Chapter 35: Defeating the Purple Mansion, Slashing Demons with a Sword

A flash of sword light appeared, and in an instant, the clouds parted and the rain ceased, as if heavenly light had broken through the heavens!

The River God saw only a flicker of faint light, followed by a streak of azure radiance traversing the space, and then a green blade flashed before his eyes in a heartbeat.

"Click."

The sound of the sword returning to its scabbard echoed from behind.

Though he felt no pain, the River God could sense the incense power within his body beginning to dissipate wildly in an instant.

Lowering his head, the River God realized that at some unknown moment, a wound had appeared on his chest, stretching all the way down to his lower abdomen.

Through the wound, the River God could even see the layered peaks and the snow-covered winter landscape of the Qingping Mountains behind him.

His body had been pierced through by a single sword strike; the already meager incense power within his incarnation was dissipating so rapidly that his entire physical form began to collapse.

Clinging to the last wisp of residual incense power within his incarnation, the River God forced himself to turn and look at the handsome Daoist in the green robe and jade crown: "Such a fast sword..."

Then, the River God's entire body completely exploded, turning into fine powder!

In the 39,825th year of the Shanyue Era, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Sheng of Qingping Mountain, at the Foundation Establishment stage, fought against and defeated the Purple Mansion demon of the Taiping River. With a single sword strike, he slew the demon, remaining completely unscathed!

In the Qingping Mountains, Zhang Qing, Zhang Qingyun, Xu Xiao, and Qiao Xuan stared at the sky. They had just seen the once majestic and invincible River God instantly slain by a single sword, and the four of them stood stunned for a long while, unable to recover.

Daoist Jiang had actually slain the River God, and he appeared to be completely unharmed?!

If the fact were not right before their eyes, Xu Xiao and Qiao Xuan would have thought they were dreaming!

Meanwhile, the commoners at the foot of the Qingping Mountains fell into a profound silence.

That powerful, divine, and unstoppable River God... had just died like that?

The River God who had enjoyed their incense for half a century, who had demanded the sacrifice of countless children... had just died like that?

The River God who, just a moment ago, threatened to flood the Qingping Mountains and summon torrential rains and clouds... had just died like that?

Whether it was a moment or several minutes later, a sudden burst of cheering erupted from the crowd, followed by tens of thousands of people beginning to cheer and weep.

The River God was dead; they had survived!

Countless commoners looked toward the figure suspended silently in the air and bowed deeply: "We thank Daoist Jiang for saving the people from the depths of misery!"

The cries of tens of thousands of people scattered the remaining dark clouds in the sky, allowing the great sun, which had been obscured for so long, to reappear.

The warm sunlight shone upon the Qingping Mountains, making the Daoist in the sky appear even more like an immortal.

Zhang Qingyun looked at Jiang Sheng, who was enjoying the prostrations of the masses, with a complex expression, unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow: "The Qingxuan Temple will not lack for incense in the future."

"Everyone, the demon has been removed and the flood has receded. Please head home as soon as possible," Jiang Sheng's clear and peaceful voice rang out through the air.

The commoners bowed once more, and then began to head home in small groups with their neighbors.

When Jiang Sheng returned to the front of the Qingxuan Temple, Zhang Qingyun led Zhang Qing and stepped forward to bow: "Qingyun thanks Daoist Jiang for removing this great calamity from Qingshan County."

Xu Xiao and Qiao Xuan also offered their congratulations to Jiang Sheng. To fight a Purple Mansion demon while at the Foundation Establishment stage was a feat that commanded their utmost respect; had it not been for the gap in their social standing, they would likely have sought to establish a personal connection.

Jiang Sheng nodded slightly and then said, "It was merely a matter of each getting what they needed. Speaking of which, my task is complete, but you, County Magistrate, still have much to attend to."

Zhang Qingyun nodded. He understood Jiang Sheng's meaning: now that the River God of the Taiping River was gone, he must return to Qingshan County to handle the aftermath. To put it bluntly, it was time for him to leave.

