Chapter 32

"Senior..." Su Zhen turned her head back with a look of suspicion. "Did you draw your sword?"

Given her cultivation level, maintaining a state of expanded spiritual consciousness did not interfere with the sensory perception of her physical body.

"Not at all." Xiao Yu spread his hands. "I merely manifested a sword from my divine sense. It makes no difference to me whether I use a physical blade or not. Do you wish to see? If you want to, I shall produce one."

"That is unnecessary," Su Zhen quickly replied. "I am not very familiar with the manifestation of sword intent, nor am I adept at judging such things—and besides, I have never been an Immortal Venerable myself."

Below the Quasi-Saint realm, it was impossible to unleash such sword techniques purely through the power of one’s intent. Even among those at the Quasi-Saint level, not everyone was capable of such a feat.

"...This way!"

Given that this senior had already taken action, she did not retract her spiritual sense. She continued to probe into the distance until she "saw" several familiar landmarks, which finally allowed her to confirm her location. Su Zhen withdrew her consciousness and turned around.

She pointed straight ahead. "Going straight forward from here—at my cultivation level, it would take about eight or nine hours of flight—we will pass through a forest. Inside, there are some purple..."

Without a word, Xiao Yu reached out and pressed a palm firmly onto her shoulder.

The two vanished from the spot.

They reappeared in a silent, eerie jungle. The surroundings were filled with dark reds and deep greens; the trees were sparse, and the vines were withered. Before them lay a small pool, scattered with many purple, block-like crystals.

"Here?"

As soon as they landed, Xiao Yu immediately released his grip.

Su Zhen sighed. "I hadn't finished my sentence, but this is also quite convenient..." She looked at the pile of stones and decided to leave a mark on the ground so she could teleport directly here next time. She stood up and couldn't help but glance at the person beside her. "Senior, did you just send out your divine sense to scout the area, or are you so familiar with the Demon Realm that you have been here before?"

"Mm, I did sense the area first to ensure there were no issues, but I have indeed been here before." Xiao Yu looked around. "It is just that the memories associated with this place are not particularly pleasant."

Su Zhen nodded. "Aside from the secret treasury of the Qiansheng Sect, no other part of the Demon Realm has anything to do with the word 'pleasant'." In her previous life, it wasn't until she reached the Celestial Immortal realm that she began to explore the Demon Realm in earnest. All her experiences before that were grueling; it was less of an adventure and more of a series of beatings and narrow escapes. Even after reaching the Celestial Immortal realm, she still suffered beatings and near-death experiences many times.

Su Zhen collected her thoughts and feigned the act of releasing her spiritual sense to continue scouting. In truth, now that she was here, she knew the location perfectly well; she simply did not want to reveal how familiar she was with this territory.

After a while, she pointed in a certain direction. "Further that way, there is a branch temple of the Moon-Worshipping Sect. Not the one nearby, but the distant one."

Xiao Yu reached out again and gently pressed his hand onto her shoulder. Just as he was about to channel his spiritual energy, he paused.

"Have you finished speaking this time? You are heading there, correct?" He asked specifically. As he spoke, he lifted his hand away.

For some reason, Su Zhen felt he was slightly nervous. She turned her head and looked up at him. "It is fine to go there first; it will be easier to describe the path from there."

Xiao Yu gave a soft affirmative. "There are people there. Do you wish to kill them, or circumvent them?"

Su Zhen was indifferent, but after a moment's thought, she used her spiritual sense to observe them from afar, determining their strength and cultivation level.

"...Tsk. Demon cultivators of the Moon-Worshipping Sect. I don't like them. Kill them."

"Oh?" Xiao Yu said, somewhat amused. "Besides the believers of the Dharma God, are there any other demon cultivators you actually like?"

Su Zhen looked up and glanced behind her. "Senior, you are overthinking it."

The two were standing very close. If she leaned back just a little more, she would fall into Xiao Yu’s embrace. Su Zhen stood firmly, her upper body motionless. "...I don't care for the people of the Qiansheng Sect either." Even in her past life, when she and they had become colleagues, their relationship had never been good.

Xiao Yu lowered his eyes to look at her. "I thought you all practiced 'seeking common ground while reserving differences' in your interactions."

Su Zhen gave a fake smile. "That is merely..."

