Corpses piled over the ground, black smoke was dispersing, and the three were tense and guarded.
After that tall mountain had migrated behind them undetected, the path ahead finally came into view. Thick, black woods layered and overlapped, exceedingly horrifying, and every so often there'd be the strange squawks of black crows. While Xie Lian heightened his alert, all his senses sharpening, he unconsciously reached for Hua Cheng's hand at the same time. Yet unexpectedly, the moment their hands touched, he noticed an alarming sign.
Hua Cheng was obviously a ghost, but at that very moment, his body temperature was blistering hot like a high fever. Xie Lian was instantly taken aback.
He whispered, "San Lang, are…are you changing back?"
Although Hua Cheng was burning from his forehead to his fingertips, his expression never changed.
"Soon."
Hua Cheng was going to change back, and in their current situation, it was definitely great news. However, the time before he formally returned to his old self had to be the most important, most critical point.
Making a split-second decision, Xie Lian cried, "I'll set up an array and shield you!"
Then he went straight into action. He called forth Ruoye and made it circle around Hua Cheng to form a large circle of four meters, then plunged Fangxin in front of the circle as the "door lock" to the sealing circle.
Hua Cheng sat down on the ground to meditate and said, "Gege, keep Fangxin with you for defense."
"No, this array can't be sloppy; there must be a bladed weapon that's touched human blood…"
Before he finished speaking, he felt there was something rubbing against him behind his back. When he looked back, he was instantly speechless. There was a tiny little silver scimitar standing upright behind him, blinking its big silver eye and rubbing against him with its hilt, like it was nominating itself for the task.
"…" Xie Lian crouched down. "E'ming, how come you're like this too?"
The infamous scimitar E'ming, its blade long and slender, wickedly seductive and wild, had now shrunk at least half in size. That silver eye used to be long and narrow, but now it looked like it also transformed to an eye of a child; big and round, bright and shining. However, hearing Xie Lian, it seemed to feel aggrieved, and continued to try and push its hilt into Xie Lian's hand.
Pei Ming also crouched down. "So, this is the infamous scimitar E'ming?"
He looked like he was about to reach out and touch it. E'ming changed face instantly, pointing its blade threateningly towards him. Fortunately, Pei Ming pulled away just in time, otherwise blood would have certainly been spilt.
Xie Lian stroked E'ming. "Fangxin is still better-suited."
Fangxin didn't move. E'ming, who tried so enthusiastically to offer itself up but ended up so blatantly rejected, weepingly hopped back to Hua Cheng's side. Hua Cheng didn't even spare it a look before he smacked it with a backhand slap.
"What are you crying about? Isn't it because you're useless? Trash!"
E'ming fell flat on the ground like a piece of unwanted scrap metal, like it dropped dead from that strike. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and immediately picked E'ming up in his arms and stroked it a few times.
"Nothing of the sort. Don't listen to him, you're not trash, you're very useful!"
Pei Ming couldn't stand the mood in the circle anymore. He stepped out, standing at the boundary, slowly pulling out his sword once more.
"Things weren't supposed to be this stressful, but who knew we'd run into such an impressive, troublesome character from the start. Your Highness really does have the best of luck."
The reason why the group of them made the trip to Mount Tong'lu was to annihilate any candidates who had the potential to become a Supreme, so they must seek the most powerful amongst the ghosts. Xie Lian also couldn't tell anymore whether this counted as good luck or bad luck.
However, Hua Cheng said, "Why does General Pei think so matter-of-factly that it's His Highness' luck that's the problem? Have you never thought that maybe that Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade was coming after you?"
Pei Ming laughed out loud. "If that ghost was a woman, I'd believe it."
Yet unexpectedly, he hadn't laughed for very long before his face suddenly changed and he leapt to the side. When he looked up again, blood dripped and flowed down his cheek.
A bloody cut appeared on Pei Ming's face!
He felt his face in disbelief, and his whole palm was smeared with blood; this was no scratch. The two of them were both on high alert, yet Xie Lian was perfectly fine and didn't sense any killing intent directed at him at all.
So he said truthfully, "It seems…it really is coming for you, General Pei."
Pei Ming was about to speak, but the sound of a sharp blade slashing through the air came once more. This time he was prepared, and swung his sword. This strike really did hit something, and a figure appeared in the air, splitting into two from the strike. It crashed to the ground, one half the upper body, the other half the lower body, the eyes gloomy and vicious, glaring at Pei Ming. It was that Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade!
