Chapter 10 The infamous swordsman who murdered his master and friend, his name was Shen…
The young man's voice was hoarse and cold, like the hiss of a venomous snake.
A pair of dark purple eyes stared intently at Chen Zhou, the vertical pupils flickering as if harboring murderous intent.
Shen Zhou's expression remained unchanged as he stood before the human staircase.
The monks, bound together with ropes, were scattered all over the ground; some were on the verge of death, while others were still struggling.
He asked expressionlessly, "Is this what you've been doing lately?"
Seeing that he did not move, the young man walked over on a human ladder. His figure was pale and thin, but every step he took made a creaking sound.
He looked Chen Zhou up and down, tilting his head like a child discovering a new toy: "Not wearing a mask today?"
Shen Zhou remained unmoved: "Let's get down to business."
The young man shrugged, pointed at the cultivators scattered on the ground, and said lazily, "Nothing, I just wanted to ask you, what should we do with these traitors?"
Shen Zhou's eyes flickered slightly before he took another step, his robe brushing against the blood on the ground, and walked straight forward—
“A bunch of scum, kill them all.”
The young man laughed.
He excitedly followed behind Shen Zhou: "There's another culprit, I caught him red-handed, and he's tied up in the main hall right now. Guess who it is?"
"Right Protector".
"...You know?"
"Um."
"Do you know why you didn't tell me? I almost died just now!" the young man roared in anger.
"You can't even handle this little thing, you deserve to die." Shen Zhou said, striding into the palace.
The light was dim, and a trail of blood stretched from the palace gate into the center of the hall. Chen Zhou stared straight ahead, passing by the middle-aged man lying on the ground, barely clinging to life, without pausing for a moment.
He walked all the way to the top of the platform and sat in the jewel-encrusted golden chair. Only then did he prop himself up on his temple with one hand and lightly tap the armrest with the other, calmly asking, "Why?"
The right protector, who was lying on the ground, slowly raised his head.
Blood blurred his vision, and he couldn't see Shen Zhou's face clearly, but he could feel the chill emanating from him—a fear that ran deep in the bones of everyone in the Ziyang Palace.
He was breathing heavily and spoke in a hoarse voice: "Four years ago, you killed the sect leader, and Ziyang Palace was leaderless. You made me the right protector, and I am very grateful."
"If you become the leader of this cult, I am willing to follow you for the rest of my life."
Changing his tone abruptly, he pointed at the young man beside Shen Zhou, his eyes flashing with deep hatred: "Ke Jinze, he's just a greenhorn! You actually want me to obey his orders, support him, and submit to him! How could I possibly be willing to do that?!"
The young man named Jinze rolled his eyes and then launched into a string of profanities.
Shen Zhou raised his hand to stop his dissatisfaction, crossed his legs, changed his posture, and still looked at the Right Protector with a calm and indifferent gaze.
After a moment of eye contact, the Right Protector fell silent. His energetic performance came to an abrupt end; his face turned purple, his cheek muscles trembled, and he had no choice but to lower his head.
"I made a mistake, but I also made contributions, didn't I? You won't even give me one chance?" The Right Protector pleaded in a low voice through gritted teeth, "Chen Zhou, Chen Zhou, even if you were a dog, you should have some feelings for it."
"emotion?"
The Right Protector heard that person's voice again, the tone just as it had been on the day they first met, contemptuous and arrogant.
He said with a half-smile, "You're talking to me about this kind of thing?"
The Right Protector closed his eyes, gave a bitter laugh, and shook his head: "Yes, do you have such a thing?"
"Do you have anyone or anything you care about in this world?!" he questioned from the bottom of his heart, his tone becoming increasingly resentful.
On the high platform, Chen Zhou walked down slowly, passing through the shadows that crisscrossed like wolf teeth in the setting sun, a corner of his black robe appearing before the Right Protector.
Without hesitation, he replied, "No."
"Precisely because I don't have it, I am stronger than all of you."
