Shang Shuangze was pressed against a tree trunk, spiritual power shaking through his meridians as sword intent reverberated and the Biluo Nine-Turn Art circulated rapidly. His divine sense had been emptied, his five senses were clouded, and only the sound of annihilation remained beside his ears.
Looking at the anxiety on the face before him, Shang Shuangze finally could not endure it and pulled Xia Yunzhao into his arms as though holding a precious, fragile porcelain treasure. Foundation Establishment already. From the seventh layer of Qi Refining all the way to Foundation Establishment in such a short time. How had his meridians endured it? How many times had they torn and repaired themselves?
Xia Yunzhao froze when Shang Shuangze hugged him, then instinctively hugged him back and soothed him. “It’s fine. I’m out already. You rescued me! We tore that entire mountain apart!”
Shang Shuangze closed his eyes, and as he felt the warm, bright aura inside his embrace, his emotions gradually calmed and the Biluo Nine-Turn Art settled. At last, the sound of annihilation disappeared, yet silence remained. The backlash of the Fuli Annihilation Sword would not vanish so easily.
He watched Xia Yunzhao’s lips open and close and carefully read them. “Shang Shuangze? Shang Shuangze, can you… hear…”
Xia Yunzhao paused, then simply took Shang Shuangze’s hand and placed it against his own throat. Looking directly into his eyes, he spoke one word at a time. “What happened to your ears?”
Shang Shuangze opened his mouth, his voice even softer than usual. “Only sword-art backlash. There’s no need to worry.”
“How could I not worry?” Xia Yunzhao grabbed his hand and pressed it more firmly to his throat. “Why is there backlash? Is it because your cultivation fell to Foundation Establishment? How can it be healed?”
Helplessness flashed through Shang Shuangze’s eyes, so he could only slow his speech and answer one question at a time. “The sword art I cultivate is the Fuli Annihilation Sword, which I have currently cultivated to its third layer. I forcibly used third-layer Annihilation Sword intent while only at Foundation Establishment, which caused the backlash. However, the Biluo Nine-Turn Art I cultivate can suppress backlash from the Fuli Annihilation Sword, so there truly is no need to worry too much.”
“The issue is that every time the Biluo Nine-Turn Art completes one turn, my cultivation regresses once. When I fell from Golden Core to Foundation Establishment, the Biluo Nine-Turn Art likewise regressed to its second layer, weakening its suppression of Annihilation Sword intent and allowing some backlash to appear. One of the five senses is randomly obscured, and this time I lost my hearing.”
“So that’s what happened…” Xia Yunzhao tightened his grip on Shang Shuangze’s hand. He knew why Shang Shuangze had forcibly used that sword art: to save him. “Is there any way to treat it? Do you need some heavenly treasure or pill?”
Shang Shuangze sighed faintly. “Backlash from the Annihilation Sword does not require treatment. As the Biluo Nine-Turn Art improves, it will disappear naturally… If one insists on shortening the duration, Innate Snow Essence can rapidly advance the Biluo Nine-Turn Art and reduce the time affected by the backlash.”
Xia Yunzhao froze. “But can’t you not consume spirit medicine?”
Shang Shuangze said, “Other spirit medicines truly cannot be used, and even forcing myself to take them would have no effect. However, a small number of spirit medicines are highly compatible with my cultivation method and can be taken. Innate Snow Essence is among them.”
“So that’s it. Then we’ll find Innate Snow Essence!” Xia Yunzhao said decisively. “We’ll go to Qingxi City first and ask whether the information shop knows anything.”
He turned and began walking but did not release Shang Shuangze’s hand.
Shang Shuangze looked at their clasped hands and, in the end, could not bear to let Xia Yunzhao keep worrying. “Losing my hearing does not inconvenience me much. Besides, Innate Snow Essence is an innate spirit treasure. Information about something like that will probably cost an astronomical price.”
