LAVW – Chapter 56 Brother Qian’s Nascent Soul

Long Ye averted his gaze from Brother Qian’s face.

He had originally been able to hold it in. But Brother Qian’s expression… it really was too funny.

Long Ye tried hard to compose himself and salvage the situation: “It was my suggestion that was no good. The spiritual sword is too big—shrinking it is really difficult.”

Shi Qian sighed faintly: “Squeak—”

It’s fine, Brother Ye, go ahead and laugh.

After a moment of adjustment, Long Ye was able to ignore Brother Qian’s now grotesquely shaped spiritual sword and returned to a serious expression to discuss proper matters.

“Brother Qian, you just formed a contract with this spiritual sword, right? I battled it for days and was on the verge of losing. If not for your unexpected help, I wouldn’t have been able to subdue the spiritual sword I now hold.”

Shi Qian looked up and saw Long Ye gripping the sword’s sheath, the blade planted upright within it.

This sheath was slightly larger than most, its aura suppressed. The exposed hilt bore no tassel, only an ancient diamond-pattern engraving.

As Shi Qian’s eyes lingered on it, Long Ye lifted his hand and shing—drew the sword.

A burst of crimson light erupted from the sheath, killing intent rolling out in waves, chilling the very air.

Once the intense murderous aura dispersed, the blade’s true form was revealed: an entirely black longsword with a streak of vermilion along its body, as though it had seeped out from within the blade itself—like the blazing sun tearing through night, fierce and domineering.

Shi Qian snuck another glance at his own black brick of a sword.

It was still lying on the ground. He didn’t even want to pick it up.

Shi Qian let out a jealous squeak: “Squeak—”

Brother Ye, your sword is so beautiful.

Long Ye suddenly realized—he had unintentionally dealt Brother Qian another blow. But his real point had been Brother Qian’s help.

Still, Shi Qian was never one to stay gloomy over unhappy things for long. Thinking of his nearly completed cultivation breakthrough, he eagerly urged Long Ye: “Squeak squeak.”

Brother Ye, hurry up and form the contract with your sword.

But to his surprise, Long Ye refused.

“I can’t.”

Shi Qian: ?

Long Ye explained, “I didn’t realize your cultivation had progressed so much.”

“The Nascent Soul Tribulation is where the most promising cultivators fall—it’s a deadly hurdle. You have to prepare well. And you absolutely can’t attempt it in the Sword Cavern. There are too many spiritual swords here. If the lightning tribulation gets triggered abnormally, it could reduce you to ash in an instant.”

As Long Ye spoke, he removed his storage ring and handed it over: “I’ll need to form my contract to leave this place. I won’t be able to watch over your tribulation this time. But since we’re in the heart of the Sword Sect, I’m not too worried.”

What had made his own tribulation so dangerous wouldn’t happen again—not here, in the stronghold of the Sword Sect.

Shi Qian stretched out a paw, and Long Ye slipped the storage ring onto his foreleg.

“Squeak squeak.”

Then I’ll head out in a bit.

Just as the words fell, two figures appeared in the Sword Cavern.

One was the young grandmaster, Mo Sanchi, and the other was an elder—Chang Youcai.

Mo Sanchi said, “This is the Grand Elder of our Sword Sect. You may address him as Elder Chang.”

That phrase “our Sword Sect” was now perfectly legitimate. Mo Sanchi’s gaze fell on the spiritual sword in Long Ye’s hand.

Chang Youcai also saw the sword in Long Ye’s grasp, and his heart skipped a beat.

—One of the guardian swords of the Sword Cavern… taken by this kid.

Long Ye respectfully greeted him, “Greetings, Elder Chang.”

Shi Qian squeaked, “Squeak squeak.”

Hello, Elder Chang.

Chang Youcai maintained the demeanor befitting an elder, gently stroking his immortal-like white beard: “No need for formalities—we’re all disciples of the same sect.”

