Chapter 597: One Blade (9/10, extra chapter for

Fang Yue knew he shouldn't laugh.

But he was genuinely happy.

Because his guess had been right.

This wasn't the work of 【Yincha】.

All those days of being paranoid — it had all just been him scaring himself!

The reason he had stopped practicing his blade earlier was that he had sensed that familiar feeling of restlessness and unease.

Unlike before, Fang Yue had ignored that feeling and buried himself in blade practice.

This time, Fang Yue let his perception loose, searching with everything he had for the source of that feeling.

In the end, although he was a step late, he had already caught it.

Originally, this time, the one who should have died wasn't just this single guard on the ground, but along with him, the dozen-plus guards sleeping by the bonfire — all of them would have died at the hands of the uncanny.

If they hadn't been scared off by Fang Yue, that uncanny being could very well have done exactly that.

And the fact that the uncanny being ran meant… that uncanny being was no match for him!

Fang Yue grew calmer and calmer.

Before, he had overlooked one question — why had the uncanny being not killed him, but only killed Shuimei and Pi Sanzai?

Now he knew — the uncanny being didn't dare kill him, couldn't kill him, couldn't beat him!

"He's dead?"

The young lady Yang Hongxia and Hai Guanjia froze for a moment, then hurriedly stepped forward to check for breath — sure enough, the man was already gone.

The young lady was fine, not particularly moved, only thinking about the matter of consolation money.

But Hai Guanjia instantly bristled, every hair on his back standing on end.

One had to realize that everyone present, including himself, hadn't even known what had happened before someone had died in utter silence.

Apart from Fang Yue — apart from this man — not a single person had sensed any abnormality at all!

If Fang Yue hadn't been here today, wouldn't that mean that unknown uncanny being could have easily wiped out every last one of them!

The wilderness… truly was perilous!

Hai Guanjia steadied his trembling body.

He had been running around outside for many years, had seen plenty of life and death, but had always narrowly survived.

But today, this time was absolutely the one that left him most deeply shaken with dread.

Because if any single step of today's process had gone wrong — if Fang Yue hadn't been present when they ran into this uncanny being — their entire group would have been wiped out!

"Hai Guanjia, what's wrong?"

"Shh!" Hai Guanjia told the young lady, who hadn't yet realized how serious things were, to shut her mouth at once, then asked respectfully, "Lord Ye, is there any way to find out which uncanny being is where?"

Fang Yue glanced at him and nodded. "Yes. Have everyone gather together, and don't stray too far from where I'm practicing my blade."

"Alright!"

Hai Guanjia's authority within the caravan was no lower than the young lady's; in fact, the weight of his words was even greater than hers.

The caravan members might occasionally feel that some of the young lady's orders were jokes, and some of her words they wouldn't listen to or follow.

But as long as it was Hai Guanjia who spoke, anyone would obediently comply.

After all, although this caravan was nominally led by the young lady, in reality, top to bottom, over all these years, it had all been Hai Guanjia who handled everything — who actually did the work was crystal clear to everyone — Hai Guanjia had never led them astray.

The people were quickly gathered, forming a large circle centered on Fang Yue.

Fang Yue practiced his blade in the center of the circle.

This time, he practiced very slowly.

Some of the onlookers were puzzled about what he was doing, until they learned that an uncanny being had killed a guard, at which point they realized how serious the situation was, and instantly became extremely respectful toward Fang Yue.

Time passed quickly. At first, everyone was on high alert.

But soon, some began to slack off, drowsily nodding off and falling asleep.

Only Fang Yue continued to swing his blade, with meticulous precision.

Only when the system prompt sounded did Fang Yue pause — but it was only after completing a full cycle that he stopped.

Only Hai Guanjia noticed this distinction. The others, after learning the principle behind how Fang Yue detected the uncanny being, would scream in fright every time they saw Fang Yue stop practicing his blade, and the scene descended into chaos more than once.

The young lady was also startled, and shot Fang Yue a slightly reproachful look.

It was only after Hai Guanjia's explanation that she realized how serious the problem was, how outrageous this uncanny being was.

For their caravan, this was a team-wipe-level uncanny being — no matter what its actual strength was, it made no difference to their caravan.

The only one who could save them was Fang Yue.

Fang Yue paid them no heed. He glanced at the content of the system prompt, then continued practicing his blade — though his mood was steadily improving.

"System prompt: Congratulations to player 【Yese Liming】 on your cultivation progress. 【Dark Moon Blade Technique】 has advanced to the second layer, Control Value increased by 1000 points."

"Name: Dark Moon Blade Technique."

"Grade: Xiantian Third-Rate."

"Layer: Second Layer / Three Layers total."

"Restriction: 1700 Control Value, Xiantian Realm."

"Description: Can only be drawn in a dark environment or under moonlight, and is a single-strike technique. Drawing the blade in a non-special environment will first injure the user!"

"Effect: In a specific environment, the blade can be drawn, increasing Control Value by 2000. Conversely, drawing the blade in daylight reduces Control Value by 2000; one strike consumes 70% of Qi and Blood, adding the 【Moderate Internal Injury】 negative status and the 【Internal Energy Turbulence】 negative status."

"Note: A blade by day, suicide. A blade by night, godslayer."

He glanced at the change in his attributes.

"Control Value: 7170 【Base: 7150】 【Status/Buff: +20】."

Truly worthy of being a purely offensive blade technique — even a blank-slate character, as long as they can land this one strike, gains an additional 2000 Control Value, making its killing power extremely formidable.

If this blade technique had no usage restrictions and let him learn it at the Fanren Realm, he really could take down anyone with a single slash.

In theory, in the early stage, aside from 【Wuren Gui】 which he couldn't cut through, he could cut anyone else.

But that was just a thought — there shouldn't be such terrifying martial arts in this world.

After all, martial arts are something that can only display their power based on an individual's own strength.

On the contrary, divine weapons and sharp blades might, when held by a mortal, have a chance to display their power.

He stopped his wild thoughts, continued practicing the blade, and steadied his mindset.

When the morning sun on the horizon was about to rise…

That familiar sense of blockage, that sense of irritation, appeared once again!

Fang Yue immediately stopped the blade technique, activated his perception, and began a full sweep for that Gui's location.

Hai Guanjia noticed at the first instant that something was different about Fang Yue's sheathed-blade state, and roared: "It's here!"

At the very moment Hai Guanjia spoke, Fang Yue had already moved!

Within the Human Soul Bonfire, in the interweaving of light and dark, Fang Yue rushed to the young lady who was dozing off and drooling.

The moment the young lady was jolted awake by Hai Guanjia's sharp shout, what she saw with her eyes open was Fang Yue's utterly emotionless, calm to the extreme blade — that very slash she had watched for nearly half the night — descending toward her!

Her pupils contracted sharply, the young lady screamed, her whole body trembled, and she was so terrified she went limp and couldn't move.

However, Fang Yue's blade did not slash down — it merely stopped about five centimeters from the young lady's forehead and held still.

Then…

118671!

Drip.

Drip.

Black blood, along the blade's edge, dripped down from the void and landed on the young lady's face.

She stared blankly, feeling the chill of that Gui-only black blood, the touch gradually bringing her back to her senses; the scream had long since stopped.

"Gui…?"

(End of this chapter)