Sect Leader Is Under Great Pressure CH 108 Nine Hells And The Yellow Springs, With Ghostly Realms Boundless
An Xian's swordsmanship is second only to the Sect Leader in Kun-Lai.
Her sword techniques were derived from Kun-Lai swordsmanship, but she developed her own style. To advance her skill, she had tried almost every sword path: royal, tyrant, evil, cunning, righteous, unconventional, and even rare sword paths like time, decay, and life.
From initial confusion to a final realization that it didn't matter what path it was—whatever worked was best—she succeeded.
In the end, when she reached Synthesis, she slashed through illusions and achieved great completion. An Xian had always wielded the sword unconstrained by any Dao intention or technique, encompassing all phenomena of the heavens. She had a beast-like instinct, and when she swung her sword, it was as though jade shattered and stars crumbled. So, the first time she met Xiao Qing, she tested him with a single sword stroke.
Out of respect for the Sect Leader, An Xian didn’t try a second strike at that time. Although the Sect Leader had brought her here to spar with a fledgling disciple who was two great cultivation stages below her, An Xian was quite pleased with the arrangement.
Feng Qingxiu’s Formless Sword was essentially a lower-grade version of the Sect Leader’s own sword technique, but the Sect Leader would never spar with her. Therefore, towards such a rare opportunity to test her swordsmanship against the Sect Leader's sword. If not now, when?
Thus, An Xian held nothing back. She never knew what it meant to hold back. Her sword blossomed furiously, starting with absolute extremity. As her sword was drawn, the surroundings seemed to faintly fill with void stars, which faded away with her sword intent.
Feng Qingxiu could see her strike. The sword light resembled the Milky Way, encompassing all things. His Formless Sword split into countless strands, but they sank like a clay ox into the vast river, vanishing without a trace.
“Xiao An can see through many sword intents and use the most suitable countermeasure,” Ji Yunlai said with a smile from the side. “Even though you have the protection of the formless sword energy, Xiao Qing, you will still feel the difficulty.”
An Xian flashed a proud smile and her sword momentum became even more fierce, stirring countless falling leaves. Each leaf, like a blade, clashed with Feng Qingxiu’s formless sword energy, producing countless shrill whistles that caused clouds to churn in all directions.
Within a few breaths, Feng Qingxiu was beaten black and blue, his body covered in wounds—this was even with the automatic protection of his formless sword energy. He also had to suppress the sharpest of his sword intent, not daring to unleash it—it was too powerful.
“Don’t worry,” Ji Yunlai casually added fuel to the fire. “No matter how badly you injure An Xian, I will compensate for it.”
Alright then, since his master said so…
Feng Qingxiu stopped holding back, releasing his divine consciousness fully, and the number of formless sword energy instantly multiplied.
An Xian’s eyes flashed with surprise. Controlling each strand of sword energy was like growing an extra hand, requiring immense focus. Most people would struggle to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other, yet just now, Feng Qingxiu had controlled hundreds of sword strands—far beyond the capacity of someone at his Golden Core stage.
Now, the number… An Xian didn’t even bother to count. If it wasn’t ten thousand, it was at least eight thousand. She shifted her sword stance, and her sword energy roared like thunder, exploding with a violent burst.
Since a single sword couldn’t win, she’d fight by trading blows and embracing mutual destruction.
And so, Feng Qingxiu experienced firsthand what it meant to be reckless, to disregard life, to seek mutual destruction.
After less than two hours, Ji Yunlai called a halt to the fight. Peak Master An, now covered in deep wounds inflicted by formless sword energy, bore many cuts several inches deep. Yet, not a single drop of blood spilled from these wounds; in fact, they twitched and healed rapidly, leaving no scars.
Ji Yunlai handed her a Cloud Talisman True Seed as payment for medical expenses and sparring. An Xian was overjoyed. The Cloud Talisman True Seed was worth a hundred times more than the regular Dao Seed, far more than she had earned from her recent plundering!
These injuries were nothing! Not only had she sparred to her heart's content she also made money from it.
“Sect Leader, call on me next time for training!” An Xian waved as she walked away, reluctant to leave, turning back every few steps.
Ji Yunlai chuckled softly, crouching down beside Xiao Qing, who was too exhausted to move, and stretched his hand to calm Xiao Qing’s chaotic spiritual energy. Xiao Qing was also covered in wounds, though he could control his blood flow, so they weren’t life-threatening. Stroking his apprentice gently, he asked, “Apprentice, did that pose enough challenge?”
So, Xiao Qing, no more complaining to your master in the future!
Feng Qingxiu appeared thoughtful and nodded. “This apprentice has learned the lesson.”
Ji Yunlai nodded in satisfaction and reached out to lift his apprentice up.
“Master!” Feng Qingxiu turned bright red from his neck to his ears and immediately jumped out of his master’s arms, crashing onto the bed—his master was fast, practically reaching the bed in a single step.
“Why so shy?” Ji Yunlai took out a box of medicinal paste. “Come, let me apply the medicine for you…”
In the next second, the medicine was snatched away, and Ji Yunlai was shoved out the door, which slammed shut with a talisman representing rejection slapped on it.
Ji Yunlai stood in place for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
When he had lifted Xiao Qing earlier, the boy’s shadow had clearly rippled and bubbled.
Such a contrary Xiao Qing...
***
The practice duel on Zhuiyun Peak was anything but subtle. Standing on a tree, Nightingale cracked open melon seeds and asked the squid beside him, “Uh, You Jia, why aren’t you posting a headline? Peak Master An is fighting the Sect Leader’s head apprentice!”