Xia Yunzhao turned so Shang Shuangze could see his lips. “Astronomical? I’d pay terrestrial too! We aren’t poor anymore!” Then he looked seriously into Shang Shuangze’s eyes. “Stop saying it doesn’t matter. I don’t like hearing that. It matters to me. I want to see you healthy and slaughtering everything in your path.”
Shang Shuangze froze slightly, then softened his voice. “All right. We’ll find Innate Snow Essence.”
Xia Yunzhao immediately smiled, and the two continued toward Qingxi City.
At the gate, they found Wei Ling and Wei Tu already waiting. Seeing them, the siblings relaxed, and Wei Ling said, “We thought something happened to you!”
Then she looked curiously behind them. “You left before us. Why did you get here so much later? Did something happen?”
Xia Yunzhao said, “Yes, we were delayed on the road. Why aren’t you going inside?”
Wei Ling pointed. “Something seems to have happened in the city. Look.”
Xia Yunzhao looked ahead and saw people leaving the city but nobody entering, while even the guards at the gate had vanished.
The mortals running out looked terrified. “They’re fighting! The cultivator lords are fighting!”
“That’s right! The Fang and Liu family residences both collapsed! There’s an enormous white skeleton chasing them!”
“It’s terrifying. Have they done so much evil that heaven finally punished them?”
“Shhh! Are you trying to die? Saying that in the middle of the street!”
A white skeleton?
Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze looked at one another and both understood something, then flashed around the crowd and entered the inner city. Wei Ling and Wei Tu did not know what they were doing, but since the siblings had come to help, they immediately followed.
The city was chaotic, though fortunately not many mortals had been injured. The center of the disturbance lay where the Fang and Liu families were located.
Two people stood on a nearby rooftop.
Du Yan lounged against the roof tiles, drinking from his gourd while coldly watching the chaos below, while Xu Ziyu stood on the other side and watched as well.
Below, the familiar skeleton had been enlarged five times, standing nearly as high as the roof beams and chasing Fang and Liu family cultivators. Whenever it caught one, it took out a white jade piece and inserted it into the person’s hair, and if the jade turned red, the skeleton killed the cultivator without hesitation.
Not a single cultivator managed to keep the jade white, so in only a short period the skeleton had killed people all over the ground. Blood spread outward, and the thick smell drove ordinary people even farther away.
“What does that jade piece do? Can it tell whether someone has done evil?” a voice suddenly asked beside them.
Du Yan and Xu Ziyu turned simultaneously and found Xia Yunzhao standing beside them while holding Shang Shuangze’s hand.
Xu Ziyu immediately turned his head away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Du Yan laughed. “Why assume I’m looking for people who’ve done evil? Why not assume I’m simply slaughtering people indiscriminately?”
Xia Yunzhao stared at him. “Do you have some kind of fetish for getting cursed at? Does everyone thinking you’re a villain give you pleasure?”
Du Yan choked and sprayed out a mouthful of wine. “W-what fetish? What pleasure? What nonsense are you saying?!”
Xu Ziyu looked delighted that somebody else had fallen victim to Xia Yunzhao. “That jade piece is called a Karma-Illuminating Jade Tally. It reveals blood debts carried by cultivators. His was stolen from the Du family and isn’t high-level, so it can only inspect cultivators below Foundation Establishment…”
Halfway through, Xu Ziyu’s head snapped back so violently one worried it might fly off. “Wait. Are you at Foundation Establishment now?”
He rushed over to examine Xia Yunzhao and frowned. “You took a shortcut? I’m telling you, Xia Xiao-Zhao, shortcuts aren’t easy! Whether it’s an evil cultivation method that accelerates cultivation or pills, there’s always a price! You…”
He examined Xia Yunzhao for a long time, then shut his mouth and, after a while, muttered, “You’re really ruthless to yourself.”
Shang Shuangze’s grip on Xia Yunzhao’s hand tightened instantly.
