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Chapter 11: Not Because of a Contract — Forcibly Interrupted

A long sword was unsheathed, and a sword cultivator in white robes stood with hands clasped behind his back— it was Murong Zhou.

"Hand over the treasure, and I'll spare your life."

Chen Moqing didn't even look up, and casually pointed a finger.

Thunder like a sword, instantly piercing through the heart. Murong Zhou's figure swayed and collapsed.

—Transforming into a tattered talisman paper, spontaneously combusting in midair.

An illusion talisman.

The illusory phantom shattered, revealing three figures—they were the Tingyu Sect disciples from before.

They had ventured deep into this place and yet were completely unharmed. The tallest cultivator among them stared fixedly at the nine-petaled lotus flower atop the small snow-white beast's head, and said with a smile: "Fellow Daoist, I can see this treasure has a affinity with us. Why not let us have it? I am willing to compensate you with eight thousand spirit stones."

Chen Moqing's voice was unhurried: "Sure, eight million spirit stones."

Xie Feng immediately sent a secret transmission to his fellow disciples: "He has expended a great deal of spiritual energy and is already at the end of his rope—he can't even refine that treasure! Let's all attack together; before his spiritual energy runs out, can he really kill all of us!"

Among the three, the only female cultivator showed no reaction, while the other male cultivator looked troubled: "Senior Brother, we are after all a reputable and righteous sect..."

"Think of your family! If you can present this treasure, you will become the Sect Master's last-accepted disciple! By then, would anyone still dare to bully your family!"

As the words fell, Xie Feng's junior disciple's eyes immediately sharpened, and all hesitation vanished.

The two attacked at once, while the female cultivator swiftly retreated backward.

In an instant, several talismans came flying, ice spikes and wooden vines crisscrossing—Chen Moqing stood still, his slender fingers pointing casually, his robe sleeves billowing.

"Get lost."

Thunder like a sword, stretching across the long darkness.

Among the five elements, the thunder that holds the greatest power of slaughter directly crushed the demons and monsters, stirring up surging waves of silver-white.

Xie Feng's eyes were instantly swallowed by the blazing silver-white, and swelling terror left his mind completely blank—the next second, his junior disciple lunged forward and threw his arms around him: "Senior Brother!"

A flash of light swept past, and the two figures vanished from where they stood.

The thunder pierced through the stone wall, sending rocks flying. The female cultivator who had stayed behind clasped her hands without hesitation: "This junior, Chu Fengling, pays respects to Senior!"

She felt a wave of relief in her heart—it turned out her decision not to act had been the right one.

Earlier, they had snuck in here, and for some unknown reason the monsters along the way had not attacked them at all, only pursuing this senior. She had taken the opportunity to observe his way of fighting, and the more she watched, the more alarmed she became.

Her master had once said that talisman cultivators fight in one of two ways: using talismans drawn in advance, or drawing the talisman scripts on the spot during battle—the former being more manageable, as talismans can be prepared beforehand. The latter places an extreme demand on a talisman cultivator's ability; one must complete the talisman in a single stroke, and the slightest delay means death.

Generally speaking, only talisman cultivators at the Golden Core stage or above would choose this method of fighting. Some exceptionally powerful talisman cultivators could even form a talisman with a single thought.

Just now, she had seen this senior draw talismans in the midst of battle time and again—flowing and effortless, as if second nature. That spoke not only of transcendent talent, but surely of countless thousands of repetitions practiced in private, allowing such mastery.

Therefore, though this person appeared to be only at the early Foundation Building stage—one minor realm below their own cultivation—he was absolutely not someone they could afford to make an enemy of.

"If you intend to refine this treasure, Senior, I can guard the area for you."

"No need," Chen Moqing said, "Leave this place. What lies ahead is not somewhere you can venture."

Chu Fengling truly did not linger, and departed swiftly.

Chen Moqing's divine sense entered the Snow-Dust Glazed Lotus Cup, and in no time he successfully refined it, truly becoming the new master of this treasure.

