"I really am 'old' now," Xie Xuanyi weighed the umbrella sword in his hand, gazing towards the blood-stained mountains and mocking himself inwardly.
Back in the day, even without his life-bound sword, killing such an evil cultivator wouldn't require a second strike.
A mere flick of his finger would suffice.
Yet today, two sword strikes had only severed an arm.
"Ha... ha..."
In the wild mountain overgrown with weeds and splattered with blood, the heavily injured Daoist Heavy Mist, crawling like a stray dog, covered in blood, desperately clung to a huge rock, sitting and turning his body with labored breaths.
Daoist Heavy Mist knew his death was certain.
This strike, seemingly only severing an arm, had in reality allowed the incomparably sharp Sword Qi to invade his organs. Within a few breaths, it had reached his Dantian.
Soon, his sea of Qi would be torn apart and shattered.
Before dying, he just wanted to clearly see the face of the stranger who had come uninvited to Yuzhu Town, to understand who this great Bodhisattva really was.
Xie Xuanyi fulfilled his wish, planting the "peerlessly sharp" paper umbrella into the muddy ground.
"You really want to know who I am?" Xie Xuanyi slowly walked in front of Daoist Heavy Mist, squatting down.
They looked into each other's eyes.
As he continuously coughed up blood, Daoist Heavy Mist looked at the young man in confusion and bewilderment.
"... Who are you?"
"My surname is Xie, Xie as in thanks," Xie Xuanyi stated nonchalantly.
Just this surname Xie caused the despondently sitting Daoist Heavy Mist's body to tremble violently, as if struck by lightning.
In Daoist Heavy Mist's mind, a face that had terrified him for half his life flashed.
"Da Sui Sword Palace... Xie Xuanyi?"
His voice trembled as he uttered that fearsome name.
Daoist Heavy Mist stared fixedly at the young man in front of him, his complexion turning paler than paper: "Impossible, Xie Xuanyi has been dead... ten years ago, died in the North Sea."
"The White Ghost pursued me across three thousand miles, watched as I severed my heart channels, ignited my life-bound Sword Qi, and plunged into the North Sea before he finally ceased," Xie Xuanyi explained, word by word: "Among those who pursued me back then, he exerted the most effort. It's clear that Yin Mountain deeply wished for my death, but unfortunately, I simply didn't die."
"How is that possible, how is that possible?"
Daoist Heavy Mist, unable to believe what was before his eyes, began breathing rapidly.
Staring at this familiar yet unfamiliar face, Daoist Heavy Mist realized that Xie Xuanyi's face seemed somewhat different from what he remembered.
Ten years had passed... The young Sword Immortal who should have died had not only survived, but had also become even younger!
Staring a little longer, Daoist Heavy Mist noticed a very ironic thing: the young man in front of him wasn't concealing his Primordial Energy, indicating superior cultivation. Instead, his body was utterly devoid of any Primordial Energy.
This was an empty shell.
The reason he could still severely wound him and slay the demonic creatures under his command... was because Xie Xuanyi understood "Sword Qi" all too well. Even without Primordial Power in his body to serve as a catalyst, he could still harness the forces of heaven and earth.
This discovery confirmed the identity of "Xie Xuanyi."
Because across the vast skies, there were very few sword cultivators who had cultivated Sword Qi to such a degree.
Belatedly realizing this, Daoist Heavy Mist suddenly felt a tremendous regret...
In this world, ninety-nine percent of cultivators needed Primordial Power to fight.
If the physical body is likened to a lake container, Primordial Power is the droplets of water within.
A Sword Cultivator without Primordial Power is nothing but a paper tiger, an empty shell. Even Xie Xuanyi, who could use the power of the heavens and the earth as his Sword Qi, wasn't as formidable as imagined.
If given another chance, he wouldn't choose to flee, but to fight... Perhaps, he would have had a chance to survive.
Even, he might have had a chance to counter-kill!
"Slap!"
A crisp slap shattered his fantasies.
Xie Xuanyi squatted in front of the half-dead Daoist Heavy Mist, swinging his hand: "Hey, wake up, it's not yet time to die."
"... You!"
Daoist Heavy Mist was furious yet dared not speak his anger.
Clenching his teeth, he said, "Since you are Xie Xuanyi, I only ask for a quick death!"
If word spread that Xie Xuanyi was still alive, the entire Da Chu would be shaken!
The grand killing event ten years ago was so sensational and on such a massive scale, it was considered unrivaled for several generations.
The day Xie Xuanyi died, the North Sea was turned upside down.
Countless people were restless at night.
They could not accept an outcome where Xie Xuanyi was still alive, knowing his ruthless nature. If Xie Xuanyi really survived, everyone involved in that killing scheme would be up for retribution!
It was only after a year passed and Da Chu remained peaceful without any incidents.
Only then could these people barely manage to sleep peacefully.
The Daoist of Heavy Mist knew very well what kind of "misfortune" he had run into today, finding out that Xie Xuanyi was still alive meant that there was no way he could survive.
"You will indeed die, but not now."
Xie Xuanyi spoke coldly, "I know the Demon Cultivators of Yin Mountain like to stick together for warmth and never leave the tiny scrap of land in the Southern Border, but Jia Yong Pass is a full ten thousand miles away from Yin Mountain. Why would Jin Yuan send you to such a place?"
"..."
Heavy Mist took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and prepared himself for death.
Hum!
