Chapter 329: Gu Qing Is Still Effective

I have no interest; you have no talent.

For the Ghost Master to hear such words was a grave insult—he had been favored by the Ghost King Sect a century ago, hailed as the greatest oddity under heaven, his methods always unfathomable, yet now he met the 【Copper Master】, and after barely a few exchanges, was met with a blunt "you have no talent," crushing his face beneath its heel.

The Ghost Master's gaze, Youyou like ghostly flames, fixed upon the rare cultivator of the Ghost Dao, and he spoke coldly: "Then tell me, what are you plotting?"

The Copper Master let out a long laugh; within the thick black smoke, his eyes glowed with demonic power as he looked at the Ghost King, the Azure Dragon, and said with mockery: "Kui Niu, Taotie, Huang Niao, Zhu Long… shall I continue?"

The Copper Master's words, light as air, struck the Ghost King like thunder.

The Ghost King's century-long scheme had been laid bare before his eyes, and his killing intent surged—he suddenly conceived the thought: "This boy must not be allowed to live."

The Ghost Master and the Azure Dragon moved forward and backward, approaching the 【Copper Master】, ready to strike at any moment and seize him.

Gu Qing, wearing a bronze mask, smiled faintly, the expression turning even more grotesque, and said calmly: "I see a man who deceives others, like carrying water in a basket—once he returns home, what water remains in the basket…?"

His laughter dripped with mockery toward the Ghost King Sect's grand ambitions.

The Ghost King stared at the 【Copper Master】 within the black mist, his doubts mounting, then suddenly laughed freely, his bearing noble, and said: "Are you saying the Ghost King Sect's efforts will end in vain, like carrying water in a basket?"

"According to general principles, yes."

Gu Qing's voice brimmed with scorn.

What the Ghost King sought was to open the Fulong Ding, imprison the Four Spirits, and seize the Asura power—the Kui Niu resided at Liubo Mountain, the Taotie with the Beast God, the Huang Niao in the Heavenly Emperor's treasury, and the Zhu Long guarded the Demon Sect's Barbarian Sacred Hall.

The Ghost King bowed and asked: "May I ask where I have lost?"

Before Biyao's death, the Ghost King's bearing had indeed been remarkable.

Gu Qing chuckled coldly and fell silent.

Seeing this, the Ghost King immediately gestured for the Ghost Master and the Azure Dragon to lower their guard, then stepped forward and bowed to Gu Qing: "May I ask the Copper Master's name?"

Master, what is your profession?

Gu Qing, hearing this, grew listless and said: "I am the Copper Master. If you dislike calling me that, call me the Ruthless Emperor—I can bear it."

The Ruthless Emperor…

Both the Ghost King and the Ghost Master searched through ancient texts, legends, and intelligence, but had never heard the name "Ruthless Emperor"; yet Gu Qing's title directly bore the word "Emperor," clearly no ordinary appellation.

Here, a celestial battle had taken place; nearby ordinary folk had long since fled, and only Ghost King Sect disciples remained on guard. The Ghost King no longer feared leaks and asked: "Copper Master, may I ask where the Ghost King Sect has lost?"

The Fulong Ding is an ancient divine artifact, containing invincible Asura power—whosoever controls it can sweep the world.

The Ghost King could not fathom how he had lost.

Gu Qing's gaze was calm as he looked at the Ghost King and suddenly said: "Three hundred years ago, the Ghost King Sect's founder obtained a secret scroll… I offer the Yin Ghost Qi and the location of the Fulong Ding in exchange. How?"

This supreme secret, suddenly spoken aloud, made the Ghost King break into cold sweat; he fixed his gaze on the Copper Master and once again felt the urge to kill.

For the secret scroll the Ghost King's founder had obtained was the second volume of the Heavenly Book.

For three centuries, the Ghost King Sect had flourished, producing new secret techniques, all because of this scroll.

"Swoosh!"

While the Ghost King hesitated, a killing blade suddenly flew toward Gu Qing.

The attacker was the Killing Monk, also nearby—a Ghost King Sect disciple, most bloodthirsty, who had long harbored resentment after being slapped by Gu Qing; now seeing the sect master hesitate, he sensed his chance and immediately activated his Killing Blade, launching a surprise strike at Gu Qing.

This was also a test of Gu Qing.

The Killing Monk knew full well: if the Ghost Master saw even the slightest opening, he could strike with lethal precision.

The Killing Blade came.

The Ghost Master's eyes narrowed, his killing intent coalescing.

Gu Qing had long been prepared for the Ghost Master; after all, in the original story, Wan Jianyi had been assassinated by him in a single strike. Remember, Wan Jianyi's cultivation was surely at the Taiqing realm—if he held the Zhanlong Sword, even Zhang Xiaofan with all three Heavenly Books could not match him.

