Cultivating with Top Enlightenment

Chapter 118: Chapter 104: Slaughter (Requesting Monthly Votes!)

The snow on True Martial Mountain fell even heavier.

Even though Taoist Longshan was already a Celestial Human Realm expert, he wouldn’t casually change the heavenly phenomena.

As the year-end approached, one by one, disciples of the True Martial Sect gradually returned to the mountain. Both Outer Sect and Inner Sect disciples were itching to showcase their skills at the year-end martial arts competition. With Taoist Longshan stepping into the Celestial Human Realm, the True Martial Sect also began to expand in an orderly manner.

The rewards at the competition were even more generous, with many martial arts secret techniques tempting the disciples greatly.

But what they didn’t know was.

Most of these were created by Ning Qi.

Over the years, Ning Qi had read through the Scripture Pavilion. Even casual creations were remarkable martial arts. With his current level, creating martial arts for the Body Tempering Realm and Inner Essence Realm was as easy as eating and drinking.

His focus now was mainly on Celestial Human-level secret techniques.

One by one, True Disciples also returned to the mountain.

They had all visibly improved, but none brought back the news Ning Qi wanted to know about the Martial Saint. Each felt guilty and only managed to collect more miscellaneous books to enrich the Scripture Pavilion.

Ning Qi was not surprised by this, only smiling and comforting his senior brothers that it was alright, and to pay more attention in the future.

After all, it was just a try; the senior brother and sister had Inner Essence Realm and Gang Essence Realm cultivation. Seeking out anything related to the Martial Saint, even just rumors, required luck.

But Jiang Baishan seemed to have better luck.

He was the last to return to the mountain.

This time, Jiang Baishan returned with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth, unlike the last embarrassing return.

Everyone teased him about nearly having his arm severed last time and asked if he had avenged the incident this time. Jiang Baishan only slightly awkwardly shook his head, not minding the teasing but unwilling to reveal more details.

Everyone clicked their tongues in wonder.

Soon, they were drawn to another piece of news that Jiang Baishan brought: ”Junior Brother, though I didn’t find news about the Martial Saint this time, I learned something about beings of the same level as the Martial Saint.”

Ning Qi became interested and quickly caught on: ”You mean, Exotic Beasts?”

Jiang Baishan smiled and said: ”Correct, as we all know, Exotic Beasts are said to be descendants of Heavenly Beasts. Exotic Beasts comparable to Celestial Human Realm experts are called Beast Kings, while those comparable to Martial Saints are called Beast Emperors. I heard there is a Beast Emperor in the depths of the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the Southern Border!” ”But for some reason, these Beast Emperors have gradually disappeared after a brief appearance, rarely venturing out.” ”There’s a theory that the Beast Emperors have delved deeply into their Heavenly Beast bloodline, but since Heavenly Beasts are said not to be tolerated by heaven and earth, these Beast Emperors might face similar treatment.”

Ning Qi’s eyes lit up with increased interest. ”Where did you hear this news?”

Jiang Baishan scratched his head and said: ”I heard it by chance, not sure if it’s true, so don’t take it all to heart, Junior Brother.”

Ning Qi nodded slightly.

His intuition told him there was a connection between Beast Emperors and entities of the Martial Saint level, undoubtedly not unrelated.

Perhaps one day, if the White Ape’s bloodline is explored deeply enough to advance to a Beast Emperor, there might be hope to uncover the truth. Ning Qi silently kept this thought in his mind; it might be a long road, but it’s not impossible.

Jiang Baishan continued: ”Next year, I’ll look for more detailed information.”

Ning Qi nodded with a smile.

He always felt that the news Jiang Baishan obtained might be related to that mysterious woman, but he didn’t press the matter. Everyone has their secrets, and even with good relations between brothers, there needs to be some sense of boundaries. Knowing such a piece of information was already very satisfying to him. ...

As the year-end gathering unfolded, everyone shared sights and sounds from the places below the mountain.

Ning Qi, who had spent most of his time on True Martial Mountain, listened with interest. Over the past nine years, besides experiencing a bit of Great Yan Dynasty’s culture on his way to True Martial Mountain with Taoist Longshan, the farthest place he had been to was True Martial City at the mountain’s foot.

However, Ning Qi didn’t feel bored.

Being able to endure solitude leads to seeking the Great Dao.

But Ning Qi estimated.

He’d likely have to go down the mountain next year.

The root lies in the Blood Rain Tower.

A few days ago.

Someone sent a message via carrier pigeon to Taoist Longshan, indicating that the Blood Rain Tower had suddenly contracted, seemingly aware that someone was investigating them in secret. ”Little Jiu, this Blood Rain Tower isn’t simple. There might be a Celestial Human Realm expert behind it. The ones who slaughtered Snow Plum Manor years ago could have just been a small faction of it,” Taoist Longshan discussed with Ning Qi.

Eventually, Ning Qi decided.

After the year-end, he would personally track the movements of the Blood Rain Tower.

As long as Blood Rain Tower showed a flaw, with all the secret techniques Ning Qi possessed, it would be easy to trace. Though he originally intended to have someone else complete the process, with him only making the final move to slay the enemy, it seems best to resolve it quickly rather than let it drag on.

Ning Qi didn’t dwell too much on the issue.

With his current strength, finding them was enough. Even that ’Lord Feng’ was wary of Taoist Longshan when he was still in the Primordial Core Realm, so it’s unlikely they’d already reached Celestial Human Realm in these nine years — even unparalleled geniuses don’t advance that quickly.

Besides, even if they did reach the Celestial Human Realm, Ning Qi could easily suppress them.

The True Martial Sect’s year-end competition proceeded normally, with the sect thriving as a whole.

