Chapter 61: Sword Shatters the Long Sky

  Although the number of demons was considerable, the number of disciples was not small either. It should have been a battle that could be won. However, Xuan Zhen did not expect that these young disciples under his door would often talk about demons with righteous indignation, patting their chests and wishing they could catch one on the spot to kill it in front of everyone to show their determination. But when they were really surrounded by demons, they fled in panic, frightened to the point where they wished their parents had given them two more legs so they could run faster.

  Xuan Zhen and the few older disciples were scattered by these people, in the chaos, he caught a glimpse of several lower-ranking disciples being trampled and toyed with by the Qiong demon's paws, and suddenly a surge of anger rose to his head. He shouted: "You demonic creature, do not be so arrogant!" His foot stepped on the Seven Stars, and with a swing of his hand, a string of green shadows appeared, his clothes were blown up and down by the wildly incoming wind, and in an instant he arrived in front of the Qiong demon.

  The purple-red beast saw him approaching, its eyes flashing with a fierce light, and it let out a loud roar as it raised its paw to strike. Xuan Zhen dodged to the side with ease, avoiding the attack, and at the same time grabbed one of his fellow disciples from under the beast's claws. Without waiting for the young man's trembling thanks, he shook his wrist again, and a spring of water burst forth from his palm, shooting upwards. With his other hand, he drew two fingers across his chest, and a clear cry rang out as a green arc of light shot out, expanding and growing larger, accompanied by a whistling wind that struck the beasts with the force of lightning.

  In an instant, fresh blood splattered everywhere, and the painful cries echoed in my ears. Several of the demonic beasts had fallen to the ground, while the others retreated like a receding tide. Those disciples who had narrowly escaped with their lives, despite being shaken, used their hands and feet to crawl back.

  "How can there be cowards who fear death and cling to life under Jun Hua's command?"

  Xuan Zhen's gaze swept across the faces of his fellow disciples, their expressions a mix of desperation and shame. He couldn't help but feel both pity and contempt for them. When they saw the precious spirit stones, they fought each other to get them, fearing that others would snatch even a tiny bit away from them. But when the demonic beast attacked, they fled in disarray, without even a hint of unity or willingness to fight together against their common enemy. Could such people truly be called... fellow disciples?

  He flung his sleeve angrily and continued to rebuke in a stern voice, "Evil cannot suppress justice. You have cultivated for so many years, yet you can't even understand this principle? When encountering strength, you become timid. Is that the way of fighting against enemies taught by your seniors?"

  Those young disciples, who were normally full of confidence, were now being chased by the demon beast and fleeing in all directions. When they heard Xuan Zhen's angry rebuke, their faces turned red with shame and embarrassment. Upon hearing Da Shixiong mention the sect, they thought about how strict the sect leader was and how terrible it would be if he and the elders found out about their shameful behavior in this demon realm. So, these people immediately turned around, drew their swords, and faced the demon beast. This time, although they were still afraid, they no longer only focused on escaping.

  "Evil cannot suppress the righteous? Haha, what a great evil suppressing the righteous!" In the cold laughter, those demonic leaders, wearing crimson cloaks, had caught up, and upon hearing Xuan Zhen's rallying cry to his fellow disciples, a mocking smile curled up on their thin lips as they sneered, "What is evil? Guarding my territory, protecting my tribe of demons is evil? What then is righteous? You people, barging into another tribe's territory, plundering and killing wantonly, that is righteous?"

  Xuan Zhen's body trembled slightly, and when he looked up, his eyes also flickered with uncertainty. It seemed as if he was greatly shaken. He couldn't help but feel that the demon was not entirely wrong. If the demon wasn't wrong, then wouldn't it be the Qinghua Sect, his own revered Master Taiching True Person, and even more so... himself, who had followed orders to slaughter the demonic beasts?

  That strange creature saw him with a dazed expression, lost in thought, and a hint of sinister smile flashed in his eyes. Suddenly, the muscles on his arm bulged, and he threw the long spear with all his might, shooting several golden lights that burst forth at the approaching gun tip, along with the sharp head stabbing towards Xuanyin's chest!

  "Be careful, senior brother!" Several disciples who were fighting with the monster at that time happened to glance over and shouted out in unison.

  Xuan Zhen came to his senses, but before him was a dazzling golden light that made it impossible to discern anything else. In the midst of the crisis, he only had time to quickly turn his body, and all he heard was a dull thud, followed by a wave of dull pain in his ribs. The golden light dissipated, and Xuan Zhen saw the monster's face flash with disappointment before it hid again. With a wave of its massive palm, the scattered golden light reassembled and enveloped the spear, flying back into its hand.

