Chapter 271: The Art of Killing and Silencing!
Ling Chen knew they were eager to see his next move, so he didn't keep them in suspense. With a flourish, he began embedding one terrifyingly powerful demonic Sword Ring after another into his Sword Soul.
And just like that, five Sword Rings were in place! His nine-colored Sword Soul, already bristling with 8,000 layers of Sword Auras, turned even more formidable.
The Overseers of the Sword Ruins were on the edge of their seats.
Then with a clear snap, the sixth Sword Ring clicked into place!
Ku Xuan exchanged a look of deep respect with the others, and then they all turned their attention to the final Sword Ring. The difference between six and seven was monumental!
At this moment, Ling Chen, with a smile playing on his lips, picked up the last Blood Crystal Sword Ring and gently secured it onto his Sword Soul.
"The seventh Sword Ring!" Ku Xuan, Zhang Mu, Feng Buhui, and the other Overseers collectively gasped. "A true Immortal!"
All of them exchanged glances and couldn't help but break into smiles.
"Dad!" A young boy, his face still carrying the softness of youth, burst onto an island on the Blood Crystal Pool, pushing open the gate of a courtyard.
Inside, the middle-aged scholar Zhang Mu sat upright in a pavilion, engrossed in his reading, his gaze deep and penetrating.
Seeing his son, Zhang Mu remained composed and closed the book he was reading, Spring Chamber Classics, asking coolly, "Whats the rush, boy?"
The boy, Zhang Yang, panting and red-eyed with veins of anger, fists clenched tight, was clearly furious.
"Dad, have you heard about the incidents at the Sword Puppet Forest and Azure Phoenix Tower?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"I've heard. What about it?" Zhang Mu responded calmly.
"That Exile Yun, out of frustration for not being able to defeat Exile Ling, killed Senior Sister Ruolin in a fit of rage!" the boy said, his voice a mixture of sorrow and anger.
"Do you have feelings for Feng Ruolin?" Zhang Mu inquired.
"She's gone. What's the point now?" Zhang Yang slumped down, defeated. Then, he shot his father a look, grinding his teeth. "Dad! Did you hear? Exile Yun's true identity is a demon spawn! His mother was... by a demon!"
"Watch your tongue!" Zhang Mu's eyes flashed, "Who told you this?"
"Everyone's talking about it. How could it be false? People have already dug up his background. They say that when he was just a child, he wiped out an entire village. He's a half-demon! Evil runs in his bones!" Zhang Yang spat out with disgust.
"Nonsense!" Zhang Mu shook his head.
"It's true! They even dug up who his mother wasa whore from a brothel, plagued with all sorts of ill-fated diseases, attracting demons. When his mother was pregnant, people saw demon hounds entering their home! At night, her cries were heard!" Zhang Yang, thinking of that scene, felt nauseous, "Can someone born of such a cursed union, tainted by demons, be good?"
"Who's feeding you these baseless rumors? Let them come forward!" Zhang Mu, visibly irritated, scolded the boy.
"Dad! I knew you would react like this! Were Exile Yun's fellow villagers killed by you?" Zhang Yang accused angrily.
"His fellow villagers were killed?" Zhang Mu was taken aback.
"You're still playing dumb? It's not just his fellow villagers. Anyone who dares to speak aloud about the Fiendish Sword Soul or demon spawn ends up dead in the wilderness! I heard hundreds have died! You're all so adept at silencing the truth, just killing those who spread it! They just wanted to reveal Exile Yun's true nature. What's wrong with that?" Tears welled in Zhang Yang's red-rimmed eyes.
"Zhang Yang! Stop this nonsense! Exile Yun was personally appointed by the Sword Warden! Your uncle is the Sword Warden's son-in-law. We are connected. You should take a stand, not just echo what others say! What if someone is spreading rumors and framing Exile Yun? You're young, don't be a pawn," Zhang Mu said sternly.
"Haha!" Zhang Yang stood up abruptly, staring at his father without a hint of trust in his eyes, "Dad, who are you hinting at? Exile Ling? Manipulating the entire Sword Ruins to bring down Exile Yun? Who holds the most power in the Sword Ruins now? Isn't it the Sword Warden? Isn't it you? Only you could silence the truth! You dare to blame Exile Yun; why not say it's the demons from the Primeval Demon Hell?"
"Shut up! You ungrateful child!" Zhang Mu furiously slapped the boy across the face, sending him flying.
Zhang Yang rolled on the ground, his face flushed red. Tears streaming down, he looked at Zhang Mu in utter disappointment, roaring, "Zhang Mu! You're just a hypocritical pretender! Groveling to a cursed demon spawn, killing the righteous for him! Go ahead, suppress the truth all you want. You might kill hundreds, but you can't silence everyone! Where there's oppression, there's resistance! This resistance will eventually make you heartless rulers pay! This Sword Ruins belongs to us, the youth!"
"..." Zhang Mu remained silent, appearing at a loss for words.
Zhang Yang stormed away, slamming the door on his way out as he departed in sorrow and anger.
After a while, Zhang Mu shrugged his shoulders with a casual smile, "The Sword Ruins belong to the youth, huh? All of you kids think you're so smart, brimming with youthful vigor, but you're just being played like fiddles. So long as the word naive is written all over your foreheads, you'll bite whoever we tell you to."
But what did it matter?
"Exile Ling said, to achieve greatness, one must forsake even their own kin... such is the path of an Immortal!" Zhang Mu had never heard such a heaven-defying and unconventional notion in his life. Yet, it was this very idea that gave him a twisted sense of peace for his conflicted heart of over a decade.
