At these words, Song Guyang’s gaze turned extremely cold.
Those pale tea-colored pupils seemed to freeze over, carrying a chilling wind and frost.
For some reason, Xu Yuanhong felt a trace of fear.
Yet a thought immediately occurred to him.
Although the medical expert of the rivers and lakes was unreliable, his poisons did possess unique properties. Song Guyang might look normal, but his martial arts surely had not recovered.
Having even thirty percent left would already be pushing it.
Thirty percent of his peak strength? What could he possibly hope to accomplish with that?!
He was probably no better than some random junior in the martial world.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuanhong’s expression relaxed slightly.
Song Guyang spoke in an icy tone, “Why I killed the senior eldest disciple of the Profound Moon Sect is something you and I know very well in our hearts. That senior eldest disciple killed the protector of my sect, and my choice not to have the entire Profound Moon Sect buried along with him was already the utmost manifestation of mercy.”
“Four months ago, Xu Yuanhong drugged the wine, stripping me of all my martial arts and leaving my memory fragmented. When Xu Yuanhong demanded the mental manual of the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique and I refused, he subjected me to severe torture. Every single one of these matters is known to the inner disciples of the Profound Moon Sect.”
“Cut the crap, Song Guyang! You are making false accusations!” Xu Yuanhong seemed utterly infuriated, his eyes widening to the size of copper bells while his expression turned dark and terrifyingly grim.
Song Guyang paid him no mind, simply saying in a calm voice, “Xu Yuanhong, the reason you desired the mental manual of the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique is because the Profound Moon Sword Technique possesses flaws. Yet the Sun-Abundant and Profound Moon styles clearly originate from the same roots; the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique is marvelous and perfectly integrated, whereas the Profound Moon Sword Technique is scattered and fragmented as if broken apart. Xu Yuanhong, do you know why this is?”
Xu Yuanhong fell abruptly silent. He stared fixedly at Song Guyang with a stubborn, gloomy gaze, and after a long moment, he rasped out, “Why is that?”
Why?
Despite both being major sword sects, the Sun-Abundant Sword Sect sat at the pinnacle, while the Profound Moon Sword Sect was forever relegated to a lower tier!
Clearly, the two sword techniques shared the same origins, so why was the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique profound and exquisite, while the Profound Moon Sword Technique had flaws everywhere?!
Xu Yuanhong was unwilling to accept this.
He hated it so much!
For all these years, he had been searching for a solution.
The greatest difference between the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique and the Profound Moon Sword Technique lay in the mental manual. The Sun-Abundant Sword Technique possessed a unique mental manual, whereas the Profound Moon Sword Technique did not.
The Profound Moon Sword Technique was gentle yet contained rigidity, but it was also overwhelmingly tyrannical. Lacking a mental manual to complement and assist it, practitioners would inevitably suffer deviations in their cultivation, using blood and human lives to vent their inner turmoil.
This was what Xu Yuanhong had deduced, and everything he had done prior was for the sake of obtaining the mental manual of the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique.
At this moment, hearing Song Guyang take the initiative to mention the reason, Xu Yuanhong could not help widening his eyes, locking his gaze firmly onto Song Guyang.
Song Guyang did not disappoint, slowly explaining the cause.
The founding grandmaster of the Sun-Abundant Sect and the founding grandmaster of the Profound Moon Sect were once a pair of deeply devoted lovers. However, around the time of their engagement, the founding grandmaster of the Profound Moon Sect was blinded by greed and stole the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique from the Sun-Abundant Sect’s grandmaster.
That founding grandmaster of the Profound Moon Sect was a woman of the rivers and lakes.
The Sun-Abundant Sword Technique gathered the pure energy of the nine yangs, making it better suited for men. To adapt it to her own use, the woman discarded the mental manual and modified the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique, thereby creating the Profound Moon Sword Technique.
As a result, the Profound Moon Sword Technique was both gentle and rigid, neither fish nor fowl.
Practitioners would suffer cultivation deviations at best, and bleed from all seven orifices to their deaths at worst.
So that was how it was…
Xu Yuanhong burst into wild laughter.
The sword technique of their Profound Moon Sect was actually the product of theft from the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique!! How could anyone not be enraged by this?!!
“Song Guyang, do you have a method to resolve the flaws of the Profound Moon Sword Technique?” Xu Yuanhong asked.
“I do not,” Song Guyang replied.
Liar!
Song Guyang was a liar!!
Clearly, all he had to do was hand over the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique to resolve the flaws of the Profound Moon Sword Technique!
Such a simple matter, why would Song Guyang refuse to hand it over?!!
He was nothing more than a selfish and deceitful hypocrite.
It mattered not.
Once Song Guyang was killed, he could simply search for it slowly afterward.
