of Thousand Lake World, she suddenly sensed an anomaly in the spiritual energy of the sword peak.
Her divine sense swept through the mountain, and she actually discovered a six-winged strange insect in a crevice of the rock layers. Its entire body was dark gold, like rusted copper coins, and the vibration frequency of its thin wings could even block sound waves. If she hadn't already reached the peak of Soul Transformation, she feared she wouldn't even have noticed this fingernail-sized insanity worm.
“It's actually a remnant of ancient witchcraft and insanity…” The old Dao Lord's fingertips condensed sword aura, and her thoughts drifted back to the bloody battle seven hundred years ago.
The Southern Border Witch Tribe originally lived peacefully in the poisonous swamp, but in the Age of Dharma Decline, they fell into the demonic path, even implanting the Gu King they had nurtured for a hundred years into living bodies as cauldrons.
When he led twelve sword guards to break into the demonic lair back then, those six-winged Gu worms that drilled out from the cultivators' skulls were exactly like the one before him.
The mountain wind swept across the sword-practice platform, and Dao Lord Zisu suddenly felt her hair stand on end. The dark patterns on the Gu worm's abdominal plate were seven parts similar to the Beast Taming Sect's talismans! This was definitely not something ordinary remnants could accomplish.
She calmly separated a wisp of her divine sense and attached it to the Gu worm, then turned to look at her grand-disciple, who was practicing the “Thirteen Forms of Startled Swan”: “Qing Feng, have you encountered anything unusual recently?”
Qing Feng ended with a beautiful sword flourish: “Three days ago, while on duty at the spiritual medicine garden, Senior Sister Ma Bingyun deliberately knocked over my sword-tempering dew. Uncle-Master Dong QiSheng withheld my monthly spirit stones, and Senior Brother Lian Buyao even at the Sword Tomb…”
Before he finished speaking, the old Dao Lord's destined sword in his sleeve suddenly hummed a warning. The Gu worm, marked by his divine sense, actually broke through the barrier and flew straight towards Qing Feng's back neck.
Dao Lord Zisu tapped the stone table with her fingertip and said, “True disciples should be rewarded for their contributions. Dong QiSheng's qualifications are not even worthy of carrying your shoes.”
“Perhaps they think that whatever skill they can seize is justified,” Qing Feng said with a light chuckle, toying with the teacup.
“Some people live worse than beasts; they truly should be put to an end early,” Dao Lord Zisu said, sweeping a cold glance at the Black Dog under the eaves. “If that old fellow truly understood the rules, he should have volunteered to guard the Sword Tomb thirty years ago.”
Qing Feng pressed the jade pendant at his waist: “After all, they are elders of the sect. Master has already punished them some time ago.”
“You are too kind, that damned Ma Bingyun, I once cut a strand of her hair, and she actually dared to blame it on you.”
Before her words fell, Dao Lord Zisu's five fingers suddenly tightened, and the air in the entire main hall seemed to solidify into an iron plate. Ma Bingyun, who was sitting in the Hidden Jade Hall, suddenly clutched her chest, and the jade hairpin in her hair snapped in response.
At this moment, the Hidden Jade Hall was filled with tension, and cracks had appeared on the armrest of Qin Heng's main seat. When the Demon-Slaying Sword Qi pierced through the clouds, everyone was startled to realize that Dao Lord Zisu had arrived with Qing Feng, riding on his sword, and with a flick of his flowing robes, he threw out a six-winged poisonous Gu worm.
“How could this Soul-Devouring Gu… be on Chen Ming Peak?” Qin Heng's pupils contracted sharply.
“I'd like to ask Peak Lord Qin,” Dao Lord Zisu said, her wide sleeves billowing, “If I hadn't come today to instruct your daughter in swordsmanship, I wouldn't have known that such a sinister thing was being nurtured in your esteemed place.” Her peripheral vision swept over the pale-faced Ma Bingyun, and the Gu worm exploded into a bloody mist at her feet.
Qin Heng rubbed his brow with a complicated expression, both pleased and annoyed. As the Peak Lord of Zhijian Peak, he naturally knew that although Dao Lord Zisu addressed him as an equal, she had actually broken through to the Grand Ascension realm many years ago.
He felt a surge of relief that his daughter could receive guidance from such a powerful expert.
However, the other party's unreservedly blunt words made his face burn. This Sword Dao Grandmaster had actually exposed his insufficient cultivation in public.
“Weren't the remnants of the ancient witchcraft and Gu eliminated a hundred years ago?” Qin Heng suppressed his emotions and changed the topic, his knuckles tapping a dull sound on the sandalwood table. “Could it be that the Demonic Sect has revived?”
“No!” Zi Yun suddenly formed a sword seal with her fingers, and sword qi surged around her, “Senior Brother Zisu is currently teaching Junior Nephew Qin the Grand Void Sword Intent, could it be that the Demonic Cult wants to sever the Beast Taming Sect's legacy?” Before her words fell, the entire bluestone floor of the main hall actually showed spiderweb-like cracks.
Everyone was astonished by the news.
Qin Heng suddenly stood up, a white tiger phantom appearing behind him, and the temple- trấn áp talismans on the gilded beams moved without wind.
At this moment, Dao Lord Zisu spoke calmly: “Their target is Qing Feng.”
These words were like a thunderclap. The attending elders exchanged glances, and even the sweeping boy in the corner stopped his movements.
Who didn't know that Qing Feng was notoriously lazy? Although his bone structure was good, compared to the direct disciples who diligently cultivated day and night in the Sword Tomb…
Qin Heng suddenly turned to stare intently at Ma Bingyun, his Dark Iron Sword Box clanging: “Chenming Peak Lord, what is your explanation?”
“Presumptuous!” Ma Bingyun's wide sleeves billowed, and thirty-six body-protecting talismans circulated around her. “I have been ranked among the immortals for many years, how could I use such sinister methods? It's some people though.”
She sneered, sweeping a glance at Zi Yun, “I'm afraid you want to take this opportunity to suppress my Chen Ming Peak, so that Hu Ji Peak can gain an advantage during the Ziyan Sword Debate, right?”
Voices of agreement gradually rose, and several elders spoke up. Lian Buyao took the opportunity to cup his hands towards Dao Lord Zisu: “This time, thanks to Senior Brother's discerning eye in exposing the Gu poison, I will definitely…”
“Wait,” Dao Lord Zisu lightly tapped the ground with her sword sheath, and the remains of the six-winged Gu cicada suddenly floated in mid-air. “This Gu needs to be nurtured with the host's essence blood. Do you all know…”
Her gaze, sharp as a sword, swept over Ma Bingyun, “Who secretly hid the Blood Refinement Jade Marrow when the Witch Gu clan was being suppressed back then?”
The temperature in the hall plummeted, and frost condensed on the green jade floor tiles.
Ma Bingyun's face turned ashen, and the jade pendant at her waist suddenly burst with bloody light. Dao Lord Zisu raised her hand to form a seal, and a dragon-like sword cry came from beyond the nine heavens: “Let the Gu worm recognize its master. If you suffer a backlash, this Lord will compensate you with three hundred years of cultivation.”
“Absurd! Based on groundless suspicion, you dare to use the Heart-Devouring Cicada to harm me?” Ma Bingyun's wide sleeves moved without wind, and her knuckles turned pale. “As a Peak Lord, by seniority, you should address me as Uncle-Master. Have the juniors become so disrespectful now?”
