Chapter 83: Between the Formation of the Golden Core, There Are Still Differences

“Huh?”

Hong Lei blinked, realizing the people on the mountain showed no sign of surprise.

So after all these days of surrounding the mountain, the demon hunters had already dug up every secret of this sword hero?

Even Zhang Hengzhou had admitted his demonic identity.

Then… why haven’t they moved yet?

This time, not just Shen Yi, but even he felt bewildered, and could only glance questioningly at the old general at the front.

Chen Qiankun didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow, calmly facing Zhang Hengzhou’s venomous glare as he spoke slowly: “I too once hesitated—could there truly be demons who sincerely integrate into human society? But then I thought: in your hundred-plus years, how many women have you had? Five hundred? Three hundred?”

“They came to me willingly, drawn by my heroic reputation,” Zhang Hengzhou gasped heavily, his wounds beginning to split open.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Chen Qiankun waved a hand, sighing: “I just suddenly remembered—every time one of them bore your child, a demon came and abducted her. Nine out of ten vanished without a trace. The few rescued returned only to become part of your romantic legend, then quietly died a few years later. To bear a dragon demon as a mortal… when you saw what you gave birth to, didn’t it feel utterly tragic?”

“When it was time to give birth, demons came to abduct. When hungry, demons attacked villagers. Always precisely timed, spanning hundreds or even thousands of li.”

“What sin did the demons of Qingzhou commit to end up with a family of heroes like you?”

“How many children do the people of Linjiang County need to birth each year just to afford your heroism?”

In a voice tinged with coldness, the figure clad in dark-armored obsidian slowly rose.

The old man gripped his iron great halberd and gazed coldly: “I, Chen Qiankun, am a criminal. What virtue or merit do I have to offer you a chance?”

Beneath that icy gaze,

Zhang Hengzhou’s features tightened, and he staggered backward several steps.

Until a pair of weathered hands gripped his shoulders.

He turned and, breathing heavily, said: “Master.”

The Sect Master, clad in flowing cloud-green robes, hair disheveled, seemed to have not slept in ages—his face worn, yet gentle as he patted Zhang Hengzhou’s shoulder: “I know you’re wronged. He won’t give you a chance—I will.”

At these words,

The sword cultivators kneeling silently on either side of the altar, once despondent, now suddenly wore expressions of despair.

Many officers of the Demon Suppression Bureau grew angry; a hot-tempered deputy stepped forward at once, barking: “We’ve given you this long, and you’re still this foolish? He’s a demon! What chance are you giving him?!”

The Qingfeng Sect Master ignored him, stepping before his disciple, then turning to Chen Qiankun.

“Brother Chen.”

He suddenly smiled, his expression distant, almost pleading, gesturing with his hands: “When I first found him, he was this small.”

Another deputy sneered: “When he was this small, he was older than your grandfather!”

The Qingfeng Sect Master acted as if he hadn’t heard, still staring at Chen Qiankun, speaking rapidly in a whisper: “Brother Chen, you know I was born flawed. Qingfeng Sect is the Zhang lineage’s Qingfeng Sect—it cannot end with me… When I pulled him from the river, I named him Hengzhou, taught him swordplay, made sure he ate, secretly protected him as he hunted demons…”

He seemed to have countless more things to say.

“But he is a dragon demon,” Chen Qiankun said calmly.

“But I’ve raised him into this! I even prepared a sword pool for his refinement! I’ve reserved the position of Sect Master for him!”

“It was that filthy woman who gave birth before humans that turned him into a dragon!”

The Qingfeng Sect Master’s weathered face twisted into a monstrous snarl, his voice hoarse!

Seeing Chen Qiankun’s expression utterly unmoved, he whirled around—hair flying, no longer a great sect master, but a raving madman.

“Qingfeng disciples! Form the formation! Form it!!”

On the altar, whether elders, stewards, or disciples, all turned away their gazes.

“...”

Seeing this, the Qingfeng Sect Master, as if expecting it, let out a mad laugh and pulled from his robes a sword pellet the size of a baby’s fist.

He released his grip.

The pellet suddenly glowed with a soft radiance, hovering midair.

“I said—this is the Zhang lineage’s Qingfeng Sect.”

The blood offered into the sword pool was not for Qingfeng Sect—it was for the Zhang lineage!

Under everyone’s gaze, he suddenly knelt and slammed his forehead hard against the ground, shouting: “Summon the Ancestral Sword! Grant punishment!”

