Chapter 54#
With a “clank,” the Chunhua Sword flew back into Xie Zhefeng’s hand once again.
An Wuxue’s expression was slightly dazed.
Inner demons root in the heart, and splitting the soul cannot eradicate them completely, but by doing this, Xie Zhefeng had indeed temporarily removed the turbid qi from his soul and suppressed the inner demon.
However, the pain of splitting the soul is something even the lonely souls of the dead find hard to endure. Xie Zhefeng was actually cruel enough to split his own soul while alive.
This man truly lived up to being the only person in the world today to ascend to immortality through the Path of Emotionlessness.
In his confusion, An Wuxue felt a mixture of complex emotions.
Once the inner demon was suppressed, Xie Zhefeng returned to his cold and indifferent state, where everything in the world seemed beneath his notice.
The man’s previous strangeness was indeed caused by the disturbance of the inner demon.
Only those eyes looking at him still seemed as deep as a pool, covered in a hazy mist.
His junior brother finally withdrew his gaze from him and looked at the blood-stained Chunhua Sword in his hand.
The pain of splitting the soul was too intense; Xie Zhefeng’s hand holding the sword was still trembling slightly.
Qiao Yin and the others were blocked outside the barrier formed by Xie Zhefeng’s spiritual energy, unaware of what had happened on his side. None of the cultivators from the twenty-seventh city or Zhao Duan made a move.
The turbid qi from all directions was gathered here. The immortal cultivators took the opportunity to cut off the surrounding turbid qi. The mortals captured in the mountain peak had already been moved away, and the bodies of demonic cultivators were scattered everywhere. In the vast mountain peak, only this place still had the breath of living people.
As for the woman in extravagant dress, she was a puppet with only a remnant soul. She could manage against those below the Tribulation Transcendence stage, but she couldn’t gain an advantage against those above it, which was why Zhao Duan had never been able to completely break the twenty-seventh city. She was difficult to deal with because she was linked to the sword array; the heavier Xie Zhefeng’s attacks, the more spiritual energy she would draw from the sword array.
As long as Xie Zhefeng didn’t act, the woman couldn’t approach. Held by the dharma seal, she stood there with a dull expression.
He suppressed his inner demon, yet he didn’t attack the woman. Instead, he withdrew the barrier blocking Zhao Duan and the others and, holding Chunhua, walked toward them step by step.
An Wuxue was behind him and didn’t see that once he turned around, only calm killing intent remained in his eyes.
Zhao Duan was about to shout at Xie Zhefeng, but seeing him approach calmly, he only felt the wound on his severed arm ache even more.
He said with feigned toughness, “Wh-what are you going to do? If you kill me, the sword array is finished!”
Qiao Yin shouted, “Fellow Daoist Xie, don’t be impulsive!”
Qiao Ting frowned, “So much talk. Since this Fellow Daoist Xie is at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence stage, just kill Zhao Duan and search his soul.”
Zhao Duan’s cheek twitched, and he said fiercely, “There’s a curse on my soul. Once it’s searched, it will dissolve on its own. You’ll get nothing!”
“I knew it,” Qiao Ting curled his lip. “As if you could perform such a curse. Who on earth is helping you? If no one were helping, you wouldn’t even be able to figure out the method for cultivating turbid qi.”
“Bah! I alone can make you all bow down and fall apart!”
Qiao Ting was completely unwilling to admit defeat and opened his mouth to retort again, but Xie Zhefeng stopped in his tracks.
In the next moment—
The Chunhua Sword cried out, the sharp blade imbued with spiritual energy from the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence stage. With the sound of breaking wind, it rushed toward Zhao Duan’s chest!
This strike was too fast and too clean; Zhao Duan had no time to dodge. In a panic, he formed a dharma seal, gathering all his spiritual energy in front of him to block.
But the spirit sword showed no intention of stopping. Xie Zhefeng pressed his fingers down, injecting more spiritual energy. The tip of the sword seemed to pierce through the dharma seal without any effort, stabbing into Zhao Duan’s chest!!!
Zhao Duan cried out in pain as his entire body was thrown back by the sword qi.
In an instant, when everyone realized what happened, Chunhua had already pierced through Zhao Duan’s chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.
Spiritual energy climbed out from Chunhua, transforming into chains that covered Zhao Duan’s entire body.
