Chapter 494: The Defected Human

From this, one can see just how bleak the talisman-making industry has become these days.

Actually, Chi Jiuyu hadn't even considered talisman-making at first—a cultivator's profession with a pitch-black future—but it was free, after all…

Free stuff is free stuff, right!

Besides, no matter how you slice it, talisman-making once stood shoulder to shoulder with alchemy, artifact-forging, and formations as one of the four famously renowned side professions of cultivation.

In any case, while traveling, she might as well take this chance to test herself properly and see which area her talent truly lies in.

Thinking this, Chi Jiuyu tapped the light screen.

She flipped to the first page of *A Guide to the Hundred Arts of Cultivation · Basic Edition*.

Artifact-Forger — Swordsmithing Specialization.

By now, talisman-making has gradually fallen into decline.

But the artifact-forger, as one of the traditional cultivation professions, still maintains its former standing; among today's traditional cultivation professions, only the alchemist remains worthy of being mentioned in the same breath.

Because of regional differences, the sword sect's published *Guide to the Hundred Arts of Cultivation* is mostly aimed at sword cultivators.

So in the artifact-forger section, naturally the first thing introduced is swordsmithing.

Chi Jiuyu read through it carefully.

After committing all the content to memory, she was preparing to finish this talent test before the Star-Sky Leap Array activated…

Wooooo—!

A low, droning alarm.

On the half-transparent pale-blue screen at the front of the control room, a line of orange-yellow text popped up.

【Notice! A notification addressed to the Southern Star Domain has been received!】

Hm?

What's going on?

【Southern Star Domain Defense Command — Full-Domain Combat Readiness Bulletin】 To all member units of the Southern Star Domain's various star-system defense networks:

It is projected that within the next three standard weeks, the density of bio-weapon projections will show an increasing trend.

In accordance with Article 7, Chapter 3 of the *Star-Sky Bio-Weapon Prevention and Control Regulations*, the following deployments are hereby made for the Southern Star Domain:

· All mission executors below planetary rank are to immediately abandon their missions (mission penalties waived; missions at planetary rank and above require approval from the local Garrison Commander)

· Activate full-domain protective formations (formations across star systems, planetary systems, and planets to activate in sync)

· Activate the star-domain-grade spiritual-energy screening and filtration system

· All Garrison Commanders to shift to combat-readiness status (star-system grade)

Additionally, according to the observations of the Southern Star Domain Garrison Commander, Purifier Dao Lord Ji Yin Xue, a suspected defected human has broken through the star-sky front line and has now entered the Southern Star Domain. All Garrison Commanders must immediately review anomalous spiritual-energy fluctuation data and submit an anomalous spiritual-energy analysis report to the Southern Star Domain Garrison Commander, Sword Lord Cheng Ding, within 12 standard hours.

This order takes effect immediately; violators will be dealt with according to Article 1768 of the *Star-Sky Combat Readiness Management Act*.

That was roughly the content.

At the very bottom were the issuing unit and the timestamp.

Chi Jiuyu's face was a picture of utter bewilderment.

Ah, this…

Why the sudden huge commotion?

She checked the time again.

Oh, this notice was sent out this afternoon—everyone heading to the Southern Star Domain during this period would receive it.

Then that's fine.

She'd almost thought she was really that ridiculous—trouble following her wherever she went.

The only pity was that her mission involved three alien races, making it a planetary-system-grade mission, so she still had to make the trip.

Wait!

Her mission request needed Zixuan Zhenjun's approval—surely he wouldn't hold it up and refuse to sign off, just to favor his second grandson, right!

Very possible!

Chi Jiuyu grew all the more convinced in her heart.

The cyan-gold longsword: "……"

Although Zixuan Zhenjun is that grandson's great-grandfather on the paternal side, by kinship that grandson should be a grandson, not a second grandson, right?

Should it bring this up with its master?

It was a little torn.

……

……

Meanwhile, the Southern Star Domain, the star-sky front-line battlefield.

The pitch-black void of space was strewn with severed limbs and broken armor, shattered scales and rotted plates; drops of blood imbued with boundless energy warped the void, like super-giant stars, radiating endless light and heat.

Azure essence-blood, human remains.

Faintly, one could see weapons clashing, sharp swords spanning the sky, towering divine figures grasping the starry cosmos, their inhale-exhale dimming whole constellations.

Countless interwoven strands of Dao-meaning lingered long, refusing to disperse—like eternal scars branded into the depths of cosmic space, a deathly, murderous mood almost filling everything.

Amid the severed limbs and shattered armor, a half-collapsed palace hung silently in the void; though broken, it still radiated an aura of imperishability.

Inside the palace at this moment.

Several Garrison Commanders of the Southern Star Domain had gathered, their gazes fixed on the completely sealed figure at the very center.

In the seat of highest honor sat a woman with an expressionless face and ear-length short hair.

She was none other than Master Mei Zu's sole disciple—the Southern Star Domain Garrison Commander, Purifier Dao Lord, Ji Yin Xue.

To her right sat an old sword-bearer whose chest and abdomen bore a vicious wound, and whose skull had been caved in for the most part.

Sword Lord of Sheng Ji, Cheng Ding.

One could see his old eyes, full of blood vessels, were utterly clouded; his skin hung loose and slack, covered in brown spots; his entire body reeked of decay.

Earlier, he had been attacked by two Cang-tribe cultivators of the Dong Zhen realm and blasted apart several times.

At this moment, his Dao injuries had already reached the point of manifesting outwardly.

Yet now, as he looked at the figure sealed away completely in the very center, his clouded eyes were full of sorrow.