With that, he turned directly to the fluffy little spiritual beast that looked so adorably innocent.

“Little one, you’re about to break through, aren’t you? You mustn’t undergo tribulation inside the Sword Cavern. I’ll take you out.”

Long Ye glanced at the young grandmaster beside Elder Chang and said politely, “I was just talking about this with Brother Qian. Didn’t expect you to come in person. Brother Qian, go with the elder. If you don’t sense the opportunity for a breakthrough, I’ll form the contract with the spiritual sword five days from now.”

If Shi Qian could sense the moment to break through on his own, Long Ye would follow his lead—helping make Shi Qian’s advance to the Nascent Soul stage smoother.

If he couldn’t, then Long Ye could offer his help.

Their rapid cultivation progress was due in large part to how they supported each other. Naturally, their exceptional talent on both sides was also crucial. Neither one dragged the other down; instead, they elevated one another—if it were the opposite, it’d be a nightmare.

“Squeak.”

Got it.

Shi Qian agreed and jumped into Mo Sanchi’s arms.

He wasn’t familiar with Elder Chang, but the young grandmaster was different—they’d watched the sun together, crossed seas, and trained in swordsmanship. Their bond ran deep.

From the ground, the folded-up black sword let out a metallic “Zheng—” as if to remind its little master of its existence.

Shi Qian: …

Left with no choice, he jumped down, picked up his black brick of a sword, took out a spiritual beast pouch, and tried stuffing it in there.

But the black sword wasn’t having it. With a flick of one corner, it sliced the pouch open with a pop.

Shi Qian glared at the money-waster: “Squeak?”

That pouch cost a fortune in spirit stones. Do you have spirit stones?!

“Zheng—”

As long as you do.

Shi Qian had no choice but to grab the warped sword hilt with both paws and drag his spiritual sword along.

With such a big lump, he couldn’t exactly ask to hitch a ride anymore.

Mo Sanchi looked at that big black lump and didn’t recognize it at first. Only when she felt the Qingfeng Sword in her body hum in response, its fighting spirit surging, did she dare to confirm.

“This is… Overlord?” Mo Sanchi asked.

Chang Youcai looked toward the black mass and felt another jolt in his chest.

Yet another guardian treasure of the Sword Cavern.

These two swords alone had tricked countless disciples over the years into tossing spirit stones at them. And today, they were both being taken away.

Shi Qian heard the name “Overlord” and shook his head: “Squeak squeak.”

It didn’t like being called “Overlord.” Call it… Da Hei instead.

Long Ye: ?

Seeing the complicated look on Brother Qian’s face, Long Ye still went ahead and voiced the name Da Hei.

Mo Sanchi, holding down his increasingly restless Qingfeng Sword, chuckled and said, “It’s a good name.”

Such a big black sword—what’s wrong with calling it Big Black?

The black sword let out another metallic “Zheng—”, letting its little master know that it also didn’t like being called Da Hei.

Shi Qian couldn’t care less.

Originally, even if he couldn’t have a dashing, elegant spiritual sword, he could’ve had one that was refined and delicate.

But now? He was stuck with this lazy, uncooperative so-called “Overlord.” Useless and ugly. The fact that he wasn’t calling it a “slab of brick” anymore was already him giving it some dignity.

Chang Youcai couldn’t bear to hear more and flicked his sleeve, taking Mo Sanchi and Shi Qian with him out of the Sword Cavern.

They arrived at the Elder Hall.

Chang Youcai entrusted the spiritual beast registration to Mo Sanchi, instructing him to take Shi Qian to undergo his tribulation, and to pick up the standard Nascent Soul tribulation kit from the sect for spiritual beasts.

Normally, these items cost a hefty amount of sect contribution points.

But since Long Ye was still in the Sword Cavern and couldn’t come out yet, they couldn’t exactly expect the spirit beast to prepare on its own.

