Chapter 425: Would You Be Willing to Join My Heavenly Sword Sect

"This isn't affectation."

Nie Jun shook his head, still holding the posture of presenting the Dao Token.

In this life of his, there were not many people he cared about.

Nor did he harbor any grand righteousness of bearing the common folk in his heart.

If one had to name something he cared about, it was probably only this group of fellow disciples on Mount Wutong.

Earlier, when Shen Yi had seemingly met Zhang Laifu with an air of casual ease, it could entirely be counted as forcibly snatching those people's lives back from the King of Hell's hands.

At least on this day of becoming Shen Zongzhu, the other was worthy of a kneel from him.

The crowd that had finally rushed to this spot all halted their steps, quietly watching the scene before them.

In truth, no words were needed.

What had happened here was known throughout the world.

They had all personally witnessed Shen Yi drive the Purple Sky Divine Thunder Sword into the old dog's neck.

Now, the other wore a white robe—the title was truly fitting in every sense.

"……"

Watching more and more people gather, their gazes like blazing torches, cast in unison.

Shen Yi raised his brow tips slightly, somewhat unaccustomed.

He then slowly rose, took the Dao Token Nie Jun offered, turned his back to the crowd, and looked toward that great hall.

At last, the Thousand Demon Cave had been swept clean.

He looked at the Dao Token in his hand, and a sudden smile appeared on his blood-streaked face.

It felt as if he could finally stop his steps and rest a while, and just then could go out to see the scenery beyond.

The white long robe fluttered slightly.

The General Nanyang golden patterns upon it had gentle flowing light drifting across them, faintly veiling the youth's overwhelmingly thick killing aura.

The disciples of Mount Wutong, along with several people from Da Qian and the Xu family, all involuntarily stepped forward to follow.

They had thought Shen Yi would stride straight into that curtain of light.

They hadn't expected that, after stowing the old dog's corpse into a storage treasure, he unhurriedly walked to the small pavilion behind the Patriarch's statue.

"……"

Shen Yi looked at the objects placed in fairly neat order nearby — mostly the kind of painted scrolls he had seen before.

He casually took out two scrolls; both seemed to be records of General Nanyang Sect's past deeds.

He just didn't know whether any cultivation methods were hidden inside.

Shen Yi was about to search through them one by one, when he suddenly realized something.

If those cultivators of the past had all vanished,

Then, with the Dao Token in hand, he could already open the formations in the Scripture-Storing Pavilion at will, no longer needing to frantically scrounge for fortuitous encounters from piles of miscellaneous items.

In other words, everything within this Thousand Demon Cave could be taken and used by him as he pleased.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi walked straight past the scrolls, heading toward the shelf at the very deepest part — what was placed here were roughly a dozen or so dharma treasures; things the old dog had treasured away were, in effect, already screened once over.

It was just that they had previously been distributed among the various demons, leaving the remaining number somewhat small.

Shen Yi noticed a green jade thumb-ring and casually slipped it onto his thumb.

As he had guessed, this thing was indeed a storage treasure, and the space within was larger than all his ragged bags combined.

By rights, these were all the sect's heritage.

However, the Thousand Demon Cave was still a mess right now, so it was better for him to keep them safe for now.

He lightly swept his sleeve, drawing all these dharma treasures into the thumb-ring, to study slowly when he had time later.

Having done all this, Shen Yi finally walked back to the great hall.

Looking at the crowd doing their best to restrain their anticipation, quietly waiting for him.

He drew a deep breath, and likewise looked toward that curtain of light.

Immediately after, Shen Yi slowly began to step forward, his figure rippling within the curtain of light.

……

Above a steep, towering mountain was a massive platform nearly three hundred zhang wide, its texture like Bai Yu.

Upon it were carved General Nanyang relief sculptures, and beside them stood eight straight round pillars, their shafts carved with dragons and phoenixes, grand and majestic, together upholding a stone sculpture shaped like a great sun.

And upon this broad platform —

Ye Wenxuan had actually not left; instead she stood with hands hanging awkwardly at her sides, even her smooth forehead beaded with sweat.

Just ahead of her, at the cliff edge of the platform, something sat cross-legged.

The reason for saying "something" —

was that, though it had a human form, its entire body was withered tree bark, and vines even grew upon it.

Its lower body was connected to Mount General Nanyang; no one knew how long it had sat here.

Ye Wenxuan had never imagined that, having just escaped the claws of an old dog and thinking she could leap into the open sea, she would immediately encounter a being so terrifying.

If Zhang Laifu had given her the feeling of an unscalably steep cliff face,

then the monster before her didn't even give her the courage to look directly at it.

The other merely sat there quietly, yet it kept Ye Wenxuan standing rooted to the spot, not daring to move for a long time.

Could it be that the world outside was actually more perilous than within General Nanyang Sect?

Just then, Ye Wenxuan suddenly heard several sounds of cutting wind.

Swish-swish!

She then saw six Dao Tokens sweep in from the horizon, surrounding the entire platform, suspended in mid-air, emanating a faint glimmer.

Ye Wenxuan stumbled back in fright.

Her whole body went taut.

But then she realized those Dao tablets did not seem to be coming for her.

She instinctively turned her head and saw over ten familiar figures.

The youth at the very front still had bloodstains not yet dried on him, but that General Nanyang white robe was so glaringly bright, forming a stark contrast with the one on her own body.

He... he won?!

Ye Wenxuan froze for an instant, and a surge of intense regret welled up from deep within her heart.

Behind Shen Yi she saw Tong Xinchuan and Nie Jun's figures, and even those two were completely unscathed — given her own strength, nothing could possibly have happened to her either.

If only she had observed a little longer.

After feeling the complicated gazes cast upon her by that group of disciples, Ye Wenxuan slowly clenched her fist, gave a cold snort, and shifted her gaze away again.

No matter what was said, her objective had already been achieved.

From now on she could step into this true expanse of heaven and earth, roam the four seas, and continue to seek the great Dao.

"..."

Shen Yi likewise froze for an instant.

It was not because Ye Wenxuan was still here, but because he had never imagined that, once he came out, he would see such a scene.

The Dao tablet in his palm trembled faintly, as if responding to the six Dao tablets in the sky.

Such a stir made it very easy to associate with the so-called Meng Sect.

But he had only just stepped out of the General Nanyang Sect and had already drawn their attention — this showed they had been watching this place all along.

If that was so... then why had they not entered the General Nanyang Sect for nearly a hundred thousand years? Just watching helplessly as the place was ravaged by that old dog?

Just then, from one of the Dao tablets in the air engraved with a crescent moon emblem, a somewhat solemn middle-aged voice suddenly rang out, carrying a faint, barely perceptible trace of pleasure:

"Welcome back."

Before the words had faded, another Dao tablet engraved with a sharp-sword emblem finally spoke as well.

Not only did it emit a sound, but a phantom image of a figure seated cross-legged on a meditation cushion even appeared above it.

That too was a middle-aged man with a long beard, his brows and eyes sharp, his edge fully bared.

His gaze swept over the crowd: "All are fine seedlings — to be able to escape from the Abyss and possess the bearing of a dragon."

Immediately after, his gaze fell upon Shen Yi, and with a solemn expression he said: "Are you all willing to enter my Heavenly Sword Sect? Regardless of your cultivation level, all may enter the Inner Gate to study. If you are diligent and earnest, there will in future be the chance to rise to the rank of personal disciple."

(End of this chapter)