Chapter 390 - 372: She Completely Understood

Chapter 390: Chapter 372: She Completely Understood

Su Ling’er subconsciously lowered her head and looked at herself.

Wreathed in black qi, her body covered in demonic markings, her hands stained with blood... a demoness.

Then she looked up at him—her Senior Brother, clad in robes whiter than snow, standing with his hands clasped behind his back upon the brow of the Sword God.

She, too, had once dreamed of becoming a Sword Immortal of her generation, one whose sword-light could chill nineteen provinces, one who would protect all living things.

But now... her Senior Brother’s current appearance was the perfect embodiment of that dream, while she seemed to be straying further and further down the path of a demon...

’And besides, to cultivate such a righteous, even magnificent, Sword God Dharma Aspect, to possess such dazzling divine might... how could Senior Brother possibly be a Demon Cultivator?!’

If a Demon Cultivator could manifest such a Dharma Aspect, then the Celestial Dao must be blind!

Su Ling’er became even more certain in her heart. ’Senior Brother must be a saintly figure, lurking in the dark abyss!’

’He’s in the Guixi Sect, this vile den of iniquity, but his heart holds the righteous path. He’s even willing to bear a terrible reputation to plot something world-shaking! Perhaps it’s to set things right, or perhaps to overthrow the Guixi Sect, this demonic sect, and the Demon Venerable behind it.’

’Yes! That has to be it!’

At this thought, Su Ling’er’s blood boiled with excitement. A sense of mission, unlike anything she had ever felt, surged within her.

’The Guixi Sect is a demon’s lair, and its waters run too deep! Aside from people like Mu Ling, whom Senior Brother personally named to be protected... all other innocent people must not be allowed to go astray!’

’From now on, for anyone who wants to join the Guixi Sect, unless they have a handwritten decree from Senior Brother himself, then...’

It was her duty, Su Ling’er’s duty, as the sect’s guide, to drive them all away from the mountain gates!

’I must make them see the difficulty and retreat! I must make them turn back from their wrong path! If they are obstinate, with demonic roots planted deep, then I will suppress them utterly, squeezing their room for growth to fuel my own!’

She understood it all now! Everything her Senior Brother intended!!!

...

「Inside Anhe City」

Dead silence.

But this silence did not last long.

The Qi Refining Stage players craned their necks, staring upwards until their vertebrae let out a series of audible CRACKS.

As a third-level Qi Refining Stage master, the player "One Sword to Rule the World" looked down at the nicked sword in his hand, then back up at the [Sword God Dharma Aspect] in the sky, with seventy-two colossal swords floating behind it.

He fell into deep thought.

"No way..." He threw his sword to the ground, his composure shattering. "How is that even fair?!"

"We’re all using swords, right? Me, I’m like, using a paring knife to scratch my ass—really opened my eyes. And him? He’s like something out of a legend: ’The Sword Dao was an eternal night until he appeared.’ Is that it?"

"Is this even fucking reasonable? I want to get huge too! I want all those special effects! Hell, I’d take a single leg hair from that divine-looking Dharma Aspect and use it as a sword!"

"Should I take out a loan? Nah, forget it."

"That’s the Law of Heaven and Earth, isn’t it? That has to be the Law of Heaven and Earth!"

The player "BiquCountryGo4" was practically drooling with envy, his mind filled with the image of that gigantic form. "This is ridiculous! Is the gap between pay-to-win players and free-to-play players really this huge?"

"Down here, we’re playing ’Pixel Survival: Don’t Starve.’ Any slightly larger monster can crush us with one stomp."

"Up there, he’s playing *Black Myth: Cultivation*! That lighting! Those models! That combat feel! Look at that demon god, looks just like the Huiyue Demon Monarch. You can just tell it drops amazing loot!"

"I don’t care! I wanna get huge too! Coach, I want to learn Cultivation! I want to become a Nascent Soul right now, ahhh!"

...

A group of players squatted by the corner of a ruined wall, pointing and chattering.

[Hey, you guys think this game has ’private servers’ and ’official servers’? Why does it feel like we’re playing the bargain-bin version while he’s on the supreme VIP custom-built edition?]

[Be more confident. Drop the ’feel like.’ Look at that Dharma Aspect. What do you call that? That’s the ’power of money’! Every inch of that light effect is burning cash! Why else would we be wandering players while he’s a sect player! And there are even different tiers of sect players...]