Zhao Duan was unable to move, blood spurting from his mouth, his face and neck covered in bright red.
He cried out in pain again and roared, “Are you crazy!? Do you not care about the Beiming Sword Array?”
An Wuxue also hadn’t expected Xie Zhefeng’s move to be so swift. He hurried forward, “Fellow Daoist Xie…”
Xie Zhefeng’s expression softened slightly, but he didn’t withdraw his sword.
He explained to An Wuxue, “Soul searching is not the only way to know the memories of a soul.”
If not soul searching, then…
An Wuxue’s gaze moved toward the spiritual pouch at Xie Zhefeng’s waist.
That pouch was specifically used by Xie Zhefeng to store the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit; it had even been in his hands for a while.
“Are you going to kill him and use the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit to illuminate his life before and after death?”
“What? You dare kill me? What Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit—”
But Xie Zhefeng shook his head. “That won’t illuminate complete memories.”
An Wuxue thought the same.
If it were just before and after death, they might kill Zhao Duan and only see the moment they killed him, gaining no information, let alone anything about the array core.
Qiao Ting was slightly surprised. “The Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit is a spiritual item of heaven and earth. It’s said the Soul-Nourishing Tree is planted in the Immortal’s cave dwelling at Luoyue Peak. How can it be in your hands?”
Xie Zhefeng ignored him, only saying to An Wuxue, “Besides illuminating life before and after death, the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit can also distinguish resentment. As long as there is a portion of resentment, it can read what’s within it. If we kill him, there will only be one portion of resentment after death, which naturally won’t reveal much. But if the resentment is formed from the soul, and there are thousands upon thousands of portions…”
Then, when pieced together, it could probably allow them to see Zhao Duan’s entire life, just like soul searching.
Zhao Duan was utterly panicked. “What do you mean? Let go of me! Even if you kill me, I won’t have any resentment, and then you’ll have nothing!!”
Qiao Ting said in shock, “You even hold a grudge over a single word; how could you not have resentment after being killed? You shouldn’t make up such lies.”
“You—AH!!!!!!!”
Zhao Duan suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Yet Chunhua was still stuck in his chest, its spiritual energy pinning him firmly to the ground.
Xie Zhefeng sent out a cold sword light with his fingers, actually driving the light into Zhao Duan’s brow and slicing off a piece of his soul!
—It was no different from what Xie Zhefeng had just done to himself.
But faced with the pain of splitting the soul, even Xie Zhefeng had been pale and trembling for quite a while, let alone Zhao Duan!
Zhao Duan’s blood-covered face was twisted, his expression distorted. His screams were constant, his eyes wide, and his pupils shaking.
He was clearly in extreme pain.
With just this one move, after his scream came groans of pain, and he said in terror, “I… ah! I’ll tell you, ah…”
The immortal cultivators of the twenty-seventh city hadn’t expected Xie Zhefeng’s strike to be so cruel. Their expressions all changed, and they didn’t dare to speak.
Qiao Yin opened her mouth, but in the end, she only turned her face away.
But Xie Zhefeng didn’t stop.
He moved his fingers again, and the cold sword light once more fell into Zhao Duan’s brow.
“AH—!!!!”
“I’ll talk, I’ll tell you—!!!!”
“Help…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
“Stop, quick, stop—AAAAAAAAH!!!”
“…”
No one knew how much time had passed.
To An Wuxue and the others, it was only a few moments, but for Zhao Duan, it was a constant torment.
Qiao Yin, Qiao Ting, and the others stared until their eyes were dry and aching, only then realizing they had been holding their breath for a long time, not even daring to blink.
Xie Zhefeng’s expression hadn’t changed, his black eyes cold and indifferent, without a ripple.
An Wuxue had shattered people’s souls before.
Back then, when Nan He fell and Luoyue was in danger, and the Tribulation Transcendence stage became the highest peak of the two realms, he had also shattered the souls of petty individuals to make an example and establish his authority.
But he would either just cut out a piece of the opponent’s soul or directly shatter the enemy’s soul; that alone was enough to deter opponents.
He had never done something as cruel as this “death by a thousand cuts.”
Even he was taken aback, let alone the others.
Amidst Zhao Duan’s screams and pleas for mercy, there was absolute silence all around; even the sound of the wind was drowned out by the hoarse screams.
By the end, Zhao Duan couldn’t even shout anymore.
