Wukong had been sitting by the creek for a whole day, and when he opened his eyes, it was already the evening of the next day.
His ears twitched, hearing waves of screams coming from twenty miles away.
"Could it be that demons are lurking, slaughtering the villagers in the mountains?" Wukong thought to himself, and immediately cast the Ground-Shrinking Spell, rushing towards the source of the sounds. Along the way, the screams intensified.
In the blink of an eye, Wukong arrived at the village, only to see a black wind spiraling into the sky, then heading towards the horizon. Wukong furrowed his brow, as the scent of blood followed the night breeze into his nostrils. He quickly walked into the village, only to find the roads awash with fresh blood, and villagers slain everywhere.
The elderly herb collector from earlier was leaning against a wall, his face ashen, apparently having breathed his last, with his broken machete in hand.
Just as Wukong was about to pursue the black wind that had rolled westward, at that moment, a slash of sword light thunderously descended!
This sword strike was indeed breathtakingly swift, enveloped in a sharp aura, the intensity of the sharpness causing the void to continuously crackle, as if it was about to tear it apart.
Wukong was not the same as before, naturally he dared not clash directly, and at the moment the sword light was about to fall in front of him, he clenched a Dharma Decree in his hand and turned his body into nothingness, then reappeared three meters away. Looking up, he saw three Sword Masters in the void above, one woman and two men, each with a youthful face.
The leading man, noble in bearing, held a three-foot green blade that radiated brilliance, while the woman beside him glanced coldly at Wukong and shouted, "Evil creature, you do not spare even the lives of ordinary people! Today, I shall have you die under my sword!"
Wukong said, "You have just arrived, how could you know that these villagers were killed by me? Stop falsely accusing me!"
The woman replied, "If you didn't kill them, why were you about to use an Escape Technique to flee?"
Wukong pointed a finger like a sword from afar, targeting the woman, and said, "I had just heard people screaming here, and upon arriving, I saw a black wind heading west, I was just about to pursue it after checking the situation!"
This young woman, lacking in worldly experience, seeing the villagers in the village brutally murdered, was greatly annoyed and grief-stricken. She was now adamant that all the people in this village had died at Wukong's hands.
"Demon, still trying to deny it! With that sly look on your face, you must either be disguised as a demon or belong to the Demon Path!" The woman wasted no more words, with a "clang" unsheathed her sword, formed a Sword technique in her hand, and charged towards Wukong.
"It's said that villains and women are difficult to raise, and indeed that's true!"
Wukong snorted coldly, seeing this woman take action against him without any reason, which greatly annoyed him. He had always been a fearless person who had once turned the Celestial Palace upside down; his temperament was naturally very fiery. If he had not undergone Nirvana, calming his temperament somewhat, he might have already smashed this woman into mush with his staff.
"Junior sister, be careful!" The leading man shouted, having already tested some of Wukong's cultivation during that previous sword stroke.
Wukong stepped back slightly, and just as her sword was about to pierce his throat, he suddenly grabbed it between two fingers.
The woman immediately felt as if her sword had stabbed into a rock, hard to pull out, and even harder to advance. Just as she was about to stimulate the sharp aura on the sword with her mana, Wukong had already let go, then suddenly flicked the sword blade sharply. This sword, capable of slicing gold and cracking stones, was instantly snapped by his finger, the broken blade spinning into the ground beside them, leaving the woman's wrist numb, and the broken sword involuntarily falling from her hand.
Fearing for the woman's safety, the leading man, along with the man beside him, flew towards him on their swords, pushing back Wukong, who did not intend to harm human life.
"Who are you, sir? I am the Young Villa Master of the Divine Sword Villa, Xie Yunhan," said the leading man loudly.
In the vast world, boundless and immense, aside from some more famous figures such as the Earth Immortal Town Yuan, the Mighty Bull Demon King and other loose cultivators, there are also powerful sects, among which sit masters no weaker than them. This Divine Sword Villa, Wukong had heard a little about it, its master, Xie Xiaofeng, was known as Sword God!
A person who dares to self-proclaim as the Sword God in the Eastern Divine Region naturally cannot be underestimated.
Wukong spoke in a deep voice, "I am but a loose cultivator, my surname Qi, first name Tian!"
Upon hearing this name, the three were all taken aback.
Those who cultivate often take much care in choosing their names, daring not to choose such an arrogant title. Heaven-Defying, to level with Heaven, to equal the Heaven itself! Choosing such a name might indeed carry karmic consequences, risking a calamity of total destruction.
"Brother Dao is truly formidable to dare take such a title!" Xie Yunhan couldn't help but exclaim.
"Arrogant!" The woman rubbed her sore wrist and muttered softly, only to attract a sharp gaze from Xie Yunhan.
Xie Yunhan thought to himself, "Regardless of whether this man is truly called Heaven-Defying, even if it's a pseudonym, he is arrogant enough! Just now, he actually snapped the Qinghua Sword, which my father personally forged for my younger sister, with his fingers. His cultivation level must be extremely high, I fear that even if I exert my full strength, I am no match for him!" He glanced at his younger brother and younger sister, "Just from that move alone, the three of us together are no match for him! This man has profound cultivation; if he wants to leave, wouldn't it be effortless? It seems that these villagers weren't killed by him."
