Chapter 104 Greed and Fear: Those who cultivate the Dao and live in the world have long lost their reason...
"Demons are inherently bloodthirsty and difficult to reform; the eighteen realms harbor demons by nature, making them unacceptable to the immortal path!"
"We can't let them get away!"
"We can't let them get away!!"
All day long, the entire Eighteen Realms were filled with such sounds.
Heng Qichun held back until they stormed the Sendai before finally engaging them in combat.
The stringless zither was summoned and held in his hand. As the strings were plucked, Heng Qichun used his remaining spiritual power to create a huge barrier outside the Tianyin Palace.
He sat half-sitting on the other side of the barrier, holding the dying Lou Yan in his arms, coldly glaring at the ferocious-looking "fellow Daoist" outside.
He has upheld his principles for over a thousand years and has been revered by the world. He is accustomed to having compassion for all living beings.
Unexpectedly, he was struck by lightning and fell from the high platform today. He sat in the mud with all living beings and realized how ridiculous it was that he had protected the people for thousands of years.
Heng Qichun looked at the wolf cub in his arms, which was almost soaked in blood, and slowly spoke, "Fine, let it be that you gentlemen are unwilling to tolerate him. But what have the disciples of the Eighteen Realms done?!"
He raised his eyes, coldly looking at the demon-like figures in the rain, and asked, "I would like to ask you, what you are after today, is it 'upholding justice,' or is it for your own selfish desires?"
Sect Leader Chu was the most enthusiastic in shouting outside, "The Eighteen Realms are already in cahoots, what face does the Divine Venerable have to question us?!"
Heng Qichun opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound, his eyes, which were filled with compassion, suddenly changed.
When he spoke again, his voice was filled with chills: “From ancient times to the present, no ancient book has ever written that demons inevitably harm people. My disciple is of pure nature. Even if he were to become a demon, he would probably be more righteous than you all.”
Since the gods set up the barrier, the six realms have remained stable for over a thousand years.
With He Zizhou at the head, the various sects stood together, maintaining the stability of the Immortal Realm. Among them, the Eighteen Realms, because of the deity Heng Qichun, enjoyed a unique and revered position in the Immortal Realm.
Everything changed on this day.
Crane Island suffered a massacre, demons suddenly appeared in the eighteen realms, and the God Lord Heng Qichun—for the first time in a thousand years—spoke ill of the people he had protected.
"clank--"
The water-colored barrier was repeatedly struck by magical artifacts, and the stringless zither struggled to maintain its position, emitting a hoarse roar in mid-air.
After a long silence, Nan Yushan suddenly looked at the precarious barrier and said, "Why waste so much time talking to them?"
After saying that, he suddenly raised his hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning at the barrier set up by Heng Qichun, filling in all the holes that were about to break.
Having seen through people's true nature and the people standing beside him, Heng Qichun couldn't help but feel somewhat dazed.
His face was deathly pale. He slowly raised his hand to wipe away the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, then gently placed the unconscious Lou Yan on the ground and propped himself up from the ground, supporting himself on a spine that was about to break.
He pinched a lotus flower with his fingers, and an overwhelming divine blessing spread out. He softly uttered a celestial incantation, but this time it was not to summon the stringless zither.
A magical artifact enveloped in a watery halo slowly rose up, its dazzling divine light far surpassing that of the previous tribulation lightning. The immortals outside the barrier, who had lost their minds, had no choice but to raise their hands to shield themselves, and the artifact was gradually exposed to their sight.
Outside the barrier.
Fu Yusheng transformed back into human form, grabbed the terrified Wei Xiuzhu, and retreated to the edge of the crowd. When he looked up and saw this scene, his pupils involuntarily contracted.
That's it!
Heng Qichun held a crystal-clear longsword in his hand. The blade was neither gold nor jade, but almost transparent. Two characters carved in intricate seal script were imprinted on it. Upon closer inspection, the two characters "Chunyang" could be seen.
