Chapter 392: How Dangerous

"How could this be!"

Just as the old man inside the sword was struggling to hold on, the Sword Intent within the sword suddenly backfired. Under the impact of that surging hatred, he was instantly torn to pieces.

He had never imagined that a person's hatred would not disappear, but only grow more intense with temporary submission.

The hatred of two generations did not dissipate within the Jinghong Sword; they were merely forced to be controlled because the old man possessed the method to command the Jinghong Sword.

Not until now, when he revealed his weakness and his control could no longer fully suppress the Jinghong Sword, did the hatred of two generations suddenly reveal its ferocity, delivering a fatal blow.

The endless hatred had gathered for hundreds of years, just for this very moment, just to vent the hatred held in their hearts for centuries.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shen Yu also struck quickly, instantly annihilating the soul of the old man inside.

Seemingly sensing the collapse of the old man's soul, Shen Yu even felt a trace of gentleness from this blood-soaked sword, as if it were radiating goodwill toward him.

The negative energy of Mu Zishan hidden within the Jinghong Sword in his hand was still trying its best to remain concealed, but as the Jinghong Sword suddenly turned against him, his position immediately became awkward.

He had originally intended to join forces to deal with Shen Yu, but who would have thought the Jinghong Sword would rebel? Could there be anything more treacherous than this?

Who could have imagined that a soul was hidden within the Jinghong Sword, and one that seemed to harbor a deep, blood-feud-like hatred for the Sword Intent contained within it?

At this moment, the Sword Intent within the Jinghong Sword made no distinction between friend and foe; any external Mental Power lurking inside the sword was viewed as an intrusion, triggering a frantic counterattack.

He was purely collateral damage; the Jinghong Sword's Sword Intent did not have much autonomous consciousness, only endless hatred and the scent of blood.

Caught in the crossfire, he was now completely targeted, and they had directly lumped him in with the enemy.

After being caught in the pincer attack, his Mental Power quickly collapsed and withered, eventually dissipating bit by bit. Even he himself had not expected that he would perish so miserably.

Back in the day, even Mu Zishan had been helpless against him, so why was it not working now?

He was unwilling to accept this; he wanted to struggle, but it was of no use. Inside the sword, he was targeted, and after leaving the sword, he was still targeted.

Outside was a cage, an unbreakable Prison; where could he hide?

Until the very end, he turned into fly ash amidst his overflowing unwillingness.

Perhaps he had never considered that the reason Mu Zishan did not completely annihilate him back then was not because he was too strong or that Mu Zishan lacked the ability, but because it is very difficult to kill oneself.

As Mu Zishan's dark side, it was easy for Mu Zishan to sever him from his own body, but it was difficult to completely annihilate him.

A person's greatest opponent is always oneself; the other party was his own dark side, and it was precisely because it could not be eliminated that he chose to sever it, which is why Mu Zishan chose to suppress it.

Any bad, negative emotions generated in his heart in the future would be integrated into this dark side, thereby allowing his true self to always remain pure.

It must be said that this method was good, but also very damaging. Long-term suppressed imprisonment would only make this dark side increasingly manic and powerful.

If it weren't for the fact that Shen Yu's Haoran Righteousness could restrain these dark sides, he truly would have been helpless against it.

People cannot be perfect; Shen Yu himself had flaws, and he was greedy for wealth and lustful, which was understandable.

Perhaps after these dark sides of Mu Zishan were gone, Mu Zishan's heart would still gradually produce other emotions, and those negative emotions would breed again.

However, having said that, if a person were as perfect as a gentleman every day, it would seem a bit unlike a human, easily making people feel as if they lacked warmth.

Moreover, it was debatable whether Mu Zishan was even alive, so these matters were not for him to worry about.

"System, sign in!"

"Sign-in successful, obtained Seven-Treasured Spirit Pagoda!"

As the system's familiar hazy light flashed, a small, exquisite pagoda landed in Shen Yu's hand. At the same time, a stream of relevant information flooded into his mind, making him understand the function of this small pagoda.

The greatest use of this thing was that it could increase the range of perception, expanding his perception and aura several or even dozens of times.

At first glance, it seemed good, but upon closer inspection, it didn't seem very useful.

If dealing with ordinary people, such a wide range of perception was not needed. But if dealing with those old monsters, they all had methods to conceal their aura, and perception could not find them at all.

It was like a chicken rib—tasteless to eat but a pity to discard.

