Chapter 22: Heaven Loathe Saber

Chapter 22: Heaven Loathe Saber

Sure enough, Fang Tiantiao didn't believe him.

Fang Che gave him a cold sneer before turning to depart.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home for dinner."

"Let's go out to get a drink together. I'll treat you."

"No thanks! Once you grow accustomed to complacency, you'll never be able to reacclimate yourself to the flames of war. You can continue living in this peaceful fantasy world of yours, but don't expect me to join you."

Fan Tiantiao shuddered, feeling as if he had been rooted to the spot by a bolt of lightning.

Fang Che's words resonated in his mind like the sound of a deafening gong.

Have I become too complacent and accustomed to peace? No wonder I haven't made any progress in my cultivation base these past few years... Are people from the demonic churches constantly preparing for war?

Chen Ruhai appeared behind him, wearing a pair of airtight shoes.

"What's wrong?"

"Have we gotten complacent?" Fan Tiantiao asked in a slightly dejected manner.

"What kind of question is that?" Chen Ruhai chuckled. "You're supposed to be altering the enemy's mindset, yet it sounds like you've been influenced by him instead."

Fan Tiantiao shook his head and didn't say anything.

"Let's go have a drink."

"I'll pass. I'm going home to cultivate," Fan Tiantiao replied as he took a disdainful glance at Chen Ruhai's shoes.

"I'm inviting you out for a drink not to lick my feet! What's..."

Fan Tiantiao was already out of sight before he had a chance to finish.

***

Upon Fang Che's return to the Virtue Manor, Ye Meng already had a lavish dinner prepared for him.

"Has work been tiring, Young Master?"

"Tiring? How could I be tired when I do nothing all day?" Fang Che harrumphed. "What's your cultivation base right now?"

"I'm almost at the ninth-rank General tier."

"Still?! If you don't make a breakthrough to the Lord tier in two months, I'll sell you..."

It occurred to Fang Che midsentence that he couldn't exactly sell a General to a brothel, so he amended, "I'll kick you out!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm terrified, Young Master," Ye Meng said with a placating smile. "I'll be sure to work hard."

"Alright," Fang Che said in a rather deflated manner, feeling as if his authority over Ye Meng were severely compromised.

After dinner, he made his way into the study before bringing in a brazier.

Sun Yuan had mentioned burning his saber manual to reveal its secrets, and Fang Che planned to do just that.

Just as Sun Yuan described, the manual was crafted from some type of unique material. Its pages were very thin, and they didn't feel like paper, metal, or beast hide.

He attempted tearing the pages, gradually ramping his strength as he did so, but even after exerting the force of a Great Grandmaster, the pages still showed no signs of tearing.

Sure enough, the manual was nigh indestructible.

In total, the manual contained over thirty pages.

The first ten or so pages had all been opened, but the rest seemed to have been fused as one, just as Sun Yuan had described.

The thirteen pages that had been opened contained Sun Yuan's thirteen Soaring Saber Techniques.

Fang Che set the manual down into the brazier, then reached into the fire to flip through its pages, and sure enough, a series of saber-wielding figures appeared on the pages of the manual under exposure to high heat, depicting the thirteen Soaring Saber Techniques.

Fang Che performed the techniques one after another in accordance with the manual, but there was no repeat of the eruption of baleful qi from that day.

Baleful qi? Perhaps that's the key?

Fang Che fished the manual out of the fire, then drew upon the baleful qi in his mind, condensing it to the tip of his finger as he brushed it over the cover of the manual.

In the instant that his baleful qi made contact with the manual, it immediately began to glow radiantly with dazzling golden light.

His baleful qi roamed over the cover like a miniature black dragon, revealing three words where there had previously been nothing: "Heaven Loathe Saber."

Fang Che was momentarily stunned as he stared at the name on the cover.

Just how resentful did someone have to be to hide the contents of their saber manual in this fashion?

The amount of baleful qi required to unlock the contents of the saber manual made it completely inaccessible to the vast majority of people!

Fang Che flipped open the first page as he continued to inject baleful qi into the manual.

The original contents of the first page disappeared, replaced by dense passages of text.

"I am Sun Wutian. My Sun Clan was not a powerful warrior, but it held some renown. Unfortunately, the riches of my clan brought about its downfall, and my entire clan was wiped out in one night. I was out visiting a friend, and upon my return, my clan had already been erased from existence. I pledged myself to the path of warriorhood, fueled by my burning desire for vengeance.

“I traveled across the land, finally encountering an opportunity that allowed me to join the Church of the Self-Righteous. Upon reaching the pinnacle of warriorhood, I exacted my revenge, decimating the thirteen home cities of the perpetrators and taking over nine million lives, only to discover my mistake. My clan had been wiped out by members of my own church, not the Guardians."

