Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 204: Unifying Sword Qi

The manservant suspected nothing and hurriedly led Ding Songyan back toward the second courtyard.

This was an honored guest whom the Young Boss had insisted on meeting and chatting with despite his grave injuries. If he said the matter was important, then it surely was. There must be no delay.

Carrying Frostshade, Ding Songyan followed with steady steps. He sifted through the scents drifting toward him from every direction for possible clues while attending to every detail within his Chaos Realm.

The Envoy was suspected of using an evil entity to obliterate Qi Lingyi’s ghost, and she had sealed something resembling a ghost infant inside Accountant Ma’s child. It seemed highly likely that she cultivated the Demon Swallowing Evil Devouring Technique. Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil would affect her to some degree, producing subtle changes within the Chaos Realm that could help Ding Songyan locate her hiding location.

At the same time, Ding Songyan activated the Candle-Star Pupils, concentrating his scrutiny on dark places more than twenty meters away.

He continued in this fashion but found nothing unusual along the way.

Where has the Envoy hidden herself? Is she circling behind the east or west wing toward the main house? That’s possible. Those areas lie beyond my Chaos Realm, and the buildings block my view... Or did she infiltrate the residence, find it too heavily guarded to strike, and decide to withdraw? Was the scent I noticed left as she was leaving? Ding Songyan weighed the possibilities as he retraced his steps behind the manservant.

Something else about this struck him as odd.

Why would someone attempting an assassination wear such strongly scented powder? There are people in the Mountains-and-Seas Realm with actual dogs’ noses...

Is she simply less professional than the Ghost Yu Way, or is there another reason?

The manservant brought Ding Songyan back to the quiet chamber and said with an eager smile, ”Please wait here a moment, sir. I’ll inform the Young Boss.”

Ding Songyan nodded slightly and watched the manservant hurry deeper into the house. Martial artists in tight-fitting attire guarded both sides of the passage, many bearing visible physical anomalies. Skilled Sea-Treading Gang fighters were also concealed in the shadows.

After a brief assessment, Ding Songyan judged that even with his movement techniques, he would find it difficult to rush through to Liu Cheng’s sickroom without the gang members noticing.

The Celestial Stars Scripture and the Candlelit Nocturne Sutra were both far too open and forthright in nature to excel at stealth and infiltration. The Great Dream of Three Thousand Years and Mirror Lake Divine Reflection each had their ingenuity, but not in this regard.

For now, Ding Songyan could only make crude use of Establishing the Six Directions and Dividing the Four Seasons to create illusions, distort what the guards saw, and confuse their judgment. In broad daylight, this would merely delay his discovery, not truly conceal him.

Rushing to Liu Cheng’s bedroom would cause a commotion and give the Envoy an opening. But if I simply wait here, something might happen while he’s on his way... Have the servant pass on a message or a note? Discreet, but it would take too long... Forget it. Since I haven’t found any trace of the Envoy all this way, I’ll leave it to Heaven’s will. There’s no need to use a gravely injured Liu Cheng as bait... Ding Songyan sighed softly, then called into the depths of the house, ”Young Boss, I’ve received word that the Accumulated Evil Way hasn’t given up. They’ll send someone to assassinate you again!”

Carried by true qi, his voice rang out for everyone in that courtyard to hear. Some looked warily around, others grew guarded, and fear crossed a few faces.

After calling out, Ding Songyan suddenly felt much more at peace in body and mind. Even his thoughts flowed more freely.

Something quickly occurred to him.

The Envoy was suspected to have used an evil entity to obliterate Qi Lingyi’s ghost.

Does that mean she can make use of the underworld? The underworld... Ding Songyan’s gaze sharpened as he realized his mistake.

He should be using his yin eyes, not the Candle-Star Pupils!

As the hazy, translucent seed moved between his brows, Ding Songyan saw a vast, profound darkness and a wilderness without end.

Indistinct ghosts wandered endlessly through it. Occasional flashes of lightning cast a wan green glow, briefly illuminating broad stretches of the underworld.

In that lightning, Ding Songyan spotted a masked woman in dark clothes more than seventy meters away. Utterly unlike the ghosts around her, she was fleeing on invisible wings.

Just as I thought!

The Envoy was hiding in the underworld. No wonder Banishing Demons and Warding Off Evil didn’t affect her. We were in different worlds!

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Ding Songyan slipped his right hand behind his back.

He could not enter the underworld himself, but that did not mean he could exert no influence over it.

With his yin eyes still active, the hazy, translucent seed swiftly moved into his right palm. He felt a deathly chill that could freeze blood and marrow.

His right hand, hidden behind his back, passed into the underworld.

With a sharp snap, he flicked his right middle finger toward the fleeing Envoy.

A stream of dark, chaotic sword qi burst forth and raced through the smoke-black wilderness.

Suddenly, the sword qi drew in everything around it: cold winds, scattered lightning, dense darkness, and drifting ghostly flames. It tore them apart and absorbed them into itself.

Instead of weakening and dissipating after leaving Ding Songyan’s finger, it rapidly grew stronger.

