Chapter 362: Arrogant at First, Respectful Later

Southern Border, the Grand Hall of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.

Inside the vast hall, several elders with heads full of white hair were eyeing a pile of minced flesh with grim expressions, staring at one another in silence.

"Long Wu and Hui Gu are dead!"

"The Fate Gu has shattered; not even saving them is possible. Their souls have scattered and merged into the Netherworld. Even if they could reappear in the mortal realm, they would no longer be the same people as before."

The eyes of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect elders were filled with shock and fury. After all, as the overlords of the Southern Border, they had long been accustomed to doing whatever they pleased with the descendants of the various tribes of the Southern Border, taking and giving at will. Among their ranks, let alone True Persons, even disciples rarely met violent ends, yet now they had suffered such a great loss.

"Could it be the Yushu Jiange?"

"A spy from the Yushu Jiange reported that the True Person who Purges Evil sent a disciple who had just established his Foundation. Could it be him who killed Long Wu and Hui Gu?"

"Just established his Foundation?"

"How is that possible!"

"It is not entirely impossible. Did you forget the nature of the Yushu Jiange? They say he just established his Foundation, but in reality, it is most likely an old Foundation Establishment cultivator who has returned."

"Oh, then it is no surprise."

The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's 【Fate Gu】 is a strange method containing a fragment of a True Person's true spirit, which can be used at critical moments to guide souls.

By all rights, even if True Person Long Wu and True Person Hui Gu had died outside, the Fate Gu's guidance should have at least preserved a sliver of life, allowing them to be reborn in the future; in a hundred or eighty years, there might have been a chance to return to the Foundation Establishment realm. However, the current situation is that not even their souls were preserved.

Such a ferocious and ruthless method of killing.

Apart from the Yushu Jiange, only the other three powers of equal renown could do this. Thinking of this, the expressions of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect elders grew even more grim.

"Enough. If we cannot provoke them, can we not hide?"

"No matter how powerful the Yushu Jiange's True Person is, he is not a Great Sword Cultivator. With our Sect Master presiding, I doubt he would dare to openly come to the Holy Mountain to cause us trouble."

"Let us endure him for these few years."

"In time, once the 【Ten Calamities Gu】 is fully cultivated and the Sect Master's divine powers are perfected, we will no longer have to live under the Yushu Jiange's shadow."

One elder of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect was still speaking words of comfort to relieve the frustration in everyone's hearts when he suddenly felt something, looked up, and gazed toward the direction of the mountain gate.

From afar, a sword cry suddenly rang out!

"Clang-clang!"

The sword cry rolled through the sky like thunder, truly shaking heaven and earth. The sound waves oscillated, creating ripples visible to the naked eye wherever they passed.

Boom-boom-boom!

In an instant, patterns of formation light lit up around the Grand Hall of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. Obviously, the mountain-protecting array had sensed the crisis and activated automatically. However, as the sword cry subsided, these array patterns trembled violently, and then began to disintegrate in large patches, showing clear signs of collapse!

With this crack, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect was immediately in mortal danger!

Seeing this, the elders of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's expressions changed drastically. One after another, they quickly manifested their Dao Foundations to recondense the broken array patterns.

"What technique is this?"

"【Sword Qi Thunder Sound】... Is it that Sword Cultivator from the Yushu Jiange who just established his Foundation? Killing Long Wu and Hui Gu was not enough; he actually dares to attack the Holy Mountain?"

"What audacity! What audacity!"

The faces of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect elders were filled with both shock and fury, especially the elder who had just claimed that no matter what, the opponent would not dare to attack the mountain gate directly.

At this moment, in their perception, outside the Holy Mountain was as if a second sun had appeared. The sword cry was the scorching sunlight it emitted, filling Guan Qiankun and resonating through the universe. Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment realm could not even survive in such an environment; merely listening to it would shatter their bodies and bones!

"Where is the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?"

High in the sky, Lu Yang merged with sword light. Every word he spoke was like thunder erupting from a mountain, crashing down onto the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect below with a tremendous boom.

'My mastery of 【Sword Qi Thunder Sound】 has become increasingly pure...'