Xia Yunzhao smiled reassuringly at him, then said to Xu Ziyu, “I didn’t have a choice. The opportunity was there, so you could say I benefited from it. What’s happening here?” He looked at Du Yan. “You cultivated the White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art to kill the Fang and Liu families? Is this revenge for Du Qianshan?”
Elio’s Notes: The Chinese source reads “Ji family” in this line, but the surrounding scene consistently identifies the Fang and Liu families as the targets here. This appears to be a source typo, so “Liu” is used in the translation.
Xu Ziyu immediately fell silent.
Du Yan said flatly, “It is revenge, but not for Du Qianshan… At least, when I came to Qingxi City, I did not know Du Qianshan had died here.”
This was another story from the past.
Only after Du Yan arrived in Qingxi City and contacted the Du family did he learn that Du Qianshan had disappeared decades earlier. Then Xia Yunzhao gave him Du Qianshan’s final letter, and only then did Du Yan discover that Du Qianshan had vanished inside Liancui Mountain.
As for Du Yan’s original purpose in Qingxi City…
He asked, “Have you seen the abandoned villages outside the city?”
Xia Yunzhao immediately connected it to something and said quietly, “Yes.”
There were many villages outside the city, some abandoned and some still inhabited.
Some of the abandoned villages were not particularly ruined and looked as though people had still been living there the previous year, almost as though every villager had vanished overnight.
Xia Yunzhao had never considered why those villages were empty. There was no sign of war, fire, natural disaster, or other calamity, nor any obvious traces of villagers having been harmed.
But now he thought about it. If cultivators had done it, killing an entire village of unarmed mortals without leaving traces behind would be easy!
The first Mountain Guardian Village they had visited would have met the same fate if Shang Shuangze had not happened upon it and found them an antidote. It too would have become one more abandoned village among countless others.
Du Yan said, “I promised a little girl I would avenge her entire village.” One sentence summarized a story that probably contained more tragedy than anyone wanted to imagine, and then he turned his head. “Speaking of which, where did the Fang family main branch go?”
“They’re all dead,” Xia Yunzhao said, gesturing. “Fang Wenyuan killed them. He practiced an evil cultivation method and absorbed the bloodline and cultivation of the entire Fang main branch. Shang Shuangze killed Fang Wenyuan. And I killed Du Qianshan’s enemy too.” He briefly explained everything.
Du Yan and Xu Ziyu both froze, and Du Yan sighed. “Looks like I acted too late.”
Xu Ziyu stood speechless for a long time, then threw a porcelain bottle into Xia Yunzhao’s arms without saying anything.
Xia Yunzhao caught it, tucked it away, and naturally placed Shang Shuangze’s hand against his own throat before repeating the conversation they had just had.
Du Yan glanced over and thought, What kind of couple’s game is this now? No wonder people with Dao companions keep talking about fetishes and pleasure.
After Xia Yunzhao finished repeating everything, he was about to ask Shang Shuangze for his opinion when he noticed Shang Shuangze’s gaze deepen slightly and his thumb gently rub the soft skin of Xia Yunzhao’s throat…
Warmth spread rapidly from his throat, and Xia Yunzhao’s neck and cheeks instantly became faintly red. He instinctively cupped Shang Shuangze’s hand and moved it away. “I-I finished talking.”
Something about this felt wrong… Shang Shuangze had lost his hearing because of him, and putting Shang Shuangze’s hand on his throat was necessary so he could feel the vibrations. How could Xia Yunzhao start thinking nonsense?
Then a voice sounded beside his ear. “Thank you.”
Perhaps because Shang Shuangze could not hear himself, his voice was even softer than usual and slightly hoarse, giving his already pleasant voice an extra depth.
Xia Yunzhao’s ears reddened further. Still holding that hand, he hesitated, then finally placed it back against his throat. “…No need to thank me.”