Thus, when the Killing Monk's blade approached, Gu Qing did not dodge or evade; only when it neared did he subtly shift his body, reach out, and snatch it—the blade had moved like lightning, yet in that flash, the Killing Monk saw only a swirl of black smoke, and the artifact was already in Gu Qing's hands.

Gu Qing held the hilt of the Killing Blade, black smoke surging around it; the artifact vibrated and hummed in his grip, then gradually calmed, as if entirely subdued and mastered by Gu Qing.

"How is this possible?"

The Azure Dragon was stunned—each artifact required deep consecration, erasing the previous owner's traces and imprinting one's own before it could be wielded freely, yet Gu Qing had simply reached out and taken it as if stealing a man's weapon.

To the cultivation world, this was terrifying.

"The blade is used like this."

Amidst swirling black smoke, Gu Qing raised the Killing Blade.

Years of combat had brought Gu Qing to absolute mastery of blades and swords; in this Zhuxian world, having mastered the Divine Sword Summoning Thunder Art and the Seven Stars Sword Form, he had deeply understood the fusion of true qi with heaven and earth. Thus, he had transformed techniques like the Three Cuts of the Narakas from The World's First, the Tyrant's Fist, and the God-Slaying Slash—within the smoke, killing intent became nearly solid, a sea of corpses and blood crashing toward them.

In this age, no one surpassed Gu Qing in combat, in slaughter.

This nearly tangible stench of blood, this overwhelming, earth-shaking killing aura— Zheyike, the mortal world became hell; suffering, death, despair, and karmic retribution swirled around Gu Qing.

Then, Gu Qing swung.

No vast blade qi surged—only a momentary, brilliant slash of light.

The Ghost King and others need not watch the aftermath, for in that killing aura, the Killing Monk's spirit had already been crushed; all that remained was to offer his neck.

"Clang!"

The Killing Blade pierced through the Killing Monk's body and stuck slanting into the ground, trembling violently.

The Ghost King's gaze returned from the blade; he had seen much, knew the Killing Monk's blade had been consecrated with countless blood offerings, long since a malevolent weapon—but now, this malevolent weapon met a malevolent man, trembling and humming like a person trembling in terror.

"This Copper Master calls himself the Ruthless One… truly, he is ruthless."

The Ghost Master sensed the killing aura on Gu Qing and realized it could not have been forged without tens of thousands of killings; merely that number made the Ghost Master bow in solemn respect.

The Copper Master's cultivation may not surpass his, but his ruthlessness was genuine.

Among the Ghost King Sect, those beneath the Azure Dragon trembled—they had thought themselves demonic, but now, facing the Copper Master, they understood what true demon meant.

Conquered!

"From now on, anyone who acts without orders shall be executed without mercy!"

The Ghost King's voice was cold as he warned his subordinates; when he looked again at Gu Qing, a chill ran down his spine—just from that one slash, he knew the 【Copper Master】 was a master of slaughter, the kind who discarded all seniority to hunt down juniors.

Provoking such a person was very bad for the Ghost King Sect.

"Copper Master."

The Ghost King bowed to Gu Qing and said: "You are a peerless genius of this age, your vision lofty, your methods unfathomable. Wan deeply admires you. Here, I invite you to join the Ghost King Sect—your requested scroll is no problem."

The second volume of the Heavenly Book had always been the Ghost King's tool to attract talent.

Gu Qing stared at the Ghost King for a long moment, then his lips curled slightly.

As Gu Qing further fused martial and immortal arts, he had synthesized the "Soldier Secret" from techniques like Lingxi Finger and the Heavenly Mountain Plum Blossom Hand—its principle: true qi coverage. Generally, using Taiji Qingqing Dao, one could only seize Qingyun Sect weapons; using Dafan Bore, one could seize Buddhist weapons; but Gu Qing, having studied demonic weapons and fragments of demonic arts on Tongtian Peak, now possessed the ability to seize demonic weapons.

This move had indeed stunned the Ghost King.

Streams of black smoke shot skyward; the city of Changhe gradually returned to calm. After a long while, people cautiously returned, and the once-bustling inn and surrounding houses lay in ruins, leaving locals weeping and cursing their misfortune.

When immortals fight, mortals suffer—there was nothing they could do.

On the eastern shore.

Gu Qing used Yin Ghost Qi to form a wisp of black smoke, walking calmly beside the Ghost King; along the way, the Ghost King, Ghost Master, and Azure Dragon constantly observed the Copper Master's cultivation methods, but the smoke was too thick—they could not discern clearly, only sensing that his true qi seemed slightly inferior to theirs, yet his techniques and effects were utterly beyond their comprehension.

