Chapter 962: Sword Child, Can You Spare Me?

The incense and faith of hundreds of millions of devotees converged, roaring, howling, calling upon their deity, yet brimming with malice toward the lone green-robed youth, longing to flay him, dismantle his bones, and devour his flesh alive.

This malice permeated heaven and earth, as if the cultivator had been utterly rejected by all creation.

Yet none of this malice could draw near within a thousand li of the green-robed youth—any who approached were instantly cut down and annihilated.

Numbers meant nothing. Millions of lives meant nothing.

Whoever dared attack, whoever made their choice—no matter the reason—must die.

“This incense energy is utterly annoying.”

Jiang Ding frowned.

If malice from living beings grows too great—reaching the scale of half the world’s population, sustained for centuries—it brings dire consequences, entangling karma and fortune, immensely complex.

This is a world where spirit can influence matter.

If a cultivator is not strong enough, the curses of hundreds of millions can truly kill him.

“Deal with this quickly. Aside from a few fanatical fanatics, most common folk are innocent, deceived by Xi Anping. Rescue them as soon as possible.”

Jiang Ding sighed.

He descended from the sky and wandered for days through this fifth-rank inferior undersea spiritual vein, measuring data on spiritual veins, earth qi, ocean tides, and calculating furiously within his spiritual sea.

“There’s no fifth-rank array here…”

Jiang Ding winced.

Xi Anping had always relied on the Incense Divine Court to guard the East Sea, never intending to set up a fifth-rank array.

That meant nothing usable existed—everything must be built from scratch, all costs borne by himself.

“Forget it. Starting from zero is fine—more convenient.”

Jiang Ding grimaced and vanished; days later, he returned.

In his hand was a new array: the Fifth-Rank Inferior Cloud Mist Water Wave Array, perfectly suited to the East Sea’s environment, and crucially, cheap—only 520 billion inferior spirit stones required, the lowest price among such arrays in the Immortal Sects.

Actually, if he waited another 201 years, a promotion event would lower the price by another 70 billion inferior spirit stones. Jiang Ding hesitated long, then reluctantly gave up.

“Finish the East Sea quickly. A few years’ output will cover the discount.”

Jiang Ding flew through the sky.

Around him floated hundreds of thousands of array flags, jade tripods, azure water droplets, jade pillars, and reserved boundary-array entry points, densely filling the sky—mostly jade and stone materials, no metal at all, in accordance with the Cloud Mist Water Wave Array’s nature.

“Fall!”

Jiang Ding lightly pointed his finger; a jade tripod descended, no splash, melting like wax into the sea, sinking deep, finally settling on the spiritual vein’s node.

Array flags, jade pillars, jade talismans fell one by one, array patterns spreading endlessly…

Jiang Ding had mastered this array-setting task thoroughly—his spiritual sense divided into countless strands, movements automatic, instinctive, requiring almost no thought.

Months later, as heaven and earth trembled, vast swathes of array patterns and mist appeared across the heavens.

From afar, the entire sea was shrouded in mist—spiritual sense and sight could not pierce it, hazy and dreamlike, with illusions of pavilions and towers flickering occasionally, resembling Penglai Immortal Realm.

From afar, this sea region was completely shrouded in mist and clouds; spiritual sense and vision could not penetrate it, hazy and indistinct, with occasional illusory pavilions and terraces appearing, resembling the Penglai Immortal Realm.

This would become the center of the East Sea’s cultivation world; to countless low- and mid-rank cultivators, it was no different from Penglai Immortal Realm.

This place will become the center of the Eastern Sea cultivation world; in the hearts of many mid- and low-level cultivators, it is no different from the Penglai Immortal Realm.

Jiang Ding was about to activate the array, opening its ultra-long-range teleportation array to transport cultivators from Tu Mountain’s Central Court to handle affairs, when his heart stirred.

Jiang Ding was about to activate the array and open the attached ultra-long-range teleportation array to transport the cultivators from Tushan Central Courtyard to handle various matters, when a sudden thought struck him.

Jiang Ding’s face was expressionless; he formed a hand seal and drew forth from the spiritual vein’s core a golden sword the size of a fist.

This golden sword had been buried deep within the spiritual vein, only revealed once the array was fully activated.