From that moment, his warped dao heart suddenly straightened out.
"One life is all we get. Without becoming an Immortal, we all must die. This single lifetime, parents, children, siblings, they're all shackles on our bodies. Carrying them only exhausts us. Better to seek joy alone. Love yourself, and the secrets of Immortality will come." After saying this, Zhang Mu gave a wistful smile and pulled out another sexually explicit book from his bosom.
Sitting upright, his expression stern and grim, he continued to read. After flipping through the pages, he burned the book, disgusted, and muttered, "Not as good as my sister-in-law."
At the peak of a mountain in the Sword Ruins. Zhang Yang stood in the wind, his eyes blazing with fury. "Is there any justice in this world? Senior Sister Ruolin..."
He hadn't seen the incident with his own eyes, but everyone said that Feng Ruolin was beheaded by the aloof Yun Xiao just for not smiling at him. Some people claimed to have witnessed the event, saying Feng Ruolin had taunted Yun Xiao.
"These people, they dare to fabricate anything, it's infuriating yet laughable! Senior Sister Ruolin is the victim. Yet they insist on painting her as the instigator?" Zhang Yang sighed deeply. Clutching his fists, the image of her graceful figure and smile lingered in his memory.
"Junior Brother Zhang." Suddenly, someone appeared behind him. It was Sikong Yan.
"Senior Sister Sikong," Zhang Yang said, his heart growing more unsettled as he remembered Feng Ruolin and Sikong Yan often trained together and were very close.
"Hah..." Sikong Yan, looking at him, shook her head sorrowfully, "Lil Ruolin died so tragically."
The fiery rage in Zhang Yang's eyes seemed to ignite further with her words.
"Were you there at that time?" Zhang Yang asked.
"I was there," Sikong Yan said painfully. "Right near her. I was also stern-faced at the time. I think if Exile Yun's skills weren't lacking, I might have been the one ambushed..."
"To think, the mighty Exiled Sword Immortal resorts to ambushes to establish his reputation!" Zhang Yang clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.
Sikong Yan's words confirmed one thing: there was no taunting at all!
"I heard Exile Yun is essentially a demon, possessing a Fiendish Sword Soul. Allowing him to absorb ten Rank 10 Azure Phoenixes was a sheer waste of precious resources! Imagine the benefits if these Azure Phoenixes were given to the powerhouses of our Sword Ruins instead... What a loss..." Sikong Yan sighed deeply.
"Senior Sister Sikong, you mustn't speak of this in crowded places. Many have been dealt with for merely uttering the word demon, silenced for life. Now the whole Sword Ruins are scared into silence! Exile Yun's power is overwhelming..." Zhang Yang said with a laugh, but his voice dripped with sarcasm.
"I'm not afraid! Even though the Sword Warden has enforced an information blackout to shut us up, it doesn't change the fact that Exile Yun's reputation has completely collapsed. If Exile Yun were to die accidentally, everyone in the Eternal Sword Prison would rejoice!" Sikong Yan said, then added regretfully, "Sadly, the Sword Warden's family protects him too well. No one can enter the Valley of Ruins. Not many people have the Mu Family's trust and can approach him easily! Exile Yun is only in the Saint Realm. Even if he has the combat power of someone at the Early Awakened Emperor Realm, he's still easy to kill if his protectors let their guard down."
"Enter the Valley of Ruins, the Mu Family's trust" Zhang Yang shivered. Mu Dalong was his aunt. And Mu Xiaolong was his cousin. They were blood relatives, and he had occasionally visited the Valley of Ruins to play with Mu Xiaolong.
Before the Sword Baptism Ceremony, he and Mu Xiaolong were very close Zhang Yang's throat burned! His rage was now beyond control!
"Senior Sister Sikong," Zhang Yang took a deep breath, "I have something to attend to. Please excuse me."
Back in the Valley of Ruins, in the Mu-Mu Hut, Yun Xiao was resting in his residence.
With a loud thud, Mu Xiaolong dropped down a golden Bag of Holding before Yun Xiao. "Fae, this is something my grandfather sent for you."
"What?" Yun Xiao, taking a break from his cultivation, opened his eyes to see the fourteen-year-old girl standing before him. She seemed so young and delicate, almost doll-like.
"I heard it was about 10,000 Immortal Jades," Mu Xiaolong said with envy, pouting, "I've never seen so much money in my life."
"Immortal Jades?" Yun Xiao knew this was a crystal stone far purer than Saint Stones, a top grade spiritual jade produced only in the Nine Hells. The Sword Warden probably felt somewhat apologetic about the Sword Rings and sent this as a gift to make amends.
"Alright, leave it there! I'm cultivating; you go play." Yun Xiao treated her like a child.
"Can I just stay here?" Mu Xiaolong asked pitifully.
"Stay for what?"
"You're good-looking, and I'm a fan of beauty. I want to look at you more, so I can have sweet dreams," Mu Xiaolong said cheekily, making a cute face.
"..." Yun Xiao stared at her, dumbstruck. He needed to feed the Blue Star and Red Moon the Immortal Jades, so naturally, he couldn't be observed. He pointed outside and said, "Nope, sorry. Scram!"
Mu Xiaolong pouted and obediently left, lamenting, "So annoying, even when he's stern, he's so good looking. How is that even possible..."
As she thought this, Mu Dalong called from outside, "Xiaolong, your cousin is looking for you to play."
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