Martial Cultivator

The Great Liang Emperor had said at that point in time, the worst outcome he could imagine then was mutual destruction.

Chen Chao had asked, “Did Your Majesty never think you would lose?”

The Great Liang Emperor shook his head and said calmly, “In this life of mine, We may not win, but We will never lose.”

If not for this belief, he would not have raised an army to revolt back then, nor would he have gone alone into the desolate north.

It was only at that moment that Chen Chao came to understand why his uncle had been able to become the number one martial artist in the world.

With no one ahead of him, and never looking behind, letting others chase all they wanted. He had always believed that he was the greatest man under heaven, second to none.

That kind of conviction sounds simple when said, but in truth, very few people in this world can actually possess it.

Chen Chao could not help but admire him.

As he walked through the streets of Xuanling Commandery, Chen Chao did not see the scenes he had not wanted to see. It seemed that the great shock to Xinliu Prefecture back then had left its mark. To this day, no one dared to stir up trouble here.

Chen Chao felt satisfied. Back then, his uncle had killed many people, washing Xuanling Commandery in blood once. It seemed to have had an effect.

In this world, sometimes such iron-blooded methods are exactly what is needed.

But seeing the wooden plaques posted on many doorways, Chen Chao could not help but feel vicissitudes of emotion too.

In order to resist the demon race, Great Liang had indeed paid far too many lives over these years.

And yet even so, when facing the demon race, Great Liang had not retreated a single step. The northern frontier’s gate had not been breached for over two hundred years.

In those two hundred years, the common people had at least not suffered wanton slaughter by the demon race.

Chen Chao took a deep breath. For the past two hundred years of Chen Family emperors, they had more or less lived up to the people of the world.

As one of their members, Chen Chao felt honored.

A person living in this world, in the end, they must do something.

Chen Chao strolled around the streets for a while. He had initially planned to leave, but soon recalled a small matter his uncle had once mentioned to him.

Not far from Xuanling Commandery, there was a small mountain temple. Within that temple was a rather good flying sword.

Although Chen Chao did not cultivate the sword, his beloved was a sword cultivator, he had friends who were sword cultivators, and he had also witnessed that number one great sword immortal of the current era draw his sword before. So, in truth, he held a certain admiration for the grace of sword cultivators.

In fact, it was not just him. Even the Great Liang Emperor, in his youth, had once greatly admired the grace of sword cultivators.

In the previous dynasty, there had even been a famous poet who had written many works that passed down through the ages. That poet had once bluntly stated: among the world’s cultivators, each has their strengths and weaknesses, but in terms of elegance and style, sword cultivators claim eight tenths, grand daoist sages take one tenth, and the remaining one tenth is divided among the rest of the world.

In this ranking, martial artists were not even mentioned. But few martial artists ever objected, and even other cultivators seldom did. When it came to sword cultivators, beyond fearing their killing power, people truly envied their elegance.

That kind of elegance, no other cultivators in the world could possess it.

Chen Chao spread his divine sense and searched outside the city. Sure enough, he detected a faint wisp of sword intent in the distant mountains.

Following that trace, he entered the mountain, and casually took care of some demons hiding within.

Now that he was a Nepenthe Realm Lord Warden Commander of Great Liang, when facing demons within Great Liang’s borders, killing them was practically a matter of a single thought.

There was absolutely no difficulty involved.

For other Nepenthe cultivators, even if they held the same position, they likely would not bother with this kind of casual effort. But Chen Chao carried it out without a trace of complaint. He had even thought that when the time came, he would organize cultivators to hunt demons across the world.

The calamity of demons under heaven, perhaps it could be completely eradicated in this dynasty.

It was certainly an ambitious plan, something no emperor through the ages had accomplished. So for Chen Chao to try to succeed would not be easy either.

After spending quite a bit of time, Chen Chao finally arrived before that small temple in the mountains. The temple was built entirely of yellow mud, clearly aged with many years, yet for some reason it had not collapsed. Wild grasses grew thick at the entrance, with no signs of any visitors.

This temple was definitely built in the previous dynasty, as the current dynasty did not believe in ghosts and gods, mountain gods and the like were simply not worshipped.

Chen Chao stepped inside. The sword intent grew stronger.

Although he was not a sword cultivator, even he could sense that this sword intent was exceptional. This flying sword was pretty good, it would probably rank at least upper-middle among the swords stored at Sword Qi Mountain.

That said, Chen Chao was still an outsider to Sword Dao, and could not claim to be an expert.

Standing inside the small temple, Chen Chao looked at the mountain god statue before him, its paint long since worn away, and was more or less certain that the flying sword was inside it.

Since he was not a sword cultivator, he naturally had no intention of retrieving the sword. What he thought of, standing there, was the place where he and Xie Nandu had first met.

It too had been a mountain god temple.

However, that night had been filled with howling wind and snow, with demons roaming outside. But now, things were no longer the same as back then.

The young girl who had once traveled from White Deer’s Xie Clan to the Divine Capital was now in the northern frontier, continuing forward in pursuit of her dream. And he, who had once been merely an ordinary county’s warden, by this point had already become the Lord Warden Commander of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Chen Chao smiled slightly and came back to his senses. He had no intention of lingering here, and instead stepped out of the dilapidated temple.

But just as he stepped out of the rundown temple, he immediately sensed a wave of thick demonic qi rushing from the southeast. It was vast and overwhelming, surging toward him.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes slightly. A great demon?

Within Great Liang territory, there was still a demon with such cultivation?

Chen Chao found it somewhat strange. If such a being truly existed, it must have cultivated in seclusion for countless years.

He reached out and pressed his hand on his saber’s hilt, holding his breath and focusing his mind. Since the other party had already discovered his presence and was clearly coming for him, then all he needed to do was cut it down.

A great demon, once upon a time he might have hesitated, but now, Chen Chao was no longer concerned.

He licked his lips. For some reason, a familiar feeling suddenly surged up in him. He suddenly had the same feeling as when he had hunted demons in Tianqing County.

Back then, he had often clashed with demons.

Not like now, where every day was spent scheming and maneuvering with other cultivators.

......

......

The demonic qi swept in rapidly, whistling through the air. Half the sky had already turned pitch-black, as if a great storm was about to break.

Chen Chao looked up and smiled faintly.

But very quickly, he noticed something unusual. Just ahead, that overwhelming demonic qi suddenly dissipated in front of him.

As if it had never appeared at all.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes slightly.

Within the forest before him, suddenly from several thousand feet away, trees began to rise from the ground. Countless towering trees soared into the sky, like countless flying swords, sweeping toward Chen Chao.

The commotion was huge.

Chen Chao gripped his saber tightly. When those trees came within several feet of him, he suddenly drew his saber.

A massive saber beam cleaved open the heavens and earth!

And at the same time, it cleaved through the countless trees in front of him.

Chen Chao bent his knees slightly, then suddenly dashed forward. The Cloud Mud in his hand dragged along the ground, kicking up clouds of yellow dust.

Chen Chao was like a primordial fierce beast, charging forward through the falling trees and swirling leaves.

Not far ahead, a woman with snow-white pupils stood quietly among the trees, looking in his direction with utter calm.

There was no scene reflected in her eyes, only eyes full of killing intent.

This time she had come south, for no other reason than to kill this young man before her.