Unsheathed

Chapter 350 (2): The Blade of a White Ape, the Words of a Noble Person

Bai Yuan looked around. The mountain-protection formation of Peace and Tranquility Mountain was actually split into two, an internal part and an external part. One was known, while one was concealed. The formation that Zhong Kui had attempted to activate moments before was the public one that the entire Parasol Leaf Continent was aware of.

Once this formation was successfully activated, a mirror would rise into the sky like the bright moon, shining radiance upon Peace and Tranquility Mountain and giving the demons and ghosts no place to hide or escape. Not only would their cultivation bases be suppressed by the radiance, but demons and ghosts would suffer further detrimental effects due to their innate weakness against the righteous radiance. Demons and ghosts that were slightly weaker—for example, those below the level of earth immortal—would be instantly killed by this radiance.

However, what Bai Yuan was truly afraid of wasn't this unhidden formation that he had already tampered with. Rather, he was afraid of Peace and Tranquility Mountain's true trump card.

The Radiant Moon Formation was powerful enough to awe and frighten half of the continent, yet outsiders would be unable to fathom its true purpose no matter how much they wracked their brains. In reality, this formation was simply created to allow Peace and Tranquility Mountain to more easily identify their opponents. This was all there was to it!

Which sect in Parasol Leaf Continent ranked third after Parasol Leaf Sect and Jade Tablet Sect?

For the past one thousand or so years, there was a general consensus among cultivators in Parasol Leaf Continent that Planchette Writing Sect, with its sect leaders being Dao partners at the Upper Five Tiers, should rank third. However, regardless of how people extolled the greatness of Planchette Writing Sect and sincerely believed in its might, Planchette Writing Sect had never accepted these claims that it was the third most powerful sect in Parasol Leaf Continent.

Regarding these debates, the sect leader of Planchette Writing Sect had always avoided making comments. He only made a related remark one single time, smiling and saying that if Planchette Writing Sect moved to that small continent in the north, would it pose any challenge at all to fight for first?

The streak of white light swimming around outside the territory of Peace and Tranquility Mountain once again pierced through the formless barrier around the sect, shooting over at an incredible speed and directly piercing down at Zhong Kui's head from the sky.

The numerous pages of characters that looked like waterfalls started to flow in reverse, forming a large and snow-white hemispherical barrier that completely enveloped Zhong Kui.

The tip of Bai Yuan's sword collided with the barrier, causing countless sparks to shoot into the surroundings.

The formidable might of the sword strike was slightly weakened, yet the aura of righteousness contained within Zhong Kui's barrier also dissipated at a rapid rate.

In fact, just the measly sparks from this collision were able to severely damage the towering ancient tree near the well prison, the viewing pavilion, and the cave abode where esteemed immortals cultivated. Countless birds and animals howled in anguish as they fled.

Zhong Kui paid no heed to the ancient sword that would inevitably shatter his waterfall barrier at some point in time. Instead, he stared intently at the white ape that was standing there in a calm and indomitable manner.

Bai Yuan appeared calm and composed, and there was even a hint of amusement and eager expectation on his face. It was clear that he wanted to see whether this noble scholar from Great Subduing Academy, whom he definitely had to kill, had any other trump cards up his sleeves.

The ancient sword piercing down at Zhong Kui's head had only been his second sword strike.

It was innately difficult for demons to cultivate, and becoming a sword cultivator was even more prohibitively difficult. Thus, demons who managed to become sword cultivators at the Upper Five Tiers could undoubtedly become powerful rulers of a territory in Savage World.

Meanwhile, demon sword cultivators at the Middle Five Tiers would also enjoy all kinds of benefits and special treatment—their status could be paralleled with that of scholarly disciples in Majestic World's Confucian academies. Demon sword cultivators at the Middle Five Tiers could be spared from capital punishment a single time even if they wantonly killed someone for revenge or attacked someone for no good reason.

On the other hand, those who broke the rules and wantonly killed demon sword cultivators would suffer severe punishment if they were caught, regardless of how lofty their status was.

Qi refiners from Majestic World were perhaps still unclear about just how terrifying great demon sword cultivators were. After all, there were countless demons, fiends, and spirits in the world, yet there were very few truly powerful great demons. However, the situation at the Sword Qi Great Wall was different, and the heroic deaths of countless human sword cultivators at the hands of great demon sword cultivators had already taught them about the terrifying destructive power and bloodthirsty nature of these foes.