  He looked down at himself again, the steel spear had not pierced his vital organs, but it had also injured him severely. The blue and white shirt was dotted with crimson, like plum blossoms on snow, yet with a few more bloodstains. His chest and abdomen were already soaked through and stained with large patches of dark color, if not for the wrong color, it would be even more unrestrained than splashing ink.

  Xuan Zhen only felt a surge of salty and fishy smell rushing up his throat, and the corners of his mouth suddenly seeped out strands of red silk. His ribs were even more unbearable in pain. He slightly furrowed his brow, hastily summoning the Chunshui sword to spin around him in defense, his two hands neatly pressing several acupoints on his body. Tearing open his clothes, he saw that the blood and water at the wound were gradually thinning, and only then did he take out the wound medicine he carried with him and swallow it, while also forming a hand seal. In his heart, he thought: This demon can transform into human form, and is also eloquent in speech, those other demons are also listening to its commands, it's likely that this demon has a high status. Don't be fooled by its words again, capture the leader first, take care of it, and the rest of the demons won't be a problem.

  With this thought, his gaze became resolute once more. His sleeves fluttered in the wind as he raised his hands to his chest, overlapping them to form several hand seals. After a series of swift changes, a hint of blue energy suddenly appeared in his eyes, and his cheeks paled significantly. Xuan Chen felt all his strength flowing through his meridians and into his fingertips, which were directed at the transparent long sword. At first, it was like a hundred rivers converging into the sea, surging and foaming. Later, it gradually became a gentle trickle, pouring in steadily. Finally, it was just a single drop, yet still flowing incessantly into the Spring Water Sword.

  After a while, Xuan Zhen only felt a dizziness in front of his eyes. The figure of the monster not far away seemed to be heavy and solemn, but for some reason, the golden spear under its command swung back and forth several times without getting close to him. Every time it was about to approach, it was blocked by an invisible force a few feet away. To Xuan Zhen's eyes, it was just a narrow golden light with countless shadows dancing around his body, making a few turns before retreating.

  On this side, the demon's head had exhausted its strength and launched several attacks on Xuán Zhèn without success. It could only stare blankly as a strong aura suddenly gathered around that detestable human, growing thicker and more solid by the second, enveloping the young man and his transparent sword in layer upon layer. As soon as the steel spear came into contact with this aura, its golden light dimmed noticeably, causing its master to feel somewhat unwell.

  Damn the human tribe, since you can't kill me, I'll just kill a few of your kind to vent my anger! The Qiong demon's teeth chattered with rage as it glared at Xuan Zhen, unwillingly raising its spear and turning around. Just then, a powerful sword intent suddenly burst forth from behind, its momentum so great that it sent the Qiong demon and its minions flying with just its oppressive force alone!

  That male demon's face suddenly changed, the red lines on his face also faded a bit, he stared again at Xuan Zhen's side, this time even more stunned, as if being shocked by what he saw and didn't know what to do.

  But what was seen was a vast expanse of the Netherworld's territory, with purple mist drifting and swirling, being swept in all directions by the waves of energy emanating from the ground. The purple sky above was bright and beautiful, while on the ground, clusters of purple crystals grew, shining brightly and transparently. And it was between heaven and earth that a gigantic sword suddenly appeared, over a hundred feet long and several dozen feet wide, its tip pointing towards the sky, its body emitting a faint blue glow, suspended in a patch of deep purple-red void, particularly eye-catching.

  That giant sword-like appearance is extremely ancient, but it has a strong and pure sword intent within. The aura emanating from the sword is silent and soundless, yet it makes people unable to ignore it. At this moment, both humans and demons fighting on this land are shocked, looking up at it in unison.

  Everyone followed the sword's edge and slowly looked down, their gaze gradually falling on the ground. It was only then that they discovered that there was actually someone standing under the giant sword, but because the sword was too huge and appeared so suddenly, it had made people overlook the tiny figure below.

  "Wow, it's Big Brother!"

  Suddenly, one of the female disciples covered her mouth and exclaimed. The others were shocked again, looking at the figure, although he had lost his jade crown, his clothes were no longer flat, but seeing his handsome face and slender figure, wasn't it their senior brother Xuan Zhen?