Pure Yang Sword.
The Pure Yang Sword can transform into an Azure Dragon and take lives from a thousand miles away!
This sword has been lost for a long time. Legend has it that it was the sword of the ancient gods, and it cannot be used by anyone who is not of pure Yang constitution, otherwise they will suffer a backlash.
Who would have thought that it would end up in Heng Qichun's hands, and that Heng Qichun would never use it to defend against enemies for so many years.
Even against the most wicked and evil people, he only used the gentler stringless zither and never touched the Pure Yang Sword.
If someone were to inappropriately add a comment, they would likely be able to glimpse the compassion and benevolence of the divine being.
What a pity.
Righteous people are too busy fighting amongst themselves to have thought deeply about this aspect.
Sect Leader Chu had already regained his senses and was trying to have his disciples break through the barrier set up by the Southern Mountain forces.
"Did you see that? That's the ancient divine weapon, the Pure Yang Sword. It's deadly from the moment it's used. If we don't wipe out the eighteen realms today, we'll all probably die under Heng Qichun's Pure Yang Sword!"
He was indeed very good at stirring up trouble. As soon as he said this, everyone present was shocked and immediately summoned their highest-level magical artifacts to help Sect Leader Chu break the formation.
The Eighteenth Generation declined.
Nan Yushan rose to prominence through the Lu Duan Sect. As a Gu cultivator, he was not skilled in close combat.
Fu Yusheng's demonic form has been exposed, and he is already in dire need of protection. As for Wei Xiuzhu... let's not even mention Wei Xiuzhu.
Nearly ten thousand people were threatening the Tianyin Palace, but the one who was actually supporting this barrier was only Heng Qichun.
His injuries were too severe, and he had to turn his body to the side when defending himself with his sword, revealing his bloodied back, which had been struck by lightning, in the cold wind and torrential rain.
Two horrific wounds lay side by side, stretching from the shoulder all the way down to the lower back, the wounds so deep that the bone was visible.
The blood, which had not yet stopped, slid down the skin and covered all the old scars.
Having taken Nan Yushan's words to heart, Heng Qichun indeed said nothing more, and even the struggle between his brows was barely noticeable; only his face was unusually pale.
He braced himself against the sword with one hand, but suddenly withdrew the barrier in front of him with the other.
The person outside, who was eager to break through the barrier, was suddenly jolted, and the magical artifacts in his hands fell to the ground in disarray.
Sect Leader Chu was the closest, and once the barrier was removed, he was only face-to-face with Heng Qichun and Nanyushan.
The arrogance that had been there not long ago vanished by more than half. Sect Leader Chu, holding up his magic weapon, forced a calm laugh and said, "Alright, it seems that if reasoning fails, you'll have to resort to killing blows. Did everyone see that? This is how the Eighteen Realms establish themselves in the cultivation world!"
Young people are full of vigor and prone to impulsiveness. One of the lower-ranking disciples immediately drew his knife and stepped forward, calling Master Chu "Master" and declaring that he would seek justice for all the immortals.
"Smack!"
Before he even got close, Heng Qichun had already knocked the steel knife out of his hand.
Heng Qichun did not use the Pure Yang Sword. He simply made a simple hand gesture with his other hand, which terrified the young disciple.
Seeing his junior disciple hide behind Sect Leader Chu with a pale face, Heng Qichun stopped his magic, raised his sword again to face the crowd, and said with a light laugh, "I don't even bother to use my killing move against you."
The veins on Master Chu's forehead bulged.
The rain poured down from the sky like a torrential downpour, and no one had the mind to use rain-avoidance talismans anymore; their clothes were soaked and clung to their skin.
The sundial in the Tianyin Hall moved, and in the blink of an eye it was already the hour of Chou (1-3 AM).
Outside the palace, danger still lurked everywhere.
Sect Leader Chu looked around and finally fixed his gaze on Lou Yan on the ground. He said to the people behind him, "There's no need to fight Heng Qichun head-on. While Lou Yan is seriously injured, let's first remove that demonic bone from his body!"
