Chapter Sixteen: Blood Refining

  Legend has it that in ancient times, demons ran amok and the weak were slaughtered. The Heavenly Emperor led eighteen brave warriors, wielding sacred swords to slay the demons. The long sword was fed with fresh blood, increasing its magical powers. Fearing it would confuse people's minds, the Heavenly Emperor sealed the sword with his own blood before dying and buried it in a mysterious cave, leaving behind five volumes of heavenly scriptures. If the world were to face a great calamity, gathering the five volumes would allow one to wield the sword and slay gods, destroying heaven and earth. However, if the person wielding the sword was not virtuous enough, they would be controlled by the sword's demonic powers and fall into darkness... Zhang Yu Fan slowly read the words on the giant sword, revealing the unknown truth about the Exterminating Sword.

  Lu Xueqi's face was as pale as frost, still not speaking a word. The entire sky and the whole Qingyun suddenly became so unfamiliar. What is called a great calamity, is it a natural disaster or a man-made one? If Linglong witch god didn't pursue immortality, she wouldn't have gathered the world's evil energy to create the beast king, and there wouldn't be today's disaster. And what do Fengxiang Valley and Guiwang Sect want to do now? Release the ancient evil spirits to plague the world.

  Zhang Yufan glanced at Lu Xueqi, who still had a cold and frosty expression, her beautiful eyes making it impossible to see through her thoughts.

  "Xue Qi!" He plucked up his courage and asked "May I call you that?" His heart was also prepared to be suddenly struck by a sword at any moment.

  Lü Xueqi's reaction made him unexpectedly surprised, and with a slender figure, he walked towards the giant sword in front of him while saying: "Alright, it's just a codename!" As he spoke, his hand was about to touch the long sword.

  "Be careful!"

  Zhang Yufan suddenly let out a loud shout, his figure flashing as he appeared in front of Lu Xueqi, grabbing her soft wrist and blocking it before immediately releasing it. "This sword is the same material as the Exterminating Immortal Ancient Sword," he said, "and the Exterminating Immortal Ancient Sword can absorb human essence and blood!"

  Lu Xueqi was stunned again, never expecting him to know even this, and immediately withdrew her hand.

  To verify whether this giant sword was a blood-sucking sword, Zhang Yufan bit his finger and a string of blood beads popped onto the sword body. Seeing that the blood slowly gathered and then rolled down along the sword body, it surprisingly didn't suck human essence and blood. Why was this? Perhaps the answer to the mystery of the sword lay in the words engraved on its body. Thinking of this, he continued reading.

  This sword is called Light Spirit Refine Demon, and like the aforementioned Exterminate Immortal Sword, it was born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In ancient times, when the war to exterminate demons and immortals was at its peak, only this sword had not yet appeared in the world, nor had it been tainted by worldly affairs. However, as yin and yang are interdependent and mutually restrictive, there exist both the Heavenly Scripture of Wonders and the Shura Secret Decree, an extremely cold and poisonous cultivation method. If one were to use the Four Great Spiritual Beasts as a medium to summon the evil god Yaksha, unseal the Eight Trigrams Fire Dragon, and bathe in the Ninefold Heaven's Fire, then the world would be destroyed. Only those with fate who cultivate the Heavenly Scripture can wield "Exterminate Immortal" and "Refine Demon" to transform this calamity.

  Just as she finished speaking, Lu Xueqi didn't know much about the Four Spirits Blood Array, but Zhang Yufan's face changed greatly, secretly shocked "Could it be that I came for this, for Echu Luo or for the Eight Directions Fire Dragon, but what qualifications do I have to deal with these magical gods who are in harmony with heaven?"

  Lu Xueqi also felt Zhang Yufan's abnormality, but still didn't have the courage to look at him, and only said: "What's wrong with you?"

  Zhang Yufan was taken aback for a moment. This was the first time Lu Xueqi had spoken to him like that, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited: "N-no, nothing, I just zoned out for a bit!"

