Chapter 893: with translation of chapter title

When Lóngwěi swept up a large expanse of white bones, the humming sound of the Azure Abyss Sword suddenly rose, and its vibration amplitude became so great it seemed it could break at any moment.

Strands of black qi rose from the soil beneath the sword tip, turning into ferocious-looking evil ghosts that bared their teeth and claws, lunging toward Xiao Jiu.

These evil ghosts still held weapons in their hands, and their charging posture was standard; at a glance one could tell that, when alive, they must have been troops who had received centralized training.

Just as Xiao Jiu and Liu Junyan were preparing to meet the attack, a Dragon Roar suddenly burst forth from the crack in the Azure Abyss Sword.

The next moment, those evil ghosts seemed to have fallen into a vortex, one after another being sucked into the Azure Abyss Sword.

What's more strange, the blood that had previously welled up from the Azure Abyss Sword was now sucked back in.

The entire body of the Azure Abyss Sword was enveloped by black qi and blood qi.

Yet amidst that murky haze, a Golden Light emerged, wrapping around the entire sword body like a swimming dragon, coiling and wandering along the blade, from time to time emitting a Dragon Roar.

Everyone was shocked by what unfolded before their eyes; even Chishe poked its head out, staring blankly at the Azure Abyss Sword, and exclaimed involuntarily, "It's a sword spirit! The sword spirit of the Azure Abyss Sword is actually a dragon spirit!"

Xiao Jiu frowned, looking again and again, and said, "To me it doesn't look like a dragon spirit."

"It's neither a dragon spirit nor a sword spirit," Liu Junyan said. "Whether it's a mule or a horse, we'll know once we take it out for a walk."

As Liu Junyan spoke, Lóngwěi had already swept toward the Azure Abyss Sword.

Xiao Jiu instinctively wanted to stop it; it was obvious that the Azure Abyss Sword was enshrined here precisely to suppress these white-boned vengeful spirits.

Once the Azure Abyss Sword is destroyed, hundreds or thousands of evil ghost vengeful spirits will run rampant, inevitably leading to another great battle.

More importantly, they could not be certain whether someone was behind this, pulling the strings.

In the end, Lóngwěi did not actually strike the Azure Abyss Sword; instead, the true qi it stirred up swept past the sword.

The Azure Abyss Sword hummed again, and the Dragon Roar followed.

Amidst this trembling, Xiao Jiu saw a fleeting illusion flicker through the crack in the sword's body.

Xiao Jiu's heart leapt in alarm; Liu Junyan was right—it was fundamentally neither a sword spirit nor a dragon spirit!

The entity controlling the Azure Abyss Sword, masquerading as a sword spirit, is a wisp of human soul!

This wisp of human soul occupies the body of the Azure Abyss Sword, drawing Dragon Vein qi through the sword to nourish its own soul, while simultaneously suppressing those captive evil ghosts.

This is why those captive evil ghosts can occasionally emerge and then be sucked back in—the fundamental reason.

Because this wisp of human soul cannot fully suppress all the captive evil ghosts, yet it is indeed formidable and, at critical moments, can still draw those captive evil ghosts back in.

Of course, it still relies on Dragon Vein qi.

If not for the recent series of sudden events, given enough time, the human soul within the Azure Abyss Sword, having absorbed sufficient Earth Vein Spiritual Energy, might well become akin to a Ghost Immortal or ghost demon.

Liu Junyan keenly noticed this, which is why he hesitated not at all in feigning an attack on the Azure Abyss Sword, forcing the other side to reveal its flaw.

This wisp of human soul hid itself remarkably deep; Xiao Jiu had just been searching for this clue, never imagining that the clue was actually concealed within the body of the Azure Abyss Sword.

Under normal circumstances, if Liu Junyan and Xiao Jiu had come down here, they ought to have sensed something amiss.

The problem lies precisely in the fact that the Azure Abyss Sword was originally meant to suppress captive vengeful spirits.

The yin, gloomy ghost qi of the captive vengeful spirits effectively concealed the human soul's aura; it lay low within the Azure Abyss Sword, waiting for them to return empty-handed.

Who would have thought that, in the end, traces of it would still be discovered.

"Come out!"

Liu Junyan's commanding voice rang out with authority.

He is the Dìmài Lóngshén; the earth veins and Dragon Veins of all Huaxia fall under his jurisdiction.

This wisp of human soul hides in the Azure Abyss Sword, secretly drawing Dragon Vein qi; Liu Junyan must deal with it properly.

Yet the other side showed no gratitude; not only did it refuse to obey, it ran rampant inside the Azure Abyss Sword, swallowing over a dozen captive vengeful spirits in the blink of an eye, its form instantly becoming substantial.

Chishe's forked tongue trembled instantly: "It… it hides in the Azure Abyss Sword, actually to cultivate by devouring captive vengeful spirits while also stealing Dragon Vein qi—this is an Evil Cultivator!"

Indeed, this wisp of human soul's cultivation path is problematic.

If it merely stayed here, slowly cultivating with the Dragon Vein qi of this place, not seeking quick gains, it might yet achieve great things in the future, though it would likely face some Heavenly Tribulations along the way.

But while it absorbs large amounts of Dragon Vein qi, it also supplements this by devouring captive vengeful spirits to continually raise its Xiūwéi—this is not right.

Liu Junyan intimidated it, forcing it out; its first reaction was not to come out and plead, but instead it devoured more than a dozen captive soldier vengeful spirits—this shows it knows its cultivation path is wrong, and it feels guilty.

Even knowing they can't win, they still grab the time to quickly boost their own Xiūwéi, preparing for a direct confrontation, which further illustrates the issue.

Liu Junyan thrust a palm toward the Azure Abyss Sword; the palm wind seeped through the crack, pressing in on the human spirit from all sides.

The force must be controlled properly.

It must not be too strong, lest it shatter the Azure Abyss Sword, nor too weak, giving that human spirit an opportunity to exploit.

Xiao Jiu held her breath, eyes fixed on the Azure Abyss Sword, afraid of any mishap; she would be the first to help with the cleanup.

The Chishe even stretched its neck, its vertical pupils locked onto the Azure Abyss Sword, so much that it forgot to flick its tongue.

He was sensing Liu Junyan's qi and force technique, learning the skill.

Such skill was something he had never possessed before.

Otherwise, back then he wouldn't have been trapped and sealed for so many years.

When he was in Fujian south, the Chishe felt invincible.

But coming to Wufu Town, especially this time following the Dìmài Lóngshén on a mission, he truly broadened his horizons.

The crack in the Azure Abyss Sword's blade seemed to have widened a little; Xiao Jiu could see the qi surging inside, and at this point that human spirit was still frantically devouring captive soldier vengeful spirits like a madman.

Has it gone mad?!

Boom!

A muffled thud.

Liu Junyan thrust forward with a big palm, and that human spirit was suddenly knocked out of the Azure Abyss Sword, flying uncontrollably before slamming hard into the pit wall.

Rustling dirt pattered down.

That human spirit stood up again.

Only then did Xiao Jiu see clearly that the human spirit was actually a little old man.

Very thin, the kind of gaunt thinness.

One can tell that at the brink of death, he is not faring well.

After he steadied himself, he quickly formed hand seals and chanted, and the Qingming Sword began to tremble violently again.

But this tremor was directional; the sword blade bent greatly toward the direction of that little old man.

If it weren't for Liu Junyan controlling the Qingming Sword with inner force, the sword might already be in that little old man's hands...