novelraw Chapter 72 : Sword Grave
Chapter 72 : Sword Grave
Mo Qingchen arrived outside the cave with several Tianyan Sect disciples at some point. People from other sects had also come.
The explanation was that Mu Chihuai had sent word in advance.
They were also aware of the ghost cultivator's secret infiltration. If Chu Sang's group hadn't acted quickly, they would have come to eliminate the ghost cultivator right after.
"This damned ghost cultivator dared to secretly follow us, clearly intending to harm us. Are we supposed to show mercy? Talk about morality with a ghost cultivator?" Zhao Yun sneered.
Lin Jing looked at Qin Xixue several times, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh right, I remember now. Aren't you that... that female cultivator who was in cahoots with the Demon Lord before?"
"It's only been a few months. Don't tell me you've become involved with this ghost cultivator now? Why else would you plead for a ghost cultivator?"
At these words, the surrounding disciples looked at Qin Xixue with complex expressions. Even Mo Qingchen's face grew colder, his piercing gaze falling on her, causing the young woman's face to pale slightly. She stammered, "No, that's not what I meant..."
She raised her tear-stained face, looking pitiful and delicate. "I just thought that since he's a ghost cultivator, he must be more familiar with the ghost city than we are. He might know how to enter the inner city. We could have kept him alive to guide us. Killing him so easily and simply was too hasty."
"That sounds nice, but you'd better hope that's really what you were thinking. Don't have any other unsavory thoughts," Tantai Ming didn't give her any face at all.
Qin Xixue bit her lip, concealing the hatred in her eyes, her fingertips nearly piercing into her palm.
Sooner or later, she would definitely pay back these people double!
The other sects were also half-skeptical of her words, but there was no substantive evidence at the moment. Moreover, they were all disciples of the Eight Great Immortal Sects. It wouldn't be good to openly fall out. After some discussion, they didn't pursue the matter further.
"Perhaps I know how to enter the innermost part of the ghost city," Ling Yu said gently. Everyone's surprised gazes fell on him.
"No one has ever entered the inner city of the ghost city. How do you know the method of entry?" Shen Rufei asked.
Others were also suspicious, their eyes showing curiosity. This person was a cultivator like them, how could he be so familiar with the ghost city?
Wen Renyue hurriedly stepped forward, putting her hands on her hips and feigning anger. "What's wrong with you? So many questions. If my Second Senior Brother says he has a way in, then he has a way. If you want to follow, then follow. If you don't trust him, then don't come."
Shen Rufei frowned in displeasure as he looked at her. Wasn't this female cultivator's temper a bit too fiery? He hadn't said anything, why was she yelling at him?
Wandering around like headless flies wasn't a solution. In the end, they decided to follow Ling Yu. When they reached their destination, they finally discovered why they had been unable to enter the inner city—
There was an array protecting the inner city!
The array separated the inner city from other areas, as if forming two worlds. They could not enter from the outer city at all.
Ling Yu waved his sleeve, easily tearing through the barrier.
To the others, it was as if a huge crack large enough for several people to pass through had suddenly been torn in the air.
Within the crack, another world appeared out of thin air, with scenery completely different from the outside.
No wonder they hadn't found it after searching for so many days.
So it was hidden here!
After Ling Yu entered the array first without incident, the others breathed a sigh of relief and followed.
The inner city wasn't as perilous as they had imagined. On the contrary, there wasn't a single person or ghost in sight. The air was deathly silent, somehow even more eerie than the ghost corpses in the outer city.
"I sense the aura of this place. It's ominous, full of death... This is the site of an ancient battlefield," Changsheng clutched Wen Renyue's sleeve, timidly following behind.
It was clear she didn't like this place at all.
An ancient battlefield site, indeed. Chu Sang looked around and saw many bones and remains.
As she walked, she expanded her spiritual sense as far as possible. The inner city concealed vast dimensions; the area of the battlefield site was actually considerably larger than the entire ghost city outside.
Every two steps, they would step on skeletal remains—skulls, shin bones, upper arm bones... everything.
The moment these foreign intruders touched them, time that had been frozen seemed to start flowing again. The bones instantly dissipated into wisps of smoke floating in the air, returning to their original form.
The group continued to press forward.
"So many ancient swords!"
Besides bones, swords were the most common thing on the ancient battlefield. It could be called a sword grave.
Sword after sword was stuck in the ground, unchanged for eons.
It was a pity the Ten Thousand Swords Sect people weren't here. Those fools would probably be overjoyed.
The Alchemy Sect disciples were also excited, one more than the other. The weapons they forged most often were swords. If they could take a few back to study the ancient sword-forging methods, it would be greatly beneficial to them.
Just as one disciple was about to pull out a sword, it turned to ash the moment he touched it.
"Too much time has passed. Ordinary swords simply can't withstand the erosion," Su Chen'an shook his head, also feeling some regret.
"Look at that small mound over there! There's a sword still intact stuck at the very top. Even from this distance, you can feel the spiritual energy fluctuations!" a disciple shouted.
Chu Sang also looked over, then turned her head as if sensing something, glancing at Qin Xixue not far away. She saw a look of determination flash in her eyes.
Oh, she suddenly remembered. In the original novel, the female protagonist's first natal spirit sword was obtained from a mass grave in a ghost city.
This should be the Moonlight Sword from the original novel, one of a pair of lover's swords. The other was in the sword grave guarded by the Eight Great Immortal Sects. Only the top ten in the grand competition had the qualifications to enter, and in the end, Mo Qingchen obtained it.
It was said that if the two swords were united one day, they could unleash power comparable to a divine sword.
This sword was destined to be a resource sent by heaven's will to the female protagonist. Only Qin Xixue would be able to pull it out.
Chu Sang withdrew her attention and turned to look in another direction, moving her feet as if sensing something.
In a corner not far away, there was an unnoticed tomb.
Among the scattered bones and remains wrapped in horse hide, the appearance of a tomb was... somewhat incongruous.
Chu Sang leapt down into the tomb. The space inside wasn't large, containing only a coffin.
She walked to the coffin, clasped her hands together and silently said a prayer for forgiveness, then opened the lid.
What lay in the tomb wasn't a person, but a sword.
A rusty, broken sword.
Its original color couldn't be discerned, and there were no spiritual energy fluctuations. It seemed inferior even to the lowest-grade dark iron swords.
But for some unknown reason, that inexplicable palpitation in her heart grew stronger, compelling her to take this sword from the coffin.
For an instant, a faint shadow seemed to appear on the sword, but it disappeared the next second, as if it had been an illusion.
...A sword spirit?
Chu Sang was certain she hadn't seen wrong just now.
This sword actually had a sword spirit, but it was too weak and dissipated in an instant.
She had just stored the sword in her spatial pouch when a commotion erupted outside. It seemed something had happened with the female protagonist.