They’d already given out two guardian swords—Chang Youcai wasn’t going to be stingy about this small expense. He just turned his back, pretending not to see the joyful expression plainly written on the fluffy little creature’s face.

Once they left the Elder Hall, Mo Sanchi saw Brother Qian struggling to drag the unrecognizable black sword and lent a hand—one hand lifted the sword, the other scooped up Shi Qian—and flew them off the main peak.

Shi Qian: “Squeak.”

Thank you, Little Grandmaster.

Mo Sanchi guessed what he meant and replied, “No need to thank me. I’ll take you to the Hall of All Things to collect your kit first. You’ll be visiting there often—it’s good to get familiar.”

“Squeak squeak.”

Our sect’s benefits are amazing.

Shi Qian gestured excitedly, showing his approval of the sect to Mo Sanchi.

Mo Sanchi couldn’t help but laugh. “If you were Long Ye, the Grand Elder wouldn’t have bothered with tribulation arrangements. But you’re a spiritual beast. Elder Chang oversees the array ancestor—he’s used to worrying over things.”

So it was special treatment after all.

Shi Qian marveled at his luck. Good thing Long Ye hadn’t come out with him—another win.

But something felt off, so Shi Qian asked about this “array ancestor.” It wasn’t an easy topic, so he gave up gesturing and used spiritual power to write the characters.

Mo Sanchi patted his head. “The array ancestor isn’t a person either. It’s an array spirit. Bit mischievous and playful by nature, though it’s become more stable now. That final sword move of yours—wasn’t it fake? The array ancestor set that up on purpose. Luckily, Brother Qian, you were clever…”

Another one glad to see Shi Qian’s hard work over the years paying off.

But the more Shi Qian listened, the more withdrawn he felt. He quietly held a grudge.

So the array spirit, huh? He’d remember this wicked “ancestor.” One day, he’d yank a few beard hairs from that old goat.

Still… the voice of that array ancestor had changed.

At first, it had sounded like an old man. But once, it had sounded like a youth.

And that old man’s voice—was clearly the same as Elder Chang’s just now.

Shi Qian silently revised his “pluck the beard” plan—he’d just secretly step on the old geezer a couple of times instead.

After all, he was a fluffy little thing now. What’s a couple of fluffy-footed stomps? It just meant he “liked” his master-ancestor, that’s all.

When they reached the Hall of All Things, Mo Sanchi and Brother Qian stepped off the flying sword; the Qingfeng Sword remained hovering in the air.

With a casual toss, the newly renamed Da Hei (Big Black) was dropped right onto Qingfeng Sword.

Once the people were out of sight, the Qingfeng Sword let out a low, rumbling hum: “Wng——”

“Wng wng——”

The black sword remained utterly motionless and let Qingfeng Sword fling it all the way to the hall’s front entrance, where it slammed into the stone tiles and left a hole behind.

When Shi Qian and Mo Sanchi came out of the Hall of All Things, they saw the black sword lying flat, having perfectly replaced one of the paving stones. Meanwhile, Qingfeng Sword was buzzing with a clear challenge.

The black sword still didn’t react—only when Shi Qian appeared did it finally make a sound, out of respect.

“Zheng——”

Lovely weather today.

Shi Qian: …Bro, honestly, you should’ve just kept quiet.

He sighed, pried the black sword out of the hole, and continued dragging it along.

He had already asked—once Long Ye came out, the sect would assign them a mountain. Then he could toss the black sword up there and let it sunbathe to its heart’s content.

Mo Sanchi’s heart was half soaring with Qingfeng Sword’s battle spirit and half… struggling not to laugh.

Her free-spirited Brother Qian had finally met his match.

The spiritual sword Overlord had long been famous in the Sword Cavern. Many disciples had tried to bond with it over the years, going in groups and trying everything—offering benefits, reasoning with it, even emotionally pleading. They pulled every trick in the book, but Overlord just lay there unmoved, unimpressed by them all.

