A Pawn's Passage

The clash of two blades echoed as Qi Xuansu engaged in a fierce battle with a shadowy figure wielding a knife, its face obscured.

The figure wielded an ancient long blade, while Qi Xuansu relied on his Flying Shadow. Aside from blade techniques, neither of them used any mystical abilities or spells. As their blades clashed, waves of blade qi surged, filling the air with an overwhelming killing aura.

Suddenly, the shadowy figure executed a flying blade technique, sending the ancient long blade shooting toward Qi Xuansu’s face like a flying sword.

Qi Xuansu instinctively leaned back, his Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique allowed his back to bend backward at an almost right angle, barely dodging the attack.

However, the figure did not stop there. Though the blade had left his hand, the airborne blade seemed to still be controlled remotely by his grip.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to desperately evade by rolling to the side. Then he launched himself toward the figure, like an arrow released from a taut bow.

Since it was the Demonic Blade, it did not fear trading injury for injury. The figure did not dodge. Instead, it extended a hand to summon the flying blade into a spinning motion, directing it straight toward Qi Xuansu’s back.

In the next instant, the flying blade pierced through Qi Xuansu. But at the same time, Qi Xuansu’s Flying Shadow stabbed the figure’s heart.

Qi Xuansu abruptly woke up, finding himself still inside the stone chamber covered in inscriptions.

It was June 20th, and Qi Xuansu had finally finished reading the entire wall of text regarding the Demonic Blade. This meant he had endured 99 blades. However, he did not always manage to withstand all 99 blades successfully.

Out of every ten attempts, Qi Xuansu would barely claim victory once, perish together with the shadowy figure twice, and be slain by the opponent seven times.

Whether he could pass the trial depended on luck. Sometimes, when he was in peak condition, an instant flash of insight would grant him a narrow victory. Other times, unsettled emotions, hesitation, impatience, or a reckless move would lead to his failure. If he was careless or distracted, he could be defeated in mere seconds upon entering the simulation.

Regardless, Qi Xuansu had finally caught a glimpse of the essence of the Demonic Blade. It was akin to a child learning to read—stumbling along but ultimately getting through it.

During this process, Qi Xuansu grasped the first truth of the Demonic Blade—to kill.

After days of training, his technical improvement was limited, but his mindset had undergone a transformation, breaking through many constraints and even reaching a level of enlightenment that expanded his entire perspective.

The Demonic Blade was used to kill with no limits—the ultimate form of slaughter.

Since Qi Xuansu had read through the full text, the next step was to decipher its meaning word by word, guided by the annotations. At this stage, Qi Xuansu knew he needed to seek guidance from Sun Hewu.

Most of the time, Sun Hewu was reading in another stone chamber next to Qi Xuansu’s, so seeking his guidance was not much of a hassle.

Qi Xuansu sat cross-legged with Flying Shadow resting across his lap, closing his eyes in meditation to recover the energy he had just expended.

At that moment, Sun Hewu entered with his hands clasped behind his back, pacing leisurely.

Qi Xuansu opened his eyes and was about to rise to salute the Sage, but Sun Hewu waved his hand. “No need for that. Such formalities are unnecessary when it’s just the two of us.”

As he spoke, Sun Hewu walked up to the stone wall engraved with the original text of the Demonic Blade. He looked up at the inscriptions, which had caused Qi Xuansu much suffering, yet remained utterly unaffected.

This was expected. After all, these were merely words left by predecessors, not an actual demonstration. Even if they contained profound truths, they could not possibly overwhelm a seasoned Heavenly Being.

“Do you know who engraved these words?” Sun Hewu suddenly asked.

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment. It was definitely not Song Zheng, as he died before his time, so he hesitantly asked, “Could it be the Empress Tantai Yun?”

“By the time the Wanxiang Academy was converted into the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, Tantai Yun had already left for the Western Region. How could she have been here?” Sun Hewu shook his head.

Without waiting for Qi Xuansu’s second guess, Sun Hewu gave him the answer. “It was dictated by the first-generation Quanzhen Sect Great Master, Elder Shangguan, and personally engraved by the first Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master, Elder Ning. These annotations were also left by Elder Ning. They contain his insights and experiences.”

Qi Xuansu, being well-versed in the Holy Xuan Cards, was familiar with these legendary figures. Elder Shangguan was the Earthly Preceptor Shangguan Wan who had married into the Zhang family, while Elder Ning was the Great Sage Ning Yi who had founded the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Sun Hewu continued, “Back then, Elder Shangguan was very close to Song Zheng and had even conspired with Song Zheng and the deposed Heavenly Preceptor Zhang Jingchen to oppose the Holy Xuan.

“However, when Zhang Jingchen and Song Zheng were successively suppressed by the Holy Xuan, only Elder Shangguan repented and became the Holy Xuan’s righthand. That was likely how she came to learn the Demonic Blade. Of course, this is merely my speculation since there is no definitive record of it.

“One thing that has always puzzled me is that Song Zheng mastered two perfected methods—the Demonic Blade and the Longevity Maiden Sutra. While the Demonic Blade fell into Elder Shangguan’s hands, the Longevity Maiden Sutra was passed down to the Qingqiu lineage of the Taiping Sect. But there has never been any known connection between Song Zheng and Qingqiu Mountain, which is quite a mystery.”

At this point, Sun Hewu felt he might have spoken too much and added, “This all happened before the Holy Xuan unified the Five Lineages. Once he consolidated the teachings, everyone had access to them, so lineage became irrelevant.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I recall that Elder Ning was also a master of blade techniques.”

