Chapter 339: The Dust Settles
Clang! Clang!
A crisp sound echoed in the ears of the crowd outside Xiaofeng Mountain.
At this moment, the enormous light screen that had shown the battlefield had vanished without a trace for reasons unknown
Yet, the images they had witnessed remained vivid in their minds, refusing to fade away.
Until someone, who recovered from the shock first, suddenly exclaimed:
"Swords? T-that's my high-grade treasured sword, Cloudfall Sundown Heaven-Shattering Earth-Smashing Sword! Ah! And my Dog-Egg Sword and Second Girl Sword, which were taken later—they're back too!"
The honest-looking, rustic Nascent Soul cultivator seemed to forget all about his injuries as he lunged toward the summit of Xiaofeng Mountain, the very spot where that crisp metallic sound had come from.
There, atop the bare mountain top, dozens of radiant, glowing swords lay scattered on the ground in a dazzling pile.
The simple Nascent Soul cultivator beamed with a foolishly joyful smile as he embraced three of his swords—one barely qualifying as high-grade, while the other two were just mid-grade.
Soon, the breathing of all the other Nascent Soul cultivators grew rapid and uneven.
What lay upon that mountaintop was clearly the original goal of their trip—their precious swords that had been seized by that strange Soulblade Specter.
But what truly stole their breath away wasn't just the return of their weapons.
"It's over… it's really over… Since the swords stolen by that chicken Netherkin have returned, then that final strike dealt by the Demon Sect's Holy Saint during the ambush... must've really killed that chicken Netherkin?"
"I— I don't know. The brilliance of that final blow was terrifying. Even from a different space, I couldn't bear to look directly at it…"
"I swear, even a Grandmaster wouldn't strike with such force. That chicken Netherkin, even with a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, couldn't possibly have survived that blow—especially in its already weakened state…"
The crowd was filled with the sound of swallowing and nervous gulps.
Everything had fallen into a strange, stunned silence.
Lower-tier cultivators who had arrived late but still caught the latter half of the spectacle were overwhelmed—many collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily, faces flushed red.
The shock was simply too much for their hearts to bear.
At first, when they saw the Demon Sect Holy Saint suppress the chicken Netherkin entirely, they were shaken, but also secretly excited.
After all, they had come today expecting to see a powerful human cultivator crush an evil monster…
Even though the combatants turned out to be completely different from what they'd initially thought, the outcome—where the monstrous chicken Netherkin, who nearly wiped out a whole group of Nascent Soul cultivators, got slain by the rising star of the Demon Sect—was even more thrilling than what they'd hoped to witness!
Just as they thought everything would resolve smoothly and that all the fear and anxiety had been worth it, a chain of unexpected twists that left them completely dumbfounded happened.
The chicken Netherkin's form was revealed to be an empty shell, and the real Netherkin—clearly prepared—launched a sudden sneak attack.
When they saw such a scene, everyone's hearts leapt into their throats.
But in the very next moment, the image on the light screen shifted.
The young man's figure disappeared from view, and only the hand that had been aimed at the false body turned to strike down the real chicken Netherkin that had emerged, cloaked in black mist and full of unwilling fury.
Amidst thunder that filled the screen, the massive light curtain vanished from atop Xiaofeng Mountain, without leaving a single trace.
"If nothing went wrong, that chicken Netherkin should have been completely destroyed in both body and soul," said a burly, red-faced man with mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, his expression full of complex emotions.
With his strength, he could see more than others.
Then, with a wave of his hand, two of the swords on the summit flew into the air.
Two of the flying swords were both standard high-grade quality…
These were his most treasured possessions—he had spent over half of his savings to acquire them. They were also the only two swords he currently owned.
(After this… I really need to complete the "'Body' Sword Technique soon. Also...)
"I didn't expect things to end like this… We really owe that Demon Sect Holy Saint a massive favor."
"But since the chicken Netherkin is dead, shouldn't everything be over? Why hasn't he come out yet?"
"Are you brain-damaged from the chicken Netherkin's beating? A blow like that isn't something an ordinary Golden Core cultivator can use. It probably had some serious backlash—he'll be weakened for at least a few months! Why would he show up right now?"
"Tsk tsk, first there was the Taoist Sect Chief Disciple who's said to have mastered hundreds of Taoist scriptures, then the sword-wielding Empress with the Human Emperor Sword… And now this Demon Sect Holy Saint, who hasn't even reached the Nascent Soul realm, already has such strength… Not to mention the other prodigies who haven't even revealed themselves yet. This generation of cultivators is terrifying."
"The next great era of struggle might really be upon us. I wonder if there'll be any unexpected changes in the next Human Immortal List…"
The Nascent Soul cultivators all chimed in one after another. But the red-faced man who listened to them remained silent, his gaze drifting off toward the distance beyond Xiaofeng Mountain.
. . . . . .
Luo Wusheng didn't really understand the exact conditions for dispelling the side effects caused by using his modified Buddhist Golden Body technique to devour a Buddhist Attachment.
Last time, when he consumed the Greed Attachment, it was a long-distance message from Little Yuli that snapped him out of it.
This time, it was only after his lips parted from the girl in his arms that he became aware of what he had just done.
The Arrogance Attachment of Buddhism had effects far beyond what he'd imagined… Perhaps it had to do with both the quality and quantity of what he'd absorbed—after all, his Buddhist Golden Body had improved significantly from it.
(Last time I could still sense I was under the influence of the Attachment. This time, I was completely lost in it, without the slightest awareness something was off…)
It had even made him overconfident to the point of recklessness. He blindly placed his trust in the sword array's power, and failed to see anything suspicious in the chicken Netherkin's apparent helplessness, and it nearly cost him everything.
Thankfully, a mysterious fluctuation had come from Little Yuli's body, snapping him back to awareness just enough to hear his junior sister's voice transmission.
Thinking of this, Luo Wusheng glanced down at the girl in his arms.
Bai Xiaoyao's previously pale and fragile face had now taken on an unnatural blush. Her lips were slightly parted, warm breath escaping between them.
Her beautiful eyes trembled slightly, a bit dazed and unfocused, flitting about—until they landed on Little Yuli, who lay peacefully on a pile of withered leaves not far away.
Yet, her small hand still clung tightly to his left hand.
Recalling what he had just done, Luo Wusheng felt his head begin to throb.
Bai Xiaoyuao was without question the MVP of this encounter.
If not for her sharp wit and early grasp of the situation, and her consecutive use of two secret techniques—taught remotely through the Holy Maiden Token by their master, which activated the Aura Perception technique and the Vision Sharing technique, they might never have gotten the chance to slay the chicken Netherkin.
Well, his own life wasn't actually in much danger… What happened earlier was just him being slow to react.
Even if the chicken Netherkin's sneak attack had succeeded, with his current strength, he would've at most suffered some severe injuries, not fatal ones.
But if it had come to that, he would've been forced to use the Antediluvian Nether Eye's spatial power to forcibly eject the chicken Netherkin, and whatever happened after that would've been far harder to control.
Now, however, with the chicken Netherkin's presence truly gone, Luo Wusheng finally let out a breath of relief.
Then, he could no longer resist the overwhelming fatigue creeping up on him, and he collapsed backward.
The weakened girl in his arms was dragged along with him… Her soft and delicate body, which exuded the fragrance of a young girl, only had time to slightly turn to the side before she fell directly on top of him.
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