Chapter 234: When the Song Ends and People Scatter, the Harvest Begins

Seeing the bronze hall's doors open, the remaining cultivators immediately surged forward, charging toward the hall entrance.

The more frantic the others became,

the more terrified Zheng Fa and the other three grew.

"Run!"

Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying exchanged a glance; Xiao Yuying understood at once. The light on the chariot beneath their feet blazed, transforming into a sunset as they fled toward the distance.

The Sunset Sword Immortal swept his immortal sword around Yan Wushuang, carrying him as he fled desperately toward Zheng Fa and the others.

Are you kidding?

If this bronze hall only contained the transmission of the new method, that would be one thing.

But there are people inside!

A supporter of Tianhe Zunzhe, an old monster who has lived for who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years...

Only a fool wouldn't run!

Zheng Fa looked back; in truth, many cultivators were not truly foolish. Seeing Zheng Fa and the others flee, they knew something was wrong and began running outward as well.

But some, blinded by greed, had already rushed into that pitch-black hall.

"Traitor!"

Sure enough, a roar came from inside again.

Before the roar had even faded, Zheng Fa felt the hair on his neck stand on end. He looked up: the red mist between heaven and earth rushed into the hall like swallows returning to their nest—

"Sword!"

Zheng Fa saw with his own eyes that the bronze hall flashed and transformed into a strangely shaped bronze sword.

And the master holding this bronze sword was even stranger—it was a skeleton, or rather, an incomplete skeleton.

His skull seemed to have been cracked open by someone; from his brow to his chin ran a fatal, hideous fissure.

His parts were also incomplete—three ribs were missing, only one shoulder blade remained, and below the left knee was completely empty.

One could see what kind of great battle this person had endured in life.

The only thing that kept him from looking so miserable was that every single bone of his shone with purple light, appearing utterly divine.

The gathering red mist turned into flames within his shattered eye sockets, burning fiercely.

Those two points of flame seemed to be searching everywhere at first—probably searching for the most authentic traitor among them, er, Yan Wushuang.

But the Sunset Sword Immortal was truly cunning; he carried Yan Wushuang and ran for his life.

He flew faster than both Zheng Fa and the others, already leaving Xiao Yuying's chariot behind.

The skeleton seemed to scan the area, as if unable to find Yan Wushuang. It paused slightly, then turned its head to look at the surrounding cultivators.

"Traitor!"

"All traitors!"

"Punish!"

Sword Qi!

Although the sun had not yet set, an endless sea of stars appeared in the sky.

From within that sea of stars, a sword Qi carrying endless killing intent descended from the nine heavens.

Zheng Fa was already a hundred li away from this skeleton, yet even now, he inexplicably felt a stinging pain on his scalp.

The Shi Tie Beast pulling the chariot let out a wail, twisting its limbs as it tumbled and crawled forward through the air.

Zheng Fa looked back—

It was as if he were witnessing a strange silent play.

Those dozens of cultivators closest to the skeleton who had failed to escape, whether Nascent Soul or Jin Dan, had their movements inexplicably slowed.

They were not doing this intentionally.

Zheng Fa could see confusion, terror, and despair in their eyes.

That sword Qi swept like autumn wind; all people and things perished silently in the wind.

He watched a Nascent Soul from the Baixian Alliance stand motionless in place, unharmed, with nothing unusual about him.

Yet when the gentle breeze passed, that Nascent Soul's body, his clothes inside and out, and the magical treasure in his hand all collapsed in an instant, turning into grains of flying sand.

"Immortal Xiao..."

"Hmm?"

"Look."

Zheng Fa pointed behind him.

Xiao Yuying turned to look back.

The skeleton had stopped; the flames in its eyes gradually calmed, as if the power had been exhausted by that single sword strike.

Or perhaps it had awakened from its rage.

It twisted its head, seeming to survey this world, or perhaps remembering something most important.

"Follow the Master, punish the immortals..."

It suddenly spoke these words.

"Punish the immortals..."

The skeleton raised the bronze sword and shouted toward the sky.

"Punish the immortals!"

Everyone stared dumbfounded at this scene.

This person, dead for hundreds of thousands of years, even turned to white bones, seemed to remember those two words: "Punish the immortals."

The bronze sword in his hand also turned to flying ash in the wind.

The purple light on his bones gradually faded; he fell to the ground, no longer possessing any trace of terror.

After waiting for a long while, the cultivators around cautiously gathered, seemingly wanting to see exactly what had happened.

Zheng Fa and the other three exchanged glances but did not move.

"Nothing remains," the Cuiyang Sword Immortal said directly without even looking at that spot. "Beneath that single sword strike... no cultivator, no magical treasure, could possibly exist."

Zheng Fa could hear the tremor in this great cultivator's tone.

He knew that Han Lao, bearing the name of Sword Immortal, could likely feel the terror of that sword strike even more than others.

Even... Zheng Fa himself was extremely sensitive to the two characters "Zhu Xian"—ever since he felt the Xuanwei Realm had a significant connection to the modern world, he had read many related books.

Both unofficial histories and myths.

Zhu Xian...

Zheng Fa could not help but recall his own Positive and Negative Five-Colored Divine Light.

Doubt grew even stronger in his heart.

Indeed, although that group searched bitterly, even touching the skeleton lying on the ground, they found no magical treasure or cultivation technique.

Those deceased cultivators should have left behind some storage bags or magical treasures.

But Han Lao's judgment was very accurate—there was nothing.

