Volcanic Age

"To think, back then… this would have been something I couldn't even dream of…"

The Seven Star Division only recruited soldiers who had reached First-Class or higher. Even if one had surpassed the First-Class and reached the Peak Realm, countless soldiers had cultivations higher than that.

In his previous lifetime, Zhou Xuchuan could barely manage a win in one-on-one battles against a single Seven Star Soldier. After just a few of those one-on-one battles, he would be exhausted and forced to retreat.

But now, he had just killed six of these formidable soldiers without having to use any strength.

Indeed, when he thought of the past, it really was unimaginable.

"So, you all are my past."

He opened his eyes and looked around.

"My present."

He began to imbue his sword with qi.

The seemingly translucent qi gradually became visible as the qi that was as formless as water solidified like ice.

All of a sudden, the faces of the soldiers hidden behind masks stiffened.

"Just who the hell are you?"

They couldn't understand what was going on. Even though it was happening right before their eyes, they found it hard to believe.

"You're… in the Harmony Realm…?"

The soldiers sighed, the aura blazing on Zhou Xuchuan's sword reflected in their eyes. No matter how they tried to rationalize it, the person in front of them was undoubtedly in the Harmony realm.

"I thought you were a Poison Master when I saw you use the Poison Palm just now, but to think you were a swordsman… No, first things first, I've never even heard of a Harmony Realm master who can manipulate poison to such an extent…"

"Hey."

Zhou Xuchuan interrupted the soldier's muttering.

"Seeing how you guys are now, I really can't let my guard down, can I?"

His slightly youthful tone changed, and so did the aura around him.

It was as if the soldiers were looking at a completely different person. The cold, sunken eyes of the young man before them shined as he calmly spoke in a dignified voice.

"I guess that's why you were able to take down all of the murim."

Bang!

A figure jumped behind Zhou Xuchuan, a soldier who had silently moved around to his back using a unique movement technique.[1]

The soldiers had taken advantage of the distraction created while the lead soldier and Zhou Xuchuan conversed, inching closer. It was truly a masterful display of their calm and collected mindset.

"There's something different from back then."

The soldier cleaved downward, intending to split Zhou Xuchuan's head in two.

Swish!

A chilling wind sliced through the air.

The moment the sword was about to touch Zhou Xuchuan's hair, his figure suddenly blurred before disappearing.

The soldier's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly fixed his stance and turned around, trying to track Zhou Xuchuan's movement as fast as he could.

“You guys weren’t this slow.”

Along with Zhou Xuchuan's voice, a sword drew a horizontal line from behind the soldier, slicing through his stomach.

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As the soldier's black garb tore, blood spurted out like a fountain through the seams, creating a bloody mist.

Even his spine had been severed.

His torso, now separated from his legs, couldn't stay upright and slid to the ground.

"Or did I just get faster?"

A gust of wind blew away the bloody mist, revealing an old man in its place.

Meanwhile, three soldiers had cornered Zhou Xuchuan from three sides.

The soldier furthest away blinked in surprise at the sight of the old man.

A geezer…?

The unknown assailant that had been attacking them before seemed barely in his twenties, which was why the soldiers had been so shocked by his advanced cultivation.

Strangely enough, despite his youthful appearance, the soldiers couldn't see him as anything but an old man.

Swish, swish, swish!

In the blink of an eye, the old man had already drawn his sword. The movement was so fast it left an afterimage.

"UGH!"

Blinking again, the soldier saw the three who had cornered Zhou Xuchuan falling to the ground, screaming.

But that sight lasted only an instant as he blinked once more.

Suddenly, the scent of plum blossoms filled the air.

"This is getting even more confusing," he muttered.

The mask of the last remaining soldier crinkled deeply near where his eyebrows should have been, indicating a furrowed brow.

He, or even, she, muttered to themselves in confusion.[2]

"Considering it smells like plum blossoms when you use your sword technique, you must be using the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. In that case, you should be an expert from Mount Hua. But… that's impossible considering everything you've shown so far. You even use poison arts on top of that… I've never even heard of a Righteous Faction member doing something like that."

"You bastards don't know anything other than what those above teach you or what you're informed of during an order. No matter how hard you think, you won't be able to recognize me. Because none of you are truly interested in me."

"Just how much about us do you really know?"

"I know that all Seven Star Division soldiers on missions have a poison pill hidden under their molars to avoid revealing information under torture."

"So, you know more than just surface-level basics, then. I never imagined there would be someone hidden so deep within our organization. How frustrating, knowing that I can't report it."

Crack!

The last remaining soldier bit down hard, breaking open the poison pill. He collapsed, his face hitting the ground as he spoke his last regrets.

After watching him fall, Zhou Xuchuan approached each of the Seven Star Division Soldiers, stabbing them in the back of the head with the tip of his sword to ensure they were dead.

"In the past, I would have considered something like this punishable for a Daoist like me, likening it to defiling a corpse…"

During the Era of War and Chaos, the Seven Star Soldiers had seemingly risen from the dead and attacked Zhou Xuchuan and the others more than once, causing many warriors to lose their lives.

After wiping the blood off his sword, Zhou Xuchuan sheathed it and picked up the corpses, carrying them on each shoulder.

“Now, let’s go in.”

***

The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom was a famous technique.

Considering it had been used for countless years, many people had studied the sword scars it left behind and could recognize the aftereffects. To prevent anyone from identifying his technique, Zhou Xuchuan moved all the corpses into the tomb and disposed of them.

As he walked into the entrance, he, fortunately, found a trap that created a pit near the entrance and threw all of the corpses into its gaping maw.

There were about a hundred spikes installed at the bottom of the pit, enough to damage the corpses to the point where the sword scars were unrecognizable. As if that weren't enough, Zhou Xuchuan grabbed a torch near the entrance and set the corpses ablaze.

