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Chapter 64: The Foremost Sword Cultivator!

"You're Chi Fei! The demonic cultivator who slaughtered every cultivator in Qingluan Prefecture!"

Xiao Jibai's voice rang out across the viewing platforms. The crowd, still reeling from the shock of a talent who'd suddenly revealed dual mastery of talisman and array path, hadn't yet come back to their senses.

"Who's Chi Fei?" someone asked, startled.

"A demonic cultivator? But there's no demonic energy on him at all..."

Chen Moqing calmly raised his sleeve, fingers idly teasing the cold-eyed little snow-white beast on his shoulder, looking down over the viewing platforms without a word, the corner of his mouth curving into a faintly mocking smile.

"I know now!"

Among the spectators' seats, a Tianshu Sect disciple shot to his feet. "No wonder he seemed so familiar to me! I saw him once, in the lower prefectures, he's a demonic cultivator! He slaughtered an entire innocent city!"

"Someone summon an elder to bring the Demon-Revealing Mirror, one look and we'll know for certain!"

The words had barely finished when a massive, flawless silver mirror slowly rose above Tianshu Sect's training ground, like a full moon, reflecting everyone below.

A beam of pure, radiant light shone down from the mirror's center, falling precisely upon Chen Moqing—and the next instant, blazing black flames erupted across his body!

Demonic energy, surging to the heavens!

The whole arena erupted in an uproar, everyone shaken with shock!

"He really is a demonic cultivator!" someone shouted furiously. "A demonic cultivator snuck into the tournament!"

"Impossible!" Chu Langtao shot to his feet at once, his voice ringing out across the platforms. "I have history with Young Friend Liu Yun. I can vouch for him, he is no demonic cultivator!"

From the viewing platform where Jinwu Sect sat, a senior steward's hoarse voice rang out: "Sect Head Chu! You've simply been deceived! The evidence stands as clear as iron, it's time you saw the truth!"

"Think carefully, everyone! Dual mastery of talisman and array path, and command of the obscure, deeply complex soul path besides, how could any young talent possibly reach such a level!"

"Even the Chen Moqing of old couldn't match him! He's just like Chen Moqing, a demonic fiend disguised as a man of honor and virtue!"

Chu Langtao tried to speak further, but more and more people had already risen in fury, pointing accusingly at Chen Moqing on the training ground: "Demonic fiend! What do you have to say for yourself now! Face judgment at once!"

The praise had been thunderous just moments ago; the fury and condemnation now boiled just as fiercely.

Cang Shun's crimson eyes turned cold and sharp as ice, sweeping across the training ground, and he heard the young man beside him let out a soft laugh. "Nothing new, is there?"

His laughter drifted on the wind, carrying across the roiling, uproarious viewing platforms. Everyone watched as he turned his hand over, a small, dark seed slowly rising into view above his palm.

"This, I take it."

With a flick of his slender fingers, Chen Moqing sent the seed flying straight from his palm, vanishing in an instant into the brow of the very Tianshu Sect disciple who'd first called him a demonic cultivator!

The black flames on his own body vanished in an instant—but the next moment, that same Tianshu Sect disciple burst into cold black flames of his own, the very same demonic energy now coiling around him!

"There we are," Chen Moqing said with a smile. "Now you're a demonic cultivator too."

Black flames devoured him, as if his very soul were being roasted over fire. The Tianshu Sect disciple let out an anguished scream, rolling frantically across the ground. "Elder, save me!"

Not far off stood Tianshu Sect's Seventeenth Elder, who had already rushed over, pressing his palm against the man, pouring in his cultivation power—to no avail whatsoever, like a stone sinking into the sea!

Tianshu Sect's Seventeenth Elder whipped around in fury. "Demonic fiend! What have you done to him!"

"No need to pretend ignorance," Chen Moqing said, still smiling. "Surely you all know perfectly well. Plant this thing on a cultivator, ignite it at the right moment, and you can frame anyone as a demonic cultivator at will."

A seed carrying demonic energy, undetectable by any means.

Back at Tianshu Sect's outer vault, when that disciple had stopped him to ask if they'd met before, he'd already secretly planted this very seed on him then.

"Unfortunately, this is the second time I've encountered this thing. It no longer works on me."

Tianshu Sect's Seventeenth Elder's expression shifted slightly, and he opened his mouth to say more, but Chu Langtao had already spoken up first. "What exactly is your sect trying to pull here! In full view of everyone, are you openly slandering an innocent cultivator?"