“What’s so headline-worthy about An Xian beating people up? No one would even bother clicking.” You Jia waved dismissively. He wanted to keep watching, but sword energy already filled the void, scattering every single bystander off the peak.
“What a disaster,” Nightingale lamented as he picked up his dropped melon seeds. “If they were going to clear the field, they could’ve just said so. A gentleman uses words, not fists. Totally ruined my fun.”
You Jia ignored the seed-collecting bird and instead gazed thoughtfully toward Zhuiyun Peak.
With his years of headline experience, he was certain something was off with that master and apprentice duo! He had to follow up closely.
He had a feeling he was about to uncover the biggest scoop of his career! He could already see himself reaching the pinnacle of his profession, his name going down in Kun-Lai history...
“Squid, why are all your tentacles flailing? What’s gotten you so excited?” Nightingale, having retrieved his seeds, looked curiously at him.
You Jia coughed lightly, reining in his excited appendages, and spoke gently to him, “Anyway, where’s your snake brother?”
“He’s been entangled with some big serpent lately and hasn’t left his cave,” Nightingale shrugged. “A few days ago, I even dyed my feathers yellow to go baiting with you guys from Sword Peak. But who would’ve guessed that your peak master stirred up so much trouble? She forcefully got other spirit demons to rob her, so these past few days, Yun Capital has been empty of spirit demons, and I haven’t made any money. That’s why I came back to snack on seeds.”
"Big serpent, is it Hai Chaoxu?" You Jia thought of the large snake that wandered around at the foot of the flying peaks all day and was somewhat impressed by these two spirit demons' ability to stir up trouble. "You’ve caught the biggest fish, Hai Chaoxu, and you're still hanging around here? Do you know how rich he is?"
"I don’t sell out my brothers," Nightingale replied, warily watching him.
"Twenty bags of cloud melon seeds." You Jia casually dumped out a huge pile of seeds. "Do me a favor."
Nightingale tilted his head slightly and coughed with a bit of reserve, "Speak, I’ll help."
You Jia smiled in satisfaction and then quickly revealed a plan involving blowing a few words in the right ears to monopolize the Kun-Lai mouse trade of the sea dragon-snake clan.
Nightingale nodded, "No problem."
So they set off together back to Zhuiyun Peak.
On the way, they saw the captive from Jietian Dao, Luo Chi, speaking nicely to Qingnu, seemingly wanting to redeem something.
Qingnu refused.
Her reasoning was very simple: "Everything else can be redeemed, but we’ve seen all kinds of talismans in Kun-Lai, and even we don’t know what this talisman stone is. You tell me what it’s for, and I’ll let you take it back."
Luo Chi looked troubled.
Qingnu shrugged and was about to leave.
Luo Chi, looking a bit vexed, thought for a while and said, "What if I exchange it for three Synthesis cultivators?"
"What did you say?" Qingnu’s steps abruptly halted, and even You Jia and Nightingale, who were passing by, couldn’t help but listen in.
"Recently, some shaman cultivators from the Southern Continent’s Wu clan want to complete a wager in the Black Witchlands. Since it's dangerous in the outer territories, three Synthesis cultivators are traveling together. Judging by the time, they should be arriving near here soon. These three shaman cultivators are known for committing all kinds of evil, and they’ve even used countless ordinary people in blood sacrifices for their spiritual tools. If you capture them, it’ll bring you boundless merit. You don’t need to release them; you can also study shamanic medical techniques, which Kun-Lai doesn’t have..." As a seasoned schemer from the Central Continent, Luo Chi smoothly shifted the calamity elsewhere.
This hit exactly where Qingnu was most interested.
"And what about the stone?" Qingnu, indeed tempted, still hesitated a little.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with Kun-Lai. I’m just looking for a treasure that's about to emerge. If it has anything to do with Kun-Lai, may I never escape from Kun-Lai’s grasp for the rest of my life!" Luo Chi swore.
"Alright then, if you really capture three Synthesis shamans, returning your stone won’t be an issue. By the way, what is the Black Witchlands?" Qingnu asked out of curiosity.
"It’s the only place among the Nine Abyss without the waters of the Yellow Springs. It’s vast underneath, filled with ghostly realms and demonic creatures. There’s a remnant branch of the ancient Wu clan barely surviving in that terrifying land, seemingly guarding something. The air there is quite strange, and it seems to spawn demonic creatures. I haven’t seen it myself, so I’m not too sure," Luo Chi explained what he knew. "However, it’s said that place connects to the netherworld. Every generation of Great Xuan priests used to travel there. Those three shaman cultivators are going to find that branch of Wu clan."
These secrets revealed the deep foundations of a sect that had lasted ten thousand years. His high status allowed him to know a bit more than others. Ordinary cultivators, even from sects like Kun-Lai, which hadn't accumulated enough, wouldn't easily have access to such knowledge, no matter how powerful they were.
"Do you have a way to track down those three shamans?" Qingnu asked again. After all, the world was vast, and Synthesis cultivators had an instinct for avoiding danger. They weren't easy to find.
Luo Chi revealed a proud smile, "Though unworthy, in the art of tracking, no one in the world can surpass me except for Taiqing Shangren."
With his natural Divine Eye, he had an infamous nickname, "The Great Treasure Hunter Luo Chi," though whoever called him that was said to be sent into reincarnation shortly after.
Qingnu was extremely pleased, "Come, let’s discuss this at my place."
Luo Chi nodded.
You Jia watched their retreating backs, silently considering whether he should join in to make a quick profit too.
Three Synthesis cultivators must have plenty of good stuff…