"An ideal state?"

"Isn't the Senior quite knowledgeable about this?" Su Zhen retorted sharply, then quickly added, "But I am no longer a member of the sect, and I have very little contact with them. Of those I have dealt with, none have been to my liking."

Xiao Yu’s expression was subtle. "Truly? Not a single one?"

Su Zhen looked at him with an odd expression. "What do you mean by that?" In her previous life, she had a good relationship with the two Great Invokers; one of them could even be considered half a mentor to her. But she shouldn't know that person now, so she couldn't bring it up.

Su Zhen: "...Does the Senior have a close relationship with any of the Divine Servants?"

"No." Xiao Yu shook his head. "I truly do not know any... why would you guess Divine Servants?"

Su Zhen was stunned. "Theoretically, aren't they the strongest?"

The demon cultivators of the Qiansheng Sect were of mixed quality in both character and strength. However, the Divine Servants were all top-tier experts who could almost freely utilize the power of the Demon Gods. Although most were slightly inferior to the Saint-level Immortal Venerables, they were not incapable of exchanging a few blows. Of course, this was against those who were not specialized Sword, Dharma, or Body cultivators. If they encountered the man before her, no one would choose to trade blows with him. Whether they were constant companions to the Demon Gods or traveled across the Nine Realms, a significant portion of the Divine Servants were of the Demon race, or had transformed into Demons even if they were not originally. The rest were a mix of humans, demons, and others.

Xiao Yu remained perplexed. "Whether they are strong or not, to me..."

"Oh." Su Zhen understood. "Senior, please do not think I am misunderstanding you. I do not believe you only befriend the strong. Regardless, to you, those people could be killed in a single strike, so there is no difference in strength. My point was that they are powerful and also the most long-lived, so the probability of you knowing them is higher."

Xiao Yu was dazed for a moment, then his expression turned melancholic, and he seemed to lose a bit of his spirit. "Your explanation only serves to sadden others."

Su Zhen: "..."

Here we go again. She still did not understand why this person cared so much about age.

Su Zhen blinked. "So, should we be going?"

Xiao Yu reached out his hand again, but did not touch her immediately. His palm hovered in mid-air as if he were pondering something. "Fighting has broken out over there."

"...Mm? Let me check again."

As a cultivator of her level, the speed of her spiritual sense was much faster than her physical movement. So, even though that Moon-Worshipping Sect branch temple was extremely far away, Su Zhen spent some time to "see" the two groups of demon cultivators clashing. To avoid being detected, she did not let her spiritual sense get too close, merely observing from a distance, which allowed her to confirm that she did not know anyone in either group.

Of course, that only meant there were no acquaintances. Their identities were still discernable. One side was the Moon-Worshipping Sect, and the other were cultivators from the Shangji Sect. Their cultivation levels were inconsistent, ranging from the Transformation Spirit realm to the True Immortal realm. However, the overall strength of both sides was comparable, so the battle was evenly matched.

Su Zhen had no positive feelings for either side. In such situations, she usually stood by and watched, waiting for them to finish so she could take advantage of the situation.

***

The two sides fought for a while, and the physical bodies of several individuals were destroyed. They gradually began to use their trump cards.

She quickly withdrew her spiritual sense. The Moon-Worshipping Sect were believers of the Demon God of Flowing Light. If they used the power of their god, any bystander—unless they were of the same kind—might be injured.

Su Zhen looked up through the interlacing withered branches of the forest toward the dark red sky. She thought of the hand gesture one of the demon cultivators had just made and silently counted down five seconds in her heart.

A thunderous roar echoed from afar.

Behind the layers of dark, jagged mountains, a brilliant pillar of snow-white light surged upward like a sharp blade piercing the heavens. The radiance scattered in all directions, shattering layers of blood-colored clouds.

Su Zhen crossed her arms and watched this scene. "Shouldn't they be parting ways now?"

Xiao Yu nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on her face, though it was clear his spiritual sense was still hovering thousands of miles away. "The Shangji Sect people fled, but two of them were 'hung up'."

Theoretically, as an Immortal Venerable of the orthodox path, he should not be so cold, or he should have intervened to assist. After all, the five major sects were core members of the Immortal Alliance and were considered to be of the same spirit. Su Zhen was not surprised at all, as most Immortal Venerables were like this; if it were anyone else here, whether they helped or not would depend entirely on their mood.