Countless pieces of his soul had scattered. Xie Zhefeng looked back at An Wuxue.
“The Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit is in the spiritual pouch at my waist. Could you help me take it out and use it?”
The last time this man had asked him to take the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit, it was in an irreproachable commanding tone. Just now, he had been unblinkingly crushing pieces of Zhao Duan’s soul, yet now he had suddenly adopted an exceptionally polite tone.
An Wuxue felt a bit dazed and stepped forward blankly, reaching out for the spiritual pouch at Xie Zhefeng’s waist.
Getting closer, the scent of blood and the cold breath of Immortal Chu Han surrounded him. His brow furrowed, and he hurriedly took off the pouch and stepped back, taking out the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit from it.
Zhao Duan’s pupils were now dilated, his gaze blind and extremely dim. The blood that had previously covered his face and neck had long since dried, and Chunhua was still stuck in his chest.
An Wuxue stepped forward, then paused.
“Does Fellow Daoist Xie not want to do it himself?” The last time, this man hadn’t touched the Soul-Nourishing Tree either.
What was this? Was he getting used to letting him do the work?
“I… find it inconvenient to use.”
The same excuse again.
An Wuxue didn’t want to waste energy thinking about the man’s motives. Holding the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit, which emitted a faint golden light, he brought it close to Zhao Duan’s brow.
The moment it got close, an overwhelming resentment, darker than the turbid qi, surged from Zhao Duan’s brow!
It was the resentment emitted by every single piece of his soul under the pain of being split!
Within the black qi, Xie Zhefeng silently formed a seal behind An Wuxue, protecting him from being disturbed by the resentment.
Xie Zhefeng suddenly remembered that in the Cloud Sword illusion, the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit had been in his Senior Brother’s hand for quite a while.
At that time, he had tried the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit as if by some strange impulse, but he had dismissed his doubts because the tree spirit hadn’t reacted.
Looking back, he had been truly foolish then.
Since Su Xue’s shell held his Senior Brother’s soul, he naturally knew many things from ancient books and knew that the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit would only work once.
Whether his Senior Brother was “accidentally” pushed into the illusion or had used the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit in advance, all those efforts were to hide from him.
Amidst the intersection of black qi and golden light, he spoke, his voice hoarse: “When we were at the Cloud Sword Sect, I actually tried you with the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit.”
An Wuxue’s expression froze.
Xie Zhefeng saw with his own eyes that his Senior Brother’s gaze instantly became wary, his tone hesitant: “What is the Immortal talking about…?”
It was clearly Zhao Duan’s chest that the Chunhua Sword had pierced, yet Xie Zhefeng felt the pain.
He said in a low voice: “Sometimes you are too alert and clever, which was why I had suspicions. Actually, the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit had no reaction to you. During this time, it was me who was lost in a delusion under the influence of the inner demon.”
His Senior Brother seemed to be stunned for a moment.
“The inner demon has been temporarily suppressed,” he said. “I will not… see you as Senior Brother now. My apologies for everything before.”
Since his Senior Brother didn’t want to reveal his identity, what if he heard the bell?
He didn’t dare to recognize him.
Against the light, he saw a momentary flash of relief and relaxation on his Senior Brother’s face.
“The Immortal must be joking. With the Immortal’s status, it’s only right to suspect and test me. After my several offenses, I should be grateful that the Immortal doesn’t kill me.”
As soon as An Wuxue finished speaking, the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit in his hand shone with a brilliant light!
Under the brilliant light, he didn’t see his junior brother’s eyes turn red for a moment.
Zhao Duan stared with wide eyes, and the chest that had been heaving just now became completely still at this moment.
Qiao Ting had been holding his sword nearby for a long time. At this moment, he finally snapped out of it and instinctively reached forward to stop him: “Wait, does the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit see everything—”
The golden light enveloped the resentment.
In an instant, a long memory poured into the golden light of the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit and, under the illumination of the golden light, entered the souls of everyone present.
Since An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng were close, they entered the same past illusion woven from memories.
Everything before them began to flow.
When Qiao Ting and Zhao Duan were fighting, An Wuxue had also heard many messy things, and he could guess the general relationship between Zhao Duan and the City Lord’s Mansion.
Sure enough, in Zhao Duan’s memories, the name with the highest presence was Qiao Ting.