Boom!
The violet-gold blade light and the pitch-black bear paw collided violently in midair, instantly unleashing a terrifying gale like a comet crashing into the moon. The berserk shock waves of spiritual power transformed into a raging wind that shaved three feet off the rocky ground within a radius of several hundred yards around the Netherworld Cold Pool.
“Roar—!”
The Black Bear Great Demon let out a pained, furious bellow.
Its enormous paw, powerful enough to shatter a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s magical treasure, had been split open by the blade light, which was more than a dozen yards long, leaving a massive wound deep enough to expose the bone. Dark green demon blood sprayed wildly like a downpour. Worse, the Buddhist true intent of the Great Sun Tathagata’s Demon-Subduing Art contained within the blade light burrowed relentlessly into its body like a festering sore on the bone, scorching its meridians and demon core.
The great demon’s massive body was knocked backward by the strike. Every step it took left a deep crater in the ground.
Fang Cunsheng, meanwhile, used the recoil to perform a midair somersault before landing steadily atop a boulder beside the cold pool. His blue robe snapped wildly in the gale. Though his face was flushed, the newly transformed violet-gold karmic Buddhist bone within him was greedily drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy. His depleted meridians were refilled with surging spiritual power in the blink of an eye.
At the peak of the seventh level of Qi Condensation, wielding the ancient Buddha blade, he had actually forced back a Core Formation great demon head-on with a single strike!
“Brother Cunsheng… no, Immortal Master Fang! How is this possible?!”
A-Xing, who had been hiding in a gap between the rocks, was utterly dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes desperately, thinking he had fallen under some kind of illusion. That was a Core Formation demon beast! The two late-Foundation Establishment elders of the Gu Yue clan couldn’t withstand even one move from it, and yet Fang Cunsheng had injured it with a single slash?
Fang Cunsheng had no time to deal with A-Xing’s shock.
He knew perfectly well that the only reason he had been able to injure the Black Bear Great Demon was because it had already expended enormous strength fighting the two Gu Yue clan elders. On top of that, it was being firmly suppressed by the karmic chains at the bottom of the cold pool, leaving it unable to unleash even thirty percent of its peak strength.
Furthermore, he could only draw upon the vast Buddhist power within the ancient Buddha blade in the tiniest sliver. If this dragged on and the great demon recovered its strength, he would be the one to die.
“I have to end this quickly.”
Violet light burned deep within Fang Cunsheng’s eyes as he pushed the Eye of Cause and Effect to its utmost limit.
In his vision, the densely packed threads of cause and effect wrapped around the Black Bear Great Demon’s massive body had become a chaotic mess because of its injuries. Directly above the pitch-black demon core at the center of its chest, a dark-red death thread as thick as a person’s arm was wrapped tightly around it. The demon core was as large as a human head and spinning madly.
That death thread connected to the sky above and the earth’s veins below. It was the accumulated “karmic retribution of Heaven’s Will” born from the great demon’s thousand years of lingering here and committing endless slaughter!
【Cause-and-Effect Prompt: The great demon is burdened by karmic sins and has entered a death trap. Use the Great Sun Demon-Subduing true intent within the Buddha blade to stir up its thousand years of murderous karma and bring down a karmic lightning tribulation. One strike will kill it!】
“Draw forth the karmic fire and bring down the lightning tribulation!”
A cold, murderous glint flashed through Fang Cunsheng’s eyes.
He suddenly stepped forward, both hands clamped tightly around the pitch-black ancient Buddha blade. The violet-gold Buddhist bone within him erupted with countless rays of divine light, pouring every bit of his spiritual power into the blade at any cost.
Buzzz!
At that moment, the ancient black ring-handled saber seemed to come completely alive. Countless intricate golden Sanskrit mantras across its blade blazed with light. A gigantic phantom Buddha, dozens of yards tall, slowly coalesced behind Fang Cunsheng. Its face was compassionate, yet it gripped a fearsome demon-subduing blade in one hand.
“Wretched beast, dust to dust and earth to earth. Your cause and effect end here!”
Fang Cunsheng’s clothes whipped wildly around him. Gripping the blade with both hands, he brought it crashing down toward the Black Bear Great Demon’s chest!
As the blade swung out, the heavens and earth seemed to resound with the grand Buddhist chant of ten million monks reciting scripture in unison. The blade light was no longer ordinary sword energy. It transformed into a mass of blazing violet-gold karmic fire.
For the first time, an expression of utter terror and despair appeared in the Black Bear Great Demon’s eyes as it watched the karmic fire rush toward it. It turned to flee, but the thousand years of murderous karma within its body was thoroughly ignited by the Buddhist power at that moment, transforming into invisible chains that pinned it firmly to the spot, leaving it unable to move.