"Is this also a dialect from the Senior's hometown? Calling death 'hanging up'?"

"More or less."

"Very well." Su Zhen laughed. "Shall we go? I don't want to give them a chance to rest."

This group of Moon-Worshipping Sect demon cultivators was likely the same batch that had found the Immortal Sword back then. They had taken the sword, but since none of them could use it, they had stored it in the secret chamber of the branch temple. They had not expected it to be stored for two or three hundred years. During that time, too much had happened, the branch temple had been abandoned, and it had finally become a prize for these two groups of demon cultivators to fight over.

"Let's go, then." Xiao Yu looked down at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Su Zhen was accustomed to the teleportation of the Void-Shift technique. Although she was only in the Golden Immortal realm and her spell-casting was slightly slower, everything else was much the same. Using similar spells in the Demon Realm naturally required caution. Even in places she had already scouted with her spiritual sense, no one could guarantee what complications might arise in the blink of an eye during a teleportation.

Therefore—the moment she set off, she had completely adjusted her spiritual energy, entering a state of readiness.

As soon as they landed, Su Zhen raised her hand to block a blade of spiritual energy flying toward her.

"Who goes there?!"

"Is it the reinforcements called by that group—?"

"This spiritual pressure does not seem to be from the Shangji Sect."

The demon cultivators did not dwell in confusion for long. Everyone was no stranger to life in the Demon Realm and knew there were no rules or order here. After they had clashed with the Shangji Sect cultivators, anyone could come to reap the benefits. Therefore, they quickly prepared to fight. Although they had been battling the orthodox cultivators for a while and were not at their peak, with most of them nursing injuries and planning to retreat to their stronghold to recover, the newcomer seemed to be only in the True Immortal realm. While not easy to deal with, it was not impossible.

Xiao Yu released her at the first moment and retreated dozens of yards away.

Su Zhen was already prepared for battle; she drew her silver-white blade, and a ripple of water-like light leaped across the edge of the sword.

A treacherous aura struck from one side. She turned her right hand, and the mist evaporating from the blade became thin and transparent, shimmering with cold, brilliant light. The gentle stream of energy suddenly condensed and then erupted, transforming into a clear, merciless blade. In an instant, clear radiance filled the sky, manifesting dozens of sword shadows that completely surrounded the few demon cultivators in front.

As blood sprayed and limbs were severed—only then did they feel the pain.

The bodies of the two in the Transformation Spirit realm were destroyed in an instant. Their primordial spirits were also severely damaged. They could have escaped quickly, but now they huddled on the side, withered and listless.

Su Zhen performed a sword flourish; the clear stream swirled around the spirit sword, not a single drop of blood staining it. She then looked at the only True Immortal-level cultivator opposite her. That man was leaning on a long saber with one hand, while the other was forming a seal. His hair was disheveled, his face pale, and his spiritual pressure was extremely chaotic. He was also injured and had just used the power of his god. Unlike her standoff with Yao Wan, that golden light had not been used for intimidation, but for a lethal strike, so the consumption must have been significant.

Su Zhen curved her lips. "Since you are the envoy of this branch temple, whose subordinate are you?"

"You will know soon enough." The man sneered. His hand hanging by his side moved, and a sound-transmission jade appeared in his palm. He ignored Su Zhen and whispered into the jade: "My Lord, I have not finished here yet. If possible, could you come over? I have encountered someone, and she is somewhat..."

However, before he could finish, the surroundings trembled violently, and layers of golden incantations appeared in the air. Countless cracks spread across the ground, and the solid soil was torn apart by immense force. Hundreds of blood-red branches rose from the ground, each as thick as a foot, covered in inch-long sharp hooks, clawing toward the demon cultivators in the center. Those with lower cultivation levels could not dodge in time and were unable to destroy the branches, and were instantly pierced by the sharp thorns.

"What? You didn't think I was talking to you just to give you time to call for reinforcements, did you?" Su Zhen walked slowly while holding her sword. "Or did you think I was just a sword cultivator?"