  Under the giant sword, Xuan Zhen took a deep breath, gathered his last bit of true energy, and slowly raised his eyes to look at the scene before him. The green silk in front of him was flying like a waterfall or a curtain, and the jade crown on his head had probably been blown away by the gust of air just now to who-knows-where, his long hair unbound and pouring down, swaying freely in the wind. His long robe, stained with blood and torn beyond recognition, was also fluttering wildly, its usual elegant and refined appearance having long since disappeared along with his spotless image.

  But what's the harm? He slightly curled up his lip, revealing a hint of a smile, and his gaze gradually shifted upwards to the giant sword on top of his head. The Upper Clear Sky Sword was forged from his Spring Water sword as its foundation, condensed with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and named Upper Clear Sky, implying that this technique had grasped the essence of the Jade Flower Sword Path, gathered the great achievements of sword techniques, and with one move, it would have the momentum to break through the clouds and open up the sky. If the practitioner's own strength was powerful, its power could even shake the heavens and move the earth. However, he had only just broken through the 9th level of cultivation, and barely managed to execute this technique with all his might, so being able to bring out one-tenth or two-tenths of the Upper Clear Sky Sword's power was already a great achievement.

  Xuan Zhen swept his gaze across the demonic beasts in the arena, and the smile on his lips grew even more brilliant. He slightly raised an eyebrow, lifted one hand lightly, and slowly pointed towards the area where the demonic beasts were most concentrated, saying weakly: "Break!"

  The voice was not loud, but it instantly spread in all directions. The giant sword suspended in the air seemed to have understood this command and slowly, slowly began to move.

  The sword's blade slowly descended, pointing directly at the direction indicated by Xuán Zhèn. The massive hilt was also raised high, as if an invisible hand had stretched out from the sky to grasp it in its palm. The sword energy surged and swirled, blowing back Xuán Zhèn's hair, but on that pale face, amidst the large patches of dark ink-like stains at the back of his head, a few weak threads of vitality faintly shone through.

  But the disciples of Qionghua on the ground did not notice, they only saw that their own senior brother was indeed worthy of being the first disciple of the sect, and the giant sword he summoned was as powerful as the secret method used by Xuanyue and Suoyu when they bound the demon realm.

  They looked forward to it, and sure enough, the sword came straight down towards the ground with a majestic momentum, instantly sending huge rocks flying, dust rolling, and even more broken bodies of monsters crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

  At this scene, those young disciples were greatly encouraged, as if the lost strength had returned to their bodies with that one sword. They hurriedly swung their swords and chopped again. On the other hand, the Rhinoceros Demon clan saw that many of their kind had been slaughtered, and although the remaining ones still fought hard, their momentum was gradually weakening.

  In the chaos, no one noticed that the huge sword was rapidly dimming its blue light with each attack, and the sword body was also shrinking circle by circle.

  "Fall back!" The leader of the demonic rhinoceroses saw that their side was at a disadvantage, its thick eyebrows furrowed, its face alternating between black and red with grief and anger. But as more demons died, those humans grew even more courageous in battle. Having no choice, it gave the order to retreat: "All demonic rhinoceroses, hear my evil command, withdraw back into the boundary!"

  The sound was like thunder, echoing across the land. The remaining Qiong demons that were still alive heard it and stopped their attack, retreating towards the east instead. The humanoid demon stayed behind to cover their retreat, using his spear to pick off a few of the pursuing Qinghua disciples who had gotten too close.

  Everyone saw his bravery and only followed him from a distance, not daring to get close. At this time, there was another loud noise, the giant sword finally flew over under Xuanshen's control, stabbing down at the self-proclaimed Gui Xie's Qiong demon.

  The bandit leader proudly raised his head and shouted loudly: "You've come at the right time!" He puffed out his chest, grasped his spear and charged forward.

  Golden light burst forth from the gun, while a blue glow flashed on the sword. The two lights collided heavily and then rebounded in opposite directions amidst a deafening crash. However, that massive sword had only managed to land this final blow, as the blue glow flickered a few times before dissipating, and its shadow also vanished into thin air. Meanwhile, Gui Xie took advantage of the recoil force and laughed loudly as he fled eastward.

  Among the sighs of the crowd, a faint blue light flashed in the air, and a crystal clear long sword trembled on the ground for a moment before floating up again, carrying its master to chase after the escaped Qiong demon.

  "Big Brother, don't go!"

  "Senior brother, don't pursue the defeated enemy!"

  The voices of the fellow disciples gradually faded away behind him, and Xuan Zhen's consciousness was somewhat dizzy at this time. Those voices in his ears were no louder than the wind passing by his side. At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind, that is, to behead the Qiong demon with his sword!