***
In the early stages of the Great Reform, demonic cultivators still acted as they pleased, slaughtering entire cities at every turn.
However, as cultivation methods were disseminated throughout the world, there were often individuals who managed to survive by a stroke of luck when demonic practitioners slaughtered living beings to refine their techniques.
Among them, there was one person who not only entered a sect but also became a disciple of an immortal sect's founding ancestor; after his cultivation reached success, he would kill any demonic practitioner he encountered.
Many descendants of the old demonic heads were killed and their elders wished for revenge, but that immortal sect ancestor was extremely protective of his own, personally taking action and causing heads to roll in great numbers.
The ancestors within the demonic path possessed solitary and egoistic temperaments; when some unrelated demonic cultivators were killed, they simply let them be dead, as it was merely their own misfortune.
This also led to the gradual decline of the demonic path, as many of their magical artifacts required the refinement of living souls or the use of living beings as sacrifices.
To improve this situation, some old demonic heads within the demonic path gathered together and utilized the cloning technology mentioned by Saint Emperor Yuan, combined with the use of illusion realms for accelerated growth, and they actually managed to create divine souls in large batches.
Although this act was likewise not tolerated by the people of the world, the number of people who targeted them for it was, after all, significantly reduced.
From that point onward, the demonic path finally began to slowly recover its strength.
"Alas—what the Perfected One said is correct; I truly cannot be considered any kind of formidable demonic cultivator."
The young man let out a light sigh.
"Therefore, I can only resort to this inferior tactic."
Although simulated divine souls were convenient, they were incredibly expensive.
Even if he were to sell himself, he would not be able to afford a single simulated divine soul with a quality comparable to that of Perfected One Xiao Ning.
Alas—it was truly difficult to be a demonic cultivator in this day and age.
He shook the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in his hand once more.
"I ask the Perfected One to set out on his final journey."
Clear light cascaded down like a waterfall, and those banner ghosts with majestic countenances who resembled gods spoke in unison, producing ten thousand streaks of rosy light.
Perfected One Xiao Ning was startled, and his dark red faceplate immediately covered his entire head, yet it did not possess the slightest effect as the sounds of Sanskrit chanting and Zen singing rang out in his ears.
The other party's cultivation was already higher than his own, and with the enhancement of the Soul-Aweing Array combined with the loss of the initiative, boundless fatigue surged from the depths of his divine soul in just an instant, making him want nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep until the end of time.
In a single exchange, Perfected One Xiao Ning of the Void Returning Stage was about to be captured!
It looked as though his divine soul was about to be drawn into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to serve as a miserable laborer for the rest of his life.
"Do not sleep!"
The roar was like thunder, causing ripples to rise within the clear light that filled the sky.
The sky seemed to be ignited in an instant as an incomparably majestic blood-qi kicked up a scorching heat wave, and a blood-red light pierced through the clear light of the heavens like a blood-colored spear thrusting toward the sky.
The young man who was busy dealing with Perfected One Xiao Ning raised an eyebrow, and while stepping to the side to avoid the attack, he swung his left hand and gave a light pat.
Thud!
The blood-red light collapsed, revealing a nearly three-meter-tall burly man with knotted muscles who had his arms crossed, blocking the young man's path.
He was a body cultivator, and a body cultivator at the Void Returning Stage at that!
"Is that not Old Jiang?!"
The students at Xuanjian City's Third High School quickly recognized the identity of that body cultivator.
However, even more people remained in a state of bewilderment.
"Old Jiang? Who is Old Jiang? Does our school have such a great cultivator?"
"It is that library administrator!"
"Ah? Was he not only at the Foundation Establishment stage?"
For a time, discussions broke out everywhere; no one had expected that the elderly man who looked as though he could be knocked over by a gust of wind was actually a hidden expert of the world!
A great cultivator of the Void Returning Stage, and a body cultivator at that!
Zhang Yunlu, who had just recovered and was barely able to stand up, also stared blankly at the sky.
She enjoyed running to the library to read books, so she had chatted with this library administrator several times, but the scene before her eyes was entirely beyond her expectations.
"So it is true that great cultivators enjoy playing in the mortal world," she murmured.
"Playing in the mortal world is not necessarily the case, but his injuries are very heavy; he should be on the verge of death."
Ah?
How did you see that?
Zhang Yunlu was startled and suddenly turned her head to look at Xu Xing's back, an extremely absurd guess inevitably surfacing in her heart.
In the sky, Old Jiang's eyes were bloodshot, and the few remaining strands of hair on his head danced in the wind.
Due to the hidden injuries within his body, he had already reached his limit after blocking that single palm strike.
"A person who is about to die actually dares to come and ruin my good business."
