Lu Yang felt he needed to step forward at this time.
By now, he also saw through the plan of the mastermind. Clearly, they wanted to fundamentally negate Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's lifelong principle of holding the sword but not killing.
This is killing the heart as well as the person...
[Sword Intent] was the obsession of a cultivator's life, the gathering of will. When strong, it was like solid steel, unshakable in its purpose; when weak, it was like a clay chicken or pottery dog, collapsing with a single push.
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's [No-Kill Sword Intent] was just like this. Once truly questioned and refuted by someone he once saved, if he finally wavered, the [No-Kill Sword Intent] would inevitably weaken. At that time, it naturally wouldn't be able to suppress the boundless destiny on his body, and Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon would immediately have to start seeking Golden Core!
...Can't let them have their way.
Lu Yang asked himself if he had figured out Perfected One Warding-Evil and Buddha Child Guang Ming's plan. He immediately took a step forward, intending to help Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon out of the siege, but felt a slight weight on his shoulder.
"No need."
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon pressed him down and shook his head. Then he stepped forward, looking at the old man and said: "Although the Pure Land is glamorous, it is not a place of benevolence."
"The so-called Buddhist cultivators, although called the Righteous Path nowadays, in my eyes, they are always akin to demons and heretics. Following them may bring temporary benefits, but the poison left behind is endless... I know you are terrified because your lifespan is nearing its end, so you listened to the bewitching of Buddhist cultivators. No matter, this is also human nature."
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon looked at the old man quietly.
His gaze was peaceful, without a hint of killing intent or oppression. However, under the gaze of these eyes, the old man almost uncontrollably looked away.
He dared not look.
Because of guilt? Because of a guilty conscience?
Neither.
—It was because of anger.
"...Don't look at me with that kind of gaze."
The next second, the old man trembled, his teeth chattering as he whispered: "Has anyone ever told you that your gaze isn't like looking at a person at all!"
This was a very strange feeling. In the old man's eyes, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's gaze looking at him wasn't like looking at a living person at all, but like looking at an artifact—an artifact covered in cracks that needed careful protection. That was why he showed such immense patience.
How could this make him believe Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon?
From beginning to end, the other party didn't even treat him as a human. Then did his words have any credibility? How did he know he wasn't deceiving and fooling him!
For a time, the old man only felt a knot of sullen anger in his chest.
On the other side, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon was similarly stunned.
"My gaze?"
He pondered for a moment, then smiled: "so thats it. Is this the reason you doubt me? You misunderstood... I don't look only at you like this."
After speaking, Lu Yang found that Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon turned back and glanced at him.
It was very strange. Clearly it was just a glance, but he still read the other party's thoughts: It was like looking at an excellently growing leek and a rare true treasure.
Although without this gaze, he would also feel that Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon had ulterior motives toward him, but this gaze turned his guess into certainty.
A Foundation Establishment Perfected One's spiritual perception was extremely sharp.
Compared to it, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's gaze was too bizarre.
It was obviously filled with the wonder of some Divine Ability, enough to touch the Foundation Establishment spiritual perception. That was why a single look could make people feel unsettled.
But what exactly was the wonder within?
"In my life, I do not kill people."
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon explained: "However, [No-Kill Sword Intent] is easy to cultivate but hard to maintain. For this reason, sometimes I must not treat people as a human being..."
Once these words came out, both Lu Yang and the old man were stunned.
Just that simple?
Because of not killing people, sometimes one cannot treat people as people... So in Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's eyes, I really am an excellent leek?
Literally?
This is too absurd...
Lu Yang only said these two words in his heart, but the old man shouted them out directly, sneering: "Want to use such absurd words to fob me off?"
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon didn't continue to explain but asked back: "Then Shiyuan, what do you want?"
His gaze looking at the old man remained very calm.
In his view, the old man before him was nothing more than being used by some people with ulterior motives. It was best for him to persuade him to retreat, lest he be swept into this storm.
However, the old man was unwilling.
