Chapter 362: Sword Emperor of the West Sea

Gurgle, gurgle.

The underground magma flowed like boiling red oil, occasionally bubbling up with one or two gloomy bubbles, exuding an aura of destruction.

Suddenly, there was a splash.

A scarlet-black fin, sharp like a blade, sliced through the surface of the magma, moving forward along the scorching river.

Could there be traces of life in the deepest areas of the magma inside this volcanic cave?

And that was not the end of it. As the black fin moved forward, within the expansive mountain belly, there were signs of construction made by knives and axes. The further in it went, the more exquisite it became, until it reached a grand scarlet palace deep inside!

A large plaque with three characters hung in front of the palace: "Inferno Devil Valley."

This eerie, dark, and mysteriously solemn hall looked like the domain of devils at first glance, but it was now draped in white mourning cloth, carrying a hint of sorrow.

Faint sounds of women weeping occasionally came from within.

In front of the white mourning hall, a weeping woman led the mourners. Beside her sat a middle-aged man dressed in black robes and a dark crown. His expression was solemn and his brows furrowed with grief.

After a long while, he grunted, "Stop crying, it sounds annoying."

"Today is the seventh day since Hong'er passed away. Is it wrong for me to cry?" the woman sobbed. "You, as his father, can't avenge him. As his mother, if I don't weep, how heartbroken will Hong'er be when he comes back and sees this..."[1]

"If his soul really does come back, I'll refine it so he can be by your side forever," the middle-aged man said irritably.

"Yang Heng! What nonsense are you talking about!" the woman shouted as she began to hit him.

The middle-aged man, feeling helpless, abruptly stood up and walked out of the hall. The guards outside saw this and immediately lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

This man was Yang Heng, the current leader of the diabolical sect known as Inferno Devil Valley.

A few days ago, Yang Hong, Yang Heng's son and the one he had high hopes for, went to assassinate Chu Liang. Yang Hong never returned, and the people of Inferno Devil Valley assumed he was killed by Chu Liang, as they did not know the details.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

But since Chu Liang was a disciple of Mount Shu, Yang Heng did not dare to go there to seek revenge. Instead, he issued a bounty in the criminal world, but it had yet to yield any results in the past few days.

Since childhood, Yang Heng had designated his most talented son as the young master of Inferno Devil Valley, investing all his resources into nurturing him. Now, on Yang Hong's first venture out, just as he was about to make a name for himself, he suddenly met with disaster, and even the members in the outer halls of Inferno Devil Valley were all eliminated. How could he possibly feel good about this?

However, as the leader of Inferno Devil Valley, he had to prioritize the bigger picture. He could not be impulsive. No matter how intense the pain of losing his son, he had to endure it.

Now, having paid a high price to place a bounty on Chu Liang, he believed that Chu Liang's days would certainly be numbered.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw a black shark with red eyes leap out of the magma river ahead. The demonic beast jumped up and spat a beam of light onto the shore before twisting its body and disappearing back into the magma.

Yang Heng raised his hand, and the green light flew into his palm.

It turned out to be a jade booklet.

It was the Seven Stars Gazette of this month.

Yang Heng opened the gazette, intending to read it to relieve his boredom. As he flipped through it, his expression suddenly tightened.

It turned out that the first entry in the Uncommon Tales of the Martial World read as follows:

"The recruitment event at Red Cotton Peak of Mount Shu Sect is currently in full swing, with all matters being handled solely by Chu Liang of Silver Sword Peak. Any immortal sects or fellow Daoists interested in joining can contact him. This is a unique opportunity. Seize this chance while it lasts."

Not only was Chu Liang not suffering, but he was even thriving.

"Hmph!" Yang Heng spat, throwing the jade booklet into the magma. His teeth clenched in anger as he muttered, "Chu Liang..."

...

"

Achoo!

"

Chu Liang rubbed his nose, casually fed a berry to the white crane that had just landed, and sent it on its way.

He then picked up this month's Seven Stars Gazette and began to read.

Last month's Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures featured no updates on new enchanted tools, only minor ranking changes.

The established rankings of enchanted tools could still change. They were adjusted based on increased power, displayed battle achievements, or other reasons, with each adjustment rigorously evaluated by the Celestial Pivot Pavilion.

New enchanted tools would usually go through such adjustments. The rankings of those that have been listed for many years wouldn't change too much.

A few months ago, Taotie City successfully forged a legendary artifact called Golden Wings That Brush Against the Clouds, which initially ranked ninety-seventh. Over the past few months, Taotie City has tested it against other top-ranked legendary artifacts.

Just the day before yesterday, in a competition of precious artifacts, it won against the Sea King Sect's Cloudcrest Dragon Banner, which was ranked ninety-third.

As a result, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion decided to elevate the ranking of the Golden Wings That Brush Against the Clouds to ninety-third place, causing the Cloudcrest Dragon Banner to drop one rank and shifting the subsequent ranks accordingly.

Every new legendary artifact on the list would go through such multiple adjustments to finally find its suitable final position.

Next, he flipped to the section of the "Chronicles of the Nine Provinces."

The first major event featured on the Chronicles of the Nine Provinces was the imperial court's manhunt for the remnants of the Celestial Charm Sect.