Below, Wei Ling and Wei Tu, who had disappeared somewhere, suddenly poked their heads out, and Wei Ling waved toward the rooftop. “Fellow Daoist Xia! Senior Shang! The Fang family ancestral residence is open. There’s lots of good stuff inside. Hurry!”
Xia Yunzhao immediately pulled Shang Shuangze forward. “Coming!”
Du Yan stretched and stood. “Let’s go. Time to clean up.”
Xu Ziyu followed at the rear and jumped down as well.
Once they entered the Fang family ancestral residence, Xia Yunzhao immediately understood why Du Yan had needed the White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art.
Inside the residence, the giant skeleton had opened every room, not through any special technique but simply by smashing straight through. If a restriction blocked the door, it endured the damage, and although pits and cracks soon appeared across the bones, Du Yan only needed to change his hand seal for the White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art to nourish them back to normal.
Some Fang family cultivators were still hiding inside the ancestral residence. The skeleton dragged them out, inserted the Karma-Illuminating Jade Tally, and crushed anyone whose jade turned red. Extremely efficient.
Xia Yunzhao and the others followed behind and saw that throughout the enormous Fang residence, there was not a single cultivator without blood debts. This entire family treated wrongdoing as routinely as eating meals.
Since they had already come down, Xia Yunzhao and the others would not stand around watching. Keeping such cultivators alive merely wasted spiritual power, so they straightforwardly sent them to the afterlife.
Everyone split up to catch the remaining evil cultivators, since even one escaping would pose a danger to Qingxi City’s people. It took half a shichen before the cleanup was mostly complete.
“Fellow Daoists, over here!” Wei Ling poked her head around another doorway. “This is the Fang family treasury.”
Everyone followed her and found the treasury restriction had indeed been broken, with countless treasure chests stacked inside. Even through the closed boxes, everyone could sense abundant spiritual energy, clearly indicating that the contents were valuable.
Wei Ling smiled until her eyes became crescents. “They’re all magical artifacts and heavenly treasures. We’re rich! How do we divide them?”
Xia Yunzhao looked at Du Yan. The White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art had been created and controlled by him, so in terms of contribution, Du Yan had done the most.
Du Yan had already returned to his lazy demeanor. “None of us lack this little bit. Just divide everything evenly. If anyone particularly wants something, take it.”
Wei Ling hurriedly said, “That would be embarrassing. My brother and I only helped around the edges… How about this? Count the two of us as one share. Even close fellow Daoists should settle accounts clearly, and then we can visit each other often afterward!”
Xia Yunzhao laughed. “Fine. Let’s do that.”
Du Yan raised a hand, and every treasure chest opened at once, brilliant treasure light filling the treasury while spiritual power of countless attributes spread outward.
Everyone counted more than eight hundred chests, over seven hundred containing Level-One resources and fewer than one hundred holding Level-Two resources.
Among those Level-Two resources, over eighty chests contained spirit herbs and ores, while only a little more than ten held magical artifacts or pills. That showed how rare those two categories were in the cultivation world, and why pill cultivators and artifact refiners rarely lacked money.
Everyone began selecting according to need. Spirit herbs and ores were mostly ordinary, while the magical artifacts and pills required more consideration.
“Huh? What’s this…” Xia Yunzhao found a carriage. Naturally, the carriage itself was a magical artifact, stored inside a small box and capable of expanding to normal carriage size once spiritual power was injected into it.
This was Xia Yunzhao’s first time seeing a transportation magical artifact, so he released it out of curiosity. The entire carriage was green and smelled faintly of bamboo, and on closer inspection, it had actually been refined from bamboo. Its size was ideal for two passengers, fine wind chimes hung from all four corners, and although they were currently silent, stirring them with spiritual power would produce a mind-clearing ring. At the front stood a bamboo horse, currently motionless.
Wei Ling laughed when she saw it. “The Green Bamboo Carriage is pretty good. Exactly two seats. Perfect for you two.”