A fifth-grade, early-tier treasure—at his current cultivation level, even drawing upon it would consume an enormous amount of spiritual energy.

He turned his head, his gaze falling upon that shimmering, rippling dark pool.

【I will not lend you my strength, but when you can no longer hold on, I will take you away.】

Cang Shun lay draped across his shoulder, his voice carrying little inflection.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes: "You're worried about me?"

【How could that be!】

The snow-white little beast's fur bristled slightly.

【Benzun acts because of the contract!】

Chen Moqing smiled faintly and said: "You need not act."

He sat in meditation at the water's edge, adjusting his breathing until his spiritual energy was fully restored, then leapt into the dark pool.

—Just as he had anticipated, the pool water was a false illusion.

He stood suspended in midair, his robes completely dry. Above, at the mouth of the pool, countless talisman scripts suddenly surged forth, layer upon layer, forming an extraordinarily intricate talisman array.

The bottom of the pool trembled. Beneath his feet, a path stretched forward, its end nowhere in sight, with no way to turn back.

Ahead on the path, one grotesque beast after another appeared in succession, their bodies wreathed in thick black flames. The black flames corroded their flesh without pause, and they let out wave after wave of inhuman shrieks.

Cang Shun's brow rose slightly.

Demonic creatures?

He looked again at Chen Moqing—the young cultivator's expression remained utterly unruffled, and unsurprised.

Cang Shun suddenly understood—those were all the demonic creatures this human cultivator had once slain.

Chen Moqing raised his hand, his slender fingers lightly pinching a talisman, as though gripping a thin sword blade.

Illusions of the past, yesterday come again. Yet at this moment, the demonic beasts before him all matched him in cultivation.

"—Come."

The demonic beasts surged forward in waves, a black tide blotting out the sun. The young cultivator's hair and robes billowed and flew, his bearing like a sword, tearing apart the boundless dark curtain.

Cang Shun quietly watched that lone figure, and saw a sword of unsheathed killing edge, a demon-slaying battlefield that blotted out the heavens and darkened the earth.

So it turned out—this person was the second existence after him to be born in response to the demonic tide.

No wonder his blood had been able to awaken him, had been able to forge that kind of contract between them.

He had awakened for his sake.

Talisman scripts transformed into blades, slaying countless demonic beasts. The black-robed cultivator swept all before him, cutting his way deep into the talisman array.

Until one demonic beast was beheaded, yet did not fall. From its hollow neck crawled a human head, eyes tightly shut, its face filled with grief.

"I am filled with hatred..."

"I have been wronged..."

Hundreds of human faces squeezed out from the demonic beast's hide, craning their necks, eyes closed, weeping and crying out, their wails drilling into his ears one after another.

Everywhere his eyes could reach, all were familiar faces.

—The five hundred or so members of the Haoran Sect, slaughtered to the last by his hand.

Blood splattered across his hair, and Chen Moqing smiled softly, his eyes deep and dark as a cold pool where black serpents lurk: "No need to rush. I'll send you all back down right now."

He formed a hand seal with one hand, and silver-white thunder descended from the heavens, sending a surging torrent of lightning cascading down. The countless human-faced malevolent souls shrieked and were extinguished within the blazing thunder light.

Cang Shun drifted in midair, a faint golden gleam rising in his demon eyes.

Within his eyes, where brilliant gold and crimson intertwined, that human cultivator pressed forward without faltering—with every step he took, a faint path spread out beneath his feet, extending ahead.

—It was a pitch-black road churning with boundless crimson, and as Chen Moqing continued onward, more and more crimson flowed in, merging into the darkness like the depths of the underworld.

Cang Shun's gaze grew faintly still.

This person's Dao—it was the one among all paths of cultivation that held the greatest power of slaughter, and the heaviest burden of killing karma.

—The Path of Slaughter.

To suppress evil through killing, to ascend to immortality through killing—all within a single thought.

It was said that tens of thousands of years ago, the first immortal to ascend to the heavens had proven their Dao through slaughter.

And yet, aside from that immortal, the cultivators who later walked the path of slaughter mostly met ill ends, and not one had ever survived past the Mahayana stage.

