Family Cultivation: Evergreen of the Song Family

"What? The jade stone actually contains a spirit?"

This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. They had made various guesses beforehand, but none of them expected this. A piece of jade brought back by the first patriarch of the Ghost Hand Sect actually contained a powerful artifact spirit that could manifest itself. Who could have imagined such an ending?

"A spirit of an artifact? How could it be a spirit of an artifact?"

"No wonder she came here; it's all because of that sword."

"If the weapon spirit is already so powerful, what level is the sword in her hand?"

Everyone was shaken and became extremely alert.

Wang Xiuming, who was behind, was under even greater pressure. With his early stage of Purple Mansion cultivation, it was already a bit of a stretch for him to control a top-grade third-tier mountain-protecting array. The powerful force that erupted the moment the spirit of the artifact and the Jade Sword merged into one almost shattered the domain of the mountain-protecting array.

"Why is the Jade Sword in your hands? No, that aura is so familiar. You are Yu Shu. Have you really been reborn after your self-destruction?"
No, that's not right. Your aura is very similar to hers, but you are not her. Who are you? What is your relationship with her? Nameless returned to his long-lost original form. The feeling was familiar and wonderful, but he was mostly confused.

"In this situation, I don't have time to explain so much to you. Help me defeat the enemy!" Zhuang Yuechan said calmly. The Jade Sword was completely under her control. Wuming's thoughts were not important to her, because all she needed was the power that Wuming carried.

"Chong-"

Zhuang Yuechan unleashed a powerful sword strike, and the Jade Beauty Sword instantly displayed its formidable power, comparable to a low-grade law treasure. The sharp sword energy swept away the three people in front of her.

With light, graceful steps, she pointed her sword directly at Zhang Yu, who was in the center. Compared to the Ghost Hand Sect members, she wanted to capture him to fulfill Song Changsheng's long-cherished wish and, incidentally, interrogate Xu Mei and the other members of the Haoran Alliance about their whereabouts.

At that moment, a huge white halo, spinning at high speed, plummeted from the sky like a meteor, while at the same time, a phantom net descended from the heavens.

"break!"

With a soft shout, Zhuang Yuechan waved her hand, and the Jade Cleansing Sword appeared in the air, its light shining brightly.

"scoff"

With a single sword strike, snow-white sword energy stretched for dozens of miles, like an endless river.

The white halo was instantly crushed, and the large net, before it could even fall, was disintegrated in mid-air by the sharp sword energy, falling to pieces.

Although it only caused her a brief hindrance, it also gave Zhang Yu and the others a precious chance to catch their breath.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, if you don't show your skills now, you're doomed!" Ju Jinchou roared, his voice filled with rage. Seeing the Ghost Hand Sect on the verge of destruction, he no longer cared about attitude. The power of the sword in Zhuang Yuechan's hand far exceeded his expectations.

With the poison failing, he didn't think that the few of them could surround and kill or even capture Zhuang Yuechan under the current circumstances. If they didn't come up with a countermeasure soon, this pirate ship was about to sink!
Zhang Yu dared to come to the Ghost Hand Sect alone to coerce and entice them, which meant he had his own methods. Everyone in the Ghost Hand Sect knew this, and they could only place their hopes on Zhang Yu.

"You all stay behind to cover me. The longer you hold out, the higher my chances of success will be." With a light wave of his iron fan, Zhang Yu broke away from the battle at top speed. He then took out a scarlet pill the size of a thumb from his pocket, drank it down with a pot of specially made spirit wine.

In an instant, his skin turned bright red, like a boiled shrimp, and steam even rose from his body.

"Roar……"

A suppressed roar, like the fury of a wild beast, was squeezed out from deep within his throat, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged toward his location as if possessed.

His aura began to rise rapidly, and as spiritual energy continued to flow in, his body began to swell like a ball.

Seeing this, Ju Jinchou breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as there was a backup plan, it meant that he hadn't trusted the wrong person. Although he didn't know what the final outcome would be, he could only trust him and buy him more time to improve.

Zhuang Yuechan, on the other side, naturally noticed Zhang Yu's actions as well, since they were simply too conspicuous.

"Gathering Spirit Enhancement Technique." Zhuang Yuechan frowned slightly, lightly touched the ground with her lotus feet, and soared into the sky. She flicked her finger with the green sword in her hand, and endless sword light gathered behind her. The Jade Beauty Sword emitted a high-pitched sword cry. After thousands of years of silence, it finally had the opportunity to show its true sharpness.

"What a powerful sword energy!"

Li Guixiong's heart trembled, and the weapon in his hand was somewhat out of control. He could even clearly feel the fear and awe emanating from the spirit of the magical artifact.