The foundation of the True Martial Sect was deepened further now, and with some time, they would surely burst forth with a great strength that would make everyone take notice. ...

Heavy snow fell.

The Divine Sword Sect was also holding a year-end competition. In the last battle at the Death Fire Abyss branch, the Divine Sword Old Man participated, too. However, he was fortunate and only suffered minor injuries, which had long since healed.

At this moment.

The Divine Sword Old Man watched the inner sect disciples spar, but his mind wandered elsewhere, recalling the news reported by a disciple two days ago, feeling something was amiss. ”Master, are you still thinking about the news Junior Brother Zhang brought back?” asked the senior disciple Dong He by his side. ”Wasn’t the Blood Pool already destroyed? You need not worry.”

The Divine Sword Old Man nodded: ”I feel that the Blood Pool is not that simple, not merely a wealthy merchant seeking longevity; perhaps it involves something greater.”

Dong He paused and said: ”If that’s the case, our Divine Sword Sect should not delve any deeper. If it involves something extensive, I’m afraid the disciples might get caught up in the turmoil. Better to act as if it never happened.”

The Divine Sword Old Man furrowed his brow, shouting angrily: ”Dong He! How have I taught you all usually? When encountering injustices, one must have a righteous heart. Ignoring demonic heresies makes one an accomplice. If we don’t pursue the Blood Pool matter to the end, who knows how many more innocent lives will be unjustly lost?”

His eyes showed disappointment towards Dong He.

Everyone looked on nervously, not knowing why the Divine Sword Old Man was so furious, why the master and the senior disciple suddenly clashed.

The Divine Sword Old Man, suppressing his anger, spoke in a deep voice: ”After the New Year, I will personally investigate this matter. I want to see who is stirring up trouble behind the scenes!”

Dong He bowed his head, his voice carrying an unusual tone: ”Master, why do you always cling to your pride, suffering just for appearances?”

The Divine Sword Old Man stood dumbfounded, looking at Dong He in disbelief, unable to believe such words were coming from his senior disciple’s mouth. ”You!”

Dong He slowly raised his head, his eyes showing a hint of blood-red. Without warning, he struck, a strand of Gang Qi slashing towards the close Divine Sword Old Man.

He didn’t know when he broke through to the White Mist Realm; even the Divine Sword Old Man hadn’t noticed. ”You what? Old thing, die for me!”

He roared angrily, his face frighteningly twisted, and everyone else watched the scene in shock, not knowing what was happening.

The Divine Sword Old Man trembled, his Primordial Core shook, Gang Qi surged, but he instantly noticed something wrong. ”Traitor! You poisoned me?”

He was furious and filled with deep sorrow.

Back in Divine Sword Mountain days, Dong He had followed him; he never expected to be betrayed today, making it unbelievable: ”Why?”

Dong He unsheathed his long sword, vicious Sword Qi slashing out, seemingly to unleash all his evil thoughts: ”Why? It’s all because you, old fool, cling to appearances and suffer for it, giving and asking for nothing. Losing at Divine Sword Mountain back then, you think yourself noble, but you are the fool of fools. Do you know how much cultivation time I wasted because of it?!” ”Why? How dare you ask me why? I also want a Gang Condensing Pill. I also want to break through to the Gang Essence Realm!”

Heaven knows how envious he was when Luo Wentian stepped into the Gang Essence Realm with a Gang Condensing Pill.

Unfortunately.

He wasn’t that lucky.

The Divine Sword Old Man was utterly disappointed, feeling his years of teachings had gone to waste, his eyes becoming sharp: ”Wretch, do you think poisoning me allows you to oppose me? Naive!”

Gang Qi surged within him, suppressing the poison.

Dong He’s smile grew twisted, blood-red in his eyes, with a certain satisfaction: ”I alone am indeed not able, but...” ”What about with us?”

Low laughter echoed; outside the Divine Sword Sect entrance, a group of black-clad figures attacked like eagles, carrying murderous intent. Even among the Divine Sword Sect, some disciples’ eyes turned blood-red.

The Divine Sword Old Man felt his heart sinking.

He knew.

Today might just be a calamity.

The origin of the attacking black-clad figures was unknown, but their leaders’ auras erupted; all were in the Primordial Core Realm, hard to handle even at his peak, let alone now, having been poisoned by Dong He. ”Divine Sword Sect disciples, meet the enemy!!” he shouted fiercely, howling toward the sky.

The battle was imminent.

Heavy snow flew, tainted with blood.

Screams and battle cries filled the Divine Sword Sect.

Zhuang Chen stood nearby, petrified by the change, unable to believe the usually kind and lovable senior brother had turned into a vicious specter. He gritted his teeth and wielded his sword, having reached the Inner Essence Realm, and with Ning Qi’s Innate Sword Body secret technique, could unleash remarkable power.

A leading black-clad figure focused on him: ”Capture that fat one for me! Alive!”

Greed flashed in the black-clad figure’s eyes, already informed by Dong He that Zhuang Chen was an Innate Sword Bone.

The Divine Sword Old Man moved his Gang Qi, shielding Zhuang Chen behind him. He looked back, his eyes desolate.

One familiar disciple after another lay in pools of blood.

The Divine Sword Sect was destined to be destroyed today.

Tears streamed down his face, heart full of guilt, but looking at Zhuang Chen, a hint of affection flickered in his eyes. ”Chen, as your master, I’ll protect you one last time!”

The Divine Sword Old Man roared to the sky; within him, his Primordial Core cracked with a loud sound, splintering. Boundless Gang Qi burst forth like a Divine Sword, sharp and unparalleled, his hair and beard spreading like a god or devil.

This was the final dance recorded in the incomplete Sword Saint legacy he had obtained back then.

Sword Pill Dissolving Technique.