Pei Ming walked over and stepped on his chest, the tip of his sword pointing at his throat.
"What are you?"
That creature had said he was once the blade of an executioner, but if that really was the case, then after Pei Ming chopped him in half he should've shown his true form and ended this ridiculous act. What kind of blade could still do as it pleased after snapping in half?
Yet unexpectedly, that Swift-Blade demon bulged his eyes, sneered, and broke Pei Ming's sword with his bare hands!
CLANG! Pei Ming's eyes instantly widened. It wasn't just him; even Xie Lian had a similar reaction.
At the very least, Pei Ming was a formally-ascended martial god. Even if he was situated in Mount Tong'lu and his spiritual powers were suppressed to the bare minimum, his spiritual device still shouldn't have been so easily broken!
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade laughed soundly. "I can't believe you'd use such a trashy sword!"
His sword was broken, so Pei Ming resorted to using his fists as his sword. But that Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade slapped his left hand on the ground and launched himself into the air. Pressing the fingers of his right hand together, he shot out a blast. Where his palm blast blew past, the bright chilling light of metal shone; it was a gust with razor edges. It appeared that its true form really was a sharp bladed weapon!
Xie Lian stood within the circle and was about to leave to help, but was stopped by Hua Cheng.
He said with a low voice, "Gege, watch closely."
Pei Ming also shouted, "NO NEED TO INTERFERE!"
If he, the esteemed Martial God of the North, couldn't even defeat a mere ghost blade from the outer edges of Mount Tong'lu, then how could he face himself?
However, although that ghost blade only had his upper half body, he was extremely agile. No matter where Pei Ming struck, it looked as if he'd already predicted every step, which made things rather pessimistic for Pei Ming. After hundreds of moves, over ten gashes had been opened on Pei Ming's body. Xie Lian couldn't watch anymore, and called out.
"General Pei, come back into the circle!"
Pei Ming's face was growing grimmer and grimmer. He refused to retreat, and Xie Lian couldn't bluntly join the fight to make it two against one. To some martial gods, to require help when fighting one-on-one was a form of humiliation.
Xie Lian tried again, "General Pei, come back! There's something weird going on, can't you tell? This man knows your sword techniques too well!"
Naturally, Pei Ming had also noticed, he just couldn't believe it. But since even Xie Lian who was observing on the side had seen, he had to believe it even if he didn't want to. Xie Lian pulled Fangxin out and opened a small gap. Pei Ming took the chance to leap back into the circle, his expression extremely grim.
Xie Lian plugged Fangxin anew and asked, "General Pei, aren't you going to pick up your broken spiritual device?"
Pei Ming wiped away the blood on his forehead and replied darkly, "That's not my spiritual device. It's just a decent sword I picked randomly."
Hearing this, Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief. Although any sword Pei Ming picked randomly would be a fairly sumptuous sword, it still couldn't be measured as equal to a spiritual device.
He asked, "Why didn't General Pei bring his spiritual device when coming here?"
"I haven't forged any," Pei Ming replied.
Xie Lian was even more curious now. "Why not?"
Typically, martial gods would forge their most agreeable weapon into a spiritual device; it'd be akin to adding wings to a tiger. Pei Ming hadn't yet answered, and that Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade humphed coldly.
"That's obvious. It's because his most agreeable sword no longer exists!"
Pei Ming frowned. "Who exactly are you?"
"You're not asking 'what' exactly he is?" Xie Lian asked.
The Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade humphed. "Who am I? HA! Pei Ming, back then, you snapped me with a palm blast. Did you ever expect today to come?"
Xie Lian's eyes widened. "General Pei, do you know him?"
Pei Ming pondered for a long while, and his expression grew more and more solemn. He tried:
"You're… Ming'guang?"
Hearing that name, Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade's smile faded. He now no longer looked like that common, puny little ghost from earlier.
Xie Lian questioned, "He's called 'Ming Guang'? General Pei, aren't you supposed to be General Ming Guang?"
In an instant, countless possible stories of fraudulent substitution flashed through his mind; because there was now precedent in the heavens, they weren't outlandish assumptions. He couldn't help but think, "Is this another Earth Master Yi?"
Pei Ming seemed to have seen through what he was thinking, and said while covering his wounds with his hands, "Your Highness, what're you thinking? I already told you I'm the genuine, authentic General Pei. I'm the real thing!"
"Then why did you call him Ming Guang?" Xie Lian demanded.
"Because his name is Ming'guang. It's the name I came up with. He's my sword!"