Rumble—!
The heavy black clouds above the Blackwind Mountains churned violently. A silver bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel fell without warning, striking the top of the Black Bear Great Demon’s head with pinpoint accuracy!
Heaven’s Will had sensed it—the karmic lightning tribulation!
“Roar—!”
Under the combined assault of heavenly lightning and karmic fire, the Black Bear Great Demon let out the last mournful scream of its life. Its massive body, more than a dozen yards tall, began to collapse inch by inch amid the violet-gold flames, turning into ashes that filled the sky.
A moment later, the gale died down and the thunderclouds dispersed.
The once-arrogant Core Formation great demon had vanished from the world completely, leaving behind only a Core Formation ancient beast core about the size of a fist. It was pitch-black and crystalline throughout, radiating dense waves of energy.
Thud.
Fang Cunsheng dropped to one knee and gasped for breath, while the ancient Buddha blade stood embedded in the ground beside him. That strike had nearly drained every drop of blood essence and spiritual power within him. If not for the violet-gold Buddhist bone forcibly holding him up, he would have already fainted.
“Whew… I won after all.”
Fang Cunsheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a relieved smile appearing in his eyes.
“Brother Cunsheng!”
A-Xing scrambled out of the gap between the rocks and tremblingly helped Fang Cunsheng to his feet. Even now, he looked at Fang Cunsheng as if he were looking at a god.
“A-Xing, pick up that great demon core and the storage bags scattered by those two elders. We’re leaving immediately. The Gu Yue clan’s higher-ups will notice the commotion at the cold pool before long.” Fang Cunsheng forced himself upright as he spoke.
“Got it! I’m on it!” A-Xing swiftly swept up all the spoils scattered across the ground.
Afterward, Fang Cunsheng took out an ordinary white jade bottle, bent down beside the Netherworld Cold Pool, and gently ladled up a bottle of the “Ninefold Nether Profound Water,” which was supremely yin and cold and emitted a faint blue glow.
Looking at the profound water in the bottle, a cold, playful curve formed at the corner of Fang Cunsheng’s mouth.
Gu Yue clan, didn’t you want this Ninefold Nether Profound Water to save your prodigy, Gu Yue Wuxia? Then this young master will personally deliver it back to you.
Half an hour later, the two figures vanished completely into the night of the Blackwind Mountains.
Three days later, at the Gu Yue Immortal Clan’s outer estate in Jinling City.
A shocking piece of news spread through the entire Gu Yue Estate as if it had grown wings, traveling from top to bottom in less than half a day and even sending the inner estate’s core leadership into an uproar.
The team sent to collect water in the Blackwind Mountains… had been completely wiped out!
The inner estate’s prodigy, Gu Yue Gang, was dead. The soul tablets of two late-Foundation Establishment core elders had shattered, and not one of the three hundred outer-estate servants had survived. Just as the entire Gu Yue clan was sinking into grief and misery, and Chief Steward Xu was raging furiously and preparing to personally lead people into the Blackwind Mountains to investigate, a blood-covered, ragged young man walked through the outer estate’s gates, coughing up blood with every step.
He was clutching a white jade bottle tightly in his hands.
“Stop! Who are you?!” the outer-estate disciple on guard shouted harshly.
The young man raised a pale, feeble face and managed a somewhat exhausted smile. In a hoarse voice, he called out, “Outer-estate servant… Fang Cunsheng… water-collecting mission in the Blackwind Mountains… I have completed my duty… I brought back the Ninefold Nether Profound Water!”
Those words crashed onto the peaceful surface like a massive bomb.
In less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the outer estate’s main hall was packed with higher-ups who had rushed over from the inner estate. Seated in the place of honor was Li Da, the steward of the Gu Yue clan’s outer estate—and Gu Yue Gang’s uncle.
Li Da’s face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water. The terrifying pressure of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator raged through the main hall, pressing down so heavily that the surrounding attendants didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
Fang Cunsheng was kneeling in the center of the hall, feigning “weakness” and “fear.” He had long since used the stone fragment’s divine ability to conceal his cultivation completely. In Li Da’s eyes, Fang Cunsheng was still merely a lowly servant who had suffered severe injuries and luckily broken through to the fourth level of Qi Condensation.
“Fang Cunsheng, this steward asks you: where is Gang’er? Where are the two elders? Why are you the only one who made it back alive?!” Li Da slammed his palm onto the table and roared through clenched teeth, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Fang Cunsheng shuddered all over. He hurriedly buried his head as low as possible and wailed in a trembling voice thick with terror:
“R-Reporting to you, Steward! Young Master Gang… they’re all dead! They died horribly!”
