Chapter 53: Sword Grave

The dark-red tumor and the old man were dealt with, and calm returned to the ancestral hall. Only the dozens of villagers lying on the ground showed that everything that had just happened inside the hall had been anything but ordinary.

The little girl gradually regained consciousness. When she saw her kneeling elder sister and her father lying on the ground, it was as if thunder had struck through her mind, and tears streamed down her face.

She slowly crawled over to her father’s corpse and looked at the man’s body, riddled with wounds. Her small hand gently stroked him.

“That must have hurt a lot, right, Dad…”

After a long while, the short-haired girl gathered her emotions and carried the unconscious villagers to a flat area, then gathered the dead bodies together.

One after another, villagers woke up. They looked at the ancestral hall in utter disarray, then at their own bodies in an equally sorry state. Some cursed loudly, some remained silent, and some looked utterly despairing.

The Sacrificial Spirit that had protected the village had died just like that. As ordinary people, how were they supposed to preserve their lives against the endless stream of demonic beasts and weird entities?

Little Paper Man picked up the dark-red strands of hair scattered across the ground and wrote across his own body.

“Although these strands lost much of their power after that Sacrificial Spirit died, they still retain a faint trace of spirituality. They can be used to control and deal with some substandard demonic beasts.

“As for the future, you can continue using that dark-red viscous liquid to refine the hair. Although it no longer has the spirituality bestowed by the Sacrificial Spirit, you can try refining some weapons with special functions.”

After writing, he called the short-haired girl to a deserted corner.

“I have a set of basic defensive arrays here. I can teach it to you. With me saving your little sister just now, you now owe me two favors.

“Keep this paper slip. Once the two of you become strong enough, you can follow the guidance on it to find me. At that time, we’ll wipe the debt clean.”

Lu Yuan left the short-haired girl a set of basic arrays, an ordinary reward that had previously come from a light orb. Its effects were far inferior to the Mist-Concealing Confusion Array. Any ordinary person with a careful and quick mind could set up this kind of array with enough effort.

He greatly admired this short-haired girl’s spirit of resistance, and he had also obtained a decent spiritual herb seed from her.

As for the younger sister, after the sacrificial rite was interrupted halfway through, her body had also undergone a mysterious change. When her head of black hair swayed, it gave off an eerie, bewitching feeling.

“Senior, we will remember your great kindness in our hearts. One day, even if we must risk our lives, my sister and I will fulfill our promise to you.”

The short-haired girl swore a heart demon oath and made a solemn promise.

…

“Is this the place?”

Outside the cave abode, a handsome cultivator carrying a black sword case on his back walked out of the forest and asked the delicate-looking cultivator behind him.

The sword cultivator was leisurely and at ease, his manner calm and composed, as though he were strolling through his own garden.

“Yes, Martial Uncle Bai. The third-rank Sword-Nurturing Gourd is inside the secret realm up ahead.”

The delicate-looking cultivator lowered his head and answered. Beside him, a high-level Qi Refining cultivator was equally respectful.

After leaving the secret realm last time, he had presented the third-rank Sword-Nurturing Gourd in his hand to this Martial Uncle Bai.

The Martial Uncle Bai he spoke of was named Bai Kun. He had an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation level and was fond of all things related to swords.

The third-rank Sword-Nurturing Gourd had suited his taste perfectly. Bai Kun had given him a generous reward in return. After asking a few questions and learning that a third-rank Sword-Nurturing Gourd vine grew in a certain secret realm, Bai Kun had the delicate-looking cultivator lead him here.

The high-level Qi Refining cultivator accompanying the two of them was skilled in the way of spiritual plants. The purpose of calling him over was to transplant the Sword-Nurturing Gourd out intact.

The delicate-looking cultivator had already entered the secret realm twice before. In addition, when he left the second time, he had kept an extra eye out and planted a special marker near the secret realm. So this time, even without the paper slip’s guidance, they successfully arrived outside the secret realm.

“Why does it feel like that secret realm has changed again?”

Not far away, mist drifted faintly, appearing and disappearing, almost impossible to see.

But the delicate-looking cultivator clearly remembered that the first two times he had entered, the mist outside had been extremely dense. Beyond ten feet, one could not make out another person’s figure.

“What happened to that fog array you mentioned before?”

Bai Kun looked at the Mind-Bewildering Flower displayed before the three of them and asked casually.

“Right, where did such a large array go?” the delicate-looking cultivator muttered to himself. “Where did it disappear to?”

If he had not already been close to becoming a high-level Qi Refining cultivator, with exceptional spiritual sense and a powerful memory, everything before his eyes would have made him wonder whether someone had secretly tampered with his recollections.

“Hmm? Are you asking me?” Bai Kun raised his sword-like brows and turned to look at the delicate-looking cultivator.

“No, Martial Uncle Bai. To be honest, I’m also extremely puzzled. The first two times I entered this secret realm, there was dense fog outside, but this time there actually isn’t any.

“However, last time, I already felt that this secret realm was a little strange. Every time I came in, some bizarre change would occur.

“Last time was like that too. Its area expanded many times over. The Sword-Nurturing Gourd that was originally inside a stone cave inexplicably ended up outside the stone cave, and also…”

Sensing the sharp sword intent in Bai Kun’s eyes, the delicate-looking cultivator instantly came to his senses and hurriedly explained.

“Enough. No need to say more. Whether it changes or not, it’s just a mere secret realm. I’ll break it with one sword!”

Bai Kun took a step forward. The sword case on his back rang with a metallic hum. A streak of crimson light shot out from within it, carrying boundless sword intent as it charged straight toward the secret realm.

With a ding, a layer of transparent ripples appeared brightly within the forest. However fiercely the crimson light had charged, that was how quickly it fell. In an instant, it lay stiffly on the ground in front of Bai Kun, utterly unconscious as a sword.

The delicate-looking cultivator and the spiritual plant cultivator behind him both lowered their heads, indicating that they had heard nothing and seen nothing.

“Mm. This secret realm does indeed have something to it. That first sword just now was merely a probe. For the second sword, I’m going to get serious.”

Bai Kun coughed lightly. In front of the two juniors, he was somewhat unable to save face. He closed his eyes and focused, communicating with the flying sword inside the sword case. Very quickly, a snow-white streak of light shot forward with even greater speed and even more astonishing force, advancing without hesitation toward the secret realm.

“Ding!”

The familiar sound rang out, this time sounding even clearer and more pleasing to the ear.

The swords on the ground had become a pair…

The delicate-looking cultivator stood where he was, his toes fidgeting restlessly, wishing he could immediately go blind and deaf.

“What kind of array is this? Isn’t it the Mist-Concealing Confusion Array? How can the full-force strike of a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator like me fail to cause even the slightest change?”

Bai Kun thought this to himself. He took a deep breath and said nothing more. The sword case detached from his back and floated above his head. Intense and rapid tremors came from within, as though countless strands of sword intent were being born.

“Open!”

The sword case opened. Amid a howling rush, hundreds upon hundreds of sword intent streams surged like wandering dragons. Sword intent pierced the heavens with imposing might as they attacked the transparent ripples appearing over the secret realm at shocking speed.

“Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding…”

The flying swords’ companions on the ground suddenly multiplied by a great many, densely packed and layered one atop another, forming a small flying sword mountain with a strange shape.

The delicate-looking cultivator glanced at it and felt that the small flying sword mountain looked just like a grave, one that would be just right for burying two people…

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