"How dare you! Since when does my great Tianshu Sect need to slander some lower prefecture cultivator! This is clearly the demonic cultivator's own doing!"

Chu Langtao let out a cold laugh, pointing up at the sky. "You all saw it yourselves, under the Demon-Revealing Mirror, there's no demonic energy on him anymore!"

"And who was it, from the very start, insisting again and again that he was a demonic cultivator? Wasn't it your own great Tianshu Sect?"

Atop the radiant golden array, the silver-white mirror still cast its pure light downward, the young cultivator bathed in its glow, his black-and-gold robes billowing in the wind.

Xiao Jibai sat slumped on the training ground, staring up at this whole scene unfold, his mind gone utterly blank.

To be precise, he'd been stunned from the moment that Tianshu Sect disciple had stood up shouting "demonic cultivator"—and after seeing that seed, he'd frozen entirely in place, unable to move a muscle.

When had the sect arranged for that disciple? Why hadn't anyone told him?

Hadn't the original plan been for his fellow disciples to secretly aid him, wielding that seventh-grade artifact capable of sealing off every talisman cultivator below Void Refinement, leaving Liu Yun unable to fight back, so that he could deliver the finishing blow himself?

Such a flawless plan... except none of them had ever imagined that Liu Yun was Chi Fei, a dual master of talisman and array path! An artifact meant to seal talisman techniques was utterly useless against him!

In the heat of the moment, he'd exposed the man's identity, wanting everyone to see his true face.

But everything that followed had gone completely beyond anything he'd expected, especially that seed... that thing had no business appearing here at all!

Xiao Jibai stared fixedly at the figure suspended in midair, his hand trembling beneath his sleeve.

Because, that was an item he'd redeemed from the system using a massive sum of points! Something that didn't belong to this world at all!

The Chaos Demon Seed, laced with demonic energy, could be ignited by its owner at will; no one but the owner could detect its presence, and it could be planted on anyone, anywhere.

Once, it had been this very seed that let him have his senior brother Chen Moqing engulfed in demonic flames before the entire sect, sealing his identity as a demonic cultivator once and for all.

But... why was there a second seed?! And one produced by some sect disciple whose name he couldn't even remember?!

"System!"

"Host, as you know, my items can only be used by you." The system's voice remained as flat and even as ever. "That seed did not come from me."

"Furthermore, what I told you before still holds. The Chaos Demon Seed is not an object native to this world."

As if split clean in two down the middle, Xiao Jibai felt the blood in his veins freeze solid in an instant.

So... the sect had a system too?!

Or was it that the items he could redeem through his system, the sect's higher-ups had some way of obtaining as well?!

Even if he hadn't acted today, the sect would surely have moved to eliminate this Liu Yun regardless... but why hadn't they told him? Why hadn't anyone said a word to him?!

This moment, Xiao Jibai had no mind left to spare for whatever was happening on the viewing platforms. He simply stared fixedly at the figure high in the sky, one single thought echoing in his mind.

This world... no one in this world could be trusted!

Only himself! Only his own strength was real!

The next instant, he thrust his right hand high into the air, a furious shout ringing out across the training ground: "Chenjie, come!"

Frost-cold sword-light split the heavens, cleaving the clear blue sky in two, carving a thousand-zhang scar of snow-white light across it!

Before the blade itself arrived, its keen, biting light had already lit every watching eye—a frost-white longsword, one that could shatter ice and cleave through snow, hovering suspended six feet from Xiao Jibai's side!

——The second-finest sword under heaven, Chenjie!

Xiao Jibai's eyes flooded red, two fingers pressed together, pointing far into the sky at Chen Moqing. Chenjie slowly turned its edge as well, the longsword aimed directly at that distant figure.

"Cut him down!"

Dual mastery of talisman and array or not, what did it matter!

A single strike from Chenjie, who in this world could withstand it!

A blade of light connected heaven and earth, like some ancient axe that had once cleaved through primordial chaos, descending with the weight of ten thousand tons!

On the distant viewing platforms, Chu Langtao was consumed with fury—that sword-light moved too fast, its force too overwhelming, even he had no time to act. Someone beside him cried out in alarm: "Liu Yun's going to lose!"

