Chapter 493: Both Powerful and Treacherous

"This old man is called Shen He, the one from the Nine Heavens Remnant of Xiang Qiyu Sect of Yue Kingdom."

The aged voice sighed and said: "Now, thick-skinned as I am, I want to ask you, little friend, for a favor—save that lad Han. The boy is a decent sort; it'd be a shame if he died."

Having spoken, this wisp of his divine sense transmitted a scene over—the current state of the formation at the location of the spiritual fruits of plants and trees, as well as the changes in the surrounding formation after the spiritual fruits had been taken away back then.

"Senior Shen He…"

Jiang Ding said nothing.

After a moment's thought, he pulled a memory from over a hundred years ago, from his boyhood, and let his sea of consciousness shift briefly before sending up a stream of simulated aura.

This aura was aged, weighty, and carried the overbearing, fierce intensity of Lei Ting.

It was precisely the aura simulated from the text recorded on the stone slab in his memory, and it differed considerably from the man's present aura.

Though a favor could be granted, it had to be that very senior.

A blood child, or a legacy disciple barely acceptable.

"As I know it, several tens of thousands of years is rather too long, isn't it?"

Jiang Ding asked.

"Your discerning eye, little friend, is not wrong."

The aged voice gave a bitter laugh: "The Shen He of those days… I don't know what the situation was. In any case, I don't know whether I count as Daoist Shen He, or merely a remnant soul that has become something like a fierce ghost."

"Perhaps we cannot be considered the same person."

He said frankly.

Though he felt goodwill toward the lad Han, and his own physical body's fate also rested with the other party, if the matter could not be done, naturally he would leave as well—a clear conscience was enough.

"Is that so?"

Jiang Ding thought once more.

Enough.

A small matter; right or wrong, it changes nothing.

"Senior, are you truly resolved to save him?"

"They're only a few Jin Dan cultivators."

Jiang Ding asked once again.

Toward that Senior Shen He of the Tianshenlei Sect, he was deeply grateful—back when he was young and powerless, destitute beyond words, he had received a tremendous beneficence that let his mother survive.

This gratitude, naturally, was not without limit.

Once this matter was done, there would be no severing of ties; both sides would retain goodwill and friendship, and could treat each other as ordinary Dao companions.

But in the future, should difficulties arise, he might help, or might not—just as today, entirely depending on his mood, with no longer any definite answer.

"A few Jin Dan cultivators…"

The aged voice gave a bitter laugh.

He knew this was an enormous waste.

Such a sword-path prodigy was extremely hard to bestow a kindness upon; the chance usually came only when the other party was still weak.

A favor grew ever more precious with the passage of time.

If one gambled, several thousand years later, it might well be worth a whole world.

Yet if one could not get past the present, losing hope of a physical body meant that however much one possessed in the future, it would count for nothing.

"Then I ask you, little friend, to act once."

"Very well."

Jiang Ding nodded. The full magic power of his peak Jin Dan erupted, and he tore through the air back toward his original location.

……

On the battlefield,

Han Lin, emaciated to skin and bones and ringed layer upon layer by formations, had his aura weakened to the extreme; even the Ten Thousand Souls Banner that had always shielded him had been struck down by the bronze ge, fallen to the ground, its spiritual light dim.

"He truly has no hidden card?"

"Well, escaping the pursuit of a Six Paths Holy Son is already remarkable enough."

The red-faced old man and the gorgeous woman exchanged a glance, each erupting their magic power, driving the Hei Guan Fa and bronze ge treasures to smash toward the youth's body, while keeping most of their attention on their own kind nearby.

"Die!"

The red-faced old man gave a low cry, then suddenly froze.

He saw that the youth before him had relaxed his expression, no longer showing any despair or unease, his whole person easing.

He had even begun closing his eyes to regulate his breathing on the spot, seizing the time to recover his body and soul, on the verge of collapse, paying no heed to his surroundings.

"Sigh, this old man is taking a huge loss this time. Lad Han, you must become a great power in the future…"

The aged voice babbled on within the sea of consciousness, sighing endlessly.

