Chapter 013 - Who Said You Could Leave?
Everything was laid bare! The situation was dire! Yao Qingqian's face, cold as an icy ocean, had already condemned Yun Xiao to death.
"Yun Xiao," Cai Maomao spun around, his eyes wide in shock, "You killed Ye Guying's younger brother...?" He couldn't believe it. Why did the first disciple the Sword Pavilion welcomed in three whole years have to be a guy like him? "You... you're insane!"
"Senior Brother Cai, the consequences of my actions are mine alone." Yun Xiao's eyes remained calm, his voice unwavering. "I'll deal with this! So, go!"
"Senior Brother, huh...? And yet you..." Cai Maomao began, his expression shifting dramatically. He glared at Yun Xiao. "Y-you're insane. Absolutely out of your mind. I'm out. I want nothing to do with this! Clean up your own mess. Don't drag me into it!" With that, he gave a courteous bow to Yao Qingqian and turned to leave.
"Halt!" Yao Qingqian's voice echoed with a chilling smirk.
WHOOSH! With a single palm strike, a surge of power, vast like an ocean, erupted from her body. It transformed into a wave of force that viciously slammed into Cai Maomao's back. This was the power of the Divine Sea Realm! The energy within someone at the Divine Sea Realm was as vast as an ocean, its might easily shaking the heavens and earth. Its force rolled back like a reversed river, something far beyond what the Dragon Spring Realm could match.
SPLUTTER! Cai Maomao spat out a mouthful of dark blood, his face turning ghostly white, stumbling a few steps.
Yun Xiao rushed to support him. As the clotted blood from Cai Maomao's mouth dripped onto Yun Xiao's white robes, a hint of red began to seethe within Yun Xiao's eyes.
"Heh heh..." Yao Qingqian smirked, her laughter dripping with condescension. "Do you take me for a fool? Did you think I wouldn't see you were trying to get help?" With her power as a senior, she had sent Cai Maomao reeling with just one palm strike. The lad could hardly stand!
"Let me tell you something! Yun Xiao has committed a grave sin. Even if you managed to summon Zhao Xuanran's father, this young man would still meet his end under Swordking Ye's fury!" Yao Qingqian shrugged, rolling her eyes, her expression a blend of seduction and mockery. She was powerful. She was an elder. She had been cultivating for thirty years! So, here, her word was law.
"Yun Xiao!" Yao Qingqian raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
Yun Xiao was using his Dragon Spring Realm power to stabilize Cai Maomao's internal injuries while fixing his gaze on Yao Qingqian, this female elder, who had been dismissive of him even during the Heavenly Path Trial!!
"Do you know who Ye Guying is?" Yao Qingqian asked coldly.
"I'm more than aware." Yun Xiao replied.
"Then why did you kill Ye Guao?" Yao Qingqian's voice was laced with anger.
"When I decide to kill someone, I don't need a reason," Yun Xiao stated.
"You!" Yao Qingqian was at a loss for words, staring at him in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? Ye Guying is the future pillar of Azure Spirit! And you dare kill his own brother?"
"Elder Yao," Wang Feng sneered. "He's just a fool, clueless about the terrifying figure he's offended!"
Yun Xiao didn't spare Wang Feng a glance. Instead, he smiled at Yao Qingqian and said, "Elder Yao, as you mentioned, that's the future. And who can really predict the future?" His words combined with that cold chuckle left Yao Qingqian and Wang Feng momentarily stunned.
"I think I get it now," Yao Qingqian said with a sigh, shaking her head as she looked at Yun Xiao. "My luck must be terrible to have run into an imbecile like you." A naive fool who had no concept of the wider world had actually managed to kill Ye Guao... At least they'd found the perpetrator. Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t know how to face Ye Guying.
"That's enough. I don't want to waste more words with you. Come with me to the Sword Prison. We'll wait for Swordking Ye to return from the Sea of Swords to deal with you," Yao Qingqian declared. She really wasn't interested in deciphering the thought process of a simpleton. Every additional word was a waste of breath!
"Move!" Yao Qingqian snapped, her gaze icy as she looked at Yun Xiao.
"Hold on." Wang Feng suddenly stepped forward.
"What is it?" Yao Qingqian's gaze softened a bit. After all, Wang Feng was a disciple of the Sword Venerable, blessed with a Comet grade talent and a future that could surpass even hers.
"Elder Yao, he killed two of my clansmen. I want a bit of retribution first," Wang Feng said with utmost seriousness.
"You want to call dibs before Swordking Ye?" Yao Qingqian raised an eyebrow.
Wang Feng gritted his teeth. "How about this? I'll take both his arms as an explanation to my clan."
Yao Qingqian thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, fine. Just be quick about it." She was well and truly fed up.