The Right Protector coughed up blood, his eyes blazing with fury: "Extreme strength inevitably leads to its reversal, and extreme prosperity inevitably leads to its decline! Chen Zhou, I await the day you bring about your own destruction..."
Whoosh—
A raging black flame erupted and instantly engulfed his entire body.
Beside him, Jinze withdrew his right palm and said irritably, "Why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Just kill him already!"
Shen Zhou's dark eyes were devoid of emotion: "He's right, isn't he? I am indeed courting my own destruction."
After a brief silence, Jinze burst out, "What does he know? He's an idiot who doesn't even know your real name!"
After hurling insults, she abruptly changed the subject: "Where have you been lately? I can't get in touch with you at all. And wasn't the plan set for this full moon night? Why was it postponed?"
Shen Zhou didn't want to explain: "What's the difference between earlier and later?"
Jinze narrowed his eyes, circled him, and muttered to himself as he scrutinized him: "Something's wrong with you. You never change your mind about things you've decided before."
“And this outfit…” His brows furrowed even more deeply, “Where did you steal it from?”
The shimmering brocade of Liangzhou is worth a fortune, even he can't afford it.
Shen Zhou glanced down at the bloodstains, making sure they weren't on his eyes, and slowly said, "I bought it."
"Impossible! Where did you get the money?" Jinze said.
"I earned it by selling my body," Shen Zhou answered casually.
Jinze's expression was as if he were constipated.
Shen Zhou ignored him and opened the communication disc. It showed a message from half an hour ago; he had just left the demon realm and dealt with some trivial matters.
[Wait and wait for the lights to go off]: Come to my room, I'll pay you your salary.
"You even have a communication disc?!" Upon seeing this, Jinze's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, feeling like he was in a dream.
"Someone else is messaging you? Who is it?"
"The sugar daddy."
After finishing speaking, Shen Zhou extinguished the communication disc, ignoring the other party's shock, and vanished, leaving behind a single sentence—
"Three months later, the plan remains the same, but I have things to do in the meantime."
etc!
Jinze stretched out a hand, shouting hoarsely, "Damn it! At least count me in!"
...
Shen Zhou did not reply to Hua Deng's message.
He went straight there and appeared in the room out of thin air.
As dawn broke, Chen Guanghua sat by the window, holding a black and white brocade fan in her hand. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders, fluttering back as she turned, then gently falling back down.
The girl smiled and said, "You've come?"
As he spoke, his eyes naturally curved upwards, and his clear black and white eyes reflected his vibrant, blood-red figure.
Hua Deng, already used to this, pinched his nose and said, "Although you haven't been in this position for long, you've done a good job, so I've decided to pay you your salary in advance."
Half of the red dots on the map had turned white, meaning that at least half the people had given up on appreciating the streetlights. She discovered this after being alerted by the system, and suddenly felt a surge of hope for her future.
As for the matter of demanding that Chen Zhou's salary be deducted not long ago, she immediately forgot about it.
In a good mood, even Shen Zhou's dead fish eyes, which looked indifferent to everything, became more pleasing to the eye. She smiled and praised him a couple of times, then readily took out the jade pendant.
"There are 100,000 spirit stones in here. Take them and you can get them from the Xuantian Pavilion when you need them."
Xuantian Pavilion is like a bank in the cultivation world, backed by the Immortal Alliance, and has a high level of credibility.
Shen Zhou accepted the jade token and disappeared from the room.
Hua Deng turned around, picked up the ink-white fan on the table, and continued fiddling with it. She had taught herself a spell last night and was studying it diligently, with considerable progress so far.
Fifteen minutes later, Shen Zhou reappeared.
His hands were empty.
"Have you stored them all away?" Hua Deng asked casually.
"It's all spent," Shen Zhou said calmly.
The streetlights suddenly looked up, their voices rising two octaves: "Where did you spend your money?!"
Shen Zhou seemed not to understand why she was reacting so strongly. He dragged over a chair and sat down, slumping on it like Hua Deng, and said lazily, "I need to nurture the immortal sword every month. I owed a lot of money before, and I just paid off part of it."
