Born with immortal seed

Chapter 554 Soul-Destroying Sword Ma Ruoxi
"The Shen family patriarch once cultivated in the Holy Lotus Sect and also formed a vast network of relationships through generations of marriage alliances with several major clans in the Central Plains. In the past, the Holy Lotus Sect had to consider the face of the upper sect and could not push too hard, lest the lower forces become disloyal."

Hong Xuan's eyes darted around, and he spoke again.

“The real person can change direction slightly and resolve the crisis in Sanchuan County later, letting the Shen family fend for themselves. At that time, the valley where the Xuanbing Liefeng Fruit is condensed can be taken into the fold.”

"This move will not damage the prestige of the upper sect, and it can also win the hearts of the cultivators in Sanchuan County under the pretext of avenging the Shen family. His family has been entrenched in the county for a thousand years, with many branches and widespread influence."

“My master ordered me to quickly annihilate the calamity cultivators and restore peace to the Central Plains… If I were to take this drastic, wolf-devouring-tiger-like approach, I might seem to be gaining a great advantage, but I wouldn’t be able to get past my own conscience.”

With a solemn expression, Ma Ruoxi presented the Ziwei Xuanlei Sword before her and respectfully bowed in the disciple's salute.

As she drew her sword, her consciousness followed the sword, and her mind merged with the lightning, allowing her to experience the exhilarating feeling of being crushed by the overwhelming power of the opponent's realm.

Those three Core Formation cultivators would be difficult for her to defeat even if she faced them individually.

Most likely, even if all methods are used, only one person can be defeated, but there is no ability to kill the opponent.

These cultivators have experienced countless battles and possess extremely rich combat experience; each of them has one or two ways to save their lives.

The power contained in the lightning bolt was not strong, far from reaching the upper limit of the Core Formation level; its only advantage was its extremely high speed.

The thunder roared, arriving first despite being delayed, displaying the utmost wonder in its transformation.

Despite their best efforts in defense, the three of them were utterly powerless against the lightning sword threads.

From an unbelievable angle, he found the flaw in the light, pierced through the close-fitting spells, and took their lives amidst their astonished gazes.

Through this opportunity to fly on a sword, Ma Ruoxi gained a glimpse into the highest realm of swordsmanship.

Even just a glimpse of it evokes a sense of awe and reverence.

Previously, I only knew that my master's swordsmanship was unfathomable, but I had no clear idea of ​​just how powerful he was.

Only after borrowing the sword did I realize that even describing the difference between the two as vast as clouds and mud was far from enough.

She had a feeling that as long as she could continue to wield the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword and use it a few more times, she would have a chance to master the next realm.

"Nothing is more visible than what is hidden, nothing is more manifest than what is minute... Our sect is a legitimate lineage of Taoism, a lineage of immortals. Our two patriarchs were men of lofty stature and profound wisdom, with the well-being of all living beings in their hearts. How can we, as disciples, tarnish their reputation? Such actions may deceive others, but can they also deceive ourselves?"

Ma Ruoxi seemed to be answering Hong Xuan, but also seemed to be having a conversation with herself.

"For the sake of a body-tempering spiritual fruit, I cannot sit idly by and watch millions of people be engulfed in war. How can my sect be any different from the Holy Lotus Sect? What face do I have to rule over the twelve prefectures of Central China?"

"It was my oversight that almost ruined everything."

Hong Xuan was filled with trepidation and rose to his feet, bowing deeply to the ground, but inwardly he was unconvinced.

In the cultivation world, the strong have always been respected, and even a group of infamous and wicked Nascent Soul demon cultivators can still have a large number of followers.

No matter how virtuous you are, without sufficient power to protect you, you're just a paper window decoration that will break at the slightest touch.

However, the Qingfeng Sect is currently at its zenith, and they can say whatever they want. It's just that my flattery backfired, and I'm playing the villain for nothing.

"It has nothing to do with you. Fellow Daoist Hong is acting in the best interests of his sect, and his intentions are commendable."

Ma Ruoxi's expression was complicated, but her eyes gradually turned to determination.

