Chapter 3 Pure Yang (One)

  After that astonishing scene just now, it was dead silence. This mansion seemed to have lost all sound. Changming, who had relaxed a bit, suddenly felt the atmosphere here was eerie and began to tense up inexplicably again.

  They followed Qingxuan's back, occasionally pointing out the direction for him, and the two of them gradually arrived in front of the hall where the coffin was placed.

  "Slow!" Qing Xuan suddenly shouted, startling Chang Ming with a jump.

  "What's wrong, Daozhang? Is something wrong?" Changming patted his chest and said.

  Following Qingxuan's gaze, Changming only discovered the anomaly. The floor of the hall was originally just ordinary bluestone bricks, nothing special. But with the moonlight from above, he vaguely saw that the bluestone was engraved with many mysterious symbols emitting a soft glow. Those symbols were similar to the talismans drawn by those Taoist priests. Perhaps it was because he had been staring at the symbols on the bluestone for too long, Changming didn't feel any eerie atmosphere in the hall.

  "This is not normal." Qing Xuan twirled his snow-white beard, and a hint of regret flashed across his face as he said, "If my Taoist eyes are not mistaken, the hall has been laid with the Hundred-Gate Soul-Locking Array. That's why the evil entity was restrained for so many days, but now the array's power has mostly dissipated. If I'm not wrong, this must be what your brother left behind in his final moments. However, the Hundred-Gate Soul-Locking Array is not a profound technique, yet it's still a secret of the Taoist sect that's not passed down. Who would have thought that your brother was also a Taoist disciple?"

  "What should we do next?" Changming looked at Qingxuan with some confusion.

  "If I had known it would be so troublesome, I wouldn't have just brought the peach wood sword down the mountain. Originally, I could have easily cast a spell to eliminate the evil, but now that I'm short of powerful tools, it's going to be a lot more trouble..." Qingxuan sank into thought, pondering. Originally, according to Qingxuan's thinking, his cultivation was enough with just one peach wood sword. But unfortunately, he encountered a thousand-year-old evil spirit, and although he wasn't afraid, he would have to go through many more twists and turns."

  Wang Changming heard Qingxuan say this, and suddenly his whole body was shocked. He remembered the will left by Su Tian. He said to Qingxuan: "Don't worry, Daozhang. In the Su family, there is a sword called... called Pure Yang Sword." Wang Changming had been exhausted for several days, and after the previous fright, his heart and energy were worn out, and his brain was already a bit confused. He accidentally remembered "Pure Tong" as "Pure Yang", which only differed by one word, but it gave Qingxuan a big shock.

  "Pure Yang Sword? Could it be the sword worn by Lu Zu Xianren?" Qingxuan was overjoyed, and his confidence increased. "Where is this sword now? Can I borrow it from you for a while? After I use it to slay demons and evil spirits, I will definitely return it to its original owner." Qingxuan had long since cultivated himself to the point where his desires for external objects had almost completely disappeared. Therefore, he only felt some surprise and curiosity about seeing the sword's majesty. However, when Changming heard this, he misunderstood, thinking that Qingxuan was eyeing the sword.

  "Hehe, no need to be polite. If you like it, I'll give it to you. You've done so much for the Wang family, and we can't repay you enough. This little sword is just a small token of our appreciation, please accept it." Wang Changming was always a straightforward person in the martial arts world, and he spoke his mind directly.

  Qingxuan smiled and said, "It's not that I don't love this sword, but as a Taoist, we value self-cultivation. The magic sword is an external object, besides, I already have a sword to wear, and I won't change it in this life. You can rest assured, I just calculated a divination, this sword will find a good owner, and will certainly bring glory to the Zun family." Qingxuan saw that he was indeed straightforward, so he revealed a bit of heavenly secret.

  Chang Ming was not cunning, but he wasn't stupid either. He immediately asked, "Master Dao's meaning is to say...?"

  Qing Xuan smiled again. "This is a heavenly secret and must not be revealed."