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What made A'Liang so powerful? Why did he have so many admirers and supporters at the Sword Qi Great Wall? This was because A'Liang had tempered his Sword Dao at the Sword Qi Great Wall for one hundred years, and he had remained undefeated against Upper Five Tier great demon sword cultivators of similar cultivation. Not only that, but A'Liang had even pursued and hunted his enemies for tens of thousands of kilometers. In fact, he had even managed to slay a few great demon sword cultivators at the Upper Five Tiers.

Now that A'Liang had ascended from Majestic World and gone to engage in an intense fight with the Daoist second disciple in that strange place where heavenly demon ran amok, Qi refiners from Majestic World all felt like A'Liang would experience glory even if he was defeated.

In stark contrast, the large majority of demons from Savage World were convinced that A'Liang, who deserved to die ten thousand times over, would rival True Invincible and cause the Daoist second disciple to become False Invincible.

The demon tribe respected and revered powerful individuals, and this was the case even though they detested A'Liang to the core. Indeed, when a paramount great demon suggested that A'Liang be granted a sword tombstone at his grave in Savage World after he was slain...

...the entire Savage World, a place that Majestic World viewed as a land of wildlings, surprisingly accepted this suggestion with no objections. The demons regarded this as completely reasonable.

The one hundred or so Daoist priests who had stayed back in Peace and Tranquility Mountain didn't stand there idly. Almost all of them were the most junior-ranking disciples in the sect, and many of them were young Daoist priests who had already gone as pale as a sheet. However, their expressions remained determined and staunch.

"Get away from here! Don't seek death!" Zhong Kui instructed in a stern voice.

Even though an elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator from Peace and Tranquility Mountain had already recognized Bai Yuan, he still retorted at Zhong Kui's reasoning and said, "Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain are responsible for slaying demons and eliminating fiends. We won't stand idly by and watch an outsider die in front of us."

Bai Yuan didn't so much as glance at the elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator. He threw a casual punch, and his fist aura instantly obliterated the earth immortal and completely destroyed his golden core.

The elderly Golden Core Tier cultivator had repaid goodwill with goodwill. Thus, he had no regrets even though he was brutally killed.

This was the mindset of Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

This was also the mindset of Zhong Kui.

With a flick of his sleeves, the two wisps of azure wind flowed out from his azure sleeves and enveloped the Daoist priests from Peace and Tranquility Mountain, tossing them to someplace far away.

Bai Yuan paid no heed to this, tacitly allowing Zhong Kui to remove the Daoist priests from the battlefield.

Zhong Kui alone was indeed comparable in value to Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

With a single thought, Bai Yuan caused his ancient sword to pierce down even faster.

Zhong Kui quietly grabbed an azure-colored talisman with two fingers.

Using the Wind and Snow Awl that had the characters "Writing as if Assisted by the Gods" inscribed on it, Zhong Kui had drawn his self-created Sword Suppressing Talisman on this sagely talisman paper!

The azure-colored Sword Suppressing Talisman appeared above Zhong Kui's head the moment that Bai Yuan's sword pierced through the semi-spherical formation of waterfalls.

Like an otherworldly immortal plummeting into a blessed land, Bai Yuan's ancient sword surprisingly vanished without a trace.

Even Bai Yuan, who had refined the ancient sword for more than one thousand years, was unable to detect its presence.

The two large mountain-protection formations of Peace and Tranquility Mountain were like brilliant moons rising into the sky. They were like radiant mirrors that could illuminate the world, detecting demons and exposing fiends. In fact, these formations could even trap Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators for a brief moment.

The true killing blow would quickly follow, and this would be delivered by the four replica ancient immortal swords that the divinely powerful founder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain had exhausted his wealth and effort to create. Even though they were replicas, each ancient immortal sword was a pseudo-celestial tool. Once the four swords entered formation, their might would become even greater, allowing them to rival genuine celestial tools.

The ancient sword that Bai Yuan had carried on his back was coincidentally one of these four swords.

As a guest elder of Peace and Tranquility Mountain, he had done more than just pursue the great demon "escapees" from the well prison during the past three thousand years. In addition to this, he had also left the mountains in secret to kill enemies countless times. He had achieved many feats and provided meritorious service.

In the end, against much opposition, the sect leader of the generation one thousand years ago had bestowed one of the four ancient swords to the white ape for his unparalleled merit.

Even though Bai Yuan was unable to fully control the formation formed by the four ancient swords, manipulating it for a brief moment was far too easy. If an ordinary earth immortal were forced to channel and maintain the formation in a hurry, then Bai Yuan was confident that he could even wrest control of the formation.

After losing the ancient sword that was also his bonded item...

