Chapter 6: The Disaster of Demonic Cultivators: Fabricated Soul Constructs

In the early days of the great transformation, demonic cultivators still acted on whim, routinely slaughtering entire cities.

But as cultivation methods spread throughout the world, when demonic cultivators slaughtered spirits to refine their arts, a few individuals occasionally survived.

Among them was one man who not only joined a sect but became a disciple of the Xian Sect's founding ancestor; after attaining cultivation, he killed every demonic cultivator he encountered.

Many descendants of old demons sought revenge, but the Xian Sect's founding ancestor was fiercely protective of his disciples, personally stepping in and leaving heads rolling.

The demonic sect's founding ancestor, however, was solitary and self-centered; the deaths of unrelated demonic cultivators meant nothing—they were simply unlucky.

This caused the demonic path to gradually weaken, as many of its artifacts required the refinement of living souls or living beings as offerings.

To improve this situation, some old demonic masters gathered together, using cloning techniques mentioned by Shenghuang Yuan and combining them with Illusory Realm stimulation, and actually succeeded in mass-producing Soul Constructs.

Though this act was still unacceptable to the world, the number of targets was now far fewer.

Since then, the demonic path slowly recovered.

"Sigh~ True Person speaks truly; I am certainly no remarkable demonic cultivator," the young man sighed, "so I can only resort to this last resort."

Though Soul Constructs are convenient, they are expensive.

A Soul Construct matching the quality of Xiao Ning True Person would cost more than I could ever afford, even if I sold myself.

Sigh~ demonic cultivators these days really have it hard.

He shook the Ten Thousand Souls Banner once more.

"Please, True Person, take your leave."

A clear light cascaded like a waterfall; the banner spirits, solemn as deities, spoke in unison, radiating myriad rays of auspicious light.

Xiao Ning True Person's heart jolted; his dark red faceplate instantly covered his entire head, yet it did nothing—the chanting of sacred mantras echoed in his ears.

Already possessing higher cultivation than him, further amplified by the Soul-Seizing Array, and caught off-guard, in an instant boundless exhaustion surged from the depths of his soul, making him want only to close his eyes and sleep until the end of time.

In a single exchange, the Void-Return Realm Xiao Ning True Person was about to be captured!

As his soul was about to be sucked into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to spend eternity as a miserable Pa Lu,

"Don't sleep!"

His roar echoed like thunder, rippling through the sky's clear light.

The sky seemed ignited in an instant; an overwhelming surge of blood qi raised scorching heatwaves, a crimson glow piercing through the clear light like a blood-red spear thrust toward heaven.

The young man, who had been dealing with Xiao Ning True Person, raised an eyebrow, sidestepped, and flicked out his left hand in a light slap.

Boom!

The crimson light shattered; a muscular, nearly three-meter-tall giant stood with arms crossed, blocking the young man's slap.

A body cultivator—yet even more, a Void-Return Realm body cultivator!

"Isn't that Old Jiang?!" Students from the Third Middle School of Xuanjian City quickly recognized the body cultivator's identity.

But most remained stunned.

"Old Jiang? Who's Old Jiang? Does our school have a cultivator like this?"

"He's the librarian!"

"Huh? Isn't he just Foundation Establishment?"

In an instant, murmurs erupted—no one had expected that frail, ancient-looking man, who seemed one breeze away from collapsing, was a hidden master!

A Void-Return Realm great cultivator—and a body cultivator at that!

Zhang Yunlu, who had just recovered and barely stood up, stared blankly at the sky.

She often went to the library to read, and had spoken with the librarian a few times, but the scene before her was utterly beyond her expectations.

"So it's true that great cultivators love to play among mortals," she murmured.

"Not necessarily playing among mortals, but his injuries are severe—he's likely about to die."

Huh?

How can you tell?

Zhang Yunlu froze, suddenly turning to look at Xu Xing's back, a wildly absurd suspicion rising in her mind.

…………

In the sky, Old Jiang's eyes were bloodshot, his few remaining strands of hair fluttering in the wind.

Due to his internal injuries, he had reached his limit after blocking that palm.

"A dying man dares to ruin my plans?"

After speaking calmly, the young man swatted him away like a fly.