Xie Yunhan secretly transmitted his thoughts to the two, who after contemplating, also found it reasonable. However, Xie Qingmei, whose father's Qinghua Sword was snapped by Wukong, felt utterly humiliated and genuinely distressed over the loss of the sword weapon. Thus, her expression wasn't as composed as Xie Yunhan's and Xie Yunshen's.
"Damned fellow, my grandmother's Qinghua Sword, if mother learns about this, wouldn't she scold me to death? Such terrible luck, just as I descended the mountain, to encounter such misfortune," Xie Qingmei inwardly cursed Wukong. Being youthful and unrestrained, lacking in cunning, she naturally displayed her thoughts on her face.
Wukong, of course, would not bother with a young girl. Hearing Xie Yunhan's words filled with surprise, he said, "A humble loose cultivator, I dare not claim to be formidable."
Xie Qingmei coldly snorted, "Ha! You could snap my sword with a flick, and you claim you aren't formidable? Or do you mean to imply that we are too weak?"
Wukong shook his head to himself, hearing Xie Qingmei's words but utterly ignoring them.
Xie Yunhan increasingly felt that Wukong had some charisma, and he began to consider forming an alliance.
Xie Yunhan, who had inherited the true teachings of Sword God Xie Xiaofeng, had been sharp and clever from a young age, advancing rapidly in the Sword Dao, and had made many good friends. He was quite well-known in the Eastern Divine Region.
"That demon must have fled long ago; I've been injured recently, otherwise, using my divine skills, I could easily locate where that rascal hides!" Suddenly, Wukong felt foolish for wasting words with these people. The demon that killed these villagers must have run far away by now.
Xie Yunhan said, "Brother Dao need not be upset, Xie has a way."
Having said this, he bowed to Wukong again, "Just now my sister, younger brother, and I were rude, because we saw this village and hundreds of innocent people slaughtered; it disturbed our sword hearts, affecting our judgment, leading us to mistakenly accuse Brother Dao. This was a grave mistake. I hope Brother Dao will not take offense. I shall accompany Brother Dao to pursue that demon, and I, Xie, will slay him to atone for our earlier offense."
Xie Yunhan spoke so seamlessly; indeed, this man possessed a keen and exquisite heart.
Wukong had some karmic ties with this medicinal herb collector, and he naturally knew that the more one advanced in cultivation, the more they valued karma. Although he had not fully comprehended what karma was, he had some understanding. If he wanted to resolve this karmic tie, the proper way was indeed to slay the demon! Not to mention karma, the insights given to him by the old man also obligated him to seek revenge.
Wukong said, "Dao friend need not be so courteous; I shall deal with that demon myself."
Xie Yunhan called him "Brother Dao," while Wukong referred to him as "Dao friend." From this address, Xie Yunhan gathered some thoughts. This Heaven-Defying Taoist truly seemed to have unfathomably deep cultivation! That previous strike also displayed his extraordinary power, yet Heaven-Defying appeared to hardly take it seriously.
Xie Qingmei and Xie Yunshen did not possess the intricate thoughts of Xie Yunhan and thus did not pay much attention to the conversation between the two.
"Yesterday, Heaven-Defying met the old herb collector and was quite enlightened by a conversation with him, thus forming some karmic ties. Unexpectedly, today the old man was killed by a demon, and to sever this karma, I must take action myself. Dao friend says you have a way to find that demon, please lead the way," Wukong brushed his sleeve and gave a small bow.
"Brother Dao may rest assured," Xie Yunhan said, his heart beating rapidly, astonished that Heaven-Defying Taoist had grasped the concept of karma? To so deeply perceive the karmic ties established between him and this old man indicated that Xie Yunhan's guess was indeed correct. Had they acted impulsively earlier, he and his siblings might have suffered by now.
Wukong said, "Thank you, Dao friend."
Wukong always felt that calling Xie Yunhan "Dao friend" was inappropriate, but considering his younger appearance and the name Heaven-Defying gaining recognition, others would think him an emerging talent. He had already recognized the might of those gods and buddhas, so he moved cautiously, ensuring that even a simple address matched his current identity.
Thus, Xie Yunhan leaped off the ground, stepping on his sword weapon, and with a gesture, pulled Xie Qingmei onto the sword, saying, "Brother Dao, please!"
Xie Yunshen nodded slightly at Wukong and also raised his sword weapon, standing in the air.
Wukong chuckled quietly to himself, finding Xie Yunhan to be very cunning. He made no further gesture, simply stepping forward and already rising into the air. He was thoroughly familiar with the Seventy-Two Transformations, although his mana had greatly declined, executing them wasn't too difficult, especially since he also harbored a strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi within him. Had it been in the past, a somersault would have carried him eighty thousand miles.
The Seventy-Two Transformations, as its name does not imply merely seventy-two changes; the seventy-two is a figurative number, indicative of the spell's myriad and profound variations. From this, it can be seen that the "Primordial Three Thousand Transformations" Wukong now had was not literally three thousand changes but referred to the Three Thousand Great Paths, all encompassed within! One can imagine how many times stronger it is than the Seventy-Two Transformations?