Xia Yunzhao was tempted too. Once matters here were finished, they needed to leave to find Innate Snow Essence for Shang Shuangze, so having a carriage would be useful.
He turned toward Shang Shuangze, who smiled faintly and indicated Xia Yunzhao could decide.
Xia Yunzhao said, “This carriage is a mid-Level-Two magical treasure, so its rank isn’t low. We’ll take this, and I won’t take any other Level-Two magical treasures or pills.”
Before anyone else could answer, Xu Ziyu snapped impatiently, “Why are you dithering? Do I look like I lack this little bit? Take whatever you want. Count it against my share!” Then he threw Xia Yunzhao the pills he had already selected.
Xia Yunzhao hurriedly caught them and found, with one look, that they were exactly the pills suitable for him now.
Knowing Xu Ziyu hated people hemming and hawing, Xia Yunzhao obediently put them away.
Wei Ling laughed at the exchange, then directed her big, foolish brother to move the remaining treasure chests out and open them before stuffing all resources assigned to the siblings into her own pockets.
As the division of treasures neared its end, orderly footsteps sounded outside, and everyone instinctively turned as a group entered.
Members of the Ji family… Xia Yunzhao raised an eyebrow toward Du Yan. Here to pick the fruit after everyone else did the work?
Du Yan drooped his eyelids and said nothing.
The Ji family truly deserved to cultivate the Yellow Springs Art. Every person wore a corpse-like face without the slightest expression, and after they entered and separated into two rows, a short figure appeared behind them.
He was small, but his cultivation was not!
His body was thin and dried, barely half the height of those around him. With his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes fixed permanently toward the ground, he walked straight toward Du Yan without lifting his head, almost as though he had eyes growing from the top of his skull.
Du Yan gave a perfunctory salute. “Greetings, Ji Family Head.”
This was actually the head of the Ji family… Xia Yunzhao turned and silently mouthed to Shang Shuangze, What cultivation?
Shang Shuangze smiled and copied him. Late Foundation Establishment.
Xia Yunzhao clicked his tongue. Another late Foundation Establishment cultivator!
Qingxi City might be small, but the strange winds here certainly blew hard!
The Ji family head finally spoke, his voice hoarse and unpleasant. Without wasting a word, he said, “Family oath. From this day forward, the Ji family will protect Qingxi City for generations, maintain order within the city, and safeguard the people’s peace. If we violate this oath, every member of the clan shall have their meridians severed and cultivation scattered.”
Xia Yunzhao froze and suddenly felt that something had changed. He raised his head sharply, and although the sky remained perfectly clear, he inexplicably felt as though some unknown existence high above the nine heavens had glanced toward this place and witnessed the oath.
This was… a Heavenly Dao oath?
Why had the Ji family suddenly come before Du Yan and sworn a family oath?
Du Yan showed no surprise. He merely nodded to indicate he had heard, then formed a hand seal and summoned the giant skeleton wandering outside to stand beside them.
Du Yan casually created a jade slip and tossed it over. “The White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art is yours. Our accounts are settled.”
The Ji family head nodded and pressed the jade slip against his forehead. After a while, his eyes suddenly opened, light flashed inside, and he formed a hand seal that made the enormous white skeleton obediently move behind him.
Xia Yunzhao watched in complete confusion and approached Du Yan. “What happened? You made an agreement with the Ji family?”
“Not that far in advance. We only agreed a few days ago,” Du Yan said. “The White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art originally belonged to the Ji family and was a technique created by Fifth Miss Ji herself. I only understand a little of it. When combined with the Yellow Springs Art, its power becomes extraordinary. If the Ji family had not lost the White Bone Spirit-Summoning Art, do you think the Fang family would ever have controlled Qingxi City? But I didn’t expect the Ji family to honor the agreement so thoroughly. They came here and immediately swore a family oath.”
So that was it… Xia Yunzhao mentally worked through everything and realized Du Yan had made the right decision.
