Chapter 143: Wiping Out Thousand Jun Cave

"Wipe out the sect?!"

Li Yuan's heart jolted.

When the news from Pinggou County arrived, he had even considered that Han Han Chuijun's aim was the Thousand Jun Cave Master, but he hadn't expected that he still underestimated Old Han.

If that were so, then Valley Master Lord Master Gongyang Yu along with the various elders and True Inheritors all rushing to Pinggou County would make sense.

"Elder Han, he…"

Fang Fang Yunxiu let out a long breath, took out a pill and swallowed one; only after her complexion improved somewhat did she begin to speak of this trip to Pinggou.

Li Yuan pulled out a chair for her to sit, quite curious about their journey as well.

"Someone in Pinggou County was holding a 'Thousand Elders Banquet,' but by the time we arrived it was too late—every household in Pinggou County had shut its doors, the place had become a haunt of ghosts."

Even after several months, mentioning the matter still brought shock and fury to Fang Fang Yunxiu's face:

"The Thousand Elders Banquet and the Thousand Infants Banquet are both means of pleasing the 'Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva.' The one who performed the blood sacrifice was the Thousand Jun Cave inner-gate elder 'Sima Gui.' He was over a hundred and twenty, his life nearing its end."

"A blood sacrifice again?"

Li Yuan's eyelids twitched wildly; from Fang Fang Yunxiu's words he caught the scent of blood.

The deaths of over a thousand people would be a shocking great case anywhere, let alone a blood sacrifice.

"Blood sacrifice is a taboo—once someone performs it, every person under heaven has the right to slay them. But over the past thousand years, only very few have ever succeeded."

Fang Fang Yunxiu eased her breathing as she spoke.

Using blood sacrifice to please the gods is too vicious; once one acts, one is sure to be spurned by the world. Added to that, those who successfully please the gods are exceedingly few. Thus, from ancient times to the present, those who dared to take the risk are few, and those who succeeded are even scarcer.

"Did he succeed?"

Li Yuan's gaze sharpened.

"Yes, he succeeded!"

Fang Fang Yunxiu nodded: "No one thought he could truly succeed, but I saw with my own eyes his white hair turn black,

"and in one stroke he broke through Channel Opening, achieving success in Organ Refinement!"

"White hair turning black? Organ Refinement achieved?"

Li Yuan murmured.

He had only heard of such things in legends; at this moment he felt an absurd sense of legend becoming reality.

White hair turning black—he truly had never seen it…

"And then?"

Li Yuan pressed on.

Only those who have achieved great success in Channel Opening can refine their organs; as far as he knew, in today's Divine Weapon Valley only the Valley Master had achieved success in Organ Refinement.

That was a top-tier expert of the prefecture, above even his Withered Moon Elder, Su Su Wanxiong, and the others.

"And then…"

Fang Fang Yunxiu's expression shifted: "And then, Elder Han struck and beat him to death on the spot, took his head and offered it in sacrifice to the elders who had died in the blood sacrifice…"

"Yi Bai Xing killing an Organ Refiner?!"

Li Yuan was somewhat wide-eyed.

He knew Old Han was fierce, but hadn't expected him to be this fierce.

He had broken through to Internal Strength, had the blessing of the Soldier Register, and still needed a sneak attack to kill Ding Zhi—and the gap between them was only one realm.

"How did he do it?!"

"I don't know, no one saw it."

Fang Fang Yunxiu shook her head; she had been far more shocked than Li Yuan at the time, but no one had seen it either—they only knew that Sima Gui was dead.

'Has Old Han broken through to Channel Opening? Or has he already reached Yi Bai Xing?'

Li Yuan's mind churned with stray thoughts—he hadn't even gathered a complete Great Dragon Form yet.

What realm Yi Bai Xing was, he had no idea at all, but crossing two realms to kill an enemy still struck him as inconceivable.

"Perhaps that old beast's foundation was unstable."

Fang Fang Yunxiu took out a booklet from her bosom: "This is what Elder Han asked me to give you, and he also told me to urge you to keep it on your person."

Thousand Jun Qi Art!

Li Yuan reached out to take it; without even flipping it open he knew this was the booklet Old Han had once shown him.

But the fact that this booklet had to be brought back by Fang Fang Yunxiu meant Old Han knew he wouldn't be returning anytime soon, and even…

"Old Han isn't the reckless sort—if he dared to act, he must have had some assurance, right?"

