novelraw Chapter 24 : Chapter 24
Chapter 24 : Chapter 24
Chapter 24
The hall was noisy and chaotic, yet that voice pierced through like a sword, ringing clearly in every person’s ears.
Bai Xiao turned to look.
In the corner of the hall sat a swordsman in white with an ink-black cloak. He had been the one speaking.
Bai Xiao’s heart jolted. When had someone like that been sitting there? He searched his memory carefully, and only then recalled that when he first entered the tavern, he had indeed glimpsed such a figure in the corner—he had simply not paid attention at the time.
Judging by his appearance, he was probably a cultivator as well. Bai Xiao sneered inwardly. He had already stated the name Baixiaosheng. Did this man think he had boasted it into existence? Most cultivators had some method to interfere with others divining their own fate, but Bai Xiao did not rely on divination at all—he relied on the All-Knowing Book. That was a unique and powerful rare treasure. What could a cultivator’s petty tricks possibly do?
Bai Xiao imprinted the swordsman’s appearance into the All-Knowing Book. Once the result came out, he would make this sword cultivator witness Baixiaosheng’s ability. People had secrets. Once he seized this man’s secret, the man would have to beg him not to speak it aloud.
This sword cultivator concealed his aura well. His cultivation should be far above Bai Xiao’s. Once Bai Xiao seized his secret, he could make him useful.
Ink appeared on the All-Knowing Book, yet it did not form words.
Bai Xiao froze. Was it insufficient fluctuation points?
But the ink did not gather into that familiar line. Instead, it roiled and churned without end.
Could it be that the content was too complex to display?
The commotion within his divine sense could not be seen by the outside world. All they knew was that Baixiaosheng had fallen silent for rather a long time.
“What? You cannot even calculate my name?” Shuang Wenlü said.
Bai Xiao forced himself to hold on. “Why are you in such a hurry? You have plenty of secrets on you. Naturally I must calculate them slowly.”
With the All-Knowing Book refusing to give a result, he grew anxious. The All-Knowing Book had never failed him before. Even the Blood-Rust Blade, which contained an unsurpassed Dao Canon, could be calculated. And when he tried to calculate Sword Pavilion’s fundamental cultivation method, it merely displayed “Insufficient fluctuation points.” How could he possibly stumble here?
It must only require a little more time.
Shuang Wenlü had no patience to watch Bai Xiao talk himself into courage. A single strand of sword aura destroyed that Rule Fragment that did not know its place.
Within Bai Xiao’s divine sense, the All-Knowing Book vanished in an instant. He could not stop the blank shock from appearing on his face.
“Will you calculate or not?” Shuang Wenlü tapped the tabletop with his fingers a few times.
Bai Xiao looked at him. His expression suddenly twisted as he lunged forward.
“Give me back my book!”
He only made it halfway before he could not move another step. An invisible force blocked him.
Bai Xiao fell to the floor. The force that had stopped him had already disappeared, yet he did not dare lunge again. Just now, when his eyes met that swordsman’s gaze, he had felt an incomparable sharp sword intent surge toward him.
Bai Xiao slumped on the ground, trembling all over. He had nearly thought he was going to die.
“Why have you stopped calculating and begun demanding some book from me instead?” Shuang Wenlü lowered his head to look at him. “Could it be that you cannot calculate at all, and you can only do it with some book?”
Bai Xiao did not dare argue even a word. His heart pounded like a drum, panic-stricken beyond measure.
Without the All-Knowing Book…
He could no longer be Baixiaosheng.
No one would fear his unfathomable profundity anymore. He would have no way to control anyone through secrets, no way to exploit anyone, no way to stir the world with a single piece of information…
His Golden Fingers were gone. His future plans were ruined. He would not obtain profound cultivation methods, he would not obtain spirit treasures, he would not obtain adulation…
Never before had he seen so clearly as he did now that everything he possessed and valued had all depended upon the All-Knowing Book.
He wanted to snatch it back, but he feared death even more. That gaze just now… that gaze just now…
What was he supposed to do in the future? Would people still come looking for him?
Shuang Wenlü walked past him. Bai Xiao shuddered violently, scrambled to his feet, and stumbled out of the tavern in a run.
Shuang Wenlü reached out and helped Shopkeeper Lu up.
Shopkeeper Lu was still dazed. She only felt that when that hand touched her, she somehow ended up standing.