Xu Yuanhong’s gaze shifted to the hundreds of martial heroes gathered beneath the stage.
Perhaps he should just kill all these people first, and then frame Song Guyang for it? They were nothing more than stray cats and dogs, padding the numbers, and it mattered little if they died.
Thinking along these lines, Xu Yuanhong drew his sword from its scabbard, pointing its tip directly at the vital point of a young saber-wielding warrior standing nearby!
Lu Fenghuo: What?
Are you out of your mind?!
Why are you attacking me?!
Song Guyang reacted with extreme speed. Amidst the fluttering of his pristine white sleeves, a sandalwood folding fan intercepted Xu Yuanhong’s sword tip.
“Xu Yuanhong, your opponent is me.”
Xu Yuanhong laughed heartily. “Very well, then I shall kill you first, and then slaughter the rest.”
The moment those words left Xu Yuanhong’s lips, countless Profound Moon Sect disciples emerged from every corner of the venue. Clad in dark blue robes and wearing stern, cold expressions, they brandished their sharp swords, aiming them at the numerous martial heroes in the center of the arena.
“Has Xu Yuanhong truly gone mad?!” someone shouted.
“Xu Yuanhong failed to imprison Sect Master Song, and now that we have discovered this matter, he is undoubtedly trying to silence us to cover his tracks!!”
“What a ruthless and vicious scoundrel! On the day Elder Jiang washed his hands in a golden basin, I already felt this fellow was quite bizarre! He spares not even an infant barely a full month old, making his mindset malicious in the extreme!”
“Xu Yuanhong, do you truly believe there is no justice left in the martial world?! How can you be so lawless and trample upon human ethics and regular order?!!”
“Ethics and regular order? Hahaha, what kind of nonsense is that?” Xu Yuanhong laughed mockingly.
Paying no heed to Xu Yuanhong’s madness, Song Guyang drew his sword and said calmly, “Xu Yuanhong, since you so desperately desire the Sun-Abundant Sword Technique, this lord shall use it to deal with you. The Sun-Abundant Sword Technique has a total of nine forms, and to kill you, the third form will suffice.”
The moment his voice fell, his sharp sword swept forward carrying the momentum of a thousand jun, unleashing an instantaneous surge of overwhelming power! Everyone present felt a wave of sword Qi sweeping across the arena, involuntarily taking half a step back.
Xu Yuanhong bore the brunt of the attack, his entire body already slashed open with numerous jagged wounds by the sword Qi, dripping with blood and exposing bone! Copious amounts of blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were completely bloodshot!
He was going to die!
He was going to die!
Xu Yuanhong’s pupils constricted violently, filled entirely with terror!
Didn’t Song Guyang only have thirty percent of his internal energy? Why was he still so unfathomably profound?!!
Had the medical expert of the rivers and lakes lied to him?!
No, that was impossible.
For some reason, Xu Yuanhong suddenly recalled the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s ranking for Song Guyang.
Ranked first on the Mystic Ledger.
No one knew his true martial prowess.
Not even the pavilion elders.
With the tip of the sword resting a mere three inches from the bridge of his nose, a figure suddenly rushed onto the stage, desperately knocking Song Guyang’s sharp blade off course before grabbing Xu Yuanhong and fleeing at breakneck speed!
The newcomer wore white robes with a pale, misty bamboo hat veiling their face, making it impossible to discern their appearance or build.
This person had appeared before!
Lu Fenghuo lowered the tea pastry in his hand, fixing his gaze upon the mysterious person in white.
On the day of Elder Jiang’s golden basin hand-washing ceremony, this person had also appeared! If not for them, back when Lu Fenghuo was trading blows with Xu Yuanhong, Xu Yuanhong could never have escaped unscathed!
How bothersome!
Lu Fenghuo brushed the dessert crumbs off the corner of his robe, stood up to pursue the two figures, and intercepted Xu Yuanhong, tossing him right back in front of Song Guyang.
The crowd had been feeling a tightness in their chests, but upon seeing someone step forward to intervene, they let out collective sighs of relief.
Taking a closer look.
Crimson robes, an utterly ordinary appearance, and a haughty, unbridled smile.
Lu Fenghuo!
It is you again?!
Xu Yuanhong was thrown right back before Song Guyang.
Seizing the opportunity, Song Guyang delivered a fatal strike, slicing straight through his throat.
Seeing that the situation was lost, the mysterious person in white turned to flee. However, just as they channeled their internal energy and took a step or two, a blood-stained sharp sword came hurtling fiercely through the air.
It drove straight into the back of the mysterious person in white, pinning them firmly against the bluestone pavement.
Before long, the mysterious person in white fell silent, breathing their last breath.
The venue plunged into absolute stillness.
A moment later, gasps of astonishment echoed through the air.
