Chapter 4: Rooting Out
To the north of Yuzhu Town, a range of mountains sat, shrouded in the night.
"Tu Fei encountered an accident..."
Within a desolate mountain cave, candlelight flickered, casting the gaunt shadow of a withered figure on the stone wall.
The meditation-practicing Daoist enveloped in heavy mist furrowed his brow.
"Xiong Ming, Hu Jiu, why haven't you returned to report back after so long?"
Enveloped in mist, he suddenly stood, his expression icy as he stared at the bronze mirror floating before him.
The Spirit Control Technique of Yin Mountain allowed one to command a multitude of lower beings from above, but it required one prerequisite: the master had to sacrifice their Lifebound Artifact, serving as a bridge connecting the divine souls above and below.
This bronze mirror was the "Lifebound Dharma Artifact" that the Daoist used to command and control those several transformed Great Demons.
At this moment, he placed his hand on the mirror.
Utter silence.
The divine souls within the mirror had dissipated entirely, the touch as cold as ice.
"All of the 'Great Demons' under my command have been slain?!"
Sweat seeped from the Daoist's forehead. The region around Yuzhu Town was extremely remote; since the Dachu Royal Family had recalled the garrison commander after the depletion of Primordial Energy in the northern borders, the area around Jiayong Pass had become a desolate and uninhabited wasteland. He had been entrenched here for days and had not encountered a single Cultivator.
That is why he had chosen this godforsaken place to settle down.
Most of the time, he dwelled within the mountains, and only when he ran out of materials for crafting magical arrays or artifacts... would he send the demons under his command out to scavenge and collect.
It was exactly this kind of situation he had feared!
Evil Cultivators of Yin Mountain, notoriously secretive, were breaking the Dachu laws by raising demons.
After sensing the dissipation of the souls of his subordinate demons, the Daoist, without the slightest hesitation, took back the bronze mirror and turned to flee!
Escape! He must escape!
Although his mastery of the Spirit Control Technique was not high and he was unable to see the memories of the demons before their death, the complete annihilation of his transformed subordinates in such a short time... clearly indicated that the newcomer meant harm!
Right then, a faint mocking voice came from outside the cave.
"Thinking of leaving now? Isn't it a bit too late?"
The Daoist's complexion changed dramatically.
In front of the cave, unbeknownst to when, a tall figure holding an oilpaper umbrella had appeared.
He stared at the figure before him, the umbrella held low, obscuring the person's face and, more eerily... he could not sense any flow of Primordial Energy within the figure's body.
There were only two possibilities for this.
One, the person had not cultivated at all and had no realm, effectively a mundane individual.
But, obviously, it was the second possibility: the person's realm was far above his own, beyond his senses.
"Who might you be, esteemed sir?"
Driven involuntarily, the Daoist took two steps back, his back pressed against the cave wall. The figure exerted immense pressure on him, making even speaking exceedingly difficult.
"Heh."
Xie Xuanyi chuckled but did not respond to the question.
He knew why this Yin Mountain Evil Cultivator before him was in such a state of panic and fear... Among Cultivators, unless there was a vast disparity in strength, one could usually sense the flow of each other's Primordial Power. Placed ten years ago, this man naturally would not have been able to sense his Primordial Power.
But now, the situation was different.
Since emerging from the coffin, Xie Xuanyi had felt something was off...
Not a trace of Primordial Power existed in his body, empty and hollow.
He had embraced a new life, in every sense of "new life," with the scattered and gradually gathering memories in his mind the only remnants left.
However.
Just this bit of memory was already enough.
As long as he held a sword, he was still the Xie Xuanyi who once roamed the world, unrivaled and unmatched.
With a click,
Xie Xuanyi took a step forward, closed the umbrella, and made a sweeping cut.
Inside the stone cavern, the flickering candle flames suddenly extinguished in unison!
A streak of snow-white Sword Qi burst forth, instantly piercing through the shoulder of the dense mist cultivator. The sword strike was so fast that there was no time to react. The whole person of the dense mist cultivator, as if struck by lightning, slammed heavily against the stone wall, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Screams of agony filled the stone cavern!
But in the next moment, with a face twisted in agony, the dense mist cultivator's fingers curled like hooks as he pulled a seemingly delicate and exquisite square seal from his waist pouch and hurled it with all his might!
The Dharma Seal swelled up against the wind, filling almost the entire cavern!
Xie Xuanyi's expression remained unchanging as he reopened his umbrella, leaning back as his entire body, like a blade of grass, gently swept backward, yet his feet remained stuck to the ground.
The speed of the Dharma Seal was extremely fast, it was just a pity that it always missed by a hair's breadth. Xie Xuanyi's seemingly "slow" backward movement was just a bit faster than the rapidly swelling Dharma Seal.
Finally, the Dharma Seal exploded, blasting the entire stone cavern into pieces!
Xie Xuanyi settled lightly among the weeds and rocks, squinting his eyes.
A hundred zhang away, on another side of the desolate mountain, the dense mist cultivator turned into a streak of blood light, fleeing far off into the distance.
...
...
With lightning flashing and thunder roaring, a downpour raged.
A blood-stained figure staggered desperately through the mountain ridges.
"Have I, escaped?"
The dense mist cultivator constantly looked back, gazing towards the rear. He had extended his Divine Soul perception to its limit, but he could not sense any Primordial Energy nor feel the breath of a living person; he could only use this most basic method to ensure his "safety."
"Can you, really escape?"
A familiar voice rang out beside his ear.
The dense mist cultivator shivered, turning his head to look in another direction beside him, he saw the figure he least wanted to see.
A few zhang away.
That ghostly figure in white, holding an umbrella with the handle reversed, was retreating backward, yet was parallel to himself.
When did he catch up?
"What exactly do you want to do?"
The dense mist cultivator's eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, his voice now carried a plea, "I can hand over all the treasures on me, and I will never set foot in Yuzhu Town or Jiayong Pass in this life."
Xie Xuanyi shook his head.
He asked with a smile, "Let me ask you, the technique you just used, was that the 'Yin Soul Seal' only inner disciples of the Yin Mountain can practice?"
The dense mist cultivator was taken aback for a moment.
Xie Xuanyi asked with a smile, "Dense mist Daoist, what is the name of your respected master?"
The dense mist cultivator quickly said out loud, "My master is 'Jin Yuan the Real', and my grandmaster is one of the Yin Mountain Three Saints, the 'White Ghost'!"
"Good."
Xie Xuanyi nodded amiably, "You're lucky."
Could this be a fellow cultivator?
Overwhelmed with joy, the dense mist cultivator was just about to say something.
But in the next moment, he sensed something was wrong. The killing intent filling the air not only didn't dissipate but became even more intense!
Xie Xuanyi still spoke with a smile.
With the gentlest tone, he uttered the cruelest words.
"Among the four realms, the sect I hate the most is Yin Mountain."
"And within Yin Mountain... the person I detest the most, is White Ghost."
The dense mist cultivator's face showed complete astonishment, "???"
In the next moment, a streak of Sword Qi burst forth from the umbrella sword!
In the sky above the mountain ridge, a mournful wail sounded.
An arm just exploded into pieces like this!