Li Yuan was somewhat worried.

Seeing his worry, Fang Fang Yunxiu wanted to say some

thing, but didn't know how to comfort him.

Thousand Jun Cave was, after all, a great sect that had governed a prefecture for a thousand years, brimming with experts, and it also had three thousand Thousand Jun Guards; its Cave Master too was a renowned expert of many years.

To resist them—how easy could that be?

"The Valley Master and the others have already rushed to Pinggou; they should be fine, I suppose?"

The two were silent for a while; it was Li Yuan who spoke first, feeling genuinely uneasy inside.

As far as he knew, behind Thousand Jun Cave stood the Huai Dragon Palace.

After the Great Fortune Dynasty enfeoffed the realm, the nominal lord of Huizhou was 'Huai Dragon Palace.'

This…

"Should be fine."

Fang Fang Yunxiu nodded, Face grim.

She had lost the mood for talk; Li Yuan took the cue and took his leave.

……

Returning to Bingtang, Li Yuan's heart was still trembling, and his thoughts could not help but drift.

Over the past half year, the Dragon Dormant Prefecture had been shaken many times. The Xieshen Sect had stirred up trouble, and there were even people brazenly hunting down disciples of the sect. Shen Bing Valley had been very much on the back foot, seemingly able only to parry.

But now it seemed…

Somehow, Li Yuan thought of Lord Master Gongyang Yu, that Valley Master who, for a time in his eyes, could not even keep the sect's internal strife in check.

"Is it really that Old Han wants to wipe out the sect?"

Li Yuan felt uneasy. He turned to look for Fang Fang Bao Luo, but found no one. After asking around, he learned that a few days earlier, after receiving a letter, he had hurried down the mountain.

Accompanying him were true disciples such as Ba Ba Wanli.

"I was only forging iron for half a month, and this…"

Li Yuan rubbed his face. This pressure was even greater than what the Red Dragon Fish King had brought him.

If the Sida Sect went to war, it would be almost impossible for him to quietly practice martial arts, forge iron, and read.

"Now, the storm is truly about to break."

A great sense of urgency rose in Li Yuan's heart. He swallowed a pill, picked up his hammer, and began to practice martial arts.

With the blessing of his many forging hammers, his hammer technique was also progressing extremely fast, already close to minor completion.

"Still not fast enough, not enough…"

……

……

Whoo, whoo~

The night wind blew gently. A small skiff drifted downstream, racing along the Grand Canal.

On the small boat, Sha Sha Pingying wiped the iron staff already covered in bloodstains, nervously watching both banks of the river, his face slightly pale:

"Elder Han, how are your injuries?"

"Won't die."

Han Han Chuijun sat cross-legged, a thick stench of blood swirling around him: "The Bai Shen Fa truly lives up to its name as a Mo Gong. That old fellow actually managed to wound this old man…"

He pressed lightly on his chest. Beneath his grey clothes was a hideous Zhang Yin, pierced clean through from front to back, through which his internal organs could be seen.

The divine palm strike Sima Gui had unleashed before his death had actually pierced his inner armor and horizontal training. This was Organ Refinement, and also the power of blood sacrifice.

It was only because his sinews and bones were superhuman. Any other martial artist at great completion of Meridian Opening, or even with some success in Organ Refinement, would have been beaten into a puddle of blood.

Killing an Organ Refiner at the Yi Xing stage, and not even seriously wounded.

Sha Sha Pingying felt a chill. Even months later, every time he recalled it, his heart was still shaken.

But what shocked and puzzled him even more was:

"Elder Han, do gods truly exist in this world?"

Killing an Organ Refiner at the Yi Xing stage, there had been astonishing experts in the present age who had done it. But that blood sacrifice to please the gods completely overturned his beliefs.

"Believe, and they exist; disbelieve, and they don't."

Han Han Chuijun tipped his head back and swallowed an entire bottle of Origin-Supplementing Pills. Beneath the ghost-face mask, there was not a trace of color to be seen:

"Even if they truly exist, they can be killed!"

"White hair turning black, returning to youth — is that Bai Shen Fa truly an art of longevity?"

Sha Sha Pingying's heart trembled slightly. Years ago, when he had been pursuing and killing demons of the Xieshen Sect, he had also obtained part of a Xie Fa.