The swordsman before her said gently, “That Yao Creature clung to your daughter because her constitution is special and beneficial to cultivation. Shuiyue Ward’s station is in the Mirror-Flower Pavilion in Shangshui City. Take her there. Shuiyue Ward will accept her.”
“R-really?” Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes widened.
A regular at the side reacted first and pushed her. “What a wonderful thing! Hurry and thank him!”
Her daughter had, in the blink of an eye, gone from being reviled to being about to enter an immortal gate. The change was too immense. Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes reddened, and tears fell.
“Y-yes… thank you, thank you!”
Shangshui City was not close to them, and the roads were difficult, requiring mountains to be crossed and ridges to be climbed. But no matter how hard it was, she would go. As for that fox that was currently entangling her daughter—she would find a way to destroy it.
Shopkeeper Lu wiped her tears haphazardly. Her resolve had already firmed.
Shuang Wenlü smiled gently. “May I have a cup of this wine to taste?”
“Yes! Yes!” Shopkeeper Lu opened the jar and poured him a cup. Not to mention a cup—now that he had given her such news, what would it matter if she gave him the entire jar?
Shuang Wenlü tipped his head back and drank it down.
A cup brewed from the four seasons’ scenery—spice, sourness, sweetness, bitterness all blended into one taste.
“Fine wine.”
He strode out of the tavern.
“Where are you going?” Shopkeeper Lu asked reflexively.
“To slay a Yao Creature!”
…
Only a moment later, a black-furred fox suddenly dropped from midair. It landed on a table. It was thoroughly dead.
The people in the hall jumped in fright, all lowering their heads to stare at the dead fox.
“T-this is the fox spirit?” someone asked.
Shopkeeper Lu touched its fur with disgust. “It is!” She had picked up this kind of black, glossy fox fur in her daughter’s room before.
She turned and went into the back kitchen, returning with a cleaver.
“Shopkeeper Lu, what are you doing?” a regular asked.
“I am going to skin it!” Shopkeeper Lu said.
Ever since her daughter had been entangled by this fox spirit, she had been muddle-headed all day, sometimes terrified, sometimes witless. In the rare moments when she was clear, she would cling to her and sob that she was afraid. Shopkeeper Lu’s heart had nearly shattered.
Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes were too fierce. The regular was startled and warned her, “Be careful. Fox hide can cut your hands.”
Just now, he had touched it out of curiosity. When he brushed against the sword wound, his finger had stung sharply. He hurriedly lifted his hand to look, yet there was no injury.
That was the sword intent lingering on the wound.
With that sword intent present, ordinary Yao and evil things would not dare come looking for trouble.
After Shopkeeper Lu skinned the fox, her spirits lifted. She split the remaining Four Seasons Wine and said, “Come, this is the last jar of Four Seasons Wine. I will share it with everyone today. In the next couple of days I will pack up and take my daughter to Shangshui City!”
“Shopkeeper Lu, are you abandoning this shop?” a regular asked.
“I am abandoning it!” Shopkeeper Lu said.
Several old patrons were both happy and regretful.
The wine was a rare vintage, but it was a pity they would never drink it again.
Yet that was an immortal opportunity. A wine shop could be opened anywhere.
“I have heard Shuiyue Ward is a famous great sect. Congratulations, congratulations—Shopkeeper Lu will have blessings in the future!” a patron said enviously.
“Yes…” Shopkeeper Lu drank a cup as well, her eyes shimmering with moisture.
She had just looked in the back. Her daughter had already fallen asleep, her expression peacefully calm for once.
After this cup of Four Seasons Wine, no one had better go outside and wag their tongues about her daughter. But even if they did, it would not affect them anymore.
Their bitter days had passed.
…
Thunder and rain sounded as spring blossoms fell away, and the shade of locust and willow grew thick.
The Dipper pointed the way. Summer had arrived. That Blood-Rust Blade which stirred the world had still found no resting place.
This blade had long since left the hands of the cultivator who possessed the treasure-seeking compass.
Before the Blood-Rust Blade emerged, no matter how skilled a cultivator was at calculation, they could not divine its news. After it emerged, however, some cultivators proficient in calculation could already vaguely compute its whereabouts.
Many cultivators who could not find a direction remembered Baixiaosheng. Yet before long, the Baixiaosheng who had been famous for a time vanished without a trace. No one knew whether he had hidden himself, or whether some other powerful cultivator had seized him.
The Blood-Rust Blade kept rotating through different hands. No cultivator who obtained it seemed to gain much benefit, yet many died because of it.