The Fang and Liu families were filthy through and through, and even adding both families together, one could hardly find a decent person. Pulling them out by the roots caused no problem!
But did removing those two families automatically mean Qingxi City’s ordinary people would live well? Not necessarily!
In a city without order, the elderly and children suffered first, followed by anyone too weak to defend themselves, and even other mortals would bully them. Moreover, after the Fang family disappeared, perhaps a Li family or Zhang family would arrive tomorrow.
It was better to let the Ji family, which had always lived here, take responsibility. With the family oath binding them, they certainly would not become another Fang family, and Qingxi City’s people might not suddenly live in paradise, but ordinary peaceful lives should at least become possible!
Then Xia Yunzhao remembered Du Yan saying the Ji family valued promises, and a thought struck him. “Ji Family Head, please wait!”
His shout stopped the Ji family head and every other Ji family cultivator. Dozens of lifeless eyes turned toward him, while the Yellow Springs Art carried an aura of coldness, death, and faint grave dust that nearly made Xia Yunzhao shiver.
Shang Shuangze stepped forward calmly, blocking most of those gazes.
The Yellow Springs Art made people indifferent, not stupid, so every Ji family cultivator immediately lowered their head and looked at the floor.
Only the Ji family head’s hoarse voice remained. “What is it?”
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “Ji Family Head, I have an IOU written personally by your ancestor Shen Ziming. The creditor asked me to collect.” He handed the IOU over, then continued while the other man read it. “Of course, the debt is extremely old, and both the debtor and creditor have already returned to dust. I know the Ji family would never refuse repayment, but asking you for every last pearl after this much time would make me uncomfortable. So I’d like to exchange the IOU for information instead. Would you agree?”
The Ji family head finished listening. “What information?”
Xia Yunzhao smiled openly. “Do you know anything about Innate Snow Essence?”
Shang Shuangze’s hand shifted slightly around his, and Xia Yunzhao squeezed back before saying, “We want information about Innate Snow Essence.”
The Ji family head nodded immediately without any delay. “Nine thousand li north of here lies Ice-Soul Snow Mountain. Snow-Soul Lotuses grow upon the mountain, and Innate Snow Essence condenses within their stamens.”
Xia Yunzhao’s hands tightened. He had not expected to obtain the information that easily! Then he considered that the Yellow Springs Art itself carried cold yin energy, so perhaps the Ji family also needed Snow-Soul Lotuses and therefore knew a great deal about them.
Regardless, obtaining the information was enough!
Xia Yunzhao happily cupped his hands. “Many thanks, Senior. We’ll leave in a few days!” Then he laughed. “Too bad we won’t get to see the end of the Mist-Barrier Period.”
The Ji family head finally raised his head and looked at him. “The Mist-Barrier Period will end soon. No more than five days.”
Xia Yunzhao froze. “Why? I thought the Mist-Barrier Period lasted several months?” Then he remembered that everyone said the Fang family understood the Mist-Barrier Period well, but no matter how well they understood it, could they know more than a Ji family whose history reached back to Liuyun Market a thousand years ago?
The Ji family head must have had his reasons, so Xia Yunzhao thanked him again.
The Ji family head said, “If you wish to thank me, accept the debt payment.”
Xia Yunzhao blanked. “Huh? Accept the payment?” Who thanked somebody by collecting their debt?
The Ji family head directly removed a storage pouch and handed it over. He still had another pouch on his body, and strangely enough, his expression seemed slightly relieved. “Ancestor Shen Ziming left instructions. If anyone ever came carrying this IOU, the debt must be repaid. He prepared the payment while still alive.”
Xia Yunzhao sighed. “So that’s how it was.” Look at the debtor, far more conscientious than the person trying to collect. His descendants had been ordered never to forget!
Xia Yunzhao casually opened the pouch and glanced inside, then immediately snapped it shut.
A question mark practically appeared above his head. What the hell was inside that bag?!