Chapter Sixteen: Sacrifice

  "Huh? Where is the Dahuang Mountain?" Kong Zhuo didn't even look, and put away the witch's method in his bosom, but suddenly raised his head to ask this sentence.

  According to this old lady, the Great Wilderness Mountain is a great place, with ancient immortal caves and witchcraft skills. It sounds like a treasure trove. If there's an opportunity, I might as well go take a look, maybe I can catch some treasures too!

  "The Great Desolate Mountain is the largest mountain range in the far east of the Central Plains, where there are many wolves, insects, tigers and leopards, as well as mountain spirits and ghosts. The mountains are steep and treacherous, the forests are dense and eerie, stretching for tens of thousands of miles. Although the spiritual energy is abundant, mysterious things are even more numerous, miasma fills the air, and poisonous creatures are everywhere. In the depths of the Great Desolate Mountain, ancient beasts often appear, which is why it has become a desolate place with no human habitation. Of course, some cultivators have taken notice of its seclusion and will cultivate there, but this kind of cultivation can only be done on the periphery of the mountain. Some cultivators also enter the depths of the Great Desolate Mountain to practice their skills for demonic purposes, but most of them never return. The three iron beads were discovered by me in the peripheral area of the Great Desolate Mountain, while the Wu Men Gong Fa was recorded by me unintentionally when I stepped into a restricted area and entered the depths of the mountain, in a place with steep cliffs and deep valleys. If you want to go there, I advise you to wait for another fifty years, perhaps at that time, you will barely have the strength to set foot in the Great Desolate Mountain."

  "Thank you, senior, for your guidance!" Kong Zhuo's face was flushed with embarrassment.

  "You don't have to be like this either, I'm giving you benefits. On the one hand, I want you to handle things for me, of course, more importantly, I hope that one day you can become a help to your master!"

  "Seniors and homeroom teachers seem quite familiar!"

  The old lady hesitated for a moment, "My relationship with him, maybe you'll know later, but now, I won't tell you!"

  "Isn't it a senior's responsibility to prevent juniors from misusing their master's name?"

  The old lady smiled, "Firstly, your master's reputation in the cultivation world is not that great, only a few people know his roots. Secondly, this sword of yours can't deceive me!" The old lady's withered hand slightly flipped over, and the short sword that Kong Zhan had used to attack her earlier appeared in his hand. "This sword was forged from the mixture of Western Tai Bai Yuan Jing and Tian He Xing Sha, and this Tian He Xing Sha was something your master obtained from me back then. No one else can wield it, so as soon as you drew your sword, I knew you were Mo Xiu's disciple!"

  "Seniors and family teachers are indeed familiar!" Kong Zhuo smiled and said.

  The old lady didn't answer Kong Yan's words, "Little friend, I'll remind you again that the Western Tai Bai Yuan Jing and Tian He Xing Sha refined immortal sword, apart from being the most extreme immortal sword in the world, has another very important characteristic. It can ignore level restrictions on seals and even fuse with beast spirits as a sword spirit!"

  "Sealing a beast spirit regardless of its rank?" Kong Zhuo was taken aback. Generally speaking, another effect of the Immortal Sword was to seal a beast spirit and refine it into a sword soul, which could enhance some attributes of the Immortal Sword. The higher the rank of the beast spirit, the stronger the power of the Immortal Sword would be.

  In the world of legendary swords, there is usually a sword spirit that evokes a sense of terror.

  In this way, the higher the level of the sword spirit, the stronger it is, and the power of the immortal sword will naturally be stronger. For example, if you seal a fierce tiger's beast spirit as a sword spirit, and seal a yellow cow as a sword spirit, the effect will be completely different.

  Of course, the beast spirits that can be sealed are also subject to level restrictions. Generally, a fairy sword can only seal ordinary animal souls at most. Only high-level fairy swords can seal exotic beasts with special properties and abilities. Kong Zhuo originally thought that when he had the chance, he would get a beast spirit of an exotic beast as his sword soul. But unexpectedly, this sword of his could ignore level restrictions, which means that he could even seal a divine beast's beast spirit inside. Is this really true?

  Kong Zhan looked at the old lady, "So, senior's meaning is that if I want to seal a Qilin's beast spirit inside, it would also be possible?"

  "If you have the ability to kill him, then do it!" said the old lady.

  "This is going to be a big trouble!" Kong Zuo couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart.

