Chapter 32: Celestial Demon Sect and First-Grade Hall

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Celestial Demon Sect and First-Grade Hall

CRACK!

CRACK! CRACK!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

...

Inside the Celestial Destiny Palace of the Demon Sect, Yun Feifei had lost count of how many times the whip had struck her. Her once jade-like skin was now covered in lash marks, with scarlet blood trickling down her chest, arms, and legs.

The whipping finally stopped.

Groaning in pain, she still remembered to say, "Thank you, Mother, for your mercy."

"Get dressed and come in."

The beautiful figure behind the red gauze spoke, her vermilion lips parting slightly.

"Tell me, what was he like when you saw Sha’Er?"

Yun Feifei picked up her undergarments and dress from the floor, one piece at a time. Enduring the unspeakable pain, she put on her blood-soaked clothes and slowly walked behind the red gauze curtain.

She lifted the red gauze.

The residence of the Master of the Celestial Demon Sect lacked any imposing aura; instead, it resembled the boudoir of an ordinary woman.

A dressing table and a bronze mirror were set by the window.

She stood before the bronze mirror, draped in a red robe. Her fair hands stroked her hair, combing it down gently as she studied her own reflection.

On the wall, not far from the bronze mirror, hung a painting.

The man in the painting had the air of a transcendent immortal, with sharp brows that angled toward his temples. He was dressed in a wide Daoist Robe that made his figure seem even more tall and imposing. Even existing only in a painting, nothing could hide his aura of being utterly detached from the mortal world.

The first feeling anyone would have upon seeing the painting was an inability to look at it directly—like a commoner laying eyes upon an emperor, feeling an immediate urge to kneel and kowtow.

It was only a painting, yet it possessed such a soul-stirring Magic Power.

Naturally, the one who painted it possessed extraordinary Power.

In this world, only the Demon Queen Yun Shouxuan, who had mastered the Celestial Demon Aura, could transfer such an ethereal aura onto a painting.

The man in the painting was none other than the former number one in the world.

Chen Canxuan.

Even though Yun Feifei saw this painting every time she entered, she couldn’t help but fall into a daze, her Heart Spirit shaken.

"Hm?"

As if she hadn’t received an answer, Yun Shouxuan’s eyebrow twitched in front of the mirror, and she turned to look at Yun Feifei.

This one turn revealed the face of the Demon Queen, leader of the great masters of the Six Demonic Paths.

Her eyes were as dark and lustrous as polished lacquer, and she was breathtakingly beautiful. Time seemed to have left no trace on her face; compared to Yun Feifei, who was in the prime of her youth, she looked merely two or three years older.

Yun Feifei hastily replied, "Brother Sha is about thirty percent similar to you. The other seventy percent... he resembles the man in the painting."

Yun Shouxuan seemed to freeze for a moment. Stroking her hair, she gazed wistfully at the painting and said,

"Seventy percent like him... Good, that’s good."

She then asked, "Did you go to his grave? Did you dig it up to take a look?"

Her words were shocking.

Yun Feifei knelt again, her face filled with fear. "I had intended to do so, but Brother Sha stopped me..."

"You couldn’t dig up his grave and see for me with your own eyes," Yun Shouxuan murmured. "Which means we still don’t know if the person buried on Dao Yi Mountain is really him."

Yun Feifei grew bold and asked, "Mother, do you really think Chen Canxuan isn’t dead?"

Yun Shouxuan turned her head to look at Yun Feifei.

Yun Feifei immediately shut her mouth and lowered her head, not daring to breathe.

Yun Shouxuan glanced at her, then walked toward the painting with a profound look in her eyes and reached out to touch it.

She spoke to the painting as if talking to herself:

"Dead? How could you be? Your Power was already the greatest in the world, and you were on the verge of shattering the void to ascend. You would only be fifty this year. For a Martial Artist, that’s the prime of life. How could you possibly die?"

Seeing her mother growing unstable again, Yun Feifei fought the urge to speak and console her.

But Yun Shouxuan seemed lost in her own world. Staring at the image of Chen Canxuan in the painting, she spoke with a neurotic edge,

"Are you really dead? Did you ever stop to think about how your rivals would torment us after you were gone—this widow and her orphaned son, me and Sha’Er?"

Yun Feifei didn’t dare to answer.

But inwardly, she gritted her teeth.

’The man in that painting had at least a dozen, if not twenty, women in his life.’

’You were far from the only one.’

’The only person he probably cared about was his son, Chen Sha. Women were disposable to him.’

’Even the Demon Sect Master was nothing special in his eyes.’

But she didn’t dare say any of this out loud.

She was merely the Sect Leader’s adopted daughter.

"Mother," Yun Feifei said, trying to change the subject, "Brother Sha was able to overpower both me and Elder Liang Pang at his age, and he wasn’t affected by the suppressive influence of Dao Yi Mountain at all. What’s going on?"