…Could he be an ancient ghost revived?

The Ghost King speculated but did not press further.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the Ghost King brought Gu Qing to their current base. As soon as they arrived, two beams of light—one red, one emerald—approached: the red was the Vermilion Bird, one of the Demon Sect's Four Holy Envoys; the emerald figure was Biyao, the Ghost King's daughter.

"Copper Master…"

The Ghost King led Gu Qing before the ancient ding and said: "This is the Fulong Ding. Please, Master, enlighten us."

With such a Fulong Ding, how could it end in vain?

Gu Qing examined the Fulong Ding and tapped it lightly.

The Vermilion Bird and Biyao recognized him—the famed Copper Master—and remained silent, standing aside as they watched the 【Copper Master】 circle the Fulong Ding, then deliver a soul-striking question:

"Can it defeat Zhuxian?"

As Gu Qing asked, he nearly sweated beads.

This question froze the Ghost King; he turned to look at the Ghost Master beside him.

A century ago, the Ghost King had watched the Demon Sect's assault on Qingyun Mountain; back then, the Zhuxian Sword had flashed once and slain Qiu Wangyu, who had ruled unchecked.

Gu Qing tapped the Fulong Ding again.

The Fulong Ding did indeed contain strange power, and the Ghost King had planned meticulously—but the Fulong Ding's power would not erupt merely by gathering the Four Spirits. In the future, after the Ghost King gathered them, a seal within the Fulong Ding would render even him and the Ghost Master powerless.

Had Zhang Xiaofan not rescued Biyao and retrieved the Qiankun Reincarnation Disc, it was uncertain whether the Fulong Ding's power could have erupted at all.

And once the Fulong Ding's power erupted, it became even worse—the Ghost Master was instantly destroyed, the Ghost King's mind shattered by the backlash, becoming a madman who charged Qingyun Mountain and perished.

In short, opening the Fulong Ding's power brought no victor—the Ghost King Sect lost everything.

"Asura power—invincible under heaven."

The Ghost Master spoke solemnly.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Gu Qing did not argue with the Ghost Master on this point; instead, he turned his gaze to the Ghost King, ready to trade for the Heavenly Book.

"Copper Master, let us not rush this."

Gu Qing had revealed little; the Ghost King did not wish to surrender the second volume of the Heavenly Book and lose his last card, so he said to Gu Qing: "My Ghost King Sect has many secret techniques—we may exchange knowledge, and I wish to learn much from you."

As the Ghost King spoke, his gaze fell upon the Hehuan Bell at Gu Qing's waist.

This Copper Master held many secrets for the Ghost King.

"Very well."

Gu Qing readily agreed and began exchanging knowledge with the Ghost King; in conversation, Gu Qing spoke mostly of cultivation methods, sparingly of information. Combined with the wide reading he had done at Zeng Shushu's, he could always respond appropriately to any topic, and these exchanged details were compiled by Gu Qing into a volume and sent to Qingyun Mountain.

Qingyun Mountain, Tongtian Peak.

The Seven Poles Tournament had begun; in this double-elimination format, Lu Xueqi, sword in hand, invincible, had perfected her Taiji Qingqing Dao and secured first place in the winners' bracket, while in the quarterfinals, Tian Linger and Zhang Xiaofan emerged as dark horses, filling Tian Buyi with delight.

"All thanks to my disciple!"

Master Cangsong disliked Tian Budi's smug expression.

"Heh…"

Tian Budi chuckled twice and said, "Who's my disciple isn't decided yet."

As soon as he spoke, Tian Budi realized his slip. The several sect leaders exchanged glances and fell silent, relieved to see Daoxuan was not present.

In the Yuqing Hall.

Master Daoxuan opened the scroll and saw the exquisitely drawn Fulong Ding, along with depictions of the Ghost King, the Ghost Master, Qinglong, Zhujue, and various figures from the demonic sects. The scroll also detailed how the Ghost King Sect had gathered at Liubo Mountain, preparing to use the Fulong Ding to form the Four Spirits Blood Array and open the Asura Gate.

"This…"

The more Master Daoxuan read, the more horrified he became—he was certain the demonic sects harbored a grand conspiracy. When he turned to the page on Zhujue, he saw written there how this one had once severed Wan Jianyi's arm, and afterward secretly harbored unspoken affection—this made Master Daoxuan almost laugh.

"Gu Qing is indeed capable."

Master Daoxuan closed the scroll, glanced at the listless Xiao Yicai, and thought to himself: Don't reward him openly, but give him something secretly.

(End of Chapter)