Chapter 932: The Sword of Killing and Ring of Reversal (I)

Chu Liang descended from the sky, his figure shrouded in a dense, murderous aura. The ghostly flames below were pierced by the Deity Pan’s Bone in his hand and instantly snuffed out.

"Just admitting defeat? Since when was it ever that easy?!"

High above, the Thorn Dragon King’s colossal skeletal form lost the last of the spiritual energy that had kept it suspended. Its frame collapsed in midair and plummeted to the ground, sending giant bones hurtling down like a rain of destruction. Each one landed with a thunderous crash, carving deep craters into the earth below.

"Considering that this ghost had lived since the era of the Dragon God, it is a truly rare existence," the Sword Emperor of the West Sea lamented. "It is such a pity that it has now fallen. Tens of thousands of years of cultivation, all lost in an instant."

For cultivators, extending one’s life by even a single century was no easy feat. The fall of a being that had survived for so long naturally evoked a sense of sorrow.

"If it had been an ordinary evil spirit, I wouldn’t have minded sparing its life. But this creature was an enemy exiled by the Dragon God, and I’ve inherited the Dragon God’s legacy. There was no way I could let it go," Chu Liang said with a righteous conviction.

But deep down, he was thinking,

Even if that thing turned out to be the Dragon God himself, I couldn’t hold back now. The golden imprint was practically in his hands, and there was no way he was giving it up.

"It was sealed here to block the path, most likely by the Divine Ruins Monastery. Killing it is no great loss," the Whale-Riding Immortal said as he pulled out a map. "Our next destination is the Devil-Slaying Ravine up ahead."

"We’ve made quite a commotion breaking through these checkpoints. I wonder if the Divine Ruins Monastery will be alerted," Chu Liang said with a hint of concern.

"Then so be it," Jiang Yuebai replied calmly. "We’ve come this far, and there’s no turning back now."

After a short rest, the group set off once again.

Dragonspike Ridge was a rugged wasteland of hardened terrain. As they continued forward, patches of water and grass began to appear, and many large demonic beasts had once dwelled there. However, after the earlier battle, all of them had already fled far from Dragonspike Ridge.

When the demonic beasts saw the group flying over from the direction of Dragonspike Ridge, they all crouched low to the ground, not daring to lift their heads. Since the beasts made no move to block their path, the group saw no need to attack. In this way, both sides passed one another in peace.

They continued on until they reached the Devil-Slaying Ravine.

Towering mountains loomed on every side, blocking out the sky and cutting off the two realms completely. The only path forward was through the center, where a bottomless ravine lay hidden beneath a shroud of mist.

It was clear that danger awaited within.

The Whale-Riding Immortal hovered in midair and, as usual, sent out a clone to scout ahead. With a flick of his finger, a splash of water rose and instantly took the form of a clone made of black water.

The clone turned with a smile, then shot forward like a streak of light, weaving its way through the ravine.

The threat came quickly. With a sharp whoosh, a small black shadow tore through the air. Upon contact with this black shadow, the clone burst apart on contact and fell to the ground in a splash of water.

Those with duller divine sense might not have recognized what that shadow was. Fortunately, everyone present had sharp perception and clearly saw its true form.

It was a miniature black sword, no longer than a finger. The engravings along its blade were faint and difficult to make out, but the sword itself was razor-thin, barely half a cun wide. As it flew through the air, it exuded an overwhelming aura of murderous intent, carrying with it a pressure that echoed the might of ancient times.

The Whale-Riding Immortal looked toward the drifting mist and called out in a clear voice, "Who is guarding this place? Would you care to show yourself?"

None of those lurking in the shadows could hide from his senses.

"Hee-hee-hee..." Sinister chuckles echoed from the shadows, and a small wooden figurine shot out. "This path is sealed. I suggest you turn back now, before you ruin your cultivation."

Chu Liang fixed his gaze on the little wooden figure and suddenly exclaimed, "It’s you!"

...

The little wooden figure that had just appeared was none other than Lu Chengchou, the very one who had launched an attack during the Mount Shu Summit. As a descendant of the Lu family, he firmly believed that Wen Yuan was responsible for the deaths of his grandfather and father, and thus harbored a deep and unrelenting hatred toward the current Mount Shu.

