Chapter 70
The moment she finished speaking, the incredibly realistic scene before her suddenly distorted.
Then a man walked toward her.
The man was dressed in white robes embroidered with dense rows of runes. The runes moved incessantly as if alive, making anyone who looked at them feel a tingling dread deep in their heart.
Most chilling of all, however, were the man’s eerie purple eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything. Paired with his rigid yet exquisite, doll-like face, they made him indescribably strange.
“A demonic cultivator?” His voice was as cold as his appearance.
“Female demonic cultivators are indeed rare. No wonder he kept you by his side.”
Yu Tai raised an eyebrow.
He?
The memory he had just witnessed was utterly unlike anything in the cultivation world. Yet he had no questions about it whatsoever and was more interested in her being a demonic cultivator?
Or could he not see it?
Knowing her identity as a demonic cultivator had been exposed, Yu Tai’s wariness of the man before her soared beyond its limit.
Her instincts told her that he was dangerous. Extremely dangerous.
“Who are you?” Despite the alarm bells ringing wildly in her mind, no emotion showed on Yu Tai’s face.
She concealed her panic perfectly.
In response to Yu Tai’s question, the man gave a terse answer. “Shen Zhiyou.”
The name made Yu Tai’s eyelid twitch.
Shen Zhiyou, sect leader of the Zuiyin Sect.
The foremost cultivator in the cultivation world.
Yu Tai was about to ask another question when the doll-like man’s brows suddenly moved. He gave her a complicated look. “The person coming to take you away has arrived.”
With that, his figure abruptly vanished.
As he disappeared, the distorted scene returned to its original state.
The events that had already played out began repeating themselves once more.
…
On an altar, a sword stood quietly upright.
Its blade was the color of frost and snow. Even standing there motionless, it inspired fear in anyone who looked upon it.
The sword, which had waited here for an unknown length of time, suddenly sensed something. Its blade began to tremble, releasing a clear, resonant cry!
It called out again and again, every keen seeming to weep blood, filled with immeasurable sorrow.
Sensing its summons, a man slowly ascended the steps.
The young man whose features resembled his stood obediently below. He knew that he couldn’t follow him up at this moment.
Just as Shu Li’s hand was about to touch the sword, the Qingguang Sword sensed its master’s aura, and its cries grew increasingly excited.
Xia Mo, who had been lost in thought, suddenly roared toward the space behind him. The aura of a demon beast erupted from his body.
Shu Li looked back.
A white-robed man with purple eyes was walking toward them. His raised gaze remained fixed on Shu Li, a trace of nostalgia mingling with the complicated emotion in his eyes.
Shu Li curved his lips into a smile. “Master, I trust you’ve been well.”
At the form of address, Shen Zhiyou shook his head. “You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
If any disciple from the Qingshan Sword Sect or Zuiyin Sect were present, they would undoubtedly have been shocked beyond belief.
When had Shen Zhiyou, sect leader of the Zuiyin Sect, ever accepted Shu Li as his disciple?!
“You’re still as strict as ever.” Shu Li turned sideways and looked at the Qingguang Sword behind him, which continued trembling and calling to him.
“It has waited here for you for far too long. Take it back,” Shen Zhiyou said from beneath the altar, ignoring Xia Mo’s threat as he watched Shu Li.
Shu Li didn’t draw the sword. Instead, he gently stroked the Qingguang Sword as if soothing it, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
“Master, do you still remember what you said when you named the Qingguang Sword?”
Shen Zhiyou’s eyes flickered. He had clearly remembered something, but he remained silent.
Shu Li turned around and looked down at him from the altar, answering the question in his place.
“Though drifting clouds may veil it for a time, they can never extinguish the clear light.”
He raised his eyes, as though his gaze had pierced through time and returned to the past.
On the day the sword was bestowed, the young Shu Li had knelt before this man as solemnly as if receiving an inheritance, accepting the Qingguang Sword from his hands.
The Master he had always revered stroked his head. Expectation warmed those habitually cold purple eyes as he said, “Though drifting clouds may veil it for a time, they can never extinguish the clear light.”
“This sword shall be called Qingguang.”
Shu Li laughed softly, and mockery finally appeared on his face. “Master, I did as you taught me.”
“Even at the very last moment, I never betrayed that verse.” A thin veil of sorrow spread through Shu Li’s eyes.
He had wanted to say those words for a very long time.
Even when this man ultimately died by his hand, Shu Li had kept them locked away.
He hadn’t expected to finally speak them in this false world.
But they no longer held any meaning.
Just as Shen Zhiyou was about to say something, Shu Li abruptly moved.
He turned and drew the Qingguang Sword.
At that moment, dazzling radiance erupted from the blade and flooded the entire cave. Anyone could feel the sword’s excitement and joy at returning to its master.
But in the next instant, Shen Zhiyou’s pupils contracted sharply.
A crisp sound of shattering echoed through the cave, followed by the Qingguang Sword’s anguished wail.
It couldn’t understand why its master had abandoned it.
Looking at the dim, shattered Qingguang Sword that had accompanied him for so many years, Shu Li tossed it to the ground as if it were garbage.
Black qi streaked with scarlet returned to his hand. Shu Li’s eyes remained half-lowered, his face expressionless.
Shen Zhiyou pursed his lips and sighed. “So it really was you who killed Elder Li.”
Shu Li raised his eyes, scarlet filling them. “Did he not deserve to die?”
Shen Zhiyou said nothing, tacitly agreeing.
Elder Li was genial and exceptionally skilled at dealing with people, but only a vanishingly small number knew his true nature.
He enjoyed violating men, especially inexperienced and handsome young men.
One of Shu Li’s childhood friends had been tormented by him until the young man destroyed his own Dao foundation and died.
Shen Zhiyou had known. He had known everything.
“Shen Zhiyou, in consideration of our former bond as Master and disciple, I’ll allow you a more presentable death.”
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t deign to fight you. But you touched something you should never have touched.”
“Therefore, you deserve to die.” He spoke gently, if one ignored the undisguised killing intent in every word.
Facing the threat of death, Shen Zhiyou merely lifted his eyelids, his expression unchanged. “If you kill me, she will remain trapped there forever. You will never see her again.”
Before Shu Li could respond, Xia Mo, who had been watching from the side, abruptly spoke. “Dumbass. Who do you think you’re threatening?”
As the foremost figure in the cultivation world, this was the first time Shen Zhiyou had ever been cursed at. He looked at the demon beast who knew neither the immensity of heaven nor earth, and faint killing intent surfaced in his eyes.
But before he could do anything, Shu Li suddenly spoke. “No swearing.”
Shen Zhiyou froze, only then realizing that Shu Li was lecturing the panda.
Xia Mo immediately sprang up. “Shu Li, why do you always have to ruin the mood? This panda doesn’t look imposing anymore!”
Shu Li merely gave him a bland look.
Under his gaze, Xia Mo’s bluster abruptly disappeared. He muttered weakly, “Fine, fine. This panda won’t swear again. Happy?”
With that, he stormed into a corner and crouched down, muttering aggrievedly to himself, “Yu Tai, hurry back. Shu Li is bullying me.”
Watching this scene, Shen Zhiyou suddenly found himself at a loss for words.