"I am at a crucial moment in my swordsmanship breakthrough, and I need to achieve a pure and untainted sword heart. I can't even be sure if this decision truly comes from my heart, a desire to save people from suffering, or if it's merely for my own cultivation, driven by selfish motives?"

The voice gradually faded, and then silence fell.

Ten days later, the Qingfeng army clashed with the largest group of traitors in Sanchuan County outside the Shen clan's territory.

Ma Ruoxi faced off against the renowned Four-Faced Monk from the Northern Yuan, a cultivator at the late Core Formation stage, who was said to be a traitor to the Faxiang Sect.

Because his character was deemed unsuitable and he was deprived of the resources for Nascent Soul Transformation, he betrayed his sect and became a Tribulation Cultivator.

It has not been killed by the Faxiang School to this day, and it is said that the Wusheng School is backing it up.

The rumors may be true or false, but the Four-Faced Monk's strength is genuine, and he can basically be considered the pinnacle among cultivators.

Above that, cultivators at the Nascent Soul level are extremely rare; at most, they might make an occasional appearance, but it's unlikely they'd make it their primary role.

Just like Zhuo Xiong, who also secretly holds the identity of the Star Lord Po Jun to accomplish things that are difficult to do openly.

Ma Ruoxi fought a fierce battle with the Four-Faced Monk for over a hundred moves, facing numerous dangers and nearly falling into a desperate situation several times.

Ultimately, he found inspiration amidst life and death, a flash of inspiration led him to successfully break through to the level of refining swords into silk.

He activated the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword again, and the tangled wisps of lightning suddenly exploded, slicing the eerie black Buddhist treasure that the Four-Faced Monk had summoned into pieces, leaving a hole in his forehead.

The monk died with his eyes wide open in disbelief. His Vajra body, which he had cultivated diligently since childhood, had no effect whatsoever, and molten gold slowly dripped from the edge of the sword hole.

After this battle, there was an uproar, and most of the foreign cultivators who came to raid the temple chose to flee at the mere sight of the enemy.

Anyway, I've amassed enough wealth over the years. Now that a tough guy has come to Zhongzhou, it'll be much harder to make a living there in the future. I might as well go back to my hometown.

Only those cultivators from local sects who transformed into Tribulation Cultivators have taken root here, and even if they wanted to leave, they have nowhere to go.

They are still secretly plotting, attempting to form an alliance to jointly resist the Qingfeng Sect.

They certainly didn't dare to hope to fight against the Nascent Soul sects; their plan was that the Qingfeng Sect would need the help of local forces to govern the Central Plains.

Even the original Holy Lotus Sect, due to manpower constraints, would delegate some authority to various prefectures, which is why so many branches and immortal cultivation families were established by retired elders.

The Qingfeng Sect can only mobilize so many disciples to control Qishan and the two nearest prefectures.

Forcibly bringing all twelve prefectures under its control could only lead to numerous mistakes and oversights.

How many disciples can the Qingfeng Sect send to each prefecture? One hundred, or one thousand?

In any county, there are tens of thousands of cultivators, or even more.

Even with a thousand disciples scattered across various mines, spiritual lands, lakes, and herb gardens, it would be impossible to maintain much control over them.

Local Jie Xiu was trying to make peace with the Qingfeng Sect with this idea in mind.

They acknowledged Qingfeng Sect's status as a superior sect and agreed to pay tribute of resources as usual, but the governing power of each prefecture remained in their hands.

Unfortunately, several rounds of private communication were rejected with righteous indignation, making any negotiation impossible.

All those who have undergone tribulation must bind their own hands and await the judgment of the Qingfeng Sect to decide whether they will die or suffer torture to atone for their sins. This is the will of True Monarch Bai.

Qi Yue and Lu Song were left in Sanchuan County to rebuild order, while Ma Ruoxi set off alone, sword in hand.

Over three months, they traversed the remaining ten prefectures, specifically targeting renowned cultivators known for their calamities.

They came to challenge him, brandishing their swords along the way. Later, the local cultivators even fled back to their sects, trying to avoid disaster by using formations.

