Chapter 35: Another Immortal Cultivator
Qin Sang struggled to stand up, watching as King Yan emerged, holding the soul of the monk in its jaws. Glancing at King Yan, who appeared much more solid than before, Qin Sang felt a slight sense of relief, seeing no signs that it would devour its master. Eagerly, he began to interrogate the soul of the monk.
He was deeply curious about the Xuanji Temple, the sacred ground of martial arts, and also wanted to know if Saint Yuanjue had encountered any other immortal masters during his years of travel.
…
As the soul of Saint Yuanjue dissipated, a look of surprise appeared on Qin Sang's face.
The souls of those King Yan had killed before had all existed for similar lengths of time, but the monk's soul had lasted only half as long as the others. This was the first time Qin Sang had seen such a phenomenon.
No matter how much he pondered, Qin Sang couldn't figure it out. He hadn't expected such a thing to happen, and there were still many questions left unanswered.
Even so, the information he had extracted from the monk made Qin Sang feel that the danger he had encountered had been worthwhile.
It turned out that the reason Saint Yuanjue had immediately recognized Qin Sang as an immortal cultivator was because Xuanji Temple had killed an immortal cultivator decades ago!
At that time, two grandmasters of Xuanji Temple, both at the innate stage, had besieged the immortal cultivator.
That immortal cultivator had used techniques similar to Qin Sang's, wielding a bell. With a gentle shake, one of the Xuanji Temple's grandmasters had died mysteriously, just like the Reckless Monk, without any visible injuries.
The other grandmaster had been utterly terrified and, in a desperate struggle, had resorted to a forbidden technique that drained his vital energy.
The immortal cultivator, shocked that a mere mortal could move so swiftly, had hurriedly pulled out a talisman from his robe and unleashed a water barrier. However, he had been too slow, and the sword light had pierced his heart.
When Saint Yuanjue saw the eerie way the Reckless Monk had died, he immediately thought of this past event. Originally hesitant, the monk had been prompted to act after hearing Qin Sang’s bluff.
It was Qin Sang's own lack of martial world experience that had given him away.
After that battle, among Xuanji Temple's only two innate stage grandmasters, one was dead and one was heavily injured, with his vital energy severely depleted. It wasn't until Saint Yuanjue broke through to the innate stage that the situation stabilized.
However, the gains from this battle were far from proportional to the losses.
The immortal cultivator's body had not contained the immortal cultivation methods they had hoped for. All they found was a purple bell, two talismans, and a bare jade slip—nothing else.
They tried to infuse true qi into the bell and the jade slip, but neither reacted. They even destroyed one of the talismans in their experiments.
After achieving the innate stage, Saint Yuanjue set out on his travels, with his most important goal being to find a way to unlock the secrets of the purple bell and the jade slip.
During the upheaval in the Great Sui, the monk received a message to return to his sect and happened to pass through Hening County on his way.
Qin Sang pondered for a moment before bending down to pick up the corpse of the monk. He felt a wave of weakness; the recent escape and struggle, though brief, had nearly exhausted his strength.
He quickly activated the Netherworld Scripture, circulating it for a full cycle to recover some energy. Qin Sang then turned back to retrieve the body of the Reckless Monk and kicked open the inner manor's door. The scene outside made him involuntarily gasp.
He had killed before—more than once.
He had stood on battlefields between opposing armies and witnessed the horrific scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
But seeing dozens of bodies lying on the ground, without a single fatal wound, either lying down or sprawled out like statues, made him feel a bit queasy.
Qin Sang picked up the Yan Luo Banner and inspected it, noticing that several of the holes in the flag had disappeared. King Yan stood obediently to the side.
The Reckless Monk had been a strict disciplinarian, and the curfew in Hening County was strictly enforced. Even though such a commotion had been made, the surrounding residents kept their doors tightly shut, not daring to come out and investigate.
