The swordsman floated in midair with a relaxed look on his face, seeming to have been waiting for a long time. Faint wisps of energy swirled around him, and he was wreathed in an unspeakable, bizarre aura. Meanwhile, the sword behind his back glowed with a faint red light.
Even if this group of black-clad cultivators had not seen much of the world, they could still recognize the aura of an expert. As a result, the ink-colored dragon chariot was forced to stop.
One of the cultivators flew out of the ranks and asked politely, “May I know my lord’s name and the reason for blocking our way?”
The swordsman slowly turned around. His sharp-featured face was smiling, but there was a strange feeling in that smile, vague and hard to explain. With his arms crossed, he spoke like a gentleman, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, so it is a misunderstanding. Alright, then,” the cultivator cupped his fist and said, “Farewell.”
Unfortunately, the swordsman did not get out of the way. He still wore the same smile while looking at the chariot and the group of cultivators.
“I’m sorry.” He said the second time, and the atmosphere grew bizarre.
Then, the black-clad cultivators saw the sword on his back float up as streams of energy flowed out of his body to surround the blade. At the sight of it, the cultivator who flew out to speak widened his eyes and cried out, “Sword Devil? Abandon the chariot and run for your life!”
The black-clad cultivators moved as fast as lightning in all directions. However, the sword glowing with a faint red light split into two, four, and then eight, each shooting toward one cultivator.
A rain of swords pierced the group of cultivators as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. The swordsman still wore the same smile and crossed his arms over his chest. After his sword left him, he had stopped looking at those cultivators.
“I’m sorry.”
He said the third time. After that, his figure swayed and disappeared.
Meanwhile, in the great hall of Evil Sky Pavilion…
When he saw that his master seemed to be thinking about something, Mingshi Yin bowed and said, “Master, the cultivators of Fiend Temple have retreated. What should we do with the group of female cultivators from Derived Moon Palace?”
He was unsure of his master’s thinking now.
If it were in the past, the punishment would be death, because their leader, Ye Tianxin, had deserted the sect and betrayed the master.
Anyhow, Lu Zhou did not answer his question immediately but turned to look at Little Yuan’er.
The little girl was innocent and simple, but she would come out with dangerous thoughts at times. So, he wanted to test her. “What do you think we should do to them, Yuan’er?”
“Ah?” For a moment, Little Yuan’er was at a loss, and then she said in a low voice, “Why don’t we just kill them all?”
“Cough! Cough!” Mingshi Yin coughed and glanced guiltily at his little junior sister.
Lu Zhou shook his head and tapped her on the head with his hand.
“I know, Master…I’ll set them free now,” said Little Yuan’er while smiling.
“When did I say I would let them go?”
“Ugh…”
At this point, Mingshi Yin cupped his fist and said, “Master, recently I have found that many parts in Evil Sky Pavilion have broken down, and many places need to be cleaned up and fixed as well. Why don’t we make them slaves and work for us?”
Lu Zhou glanced at him and considered the idea. ‘What’s on this guy’s mind? He makes it sound as if I am the black-hearted supervisor in an illegal factory instead of his master. However…it is actually a good idea.’
“Fine! Make them repair the Evil Sky Pavilion. When they are done, put them in the Cave of Reflection, so they will suffer together with Ye Tianxin,” Lu Zhou said.
“This disciple will obey Master’s order.”
As if he had thought of something, Mingshi Yin summoned his courage and asked, “Master, now that we have decided the punishment for the whole Derived Moon Palace, do you think that we should…Well, Ye Tianxin’s cultivation base is destroyed, and the Cave of Reflection is cold. I’m worried that she might die after being locked up in there for too long…”
Lu Zhou raised a hand and interrupted him. “Do you sympathize with her?”
“No, I dare not!” Mingshi Yin got scared. “Ye Tianxin must be sternly punished for deserting the sect and betraying Master! She deserves it!”
“I have my plans.”