  Lu Xueqi's face was calm and serene, she slowly responded with a gentle "en", then carefully looked again. On the other side of the Heavenly Emperor's throne, there was a crystal clear bead as big as a fist, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't a physical object, rather a quasi-physical boundary. The light emanating from it came from a small, delicate white bead in the middle.

  At this moment, Tian Jue suddenly emitted a slight tremble, as if he had sensed something, so intimate and fervent that even Lu Xueqi was taken aback.

  At the same time, on the other side, Zhang Yu Fan's blood suddenly stopped dripping from the giant sword, slowly dissolving into the sword body. In an instant, the entire sword turned crimson, casting a red glow over the entire hall. The two were shocked, as if they had been bathed in a sea of blood. Was this really their world? How many lives had been lost and how much blood had been spilled when the Heavenly Emperor created the heavens?

  In an instant, the sword's body turned a deep crimson and grew to a frenzied state, blocking out the sky and making it impossible for anyone to gaze directly at it. Suddenly, a deafening crash shook the air as the sword's body shattered into countless fragments that floated around the two individuals. Just as they were bewildered by this turn of events, Zhang Yuefan suddenly felt an intense surge of energy coursing through his veins, as if he was about to be torn apart by some strange power. Slowly but surely, his feet began to leave the ground, and an unseen force lifted him into mid-air, causing him to let out a pained roar.

  Lu Xueqi was shocked, Tianyue came out of its scabbard and was about to fly onto Zhang Yufan's body to rescue him. However, unexpectedly, the other pearl on the Heavenly Emperor's throne, which was as big as a fist, also burst open. A white jade bead suspended in mid-air not far from Zhang Yufan emitted a powerful force that strongly attracted Tianyue and pulled it over.

  On one side, the body was torn apart like a ripped page, while on the other, the sword-like gaze refused to let go. But this powerful force was not something that human strength could withstand. Lu Xueqi was knocked back, heavily falling to the ground with mouthfuls of blood, and could only watch as the person above was pierced by a white light from behind, then instantly disintegrated into countless fragments. The weak body slowly fell down. On the other side, Tian Hua seemed to understand its master's thoughts and made a final struggle with the white bead. However, the Heavenly Emperor's artifact was not something to be trifled with. Tian Hua ultimately could not withstand the two powerful beams of white and blue light that burst forth, shattering into several pieces with a crisp sound. How could the artifact passed down by her master be destroyed? She became agitated, instantly stirring up her internal injuries, and fainted with a blackness before her eyes.

  By the side of Hei Shui Tan, Fa Xiang used the Wheel of Reincarnation to search for two whole days in the black water, his face pale and haggard. In that expected boundary, there was nothing but black water and rocks.

  "Could it be that there is still a place in this pool of water where the power of the Wheel of Reincarnation cannot reach?"

  Next to Lin Jingyu, his expression was not much better. After all, they were fellow disciples. He didn't have any romantic feelings for Lu Xueqi, but he had always been very respectful of this elegant and refined senior sister. Moreover, there was also a "Zhang Xiaofan" who was like a younger brother to him. At the moment, he was anxious and wanted to dive into the water alone to search for Lu Xueqi, but Fa Xiang stopped him. In this dark and bottomless water, where the Wheel of Rebirth could see, there were strange creatures lurking. If they went underwater, their lives would be in danger. The more Fa Xiang said this, the more anxious Lin Jingyu became. In his impatience, he urged the Dragon-Slaying Sword to wildly slash at a nearby small mountain peak. Over the past two days, that small mountain peak had already been destroyed by half. Fa Xiang also sighed and lamented, lightly chanting Buddhist scriptures.

  Just as the two people were simultaneously despairing, there was a faint ripple in the black water, and the two people's hearts moved, not knowing if they had come up.