Xu Xiao then asked, "Daoist Jiang, since the demon of the Taiping River has been eliminated, why don't we go and explore its cave dwelling?"

Jiang Sheng looked at Xu Xiao and then at Qiao Xuan, saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu and Fellow Daoist Qiao have also expended much energy today. The demon inevitably left some arrays or traps in its cave. It would be better for you two to rest today and act tomorrow."

Qiao Xuan agreed with the proposal: "Daoist Jiang has a point. Both this old man and Fairy Xu were injured not lightly while resisting that demon; we do need to recuperate properly."

Thus, the three agreed to meet outside East River Town at noon the following day to explore the demon's cave dwelling together.

Afterward, Xu Xiao summoned her silk handkerchief dharma treasure and left with Zhang Qingyun and Zhang Qing. Before departing, it was evident that Xu Xiao had something she wanted to say to Jiang Sheng, but she chose to escort Zhang Qingyun and Zhang Qing back to the county town first.

Once the three had left, Qiao Xuan also bid Jiang Sheng farewell after a few words, as he needed to go find his disciple.

Once everyone had dispersed, the Qingxuan Temple returned to its usual tranquility.

Taking a deep breath of turbid air, Jiang Sheng opened his hand to look at the grain in his palm, which looked like a stone yet shimmered like gold with a faint light.

After the River God was slain, his remains had turned to powder, leaving behind only this single item.

Frowning deeply, Jiang Sheng stared at the remains of the River God, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar yet strange: "What a strange occurrence..."

"Master." Tian Ming'an emerged from the temple and bowed respectfully.

Jiang Sheng put away the sole remaining relic of the River God and glanced at Tian Ming'an: "Have you figured it out?"

Tian Ming'an nodded: "Your disciple has figured it out."

"If you've figured it out, why are you still here? Go do your studies." Jiang Sheng lightly tapped Tian Ming'an on the head and then stepped into the Daoist temple.

He did not appear as unscathed as he looked; in truth, executing that sword strike had cost Jiang Sheng a great deal of energy.

Setting aside the depletion of spiritual power within his body, his right arm, which had wielded the sword, was still trembling slightly.

It was only because Jiang Sheng had kept his hand hidden within his sleeve and his arms behind his back that no abnormality was visible; otherwise, Xu Xiao and Qiao Xuan would surely have noticed that he was actually at the end of his strength.

Fortunately, they were intimidated by his stunning sword strike; Qiao Xuan and Xu Xiao never imagined that the seemingly effortless Jiang Sheng was actually exhausted.

Jiang Sheng had been purely forcing himself just now.

He could not show any abnormality before an old hand like Qiao Xuan, nor could he show weakness before a local power like Zhang Qingyun.

Furthermore, who knew if there were hidden evil cultivators or rogue cultivators nearby waiting like a mantis stalking a cicada, only to be caught by the oriole behind?

One must always be wary of others, so Jiang Sheng had maintained an air of nonchalance, as if slaying a Purple Mansion demon was nothing worth boasting about.

Even in front of his disciple, Jiang Sheng acted with effortless grace; even Tian Ming'an failed to notice anything unusual.

Walking into the temple, Jiang Sheng sat cross-legged before the portrait of the Patriarch in the front hall, beginning his meditation as usual.

Late at night, while practicing by drawing in the power of the moonlight, Jiang Sheng thought back to his battle during the day. The River God's final performance had left him with a persistent sense of strangeness.

But Jiang Sheng could not pinpoint the reason, so he could only suppress the doubt for now.

"The Void Prince is dead; I won't mention his belongings for now. My swordplay was noticeably unsmooth today. Although it was partly due to forcing the sword techniques, my body does indeed have weaknesses. It seems I won't be able to keep the tiger demon's corpse from my storage bag."

Jiang Sheng had originally intended to keep the tiger demon's body for future use, but now it seemed he would need to use it to refine a batch of second-grade pills to strengthen his physique.