He had scoffed at it before, but now he wished he could immediately return to the sect, dig it out, and read it through word by word.

"Otherwise, how did Great Ancestor Pang live for over four hundred years?"

Han Han Chuijun glanced at him, took out a silk cloth, and began wiping a small, exquisite hammer. The jade-like little hammer was stained with blood that was very hard to wipe away.

(continuation of previous line)

"Then have you, Elder, ever seen the Bai Shen Fa?"

Han Han Chuijun frowned: "So many questions. Whether this old man has studied it or not, what business is it of yours?"

"Curiosity, just curiosity."

Sha Sha Pingying laughed awkwardly, but his mind was a flurry of distracting thoughts.

It was only after experiencing this that he understood why the Xieshen Sect could never be eradicated despite repeated bans, and why, knowing the danger of the Bai Shen Fa, countless people still rushed in headlong.

Who doesn't want to return to youth? Who doesn't want to live a second life?

"They're here!"

Suddenly, Han Han Chuijun raised his eyes.

Sha Sha Pingying started. He saw, on the Dahe, more than a dozen large ships moving upstream, flying high the great banner "Qianjun."

"The Qianjun Cave Master!"

Sha Sha Pingying's expression changed drastically. Those great ships were loaded with experts wielding weapons.

From a distance of about a li, a cold shout already came:

"Han Han Chuijun, you cultivated the Xie Shen Fa first, and killed my sect's elders after. Today, this old man will execute you according to the law!"

On a five-mast great warship, a silver-haired old man stood with his hands behind his back. A long spear in his palm radiated a ghastly light.

Even from a li away, Sha Sha Pingying felt a chill in his heart.

This Qianjun Cave Master's Wu Gong was nothing like that of Sima Gui, who had only just broken through. He was a great expert no inferior to their own Valley Master.

"Just you?"

Han Han Chuijun gave a cold laugh and suddenly raised his head.

Screech!

It seemed as if a grey eagle spread its wings.

On the five-battlements great ship, the Qijun Cavern Master's expression shifted as he looked up into the high sky.

He saw only a grey goshawk with a wingspan of over a zhang diving down, and upon it, an old man shaped like a mad lion laughing aloud as he drew his bow.

"Soul-Chasing Arrow, Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong!"

On the great ship, the expressions of the many experts of Qijun Cavern all changed; they looked around, only to see human shadows flickering in the forests on both banks.

In the Grand Canal, no one knew when, one small boat after another had appeared.

"This, this…"

Looking at the familiar faces on the small boats, Sha Sha Pingying stared in disbelief.

And as Han Han Chuijun shifted his feet, the small boat shot forth like an arrow leaving the string, streaking a full li to ram the great ship that lay across the water like an embankment.

"Whoosh!"

A single leaf-like skiff drifted over. Lord Master Gongyang Yu stamped his foot and truly moved with the wind, gliding a hundred zhang in a single bound.

"You killed my true disciple first, colluded with the Xieshen Sect after…"

Five-colored light flickered all around him, as if he were treading the void and riding the wind, and his voice pressed down over the roar of the surging river:

"Cut them all down, leave none alive!"

……

………

Fang Fang Yunxiu's return stirred unease in Li Li Yuanzhong's heart.

He had always been of a cautious disposition, and upon sensing the urgency, he trained even more diligently; aside from his usual smithing, he hardly set foot outside his door.

Crack!

In the night, a fine rain fell on and on.

"Whoosh!"

"Inhale!"

In the small courtyard, Li Li Yuanzhong lifted his hammer and moved. His motions were not fast, yet the hammer shadows were so dense that not even wind or rain could pass through; great swathes of wind and rain were swept aside.

Clang~

In an instant, with a sharp metallic clang, the countless hammer shadows vanished entirely.

"Squeak~!"

Li Li Yuanzhong gripped his great hammer tightly, glanced at the little mouse squeaking noisily under the eaves, and looked toward the courtyard gate:

"Who?"

"The letter of recommendation—did you read it?"

Outside the courtyard gate, the voice was eerie; Li Li Yuanzhong could not even tell whether it was man or woman.

Star-Plucking Tower?

Li Li Yuanzhong's heart jolted slightly; he knew this was the person Wang Wang Wenyuan had spoken of: "Who are you?"

"Read it, open the door. Didn't read it, I'm leaving."