On the contrary, a number of other spiritual swords had been touched by these earnest disciples and left the cavern with them.

Years passed like this, and Overlord was slowly forgotten.

Mo Sanchi had never expected Overlord to be taken away by Shi Qian. Then again, thinking about it—it made sense. Qingfeng Sword had issued countless challenges, and Overlord never once responded. It was the epitome of laziness.

Its new name, Da Hei, was funny, but somehow fit Overlord disturbingly well.

In good spirits, Mo Sanchi brought Shi Qian back to his mountain.

The mountain had a simple name: Three Feet Mountain.

Shi Qian, upon learning the name, felt completely scammed.

Everyone knows that one meter equals three feet. But Three Feet Mountain was ridiculously tall—just a head shorter than the towering main peak of the Sword Sect itself.

Spiritual energy surged abundantly on the mountain, with ley lines running directly beneath it.

The surrounding low hills, spirit farms at the base, and several modest-sized lakes—all belonged to Mo Sanchi’s Three Feet Mountain.

Through the swirling spiritual mist, Shi Qian saw disciples below the peak using formations to summon clouds and rain.

A hazy misty rain drifted down from halfway up the mountain. Just as it began to ease, concentric rings of rainbow-colored light spread out, and in the spiritual fields below, swathes of spirit plants stretched their leaves, swayed their blossoms, and released a light, verdant aura of grass and trees.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Will the mountain I share with Long Ye be this big in the future?

Shi Qian freed a paw, pointed to himself, then stretched it out to draw a circle, trying to illustrate his question.

Mo Sanchi thought for a moment, half guessing and half replying, “Are you asking about your future mountain? If you and Long Ye are together, you can choose a large one too—though the location probably won’t be as good as mine.”

Mo Sanchi used to live on the tranquil peak of the Grand Elder. After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, she moved to this peak, long reserved for her—Three Feet Mountain.

“Squeak Squeak.”

Something similar is already great.

Shi Qian was starting to feel just how wonderful the cultivation world could be.

Getting a mountain as part of the sect’s benefits? He would’ve never even dreamed of that before. Not to mention that there were already plenty of buildings on the mountain—temples, towers, and pavilions—for disciples to live in. And they even threw in fields and lakes.

Having a sect… was amazing.

Shi Qian followed Mo Sanchi around to get familiar with the area, stepping on several particularly rich nodes of spiritual energy, good candidates for his upcoming tribulation.

He was then settled into a small building near a mountain stream.

The water gurgled endlessly, its sound as clear and melodious as music.

On his first night at Three Feet Mountain, Shi Qian lay on the corridor, listening to the sound of the rising stream in the rain—and caught the chance for a breakthrough.

The only problem was… all the tribulation sites were—outdoors.

Shi Qian, who normally knew enough to come in out of the rain, now found himself stuck on this little problem. In the end, he sighed and dashed out into the rain to face his tribulation.

At the dead of night, what had been only a soft drizzle was soon joined by the deafening rumble of thunder, and the rain began to fall even harder as the heavenly tribulation descended.

Soaked through, Shi Qian reached a flat stone platform near a cliff and began setting up the tribulation array.

The array, once activated, could help mitigate the impact of the lightning. It was for “external” support.

Next, Shi Qian quickly checked his stock of pills and spirit stones—these were for “internal” replenishment.

Once everything was in order, he sat down cross-legged and began focusing, absorbing energy from a top-grade spirit stone.

At some point, the black sword had followed him out.

It lay about a meter away, quietly emitting a Transformation-level aura, which blended seamlessly with Shi Qian’s own.

The black sword was no “outsider”—after forming their contract, their auras were already linked.

In fact, a master-servant contract like Shi Qian’s with the black sword was even tighter than Long Ye’s regular bond. In this sense, the black sword could be considered an extension of Shi Qian himself. So while Long Ye couldn’t help him block the tribulation, the black sword could.