“Indeed.” Sun Hewu nodded. “At the time, the Three Great Blades of the world were Heavenly Blade, Demonic Blade, and Bloody Blade, which were the nicknames of Emperor Gaozu, Song Zheng, and Elder Ning, respectively.

“In his youth, Elder Ning single-handedly exterminated more than half of the horse bandits in the Western Regions with his blade. One can only imagine how many lives he claimed. The number may have exceeded even Song Zheng’s kills.

“Many people believe that Song Zheng took more lives simply because the individuals who died at his hands were more famous. If one were to count the nameless ones, Elder Ning’s kill count would be even higher.”

Qi Xuansu remarked, “If we talk about killing, Heavenly Blade may not have personally slain many. But when his forces marched across the land to claim the nation, corpses must have littered the fields. If we count those, Demonic Blade and Bloody Blade might not match Heavenly Blade’s kill count.”

“Perhaps,” Sun Hewu said, uninterested in arguing over such matters. “The Demonic Blade you are learning now is actually the improved version by Elder Ning, incorporating his own insights to compensate for some of its flaws. A trace of its true meaning remains in this text, left by Elder Ning himself. Since you’ve endured the 99 blades, do you want to witness Elder Ning wielding the blade personally?”

Qi Xuansu did not hesitate and replied immediately, “Of course!”

Sun Hewu chuckled. “Elder Ning is from the Earthly Immortal lineage. When his qi cultivation reached profound depths, he could transform his innate qi into a myriad of things.

“Back then, when Elder Shangguan visited the Wanxiang Daoist Palace and debated with Elder Ning, she not only left behind the Taiyin 13 Swords and the Demonic Blade but also engaged in a duel with Elder Ning.

“This duel was preserved in an illusion created from innate qi and has been passed down through generations. In this duel, Elder Shangguan used the Demonic Sword of the Taiyin 13 Swords, while Elder Ning used the Demonic Blade. It’s a clash of the Demonic Sword against the Demonic Blade.”

As soon as Sun Hewu finished speaking, the scene before Qi Xuansu shifted, and two figures appeared—one male and one female. The man held a blade, while the woman was unarmed.

These were the two elders that Sun Hewu had mentioned.

The woman spread her hands apart, thrusting her ten fingers into the void at her sides. Her palms seemed to vanish into thin air. When she pulled them back, ten thin swords made of yin-fire emerged from her fingertips and launched toward the man.

Wherever the yin fire passed, the space distorted violently, causing her figure to flicker indistinctly.

The man swung his blade in a flurry, slashing wildly in all directions. Though seemingly aimless, he managed to deflect all ten swords.

The woman’s form flickered unpredictably as the ten yin-fire swords wavered, bending and stretching, shifting in endless variations.

As their battle intensified, the man’s blade suddenly split into two, forming twin blades. His strikes grew increasingly chaotic, and his killing intent soared to new heights.

His blades moved even before he did, and no matter how the ten yin-fire swords transformed, they could not break through the intricate web woven by his twin blades.

Qi Xuansu had never trained in the Taiyin 13 Swords, so he could not grasp the profound mysteries of the Demonic Sword. Instead, he focused entirely on the man’s blade techniques, casting aside all unnecessary distractions.

The man’s blade techniques not only allowed Qi Xuansu to fully experience the overwhelming presence of the Demonic Blade but also let him glimpse a portion of its terrifying power.

As Elder Ning swung his blades, Qi Xuansu felt as though the sky had darkened and the earth had turned into a sea of blood. Corpses lay strewn everywhere, and an overwhelming killing intent corrupted his mind.

For a brief moment, the Demonic Blade Qi Xuansu had trained in resonated with this power. Instinctively, he gripped his Flying Shadow, his body moving with the horizontal blade.

Qi Xuansu slashed wildly like a raging storm. His attacks seemed disorderly yet struck directly at every weakness. Though he followed a different path, he ultimately converged with the Heavenly Blade, weaving a net of death and destruction.

However, when facing the true Demonic Blade, the weaknesses Qi Xuansu saw were actually traps. In an instant, Qi Xuansu felt the backlash of 99 consecutive blades landing on his body, cutting through his clothes without damaging them. Yet, each strike reached the bone and tore through his flesh.

The next moment, all illusions vanished, and Qi Xuansu awakened. However, the 99 wounds on his body remained, blurring the line between illusion and reality. This showcased the power of one’s mind. As long as one believed in the falsehood, it would become real.

“What a terrifying Demonic Blade,” Qi Xuansu murmured after a long pause, finally regaining his senses.

The previous strike was not personally executed by Elder Ning. It was an illusion. Thus, the cultivation level was the same as his. Besides, Elder Ning’s Demonic Blade was not aimed at Qi Xuansu. It was intended to counter Elder Shangguan’s Sword Demon Manifestation.

However, Qi Xuansu resonated with the technique and instinctively struck out, only to be immediately rebounded by the true Demonic Blade, resulting in instant defeat.

It was not even a proper confrontation and was more akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot—utterly insignificant in affecting the outcome.

Qi Xuansu was not aiming to defeat Elder Ning’s illusion but to gain insight from it.

Sun Hewu asked, “Did you gain any insight?”

Recalling the resonance he had just experienced, Qi Xuansu hesitated slightly before asking, “Is the second profound truth of the Demonic Blade to use killing to stop killing?”

Sun Hewu smiled approvingly. “You’re quick to catch on. That is precisely the way to stop wars.”