Xie Xuanyi, expression unchanged, raised his hand. A paper umbrella, stuck in the muddy ground far away, instantly rose into the air and flew into his palm. He thrust the umbrella with great force into the shoulder of the Daoist of Heavy Mist, so deeply that the tip protruded from the back of a large stone!
"Ah..."
Perspiration the size of soybeans broke out on the forehead of the Daoist of Heavy Mist, and at this moment, he lacked even the energy to cry out, managing only a pained groan, as if he was about to expel his soul.
"I know more about Yin Mountain and its Cultivators than anyone else in the world. When it comes to clinging to life out of fear of death, you rank second, and no one ranks first."
Xie Xuanyi said, "If you're tough, then keep your silence. Isn't Yin Mountain fond of flaying and extracting bones, refining artifacts and formations? This time it's your turn; I will let you thoroughly experience what 'worse than death' feels like."
Having said this.
Xie Xuanyi, gripping the handle of the paper umbrella, was about to slowly pull it out—
The veins on the forehead of the Daoist of Heavy Mist bulged as he cried out in a pitiful voice, "I'll speak! I'll say everything!"
Xie Xuanyi halted his action of pulling the sword and smiled, signaling that the Daoist of Heavy Mist could begin.
"The reason I came to Yuzhu Town is that Yin Mountain could not accommodate me. Apart from me, there are many disciples of Yin Mountain who have been expelled from the Southern Border; to survive, we could only go north, fleeing Da Chu."
Towards the end of his words, ridicule was evident in his tone: "Now, Yin Mountain is no longer as glorious as it once was, beset on all sides, in a dire situation, thus forced to undergo the Sealing Mountain... in this regard, it's very similar to Da Sui Sword Palace."
"Why is Yin Mountain undergoing the Sealing Mountain?"
Hearing the mocking tone, Xie Xuanyi continued to apply force, slowly twisting the grip of the umbrella.
The Daoist of Heavy Mist's sweat fell like raindrops, and he hastened his speech, continuing to mock: "Perhaps the price paid by Yin Mountain to kill you years ago was too great? Many things have happened over the years... Many new powers have emerged within the Southern Border; in regions the Da Chu laws cannot illuminate, it's survival of the fittest, beaten parties can only shrink back in defense. As for the real reason for the sealing, I'm just a disciple who hasn't even reached the Cave Heaven Realm, how could I know?"
"..."
Xie Xuanyi understood the purpose of Heavy Mist's words.
To provoke him, hoping for a quick death.
He nodded and said, "I forgot you're just a minion."
The Daoist of Heavy Mist closed his eyes again, preparing to meet death.
But at the next moment, Xie Xuanyi's words caused him to open his eyes.
"You seem to have not explained the 'real reason' for forming arrays and cultivating in the territory of Yuzhu Town."
Xie Xuanyi said softly, "As you said earlier, as an Evil Cultivator expelled from your sect, you would want to survive by fleeing north, beyond Da Chu... that makes sense, but Yuzhu Town is still within the boundaries of Da Chu."
"A disciple of Yin Mountain, who hasn't even reached the Cave Heaven Realm, traveling thousands of miles to the Northern Border; if it was for survival, why not go a bit further north? Just a little further, and you would be completely out of the reach of Da Chu's laws, free and unrestrained."
Heavy Mist was struck at the heart of the matter, his face turned deathly pale.
"If it was for cultivation, why would you meditate in this land devoid of Primordial Energy?"
Xie Xuanyi smiled faintly and said, "After much thought, there's only one possibility... You originally intended to go north with your 'fellow disciples' to escape Da Chu. But, passing through the territory of Yuzhu Town, you discovered something tempting, something that made you hesitate, and eventually, you decided to stay here."
"What could there be in this land devoid of energy, what chance or opportunity that made you stay at all costs? Was it a never-before-seen Saint's Grotto Heaven, or a Spirit Pill that could rapidly advance your cultivation?"
Xie Xuanyi stared at the Daoist of Heavy Mist.
He shook his head and said calmly, "I don't think either. The fortune in a Saint's Grotto Heaven, with your strength, you might see it but wouldn't live to take it. As for the latter, if there were such miraculous medicine, you wouldn't still be at your current state."
To kill and also to destroy the spirit?!
Such brazen humiliation brought a flush of red to the Daoist of Heavy Mist's pale complexion.
He really wanted to use this resurgence of energy to settle life and death with Xie Xuanyi.
But unfortunately.
He already lacked the strength, not even enough to move a finger.
"After much thought, the only possibility is that you encountered an opportunity related to 'Spirit Control Art'..."
Xie Xuanyi stood up, looking down at this man facing death, his expression a mix of a smile and not a smile.
"The whole world says that White Ghost's position among the Yin Mountain Three Saints was all luck, solely because he found a nearly dead 'Earth Dragon' when he was at a low realm and signed a Spirit Control Contract with it, leading to his later prominence... Such fortune is rare in a hundred years, almost never seen in a thousand."
At this moment.
The Daoist of Heavy Mist's complexion uncontrollably returned to being pale.
He wanted to say something.
But it was too late.
Countless Sword Qi followed the blood, infiltrated the Dantian, tearing apart the Sea of Qi, and the Daoist's mind burst with myriad complex memories, which flashed by like a horse watching flowers.
At this moment, he could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion...
Moments later, Xie Xuanyi, standing in the pouring rain, looked in the direction the Daoist of Heavy Mist faced before dying, lost in thought.
That place was the "highest spot" surrounded by mountains.
At the break of dawn.
A ray of light, tearing through the clouds, burst forth from the gloom, falling directly on the mountaintop.