Ma Ruoxi charged straight up the mountain gate alone with her sword, and none could stand in her way.

More than five Core Formation cultivators died at her hands, and countless lower-level cultivators followed.

In just a few months, her name has resounded throughout the Liang Kingdom. Everyone knows that the Qingfeng Sect has produced a female cultivator who is a disciple of Bai Zhenjun, who is known as the number one sword cultivator in the Northern Region.

He was strong-willed, hated evil as if it were his enemy, and killed so many cultivators that they turned pale at the mere mention of his name.

This method of killing was too much for many thieving groups to handle, forcing them to seek a way out.

When Zhou Suqing, the True Person of Qingfeng Sect, appeared with more than ten Foundation Establishment disciples and a thousand Qi Refining disciples from the Array Hall, two more counties of Tribulation Cultivators were completely eradicated and brought under his control.

“Every time I draw my sword, it’s like stepping into my master’s perspective and experiencing his sword control. The progress I’ve made in the last few months is more than what I’ve gained from accumulating swordsmanship over the past thirty years.”

On the shimmering blue surface of the lake, several white cranes leisurely descend from the sky and swim freely in the water.

Ma Ruoxi stood on a jagged rock in the middle of the lake, with a hideous, short black-robed cultivator lying behind her.

The man's eyes were wide open, and he had nine sword wounds on his body, which was a rare sight for a cultivator who had died at the hands of Ma Ruoxi.

When the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword is unleashed, it always kills with a single strike, never requiring a second strike.

After mastering the realm of refining sword into silk, Ma Ruoxi was finally able to comprehend the subtleties of the lightning transformations, no longer relying solely on intuition as before.

The difference in their cultivation levels is still as vast as heaven and earth, but at least the one who has refined swords into silk has earned the right to be served, and is not so bad that no one is even present when they are being fed.

She even felt that if she continued like this, her swordsmanship level would actually improve her cultivation, helping her to break through to the mid-stage of Core Formation sooner.

The cultivator I'm facing today is a veteran demon, one of the Nine Yin Demons who committed evil deeds in the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom hundreds of years ago.

Later, he joined the Blood God Master's sect and ran into Ge Cang, the nemesis of the demonic path. He shattered Ge Cang's proud divine power with a single Qian Tian Yuan Yang Divine Thunder Net.

After desperately fleeing, he remained silent until the very last breath.

Everyone thought he had died from the backlash of the demonic power, but who would have thought he would appear in Zhongzhou many years later.

More than two hundred years have passed, and the Nine-Headed Demon has reached the mid-stage of Core Formation. At the same time, he has re-forged nine naked infants.

It was precisely through this supernatural power that he managed to survive the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword by sacrificing his own life with the help of a naked infant.

Discovering the strange and unpredictable nature of their supernatural powers, the next lightning bolt transformed into eight sword threads, piercing through all eight naked infants.

After the piercing scream, boundless resentment soared into the sky, and nine vengeful infant shadows pounced on the Nine-Child Yin Demon, devouring him to death.

Then, the resentment on the nine babies dissipated, revealing innocent smiles that scattered into points of light.

"I'm exhausted. The little girl's cultivation is too low. Every time I use her, I have to expend a bit of my essence... She was supposed to be absorbing the pure spiritual energy in the box, but now that she's gone, it's a huge loss!"

"This disciple is dull-witted and has been a burden to Senior Sword Spirit."

Ma Ruoxi blushed; all the brilliant achievements of these past few days were thanks to the Ziwei Xuanlei Sword.

She served merely as a swordswoman and a close-range spectator.

As a sword cultivator, she knew very well that the flying sword her master lent her exceeded the scope of a fourth-tier flying sword in every aspect.

This spirituality, this ability to communicate and converse, this anthropomorphic emotion—the fourth-tier flying swords described in classical texts could never achieve this.

Furthermore, even if other Nascent Soul sword cultivators lend their natal flying swords to their junior disciples for protection and to kill enemies, they can only seal the power of one sword at most, or at most three or four swords.