The rebellion of the Celestial Charm Sect years ago caused huge losses for the imperial court. Even now, no one dared to speak about what exactly happened. Everyone just knew that the imperial court considered the Celestial Charm Sect as evil as snakes. After the battle at Mount Shu, Lu Chengchou was found to have ties to the Celestial Charm Sect, prompting the imperial court to launch its most extensive search ever to capture him.

This implicated Young Noble Xunyang, who had taken Lu Chengchou in. Both of them were classified as Heaven-Class Imperial Traitors and relentlessly hunted throughout the nine provinces.

This was a period of chaos. The widespread panic caused by the news of the return of the demon god had just begun to calm down. But now, there was news of the Celestial Charm Sect reappearing.

Chu Liang couldn't help but think of Huo Tianya, a member of the Celestial Charm Sect. These people, with their high cultivation levels, gathered in the shadows to stir up trouble. Their presence was truly intimidating.

Fortunately, the imperial court and the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten paid enough attention to these matters.

The second major news story was the announcement of the election result for the chief of the Four Seas Whale Gang.

With the disappearance of Xu Bashan, Jiang Shenting, the vice-chief in charge of the Eastern Whale Division, unsurprisingly won the election for the position of chief. The inauguration ceremony would soon be held, and Jiang Shenting was currently basking in the limelight.

As for the former chief who had been missing for days, the Four Seas Whale Gang claimed they were still searching for him. However, the truth was that only Xu Hongqiu and a few loyal followers of Xu Bashan were actually making any effort.

As the saying goes, "When the person is gone, the tea cools.[2]" With the fate of the former chief uncertain, most people thought it better to focus on currying favor with the current chief.

With hundreds of thousands of members and control over waterway transport across the land, the Four Seas Whale Gang was the largest gang in the land of the nine provinces. This election of chief position in the Four Seas Whale Gang could even impact the nation and the livelihood of the people. The Celestial Pivot Pavilion provided comprehensive coverage from start to finish.

But this event had finally come to a close.

The third news story was about Mount Shu's successful retrieval of the Demon-Subduing Pestle.

If this had been the only event mentioned, it wouldn't have taken up much space in the papers. However, it was clear that someone from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion was present, witnessing the auction's proceedings. The strategic maneuvers of the various immortal sects and Mount Shu's final tactic to win the bidding were described in detail and with great excitement.

Chu Liang's bid at that critical moment was seen as a clever move planned by the leaders of the Mount Shu Sect and was praised as a classic tactic.

The fourth news was the re-entry of the Sword Emperor of the West Sea into the land of the nine provinces.

In the West Sea, there was an island called the Sword-Hanging Kingdom. The people there were obsessed with swords and took great pride in forging and practicing with them. The Yu Dynasty had good relations with the Sword-Hanging Kingdom; in fact, even the imperial swordsmith, Baili Tong, came from this island.

The king of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom was titled the Sword Emperor.

Fifty years ago, the new Sword Emperor of the West Sea reached major perfection in the Dao of the Sword, reaching the eighth realm and declaring himself invincible. He traveled to the land of the Yu Dynasty and challenged the top sword cultivators of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten in the capital.

In the end, he was defeated by Sword Saint Li Ba, who was the leader of the Endless Sword Sect at the time.

Despite his defeat, the West Sea Sword Emperor was pleased with the fight and returned to the Sword-Hanging Kingdom for closed-door cultivation, promising to return another day.

Sword Saint Li Ba also seemed to gain something from this encounter. After returning, he passed the position of sect leader to his son, Li Jiu, and became the Supreme Elder, entering closed-door cultivation himself.

Since then, fifty years had passed and none had seen the face of the one who stood at the pinnacle of the Dao of the Sword during this time.

But now, the Sword Emperor of the West Sea had come to the capital of Yu and visited the emperor of the Yu Dynasty. It was highly likely that the Sword Emperor had achieved a breakthrough. Speculation that he might challenge the Sword Saint of the Nine Provinces again stirred widespread anticipation.

However, the writers at the Celestial Pivot Pavilion speculated that this battle, while likely to occur, would probably be scheduled for the Assembly of Immortal Sects next year.

After all, every year at the opening of the Assembly of Immortal Sects, there were duels between powerful cultivators. These duels served as a warm-up and were meant to inspire new talents to cultivate diligently. If this year's duel coincided with the rematch of those at the pinnacle of the Dao of the Sword, it would be perfect.

Chu Liang was naturally looking forward to this duel between the sword cultivators at the Heavenly Origin Realm.

However, their sparring would certainly be restrained and lack hostility, falling short of the intensity seen in the legendary battle of artifacts that recently took place at Mount Shu.

If it were a real life-and-death battle, there would be no suspense, as the Sword Saint would surely win.

Chu Liang had met Old Li Ba of the Endless Sword Sect.

That old man didn't appear to have the demeanor of a Sword Saint. If he struggled during the fight, he could simply summon the Chunyang Ancient Sword, ranked fifth in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures, from thousands of li away.

How could the Sword Emperor of the West Sea compete with that?

1. In Chinese tradition, the seventh day is when the spirit of the deceased returns home. ☜

2. When someone leaves or is no longer in a position of influence, the warmth and attention they once received also disappears, just like tea that cools down when not being consumed. ☜