"Five True Persons of Nascent Soul, thirteen Jin Dan cultivators... died in vain."

Xiao Yuying's tone carried a hint of sighing, even fear.

She bowed respectfully toward the Cuiyang Sword Immortal, full of gratitude.

If this elder had not come to warn, she did not think she could have escaped that sword strike.

The Cuiyang Sword Immortal smiled and looked at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa was also bowing to the other at that moment—he knew he must accept this favor.

Han Lao smiled even more happily. He waved his hand and said, "This time our luck was quite good... having nothing is better than having something..."

Everyone understood his meaning.

If there truly were a new technique inheritance, this matter would be tricky.

That group of cultivators searched for a long time before leaving together in disappointment.

The desert, which had been lively just moments ago, gradually grew quiet.

"Enough! The song ends and the crowd disperses! We take our leave!" the Cuiyang Sword Immortal said with a smile.

He bowed to the two along with Yan Wushuang; his immortal sword transformed into a rainbow light, wrapping the two as they flew far away.

Xiao Yuying watched the two leave, then turned to look at Zheng Fa and said:

"All that work for nothing..."

Zheng Fa nodded, yet there was no look of disappointment on his face; instead, he looked somewhat happy.

"True, it also avoided a major trouble." Seeing him so happy, Xiao Yuying misunderstood; she nodded and said, "Compared to those cultivators who died without knowing why, our luck is much better."

Zheng Fa smiled.

He said nothing; his happiness was not solely due to this.

One month later.

In the previous few days, some cultivators who had tried to seek treasure and refused to give up had searched here for several days.

But indeed, no treasure remained here.

After a few days, no one came here anymore.

"Junior Brother! Why did we come here?"

In the sky, Yuan Shijie's voice rang out, seeming somewhat puzzled.

The Green Luan landed on the ground, revealing the figures of Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie.

Zhang Shijie also looked at Zheng Fa, her gaze containing some confusion, seemingly not knowing why Zheng Fa had brought the two of them to this desert.

Yuan Shijie looked around and frowned, saying:

"Junior Brother, I have heard of the matters here."

"Several waves of cultivators came back and forth, all returning empty-handed!"

"When we flew over, we saw no one within a hundred li! Clearly, they have all given up."

"Why are we still coming?"

Zheng Fa swept a glance over the surroundings.

Indeed, aside from the red earth on the ground, there was nothing else here.

No people is good!

Only with no people can one conduct archaeology quietly!

"Senior Sister!" He pointed to the ground beneath his feet: "We came for one purpose."

"What?"

"Dig!"

"Dig?" Yuan Shijie was stunned by these words; after thinking for a moment, her round, bright eyes lit up. "Are you saying there is treasure buried underneath?"

"..."

"Junior Brother! How did you know!"

"I do not know."

"Then what do you want to dig?"

Zheng Fa pointed at the earth on the ground again and said: "This!"

"Earth?"

"Precisely!"

Senior Sister Yuan looked at Zheng Fa, then at Senior Sister Zhang, and murmured, "Senior Sister, Senior Brother Zheng has become far too commanding these days!"

"..."

"For the sake of playing with mud, he made us run ten thousand li to dig up earth for him!"

"..." Senior Sister Zhang glanced at her, then turned to Zheng Fa and asked, "Tell us your thoughts."

Zheng Fa said, "Senior Sister, I believe this soil holds great research value."

"Research?"

Senior Sister Zhang was stunned: "What is there to research about this?"

This was the greatest difference between Zheng Fa and the cultivators of this world.

For instance, Senior Sister Zhang, though she had read many modern academic books.

Her thinking was very similar to that of the cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm—

Are there magical treasures?

Are there spiritual materials?

Are there cultivation techniques?

If none of these existed, they would consider the place to have no value whatsoever.

But when Zheng Fa prepared that small booklet earlier, he had referenced many archaeological records.

Within the scope of modern archaeology, soil can preserve very important information—sometimes even more than what artifacts and documents provide.

Moreover, this soil here must surely contain numerous strange substances—

The redness of this soil might be the blood of a follower of Tianhe Zunzhe.

How much of the dispersing ash particles had fallen onto this ground?

Not to mention, there is a skeleton here that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years and can still move!

To other cultivators, this place might hold no further value.

But to Zheng Fa, this place could be said to be treasure everywhere!

After hearing his words, Senior Sister Zhang's mouth hung wide open, her eyes staring fixedly: "You... where did you get such whimsical ideas?"

Zheng Fa could not explain, so he could only smile.

Senior Sister Yuan beside him seemed not to understand, her gaze somewhat dazed.

"Dig!"

Senior Sister Yuan looked as if she doubted her own ears: "Huh?"

"Do as Senior Brother says."

Senior Sister Zhang stated.

Senior Sister Yuan opened her mouth, thought for a long while, then suddenly said, "Senior Sister, I think Senior Brother has become this way because you spoil him!"

Zheng Fa slowly walked over to the skeleton. The treasure-hunting cultivators had actually examined this white bone very carefully.

But at this moment, that person seemed to have exhausted his last vital energy, possessing no further supernatural qualities.

Those cultivators naturally would not take him seriously, discarding him carelessly like trash, leaving the skeleton scattered all over the ground.

Zheng Fa gathered the scattered bones of this person from all around, arranged them neatly, placed them into the coffin he had brought, and then—bowed slightly to the other party with clasped hands.

(End of this chapter)