[Sigh. Comparisons are odious. We’re still figuring out how to earn copper coins, and he’s already up there piloting a Gundam against Godzilla.]

...

「Celestial Furnace Sect」

As the former patron sect of Anhe City, the Celestial Furnace Sect should have been the most concerned about the Nascent Soul fluctuations to the southeast.

However, the reality was—they had no time to worry about it.

At this moment, the entire Celestial Furnace Sect was in utter chaos.

"Report—! Sect Leader! Something terrible has happened!"

A deacon, covered in dust and grime, scrambled into the main hall and shouted, his voice choked with sobs:

"The main Earth-Fire Dragon Vein... it collapsed on its own!!"

"Just now, without any warning, the Earth-Fire Dragon Vein that had been stable for a thousand years suddenly went berserk. Magma flowed backwards! The fire vein lost control and blew up half of the Artifact Refining Peak next to it!"

The teacup in the Sect Leader’s hand trembled. "Quickly, put out the fires!!"

"Report—!!"

Before the Sect Leader could even catch his breath, another disciple rushed in, his face green. "Sect Leader! The spirit beasts on the back mountain have been struck by a heavenly plague!"

"A strange wind blew from nowhere, carrying some unknown poisonous miasma. After inhaling it, the spirit beasts all began vomiting and having diarrhea!"

"Report—!!"

The third piece of bad news followed close behind. "Mr. Huohua... he’s collapsed again!"

"The Elder had just recovered and had barely stepped out of his cavern-abode to get some fresh air. A piece of debris from the explosion on Artifact Refining Peak suddenly fell from the sky, and without deviation, smashed right into the Elder’s face!"

"The Elder didn’t even have time to activate his protective spiritual light. He was knocked out on the spot! His aura is in disarray, and his cultivation level is even showing signs of instability!!"

Ever since Mr. Huohua had taken on a personal disciple, not only had he been plagued by endless misfortune, but the entire Celestial Furnace Sect had fallen into a vicious cycle of bad luck that defied all logic.

Disasters always struck out of the blue, with no logic to them. It was the kind of luck where you’d choke on water, trip on flat ground, or get struck by lightning while in seclusion.

It was as if the Celestial Furnace Sect was being devoured by some unseen black hole...

Listening to this string of disastrous reports, the Sect Leader of the Celestial Furnace Sect clutched his chest, feeling as if his Dao heart was about to shatter.

At that moment, he did indeed sense the two terrifying Nascent Soul fluctuations and Dharma Aspect auras coming from the southeast.

That place... it was the blood-offering ground that the righteous path’s higher-ups, for their own benefit, had personally made the Celestial Furnace Sect cede to the Ghost Spirit Sect.

That was the feeding ground the righteous path’s leadership had, for their own gain, personally ordered the Celestial Furnace Sect to surrender to the Ghost Spirit Sect.

’What the hell is that old ghost Youquan up to? Didn’t we agree he’d harvest them quietly?’

’And who does that other aura belong to? Someone who could force Youquan to reveal his Dharma Aspect?’

Logically, if such a major incident occurred there and affected their arrangement, he should have sent someone to investigate, no matter what, even if only for show.

But... investigate his ass!

The Sect Leader looked outside the main hall. What was once an ethereal, immortal-like scene was now choked with black smoke, with disciples running around in a panic. His eyes filled with exhaustion and the desire to just give up.

’Forget it! The Celestial Furnace Sect has already withdrawn as agreed. Let them do whatever the hell they want over there.’

...

「Cloud Fall Sect · Observatory Platform」

On the astrolabe, the once-calm star patterns suddenly began to tremble violently.

The elder in charge of observation snapped his eyes open, his expression changing drastically. He saw, in the southeast, a baleful star soaring into the sky, accompanied by a crimson, bloody light that faintly formed the specter of a demon god.

’Is that... the direction of Anhe City?’

’A Nascent Soul Dharma Aspect?! Is that Youquan of the Ghost Spirit Sect?!’

The disciple beside him hurriedly asked, "Elder, should we send someone to investigate?"

Hearing this, the elder’s eye twitched violently.

He remembered the incident with the Spirit Eye Tree Essence Liquid, the bitter experience of being set up and slaughtered by a joint effort of the righteous and demonic paths.

The elder’s fingertips flew across the astrolabe, performing a quick divination. He then stared at the resulting trigram.

[A sign of great misfortune.]