Hua Deng clutched his chest and sighed deeply.
"You sword cultivators are truly remarkable." It took her a long time to finally utter a sentence.
Shen Zhou replied perfunctorily, "You medical practitioners are the same."
I wasn't praising you!
Hua Deng was both angry and amused, but still felt it shouldn't be like this: "With your cultivation level, you shouldn't be unable to save any money, right?"
Even if you become an elder or a guest advisor, you won't earn a small amount each month.
Shen Zhou picked up the book she had placed face down on the table and said as he flipped through it, "I need time to cultivate, I don't have time to worry about these things."
"The Guide to Tempering Magical Artifacts?" he read the title aloud.
Hua Deng muttered something about the King of Scrolls and replied, "I have a wood-attribute spiritual root. The book says that I am suitable for tempering the spirit of magical artifacts, refining their structure, and preserving their spirituality."
Then it suddenly dawned on me—isn't this a perfect match for my major?
He immediately said with great interest, "Your sword hasn't been serviced this month, has it? Why don't you let me take a look? If I can help, you won't have to spend so much money in the future."
The girl's smile was sincere and pure. Shen Zhou raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you sure?"
Hua Deng assumed he was bothered by others touching his sword, so he said, "It's nothing, I was just saying it casually. If you don't like it, then forget it."
Shen Zhou said slowly and deliberately, "I have no objection, thank you for your trouble."
He then pulled out the Immortal Sword.
"Click".
A sword, gleaming with a cold light and imbued with extraordinary spiritual energy, appeared on the table.
Hua Deng's eyes lit up: "Wow, is this the sword of the world's number one swordsman? It truly has an extraordinary aura..."
"Click".
Before she could finish speaking, a second sword appeared.
Hua Deng's eyes lit up even more: "Wow, it's a two-handed sword! It really suits your style..."
"Click".
The third sword.
A glint flashed in Hua Deng's eyes: "The three swords are quite unique..."
Click.
Click click click click click click click click click.
The twelve swords were thrown onto the table one by one.
The streetlights looked up blankly, their light extinguished.
what happened?
She looked at the stack in front of her, then at Chen Zhou, and remained speechless for a long time.
Bro, you deserve to be poor, really.
Shen Zhou clearly misunderstood her gaze. He nodded reservedly: "That's enough, that's all."
Hua Deng almost couldn't keep her composure; was this the time to use "jiu"?!
But words spoken are like water spilled on the ground.
After a long silence, Hua Deng painfully picked up a celestial sword. He circulated his inner energy, exerting force from his palm, harmonizing yin and yang…
After one round, before Hua Deng could even wipe his sweat, Chen Zhou very astutely handed over the second round.
Hua Deng smiled at him.
Under Shen Zhou's gaze, she took out a medicine bottle and expressionlessly swallowed two Spirit-Replenishing Pills.
Unlike the Qi-Boosting Pill, the Spirit-Replenishing Pill is beneficial to the body without causing harm. Its only drawback is its high price; a bottle of Grade 3 Spirit-Replenishing Pill can sell for tens of thousands of spirit stones.
Swallowing the bitter pill in his mouth, Hua Deng continued with the second and third rounds.
By the fourth round, her smile was almost distorted.
How should I put this feeling?
It's like being constipated for seven days, and then suddenly having a bowel movement.
It left her completely exhausted.
Hua Deng slowly lay down, a peaceful smile on her face: "I'm sorry, pretend I didn't say anything."
"It's okay, take your time."
Surprisingly, Shen Zhou refrained from making sarcastic remarks.
He said, "I know you can do it."
As the lights dimmed, tears welled up inside me.
Why did she have to be so talkative! Why did she volunteer to nurture that damn Chinese sword for him!
Now look what's happened, she's completely drained, sob sob.
The hollowed-out streetlights pulled out their signature move—rolling around and acting like bastards.