“I understand, Master.”
Mingshi Yin dared not to mention anything about Ye Tianxin again as he turned and left the great hall. After walking out of Evil Sky Pavilion, he took a deep breath and thought, ‘Luckily, it was Little Junior Sister who answered the question…Master’s thinking is getting harder to predict now.’ When he thought of Zuo Xinchan’s miserable ending, he shook his head and decided that he would not be so aggressive in the future.
…
“Master, I’ll take my leave now to heal my injury,” said Duanmu Sheng, after he saw Mingshi Yin walk out the great hall.
“Hold on!”
Lu Zhou slowly rose to his feet and came in front of Duanmu Sheng as he rested his eyes on the chain.
Made of a thousand years old cold iron, the chain was impossible to be destroyed by ordinary weapons. It could only be broken with heaven-grade weapons. However, Lu Zhou did not have a heaven-grade weapon he could use now, and he only had two deadly strike cards.
The question was, could the cards be used on the chain? Would it pulverize Duanmu Sheng together?
Duanmu Sheng was overjoyed when he saw his master focus on the chain. He bowed and said, “Master, under your mighty power, this chain is like a pile of scrap metal or a sheet of paper!”
“…”
Little Yuan’er hopped over and touched the cold chain with her hand. She saw a row of tiny characters, and she read, “Heavenly Sword Sect…”
Upon hearing that, Zhou Jifeng hurriedly fell on one knee and said, “This…This… This has nothing to do with me!”
Duanmu Sheng glanced at him and said, “Don’t worry, Master can effortlessly destroy ten or even a hundred chains like this, let alone just one.”
“…”
When he was done looking at the chain, Lu Zhou wore the same calm expression that hid all his thoughts. Then, he clasped his hands behind his back as he turned around and said, “Yuan’er, help me back to my chamber.”
“Oh!”
Duanmu Sheng, “???”
Even after Lu Zhou and Little Yuan’er were long gone, Duanmu Sheng still could not figure out what he had said wrong.
Zhou Jifeng got up to his feet and said somewhat embarrassingly, “Mister Third…This…this chain, I really can’t break it!”
“Me neither,” Pan Zhong said.
“Get out of my sight.”
“Aye.”
Both men scurried out of Evil Sky Pavilion.
Duanmu Sheng scratched his head. He wondered if his master was trying to give him some hints after watching him block many of Zuo Xinchan’s blows with the chain just now? Or was he trying to tell him that wearing the chain was beneficial for his cultivation base?
Master is a man of great wisdom, I’d better stop guessing his thoughts,’ he thought. ‘Yes, that must be it. Well, I’ll just wear the chain for the time being.’
In the great hall of the Fiend Temple…
“My lord, Deputy Chief was killed during his visit to Golden Court Mountain. Our men found his ink-colored dragon chariot some eighty miles north from the mountain, together with one hundred and fifty bodies, who were his men.” The man thought the chief would fly into a rage after hearing the report, but the latter did not. “Deputy Chief had struck a deal with Clarity Sect for this operation of suppressing Golden Court Mountain, and he was even backed by His Majesty. And yet, that old villain…”
“Shut up!” The chief’s deep voice exploded in the man’s ear like thunder, making him slump to the ground with fear and turning his face pale.
“Please calm down, my lord!”
“Inform those old men in the Clarity Sect that I will not get angry because of this and will not take it to heart. The cooperation between Fiend Temple and Clarity Sect will remain the same. However, I hope they can show us some sincerity.”
“Ye-yes…my lord. Th-there’s one more report…”
“Tell me.”
“Two experts of the Clarity Sect were badly wounded in a practice fight with Sword Freak yesterday. I’m afraid that…they can’t meet my lord today!”
“Get out of here!”
His thunderous voice sent the man running out of the great hall in panic and fear while cracking the chairs placed to his left and right.
“When I have completed my cultivation of the divine technique, I’ll kill that old villain myself!”