Qin Sang looked around, then used his sword to stab each body in a vital spot. He piled the bodies beside the woodshed and tossed in a fire starter. Before long, the Chu Manor[1] was ablaze.
So many bodies couldn’t be burned to ash, but Qin Sang only intended to cover up the Yan Luo Banner; burning them to charred corpses would suffice.
Reciting a scripture under his breath, Qin Sang thought about how his hands were already stained with blood. Such pretentious behavior felt hypocritical, and he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. He was becoming increasingly cold-hearted.
…
Registrar Ma draped a coat over his shoulders, his gaze filled with anxiety as he looked out the window. He had been drafting official documents when he noticed a fire had broken out outside.
Why hasn't Magistrate Li sent anyone to extinguish the fire?
Bang!
Just as the registrar was about to return to his room to change into his official robes, two severed heads were suddenly slammed onto the table in front of him, causing him to scream in terror. His hand trembled, and he threw his pen aside. He fell backward, toppling over with his chair, and hit the back of his head on the ground, letting out another cry of pain.
"Spare me, brave warrior!"
Though over fifty years old, Registrar Ma moved swiftly. He scrambled onto the floor, not daring to lift his head, and kowtowed to the pair of feet before him.
"Whatever you desire, please just give the order! I will do anything you ask. Just spare my life!"
To his horror, the severed heads were those of Magistrate Li Ji and Chu Dazhuang. The registrar was nearly scared to death.
The Reckless Monk, who had been reputed as a top martial artist, had died inexplicably. The registrar knew he stood no chance of resisting.
Then, with another thud, the county magistrate's seal was tossed in front of him.
"Go out and calm the people. At midnight tonight, take this seal and open the city gates. If you miss the appointed time, your entire family’s lives will be at stake!"
With his head still bowed, Registrar Ma swore, "Brave warrior, rest assured, I will handle this matter without fail. If I don’t, there’s no need for you to take action—I’ll end my own life!"
Qin Sang chuckled. "Aren’t you curious why you’re being told to open the city gates?"
Registrar Ma’s eyes darted, and he responded with a tone of righteousness, "Brave warrior, you may not know this, but I have long awaited the arrival of the king’s forces! The current fake emperor is immoral and corrupt, provoking the wrath of the heavens, which brought down natural disasters that left the thirteen commanderies of the Great Sui littered with exposed bones. This is an outrage against both humans and gods! Yet Li Ji and the other lackeys of the fake emperor remain stubbornly deluded, using their power to oppress others. I can only regret that I am old, weak, and of lowly status, forced to feign cooperation with these villains. Day and night, I yearn for a wise ruler to save the people, shedding tears in secret. Today, my wish is finally granted. I shall exert all my efforts to repay you and the king…"
Registrar Ma, filled with righteous indignation, finished his impassioned speech, only to realize that the pair of feet in front of him had vanished at some point. He cautiously raised his head—no one was there.
…
Hening County's seat fell, and the rebel forces set their sights on the district's capital. The elite of Jiangzhou panicked, issuing one blunder after another, and forcibly recalled the garrison troops from Duling County to defend the district's capital. However, they were ambushed on the way, and the defeat was catastrophic.
The day after the fall of the city, Qin Sang left Hening County. He later heard that Wang Liu had flown into a rage, but Qin Sang couldn’t have cared less.
That year, the people of Jiangzhou spent their New Year amidst the chaos of war.
Less than three months later, Jiangzhou’s capital fell. The army, after a brief rest in Jiangzhou, split into two forces, one heading north to Beipingzhou and the other to Huzhou.
By then, Qin Sang had already spent over a month in Hunwu County in Jiangzhou.
He still hadn’t managed to break through to the third stage of the Netherworld Scripture. Now, after a full night of cultivation, he saw little progress, stuck at a bottleneck that had persisted for an entire month.
1. This is the manor of Chu Dazhuang. It is common to put the surname of the owner before the word "manor" to indicate ownership. ☜
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