I knew it! Sun Wutian really did come from the same clan as Master Sun Yuan!

From these first passages alone, it was clear that he had suffered immense misfortune in his youth. Of course, this didn't excuse the heinous crimes that later went on to commit, but it did explain how he was driven onto the path that morphed him into the deity of death that he later became.

"However, the Five Spirit Parasite had already been planted in me, so there was no turning back. I slew the true perpetrators in my church, but by then, I was already considered an enemy of the world. I went into hiding under a false alias for three hundred years, leaving my bloodline in this world. However, none of my descendants displayed any aptitude for warriorhood. I presumed this to be a consequence of divine punishment for my heinous crimes.

“In any case, I was satisfied that my bloodline had been passed down. On this day, I will return to the Church of the Self-Righteous, leaving my clan to fend for themselves. In my wake, I leave behind this saber manual. If there should ever come a descendant of mine with aptitude for warriorhood, they can cultivate the thirteen Soaring Saber Techniques, and that should serve him well.

“If misfortune befalls my clan as it did all those years ago, then the resentment and vengeful fury of the survivors should allow them to muster sufficient baleful qi to reveal the hidden Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques. They will walk down the same path I once trod, embarking on a quest for vengeance, perhaps becoming an enemy of the world just as I did, but no matter.

“The heavens have already condemned us to the fate of losing our clans, so why not slaughter everything under the heavens in retaliation? The Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques draw upon baleful qi as a catalyst and become more formidable the more lives that are taken."

What followed was the cultivation method of the Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques, and Fang Che eagerly read on.

The more he read, the more stunned he became by the unimaginable potential of the Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques.

Baleful qi gave rise to killing intent, and the more potent one's baleful qi, the more fearsome their killing intent. The killing intent crushed the enemy's psyche, following which the saber harvested their life. The more lives that were claimed, the more baleful qi would be accumulated, leading to even more potent killing intent, forming a self-reinforcing loop.

After reading through the entire manual, Fang Che set it down with a heavy heart.

While these saber techniques could grant one incredible power, the accumulation of baleful qi qi and killing intent would eventually drive one insane, reducing them to a mindless killing machine.

While Fang Che desperately desired more power, he would be squandering this second chance at life if he were to allow himself to descend into slaughter-induced madness.

With that in mind, he heaved a forlorn sigh and set the saber manual aside as he fell into deep thought.

Not cultivating these saber techniques would be a massive waste, and by cultivating them, he could potentially establish ties with the resurrected Sun Wutian, opening up many opportunities that could be crucial to his development in the Church of the Self-Righteous.

However, he was deeply concerned at the possibility of losing his sanity to these saber techniques.

After much contemplation, he decided to give it a try. The opportunity was simply too good to pass up.

Fang Che circulated his baleful qi through his meridians in accordance with the route stipulated on the saber manual, and sure enough, a burst of killing intent instantly welled up within his heart, striking him with the urge to go on a murderous rampage.

Alarmed by this spate of murderous intent, Fang Che was just about to dissipate his baleful qi when a surge of power from the Boundless Sutra rose up from his dantian, instantly suppressing the nefarious urges to fully restore his mental clarity.

Fang Che was ecstatic! The Boundless Sutra really was a godsent miracle!

What if I use the power of the Boundless Sutra to control my baleful qi while using the Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques?

Fang Che immediately gave it a try, and sure enough, the baleful qi instantly became tame and obedient, while the accompanying killing intent also faded away, but the power of the saber techniques remained completely uncompromised!

Fang Che didn't dare to let his guard down, examining his soul and spirit sense repeatedly to ensure that there were no adverse effects.

If he could cultivate these saber techniques without having to fear its drawbacks, then he would have another powerful trump card up his sleeve.

If there were still some adverse effects even after using the Boundless Sutra, then he would just have to abandon these saber techniques for something else.

After conducting the experiment around twenty to thirty times, Fang Che was finally satisfied.

All he had to do was draw upon his baleful qi to envelop the blade of his saber, then think of some things to ignite his thirst of vengeance, such as the horrific state of the cities massacred by the Church of the Self-Righteous or Sun Yuan's head being nailed to the city wall.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Those vengeful thoughts instantly ignited his killing intent, but mental clarity wasn't affected at all.

Fang Che was brimming with excitement as he spent the entire night studying the Heaven Loathe Saber Techniques, and the more he saw, the more excited he became.

Every single technique harbored devastating power, and they perfectly complemented the immense baleful qi in his body.