Wait, Shen Yu suddenly realized that besides expanding perception, this thing seemed to be able to expand his aura, not just in breadth but also in depth.

In other words, holding this thing, he could increase his momentum several times over, which was perfectly fine for scaring people. Perhaps, once his momentum was unleashed, it could make people flee in terror.

However, if a real fight broke out, his level would still be his original level, and he would likely be exposed immediately. There was no help for it; this thing only enhanced momentum, not strength, so what could he do?

At this moment, a thought suddenly crawled into Shen Yu's mind, making him smile knowingly.

Perhaps he could have another way of harvesting, for example, fishing!

Those old monsters who came one after another were the best nourishment for his continuous growth.

Emerging from the Mountain and River Map, Shen Yu held the Seven-Treasured Spirit Pagoda. In the blink of an eye, his body seemed to have experienced a major eruption, and in an instant, it turned into a severely wounded state, his aura withered and listless.

The same intangible aura rippled in all directions; this aura of extreme weakness following a burst was captured by one person after another.

These people, some hiding in the wilderness, some appearing brazenly in cities, upon sensing this aura, all widened their blood-colored eyes.

The greed and desire in their eyes made them unable to restrain themselves, and one by one, they quietly slipped away.

Compared to the aura of this delicious meal, those ordinary Martial Artists and the humble commoners in the city seemed insignificant.

Whoever could occupy and devour this body would be able to occupy a dominant position in the Great Contention Era.

Especially since this aura was clearly suddenly decadent after a violent eruption, and precisely because of this, it could spread so far and be captured by them.

What did this indicate? It indicated that the other party had experienced an extremely tragic battle. It indicated that he was now very weak, and it indicated that this was a cooked duck, almost ready to be served on the table.

With such a good thing, what was there to wait for? He must be grasped in their hands. Devour him completely, and take everything of his as their own.

How did it suddenly feel like the pinnacle of life was right before their eyes? There was a feeling of having stepped in dog shit.

"Cough, cough!"

Shen Yu, moving quickly through the wilderness, suddenly coughed twice, and fresh blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.

But he could not care about wiping it, continuing to travel into the desolate mountains and wild ridges, as if only here could bring him some sense of security.

Finally, Shen Yu seemed to feel a bit tired, found a large tree, and sat down, his breathing clearly rapid.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Shen Yu carefully began to regulate his breath. As time passed, his chaotic aura clearly calmed down a lot.

Just at this moment, a hunter chasing a small deer stumbled into Shen Yu's line of sight.

Upon seeing this blood-soaked young man, the hunter, who had been pursuing with all his might, hurriedly stopped his steps, his body quietly retreating, as if wanting to sneak away from this young man.

But at this moment, Shen Yu suddenly opened his eyes, and the hunter was so scared that his whole body shuddered. Stumbling under his feet, he fell to the ground.

Immediately after, the hunter scrambled up from the ground, knelt down, and kowtowed to Shen Yu incessantly.

"Great Hero, I have elderly parents above and young children below; my whole family relies on me to survive. I beg you to spare me, I won't say a word!"

"I know your rules, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything at all!"

"Get up!" Waving his hand at the hunter, Shen Yu said weakly, "Who said I was going to kill you?"

"Great Hero, you, you aren't killing me?" Looking at Shen Yu cautiously, although the person in front of him looked very weak, the hunter was still somewhat uneasy.

"Why would I kill you? You have no malice toward me!"

"That's good, that's good!" Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, seeing that this young man opposite seemed easy to talk to, the hunter felt a bit more at ease.

"I've heard storytellers say that injured Great Heroes are the most dangerous. Aren't you martial arts experts most afraid of people knowing you're injured? Otherwise, your enemies will come knocking."

"Those storytellers also said that to prevent news from leaking, you all silence anyone who knows the truth after you're injured."

"Great Hero, I understand, I promise I won't say anything."

"The storytellers told you that? Actually, they aren't wrong, but I don't kill the innocent indiscriminately!"

"I know you're a good person, Great Hero!" Seeing that Shen Yu was so weak he couldn't even stand, the hunter hurriedly walked forward to help him up.

"Great Hero, you're injured. I'll take you away from here and find a doctor for you!"

"Wait a moment, you know it's dangerous, so why do you still want to save me? Aren't you afraid of bringing trouble upon yourself?"

"I'm afraid, but I'm more afraid of being poor, and more afraid of having no chance to get ahead!"