There are also differences in rank among weapon spirits!

If that sword were to strike, he had no confidence that he could withstand it.

Wang Xiuming, who was behind, did not dare to be negligent and immediately activated his last trump card.

A beam of dark light shot straight into the sky, bursting open in mid-air and transforming into a dark curtain of light that enveloped an area of ​​hundreds of miles. Centered on Ghost Hand Peak, all the vegetation on the ground withered and died at a visible speed.

One after another, pitch-black "ghost hands" emerged from the lifeless ground, each palm bearing an eye that gleamed with an eerie light. As far as the eye could see, the earth was covered with countless eyes, a sight that would make anyone shudder.

These ghostly hands, like vines, spread wildly toward Zhuang Yuechan's location, accompanied by eerie shrieks from time to time.

"You call yourselves the righteous path, but in reality you harbor filth and evil. Your methods are no different from those of demons and heretics. No wonder the cultivation world of Lu Kingdom has become what it is today. It's time to uproot you all to prevent future troubles!"

Zhuang Yuechan's phoenix eyes were filled with anger. With a gentle wave of her fair hand, she threw out the Jade Beauty Sword. It transformed into a streak of light, severing all the ghost hands with swift and decisive strokes.

No matter how many ghost hands there were, they could not get within ten feet of Zhuang Yuechan.

Meanwhile, Ju Jinchou and Li Guixiong had already seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Zhuang Yuechan did not back down an inch. She took out a zither with a flick of her sleeve. With a light touch of her jade fingers, the sound of the zither was like the gentle clinking of jade discs, crisp and melodious, unconsciously immersing people in its music.

The ghostly hands that had been rising wildly seemed to be hypnotized by the music, and they all became listless, limp, and fell down like noodles.

Even Ju Jinchou, Li Guixiong, Zhang Yu, and Wang Xiuming behind them were inevitably affected by the music, and even the magic power they had mobilized was soothed by the music.

However, a surging murderous intent was hidden behind this seemingly beautiful music. The melodious music transformed into the sharpest blade, and when the strings were suddenly plucked, everyone's ears felt as if they were about to explode, and blood flowed from their mouths.

Wang Xiuming, whose cultivation level was the lowest and whose consumption was the greatest, vomited three liters of blood, rolled his eyes, and fainted. The great formation lost control and could only operate passively, no longer posing a threat to Zhuang Yuechan.

The Ghost Hand Sect disciples on the mountain were even more unable to resist, collapsing one by one in agony.

Ju Jinchou and Li Guixiong were in slightly better condition, but both showed signs of tinnitus and mental confusion.

Although it is only a very brief moment, on such a battlefield, a single instant is often enough to determine life and death.

"puff"

The sound of a longsword piercing flesh rang out. To Li Guixiong's disbelief, the Jade Sword effortlessly pierced his chest, even though he was wearing a strong protective soft armor underneath, it had no effect whatsoever.

The sword trembled slightly, and Li Guixiong's body was torn to pieces by the burst of sword energy.

"Ghost Hero!"

Ju Jinchou's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He forcefully waved a large ghost-faced banner with his left hand, and countless evil spirits roared out from it, rushing towards Zhuang Yuechan who was playing the zither with sharp, piercing laughter.

Faced with his furious attack, Zhuang Yuechan merely plucked a string lightly, and a wave of sound swept out, wiping away all the evil spirits. Perhaps the world had forgotten that her master was the strongest fourth-tier music master in the four realms; compared to swordsmanship, music was the perfect embodiment of her own strength.

With the nameless one manipulating the Jade Sword to protect her, she could play the zither without any distractions. Not to mention the few people in front of her, even if more came, they would only add a few more corpses.

Perhaps it wasn't until the moment before his death that Li Guixiong truly understood the real difference between them and the great masters.

"Zhang Yu, what are you waiting for!"

Seeing that one of his own men had died and the other was injured in the brief exchange, Ju Jinchou immediately tore away all pretense of decorum and began to call him by his name.

At this moment, with the blessing of the elixir and medicinal wine, Zhang Yu absorbed and transformed a large amount of spiritual energy, and his cultivation had reached the limit of the Purple Mansion stage.

His body instantly grew to a height of ten feet, looking unusually bulky and clumsy, but his speed was by no means slow. With the fan in motion, a hurricane howled out.

"Boom..."

With a slight tremor of the strings and rapid plucks by her jade-like hands, countless sound waves poured out, colliding head-on with the howling hurricane in the air and producing a sharp explosion.

In this round, the two sides ended in a draw.