  Looking at Qingxuan's appearance, Changming had already understood in his heart that his guess was correct, and he also made up his mind about his future plans. After a slight thought, he consciously changed the subject: "Daozhang, please wait here for a moment, I will go get the divine sword for Daozhang." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the study room. The Chunjun Sword had been placed in Su Tian's study room since it was taken out of the Random Fortune Land, and without his permission, no one else could enter.

  As he walked on the road, Changming also had a little anxiety in his heart. Would that sword be taken away by someone?

  Qing Xuan stood still in the original place after leaving Chang Ming, stroking his beard with his hand and smiling as he looked at the hall in front of him. The coffin and yin energy, which would make ordinary people's hair stand on end, seemed to be nothing to him. Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed, as if he had discovered something.

  At this time, a "Ah! ——" came from afar, it was Wang Changming's voice.

  "Huh?" Qing Xuan tilted his head, determined the direction, and moved his feet. In a flash of movement, he had already shifted several zhang away, heading straight towards the study.

  As I approached the study, I could see a faint light emanating from the doorway, probably from the candle that Changming had lit earlier. A series of groans and mournful cries came from inside, completely unlike any sound a human could make.

  In his heart, he knew that Wang Changming had encountered something, and at this moment, he couldn't care about any other thoughts. Qing Xuan rushed in without hesitation. He was also a man of great skill and bravery, not afraid of any unexpected events. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Wang Changming kneeling on the ground, his whole body trembling non-stop, as if he had been thrown into an ice cave. However, there were still big drops of sweat hanging from his forehead. His mouth was grinding his teeth non-stop, making a "zhi ya" sound; his eyes were rolling around non-stop, almost unable to see the pupils, revealing only the whites of his eyes, extremely frightening.

  "This is terrible, it's a ghost possession!" Qing Xuan immediately understood what was wrong. Without hesitation, he took out a yellow paper from his pocket, stretched out his right hand and drew a crimson talisman on the paper with his index finger, seemingly without using any ink or brush. He then slapped the paper talisman onto Wang Changming's forehead.

  As soon as this talisman was applied, it took effect immediately, and the tremors all over Changming's body stopped. Qingxuan didn't even raise his head, this simple ritual he had long been familiar with and had performed countless times. He opened his left palm, and similarly used his right index finger to draw a strange crimson symbol on his left palm. This symbol was the mark of Thunder Magic, among all the major Daoist techniques, Thunder Magic was the most difficult to cultivate, but also the most powerful. This talisman was the simplest Palm Thunder Magic, it would only take effect when in contact with evil objects, using the utmost yang and unyielding power to slay demons and exorcise evil spirits.

  As soon as the spell was complete, Qingxuan let out a loud shout and slapped his palm onto the yellow paper on Changming's forehead. A dull thud suddenly echoed through the air, like thunder on a stormy night. Qingxuan withdrew his hand, and the yellow paper talisman instantly burst into flames. A gust of evening wind blew by, and it was reduced to ashes that scattered away. Wang Changming also shuddered all over and woke up.

  Wang Changming suddenly woke up and let out a loud shout, "There's a ghost!" Qingxuan quickly covered Wang Changming's renzhong (a point on the body) with his hand, and with a slight exertion of force, Wang Changming trembled again and regained consciousness. He looked at Qingxuan and asked, "Master Dao, what happened to me?"

  Qing Xuan pulled him up from the ground and asked: "What did you see when you came here earlier?"

  Qing Xuan's question brought back all his memories. Wang Changming was so frightened that he shook all over. Trembling, he said: "After I arrived here, I saw a woman in red standing inside the door, staring at me with her eyes wide open, only showing the whites of her eyes. At that time, I was so scared that I fainted and couldn't remember anything afterwards." Even thinking about it now still made him feel a little afraid, and he shuddered again.

  Qing Xuan wouldn't be afraid, of course. Hearing this, he sank into thought and said, "I didn't think that this evil creature would actually invite a fierce ghost to assist it..."

  Qing Xuan's muttering was not loud, but Chang Ming still heard it. He raised his head and asked anxiously: "Evil spirit? May I ask if the Taoist master has figured out what kind of evil spirit is haunting us?"

  "En" Qing Xuan nodded, "If my Dharma eye is not wrong, it should be the legendary drought demon."