Of course, having a bonded “retainer” meant the lightning tribulation would become a bit stronger. But only a little—the main target remained Shi Qian as the “master.”

The black sword let out a soft “zheng——”, as if in notification, then began absorbing massive streams of spiritual energy flowing up from the ley line beneath the mountain.

In terms of absorption speed, it was a little slower than Mo Sanchi, about on par with Qingfeng Sword. But it gulped the energy down so ravenously that its master noticed immediately.

In the main hall of Three Feet Mountain, Mo Sanchi broke off from her cultivation, frowning slightly as dark thunderclouds began to gather.

Qingfeng Sword let out a low “wong”—transmitting its mix of anger and helplessness to Mo Sanchi, having sensed that someone was tapping into the ley line.

It knew perfectly well it was that bandit again, but also knew that the little spirit beast was currently undergoing its tribulation. So it could only sit by and watch the black sword devour the surging spiritual energy from the mountain’s ley line.

Mo Sanchi took out a chunk of Heaven-grade ore and fed it to Qingfeng Sword. “Let it go. Do it for Brother Qian—don’t argue with Da Hei.”

After Shi Qian entered meditation, he became unaware of everything outside.

The tribulation clouds gathered over Three Feet Mountain, but since it started in the middle of the night, it didn’t draw too much attention at first.

Meanwhile, deep in the Sword Cavern, Long Ye, who had faintly sensed something, was already prepared and had begun forming a contract with a spiritual sword.

At that same moment, Shi Qian felt his cultivation stir—he immediately knew that his Brother Ye had started too.

“Squeak Squeak.”

The Sword Cavern probably doesn’t leak, right?

It was its own separate space, so surely no rain could reach it.

Before long, the first bolt of lightning from the tribulation struck. A blinding flash tore through the rainy night, illuminating all of Three Feet Mountain.

But Shi Qian had no interest in admiring the night view—he was braced and ready to be struck.

The tribulation lightning that descended was no different from a typical Nascent Soul tribulation: fierce and powerful, and the intense concentration of thunder energy made Shi Qian’s chest tighten.

Crack—

The lightning collided with the tribulation array, which absorbed about half of the force.

Silently, the black sword unfolded and returned to its original form—a massive blade—then floated in the air and absorbed the remaining half of the lightning.

Shi Qian, who had been waiting and starting to get too nervous from the delay: ?

He opened his eyes and saw the giant black sword surrounded by arcs of lightning. Clearly, it had swallowed his tribulation.

Good news: he didn’t get hit by lightning.

Bad news: without getting hit, he couldn’t form his Nascent Soul.

Shi Qian wiped the rain from his face. “Squeak Squeak.”

Da Hei! Spit my tribulation back out!

The massive black sword gave a little shudder, then spat out a clump of lightning. Shi Qian finally got struck.

But with all that back-and-forth, the tribulation’s power had diminished by 80 to 90 percent—not even close to enough for what Shi Qian needed. He had no choice but to order the black sword to sit still and stop stealing lightning.

But even after hearing himself repeatedly called “Da Hei,” the black sword disobediently continued snatching lightning bolts. Only when its little master got visibly anxious did it spit them back out again.

Shi Qian: …

It was just like when Wang Xingzhi’s cultivation plummeted and he couldn’t keep Xiao Yin in line—Shi Qian also couldn’t stop the black sword’s mischief. Especially since the sword was doing it out of “protectiveness.”

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Big bro, can I just call you Big Bro from now on?

“Zheng——”

Don’t be so polite.

With that response, the black sword released even more lightning power, blasting Shi Qian until sparks crackled from his fur, turning him into a ball of thunderlight.

Numb from the strikes, dazed from the shocks, Shi Qian suddenly realized—he hadn’t actually taken any serious injuries tonight.

And yet, by all accounts, this tribulation definitely didn’t feel like a weak one.

Something was off—this black sword was being far too attentive and eager.