  He is a greedy person, his own sword in hand can seal the Qilin, so now if he were given a fierce tiger, he wouldn't even give it a glance. Moreover, he secretly rejoices that when he was at Luofu, he didn't impulsively kill the old tiger to take its soul and refine its spirit. Because one immortal sword can only have one sword spirit, if at that time he really killed the old tiger, his own sword would be ruined, which is truly not worth it.

  In that case, if I want to cultivate this sword spirit, I don't know when it will be possible, where can I find a sword spirit that matches this sword of mine?

  What does this thing mean to this old lady all of a sudden?

  Kong Zhan's gaze shifted, and he looked at this old lady.

  The old lady smiled, "Don't look at me, I don't have any good beast spirits here, so everything has to rely on you yourself. How to find a balance between your own greed and reality is what you need to consider. As for me, I'm going to die soon, no time to help you think about these messy things!"

  "Senior——!" Kong Zhuo's face changed, as if he had realized something. He wanted to speak but was suddenly lifted out of the house by a strong force. Before he could steady himself, the only small room in the small teahouse burst into flames with a loud "peng" sound, and a green fire flashed out. However, in an instant, everything turned to ashes, leaving no trace of the old lady.

  Kong Zhan's face was filled with extreme doubt as he returned to where he had been standing earlier, standing alone in the wind and rain, staring at the pile of ashes beneath his feet. He let out a bitter laugh, "Damn it, I wonder if she really died or just faked her own death to escape, only heaven knows!"

  ——————————

  To sum it up, Kong Zhan is a person with a heavy heart, not because of his nature, but mainly due to his childhood. His father was a successful businessman, and he was a special child who could recognize characters at the age of one and a half, which was not genius, but at least showed that he was clever. So, from an early age, his father placed his hopes on him, teaching him various business strategies and telling him about all sorts of human relationships, not expecting him to understand them at the time, but just to remember them. Some things, when he grew up, would slowly become clear after some thought. Although this did not cultivate a true genius, it made Kong Zhan seem somewhat precocious, with his mental age not matching his actual age. Furthermore, after his parents were murdered when he was eight years old, Kong Zhan himself had a near-death experience and came back to life, gaining another layer of understanding about life and the world. Therefore, in his actions, although sometimes appearing childish, compared to those foolish and reckless peers of his, he was much better, which was also what the old lady valued about him.

  He never believed in good things falling from the sky, but today, it seemed like a big pie had fallen right in front of him. However, no matter how he sniffed, he felt that there was a strong smell of wine on this pie.

  This old lady absolutely did not give herself benefits because she liked what she saw, but because of her own master.

  From those few words, Kong Zhan could clearly feel that this old lady had an unusual relationship with his master.

  Two conclusions can be drawn from this: first, his master must have been in trouble; second, the old lady was either his master's lover or a relative of his master.

  The first possibility can be basically ruled out, so there is only the second possibility left. However, this means that his own master, Zuijian Morong, has been shrouded in a mysterious aura. As the second-generation disciple of the Luofu Sect and someone who had a good relationship with the Five Swords of Luofu, Zuijian Morong surprisingly had connections with people from the demonic path. It seems like there's some muddy water here!

  Kong Zhan smiled wryly and shook his head.

  Look at the sky, it's already getting brighter, in the east where the heaven and earth meet, a faint white light is appearing.

  Kong Zuo thought for a moment, then shook his head and put all the things in his mind aside, as if nothing had happened. He quickened his pace and arrived at the canyon that he couldn't forget for the rest of his life two days later, ten years after his first visit.

  The horse thief had died under Master's sword years ago, and the bodies of his parents were also buried, buried on a small hillside behind the canyon.

  Although it has been through ten years of wind and rain, because a small ban was placed there by Mo Xiu, there is no major damage, only the wild grass has grown to more than one person high, covering up the big tomb where the two were buried together.

  Kong Zhan was silent, pulling out the grass around the tomb one by one, and then tidying up the tomb. He placed the wine and food he had prepared as offerings, burned paper money, and kowtowed 99 times. According to plan, he was supposed to leave, but unexpectedly, after the first bow, the grievances that had been pent up in his heart for ten years all surged up, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. His original intention to travel around and have fun was completely gone. He used the weeds and wild grasses he had pulled out to build a thatched hut by the tomb, and moved in. On one hand, it was to pay his respects to his parents, and on the other hand, it was also to cultivate himself quietly, so that his parents who were resting here could be comforted, and it would also be a kind of solace for himself.

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