"Putting on a show!"

The red-faced old man and the gorgeous woman gave a cold laugh, channeling their magic power; the bronze ge and Hei Guan Fa sped up another notch.

They had lived for several hundred years—what manner of person, what manner of battle had they not witnessed? How could such a paltry trick of putting on a show distract them?

In the instant the Hei Guan Fa and bronze ge were about to smash the youth's body to pulp.

A deep-blue flying sword appeared.

One sword slashed toward the two upper-grade treasures,

An utterly unremarkable basic Sword-Control Art sword-slash stance.

A sword-body a mere chi long, tiny as dust before the pillar-like bronze ge and Hei Guan Fa treasures, nearly ignorable.

Boom!

A violent explosion.

Two top-grade treasures, the copper halberd and the Hei Guan Fa treasure, both refined with over sixty Earth Fiend prohibitions and nearing the perfection of Earth Fiend, were struck as if by lightning, blasted straight back, their spiritual light flickering wildly.

Within that tiny flying sword lay unimaginable immense power.

It was the mountain peak; others were mere dust.

"Who?!"

The two Jin Dan peak cultivators, struck as if by lightning, turned deathly pale, spat a mouthful of bright red blood into the air, and their auras plummeted drastically.

Looking again at the treasures,

the Hei Guan Fa treasure, refined to near the extreme limit of a treasure.

But now, a sword mark appeared on the coffin body; wisp after wisp of destructive sword intent surged along the mark into the treasure's prohibitions, frantically destroying everything, forcing them to expend vast amounts of divine sense and magic power to suppress it, delaying the total collapse of their Ben Ming Fa treasure.

It could only delay, not prevent!

This sword intent, even if not in its complete state, was far too vicious.

"A sword cultivator?!"

"Sword intent!"

The red-faced old man's body shuddered; a terrible memory surfaced, drawn by the aura of the sword intent, and he looked toward a certain direction.

The void was hazy; as the sword intent erupted, a youth in green robes materialized in the sky, dissatisfaction in his eyes, calculating something.

'This body is too weak; it cannot bear the full sword intent.'

'The flying sword won't work either.'

"This magic power? It is not from a Great Sun Sword Sect cultivator!"

"Who are you?"

In a short time, the red-faced old man had reacted, shouting harshly: "This is General General Heishi's territory; our Ancestor is in Tushan Xiancheng cultivating in seclusion. To strike at General General Heishi's direct lineage, have you considered the consequences?"

Without further orders, the beautiful woman secretly sent General General Heishi's distress signal, using multiple different methods to avoid interception.

For over two hundred years, they had lived through war; their coordination was perfectly seamless.

Both were fully confident that upon receiving the distress signal, a large force would certainly be dispatched from the Beast Spirit Tushan Xiancheng to reinforce them; holding out for some time, no matter what Jin Dan they faced, they would surely be blasted to death!

"Your combat skills are quite good."

Jiang Ding did not answer their shouts, instead praising them.

While healing, Han Lin could not help but open his eyes and extend his divine sense.

"If you hand over this person and withdraw now, everything can be..."

The red-faced old man, in the midst of a furious rebuke, suddenly showed terror in his eyes.

A chill at his throat,

a line of blood emerged.

Then, two heads rolled away with a thud, and a geyser of blood shot skyward.

The figure of the youth in green robes collapsed and vanished.

At the same time, another figure appeared beside the two, sheathing a flying sword, gathering the blood and corpses, and casting a spell to erase their auras.

A chill ran straight up Han Lin's spine.

He saw clearly: a sword light, hidden within the sword body, took the instant when both were distracted by the frontal assault, broke through their protective shield, circled once around the necks of the two Jin Dan peak cultivators; their two Ben Ming Fa treasures reacted too late, and their heads hit the ground.

"Han boy, learn from this."

An aged voice praised: "Strong in power is one thing, but so treacherous as well."

"This is what a person seeking immortality should be like."

"Senior's teaching is correct."

Han Lin agreed deeply, committing it to memory in his heart.

Two