By dawn, Shi Qian had passed through the fourth tribulation bolt.

After depleting the lightning power in his body, Shi Qian opened his eyes and glanced at the massive black sword that had now curled up nearby.

The formation disk had already burned out and couldn’t be used anymore. But thanks to the black sword swallowing the lightning bolts and then releasing them in batches, Shi Qian had “comfortably” made it through the first night. After taking two more pills, the injuries he’d sustained were fully healed.

That’s right—this was just the first night.

The Golden Core tribulation consists of nine bolts. For Nascent Soul, it’s three sets of nine—twenty-seven in total.

Above that, the Soul Formation stage brings six nines; Crossing Tribulation is [text redacted]; and Ascension involves nine nines.

At this rate, Shi Qian’s tribulation would take at least two days to finish.

A moment later, another bolt came down.

Now that it was light out, many curious disciples had gathered to watch the tribulation, flying over on their swords to get a closer look.

That was when they realized something strange—the one undergoing tribulation wasn’t even human.

“Hey hey hey, look! Why is a spiritual sword going through tribulation?”

“Are you blind? The one undergoing tribulation is the little white spirit beast next to it. Small, sure, but not that hard to tell.”

“But wasn’t it the sword that absorbed the lightning?”

“You really don’t keep up with sect news, do you? That spirit beast showed up during the recent recruitment assembly—it looks just like that, and it’s already late-stage Golden Core. Spiritual swords don’t undergo tribulation. Can’t believe you forgot.”

“That sword must’ve come from the Sword Cavern. I gave up everything last time I entered the Cavern and still couldn’t coax a single sword to bond with me. Ugh, even spirit beasts are doing better than me.”

“Were you in late-stage Golden Core when you were barely ten years old?”

“…No…”

New disciples were envious that this newcomer spirit beast had managed to obtain a spiritual sword, while older disciples were already starting to get bitter.

“That’s definitely Overlord! I’d recognize it anywhere—I spent three months with it once, and then another three months three years later.”

“I must be seeing things. That can’t be Overlord.”

“I’ve figured it out! Overlord doesn’t like people at all!”

Back on Three Feet Mountain, Chang Youcai had hurried over after hearing the news. Along with him came several elders skilled in crafting and formations.

“Take a look at this—could we come up with another way to replicate it?”

One elder had noticed the “nursing-style tribulation passing” method used by the spiritual sword Overlord and found it quite miraculous. If everyone could go through tribulation like this, wouldn’t that mean everyone could pass safely?

Thanks to that discovery, more and more elders gathered quickly.

As the day wore on, the crowd grew so large that Mo Sanchi barely had space to stand. She was just about to slip away and go practice swordsmanship when she was stopped.

The topic soon shifted from tribulation to sect politics, and Chang Youcai brought up a question about the retreat of the Grand Elder and the Sect Master.

“Sanchi, do you know why the Grand Elder and the Sect Master each went into seclusion and left everything else behind?”

In the Sword Sect, there were only a handful of cultivators at the Tribulation-Transcending stage. Two of the senior elders were already quite old and had gone into final closed-door cultivation. They wouldn’t emerge unless they were ascending to the heavens or the sect was on the brink of destruction.

One had even died in a spatial storm.

The Grand Elder was the one who had raised Mo Sanchi and was the highest-ranked cultivator the sect had produced—mid-stage Tribulation-Transcending.

The Sect Master was at early-stage Tribulation-Transcending.

This one person was said to be the pillar of the Sword Sect’s stability.

Yet before Mo Sanchi returned, both had gone into closed-door cultivation, withdrawing completely from worldly affairs, chasing after even the slimmest chance of further breakthroughs.

Especially the Grand Elder—given Mo Sanchi’s disappearance, the old man should have been extremely worried.