Could not survive past Mahayana...

The depth of Cang Shun's eyes grew slightly dark. His heart felt as though iron wire had suddenly bored in and twisted through it, stirring a feeling he had never experienced before and could scarcely describe.

It must be because of the contract.

Without a word, he watched that young cultivator tread upon his path of slaughter, never looking back, until blood drenched the array and soaked through the talisman scripts.

Robes stained with blood, standing alone.

Spiritual energy nearly exhausted, yet already drawing close to the eye of the talisman array.

The last one standing in his way was a white-haired sword cultivator seated upon a throne of ice spikes, his features cold and merciless, with a surging tide of demonic energy roiling behind his back.

"You have brought ruin to your sect's name. You deserve death."

Chen Moqing tilted his head up slightly, his eyes still as an undisturbed well, reflecting that face—identical to his master's of old.

Within the talisman array, every enemy encountered matched him in cultivation, yet this phantom of Yu Bai alone was at the Deity Transformation stage.

Foundation Building against Deity Transformation—an ant trying to shake a great tree, utterly beyond his means.

Chen Moqing closed his eyes once more. His blood-stained fingers pressed to the space between his brows, burning a mark of cinnabar there.

Cang Shun suddenly sensed something wrong, his demon pupils instantly narrowing to slits: 【You're doing it again—】

The next second, Chen Moqing's eyes snapped open with fierce resolve. The talisman scripts in his eyes blazed brilliant gold, like a radiant sun rising endlessly through a dark night.

The talisman scripts illuminated his eyes, and countless golden lines traveled across his entire body. Special talisman scripts covered his form, as though he were a pure gold deity carved in sculpture.

Cang Shun's pupils froze. Those talisman scripts were not complex, yet each stroke carried the rhythm of the Great Path's ultimate simplicity—he had never seen anything like it!

—A self-created talisman art!

From deep within the talisman array came a long, joyful sigh. The great array shuddered violently, and every talisman script resonated with it—all the talisman path energy from every direction converged toward Chen Moqing alone!

When the moment arrives, heaven and earth lend their full strength!

Chen Moqing stepped forward, his eyes burning gold, his body like a blazing torch. Though he carried no sword, his heart was the sword.

The talisman scripts tore through the young cultivator's body. His form dissolved into ten thousand droplets of blood rain, leaving no trace—only a single sword remained, aimed straight at the heavens.

One sword strike— slaying a Deity Transformation cultivator!

A thunderous roar—!

Heaven and earth trembled. Every cultivator within the secret realm looked up in shock, glancing around in all directions.

The entire secret realm heaved and swayed without cease. Countless talisman scripts lit up one after another, transforming into a sky full of flickering stars, carpeting the entire heavens, shining brilliantly upon one another, the sky bright without end.

—Just as not long ago, when a Foundation Building cultivator refined a third-grade talisman and caused the ancient talisman scripts of Qingzhu City to resonate!

This time, the spectacle was far more grand!

Somewhere within the secret realm, Ning Lili clutched a treasure she had just obtained, her eyes wide with astonishment: "Could it be, could it possibly be, could it really be—"

Elsewhere, Liu Ao's expression darkened: "The secret realm's inheritance has been claimed by that Nascent Soul cultivator so quickly?"

Far behind him, Liu Piao raised an eyebrow and opened his palm—the pure white sword intent in his hand had not stirred in the slightest.

Deep within the cave, all returned to stillness. The dark pool rippled endlessly, refracting the faint glimmer of stars.

Cang Shun's eyes nearly split with shock. This time, only a few scattered remains of the man were left.

The next second, branches and wood grew, a body was remade, and Chen Moqing returned to the world of the living.

His cultivation had fallen back to the early Foundation Building stage.

Withered Wood Spring Revival Decree— a command talisman crafted by an immortal: as long as one's divine sense did not perish, one could not die and could not be destroyed.

Chen Moqing slowly opened his eyes, his face covered by a large mass of snow-white fluff.