Yun Shouxuan said while combing her hair, "Don’t concern yourself with Sha’Er’s affairs any longer. I have other plans."

Yun Feifei said, "But without his Holy Bloodline, you’ll lack the legitimacy to unite the Demon Path and bring the Six Demonic Paths to heel. In recent years, I’ve heard that Long Zaitian’s Power with his Demon Heaven Tribulation has advanced again, and there are whispers..."

She whispered, "rumors in the Demon Martial Arts world say his Cultivation has already surpassed yours."

"Long Zaitian..."

Yun Shouxuan looked as if she had just heard a deeply unpleasant name, and a chill entered her gaze.

"Back when he used your Martial Aunt Pi Qingqing to break through the seventh layer of his Demon Heaven Tribulation, my Celestial Demon Sect forged a life-and-death feud with him. Now that he has cultivated the Demon Heaven Tribulation to the 8th Layer, he can likely rank among the top five in the world."

She glanced at Yun Feifei.

"But don’t worry. In a couple of days, I’m making a trip to the Zhao Country, because Heaven’s Artisan, who has been hiding from me for ten years, has finally revealed himself."

Yun Feifei was overjoyed. "You’ve found him? Does that mean you can..."

Yun Shouxuan continued combing her hair. "Once I find him, I can open the Asura Treasure Box left by your Grandmaster. After I take out the final two volumes of the Celestial Demon Strategy and the Preaching Demon Gall, uniting the Six Demonic Paths will be just a matter of time."

"At that time, I will personally go to Dao Yi Mountain, dig up that grave, and see if it’s empty or if someone is actually buried inside."

Yun Feifei bit her lip. "Actually, Brother Sha is the only Grandmaster on Dao Yi Mountain. If you could find the time to go yourself..."

Yun Shouxuan shot her a glance and exhaled. "You don’t know that he has a junior martial brother on that mountain. Although his Power is less than mine, if he saw me about to desecrate the grave, that old fool’s stubborn nature would likely drive him to detonate his own qi aperture to stop me."

"That’s why I only had you take a few Grandmasters and go quietly to Dao Yi Mountain to see if you could bring Sha’Er back in secret. But it seems now that, while Sha’Er’s unexpected power was a factor, your flawed decision-making was the greater issue."

Yun Feifei didn’t dare to speak, biting her lip and lowering her head.

But she had already taken her whipping, and Yun Shouxuan had no further interest in punishing her. She simply asked:

"On this trip to Dao Yi Mountain, you crossed paths with that new organization, the First-Grade Hall. Did you find out anything about the true extent of their power?"

"Reporting to you, Mother. The First-Grade Hall was established by a mysterious individual named Young Master Qing. The organization has already recruited sixty percent of the experts on the fame rankings of both the Zhao and Yuan countries. Its headquarters are located at the former site of the Immortal Sword Manor..."

.......

.......

Immortal Sword Manor.

A century ago, it was a major power whose name shook the Jianghu. The Manor Master was world-renowned for his sword forging. Every sword to come from the Immortal Sword Manor had once been wielded by one of the world’s top ten Swordsmen.

There was once a saying.

For any Swordsman in the world to become famous, they must first possess a sword forged by the Immortal Sword Manor.

A hundred years ago, the Manor Master of the Immortal Sword Manor forged a peerless sword. From the moment of its creation, it could autonomously absorb the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. It could even sense its wielder’s intent and fly freely to kill within a hundred paces.

When this sword appeared, the Martial Artists of the world dubbed it the "Immortal Sword." Its name was Lingxiao.

On the day of its birth, countless Martial Artists from across the world fought to claim the sword, and the Immortal Sword Manor was razed to the ground in the ensuing conflict. Afterward, the sword passed through the hands of many master Swordsmen.

Now, this Immortal Spirit Sword once again hung within the former site of the Immortal Sword Manor.

However, the place was no longer called Immortal Sword Manor. It had a new name.

The First-Grade Hall.

Seven days had passed since the Extraordinary Nine Monsters were annihilated on Dao Yi Mountain.

A goshawk finally flew here from Dao Yi Mountain.

It flew over the vast courtyards of the former Immortal Sword Manor, its eyes reflecting the rockeries, gardens, and dozens of interlocking courtyards below. It finally descended, landing on an ornamental rock in an inner courtyard of the First-Grade Hall.

"Is that... the messenger hawk raised by Copper Hand?"

A White-robed Scholar stepped forward and opened the copper ring on the hawk’s leg. Inside was a slip of paper, on which was a hastily scrawled message:

"There is still a First-Grade Great Innate expert on Dao Yi Mountain. We will die here. We hope Young Master Qing will avenge us."