Instead of retreating, Zhuang Yuechan advanced against Zhang Yu, whose strength had greatly increased. Her agile movements were difficult to catch. She held a sword in one hand and a zither in the other, and her speed was unstoppable.

He fought two opponents alone, holding his own without being at a disadvantage, and even subtly suppressing them.

The three sides fought fiercely for nearly half an hour.

"Sizzle"

With a flash of sword light, the banner in Ju Jinchou's hand was shredded into countless pieces by the sharp sword energy. A top-grade magic weapon was practically made of paper in front of the Jade Beauty Sword.

He too was stabbed in the chest, and was thrown back, pinned to the ground. Though his eyes were filled with resentment, he could only await the arrival of death.

As allies fell one after another, Zhang Yu's expression turned somewhat grim. Although Zhuang Yuechan was strong, she was not invincible.

But the sword in her hand was truly unexpected; almost no matter what level of magic weapon it was, it couldn't withstand a single strike.

Even though his strength had increased dramatically, he dared not approach Zhuang Yuechan within ten feet. With his mortal body, he dared not test the edge of the sword, which was tantamount to giving up the greatest advantage he had gained after increasing his strength.

He also had no advantage in terms of supernatural powers. His opponent had mastered the true teachings of Mu Guibai in music, and his music was all-pervasive, penetrating even the soul. No matter how strong his physical body and magical power were, his soul did not receive any enhancement, directly striking his weak point.

"Well, we'll have to find another opportunity. As long as we bring back news of Zhuang Yuechan and the sword, it will be enough to offset our mistakes." Zhang Yu's expression shifted, and he was already considering his way out.

But how could Zhuang Yuechan not guess what he was thinking? She forced a drop of bright red blood from her fingertip and flicked it onto the Jade Sword. The sword's power instantly surged, and she slashed down fiercely at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu felt alarm bells ringing in his heart. He circulated his own magical power and tried his best to block the sword, his forehead veins bulging.

"Boom..."

Zhuang Yuechan gave him no chance to struggle. With a flick of her delicate hand, she broke off all the strings of the zither, revealing the slender copper awl at the end.

With a flick of his wrist, several strings shot out, piercing Zhang Yu from different directions.

Zhang Yu reacted swiftly, gathering magical power in his left hand to block them all out.

But this completely restricted him, and he could lose his life if he was not careful.

Seeing that he was still struggling in his death throes, Zhuang Yuechan took out a jade flute with a flick of her wrist and placed it to her red lips. This was a jade flute that Song Changsheng had personally crafted and that Xiao Qingwan had given to her. She had rarely used it over the years and had been carefully nurturing it.

"Woo..."

The melodious and mournful sound of the flute echoed between heaven and earth. Even though Zhang Yu had shut down his hearing, the flute music seemed to be a demonic sound that kept drilling into his mind.

This is a unique supernatural power of the Tianyin Mountain lineage in Luoxia City: [Demonic Sound Piercing the Ears].

Even with Zhang Yu's strong will, he quickly reached the brink of collapse under the relentless torment of the flute music.

"Boom"

The string that had been held taut finally snapped.

"what--"

Zhang Yu let out a painful roar.

"puff"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the strings broke through his defenses, piercing his limbs and chest, and hoisting him up like a marionette, instantly draining him of all his strength.

"Chong-"

The Jade Sword, which had been hovering above his head, crashed down, and with a flash of cold light, it severed his head.

The strings trembled slightly, and his body was torn to pieces.

"Suppression!"

Zhuang Yuechan let out a delicate shout and summoned another nine-story iron tower, which suppressed Zhang Yu's head and his soul, which had not yet had time to escape, within it.

After doing all this, she still didn't stop. With a single sword strike, she broke through the passively activated mountain-protecting formation, stepped into Ghost Hand Peak, and faced thousands of Ghost Hand Sect disciples.

Those with slightly higher cultivation levels had already fled when they sensed the situation was turning against them; the rest were those who were unable to escape.

In order to save their lives, they decisively pushed the unconscious Wang Xiuming out.

Without saying a word, Zhuang Yuechan beheaded him. After imprisoning all the remaining Ghost Hand Sect disciples, she began to hunt down the Ghost Hand Sect disciples who had escaped.

If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring breeze. Zhuang Yuechan didn't understand this principle before, but Yu Shu Zhenjun knew it all too well. No matter what you do, you can't leave any hidden dangers behind. These are lessons learned in blood.

If it weren't for her special status and the fact that she was on the territory of the Five Poisons Sect, she wouldn't have let any of these Ghost Hand Sect disciples go!

……

P.S.: I'm experiencing some writer's block. I only have 4,000 words today. Let me sort it out first. (End of Chapter)