After she rolled around three times, she found that Chen Zhou was no longer in the room, but the nine swords were still there, neatly arranged on the table, forming a smiley face shape.
Hua Deng: "?"
Thank you, I was inspired.
The streetlights were as black as iron.
She packed up all the immortal swords and threw them into her storage bag, wanting to avoid seeing them altogether. She didn't even want to see the ink-white fan, so she stuffed it into a corner as well.
Before she could catch her breath, there was another knocking sound from the window.
Hua Deng's forehead throbbed violently, almost tearing the window frame off: "Chen Zhou, are you out of your mind—"
"…………"
The streetlights and the puppet bird outside the window stared at each other.
This was the Hua family's communication tool. A man's voice came out from the bird's beak, trembling with fear: "I'm sorry, Miss, I'm ill, but my surname isn't Shen..."
Hua Deng cleared his throat, feigning composure: "I wasn't talking to you. Give me the things and you can take them back."
A sliver of white light flew from the puppet bird's beak, landed in Hua Deng's palm, and transformed into a thin sheet of paper.
Hua Deng then remembered that more than half a month ago, when she fled Yaoqing Sect to find Shen Zhou, she had sent people to investigate his background, but the information she obtained was unusually simple, summarized in two sentences—
His parents are unknown. He once studied under the Wan Jian Sect. He was expelled from the sect five years ago, and the Wan Jian Sect was destroyed four years ago. Shen Zhou has also disappeared without a trace.
Hua Deng was not satisfied with the result, so he ordered his subordinates to continue the investigation. The response they received was that there were many obstacles, which seemed to be the work of the Immortal Alliance.
Only today has this letter, carrying news of Shen Zhou, finally arrived. With the Hua family's resources, they could only find this short page of content.
"You did a good job. Go back and collect your reward." After saying this to the puppet bird, Hua Deng glanced around calmly to make sure Shen Zhou wasn't nearby, then closed the window behind him.
She eagerly opened the letter, reading as she walked to the table and sat down. However, after reading only two lines, her heartbeat was no longer as calm as before.
The letter was very brief, only a few pages long, perhaps because it was a taboo subject, or perhaps because Shen Zhou's life was simply too short.
After reading the words above, Hua Deng sat there for a long time before finally getting up slowly, pushing open the door and walking out.
The letter was hidden in her sleeve, and her fingertips unconsciously groped for it, as if trying to sense something from it.
But there's nothing there, just like Shen Zhou himself.
They hadn't gone far when they spotted Shen Zhou's figure.
He changed into clean clothes, knelt on the roof ridge, propped up on one leg, his wide sleeves spreading out. The morning breeze ruffled his hair, and the rosy dawn cast a soft glow on him, making him appear both forlorn and serene.
Hua Deng stood under the banyan tree for a while, then quietly turned and left.
Unbeknownst to her, the instant she turned around, Shen Zhou silently turned back, his gaze sweeping over her slender back before calmly shifting away after only a second, maintaining his previous posture.
As the sun rose higher and the sky brightened, the last few stars overhead disappeared.
Despite sitting in the bright light, Chen Zhou seemed to be enveloped in shadow.
*
Twenty-four years ago, a child was born. By the time he was five, he still couldn't speak, so his parents abandoned him, and he narrowly escaped being devoured by wolves.
Just then, the Sword Master Xuanci happened to pass by and, seeing his extraordinary talent, saved his life and took him back to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to teach him carefully.
That year, a major news story caused quite a stir in the cultivation world—
There was a child who was born with the potential to build up his foundation, and he completed the process of forming his core at the age of five.
Later, when the child was eight years old, he cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, and at thirteen, he ascended to the Divine Transformation stage.
At twenty years old, he entered the Integration stage, just one step away from transcending the tribulation.
But another big thing happened when I turned twenty.
He murdered his teachers and friends, and slaughtered the entire Wanjian Sect.
From then on, the world-renowned First Sword Sect ceased to exist.
Only one infamous, cold-blooded swordsman remained, whom everyone wanted to kill.
His name is Shen Zhou.
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