After the battle during the Mount Shu Summit, he was forced to flee into the Divine Ruins in search of a way to change his fate. It was in a moment of great peril that he unexpectedly encountered his own father.

As it turned out, Lu Cang was bound by heavy restrictions. He could not leave freely, much less interfere with the human realm. Although he had taken notice of his son’s actions after the Mount Shu Summit and had been watching from the shadows, he never intended to appear. But when Lu Chengchou came close to death, he could no longer hold himself back.

After all, this was the Lu family’s last remaining bloodline.

Lu Cang intervened and saved Lu Chengchou. However, by doing so, Lu Chengchou could no longer return to the outside world so easily. Any attempt to do so would violate the Divine Ruins Monastery’s prohibitions. Left with no other option, Lu Cang found a new path for his son.

He sought a pair of legendary Devil-Slaying weapons from the Divine Ruins Monastery and bestowed them upon Lu Chengchou, assigning him to guard the Devil-Slaying Ravine. As long as he fulfilled one hundred years of service, the Monastery Overseer would personally rebuild his mortal body, granting him a new life.

However, the Devil-Slaying weapons were a pair, and one person alone could not wield them to their full potential. He needed someone whose mind and spirit aligned perfectly with his own. The first person Lu Chengchou thought of was his sworn brother and his only friend in the Celestial Charm Sect, Young Noble Xunyang.

At the time, Young Noble Xunyang had been struggling to survive among the demons and feeling rather depressed. When he heard that Lu Chengchou had discovered legendary weapons in the Divine Ruins, he rushed over joyfully, only to learn two things.

The good news was that the legendary weapons were real, and yes, they could indeed be his. The bad news was that once he accepted the treasure, he would no longer be allowed to leave.

When Young Noble Xunyang found out he would have to stay with Lu Chengchou for a hundred years, he immediately offered a series of colorful curses to Lu Chengchou’s ancestors going back eighteen generations. However, Lu Cang then appeared in person and stated plainly that he was fully aware of the Divine Ruins Monastery’s arrangements for the Devil-Slaying Ravine. If Young Noble Xunyang wished to leave, he could, but he would have to leave without his head.

Without a moment of hesitation, Young Noble Xunyang declared that he and Lu Chengchou were the closest of brothers, and that staying behind to keep him company was only the natural thing to do.

Back when he was performing puppet shows for the demons, there had at least been an audience, along with plenty of charming little fox girls gathering around. But here, he was stuck with two lonely bachelors, one of whom did not even have a physical body.

Young Noble Xunyang was absolutely suffocating from boredom.

These days, Young Noble Xunyang had resorted to animating his puppets into human-like companions just to pass the time. At first, it seemed like a decent idea. But no matter how lifelike they appeared, they lacked true intelligence. They couldn’t speak back, couldn’t argue, and couldn’t laugh. After a few days, it felt like he was losing his mind.

It was supposedly said that he was stationed here to guard the Devil-Slaying Ravine.

However, just ahead lay the Dragonspike Ridge, which was guarded by a skeletal dragon that had lived for tens of thousands of years. Who in their right mind would try to come through that?

So when the Whale-Riding Immortal appeared, both Lu Chengchou and Young Noble Xunyang were genuinely excited. If they didn’t end up having to kill him, they figured they might as well keep him around for conversation.

But the moment Lu Chengchou stepped into view, Chu Liang, standing quietly behind the Whale-Riding Immortal, recognized him at once.

When Lu Chengchou heard someone call his name, he turned to look and finally realized that the young man standing before him was the one who had ruined his plans at the Mount Shu Summit.

He narrowed his eyes and barked out the name. "Chu Liang?"

If it hadn’t been for him, his plan to break through Guardian Peak would have succeeded. The Celestial Charm Sect wouldn’t have cast him aside as a failure. His fate would never have fallen so low.

He still remembered that figure rising into the sky at the last moment, wielding the Violet and Azure Twin Swords. The face might have been blurry in his memory, but the hatred remained vivid. Even though Lu Cang had later explained what had truly happened in those years past, Lu Chengchou still believed that the Mount Shu Sect was to blame for everything.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, a grudge was still a grudge.

"Perfect," he said with a menacing grin "You turned your back on the path to heaven and came barging into hell instead."

...