As the white stone tiles shattered beneath his brow—

The so-called Ancestral Sword instantly emitted a deep hum.

Along with it, every disciple’s sword at their waist trembled; besides the swords’ changes, their cheeks flushed with unnatural redness.

The Sect Master bowed his head again.

Immediately, someone spat out a gout of blood.

“...”

Shen Yi stood at a distance, this scene exceeding his understanding.

“Hold them down!”

Hong Lei roared. The disciples they had escorted here, once docile as sheep, now, under some strange torment, could not help but reach for the hilts of their swords.

The officers surged forward and restrained them preemptively.

On the altar, countless swords unsheathed in a continuous chorus; only by gripping their hilts could they slightly ease the “Ancestral Master’s” punishment.

One by one, sharp longswords slowly turned toward the Demon Suppression Bureau personnel.

Before the great hall, the elders seated in meditation reluctantly closed their eyes, their powerful qi converging forward.

“Damn it—even if you feared demons might slip away, you shouldn’t have brought them up the mountain. What the hell was Old Man Chen thinking?”

Even Hong Lei couldn’t help voicing his doubt.

The Qingfeng Sect Master had such power—how could they not know?

Thousands of disciples’ qi converged, forming the Ten Thousand Swords Extermination Array, including the Qingfeng Sect Master and two other Golden Core Elders.

Invisible sword intent swiftly enveloped Chen Qiankun, shimmering with dangerous cold light.

“With this great formation, holding Brother Chen for half a month shouldn’t be excessive.”

The Qingfeng Sect Master lay prostrate, no longer raging, turning back slowly with a mournful voice: “You should have somewhere to hide. Go.”

Zhang Hengzhou’s face lit up with ecstatic joy; he cast one final glance at the young man with the obsidian saber far away, then leapt into the air without hesitation!

“...”

Shen Yi grabbed a young disciple’s hand; the boy’s face was filled with despair, his sword thrusting uncontrollably toward the Demon Suppression Bureau officers—they knew better than anyone what would follow.

But Shen Yi’s attention was not on him.

He looked up, fixed on the distant fleeing figure, his heart sinking instantly to the bottom.

His suspicion was correct—the dragon demon could indeed sense his presence.

And now, the demon was about to escape.

At that moment, Chen Qiankun, surrounded by a sky of swordlight, slowly closed his eyes.

Before the Sect Master’s horrified gaze,

his iron great halberd seemed to be taken by an invisible hand.

The man remained in place, but the weapon shot upward violently.

Sweeping boundless might, within that invisible grip, it carried the force of splitting heaven and earth, slashing fiercely toward Zhang Hengzhou’s back!

“Roar—”

Amid a piercing dragon cry, the entire altar turned pitch black; atop Qingfeng Mountain’s great hall, a monstrous dragon nearly a hundred zhang long blotted out sun and sky, its thick, obsidian body straining violently, its sharp single horn on the forehead more piercing than any divine weapon.

Yet only for an instant.

The halberd descended—blood rained from the sky, half the dragon’s body crashed down from the heavens.

The monstrous dragon now had only half its body left; its blood and organs rained like dew as it fled in panicked terror, vanishing in a blink.

As the halberd returned to his hand, Chen Qiankun opened his eyes again, calm as ever, gazing coldly at the Sect Master on the ground: “Half a month is too long. I’ll give you one incense stick—to speak your last words.”

“You… you broke through?”

“Halfway.”

Chen Qiankun gazed quietly at the sword pellet in the air: “Elder, you’ve kept me waiting a long time.”

All this time—I’ve sat so long my bones have gone soft.

“No!”

Seeing him about to close his eyes again, the Qingfeng Sect Master screamed, lunging for the sword pellet—but the Ancestral Sword moved faster, trembling and humming as it flew into his chest.

Instantly, every Qingfeng disciple’s sword returned to normal, and the sky’s swordlight vanished in a breath.

“I told you all—no need to panic. Old General Chen would ever harm you?”

Hong Lei released the disciple, shoving him away irritably.

“Tch! Guarding the mountain was to prevent demons from escaping; trapping the dragon was to force out the Ancestral Sword. Old Man Chen knew the Qingfeng Sect Master would retaliate. Better to cut it off cleanly now than wait for him to strike in secret—and the dragon demon wouldn’t escape either...”

Hong Lei turned excitedly, eager to boast to Shen Yi about having once served under the old general.

But before he finished speaking, he froze.

Where is he?

This chapter has no protagonist’s plot—it’s meant to describe the specific branches of the next realm.



[98] (End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)