Beneath the heavens, the tall figure in black-and-gold robes still neither dodged nor flinched, letting the sword energy whip up astonishing gusts of wind, sending his robes billowing wildly. His high-bound black hair flew loose, brushing past those faintly smiling eyes, reflecting the blazing sword intent bearing down on him.

Between his slender fingers, a sword had appeared.

Blue-green touched with gold, its edge held in restraint, its true power hidden away.

Cang Shun's eyes curved faintly. In his crimson demonic gaze, a scene of absolute brilliance reflected back—

Black-and-gold robes flaring wildly, the spirited young cultivator standing tall in the sky, sweeping down a single, effortless strike!

Xiao Jibai's sword-light, and Chen Moqing's sword-light—two strikes in total.

But in this moment, everyone in the world could see only a single strike!

A blade that split heaven and earth, an endless noon with no shadow of night—the most absolute sharpness in this world, the most blinding cold radiance, before which every talisman, every array, every sword technique alike—was ground to nothing!

One strike, shattering ten thousand techniques!

Xiao Jibai's pupils shrank to a single point in an instant. The strike he himself had unleashed, set against this one, was like a swallow against a great roc, a mayfly against the vast blue sky!

Even the heavens above, even an immortal descending to the mortal world, could be no more than this!

Utter terror tore through his heart, and pure survival instinct drove his body into its fastest possible response, moving at once to summon Chenjie back to shield him from this strike—

But the frost-white longsword, without so much as a backward glance, shot up into the sky, dissolving into a cold streak of snow-white light, vanishing from his sight!

"Host, run!!"

The system's roar echoed through Xiao Jibai's mind only in the final instant.

Then he heard the sound—crack, crack.

——Only when the boundless agony tore through his brain, wrenching an uncontrollable, throat-shredding scream from him, did he realize: that had been the sound of every bone in his body being crushed to pieces in an instant.

The sword-light shattered, and a mangled, blood-soaked body went flying, slamming into the viewing platform, blood spraying ten feet wide, limbs torn apart, leaving only a torso behind!

The vast training ground couldn't withstand the sword energy crashing down from the sky, shattering instantly into a thousand floating fragments of earth. The trailing edge of that sword intent swept across a thousand meters, condensing into the shape of a blade, piercing straight through Xiao Jibai's heart, pinning that shapeless mass of flesh and blood to the viewing platform, blood spattering across the face of the nearest Tianshu Sect elder!

Dead silence fell over the entire arena! Not a sound to be heard! Every face frozen in an astonishment that could not be wiped away!

——Liu Yun was a sword cultivator too?!

A sword cultivator who could cut down Tianshu Sect's strongest disciple in a single strike!!

Amid the absolute silence, Cang Shun watched, unblinking, as those slender, evenly-jointed fingers gripped the hilt of the blue-green sword, tail swishing contentedly.

His sword looked better.

The next instant, a frost-white longsword came flying in, light rippling across its surface, as if condensed from flawless, pristine winter snow, coming to rest at Chen Moqing's right hand, its hilt pressing close against his fingers.

Chen Moqing let out a soft laugh, "It's been a while."

His fingertips brushed briefly over the hilt of Ran Cang before he released the blue-gold sword, taking hold instead of the frost-white longsword that had quickly slipped beneath his palm.

A blade of piercing sharpness rolled across that frost-pale edge, the sword humming as it stirred, sending tremors through the earth itself!

Chenjie, returned to its true master once more!

Ran Cang still hovered quietly at Chen Moqing's side, drifting a little closer, its edge brushing lightly against Chenjie.

Snap.

Chenjie suddenly flicked its tip against Ran Cang.

Ran Cang silently drifted two inches further away.

Cang Shun's gaze swept over, saying nothing, burying his head into Chen Moqing's shoulder.

Chen Moqing fell silent.

Why did it suddenly feel like there were three clingy little things around him now?

Across the shattered training ground, on the viewing platforms still floating in midair, eyes everywhere remained frozen in extreme shock and disbelief.

"Heavens above! Am I dreaming, or hallucinating..."

"He, he's a sword cultivator?! Wasn't he a dual master of talisman and array path? Since when is he a sword cultivator too?!"

"Good god, mastery of three paths at once, all three at the very peak! Is this some kind of monster from a bygone age?!"

"This is the true foremost talent! Unprecedented, unmatched, far surpassing even Chen Moqing!"

In this moment, every great sect and clan shook to their core! Every talent present no longer dared to make a move, staring up at the sky in dumbstruck disbelief, utterly speechless.