Xie Lian "ah"-ed, and said, "Could it be—'The General Who Snapped His Sword'?"
"That's right," Pei Ming replied. "'Ming'guang' was my personal sword when I was a mortal, and was personally snapped by yours truly hundreds of years ago."
No wonder!
No wonder this "Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade" knew Pei Ming's sword techniques so well, like he could predict his every move. No wonder that, even when it was slashed into two, it could still move so willfully, like that abdominal injury had no effect on it whatsoever. It was because this sword had followed Pei Ming and won countless victories from north to south, thus naturally it knew Pei Ming's art inside-out. And it was because he was already snapped in two!
"So, that gash from before was him stabbing himself?" Xie Lian said. "Then the spiritual light on his wound was…?"
"Mine," Pei Ming said. "Back then, I ascended as soon as I snapped him in half. I suppose that must be when the light stained him. That won't clean away."
The Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade—no, Ming'guang—started using his hand as a sword, slashing towards Fangxin with every move. His expression was gloomy and sharp, like he was attacking Pei Ming's person.
Xie Lian couldn't help but ask: "Um…General Pei, why does your sword resent you so much? What did you do to it? What's the story behind the 'General Who Snapped His Sword'?"
Pei Ming was feeling for his pill bottle, and replied, "Some raggedy story from hundreds of years ago, what's the point of talking about it now? Let's find a way to beat him first!"
Although there was Ruoye forming the circle, if Fangxin should be cut down, then half the array would fall; just like how, after breaking the lock, there was only a door left. Xie Lian glanced behind him; Hua Cheng had entered his meditation, his eyes shut tight, seeming to sense nothing of the outside world. Xie Lian was slightly reassured.
However, Pei Ming's voice pulled him back.
"Your Highness, will your sword hold?"
Xie Lian turned his head back around. "I don't know. Fangxin's old, after all."
"That's alright," Pei Ming said. "Ming'guang's pretty old, too."
Xie Lian sighed in relief. "If that's the case, as long as there's no outside help, then we should be able to hang on for a w…"
Yet unexpectedly, before he finished his words, a series of heavy footsteps sounded from the direction of the forest. Soon, a giant, savage-looking, dark-skinned burly man donned in broken armour appeared.
That burly man was abnormally tall, and the moment they saw him, both Xie Lian and Pei Ming dripped a drop of cold sweat.
That burly man had noticed that there was a man chopping at a sword madly with bare hands; he seemed to find it astonishing, so he walked over. Xie Lian and Pei Ming both covered their faces with their hands at the same time and turned around. As for Ming'guang, when he noticed a giant corpse walking towards him, looking to be one of great strength, he called to him.
"Hey, big guy, give me a hand! Help me knock out this sword and break the array, I'll split the heads inside with you!"
Yet, that burly man didn't seem to be a man of the midlands, and didn't die a ghost of the midlands. So, the languages were different, and he didn't seem to understand what was said; he only shouted back. The two shouted at each other for a while, but nothing was achieved except veins popping.
Pei Ming did his best to look natural while keeping his face covered; trying to appear suave. He whispered, "Your Highness, what's that savage yelling about?"
Xie Lian whispered too, "He thought your sword was trying to provoke him, so he got mad; telling him to kneel down and beg for mercy, otherwise he'll beat him to death."
"Oh good," Pei Ming said. "Hope they start fighting soon, then."
Yet unexpectedly, that giant man seemed to have heard their whispers and turned his head around, staring at them closely. Xie Lian and Pei Ming tightened the hands covering their faces, no longer able to care about appearing natural. However, that burly man still recognized them and he stomped, the entire ground quaking with it.
He roared, "IT'S YOU! SCRAP-COLLECTING CULTIVATOR! PEI SU'S BOSS!"
Since they were recognized, the two dropped their hands. After some hesitation, Xie Lian said warmly using Banyue tongue,
"General Ke Mo, please calm down."
That peculiar burly man was naturally Ke Mo, who had escaped his seal after Mount Tong'lu's tremors aroused millions of ghosts. He was first captured by Xie Lian, and had also seen Pei Ming, who stood next to Pei Su during his trial. Seeing his enemies, his eyes reddened, and without another word, he kicked at Fangxin; that sword was instantly knocked off-centre by an inch!
Seeing this, Ming'guang clapped and cheered, "DIVINE!", and he continued to shoot out blast after blast. Seeing Fangxin shaking harder and harder under their combined attacks, Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng's forehead, but his hand instantly shrank back from the heat.
"What should we do?!"