This Void-Return Realm body cultivator was his original target, but now there was a better one—he'd extract this old man's soul after dealing with Xiao Ning.

In the school, Xu Xing watched all this without moving. In the sky, Xiao Ning True Person, seeing his rescuer flung away and unsure whether he was alive or dead, felt even more conflicted.

He had been caught off-guard before, but now he was confident he could stall for two minutes until sect reinforcements arrived.

This Grand Void Exorcism Sword Qi was exactly the material he urgently needed for his refinement method…

That comrade was a body cultivator—he could withstand one palm strike…

Fuck!

"F**k you, you broke-ass beggar! You poor f**k, go refine your Ten Thousand Souls Banner! Today, I'll send you down to meet your f**king ancestors!"

A torrent of utterly boundless profanity poured from Xiao Ning True Person's mouth—even the demonic young man was stunned into silence.

"True Person, this is unbecoming… f**k!"

Suddenly, purple light flared from Xiao Ning True Person's third eye; a brilliant sword intent surged skyward.

Grand Void Exorcism Sword Qi!

Hum~

Everything in the city froze, turning monochrome, save for that one piercing streak of purple.

!. read

The movements of everyone in the school froze at the instant the sword qi emerged; the only ones unaffected were Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu.

"Don't look at me. Look at them."

Hearing this, Zhang Yunlu shifted her gaze toward the sky, yet in her heart grew more certain.

"Slash!"

In the black-and-white world, the purple sword qi was like a roaming dragon, roaring and surging as if to tear the demonic cultivator youth to shreds.

Crack!

At the last critical moment, the sky seemed to shatter as something broke open; a great hand churning with demonic qi reached out from within, crushing the sword qi in one grasp and clawing toward True Person Xiaoning.

Above the Return-to-Void realm!

A great power has intervened!

The change came too fast; True Person Xiaoning had no time to react at all, and death seemed imminent.

Suddenly, the Grand Void Evil-Slaying Sword qi that had been crushed earlier gathered once more, dozens of times more powerful than before; even that great hand of demonic qi slowed considerably under its influence!

The next instant, the sword qi swept down.

Roar!

A cry—neither beast nor not-beast, brimming with agony—rang out, and the shattered sky returned to its original state.

The severed great hand of demonic qi shrank back to the size of an ordinary arm and dropped into the deep pit below.

As for the demonic cultivator youth, he had been even more thoroughly shredded by the sword qi—body and soul alike—utterly, irreversibly dead; only the Ten Thousand Souls Banner hung quietly suspended in the sky.

In the school, the people around remained in that frozen state, yet Xu Xing turned his head to look at Zhang Yunlu.

"How do you feel, little Miss?"

"I…"

Zhang Yunlu opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

All of this happened in a flash; the reversals came too many and too fast. She had thought True Person Xiaoning being a great cultivator of the Return-to-Void realm was already impressive enough, yet the demonic cultivator was above him.

And that demonic cultivator, more powerful than True Person Xiaoning, had no power to resist against that sword qi.

The great hand of demonic qi that appeared last was clearly on yet another level—perhaps not even at the Return-to-Void tier anymore—yet it was still severed by the re-gathered sword qi.

"What will happen to that demon who appeared at the end?"

"He should die, probably."

Other Xian Sects might be manageable, but offending the Supreme Dao Sect and having an arm chopped off—the demonic great power's hope of surviving was exceedingly slim.

"That sword qi…"

"The Grand Void Evil-Slaying Sword qi, from the hand of a sword cultivator who cultivates the Grand Void Sword Canon."

The Grand Void Sword Canon—she had seen it on the Spirit Net; the supreme technique of the Sword Sect!

"So you are…?" Zhang Yunlu's voice trembled slightly.

"Just as you're thinking."

Though Xu Xing had never spoken his identity aloud, he had no intention of deliberately concealing it either.

And as the purple sword qi dissipated, the world between heaven and earth gradually began to recover its colors.

"This is a very good era; I like it quite a lot, so for a time I will be staying in this city." Xu Xing looked at Zhang Yunlu with a slight smile. "If we meet again by fate, I'll give you a fairly nice little gift."

As his words fell, his figure vanished from sight.

(End of this chapter)