  The calm water surface rippled with increasingly larger waves, and in an instant the entire surface seemed to surge like a tide, flooding up three feet. Far away, one zhang outside, Fasheng hastily retreated backwards, warning Lin Jing that the thing rising from the depths of the pool was certainly a monster that had not appeared for ages. As he spoke, a golden object flew out of the water's surface, which was precisely the Wheel of Reincarnation hidden in the dark waters.

  "The foreign object in the pond is being pulled by the power of the Wheel-turning Pearl and is about to burst out of the water!" Fa Xiang said slowly, "Lin Shi, be careful!"

  Lin Jingyu was extremely anxious, and his heart ached as he thought about whether Xiao Fan and Lu Shijie had fallen into the black water and become victims of its poisonous grasp. Would they not be able to be together even in death? Not even leaving behind a complete corpse? The dragon-slaying sword's aura grew stronger, and with a loud roar, he shouted: "If Xiao Fan and Lu Shijie have really fallen prey to this beast's cruel fate, I will avenge their blood debt with its own blood!"

  The law seems to frown, apparently also the same idea, otherwise even if they drowned in the pond water should have a corpse floating up, so there is no other explanation, could it be that it's really the will of heaven playing tricks on people? The master uncle's wish is destined to not come true, and the evil he did will be repaid with eternity.

  A long, mournful cry echoed across the water, causing ripples to spread out for several meters before breaking into countless droplets that fell back down quickly. The two people instinctively took a step back, simultaneously sensing that the other's power far exceeded their expectations.

  After the water barrier fell, the strange object was exposed, with a huge head and a three-zhang-long neck covered with countless eyes. It looked like a water snake, but its entire body was still not visible. There were still things coming up from under the water, and surprisingly, they were all the same - nine identical necks and heads appeared one after another.

  Those countless eyes emitted a faint blue glow, like countless evil spirits craving the vital energy of living beings. Fa Xiang saw at a glance that those things resembling eyes were not eyes but gill slits similar to those of fish, and the faint blue light was actually a highly toxic substance.

  Lin Jingyu was thinking about how to deal with these nine huge objects, the part of the opponent that stayed underwater had already completely surfaced, what surprised the two people was that this was not nine monsters but one, how did such a strange creature exist under this black water? Why didn't it appear yesterday, could it be...

  Two people's moral integrity has reached the realm of being immune to all poisons, but in front of this enormous alien creature, they dare not relax their vigilance even a little, and instead focus their attention to the utmost, each activating their magical artifacts to engage in a fierce battle with it.

  After several rounds, the two of them gradually felt that this beast was really troublesome. The nine heads could both defend and attack, echoing each other, without any weaknesses at all. It was even more difficult to deal with than a high-level cultivator. Lin Xingyu's Dragon Slaying Sword chopped down, one head dodged and another head attacked immediately. If not for Lin Xingyu's early defense, he would have fallen into the trap of this nine-headed snake's move. On the other side, the Law Wheel Pearl quickly shuttled back and forth between the nine heads, occasionally causing heavy damage, but this beast had thick skin and long necks that could stretch and retract at will. Although the Law Wheel Pearl's pure yang energy was powerful, it was mostly neutralized by the beast.

  Fa Xiang frowned, such a foreign object was not allowed to attack so fiercely, it must be broken with the power of heaven and earth, and Lin Jingyu, who was born clever, could see the way out, both of them flashed back at the same time, and simultaneously urged the Buddha's door Brahma and Qingyun divine thunder sword technique.

  Divine Thunder Imperial Sword's mighty force, the roar of the Thunder God at the edge of the sky. The Great Brahma's wisdom and the power of the sun converge into a gigantic golden character that shrinks to nearly solid form in an instant, striking down from both sides simultaneously. Two doors of cultivation methods are unleashed at the same time, how can this be ordinary? A shocking blow, even that strange object knows the ferocity of these two moves, not daring to take it head-on. However, with nine heads moving extremely inconveniently, the nine heads let out a long whistle, unexpectedly wanting to use powerful sonic waves to counter the duo's all-out attack.