The lead demon cultivator had not yet been hit; his cultivation level was high enough that he could not be taken down in a short time. He shifted and dodged within the barrier, swinging his saber to hack at the approaching branches. He repeated this dozens of times, yet the branches kept coming endlessly. The words he had intended to say were stuck in his throat. The order he had just received was to find the person suspected of being the owner of the Cold Fragrance Sword. He didn't know if the woman before him was the one. Although her spiritual energy properties matched, her cultivation level seemed too high. That person should still be in the Transformation Spirit realm, right?

"Just taking advantage of someone’s exhaustion!" the demon cultivator screamed. "Is this the style of your orthodox path?"

Su Zhen was amused. This person truly had poor judgment and was still trying to probe her identity. She wore an expression of disdain, putting on a serious face, and replied righteously: "Demonic heretics, everyone has the right to punish them!"

She nearly laughed at herself after saying it.

The demon cultivator rushed left and right, employing several techniques, but could not break the barrier. Carelessly, he was grazed on the arm by a thorn, which tore through his protective spiritual energy. His figure froze suddenly. Although it was only a slight graze, he could already feel something was wrong. A strange, cold power instantly seeped from the wound into his body, passing through layers of flesh and bone reinforced by spiritual energy, heading straight for his primordial spirit.

The demon cultivator cursed angrily and severed his own arm. The arm flew away, and at the stump, flesh and blood writhed as if countless insects were crawling within, before exploding into a cloud of red mist. Dozens of thin branches extended from within it.

The branches trembled like countless opening claws, constantly closing in on her again. Dense, golden eyes grew on the branches; the demon cultivator looked at them for only a second, and his mind went blank. When he regained his senses, the arm he had thrown away had flown back in front of him. It no longer looked like an arm, but was entirely wrapped in knotted, tangled branches, with countless golden eyeballs staring straight at him.

"You damn wretch, and you still have the nerve to call us demonic heretics?!" the demon cultivator shrieked through gritted teeth. "You dog of the Qiansheng Sect—"

The branches trembled with a life of their own, frantically and excitedly pouncing toward her face.

Su Zhen was indifferent. "Curse all you want."

After all, she hadn't joined the sect yet.

The sound-transmission jade fell to the ground and suddenly rolled on its own, emitting a gentle, pleasant male voice.

"A-Yin, I must return to the Human Realm; I cannot make it there now—"

*A-Yin?*

Su Zhen’s pupils contracted. She looked sharply at the demon cultivator in the air and asked tentatively, "Are you Huang Lu?"

The latter had just barely shaken off the branches, his body covered in wounds. At these words, his expression changed instantly. "What did you say?!" He looked at the transmission stone on the ground, then shifted his gaze toward Su Zhen.

Su Zhen started to laugh. The voice from the transmission stone just now had sounded very unfamiliar. But now she could be certain that it was most likely Xie Changfeng. That so-called 'male lead'—the beloved of Liu Yunyao—wore the skin of an orthodox cultivator both now and four hundred years later. Xie Changfeng’s public identity was the direct disciple of an Elder of the Shangji Sect; he was one of the top experts in the Middle Domain and definitely possessed extraordinary talent among the younger generation. It was said he was only two hundred years old, yet he had already stepped into the Profound Immortal realm—an accomplishment that was indeed rare.

However, he was not merely two hundred years old, and his strength was not limited to the Profound Immortal realm. He was also half-Demon, and his bloodline was special. As the 'Lesser Divine Servant' of the Demon God of Flowing Light, he held a fairly high status within the Moon-Worshipping Sect. Huang Lu was Xie Changfeng’s subordinate, and 'Yin' was his courtesy name. Su Zhen had never met this person, but she knew his identity from the book, and she knew that he and Xie Changfeng had a very good relationship. He also took great care of Liu Yunyao and seemed to have some feelings for her. Liu Yunyao might have known, or she might not have—regardless, she called him 'Big Brother' affectionately.

Moreover, Huang Lu also knew her enemy—the one who would slaughter Flying Kite City many years later. When Xie Changfeng communicated with his demon subordinate, he had specifically used a spell to alter his voice, so even those who knew the orthodox Xie Changfeng would not be able to recognize his tone. Su Zhen had merely made a guess based on that single term of address. The demon cultivator before her was certainly an envoy of the branch temple, his superior was certainly the Lesser Divine Servant—these were part of their sect’s hierarchy—and adding that one term of address was enough for her to deduce the answer.