“Exalted Lord’s sword technique is truly transcendent, living up to his reputation as the top ranker on the Mystic Ledger. Perhaps no one in this entire martial world can surpass the Exalted Lord’s swordsmanship now, right?”
“That goes without saying.”
“The Exalted Lord had only just finished dealing with Xu Yuanhong when he sensed that the mysterious person in white was about to escape. It was already too late, yet without even turning his head, the Exalted Lord directly hurled the sword in his hand! Did I see that correctly? When the Exalted Lord threw the sword, he truly did not look back, did he?!”
“Yes, you saw correctly.”
“The Exalted Lord threw the sword with his back turned.”
“That sword technique—gasp! As expected of the Exalted Lord! Terrifying to this degree!”
Lu Fenghuo walked over to the mysterious person in white and casually lifted the bamboo hat.
Beneath the veil, a refined and scholarly face was exposed.
This face was not unfamiliar; Lu Fenghuo had looked at it for two years.
It was none other than the second master of Dragon Chant Stronghold!
Lu Fenghuo felt a slight surge of surprise.
When on earth had the second master gotten mixed up with Xu Yuanhong? If memory served correctly, not long ago, the second master had even detained Xu Ziwei in an attempt to extort a ransom from the Profound Moon Sect??
Yet now, the second master had come to rescue Xu Yuanhong?
Wait, that was not right.
Lu Fenghuo carefully recalled all the clues he had gathered recently.
Half a year ago, Xu Yuanhong expelled Xu Ziwei from the Profound Moon Sect, letting him wander the rivers and lakes alone.
Four months ago, Song Guyang was poisoned and imprisoned in the Profound Moon Sect dungeon.
Half a month ago, Xu Ziwei was captured by Dragon Chant Stronghold, and the second master detained him.
The second master mysteriously vanished from Dragon Chant Stronghold.
Now, the Famous Sword Tournament of the two major sword sects was taking place.
No matter how one looked at it, something was amiss.
Let us venture a bold hypothesis.
When Xu Yuanhong expelled Xu Ziwei from the Profound Moon Sect half a year ago, it was actually a disguised form of protection. Xu Yuanhong must have begun planning to poison Song Guyang around that time. Unsure of the outcome, he sent Xu Ziwei out to wander the martial world.
The plan succeeded.
Song Guyang was imprisoned.
However, Song Guyang was rescued by his subordinate.
Xu Yuanhong issued a kill order.
Xu Ziwei was captured by Dragon Chant Stronghold.
Dragon Chant Stronghold was a tiny, dilapidated stronghold in the mountains; Xu Yuanhong could easily have sent word to have Xu Ziwei released directly. However, with the Famous Sword Tournament of the two major sword sects approaching, Xu Yuanhong feared Song Guyang might appear or that other complications might arise, so he let the matter rest.
Xu Yuanhong and the second master discussed the plan and staged a good show together.
Detaining Xu Ziwei.
Ensuring Xu Ziwei’s safety.
The Elder Jiang golden basin hand-washing ceremony.
Elder Jiang and Xu Yuanhong had been close friends for many years, meaning Elder Jiang definitely possessed dirt on Xu Yuanhong, such as the Zhu family massacre.
The Profound Moon Sword Technique practiced by Xu Yuanhong had reached such a high level that it would inevitably trigger cultivation deviations. Thus, the three hundred odd members of the Zhu family were actually slaughtered by Xu Yuanhong, while Elder Jiang at most delivered a few extra finishing blows to clean up the mess.
Because of this, on the day of Elder Jiang’s golden basin hand-washing ceremony, that young girl from the Zhu family had behaved so abnormally.
Xu Yuanhong used the Zhu family massacre to try and drive Elder Jiang to his death. Fearing complications midway, he invited the second master down the mountain.
The second master disappeared from Dragon Chant Stronghold.
Lu Fenghuo and Fu Yunming joined forces to wipe out Dragon Chant Stronghold.
At Elder Jiang’s golden basin hand-washing ceremony, Lu Fenghuo fought Xu Yuanhong, and Xu Yuanhong proved no match for him. The second master disguised himself as the mysterious person and snatched Xu Yuanhong away from Lu Fenghuo.
At the Famous Sword Tournament, Song Guyang appeared.
Song Guyang challenged Xu Yuanhong to a duel.
Xu Yuanhong was defeated by Song Guyang. The second master once again disguised himself as the mysterious person, attempting to rescue Xu Yuanhong, but failed, ending up killed in counter-attack by Song Guyang.
Thus, everything fell into place smoothly.
Viewed in this light, the second master and Xu Yuanhong must have known each other.
Tsk, birds of a feather flock together.
Lu Fenghuo reached out and felt around the second master’s waist. Sure enough, his fingers brushed against a square, cold, and hard object.
Pulling it out for inspection.
