Chapter 35: Another Cultivator

Qin Sang forced himself to stand up. Seeing the Yama emerge while biting onto Master Yuanjue's soul, he glanced at the Yama, which appeared much more solid than before. Seeing no signs of it turning on its master, he felt a slight sense of relief and impatiently began to interrogate Master Yuanjue's soul.

He was curious about the martial arts holy land, Xuanji Temple, and also wanted to know if Master Yuanjue had encountered any other immortal masters during his years of traveling.

...

As Master Yuanjue's soul dissipated, a look of surprise surfaced on Qin Sang's face.

Previously, the souls of those killed by the Yama had lasted for roughly the same amount of time, but Master Yuanjue's soul had lasted only half as long as others. This was the first time Qin Sang had encountered such a situation.

Qin Sang was utterly perplexed; he hadn't expected this to happen, and he still had many questions left to ask.

Even so, what he had learned from Master Yuanjue made the trip feel worthwhile; he had not encountered this danger in vain.

It turned out that the reason Master Yuanjue could recognize Qin Sang as an immortal cultivator at a glance was that Xuanji Temple had once killed an immortal cultivator decades ago!

At that time, the one besieging the cultivator was two of Xuanji Temple's founding masters, both of whom were Xiantian-level experts.

That cultivator's methods were similar to Qin Sang's; he held a bell, and with a gentle shake, one of the Xuanji Temple masters died instantly without any external wounds, much like the monk Mang He.

The other master was terrified and fought desperately, even resorting to an evil technique that overtaxed his essence.

The cultivator had not expected a mortal to possess such astonishing speed. Panicked, he hurriedly pulled a talisman from his robes and released a water screen, but he was too slow and was pierced through the heart by a sword light.

Seeing the bizarre death of Mang He, Master Yuanjue had instantly thought of this old matter. He had originally been hesitating, but upon hearing Qin Sang's bluffing words, he decided to act immediately.

One could only blame Qin Sang's shallow experience in the martial world for exposing his true nature.

After that battle, the two only Xiantian experts of Xuanji Temple were left with one dead and one injured, leaving the temple severely weakened. It was only after Master Yuanjue broke through to the Xiantian realm that the situation stabilized.

The gains and losses for Xuanji Temple were completely disproportionate.

The cultivator did not possess the immortal cultivation methods they had hoped for; he only had that purple bell, two talismans, and a blank jade slip, nothing more.

They attempted to infuse true qi into the bell and the jade slip, but there was no reaction at all, and one of the two talismans was destroyed in the process.

After achieving the Xiantian realm, Master Yuanjue set out to travel, his primary goal being to find a way to unlock the secrets of the purple bell and the jade slip.

During the great upheaval of the Great Sui, Master Yuanjue received word to return to his sect and happened to pass through Hening County.

Qin Sang pondered for a moment and leaned down to grab Master Yuanjue's corpse. He felt a wave of weakness; though his recent escape and struggle had been brief, they had nearly exhausted his physical strength.

Quickly circulating the *Netherworld Scripture* for one full cycle to recover some strength, Qin Sang turned back to pick up Mang He's corpse. He kicked open the doors to the inner manor, and upon seeing the scene outside, he couldn't help but gasp.

He had killed people with his own hands before, and more than one.

He had also stood on battlefields amidst tens of thousands of soldiers, witnessing the horrific scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

But seeing dozens of corpses on the ground with no fatal wounds, lying or slumped as motionless as statues, he still felt a sense of physiological discomfort.

Qin Sang picked up the Yama Banner and inspected it; several holes on the flag had disappeared, and the Yama was staying obediently to one side.

Mang He had been a strict disciplinarian, and the curfew in Hening County was very strict. Even with such a large commotion, the surrounding residents kept their doors tightly shut, not daring to come out and watch the spectacle.

Qin Sang looked left and right, used his sword to stab at the vital points of each corpse, and piled them up next to the woodshed. He tossed in a fire starter, and before long, the Chu Manor was engulfed in flames.

With so many bodies, they certainly wouldn't burn completely, but Qin Sang only intended to cover up the Yama Banner; turning them into charred remains would suffice.

Qin Sang recited a scripture. Realizing that his hands were already stained with blood, he felt that acting this way was hypocritical and couldn't help but smile bitterly; he was becoming increasingly cold-blooded.

...

Registrar Ma, wearing only his upper garment, looked out the window with an anxious gaze. He had been writing official documents when he noticed the fire outside.

Why hadn't Magistrate Li sent anyone to fight the fire?

*Thud!*

Just as Registrar Ma was about to return to his room to change into his official robes, he screamed in terror at the two heads suddenly smashed onto his desk. His hand jerked, throwing his brush aside, and he fell backward along with his chair. His head hit the floor, and another scream escaped him.

"Great warrior, spare my life!"

Registrar Ma was fifty years old, but his movements were swift. He scrambled onto the floor and, without even looking up, began kowtowing to the pair of feet before him.

"Whatever the great warrior requires, just command it, and this old man will surely obey. I beg the great warrior to grant me a way to live!"

Seeing that they were the heads of Magistrate Li Ji and Chu Da Zhuang, Registrar Ma was nearly scared to death.

The monk Mang He, known as a top martial arts expert, had died inexplicably; Registrar Ma did not believe he had the ability to resist.

With another *thud*, the Magistrate's official seal was thrown in front of him.

"Go out and appease the people. At the midnight hour tonight, take the seal and open the city gates. If you miss the timing, beware of your entire family's lives!"

Registrar Ma kept his head low and swore, "Rest assured, great warrior, this old man will definitely handle the matter properly. Otherwise, without you having to lift a finger, I will end my own life!"

Qin Sang chuckled. "Don't you ask why you are being told to open the city gates?"

Registrar Ma's eyes darted around, and he spoke with righteous indignation, "The great warrior does not know—this old man has long yearned for the Royal Army! The current false emperor is debauched and lawless, provoking the wrath of Heaven and bringing down natural disasters, causing the bones of the thirteen prefectures of Great Sui to lie exposed in the wild. It is an outrage to both gods and men! Yet, the false emperor's lackeys, like Li Ji, remain obstinate and use their power to bully others. This old man only regrets being old and weak, and of lowly status, forced to play along with these villains. Day and night, I pray for a wise ruler to save the common people, my tears flowing inward. Today, my wish is finally granted; I shall exert all my strength to serve the great warrior and the Prince..."

After finishing his long, indignant speech, Registrar Ma realized that the pair of feet before him had vanished at some point. He cautiously raised his head, but there was no one there.

...

Hening County fell, and the rebels cast their eyes toward the provincial capital. The elites of Jiangzhou fell into a panic and made several disastrous moves, forcing the defenders of Duling County to retreat to reinforce the provincial capital, only to be ambushed midway and suffer a crushing defeat.

On the second day after the city fell, Qin Sang left Hening County. He later heard that Wang Liu had flown into a rage, but Qin Sang naturally did not care.

That year, the people of Jiangzhou spent their New Year amidst the chaos of war.

In less than three months, the Jiangzhou provincial capital fell. After a brief rest in Jiangzhou, the army split into two routes: one to take Northern Ping Prefecture and the other to take Hu Prefecture.

By this time, Qin Sang had already been in Hunwu County, Jiangzhou, for a full month.

He had not yet been able to break through to the third level of the *Netherworld Scripture*. Currently, it was difficult to make any progress with a single night of cultivation, as he was stuck at a bottleneck. This situation had persisted for an entire month.

(End of Chapter)