No longer the palm-sized little ball of fur, but a great fluffy heap, wrapping tightly around him, radiating a warm, toasty heat.

He could not see Cang Shun's expression, and could only feel this enormous Demon Emperor nudging him in silence, nudging and nudging, then wrapping him back up in the fluff, not allowing him to move away.

Probably holding a grudge again.

Chen Moqing stroked the wonderfully soft fluff: "I'm fine."

The moment the words left his mouth, a certain Demon Emperor nudged him even harder, squeezing him from every direction.

In a huff, fur all bristled up, smothering Chen Moqing's entire face.

"......"

Chen Moqing casually drew a talisman script, adding robes to himself, then looked up.

Above the dark pool, a phantom drifted leisurely— a white-robed elder, ethereal as an immortal.

"How many tens of thousands of years has it been, at last, another talisman cultivator of passable talent appears."

Chen Moqing slowly rose from within the fluffy heap, hands folded together: "This junior, Jiang Yu, pays respects to the Immortal."

"I am no immortal, what you see is no more than a remnant soul of my true self."

The voice of the secret realm's master was distant and ethereal.

"Successor, what is the name of the talisman art you used just now?"

Chen Moqing: "Guixu Yin*."

*t/n; Guixu (歸墟, Guī xū) means "returning to the abyss/void", and 引 (Yǐn) means "to lead/ferry/summon". So it's roughly means like "Yin that Ferries to the Abyss" or "Summoning of the Returning Void."

This was the first talisman art he had created himself, and also the first killing technique in his talisman path.

To burn through several bodies, to ferry all back to the abyss, all cast down into the underworld.

Afterward, to borrow the art of Withered Wood Spring Revival Decree, and return once more to the world of the living.

Cang Shun lay beside him, and upon hearing this, extended his tail, circling tightly around him.

The secret realm's master said calmly: "Not bad. You do indeed have some qualification to receive my inheritance."

He clasped his hands behind his back and drifted to stand before Chen Moqing: "What lies here is not the complete inheritance of my path, but a fragmentary inheritance left behind by a remnant soul that my true self severed long ago."

"Those who receive my inheritance must cultivate both talisman and array arts. Successor, you will also need to inherit a complete array path inheritance."

"If you accept, I will first entrust this fragmentary inheritance to you. Once you have obtained the other array path inheritance, you may go to the Nine Thousand Prefectures to seek my true inheritance."

Chen Moqing: "What kind of array path inheritance is required?"

Although talisman cultivators and array cultivators both belonged to the school of spell cultivation, they had been in conflict since ancient times, to the point of being utterly incompatible.

And yet, in his study of the talisman path, he had already discovered that talisman path and array path shared many points of commonality. Perhaps the two paths were of the same origin to begin with.

The secret realm's master gave a light chuckle: "You will come to know in time. Of course, if you have no intention of seeking the complete inheritance, that is also fine. It would only mean... that my talisman path shall see no one ascend to immortality ever again."

A faint movement stirred in Chen Moqing's eyes.

The secret realm's master had opened with the words 'tens of thousands of years'. He had already guessed that this person's identity was far from ordinary, and at this moment that guess was confirmed.

Secret realms of the lower prefectures rarely held the remnants of great cultivators— otherwise the Tianshu Sect would not have dispatched only a single Nascent Soul disciple. In truth, in former times, the Tianshu Sect would not have given a second thought to a talisman path secret realm in some lower prefecture.

It was only after the demon-sealing war, with the great sects of the upper prefectures no longer what they once were, and with the Tianshu Sect having made an enemy of the Shenlu Sect, that a confluence of circumstances had led them to toss this secret realm into the outer disciples' mission pool.

"May I ask your name, Senior?"

"My true name, you will come to know it naturally when you obtain my complete inheritance. For now, you may call me 'Xingyun'."

Xingyun swept a sleeve, and a figure drifted out from within Chen Moqing's sleeve—the talisman spirit he had created.

The talisman spirit lay prostrate on the ground, lifting its head in a daze, seeming somewhat afraid, and shrank back behind Chen Moqing, only to be coldly swatted away by a slender tail.