Now, the Blood-Rust Blade had rotated into the hands of a Demonic Cultivator.
When Blood River Old Ancestor obtained the Blood-Rust Blade, excitement surged beyond his control. But he knew what mattered most at present.
He had to leave. He had to flee to a place where the heavenly mechanism was difficult to calculate. He could not allow others to know that the Blood-Rust Blade was with him.
Without time to examine it closely, Blood River Old Ancestor hastily wrapped and concealed the Blood-Rust Blade, slipped into a mountain cave, and vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was already in Beiliang Prefecture.
The universe had seven seas, nine continents, and eighteen islands. Suizhou lay on the greatest Central Continent. The Southern and Northern Liang Prefectures were separated from Central Continent by the vast Zhuo Sea. Here, the heavenly mechanism was even more chaotic. This was the realm of Demonic Cultivators, commonly called the Demon Prefecture.
Blood River Old Ancestor was also considered a notable figure among Demonic Cultivators.
Within the universe there were the Seventeen Great Demons. Beneath them, within the Demon Prefecture, there were also the hundred cities of Moye. The hundred cities were complex, with great differences between strong and weak. Any Demonic Cultivator who could occupy even one of those cities was not easy to deal with. Blood River Old Ancestor was the lord of Blood River City. His cultivation had been at the Seventh Layer of the Tianji Realm for a long time.
In Beiliang Prefecture he moved like a fish in water, returning safely and steadily to his own Blood River City, unable to stop a surge of smugness.
Those cultivators who had seized the Blood-Rust Blade earlier were idiots. Everyone knew the Blood-Rust Blade had emerged from Suizhou. Everyone searching for it had all their attention nailed to Suizhou. After obtaining the Blood-Rust Blade, those fools did not hurry to leave Suizhou. They had actually wandered about aimlessly there instead. Were they not asking to be robbed?
They were also useless. The Blood-Rust Blade contained an unsurpassed Dao Canon, yet after holding it for so long, not a single one of them had gained any comprehension.
That was an unsurpassed Dao Canon. If they had comprehended even the slightest fragment, the blade would never have reached his hands.
Blood River Old Ancestor entered his cave abode. Only after setting countless formations and restrictions that disturbed the heavenly mechanism did he finally take out the Blood-Rust Blade.
Very quickly, he understood why those who obtained it before him had not comprehended the unsurpassed Dao Canon.
Blood River Old Ancestor tried every method he could upon the Blood-Rust Blade, yet it seemed nothing more than a piece of stubborn iron, hard and unyielding, giving no response at all.
In frustration, he threw it aside. His face darkened as he watched it slam into a wooden table with a dull thud and then fall to the floor.
There was not even a knife mark on the table. The blade was rusted like scrap iron.
A contract slave at the side trembled, not daring to make a sound. Blood River Old Ancestor had methods he did not dare use directly upon himself, and had used the slave for experiments first, tormenting him for a long time with things like dripping blood.
Blood River Old Ancestor picked up the Blood-Rust Blade. The only abnormality of this blade was that no matter what method was used, it could not be damaged in the slightest. Yet the rust on it was just as solid as the blade itself.
A rusted iron bar, no matter how durable, was still useless.
No wonder those who obtained the Blood-Rust Blade had not thought to flee Suizhou. Suizhou was where the Blood-Rust Blade had emerged. They wanted to seek methods in Suizhou to unravel its secrets.
To return to Suizhou meant danger everywhere. To not return to Suizhou meant holding a treasure and being unable to use it. How could he accept that?
Blood River Old Ancestor grew restless and irritable. He glanced at the contract slave beside him, and suddenly, with a violent sweep of his arm, drove the Blood-Rust Blade straight into the slave’s chest.
The slave’s heart was pierced through. His eyes stared wide. A few gurgling sounds came from his throat, and then his breath was gone.
Blood River Old Ancestor froze for a moment. Then he suddenly threw back his head and laughed wildly.
Because of the contract, he could sense any change in the slave’s soul with perfect clarity. Just now, within the slave’s soul, he had felt a thread of extremely vicious, terrifying killing aura.
No wonder those cultivators earlier could not find the right direction. This Blood-Rust Blade only revealed its abnormality when it killed. Those cultivators might not have avoided using the Blood-Rust Blade to kill, but its abnormality was far too subtle. Only the one being killed could feel that thread of vicious, terrifying killing aura.
This was the breakthrough point to unseal the Blood-Rust Blade.