Bai Yuan narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. His movements were subtle, yet they were filled with overwhelming arrogance and bloodthirst.

Zhong Kui placed one hand behind his back and held the Wind and Snow Awl in his other hand, and he started to write the first character in the air as if he were standing in front of a desk.

The...

Sages...

Once...

Said...

Zhong Kui wrote these four characters extremely quickly.

Each character written by the Wind and Snow Awl hovered in front of Zhong Kui and radiated with a boundless aura.

Winds howled and clouds swirled above Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

Bai Yuan lightly shook his head.

He then vanished in a flash.

With his arms trailing behind him as if he were holding two heavy blades, Bai Yuan leaped over the entrance of the well prison and directly charged at Zhong Kui.

He swung his arms horizontally.

He didn't want to give the young noble scholar from Great Subduing Academy any chance at all.

This was not to say that Bai Yuan would be helpless if he allowed Zhong Kui to finish writing the sagely essay. After all, he had in fact immediately reached the Immortal Tier upon entering seclusion.

He had plotted carefully and suppressed his cultivation base for half a millennium.

There was the Unpolished Jade Tier between Zhong Kui and Bai Yuan, and naturally the insurmountable gulf between the Middle Five Tiers and the Upper Five Tiers. Thus, unless Zhong Kui was the reincarnation of the Dao Ancestor or Buddha, how could he, a Nascent Tier noble scholar, possibly survive?

Of course, it would be a different matter altogether if Zhong Kui could control the two mountain-protection formations of Peace and Tranquility Mountain at the same time. Sadly, Bai Yuan could completely ignore these formations unless they were personally controlled by the sect leader or the old ancestor of Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

In any case, things would genuinely become very troublesome if Bai Yuan remained in Peace and Tranquility Mountain for too long.

When Bai Yuan gently landed in the location where Zhong Kui had been standing a moment ago, the two halves of Zhong Kui's severed body were already lying in a pool of blood more than thirty meters away. He had been cleaved into two at the waist.

The four golden characters and the Wind and Snow Awl had also been obliterated.

Zhong Kui's magnificent and righteous golden core no longer existed, and his incredibly high-grade nascent soul also vanished from the world.

This was the consequence of being struck by the full-power attack of a twelfth tier sword cultivator.

Bai Yuan raised his hand and made a grabbing motion, pulling the azure-colored talisman already riddled with tears from the void. He rubbed the talisman between his fingers, allowing the ancient sword to break free from its restrictions. Bai Yuan then grabbed the hilt of the ancient sword and returned it to the scabbard on his back.

Bai Yuan took a glance at Zhong Kui, the noble scholar in azure who couldn't be saved even if a powerful immortal were present. He finally spoke for the first time, and his voice was hoarse and unhurried as he said, "You can consider this a heroic and righteous death."

The white ape looked up and gazed into the distance before stomping his feet and causing the entire Peace and Tranquility Mountain to shudder. With a single leap, he arrived at the peak of Peace and Tranquility Mountain. With a twist and a bound, he then rapidly shot toward the south.

Following the violent shudder, it was as if the restrictions were completely lifted from the bottom of the well prison, with an overwhelming murderous aura suffusing through the well prison and exploding into the surroundings.

After being suppressed in the well prison for countless years, the imprisoned demons experienced a momentary sense of shock and confusion before bellowing with laughter. The sinister demons and fiends were just about to charge out of the well prison and massacre the cultivators of Peace and Tranquility Mountain. However, their astonishingly sinister and bloodthirsty aura suddenly faltered at this moment, becoming hesitant and indecisive.

As it turned out... a speck of light had appeared to the north of Peace and Tranquility Mountain, someplace extremely far away.

This was followed by the relentless rumble of thunder and lightning that tore the seas of clouds to shreds.

The mountain shuddered again, and a tall and sturdy old man in Daoist robes and with gray hair landed beside Zhong Kui's corpse, his face filled with guilt, grief, and indignation.

A Golden Dao Manifestation rose from the ground and became almost as tall as Peace and Tranquility Mountain that towered into the sky. Raising his arm, the colossal Dao Manifestation of the old Daoist priest summoned a moon-like jade plate from the mountain and grabbed it in his hands, using it to unleash a ray of light toward the south.

At the same time, he flicked his sleeve and caused three bursts of sword light to rise from the south, east, and west of Peace and Tranquility Mountain. Three ancient swords flew over, hovering around his Golden Dao Manifestation.

The Daoist priest was none other than the old ancestor of Peace and Tranquility Mountain.