Therefore, he gritted his teeth... Lu Yang guessed one thing correctly. If not targeting Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon, and if there wasn't someone behind him calling the shots to ensure his safety, as a master of a rogue cultivator force, he absolutely wouldn't dare to come to the Sword Pavilion to cause trouble. However, in the end, he still came.
"...You kill me."
After a moment of silence, the old man spoke, looking directly at Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon: "behead me— and If I don't die, that proves everything you said before is true."
"If I die, then use my death to let everyone see your hypocrisy."
"Good idea. Let's do just that."
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon nodded in agreement upon hearing this, obviously having full confidence in himself... because people beheaded by him truly would not die.
Clang!
Before the old man could speak, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon had already drawn his sword. The [No-Kill Sword] moved like an antelope hanging its horns, passing across his neck without a trace.
The next second, a head was plucked off by Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon.
During the process, not a drop of fresh blood was left.
However, before Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon could speak, the old man's head suddenly widened its eyes. His face twisted, and a shout erupted from his mouth:
"It hurts so much!"
As the voice fell, the body and head, which clearly had been beheaded without a drop of fresh blood flowing out, instantly gushed out a river of bloody water with a boom!
In an instant, the hand of Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon holding the head was dyed red by the bloody water. The old man who finished shouting that cry directly closed his eyes. All vitality flowed away from his face. In just a moment, it thoroughly turned into a dead man's head, rolling from Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's hand to the ground.
A soul quietly drifted out, falling into the [Netherworld] with boundless resentment.
Dead...
"Dead..."
The first voice rang out from the surrounding crowd, then quickly expanded. In an instant, it turned into thunderous loud noise, proclaiming the same fact:
The old man, Mo Shiyuan, was dead!
The world-renowned [No-Kill Sword], which should not kill a single person, now had its first victim, and it was killed by Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's himself!
"Master..."
Lu Yang looked at Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon carefully.
He saw him suddenly shake his head:
"Sigh..."
The second sigh carried a strong "intent" even causing Lü Yang to feel an inexplicable yet intense sorrow.
As for the others, they burst into tears.
Sword Intent!?
For a moment, Lu Yang was utterly shocked. They both have Sword Intent, but Vanquishing-Demon Perfected One' [No-Kill] Sword Intent was on a completely different level.
Even without activating his [No-Kill] Sword Intent, his uncontrollable outpouring of emotion affected the emotions of everyone around him! Even Lu Yang, who had also cultivated Sword Intent, couldn't escape it, demonstrating just how far he had progressed on this path.
At the same time, inside the Earth-Penetrating Abyss.
Perfected One Warding-Evil also stood up abruptly, revealing an excited look: "It's done...! His [Sword Intent] is out of control!"
From the beginning, he didn't expect Mo Shiyuan's few heart-condemning words to be useful. Only the final death was the key to his layout!
For Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon to be so unique and independent, how could he be shaken by just a few sentences?
To break his sword intent and force him to be unable to suppress the growing destiny, leading to Seeking Golden Core and sacrificing the sword, one must start from the root, from his [No-Kill Sword Intent]...
[No-Kill Sword Intent]?
I insist you kill one! Kill, and your [Sword Intent] will instantly collapse!
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon also understood this plot the moment he saw Mo Shiyuan die. Precisely because of this, he let out that second sigh.
My [No-Kill Sword Intent], including the sword art, is enshrined within the clan.
To target my sword intent and add a soul of the dead to my sword... it's only possible by going to the clan and obtaining the sword art I left in the clan.
If it were snatched by force, it couldn't be hidden from me.
So... it was the Ye Family who actively offered it in secret.
It was precisely because he figured everything out that Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon uncontrollably felt a sense of desolation in that instant, so much that he couldn't control his [Sword Intent].
Today's matter was plotted by someone within the Sword Pavilion, and the old man's death was betrayed by someone within the clan.
So that's how it is... The sect, the clan, neither wants to see me alive.
Boom!
The next second, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's daoist robe instantly turned blood-red and a boundless killing intent surged forth from beneath the shattered [No-Kill Sword Intent]!