Within a few breaths, a hollow trail of near-nothingness churned through the smoky darkness shrouding the underworld. It stretched some seventy to ninety meters and kept lengthening, driving the wandering ghosts instinctively away.

The fleeing woman sensed something and instinctively turned to glance behind her.

That single glance nearly froze her in place.

A torrent of sword qi, dozens of meters long and thick as a stone pillar, was bearing down on her. Its overwhelming majesty made it seem a strike from the heavens, from immortals and deities.

Ding Songyan was just as stunned by the transformation.

This sword strike released with a flick of the finger was called the Unifying Finger, or Unifying Sword Qi. He had created it while refining the Scripture of Returning to Stillness.

Ordinary sword qi was strongest just as it left the sword or finger. It then rapidly weakened and became increasingly difficult to control until it dispersed into the void.

A Dharma Realm Grandmaster could manipulate sword qi precisely within 3.85 meters. Beyond that, they could only guide its direction and keep it on course.

Between 3.85 and 11.55 meters, sword qi could wound but no longer kill unless it struck a vital point such as the glabella. Beyond that, its edge dulled further and its true qi grew more diffused. It could only be put to use through moves like Kindling Passes to Candle or the Accumulating Waters Divine Art’s Fathomless Depths.

There were exceptions. Grandmasters who cultivated the White Emperor’s inheritance, for example, far surpassed their peers in both the power and range of their sword qi.

Ding Songyan’s Unifying Sword Qi, however, naturally dissolved the surrounding qi and absorbed it after leaving his finger or sword, preserving its original edge. It still weakened, but its ability to replenish itself meant it dissipated very slowly and could strike enemies much farther away.

His precise control over it extended only through his Chaos Realm. Once it traveled more than twenty meters away, he could no longer manipulate it so finely.

To Ding Songyan, Unifying Sword Qi was more like a concealed projectile such as an iron pellet, capable of injuring targets dozens of meters away. At night, it was almost invisible, though its passage was far from quiet.

He had only meant to try catching the Envoy off guard with the Unifying Finger. There was no harm in trying. Who could have imagined that, in the underworld, his Unifying Sword Qi would be like a tiger released into the mountains or a dragon returning to the sea? It absorbed everything in its path and swiftly swelled into a sword worthy of immortals and deities.

The Envoy tried to change course, but the terrifying sword qi had already caught up with her.

With a metallic ring, she drew a spike and swept it diagonally upward. Dense black qi, formed from illusory acts of evil, covered its surface.

Without a sound, the immense torrent of sword qi struck the spike.

The dense black qi collapsed instantly. The spike held for only a moment before shattering into countless fragments.

The Envoy used the impact to propel herself backward. Half the black cloth covering her face fell away.

She was in her forties. Her features might have been attractive, but her face was as savage as a vicious tiger’s. Black markings on her forehead even formed the character for ”evil.” The sparse hair on her body stood on end like fine needles.

Blood now trickled from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

The dark, chaotic sword qi finally dispersed, but the surrounding ghosts erupted into a frenzy. High above and far away, it seemed that something unspeakably terrifying was about to emerge.

They had caught the scent of living flesh and blood!

The Envoy could spare no thought for anything else. She tumbled several meters away.

A black shadow surged from within her and enveloped her, whisking her out of the underworld.

Ding Songyan promptly closed his yin eyes as well. A living person had spilled blood in the underworld. Who knew what horrors it might attract? If Nine Feng’s remnant soul appeared again, wouldn’t remaining in his spirit-channeling state be wishing for death?

The scene before him returned to normal. He heard a brief commotion from the front courtyard, followed by silence.

Was the Envoy forced out of the underworld too soon, spotted by the guards, and driven to escape by some other means?

The Unifying Sword Qi is surprisingly terrifying in the underworld... Is it because the realm of the dead is more illusory, less stable, and easier for it to absorb into itself?

That strike even carried a little of a Heaven-Man’s might... Thoughts rushed through Ding Songyan’s mind.

He was about to check whether the Envoy had left any traces when he saw Liu Cheng laboriously approaching, supported by the pretty maids.

”Brother Ding, where did you hear this?” Liu Cheng asked urgently.

Ding Songyan motioned for the maids to step back and supported Liu Cheng himself, speaking quietly into his ear.

”I caught a scent of jasmine with a sandalwood base in the front courtyard’s covered walkway...”

Liu Cheng had heard Accountant Ma mention that scent. His expression shifted as belated fear crept over him.

He suddenly looked at Ding Songyan. Several expressions crossed his face before he said softly, ”Brother Ding, you gave up the chance to catch the Envoy to save me.”

Brother Ding may only be at the perfected Great Proliferation Realm, but his Candlelit Nocturne Sutra should counter the Envoy very effectively. One of our Grandmasters is guarding the courtyard too. If they disregarded my safety, they could surely hold out until the watchtower noticed and other powerhouses arrived.

Before Ding Songyan could reply, Liu Cheng added with heartfelt admiration, ”A true disciple of the Brightnight Sect!”