Only then did anyone notice the sword in Chen Moqing's hand had become the frost-white longsword. Someone cried out in shock, "Chenjie's recognized him as its master?! Just who is he?!"

Tianshu Sect's Seventeenth Elder stared blankly at the mangled, twitching mass of flesh before him, then shot upward, eyes blazing with fury. "How dare you, insolent boy!!"

He struck out with everything he had, a palm strike from the peak of Void Refinement, vast and overwhelming as the sea!

Chen Moqing didn't even spare him a glance, striking down with his sword once more!

One blade, frost across all Nine Thousand Prefectures! Lighting every mountain and river, leveling the vast heavens whole!

Tianshu Sect's Seventeenth Elder, at the very peak of Void Refinement—beheaded in a single strike, soul and spirit shattered utterly, dead on the spot!

Blood sprayed high into the sky once more, yet not a drop touched the black-and-gold robes billowing in the wind. The young sword cultivator stood with his blade, no longer concealing his true cultivation—the aura of great perfection at Deity Transformation swept across the entire field!

On the viewing platforms, Chu Langtao drew a sharp breath, stumbling back three steps, collapsing heavily back into his seat amid a chorus of startled cries, limbs numb, as though caught in a dream.

What kind of strike was that?

What kind of man carried an edge that could pierce the sun, an aura that could swallow the whole world?

At only great perfection of Deity Transformation, cutting down a peak Void Refinement cultivator with a single wave of the hand—true and total disregard for cultivation stage, striking down enemies across realms with nothing but a blade!

Across all the Nine Thousand Prefectures, there was only one person, one alone, who could ever do such a thing...

Fierce winds howled, the sky lost all color, daylight dimmed, dark clouds swallowed the sun. A terrifying pressure bore down from above as a vast, ethereal sect projection unfurled, covering the entire land of Jiugai Prefecture.

Within that boundless, magnificent projection, several of Tianshu Sect's highest-ranking figures appeared, the one at their head clad in gold-and-white robes, an aura at the peak of Body Integration pressing down over the entire field!

Tianshu Sect's Third Elder, Gongsun Qing!

"Tianshu stands here. Who dares such insolence?"

The voice rolled like thunder, whipping up a raging storm that swept flat across the vast training ground.

Tianshu Sect's inner circle had come in person!

Chen Moqing faced that towering, colossal sect projection without a trace of fear, smiling faintly, meeting Cang Shun's gaze.

Cang Shun nuzzled against the side of his face, smiling in return. "Go on, then."

Go return to the nine heavens above, go illuminate the great Dao of heaven and earth, go overturn this so-called foremost sect.

I'll be with you.

Chen Moqing stepped forward, the frost-white and blue-gold swords standing at his sides, robes billowing, and slowly closed his eyes.

The next instant, he opened them again, and every mountain and river trembled!

The disguise fell away, revealing his true face!

Winds rose, clouds surged, runes flying and flowing free, transforming into a vast river; the great array swept across a thousand li, unfurling a shimmering sea of gold; sword energy, sharp and boundless, cut across every direction—three paths at their absolute peak, three paths woven into one, converging at last into a single blade—striking straight at Tianshu Sect!

The sky-blotting sect projection shuddered violently, splitting clean in two down the middle!

That vast, magnificent projection, which had loomed over Jiugai Prefecture for ten thousand years, casting its shadow across the land—once the very symbol of the foremost great sect's supreme glory.

In this moment, Tianshu's glory was cleaved in two! The two Void Refinement elders standing closest were struck down on the spot, exploding into mist of blood!

The vast shroud of darkness receded, and the sun reappeared in the clear sky, scattering golden light across ten thousand li, falling over that black-robed figure standing tall with his blade.

In this moment, the entire arena fell silent once more, not a single sound to be heard!

Under a sea of stunned, disbelieving eyes, everyone watched as the young sword cultivator stood suspended high in the sky, feet planted atop the collapsed remains of Tianshu Sect's shattered projection, his high-bound black hair streaming wild in the wind, revealing a pair of sharp, striking brows and eyes.

A bearing that towered above the world, an elegance beyond compare, standing triumphant over Tianshu itself!

Among the younger generation of talents across the Nine Thousand Prefectures, who else could have done this?

Only the foremost talent of old, the foremost sword cultivator of old!

After all these years, that light, easy laugh rang out once more over Jiugai Prefecture:

"Everyone. Has it been a while?"

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