Following that indifferent sentence, the young man swatted him away with a single palm as if he were swatting a fly.
This Void Returning Stage body cultivator had been his original choice, but now he had a better one; after he finished dealing with Xiao Ning, he would go and extract this old thing's soul.
Within the school, Xu Xing watched all of this, still making no move.
In the sky, Perfected One Xiao Ning felt even more conflicted as he watched the fellow Daoist who had come to save him being swatted away, his life or death unknown.
He had been caught off guard just now, but having learned his lesson, he believed he was confident in stalling for two minutes to wait for the sect's reinforcements.
This streak of Taixu Evil-Breaking Sword Qi was a material for refining techniques that he was in desperate need of...
That fellow Daoist was a body cultivator; receiving one palm strike should not be a problem...
Damn it!
"F*** you! You f***ing poor ghost! You dead f***ing poor ghost, you're refining your f***ing Ten Thousand Soul Banner! This Daoist Master will send you down today to see your f***ing mother!"
All sorts of foul and vulgar language that lacked any bottom line poured out from Perfected One Xiao Ning's mouth, leaving even the demonic young man opposite him stunned from the cursing.
"For a Perfected One to act like this is truly a loss of grace—f*** your mother!"
He saw a purple light ignite between Perfected One Xiao Ning's eyebrows, and a brilliant sword intent surged toward the sky.
The Taixu Evil-Breaking Sword Qi!
Buzz!
Everything within the entire city was frozen, turning into a world of black and white, with only that single smear of purple light becoming increasingly dazzling.
The movements of everyone within the school were frozen at the very instant the sword qi emerged; the only ones who remained unaffected were Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu.
"Do not look at me; look at them."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunlu shifted her gaze toward the sky, her heart becoming increasingly certain.
"Slash!"
Within the black and white world, the purple sword qi resembled a swimming dragon, roaring and surging as it prepared to shred that demonic young man.
Crack!
At the critical moment, the sky seemed to have something shatter within it, and a giant hand billowing with demonic qi reached out from within, crushing the sword qi with a single squeeze and reaching for Perfected One Xiao Ning.
It was above the Void Returning Stage!
A great power had taken action!
The change occurred too quickly, and Perfected One Xiao Ning failed to react entirely, seeing that he was about to lose his life.
Suddenly, the Taixu Evil-Breaking Sword Qi that had been crushed earlier aggregated once more; the sword qi was dozens of times more powerful than before, and even that demonic qi hand slowed down significantly under its influence!
In the next instant, the sword qi swung down.
Roar!
A roar that sounded like a beast yet was not, filled with pain, echoed out as the shattered sky returned to its original state.
The severed demonic qi hand returned to the size of an ordinary arm and fell into the deep pit in the ground.
As for that demonic young man, his physical form and soul were shredded by the sword qi, and he was as dead as he could possibly be, leaving only the Ten Thousand Soul Banner hovering quietly in the sky.
Inside the school, the people around them were still in that frozen state, but Xu Xing turned his head to look at Zhang Yunlu.
"How does it feel, little girl?"
"I..."
Zhang Yunlu opened her mouth, but she could not say anything.
All of this had happened in the blink of an eye, and the reversals had come too many and too fast; she had thought Perfected One Xiao Ning was very powerful as a Void Returning Stage great cultivator, but that demonic practitioner was above him.
Yet that demonic practitioner, who was more powerful than Perfected One Xiao Ning, possessed no power to resist before that streak of sword qi.
The demonic qi hand that appeared at the end was clearly on an even higher level, perhaps not even at the Void Returning level, yet it was still severed by the re-aggregated sword qi.
"What will happen to that demonic head who appeared at the very end?"
"He will likely die."
It would be fine with other immortal sects, but having offended the Taishang Dao Sect and having an arm cut off, the hope of that demonic great power surviving was quite slim.
"That sword qi..."
"The Taixu Evil-Breaking Sword Qi, which comes from the hand of a sword cultivator who practices the 'Taixu Sword Code'."
The 'Taixu Sword Code'; she had seen it on the Spirit Network—it was the supreme method of the Sword Sect!
"So you are...?"
Zhang Yunlu's voice trembled slightly.
"It is exactly as you think."
Although Xu Xing had never explicitly stated his identity, he did not have any intention of deliberately concealing it either.
As the purple sword qi dissipated, color began to gradually return to the world.
"This is a very good era, and I like it very much; therefore, I will remain in this city for a period of time."
Xu Xing looked at Zhang Yunlu and smiled slightly.
"If we meet again by fate, I will give you a small gift that is quite decent."
As his voice fell, his figure vanished and could no longer be seen.
I have updated the internal glossary with the "Taixu Sword Code" and finalized the "Old Jiang" entry. I am ready for the next segment.