There were no cultivator gathering places near Qingshan County, let alone spiritual herbs.

If he wanted to purchase spiritual herbs, he would have to go at least to the prefectural city of East Prefecture, but that distance was far too great.

"Thinking about it now, my only hope is that there is something useful in that River God's cave dwelling," Jiang Sheng mused, beginning to quietly circulate his energy to regulate his body.

At noon the next day, outside East River Town, three figures flew in from three different directions.

East River Town, following the receding floods, was still a scene of death and desolation. Drowned chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and human corpses could be seen everywhere, bloated and pale from being submerged. Large areas of buildings had been destroyed, leaving behind only ruins and broken walls.

After the three—Jiang Sheng, Xu Xiao, and Qiao Xuan—met, they did not hesitate and dove straight into the water toward the bottom of the Taiping River.

The Taiping River here was no more than a hundred zhang deep, and the three quickly discovered the grand Taiping River Mansion at the bottom.

Observing the mansion situated under the immense water pressure of the riverbed, they saw a plaque with gilded characters on the door. The entire estate was magnificent and grand, resembling the layout of a county or prefectural government office, exuding an air of majesty.

Surrounding the mansion was a flowing curtain of light, which was clearly the mansion's water-repelling array.

Xu Xiao volunteered to step forward. After observing for a moment, she tentatively injected a stream of spiritual power and then smiled: "This is a third-grade Flowing Light Jade Water Array; it is not a particularly difficult array to solve."

Qiao Xuan was quite surprised: "Fairy Xu is proficient in arrays?"

"I wouldn't say proficient, just somewhat accomplished," Xu Xiao replied with a smile. She took an array disk from her storage bag and began to regulate the array by injecting spiritual power according to the disk.

"If this array were being controlled by a master, breaking it would inevitably trigger attacks and backlash from the array."

"But now that the demon is dead, this array is currently masterless; it only possesses pure defensive effects."

"As long as we are careful, we won't trigger a counterattack from the array."

As Xu Xiao explained, her hands did not stop moving. Strands of ice-blue spiritual power were injected into the array disk. As she continuously performed hand seals to guide it, she located the weak points within the array.

"Daoist Jiang, attack from here!" Xu Xiao waved her hand, pointing out a speck of light.

Without hesitation, Jiang Sheng drew his sword and slashed at the spot Xu Xiao had indicated.

In the next instant, the flowing light of the barrier at that spot paused momentarily, followed by a slight fracture.

"Quick, the array will recover soon!" Xu Xiao said, leading the charge into the array, with Jiang Sheng and Qiao Xuan following closely behind.

In less than two breaths after the three entered the array, the broken part of the barrier was repaired, and the entire array returned to normal.

Qiao Xuan surveyed the magnificent mansion, thinking of the treasures left behind by a Purple Mansion being, and a flash of greed crossed his eyes: "Daoist Jiang, Fairy Xu, how about the three of us split up to explore, and then regroup here?"

Jiang Sheng nodded: "That works. It wouldn't be a bad thing to finish exploring this mansion as quickly as possible."

Having reached an agreement, the three moved separately.

Jiang Sheng headed straight for the main hall. Neither Qiao Xuan nor Xu Xiao objected to this; after all, Jiang Sheng was the one who killed the River God, so it was only natural that he should claim the lion's share of the good items.

Jiang Sheng had also chosen the main hall with this intention, as logically, the main hall would contain the items most frequently used by the master of the cave dwelling.

However, when Jiang Sheng entered the main hall, he saw only an array embedded within the hall and several waist-high red candles that were burning.

The array looked vast and bright, yet it faintly exuded an eerie, sinister aura.

As Jiang Sheng looked closer, he discovered that those red candles were, in fact, individual children under the age of six!

In the next instant, the three-foot green blade appeared in Jiang Sheng's hand: "I wondered why that demon required six pairs of young boys and girls every year; it was to maintain this evil array!"