The token was pitch-black, gleaming with an eerie luster under the moonlight. Engraved upon the token were intricate rose patterns, with the prominent character “Jue” right in the center.
Lu Jue…
Which short-sighted idiot had gone and established that Heartless Temple anyway?! Running around scamming people and committing all sorts of evil deeds, while actually using someone else’s moniker?! They had completely thrown away their shame!!
Do not let him catch the mastermind behind the scenes.
Otherwise, they would surely pay for it!
Lu Fenghuo tucked the token into his sleeve.
At that exact moment, a Profound Moon Sect disciple scrambled up onto the terrace.
The disciple walked unsteadily, stumbling as he came forward, looking somewhat abnormal.
“Who is this person?”
“It looks like Xu Yuanhong’s only son, Xu Ziwei.”
Xu Ziwei knelt upon the ground, his eye rims reddened and his expression somewhat dazed.
Before him lay his father’s corpse.
A dark blue robe, a father who was still warm.
Even if his father was heinous and guilty of monstrous crimes.
He was still his father.
A father who had never let him suffer a single hardship.
The discussions among the crowd gradually grew louder.
“Xu Ziwei is Xu Yuanhong’s only son. At this very moment, Xu Ziwei has witnessed his father die a miserable death right before his eyes; who can guarantee that he will not harbor resentment in his heart?! Furthermore, Xu Ziwei is the young master of the Profound Moon Sect, meaning he has surely practiced the Profound Moon Sword Technique! Who knows whether he might suffer a cultivation deviation in the future?!”
“Do you all truly wish to see another Xu Yuanhong emerge twenty years from now?! In my view, Xu Yuanhong committed monstrous crimes, and killing his only son is hardly excessive. Since Xu Yuanhong dared to commit such actions that incurred the wrath of both gods and men, he should have anticipated this day would come!”
“When Xu Yuanhong murdered Elder Jiang’s wife and child, he showed no mercy whatsoever. Now the tides have turned, and this is retribution!”
“The Exalted Lord would do best to kill him right now, lest he leave behind future troubles.”
Xu Ziwei raised his head in a daze, only then realizing his current plight. He glanced at Song Guyang, his eye rims still red. “Are you going to kill me?”
Song Guyang lowered his gaze to look at him, his refined features devoid of any particular emotion, yet his articulation was crystal clear. “Sins do not extend to the offspring.”
This meant he was not going to kill him.
Xu Ziwei could not quite name what emotion he was feeling.
Relief, secret joy?
Or perhaps terror and overwhelming grief?
He could no longer tell.
He only felt an urge to kill Song Guyang, to hack him into ten thousand pieces and grind his bones to ash!! Yet at the same time, he felt a fanatical reverence for Song Guyang, wanting to place him on the pedestal of a deity and weep bitterly at his feet!!!
He truly was a madman, just like Xu Yuanhong.
Song Guyang.
Why did you not simply kill me?
The night was as deep as water.
The martial heroes of the Old Street had all dispersed.
Unnoticed by anyone, inside a dark alley, a single figure lay in a wretched heap sprawled across the bluestone pavement. The white robes upon his body were soaked through with blood, and the bamboo hat in his hand was stained with copious amounts of bright red blood.
It was none other than the second master of Dragon Chant Stronghold!
Moonlight spilled down upon him.
Faintly, one could see his entire body rotting away, while fresh flesh continually regenerated underneath. The fatal wound on his back had already healed, yet rotting flesh kept falling off in chunks.
The flesh on his face sloughed off in large quantities, causing the human skin mask to peel away entirely.
Revealing an exceedingly gorgeous visage underneath.
His skin presented a newborn pink-white tone, paired with long phoenix eyes, the outer corners of his eyes and thin lips tinged with a reddish-orange hue. Under the cold moonlight, his long eyelashes cast soft shadows across his eyelids.
Strikingly vibrant yet decadent.
A small black mole sat right at the tip of his nose.
Had Lu Fenghuo been present, he would undoubtedly have recognized his true identity.
This person was none other than the renowned medical expert of the rivers and lakes, Zhaifu Ying!
Zhaifu Ying lowered his long eyelashes, his expression brimming with deep, festering malice.
That idiot Xu Yuanhong.
He had provided him with the poison, and even personally descended the mountain to assist.
Yet he still managed to fail under those circumstances.
Truly more than enough to ruin things, with nothing to spare!
Pained to the absolute extreme, Zhaifu Ying let out a suppressed, strained groan from his throat and lips.
He could not help gnashing his teeth in hatred!
“Song Guyang, Lu Fenghuo. I will definitely make you pay the price!”
“I will make you regret everything you did today!”
“I will make your lives worse than death!!”
“Just wait and see! You will soon realize how much of a luxury death truly is!!”
Seemingly recalling some pleasant scene, Zhaifu Ying chuckled lowly.