Jiang Ding had not noticed it earlier—beyond interference from the fifth-rank spiritual vein, the main reason was his own weakness: weaker than a Qi Refining cultivator, weaker than a mortal, even a gentle breeze’s energy fluctuation was stronger than him.

Previously, Jiang Ding had not realized that, besides the interference from the fifth-rank spiritual vein, the main reason was that he was too weak—weaker than a Qi Refining cultivator, even less than an ordinary mortal, with the energy fluctuation of a gentle breeze greater than his own.

Xi Anping emerged from the golden sword, forcing a sycophantic smile.

“Can you spare me?”

“Killing me benefits you nothing. I told you—my father placed a restriction on me. If you kill me, you’ll go mad, utterly, irrevocably mad.”

“Know this: my father is the Great Sun Sword Master, on the verge of breaking through Void Refinement—he might even kill a Dao Union cultivator. He wields the power of karma. Your so-called evasion methods are useless.”

“Know this: my father is the Great Sun Sword Master on the verge of breaking through Void Refinement—he might even kill a Dao Union cultivator. He wields the power of cause and effect; your so-called avoidance methods are useless.”

“Oh? Didn’t you keep hunting me for revenge?”

Jiang Ding asked curiously.

He paid no mind to Xi Anping’s threats.

Because he was not alone—he stood behind an Immortal Sect.

Back then, the Immortal Sect had slain the Great Sun Sword Master outright!

Now, a mere technique left behind by the Great Sun Sword Master? Surely there was a way to resolve it—undoubtedly. After all, they were a realm-dominating force, one of the Nine Rogues.

Now, a single technique left behind by the Great Sun Sword Master must have the means to resolve it—this is beyond doubt; after all, he is a domain hegemon, one of the Nine Rogues.

“I judged a gentleman by the standards of a petty man.”

Xi Anping grinned: “When my father was still Sword Child, he hunted down and killed anyone, friend or foe, daily. Even after ascending to Void Refinement, he continued—deliberately letting the Eastern Ji Demon Sect grow, forcing the Eight Immortal Sects to support it, just to provoke stronger enemies, then slay them one by one, honing his sword to its peak before breaking beyond Void Refinement.”

“He had terrifying ambition—he refused to end his life merely at Void Refinement. He wanted to remain invincible even beyond it, constantly strengthening his enemies.”

Summon a person, then slay the enemies one by one, hone the sword to its utmost extreme, and then break through beyond Void Refinement.”

“He has terrifying ambitions; he refuses to accept his life ending at Void Refinement—he wishes to remain invincible even beyond Void Refinement, striving to strengthen his opponents as much as possible.”

“He died.”

“Died on the sword cultivator’s path to the Dao, slain by a coalition of stronger forces—though he was weakened at the time.”

“But the sword path requires no reason—only results: victory or defeat.”

“Xi Yuan was not strong enough. He died. That’s all.”

“When leaving the mother realm, he merely smiled at me, told me to live—and said nothing of revenge.”

“Sword cultivators hone their blades with the blood of the strong, and die thus—it is only right.”

“For elders, kin, descendants to seek revenge under such pretenses—that is a great disgrace to a sword cultivator.”

“It means his descendants no longer are true sword cultivators, no longer recognize the sanctity of sword duels.”

“For elders, kin, and descendants to use this as an excuse for revenge—that is a great humiliation for a sword cultivator.”

Xi Anping concluded: “Moreover, I’ve been timid since childhood, unsuited to the sword path, never killed a single Eastern Ji Demon Sect member. We’ve never met before—no karmic ties whatsoever.”

He offered many reasons.

Chen Xi finally concluded: “Moreover, I’ve been timid since childhood, unsuited for the sword path, and have never killed anyone from your Eastern Pole Demon Sect. Between us, it’s merely a fleeting encounter—there is no karmic tie.”

“Nonsense.”

Jiang Ding rejected them all, shaking his head: “I don’t care what a sword cultivator is, nor do I need to know. I am merely myself.”

“I still remember,”

Jiang Ding looked at Xi Anping, finally revealing hatred: “You hunted me!”

“You despicable, vile bastard!”

“You hunted me when I was weak—tried to kill me!”

“You think I’d forget?!!”

"You hunted me down when I was weak, nearly killed me!"

"Do you think I’d forget?!!"