“We hadn’t been in the mountains long when we ran into a pack of wolves. Young Master Gang was brave and fearless, leading us in a forced breakout to Wild Hound Ridge. But who could have known that several hundred two-headed mastiffs were hiding there, along with a hound king at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Condensation?! To protect the inner-estate senior disciples, Young Master Gang was unfortunately ambushed and gravely wounded by the hound king… sob, sob…”
Fang Cunsheng cried so hard his nose ran and tears streamed down his face. His acting was flawless.
“What about the two core elders?!” another inner-estate steward asked urgently.
“The two elders arrived later and engaged in an earth-shaking battle with a black bear giant more than a dozen yards tall beside the cold pool. The fighting collapsed the entire mountain! I was so terrified that I hid among the rubble, and I watched helplessly as the two elders and the great demon perished together. The entire mountain range was reduced to ruins!”
Still crying, Fang Cunsheng respectfully raised the white jade bottle in his hands high above his head.
“After I saw that the great demon and the elders were dead, and the cold pool had collapsed, I happened to see a pool of profound water splash onto the bank. I risked my life to fill a bottle with it. I didn’t dare delay for even a moment, and I survived the three-day, three-night journey back to the clan by eating grass roots and tree bark… Please, Steward, have mercy!”
After hearing Fang Cunsheng’s account, the inner-estate higher-ups in the hall exchanged glances.
Fang Cunsheng’s story was almost identical to the report from the scouts they had sent ahead—the core area of the Blackwind Mountains had indeed been reduced to ruins, with clear traces of a great demon and Foundation Establishment cultivators self-detonating in a vicious battle.
Looking at Fang Cunsheng’s bloodstained body, his dried-out meridians (carefully disguised), and the unmistakable Ninefold Nether Profound Water in his hands, those who had initially been suspicious gradually abandoned their doubts.
A useless fourth-level Qi Condensation servant had survived a battle that destroyed heaven and earth and even brought back spiritual water. Other than luck so absurd it defied Heaven, there was no other explanation. Surely no one would believe that this lowly fourth-level Qi Condensation servant had killed a Core Formation great demon and two Foundation Establishment elders, right?
Li Da glared at Fang Cunsheng. Though he wanted nothing more than to kill this useless survivor with one palm and send him to join his nephew in death, Fang Cunsheng had now brought back the life-saving Ninefold Nether Profound Water and become a hero of the entire clan. If he acted now, the inner estate’s chief steward and the patriarch would be the first to make him pay.
“Good, good! You truly have completed your duty!”
At that moment, an aged voice of praise came from outside the hall.
An old man in a golden robe strode in, his aura unfathomably deep. The moment they saw him, every outer-estate official, including Li Da, turned pale and hurriedly bowed.
“Greetings, Chief Steward Xu!”
The inner estate’s chief steward, Chief Steward Xu, had come in person!
Chief Steward Xu ignored everyone and quickly walked up to Fang Cunsheng. He snatched the bottle of Ninefold Nether Profound Water from him, pulled out the stopper, and sensed it briefly. A look of wild delight immediately appeared on his face.
“Supremely yin and cold—it truly is Ninefold Nether Profound Water! Heaven has not abandoned my Gu Yue clan. Wuxia can be saved!”
Chief Steward Xu threw back his head and laughed. Then he turned around and examined Fang Cunsheng with a pair of cloudy yet hawk-sharp eyes before giving a slight nod.
“Outer-estate servant Fang Cunsheng, you have rendered merit by collecting the water and merit by saving our lord. This steward has always rewarded merit and punished wrongdoing fairly. Convey my edict: effective today, Fang Cunsheng is released from servant status and promoted to an outsider disciple of the inner estate. He is granted an independent cave dwelling, one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and a basic Foundation Establishment cultivation manual!”
Released from servant status and promoted to the inner estate!
The moment this reward was announced, every outer-estate disciple nearby revealed expressions of extreme envy. This was practically a single-step ascent to Heaven, transforming someone from livestock at the very bottom into a true cultivator!
“This humble one thanks Chief Steward Xu for your grace! I’m willing to give my life for the Gu Yue clan!”
Fang Cunsheng kowtowed repeatedly, his face overflowing with gratitude and tears. Yet no one noticed that the corner of his mouth, hidden in the shadows, had curled into a mocking, icy smile.
Gu Yue clan, this young master has already entered the inner estate.
From here on out, we’ll take our time playing this game.