"Who dares!"
The Chunyang Sword in Heng Qichun's hand sensed its master's turbulent emotions and emitted a loud hum.
However, with greed and fear taking precedence, those who cultivate the Tao for the sake of the world have long lost their reason.
Sect Leader Chu was intimidated by Heng Qichun's imposing aura and took a half step back, but someone behind him shouted, "Heng Qichun is at his last gasp! Let's attack together, seize the demonic bone, and rid the immortal realm of this scourge!"
In an instant, several figures broke through the rain and attacked Lou Yan's spine.
"court death!"
Nan Yushan roared, his sleeves billowing, and countless tiny demonic beasts surged out from his sleeves. The Gu worms bit people's flesh, causing a series of screams.
Heng Qichun's eyes sharpened, his wrist arched, and the Chunyang Sword stood erect in mid-air.
"Buzz—"
A sword rang out suddenly, and a streak of azure sword energy ripped through the sky, causing the cultivators at the forefront to stagger back several steps, bowing and vomiting blood.
The power of a single sword strike is terrifyingly immense.
With tens of thousands of cultivators in front of him, if Heng Qichun refused to use his killing move, it was impossible to know when this fierce battle would end.
It's almost the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).
The Heavenly Sound Palace had been trampled and broken. The gnomon on the sundial was broken to one side, and the junior disciples who had been bound by Heng Qichun with the Immortal Binding Rope were lying everywhere on the ground.
Wei Xiuzhu squeezed in at some point and retied a cultivator who was about to break free of his restraints.
Having spent so much time in the spirit-locking bag, he is now very familiar with this kind of magical artifact.
The battle had lasted too long, and everyone was exhausted. Wei Xiuzhu struggled to look up, but before he could see where the God was, a dark light stung his eyes.
Her almond-shaped eyes blinked rapidly, then opened in horror, and stared fixedly at Lou Yan, who was lying unconscious beside her. "Senior Brother Lou!"
A sinister dark light suddenly appeared, heading straight for Lou Yan.
Wei Xiuzhu's heart jumped into his throat.
He recognized it clearly; it was a magical artifact from Xuanqing Palace, the Slaughtering Nail.
That damned Chu guy deserves to be beaten to death by my senior brother Lou!
Wei Xiuzhu's shout came at the right time. In the midst of the battle, Heng Qichun caught a glimpse of the swiftly flying butcher nail. His brows furrowed, and he felt as if his heart and soul were about to shatter.
What a wicked thought.
Ostensibly, the plan was to incite the immortals to "uphold justice" and slaughter the eighteen realms, but in reality, it was to obtain the demonic bone from Lou Yan.
They are even worse than demons.
As the twilight of spring grew colder, Heng Qi ruthlessly tossed aside the poems that had been entangled with him. In his agitated state, countless divine blessings seeped from his exposed wounds.
The stringless zither moved with the divine grace, and immediately suspended in the air, emitting two sharp "zhengzheng" sounds.
The door nail fell to the ground with a thud.
Heng Qichun raised his arm to stop the sect leader, who was about to flee in panic. The moment his arm struck the sect leader's face, the Chunyang Sword suddenly appeared in his hand.
With a "crack," it was pressed against his neck.
The Pure Yang Sword moved with a bloodthirsty urge, instantly unleashing a surge of azure sword energy that vaguely coalesced into the shape of an azure dragon.
A bloody gash had already appeared on Master Chu's neck. He watched in horror as the sword energy transformed into a dragon shape before him, almost coiling around his neck. Suddenly, he let out a long, almost maniacal laugh: "Hahahahahahaha!"
"Heng Qichun! If you kill me today, you will be unworthy of your title as a god!" He struggled under Heng Qichun's sword, yet he also understood Heng Qichun's mind as a god. "If you kill me, the whole world will know that you are a hypocritical villain who colludes with the demons!"
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