"Hmm. Maybe I should have brought Shengji.”

The goal of his journey this time was to destroy any traps or mechanisms the Dark Heaven Association may have set up in the tomb. There was no need for Zhuge Shengji to accompany him, so Zhou Xuchuan had come alone.

However, coming alone made him feel a little lonely.

“I guess I’ll have to check everything I can first.”

Zhou Xuchuan leaped and landed on the other side of the pit.

After securing his sword at his waist, he bent his knees and strengthened the muscles in his legs.

"Let's go."

As if his words were a trigger, he rushed forward like a wild boar.

BOOM! BOOM!

Each step he took made a crashing sound. He deliberately put extra weight on his feet, trying to activate any traps or mechanisms along the way.

Thwip, thwip, thwip!

Countless holes opened in the walls on either side of him, arrows pouring out. These weren't ordinary arrows; they were coated with extremely deadly poisons. However, Zhou Xuchuan moved so quickly that none of the arrows hit him, crashing into the wall opposite him and falling to the ground.

The arrows weren't the only trap either, as various other mechanisms activated in response to his movement.

A poisonous fog suddenly filled the passage, but Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath and swallowed with pleasure.

Near the middle of the passage, the ground began to slope upward, and a massive boulder came rolling down. Zhou Xuchuan immediately cut it into pieces with his sword aura.

BOOM, CRACK!!!

SHING!

CRUNCH!!

The traps and mechanisms that the Ominous Demon, or the Dark Heaven Association, had painstakingly set up all activated at once, attacking Zhou Xuchuan.

However, he was unscathed.

Once one reached the Harmony Realm, it was nearly impossible for physical mechanisms to harm them, with poison mechanisms being one of the few mechanisms that Harmony realm masters had to be cautious about. However, since Zhou Xuchuan currently had the Thousand Poisons Immunity, that, too, wasn't a concern.

Of course, it was possible for a trap to use a poison that exceeded the limits of the Thousand Poisons Immunity, but such poisons were rare and generally not used in mechanisms.

Zhou Xuchuan continued to move forward, triggering every mechanism around him.

***

In an endless darkness, one of the seven heads of the Seven Stars Division, Blessed Existence, uncrossed their arms and stood up.

Though their face was shrouded in darkness, the change in their aura made it clear something had upset them.

"The tomb."

The voice was as jarring as grating metal, making it impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.

"Is there a problem?" another voice asked Blessed Existence. This time, it was easy to tell that the speaker was male.

"I'm not receiving the regular reports. Even taking any unexpected events into account, it's been too long since the last report. Either all the signaling tubes have been destroyed for some strange reason, or they are all dead."

Blessed Existence's eyes shone brightly.

"Is that so? Then, I'll go see what's going on," Destructive Soldier said, standing up.

***

The tomb of the Ominous Demon had several underground levels, like the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. The further Zhou Xuchuan progressed, the deeper he went.

"Hmm?"

As he descended the tomb, something strange caught his eye.

"The Yellow River flows somewhere near here…"

He could feel dampness on his palms as he rubbed the wall. There was noticeably more moisture in the air compared to earlier.

"I might be able to use this…" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, squinting his eyes.

“Let’s go down to the lowest level first.”

Just as he had been doing, he continued to descend the tomb, poking around and causing a cacophony of noise.

Sometimes, the ceiling collapsed above him, sometimes the ground fell apart completely, or the passages filled with fire or poison.

However, unlike the Three-Eyed Godly Thief's treasury, there weren't any wooden puppets or zombies.

Hours seemed to blend together, and by the time Zhou Xuchuan noticed, he had arrived at the lowest level after completely turning the tomb upside down.

"I'm much stronger than I thought."

Zhou Xuchuan was intoxicated by his own strength.

"From the moment I mastered the Violet Haze Divine Art or even the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, this current life is completely incomparable to my previous one."

Reaching the Harmony Realm was one thing. He not only possessed many incredible martial techniques he could use, but also different types as well.

Moreover, his cultivation alone was enough to beat most middle-aged experts completely. On top of all that, he had completed his Bodily Reformation and obtained the Thousand Poisons Immunity.

"I was wondering why the tomb of the Ominous Demon seemed so weak, but it turns out I'm just that strong.”

In less than twenty years, he had obtained power that surpassed his entire previous lifetime. Even if scoured the entire murim, it would be impossible to find another youth as strong as he was.

Although the experts of the world weren't publicly ranked, he was definitely among the top hundred strongest martial artists in the world.

"Well, it's not like any old dog or cow can use sword aura."

Zhou Xuchuan stopped walking.

"Is this a maze? Hm, I'm lost."

This was already his third time seeing the same place. While he might have blamed his second time passing this place to his strange mood, the third time couldn't be a coincidence.

He was lost.

"Then, I'll just create my own path."

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword, the aura on the blade cutting through the thick wall like tofu.

"Hoho! The hero of Mount Hua continues forward."

Zhou Xuchuan advanced, smiling like a tyrant.

He started exploring the lowest level. The designer of the maze had carved out a cavern so high thatlooking up at the ceiling would make one fall backward, straining their neck. The cavern was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people.

A soft carpet with fur that reached one's ankles was laid straight from the exit of the maze to the end of the cavern. Luminous night pearls carved into the shape of human skulls were placed on spears, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

If one looked up at the ceiling, they would see rows of stalactites, reminiscent of the ceiling of hell.

On the left, brilliant gold was piled up like a mountain, and on the right, weapons were arranged neatly.

Zhou Xuchuan headed to the right without hesitation.

1. Technically, tip-toeing, but that completely and utterly ruins the vibes in English. ☜

2. Uses male pronouns all the way up till now, where it says she to denote that the soldier's identity is still unknown. ☜