Mo Sanchi replied, “I heard rumors along the way—people say the major sects and factions have grown greedy. Even after monopolizing so many spirit veins and mines, they still seize newly discovered secret realms, leaving ordinary cultivators with no opportunities to advance. Could it be because of that?”

Chang Youcai gave a helpless smile and said, “That’s exactly it. The major sects aren’t held in high regard these days.”

“After several rounds of discussion, they decided to host a grand Heroes’ Gathering. Our Sword Sect just happened to get caught up in it.”

“The Sect Master, aware that he had spent years bogged down in mundane affairs and unlikely to make much progress, still chose to go into seclusion. He hoped to boost the standing of our Sword Sect at the Heroes’ Gathering.”

The Grand Elder and the Sect Master of the Sword Sect were a bit weaker than the top cultivators from the other major sects. If not for the Sword Sect’s famed combat prowess, they’d have fallen behind the other two of the top three sects.

“You came back just in time for the Heroes’ Gathering, and your cultivation has advanced too—it’s a great relief for us.”

Before heading to Ten Thousand Beasts City, Mo Sanchi had been at the early Soul Formation stage. Now, she had broken through to mid-stage.

Combined with the Qingfeng Sword, she was one of the top experts in the entire Sword Sect. Across the cultivation world, there were few who dared oppose her with Qingfeng in hand—save for those monstrous elders in the Tribulation stage.

Having a young representative like her at the Heroes’ Gathering was even better than expected—this had originally been the Sword Sect’s plan all along.

Mo Sanchi’s heart ached as she thought of the elder who had protected Sword Sect disciples and ended up caught in spatial turbulence.

She had made it back—but that elder and many other disciples had not.

“What happened in Ten Thousand Beasts City was my reckless mistake,” Mo Sanchi said, bowing her head in guilt.

“Don’t say that! You discovered the demonic cultivators, couldn’t handle them, and reported it to the sect in time—how is that wrong? Getting pulled into a spatial rift was beyond anyone’s ability to predict.”

“Running into that freak with the black-feathered crane—that was just terrible luck for us. That guy slaughtered his way through White Cloud Ridge once, and even after the Crane King brought in several Tribulation cultivators, he still couldn’t stop him. If he hadn’t taken the wrong path, he might’ve become a peerless genius.”

“Besides, you don’t know… these past ten years… that wasn’t the only incident.”

“All those frequently appearing secret realms—they’re definitely tied to demonic cultivators. Some are so filled with killing intent that it’s impossible to tell how many young lives were sacrificed inside. Those aren’t opportunities—they’re slaughterhouses.”

“All of the secret realms that fell under control turned out like that.”

“And even when we try to stop people, countless cultivators still rush in, willing to gamble their lives for a sliver of luck. Some even turn around and accuse us of greed and tyranny.”

“They don’t realize that in tracking down demonic cultivators and trying to eliminate them, our Sword Sect alone has lost thousands of disciples in the last decade. The same is true for any sect involved.”

“When the Heroes’ Gathering takes place and the hundred sects form their alliance, we’ll publicly reveal the information everyone’s gathered. Let those who still want to throw their lives away regret it on their own.”

Overcome with grief for the fallen disciples, Chang Youcai couldn’t continue speaking.

Mo Sanchi found it hard to believe that in just ten short years—barely the time it took for a closed-door retreat—the cultivation world had fallen so far.

“Have the demonic cultivators really come this far?”

“Too many small families and sects have been devoured. Following the trail reveals horrors beyond imagining. Dig up one, and you find a whole nest behind it—worse than sweet potatoes in the mortal world. That demonic patriarch must have incredible patience and cunning.”

While this conversation continued on one side, on the other, Shi Qian was still courageously braving the lightning strikes.

Bolt after bolt of tribulation lightning came down. The black sword also increased the strength of the lightning it spat out, but with such extreme patience, it made even Long Ye look restrained by comparison.

Gradually, Shi Qian began to understand what was going on.

Why did Dahei act like it was terrified he might die?