Yun Xiao, that greenhorn of the purest strain, had first stepped on Jiang Yue's toes and then went ahead to slay Ye Guao. Such antics made all the favors Elder Yao expected from Swordking Ye evaporate into thin air, leaving everything in a royal mess.
"Elder Yao, try to take a breather," Wang Feng said with a placating smile. But, the very second he turned to face Yun Xiao, his amiable demeanor morphed. His eyes darkened, brimming with ferocity. HUM! He manifested his Lower Comet grade Sword Soul! With five layers of Sword Aura, the desert-like Sword Soul transformed into a Palm Sword grasped firmly in his grip.
Wang Feng's magic power melded with the power of his Sword Soul, the sandstorm around him swirling into a roaring tornado of sword energy. The Perfect Dragon Spring Realm was undoubtedly powerful! Amidst this storm, his cold and biting voice cut through, "Yun Xiao!"
KLINK KLINK KLINK! Wang Feng controlled his Sword Soul with his unique technique. The Sword Soul had three forms—Flying Sword, Palm Sword, and Sovereign Sword, each with their own corresponding use. Of the three forms, the Palm Sword was a close combat technique. The technique Wang Feng now used was passed down to him from the Sword Venerable—the Sandstorm Sword. This sword technique combined with his Desert Sand Sword Soul was a match made in heaven.
WHOOSH! Wang Feng charged at Yun Xiao with the Sandstorm Sword Technique, a powerful tempest of sand swirling around him. In the sand, there were swords. In the swords, there was sand! Just one move and it was clear that even if this disciple of the Sword Venerable had only been training for two months, his skills had already surpassed those of the likes of Wang Hu, Wang Qi, and Cai Maomao by quite a bit!
"You think you're fit for the path of Immortals with the aptitude of a pig or a dog?" Wang Feng couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Seriously? Who raised this fellow without a lick of common sense? Don't you know the rules of this place? Azure Spirit isn't some sacred land! This is where the prodigies shine and where the weak are slaughtered like livestock!"
With a firm resolve, Wang Feng thrusted his sword forward. BOOM! A sandstorm surged forth, hurtling towards Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao, not one to be easily intimidated, narrowed his eyes. In an instant, he became a blur, darting straight into the heart of the swirling storm. the harsh sands tearing at his white robes. One Slash Sword Art! This was the secret technique of his Yun Family—a legacy that spanned centuries. It might not be as advanced as Azure Spirit's sword techniques, but it was honed over time and delivered with just one formidable slash. Man and sword, charging forth without hesitation.
Yun Xiao ignored the sandstorm around him and lunged at Wang Feng, his sword thrust bearing an overwhelming spirit. His blade vibrated intensely, imbued with the energy of the heavens. By this day, it had been drenched in enough blood to unleash an intense murderous intent. A suffocating aura of doom hung heavily, casting a shadow over Wang Feng.
"What the...?" Wang Feng was taken aback. The youth before him seemed to transform, no longer just a boy in white, but a manifestation of sheer terror. His eyes widened in disbelief. His Desert Sand Sword Soul, still aiming for Yun Xiao, faltered in its technique. Amidst the swirling sands, a flash of cold, blue light emerged. With a piercing sound, it grazed past Wang Feng's Sword Soul, embedding itself deep into his shoulder blade.
"Argh!" Wang Feng screamed in agony, his eyes bulging.
"You wanted to take my arms, Wang Feng?" Yun Xiao retorted, swinging his sword. Heaven Burial spun, its sharp radiance carving a full circle around Wang Feng's right arm. With a splatter, Wang Feng's arm was severed, the blood melding with the sandstorm and staining Yao Qingqian.
"One down, one to go!" Without missing a beat, Yun Xiao slashed again. And just like that, Wang Feng's other arm thudded to the ground.
"You...!" Wang Feng cried out in sheer horror, his face pale as a ghost, his bulging eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. In his eyes, tears mingled with blood, gushing out like twin rivers of anguish. "My arms! My Sword Soul! My path as an Immortal... Oh God!" His screams echoed with pain that could rend one's heart, mouth gaping wide, eyes bulging like those of a surprised frog. His face contorted, almost to the point of tearing apart.
"That's it? That's all you got as a disciple of the Sword Venerable?" Yun Xiao taunted, standing right before him, looking down with eyes dripping with sarcasm. He shook his head, the very image of disdain. "Wang Feng, apart from a talent for useless chatter, I really don't see where your genius lies.
"You think you're well-versed in the common sense of Azure Spirit? Then answer me, how did you meet your end?" Yun Xiao pressed him.
"I'm not dead... yet..." Wang Feng's voice trembled. SLASH! No sooner had the words left his lips than his head was sent flying, coming to rest before the shocked spectators.
"How about now, Wang Feng?" Yun Xiao called out, a smirk on his face, "If you're still not dead, give me a sign."