  "What's a drought demon? What is it?" Chang Ming still didn't understand.

  "Drought demon has been recorded since ancient times, legend has it that when the drought demon appears, the land turns red for thousands of miles. It is a thousand-year-old zombie that has cultivated high-level magic and has an extremely high moral standing. Legend has it that during the great war of the past, Chi You's side had the help of the drought demon. I ask you, where was the Pure Yang Sword originally enshrined?"

  "Originally, this sword was not in the mansion, but was placed in the ancestral hall of the Su family, where it was worshiped with incense and offerings along with the ancestors. Later, the Su family's ancestral hall was repeatedly burglarized, and Master didn't feel at ease about this divine sword, so he had it brought to the mansion." Changming thought for a moment before explaining everything from start to finish.

  "What I guessed seems to be true... but I'm afraid the Pure Yang Sword isn't that simple. It's likely that our ancestors calculated that a drought demon was about to appear, threatening the lives of all living things in the world. So they used the Pure Yang Sword to lay down an array and seal the drought demon, with the Pure Yang Sword being the object used to suppress the eye of the array. Later, when the Pure Yang Sword was taken out, this array was rendered useless. Your brother might have met with disaster because of this." Qing Xuan stroked his beard and muttered to himself.

  "Could it be? Is someone intentionally sending people to invade Fudi, designing and luring my brother out with the divine sword, so as to use the drought demon's hand to get rid of him? But who would do such a thing?" Changming made a slight inference, and the conclusion was frightening, cold sweat breaking out at that moment.

  "Judging from the poor Taoist's appearance, it seems to be a guess, but after all, who did it is still hard to say. By the way, where is the Pure Yang Sword now?" Qing Xuan looked at the things in the world with extreme lightness and didn't want to understand the deep grievances of his family too much.

  After Qingxuan's reminder, Changming suddenly remembered the purpose of this trip. He turned his head to look at the wall of the study and said: "The old master once said that the Pure Yang Sword is hung on the wall of the study." Following Changming's gaze, Qingxuan indeed saw a precious sword hanging on the wall of the study.

  Qing Xuan walked over, carefully picked up the divine sword. The sword was sheathed in a scabbard that looked ancient and made of an unknown material. Qing Xuan's eyes were cold and sharp, and he felt something strange, as this didn't match the records in the book which said that the pure yang sword should be entirely golden with a golden glow inside the scabbard. Just then, a soft sword hum was heard, and the long sword was drawn out. Qing Xuan narrowed his eyes to observe carefully, and found that this sword was completely different from ordinary metal swords - its body was actually the color of cedar wood. What's more strange was that there were also cedar grain patterns on the sword body, and near the hilt, two natural cedar grain patterns formed a large seal script character.

  "Jade... it's actually the Jade Sword." Qing Xuan muttered to himself.

  "Oh, right! It's Qing Jun. Sorry, I accidentally remembered it wrong." Wang Changming only then realized that he had made a mistake and immediately became worried. If it wasn't for the Qing Yang sword, would Qing Xuan still have a chance besides the drought demon?

  Qing Xuan seemed to see through his thoughts, glanced at him and said: "The Chun Jun sword is said to be the last work of Ou Yezi, the great swordsmith. It is said that when the sword was forged, it caused the heaven and earth to change color, and all the immortals and gods lent their help. On the day the sword was completed, its unmatched sword energy broke through the nine heavens, shaking the Five Mountains and causing the four seas to overflow. Although these are just legends and may be exaggerated, the Chun Jun sword contains unparalleled heavenly power, it can be said to be extremely powerful. If I have this sword to help me, I will have a few more chances of winning."

  When speaking, Qingxuan's wrist rotated, holding the Chunjun sword and drawing a sword flower. Waves of sword hums came from the air, with a hint of sword energy lingering around. Suddenly, Qingxuan's sword movement stopped, placing the sword horizontally in mid-air. Strangely, the long sword gradually brightened, emitting a faint cypress-colored glow from its body. Accompanying the glow was an extremely powerful aura, which pressed down on Wang Changming, making him almost unable to stand.

  Qing Xuan just stared at the long sword in his hand, his eyes deep and profound, without saying a word.