The opponent’s reaction had verified it. The book had written about the relationship between Xie Changfeng and Huang Lu, and it had also written that Huang Lu died years later after a failed cultivation breakthrough, which made Xie Changfeng quite sad, and Liu Yunyao had even cried over it.

"You know him?" Huang Lu looked at her with a fierce, murderous gaze. Xie Changfeng’s identity was a great secret; this freak from the Qiansheng Sect before him likely also had an orthodox identity as cover, which was why she knew Xie Changfeng. But even if she had spoken to him, the voice had been distorted by magic—how could she have figured it out?

On second thought, the methods of the Qiansheng Sect demon cultivators were ridiculously numerous; it was normal for him not to be able to guess. Regardless, he would first destroy her physical body, leave only a fragment of her primordial spirit, torture her thoroughly, and he would eventually be able to extract the answer before making her soul scatter completely.

Huang Lu’s long saber vibrated, and dozens of air blades erupted from the edge, shredding the surrounding branches. His human-like body began to expand rapidly. The moment he revealed his true demonic form and looked down to find his target—he met a pair of emerald-green eyes.

The person opposite him was looking up at him without a hint of fear, but rather, a strange smile bloomed on her face, as if something she had long anticipated was about to happen. In those eyes, bright as early spring leaves, burned a pleasure and murderous intent bordering on madness.

"..."

Xiao Yu stood on a distant peak, overlooking the chaotic battlefield. The demon cultivators of the Moon-Worshipping Sect were almost all dead; the remaining primordial spirits were as weak as candles about to extinguish in the wind.

In the center of the ruins, the barrier erected in the air vibrated frantically before shattering with a bang, turning into golden light that drifted across the sky. Huang Lu’s body continued to expand, his flesh and bone bursting open. Blood rained down, mixed with fragments of flesh. Then, a giant meat-ball, pieced together from countless skulls, emerged in the air.

Each skull was smooth and hairless, their napes stuck together like countless masks pasted onto a mass of writhing mud. Some of those faces were dazed, some fearful, some angry, some peaceful; some had their mouths open as if screaming, while others had their eyes tightly shut with no expression. Soon, they all opened their eyes at the same time, filled with a brilliant pale golden light. Countless specks of light connected and merged, forming wheels of light. The entire meat-ball was wrapped in golden light, like a twisted sun.

A massive spiritual pressure swept out, shaking the earth for dozens of miles. The demon beasts that had been lurking nearby all turned and fled. The blood-red branches that had been trembling and splitting in the air were shattered at this moment, and dust flew from the ground. That slender, graceful figure seemed to be engulfed by the rising dust and mist.

Xiao Yu was not surprised. As soon as he saw this man surnamed Huang, he knew he was a demon disguised as a human, and only now had he revealed his true demonic form.

And—Su Zhen clearly knew as well.

Amidst the sky full of dust and sand, countless brilliant water lights suddenly exploded!

The sword radiance fell like flowing water, tangled and endless. Thousands of emerald ripples shimmered; all the sharp, tyrannical killing intent was hidden beneath the gentle, clear light. The meat-ball roared, its conjoined skulls were severed, every part of the faces was sliced apart, and the light filling those pairs of eyes continuously flickered out. In the pervasive blood mist, sword shadows were layered like ripples, clear waves winding and extending endlessly.

As the radiance gradually dimmed, that meat-ball was already shattered, looking as though it had no strength left to resist. Su Zhen leaped out of the blood mist, her long sword held horizontally, casting off green shadows. She walked forward calmly, not even looking back.

Behind her—the meat-ball in the air trembled violently, emitting an incomparably sharp roar, as if in extreme pain. Soon, the remaining faces opened their mouths, and countless sharp, jagged branches extended and split from within them. Purple-red flowers and leaves grew on the branches, and blood-red light patterns covered them; the light flowed, seemingly absorbing nourishment from the remains of the demon.

Huang Lu’s body shriveled rapidly, finally becoming pieces of broken flesh and skin hanging on the blood-colored flowering tree blooming in mid-air.

"..."

A thunderous round of applause suddenly echoed across the wasteland.

"Good!" Xiao Yu cheered earnestly. "That was beautifully fought!"

Su Zhen held her forehead. "Senior, please stop. You make me feel like a street performer."