However, the Ziwei Xuanlei Sword had already been swung more than ten times during Ma Ruoxi's conquest of Zhongzhou.

All the signs made her wonder if the flying sword in front of her, which was filled with lightning, was actually a fifth-tier flying sword.

In her mind, with her master's talent in swordsmanship, it was not impossible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to attract a fourth-tier flying sword to join him, and for a Nascent Soul cultivator to subdue a fifth-tier flying sword and recognize him as their master.

"Alright, alright, I'll only strike three more times at most before returning to my master's side... Unless you have top-grade spirit stones, I'll reluctantly stay with you a little longer."

The sword, formed from gathered lightning, moved back and forth, displaying different forms.

"We have several hundred high-grade spirit stones, but not a single top-grade one. Does Senior Sword Spirit need any?"

Ma Ruoxi rummaged through a high-grade storage bag covered in slime, finally managing to break through the divine consciousness imprint left on it by the Nine-Child Yin Demon.

There weren't many spirit stones inside; apart from a set of banners, there were mostly eerie and terrifying skeletons, souls, and various demonic consumables.

From finger bones as thick as an arm, to a skull with three eyes, to a spine with spiky sides...

The various kinds of monster skeletons, as well as the large piles of white bones that looked like they came from the same kind, sent chills down one's spine.

As for the souls, there are more than ten Myriad Soul Banners, which require the condensation of tens of thousands to forge into one.

There are also many bottles and jars, and you can hear the wails and howls of the spirits inside even through the bottles, and even the slight sounds of collisions.

This is a powerful divine soul, which the Nine-Son Yin Demon specially stored away.

Ma Ruoxi reaped a great harvest by slaying many cultivators along the way. These Core Formation cultivators had robbed the wealthy Central Continent and were themselves gang leaders, carrying the spoils of the entire organization on their bodies.

The total number of all the storage bags added together is already an astonishing figure.

Even as a disciple of a True Monarch, she felt it was a bit too hot to handle; it was beyond what a Core Formation cultivator like her could bear.

If all of it were converted into spirit stones, it would probably be equivalent to at least ten years of the Azure Maple Sect's income.

'Anyway, the victory was achieved by using Master's flying sword to kill the enemy... After returning, I'll hand over all the spoils to Master, and then I won't have to worry about dealing with this matter.'

After making up her mind, Ma Ruoxi's anxiety subsided.

Even so, they couldn't produce a single top-grade spirit stone, which can only be attributed to bad luck.

Otherwise, with so many sects and cultivation families in the Central Plains being plundered, the number of top-grade spirit stones wouldn't be too many, but it's impossible for them to be completely absent.

As Ma Ruoxi wiped her sword, she pondered her next destination.

The calamity cultivators have started avoiding her, and she has run into them in several places without running into them.

The Nine-Headed Demon was simply unlucky; it seems he had only recently emerged from seclusion and hadn't yet heard any news of a female fiend arriving in Zhongzhou.

Upon meeting a female cultivator in the early stage of Core Formation, he wanted to add a main soul to his Myriad Soul Banner.

That's when he kicked a hornet's nest and died without knowing why.

"Currently, the cultivators are showing a tendency to band together, and the distance between them is getting closer and closer. But it doesn't matter to me, as long as I can find them... Who is it? Come out now!"

The Ziwei Xuanlei Sword in her hand suddenly jumped, giving a warning. Even though she knew nothing about it, Ma Ruoxi still trusted the flying sword in her hand.

"What a keen sense! He can even sense this."

A ripple appeared, and five cultivators appeared around the Spirit Lake, sealing a tight bag.

"Soul-Destroying Sword, surrender now or you won't escape today!"

The five Core Formation cultivators each had a talisman affixed to their bodies, inscribed with ancient seal script, which was slowly burning.

"When did I get the nickname 'Soul-Destroying Sword'?"

Ma Ruoxi turned around, not taking these four cultivators, all of whom were in the late stage of Core Formation, seriously. She was only wondering about her nickname, which was neither pleasant to hear nor impressive.

(End of this chapter)