"Junior brother, why has it come to this…"

"What makes Senior brother say such a thing." The sealed figure was dressed all in white, his bearing jade-like and radiant, his glass-like eyes emanating a seven-colored light, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"Back when I defected from the Cang tribe, you should have foreseen this day."

Although his magic power was entirely sealed and the Dao he cultivated was locked away, there was not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.

"Since that is so, why put on that same sanctimonious act as that old undying one?"

"Shut your mouth!" Cheng Ding's expression grew agitated. "The truth of what happened back then, you should know perfectly well. If it weren't for your younger brother raising sword slaves and slaughtering the innocent, how would he have been… by Master…!"

"Oh? By your logic, shouldn't that old undying one have deserved death even more?" He remained perfectly composed. "Crimson Moon Wolves, Frost Earth Frost Tigers, Moon-Gathering Floating Spirits—does Senior brother want me to list them off one race at a time?"

"Among those races he slaughtered to extinction, was there truly not a single innocent one?"

"And besides, even among the human race, how many died beneath his sword? Is the number my younger brother killed even one-thousandth of what that old undying one killed?"

At the end, his tone suddenly rose sharply.

His voice echoing outward, he swept his gaze over the Star Domain Garrison Commanders present one by one, and finally let out a contemptuous snort.

"Shouldn't that old undying one Xu Xing have deserved death?!"

Cheng Ding's eyes nearly split with rage; in his fury, the agitation stirred his Dao injuries, and he directly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"This world is always like this—filth that cannot be swept clean, villains that cannot be killed to the last." A cold voice came from the very top. "And you think you're fit to slander Senior Xiang Jianzong?"

Ji Yin Xue looked at him, her gaze as calm as if she were looking at a dead man.

"Senior Xiang Jianzong's greatest mistake was failing to exterminate every last one of you depraved, perverse wretches!"

"Heh." That man gave a cold laugh, clearly having no intention of arguing with her.

But the next words made his expression stiffen.

"Senior Jie Ye's eye for talent is truly mediocre—to think he took someone like you as a disciple. No wonder he has no face to face Senior Xiang Jianzong."

Without pausing, Ji Yin Xue continued on.

"With such a disciple, his master can hardly be more than a petty, scheming sort either."

The moment these words fell, everyone present turned to look, even Cheng Ding was stunned.

That remark was practically a curse delivered right to one's face.

Jie Ye—Supreme Elder of the Xiang Jianzong.

After all, he was a cultivator of the same era as Xiang Jianzong and the other ancestors; even if they were all of the Dong Zhen realm, they could not possibly show such disrespect to such a senior (Dao friend).

"Shut your mouth!" That man's expression suddenly turned savage. "My Master has been sheltering the human race since antiquity—how could someone like you be fit to slander him!"

"Having taught a disciple like you, am I wrong to call him a petty, scheming sort?"

Ji Yin Xue's gaze drifted calmly past that man, her tone still indifferent:

"Senior Jie Ye, do you think what I've said is wrong?"

"……"

The field fell silent. Apart from the man who was completely sealed away, everyone looked in the direction of Ji Yin Xue's gaze.

Accompanied by ripples spreading through the void, a middle-aged man stepped forth—clad in dark battle attire, holding a longsword in a reverse grip, his hair bound up with a bamboo crown.

Feeling the gazes cast upon him, a wry smile inevitably surfaced on his face.

"What she said is not wrong. I am indeed no qualified Master. Having taught such a disciple, I myself am nothing more than a petty, scheming sort."

Senior Jie Ye had actually come in person!

And Dao friend Jing Shi had actually been able to perceive it!

"Mm, it's good that you admit it." Ji Yin Xue gave a slight nod.

My heart and my deeds are clear as a bright mirror; all that I do follows my true nature—this is her Dao.

She never lies.

Having spoken that way just now proves that is exactly what she thinks!

She immediately said nothing more, leaving Jie Ye to handle his own disciple.

Although she considered him a petty, scheming sort, this did not prevent Ji Yin Xue from respecting his status as a senior.

To her, the two were not in conflict.

Jie Ye's expression was exceedingly complex. Sword in hand, he slowly stepped forward, looking at the disciple he had once been proudest of.

That man kept his head lowered, not daring to look at him at all.

Jie Ye gave a soft sigh: "Yi Feng, even now, you still refuse to raise your head and look at your Master?"

"……" Yi Feng said nothing, his entire body trembling.

Against anyone else, he could have ten thousand reasons to convince himself.

But facing Jie Ye, he could not.

This was the man who had raised him and his younger brother with his own hands, led him into the Xiang Jianzong, taught him cultivation methods, and was even willing to plead with Xiang Jianzong—that old undying one—on his behalf, his very Master in the Dao.

He had never repaid him, and instead had brought him shame…

"You dare not look at your Master—this proves that although you have thrown in your lot with the Cang tribe, in your heart you still remember everything between your Master and you, is that right?"

"This disciple… does not dare forget…"

"Even though body and mind alike belong to the Cang tribe, you have not forgotten?"

"I have not…"

Whoosh!

Sword-light shrieked through the air, carrying the punitive force of tribulation fire, splitting into countless millions of strands that fell upon Yi Feng's body.

In but an instant, a boundless agony that could nearly drown out all perception surged up from the depths of his divine soul, forcing from him a wail he could not suppress.

"Aaaagh—!"

The shrill, anguished howls echoed on all sides.

The sudden turn of events left the surrounding garrison commanders all dumbfounded.

Jie Ye's expression returned to a flat indifference as he calmly watched Yi Feng's continuous screams of agony.

"Write it all down — this is all useful information. We can use it later to target the human defectors." (End of chapter)