Chen Moqing calmly raised his hand and patted the head of a certain Demon Emperor that had nudged its way onto his shoulder.

Xingyun had originally been examining the talisman spirit with growing appreciation in his eyes, but upon witnessing this scene, his gaze swept back and forth between Chen Moqing and Cang Shun several times.

Then he turned to the talisman spirit and spoke mildly: "Since you are a talisman spirit born of this place, and your master is moreover my inheritor, you shall benefit from his fortune. I will grant you a stroke of good luck."

He raised his hand casually and passed it through the air over the talisman spirit's brow.

In an instant, the talisman spirit's form shuddered violently, and its aura underwent a stunning transformation—from a newly born talisman spirit, it leapt directly to great perfection of Golden Core!

It stood completely frozen in place, as though turned to stone.

Chen Moqing spoke: "Gungun, give your thanks to the Senior."

Xingyun watched that talisman spirit kowtowing and yelping, and was silent for three seconds.

"A fine name, a fine name."

"The talisman spirit you have created, no matter how high its cultivation rises, it will always be under your control, its life and death subject to your will alone."

As those unhurried words fell, the talisman spirit gave a shudder and obediently shrank toward Chen Moqing, only to be swatted away again by Cang Shun's tail.

Xingyun gave them one more glance.

"Now, step forward and receive my inheritance."

Chen Moqing took three steps forward, and one hand pressed against his brow.

A thread of golden light entered between his brows. Within his spiritual sea, his divine sense hovered suspended, and he beheld resplendent talisman scripts unfurl across a vast expanse, forming into a long stairway.

The true essence of the talisman path!

"This is all the talisman path attainment of my remnant soul, today I give it entirely to you. How much you gain depends wholly on yourself."

His divine sense stepped onto the stairway, bathed in golden light, ascending step by step. Chen Moqing stood still, and the aura around him surged like a rainbow, shooting straight toward the heavens.

Mid Foundation Building.

Peak Foundation Building.

Great perfection of Foundation Building!

—Already half a step into Golden Core!

Within the spiritual sea, his divine sense arrived once more at the foot of the great chasm, gazing up at the vivid crimson talisman edict hanging high above.

Xingyun let out a puzzled "Hm?", his gaze falling upon the space between Chen Moqing's brows, as though trying to pierce through his divine soul to see something within.

After a long contemplative look, he said nothing, but turned his hand over to leave behind a jade slip.

"The array path inheritance you must seek, it lies within this."

Chen Moqing received the jade slip with both hands and swept it briefly with his divine sense.

A map, half of a fragmentary formula... and two sixth-grade talisman scripts!

And a closed scroll, radiating a soft, lustrous glow.

—A sixth-grade offensive treasure! Capable of withstanding the power of an early Void Refinement cultivator!

Chen Moqing pondered for a moment, then spoke: "May I ask, Senior, do you perhaps have the formula for a fifth-grade Soul-Guiding Talisman?"

Xingyun's face showed a look of disdain: "Such a low-grade talisman. I would never refine something like that."

Chen Moqing said nothing, and lightly patted Cang Shun on the head.

Cang Shun: "?"

He tilted his head in bewilderment, and surprisingly said nothing—instead pressing his head against Chen Moqing and giving a nudge.

The next second, the Demon Emperor's movement came to a slight pause, as he heard the young human's next words: "Senior, do you know of any method to dissolve a bloodline contract?"

Xingyun glanced at them once more and said: "I have no interest in contracts, nor have I studied them."

"As for the matter of the inheritance, do your best. Within three hundred years, my true self will be waiting in the Nine Thousand Prefectures."

"If you have not arrived within three hundred years, the spirit of my true self will also fade into oblivion between heaven and earth."

As he spoke, the secret realm master's form grew gradually faint and transparent. Chen Moqing raised his hands and folded them once more, his expression solemn: "Senior, rest assured. I will come as promised."

Xingyun fixed him with a long, deep gaze: "Since you have spoken these words, even should seas turn to mulberry fields, you must obtain that array path inheritance."