Cai Maomao was dumbstruck. A head on the ground, and still asking? THUD! The decapitated body of Wang Feng collapsed. The head lying near a bystander's feet, its tongue lolling out like a lazy frog, certainly wasn't in any position to answer Yun Xiao's rhetorical question. The twelfth disciple of the Sword Venerable! A prodigy of the highest caliber! And here he was... disarmed, decapitated, done for.
The onlookers were utterly shell-shocked. "Brother Wang!" The remaining six disciples of the First Sword Peak cried out, their faces pallid, huddling together. They had always followed Wang Feng's lead. "Elder Yao...!" Their desperate eyes turned to Yao Qingqian.
Blood from Wang Feng stained Yao Qingqian's captivating face. To be honest, even she was taken aback. This young man had shown prowess similar to Wang Hu and the others earlier in the day. And now, under the moonlight, he had slain Wang Feng, a disciple of the Sword Venerable? Efficiently. Brutally. Right in front of her. She was an elder, for heaven's sake! And Yun Xiao was but a mere prisoner. Where did he get such audacity?
"Yun Xiao!" Yao Qingqian shouted. "You've truly wrought monumental disaster this time. First, the brother of Swordking Ye, and now a disciple of the Sword Venerable. Your hands are drenched in their blood. The entire Sword Pavilion must pay for your sins!"
Yao Qingqian was really sly. In her mind, Yun Xiao was just a nobody with zero influence. Even if she killed him ten times over, it still wouldn't make up for Ye Guao's death. But now, a disciple of the Sword Venerable had met his end at this very place. It was the perfect excuse for the First Sword Peak to purge the Sword Pavilion! By escalating the conflict to this magnitude, she ensured that any blame she had in Ye Guao's death would be completely overshadowed.
"I'll call for Zhao Xuanran and that blind old man! The rest of you, go inform the Sword Venerable!" Yao Qingqian commanded, her voice was cold as winter's touch.
"Yes!" The six disciples were only too eager to leave.
Chuckling darkly, Yao Qingqian turned to summon Zhao Xuanran.
"Just wait a moment!" Yun Xiao's cold voice rang out from behind.
"What more do you wish to blabber about, you fool?" Yao Qingqian spat coldly, turning to face him.
"Who said you could leave? Today, none of you are going to escape here alive," Yun Xiao declared. He lunged at Yao Qingqian, his Sword Soul leading the way. As he approached, he swiftly reached into his robes and produced a dark brick which he hurled at her.
"Have you lost your mind?" Yao Qingqian sneered, not even considering the brick as a threat. But in the blink of an eye, the brick exploded into a massive creature, resembling a fusion of a fierce tiger and a majestic lion, and it crashed into her. SPLAT SPLAT! Blood spurted from her mouth as she was sent flying. The beast's sharp claws tore through her, leaving gory holes. She was soaked in her own blood.
With a deafening crash, she hit the ground, lying amidst a pool of her own blood, her once rosy lips now pale. Her ribs? Cleanly broken. All of them. She writhed in pain, eyes wide in terror, finally seeing her attacker. The beast was armored in scales reminiscent of a divine dragon, its head crowned with razor-sharp horns, and its eyes a haunting shade of blue, vast like the starry night sky. But the most terrifying feature was its wide mouth, filled with hundreds of dagger-like teeth and a thorny tongue.
"Taotie... a Taotie!" Yao Qingqian murmured with her last breath, fear lacing her voice as she struggled to move away. But she couldn't. Her injuries were too severe. She was immobilized in her own pool of blood.
"Taotie? You still wish to insult us, even on your deathbed?" Blue Star roared furiously.
"Insult? What insult?" Yao Qingqian shuddered in fear. The dreaded Taotie of folklore was an insult to this beast? "Yun... Y-yun Xiao..." A feeling like her soul was being torn apart gripped her very being. Finally, she understood. This young man was not dense, naive, or careless. He simply had no fear.
Even as Yao Qingqian identified him today as Ye Guao's murderer, he had never once shown fear. Now, the tables had turned, and fear consumed her. For a person of her stature, an elder from the Azure Spirit Sword Sect, to be so deeply terrorized by a mere novice... she felt her spirit shatter.
"Please..." Yao Qingqian whimpered, looking at him.
There stood Yun Xiao, right next to the beast. He glanced at her coldly, his eyes icy and indifferent. He paid no heed to her pleas. Instead, he set his sights on the six disciples from the First Sword Peak who were fleeing in horror. These remaining six were all around the Mid Dragon Spring Realm, with only two claws on their Dragon Springs.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH! Under the dim light of the night, an azure streak raced through the woods, piercing through the hearts of the fleeing disciples. THUD THUD THUD! One by one, they fell to the ground, their bodies growing cold with death.