Although it is only the first realm of the Sword Dao, its power is already comparable to the 【Imperial Mountain Shifting Righteous Art】 that Lu Yang once mastered, rivaling Foundation Establishment Dao techniques.

If one advances further, to the level of 【Sword Heart Clarity】.

It might even rival innate divine powers.

'Truly overpowered.'

No wonder Sword Cultivators were unrivaled in magical combat throughout the world. Just like the Grand Void divine power bestowed by 【No Heaven】, having one extra divine power than others—how could anyone compete?

However, Lu Yang quickly changed his thought: Although it is overpowered, the one who is overpowered right now is me.

That is a different matter entirely.

After all, Sword Cultivation also tests talent and effort. Putting aside mechanisms and stats, the reason I have achieved what I have today is mostly due to hard work and sweat!

"I am Ming He, the current Sword Seed of the Yushu Jiange. I have been ordered by my master to investigate the abduction of the common people in Jiangnan."

"Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, come out and meet me!"

Lu Yang spoke again, recklessly activating 【Sword Qi Thunder Sound】. Vaguely, it seemed he had grasped the essential meaning of 【Sword Heart Clarity】.

Just then.

"Young friend, you have gone too far."

As the words fell, a moon-white brilliant light rose slowly from within the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, transforming into a crescent moon that hung quietly between heaven and earth.

A cold voice drifted softly over. Wherever it passed, all sword cries were calmed. However, this was not because the opponent had a higher attainment in the Sword Dao; it was purely because her realm was higher. She suppressed others with sheer force, relying on the magic power and status of a Great True Person to forcibly extinguish Lu Yang's sword qi.

Immediately after, a graceful figure quietly appeared.

She wore a silver-patterned robe unique to the Southern Border tribes, a pleated skirt with gorgeous embroidery, and her bare feet, white with a hint of red, stood suspended in mid-air.

However, what was most striking was her appearance.

Her exquisite look was entirely unlike a natural creation; every inch of her skin seemed as if it had been meticulously carved, describable only as flawless.

However, Lu Yang did not agree with this.

After all, as far as he knew, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect possessed a 【Beauty Gu】, specifically used to correct one's appearance; even the ugliest woman could be refined into a beauty with it.

Lu Yang sized the opponent up and down, saying indifferently, "You are the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?"

"Indeed, it is I."

The woman in white robes was named 【Lun Yue】, a Great True Person at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Now, with a furious expression on her beautiful face, she said coldly, "What business does a True Person from the Yushu Jiange have here?"

"Two matters."

Lu Yang raised two fingers and said indifferently, "First, on this journey I encountered two True Persons of your noble sect and have already sent them to join the Yushu Jiange."

Just that single sentence caused Long Yue's pretty face to darken.

Join the Yushu Jiange?

Across the entire Jiangnan, who does not know this is a euphemism for the Yushu Jiange killing people? Normally one feels nothing, but now that it is truly heard, one knows the frustration within!

Do I even have to thank you for this?

"Second." Lu Yang paid no attention to Long Yue's expression and continued, "I have come this time by order to investigate the kidnapping of commoners in Jiangnan."

"The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect is a major suspect."

"Open the mountain gates immediately, surrender, and submit to my investigation."

Lu Yang spoke with such dominance that it made Long Yue's chest heave with rage: "Surrender? That is something a True Person of the Demon-Dispelling Sect should say!"

On what grounds?

"Do you truly think that killing the Dragon Centipede and the Cicada allows you to look down on everyone under heaven?" Thinking this, Long Yue immediately let out a long laugh, and killing intent was fully revealed within her laughter:

"Very well! Then"

Before the words finished, a sword cry was heard!

Lu Yang's expression remained calm; the blessing of 【Li Jie Bo】 immediately took effect on his body, and the originally Foundation Establishment Mid-Term Peak qi instantly broke through the bottleneck.

The next second, the sword cry stopped abruptly.

Even though it was only an instant.

It still caused Long Yue's expression to freeze in place; her Bai Xi neck twitched slightly, and in the blink of an eye, her flawless pretty face already rose into a smile:

"Then, Daoist friend, please come inside for a chat."

(End of this chapter)