Chen Moqing: "Without question."

Xingyun spoke no more, and gave a faint nod. The next moment, his white hair darkened back to black, and his features returned to youth, revealing a handsome and spirited face.

He gazed toward the east and murmured softly: "Senior Brother, if only I had not stormed off in anger back then..."

The words were left unfinished, the remnant soul had already dispersed.

Chen Moqing bowed deeply.

Though he held no memory of this great talisman cultivator, he knew that the Nine Thousand Prefectures held countless great cultivators, and no small number of them preferred not to leave their names to the world, spending their entire lives in obscurity.

The dark pool lay silent, with not another ripple. Chen Moqing sat atop a great mass of snow-white fluff and examined the jade slip once more.

The sixth-grade offensive treasure— at his current cultivation level, he had absolutely no means of wielding it, and set it aside for the time being.

The three sixth-grade talisman formulas would likewise be of no use in the lower prefectures for now.

He studied the map carefully and found it to be an ancient map, whose place names had long since diverged from those of the present day, requiring verification against the outside world.

Finally, Chen Moqing's gaze came to rest upon the half of the fragmentary formula, and his eyes stirred faintly.

—A cultivation method capable of regenerating spiritual roots.

Only half of it.

The remaining half was most likely at the location of the array path inheritance recorded on the ancient map—with this secret realm master's 'Senior Brother'.

Once he obtained the complete formula, he would have the opportunity to rebuild his sword path spiritual roots.

This journey into the secret realm had entirely exceeded Chen Moqing's expectations, and he even harbored a quiet suspicion as to whether this half of the fragmentary formula contained the intent of the Heavenly Dao.

In the end, he put the jade slip away.

Even if the will of Heaven were at work, all things still rested in human hands. He would walk according to his own heart and would never be governed by the Heavenly Dao.

Chen Moqing withdrew his divine sense, and incidentally recalled Gungun. Being a creation of talisman scripts, it was not truly a living being, and could reside within a storage pouch of ample space.

Then he raised his eyes and met a pair of crimson demon pupils.

The Demon Emperor, now revealed in his vast true form, lowered his head and watched him in silence.

Chen Moqing spoke: "After this, I will leave this place and go to the middle prefectures or the upper prefectures, and along the way, find a method to dissolve the contract."

Cang Shun was silent for a moment, then slowly lowered his body, drawing close to him: 【Why do you never give any thought to yourself?】

【That was far too dangerous just now. Even if you can always rebuild your body, there is no need to resort to such reckless methods every single time.】

When clearly, he could have stepped in—

Chen Moqing said calmly: "I don't have much time."

He had vast distances of cultivation to cross before he would have the standing to cut down his enemies with his own blade—and so he had to give everything, leaving nothing in reserve.

Cang Shun said nothing. After two seconds, he slowly lowered his head, his chin resting lightly on Chen Moqing's shoulder.

This Demon Emperor was nudging him in silence again, and soon he was enveloped once more in a warm, soft mass of fluff.

Chen Moqing thought to himself, could this be some kind of display of displeasure?

His voice was mild: "If you are worried because of the contract—"

【It is not because of the contract.】

Cang Shun suddenly interrupted.

Chen Moqing looked up again.

A slender tail drifted loosely around his waist—not quite touching the hem of his robes, yet forming a posture that encircled him.

At some point unknown, the Demon Emperor had drawn impossibly close to him. His powerful, imposing form rose around him like a range of hills, snow-white fur flowing with the soft luminescence of moonlight, those demon pupils watching him in stillness, like the blazing sun of an ardent sky lingering at the tips of the forest trees.

Cang Shun said in a low voice: 【It is not—】

"Peak Foundation Building?"

A cold voice, carried from the other side of the darkness.

From deep within the cave, Murong Zhou stepped in with a sword at his waist, its hilt bound with a length of blood-stained robe. He strode in with his head held high, his sharp gaze fixed directly on the young cultivator and the demonic beast across from him.

"Hand over the inheritance. I'll spare your life."

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