"Yun Xiao!" The last of the disciples, seeing his nine companions dead, didn't dare flee any longer. He knelt before Yun Xiao, tears streaming, pleading, "I have family, both old and young to care for. You are a Sword Cultivator, not a murderer. I haven't done anything wrong. Please don't kill me! If you kill me, you'd be acting without honor! You won't walk the path of Immortals!"
"Fine! So just because you have a family, you can impose your morality on me? And me, an orphan, should just damn well accept my fate?" Yun Xiao roared, eyes blazing. SLASH! As the words left his mouth, the disciple's head rolled.
"If eradicating all of you makes me dishonorable, then what's the point of cultivation? If the path of an Immortal doesn't allow for vengeance, then I'll carve my own path!" Yun Xiao's angry voice echoed through the vast, dark forest. Apart from Cai Maomao, who stood petrified, no one could answer.
"Elder Yao, it's your turn." Yun Xiao held his luminous azure Sword Soul as he came walking out of the trees, his white robes stained with crimson splotches reminiscent of cherry blossoms. The night wind tousled his hair. He arrived next to Yao Qingqian, looking down indifferently at her.
"Senior Brother Cai," Yun Xiao said, lips curling into a soft smirk. "Please step back. I wish to speak with her."
"Right... Okay!" With a shudder, Cai Maomao retreated to the courtyard.
Yun Xiao crouched down, his flawless features mirrored in Yao Qingqian's blood-filled eyes. "Yun... Y-yun Xiao," she pleaded.
Yun Xiao felt the grip of her desperate hand on his own. Her hand was as delicate and white as jade, but her strength was waning. He lightly wrinkled his brow, shaking it off. Looking into her terror-stricken eyes, he smiled gently. "Still, thank you."
"For what...?" Tears streamed down Yao Qingqian's face as her body quaked in sheer terror.
"Thanks for showing me the path of an Immortal." Yun Xiao grinned. If not for the blood splattered across his face, you might even call his smile sunny.
"I... I was wrong. I was blind! I should've recognized your great talents!" Yao Qingqian stuttered in fear.
Yun Xiao chuckled, shrinking his Sword Soul back down and holding it up in front of her. "Green Lotus Sword Soul, huh? Do you think this is a mediocre Low Meteor grade Sword Soul now?"
"No... N-no," Yao Qingqian replied, somewhat at a loss.
"It was this very sword that shattered the Sword Inheritance Stone, yet you all insisted it was Jiang Yue's doing. Now, she's floating so high. If she falls during the Seven Swords Conclave in two days and dies, that's on you, Elder Yao," Yun Xiao remarked with a cheeky grin.
Fifteen minutes earlier, Yao Qingqian would have thought Yun Xiao was mad. But now... She felt her heart pounding so hard it might burst from her chest. She cried out, "Yun... Yun Xiao, you're the most terrifying person I've ever met. You're the true genius, surpassing Moon or Planet grade!" It had finally all clicked for her. And a deeper terror, vast and endless like the open sea, threatened to engulf her.
Feeling charitable, Yun Xiao whispered, "Here's another secret for you. Ye Guying and Jiang Yue once schemed to kill a mortal emperor. That was me. I've returned from the dead, taken a new body, all to settle scores."
"Ah." Yao Qingqian was practically bug-eyed, her eyes shaking as if ready to pop out of their sockets. So, he knew Jiang Yue. He knew Ye Guying. It all made sense now—why he killed Ye Guao, why he tormented Jiang Yue. If Elder Yao hadn't been at the Sword Inheritance Platform, would he have gone further and killed Jiang Yue too? The realizations made Yao Qingqian even more desperate. The more secrets you knew, the more likely you were to end up dead.
Sure enough, Yun Xiao playfully slapped her once-beautiful face with his Sword Soul, commenting, "Sadly, you won't be around to witness the thrilling finale when I face them."
"Yun Xiao!" Yao Qingqian choked back sobs, her face a picture of despair.
"Yes?" Yun Xiao asked..
"Don't kill me! I'm a woman!" Yao Qingqin pleaded weakly.
"A woman?" Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"I'm beautiful too!" Yao Qingqian exclaimed, frantic.
"And?" Yun Xiao pressed.
"I have an... exceptional tongue," Yao Qingqian hinted seductively, lips parting slightly.
"Exceptional tongue? You mean, like you trained in some kind of iron tongue technique?" Yun Xiao remarked. Then, in one fluid motion, he drove his sword through her, anchoring her to the earth beneath.
"AGH! Ah...?" Yao Qingqian's eyes bulged, her neck tilting at an odd angle as she met her end.
Internally, relief washed over Yun Xiao. Had he not reacted so quickly, and she weaponized that very tongue, he might have been in a precarious situation "Not that exceptional, it seems. It couldn't even stop my sword," he quipped a hint of amusement in his voice.
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