"How do I look?" Chen Wentian asked.
He adjusted the collar that was uncomfortably tight around his wide neck and glanced in the mirror.
"Wonderfully unattractive, a face only a mother could love." Zhou Ziyun replied, struggling not to laugh.
He wanted to retort but found it impossible. Even he was slightly repulsed by the image reflecting back at him, one of the Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong.
Her plan required him to once again don the disguise of his alter ego. She knew about it but this was the first he had shown it off to her. The only other disciple who had seen in person was Wu Qianyu.
He ran his fingers through a wild mane of gray hair that stuck up in every direction. A scrubby beard covered half his face but he would have been unrecognizable even without it. His head was much bigger than usual, with fat cheeks, a wide nose, and little black eyes in deep sockets. Even his neck was twice as thick as normal. Every piece of makeup, including the fake skin, felt real to the touch and nobody would be able to tell, not even an immortal. At least, that was the intention.
Zhou Ziyun patted his bulging stomach and adjusted the buttons and belts on his outfit. She was skeptical of it at first but now she was confident. Her master's ability of disguise surprised even her. She had been prepared to lend a hand after studying the subject but her assistance in this area wasn't needed.
"You have all the copies I've made for you?" She asked.
"Yup, five thousand copies of the Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style. I'm still surprised you managed to come up with this." He said.
The Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style was something that Zhou Ziyun had developed after careful study of the Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms, Dugu's Tenth Sword, and many other mortal secret arts in Chen Wentian's possession. With her genius comprehension, she was able to extract a tiny bit of the essence of demon slaying from the Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms and combine it with other sword arts into a brand new one.
The Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style was only at the middle level of the Spirit Initiate Realm. In terms of depth and complexity of the Dao of the sword, it was below average. Its sole advantage was that it contained a just hint of demon slaying ability.
The Dao of demon slaying was incredibly complex. For her to obtain even the tiniest amount of comprehension was already a tremendous accomplishment. Chen Wentian himself probably could not have accomplished the same unless he committed at least a year or two to the subject. He was never that good at Dao comprehension and none of his souls were either.
Right now, this mediocre sword art with a small amount of demon slaying power was exactly what he needed, what her plan called for.
"Alright, I'm off. Look forward to good news soon. I'll catch this demon." He said.
"Mmm." Zhou Ziyun nodded and stepped away from him.
"What, no goodbye kiss? Not even a hug?"
She scoffed and backed away further, "Not in a million years when you looked like that!"
"Stingy…" He muttered and flew away.
Chen Wentian left Crystal Bamboo City zoomed high into the sky. He remained clad in a heavy cloak of blue flame until he passed the border of Red Bamboo Province and entered the Eastern Wilderness. There, hidden within the clouds, a black shadow emerged and flew alongside him.
Chen Mo morphed into human form. He was clad in Chen Wentian's usual attire and looked exactly like him. Even his darker skin tone was gone, a product of not some new ability but physical makeup that had been prepared beforehand.
Chen Wentian withdrew his blue dragon flames and at the exact same time, Chen Mo surrounded himself with the same blue flames.
"See ya!" Chen Mo said and continued onward.
Chen Wentian then cast the power of shadow around himself and headed in another direction.
---
The first place Chen Wentian visited was a small mortal sect in the mountains several provinces away. It was currently under attack from an army of jueyuan, the same monkey-like demons that had destroyed Wu Qianyu's Green Leaf Sect. But unlike that time, he wasn't too late to help and he also wanted to help.
This insignificant province did not have an immortal lord. Thus, the whole province was suffering greatly under the recent attacks by crazed demon hordes at the command of the hidden water demon immortal. Every mortal cultivation sect was dealing with the demon problem and nobody had time to help each other. If he didn't come today, then perhaps this sect would have suffered the same terrible fate as Green Leaf Sect.
He quickly descended towards the action, a treasure sword in hand. "Foul demons! Die!"
A vast array of phantasmal swords appeared all around him. With a thought, they shot away in many directions, slicing apart demons at the slightest touch. Like a sword god, he swept over the scene, separating the two sides and bringing a momentary silence to the chaos.
Demons and humans alike were stunned as he instantly brought the battle to an end. For mortals, the power of even a Spirit Lord was unstoppable. In just a few breaths of time, all the souls within his reach were subjugated.
The rear elements of the jueyuan army tried to flee by another array of swords descended from the sky and blocked their escape path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Chen Wentian bellowed, his voice slicing through the air and making all the demons clutch their ears in agony, "Stay still or I will kill you immediately!"
Trapped, the demons had nowhere to go. They snarled and him and howled at the remaining humans but there was nothing else they could do.
Ignoring them, he turned to the frightened human cultivators, "Who among you is the sect master?"
An elderly man in black and white clothing pushed his way through and then fell to his knees, "Lord immortal! I do not know your name but this servant thanks you from the bottom of my heart. I am Liu Jia and this is the Pine Mountain Sect. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for your immortal grace!"
"Thank you, immortal, for your lifesaving grace!"
"Thank you, immortal, for your lifesaving grace!"
All the disciples fell down and bowed over and over.
"Alright, alright, get up. I don't have a lot of time, Liu Jia, come here." Chen Wentian commanded.
"Yes, my lord," The old sect master limped over, "May I ask, what is your great name?"
"I am Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong! My reputation in some places isn't good but they are all lies. I have seen how the common people are suffering and yet the Immortal Association does nothing! This is something that I, Lin Huzhong, cannot stomach any longer. I have set out to help all mortals under the heavens from this demon menace and your sect is merely the first one!" Chen Wentian declared.
He was full of righteous energy that stunned his audience into confused silence.
---
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