Gritting his teeth, the hunter carried him directly onto his back and carefully walked toward the outside of the mountain forest.

"Great Hero, I'm just an ordinary hunter and don't know any Martial Arts. I often listen to those storytellers, and in many of the stories, someone saves a Great Hero and is then taught Martial Arts by them."

"If you could teach me a move or two, Great Hero, I could pass it down as a family heirloom in the future."

"Maybe after a few generations, a little genius or something might appear in the family. If they could become slightly famous in the Jianghu, that would be even better."

"That way, our family would completely become a high-class family, and our descendants wouldn't have to be hungry and cold like me every day, or suffer the oppression of those corrupt officials from time to time."

"Great Hero, please don't misunderstand, I don't mean anything else. I didn't mean you have to repay me or anything, I was just saying it casually!"

"Heh!" With a light laugh, Shen Yu on his back said weakly, "It's fine. When my injuries heal a bit, I'll teach you some skills."

"Thank you, Great Hero! Thank you, Great Hero!" Carrying Shen Yu, he walked toward the outside happily, but as he lowered his head, the hunter's honest smile became exceptionally ferocious.

Supporting Shen Yu with both hands from behind, the hunter suddenly tripped over something after walking a few steps and fell to the ground.

As for Shen Yu on his back, he reacted quickly and managed to steady his body. However, this action seemed to aggravate his injuries, causing him to cough up a few more mouthfuls of blood.

This frightened the hunter, who hurriedly rushed forward and asked cautiously, "Great Hero, Great Hero, are you alright?"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't been careless, you wouldn't have fallen, Great Hero!"

"It's fine, you didn't do it on purpose!" After comforting the hunter, Shen Yu wanted to climb up.

But he was moving slowly at the moment, and every movement made him wince; clearly, he was in quite a bit of pain.

"Great Hero, come, don't move lightly, I'll help you up!"

Carefully stepping forward to support Shen Yu, the hunter seemed to bump into him again inadvertently, knocking him back to the ground.

"Great Hero, it's all my fault, I was careless." In a panic, the hunter reached out to help Shen Yu up again.

But the next moment, as the hunter's hand neared Shen Yu, he struck a punch directly into his chest, followed by two more punches landing in the same spot in quick succession.

This instantaneous attack was caught off guard. After three punches, Shen Yu was left with more breath going out than coming in, and it looked like he wouldn't survive.

The hunter, who had originally been as docile as a sheep, suddenly transformed into a bloodthirsty jackal, his ferocious face filled with irrepressible excitement.

"Yo, still alive? My Three-Step Absolute Fist—after three steps, the fist can shatter mountains and break seas. Your little frame actually managed to hold up."

Grabbing Shen Yu by the throat and lifting him up, Shen Yu had no strength to resist throughout the entire process and could only let the other party act.

At this, the hunter became even more smug, his hand holding Shen Yu showing no sign of loosening. However, a short child suddenly crawled out from behind him.

The person who appeared later was definitely no taller than three feet. The whole person looked just like a child, and even their voice was full of childishness, yet their entire body exuded malice.

"You, you! No wonder I couldn't tell, so that layer on the outside was just your disguise!"

"That's right, that's not just my disguise, it's my other life. If I encounter danger, the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell depends entirely on it!"

While speaking, the short child sniffed Shen Yu's body, followed by a moment of intoxication.

"It seems you really are very weak, so weak that you can't even walk steadily, let alone fight back. Then it doesn't matter!"

Opening a blood-basin mouth—it was literally a blood-basin mouth. Who would have thought that a seemingly short, childish child could open a mouth larger than their own body?

It seemed they wanted to swallow Shen Yu in one gulp; if that bite went down, nothing would be wasted.

But at this moment, Shen Yu suddenly disappeared, as if he had never appeared at all.

Sensing something was wrong, the child wanted to leave quickly, only to find that they were unable to break through space to depart.

At the same time, an extremely powerful sealing force locked their entire body, making it impossible to use even a fraction of their strength.

And at this moment, the surrounding mountain forest seemed to suddenly roll up, becoming a Painting Scroll that landed in Shen Yu's hand.

"Do you know why I chose this place? Because this is a desolate wilderness with no one around, and also because the illusion here is similar to the Mountain and River Map."

"Only in this way, when the Mountain and River Map is unfolded, you wouldn't have any suspicions and would obediently jump into the trap."

"I was originally having a headache about how to find you old monsters, but look, didn't you deliver yourself to my door?"