Embers of Sword

Chapter 96 Winter Solstice
On the day of the winter solstice, the imperial city experienced a heavy snowfall that was rare in a decade.

The streets and alleys were silent except for the sound of the wind.

Except for a few night watchmen and the imperial city guards who were responsible for night patrols, almost no one went out.

Because the wind was so strong, they had to stick talismans on the lanterns they carried before they could light a faint candle flame.

The straight and flat streets of the imperial city were covered with heavy snow, looking silvery white.

Perhaps because of the heavy snow, this night feels especially long.

But in the darkness, a fire suddenly lit up, which was different from the flame of a lantern or candle.

The fire is very bright.

Very glaring.

No matter if they were night watchmen or guards from the Imperial City, they would retreat when they saw the flames from afar. Those who did not have time to retreat would kneel on one knee or dismount to show their respect.

This is not a fire, but a person.

A man on fire.

This ray of fire was like a long sword. After entering the imperial city, it went straight towards the palace and finally stopped outside the palace wall.

At the main gate of the palace, there was a figure who had just left, sitting upright on horseback, neither turning over nor kneeling.

In the end, the two of them stared at each other from a distance of ten feet.

"Master Special Envoy, are you back?"

The man on horseback spoke first.

"Master Yuan, it's been three years since we last met. I hope you are doing well. I heard that you have taken the position of the head of the Imperial City Department."

The flames were blown away bit by bit by the wind, and after the flames faded, a set of shiny black heavy armor gradually appeared.

This heavy armor is made up of countless pitch-black scales, and the belt is engraved with a ferocious beast head, exuding a cold and murderous aura everywhere.

The fire went out, and the heavy armor almost blended into the long night.

The heavily armored man grinned, revealing his white teeth, and said in a brilliant smile: "...Congratulations."

"Tick."

"Tick."

After a brief greeting.

The whistling wind was mixed with the sound of water drops falling to the ground.

Yuan Jimo, the head of the Imperial City Department, frowned. He didn't know if it was because of the fire or the creepy black armor, but the horse under his crotch suddenly became uneasy, snorted twice, and its four hooves became restless.

next moment.

He understood the reason——

There was a cold fishy smell in the air.

The heavily armored man came across the imperial city, holding two heads in his hands.

The person is already dead.

But the blood was still hot, and it fell on the snow, burning out pits one after another.

Yuan Jimo lifted the reins, rode his horse around in a circle, and asked condescendingly, "Do you want to enter the palace?"

"good."

"The Imperial City has been in turmoil lately."

"so?"

"The queen is in a bad mood. Are you sure you want to go see her at this time?"

"you are wrong."

A long sigh.

"It's the Queen who wants to see me—"

The heavily armored man held up the two warm heads in his hands, raised his face and smiled, "This is a gift I brought for the queen. How about it, Lord Yuan?"

So the previous sigh was actually a show-off.

"Ah."

Yuan Jimo glanced at the head, made no comment, and rode away on his horse.

……

……

The hall was dark, with only one candle lit.

After the heavily armored man entered the hall, he put down the two heads.

He knelt on one knee and reported respectfully: "Your Majesty, this trip has yielded a lot of results. The miasma in southern Xinjiang has begun to spread eastward, and it will soon reach the border of Li Country."

There was no movement behind Yuping.

The heavily armored man continued, "There is a lot of resentment in Southern Xinjiang, and all the major sects are fighting among themselves. However... Yinshan and Tiangui Sect have already recognized the situation. Bai Gui and Mo Dao Ren are willing to swear a soul-to-soul oath and abandon darkness to join the light. As long as the queen nods, these two will be willing to bow down and serve the queen for the rest of their lives."

This is the end.

A questioning voice came from behind the jade screen.

"Where's the paper doll?"

These four words echoed in the hall for a long time.

The three major evil sects in southern Xinjiang that dominated the country in previous years have become "disgraced" and in a very embarrassing state in recent years. Yinshan was even forced to close the mountain and retreat.

The reason why.

It’s because of this “Paper Man Way” that suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
"It has been investigated, but it's nothing special."

"This sect is strange. Although it can stir up trouble in the remote areas of Southern Xinjiang, its foundation is weak and there is no need to worry about it."

The heavily armored man raised his head and spoke in a loud voice: "I went south this time to fight with the strong men in the Paper Man Sect... I specially cut off the heads of two Yin God Venerables as a gift for the queen!"

Hearing this, a light laugh came from behind the jade screen.

The slender figure reflected in the candlelight waved her sleeves.

A blue-robed eunuch came out from the darkness, holding two large wooden boxes, and tiptoed to take the head away.

After a while.

The woman behind the jade screen looked at the wooden box for a moment and murmured, "I don't see how it's any different from other Yin Gods... What about the so-called 'Tao Lord'?"

"Tao Master..."

The heavily armored man was a little embarrassed. He said helplessly, "My Lady, I have been lurking in Southern Xinjiang for several years, but I have never met the so-called 'Paper Man Dao Master'. Bai Gui told me that the Paper Man Daoists are elusive and have ghostly intentions, so even if they are stationed in Southern Xinjiang, they have never met the master."

"Oh?"

The woman behind the screen became interested.

"Over the years, the title of Dao Master has been widely circulated in Southern Xinjiang...but no one has ever seen the real thing."

The heavily armored man said seriously, "In my humble opinion, this Paper Man Sect is nothing more than a despicable sect that plays tricks and schemes and cannot stand the light of day. Perhaps this so-called 'Tao Master' does not exist at all, or his realm is so low that he dare not show his face in public."

The hall fell into silence.

"Let's put the matter of the paper man on hold for now."

The woman waved her sleeves and dismissed the people around her.

After the eunuchs left, the hall seemed even colder and quieter.

The woman stood up.

With a sound of "Ding"!
A flying sword flew out from the other side of the screen.

The heavily armored man's pupils contracted. The woman just flicked the sword with her hand, and the speed was almost beyond the range of his spiritual perception.

In a moment of distraction, the afterimage of the flying sword appeared in front of him.

The next moment, the flying sword brushed past the edge of the heavy armor, bursting out a series of brilliant light and fire, and finally nailed into the pillar of the hall!
buzzing-

The sound of swords lingered.

The heavily armored man was knocked back by the fierce sword energy.

He stared blankly at this "inferior flying sword" of ordinary texture, which was only fourth or fifth grade at most.

With the identity and status of the Queen, how could she play with such defective products?
"A few days ago, I went to the Weapon Refining Department and saw this sword by chance."

The woman smiled and said, "Does it look familiar to you?"

The heavily armored man had a complicated expression and looked back intently.

Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

He said in a hoarse voice: "Is this... a serious illness?"

"good."

"Although it is just a fake, this [Chen Xia] is still the universal flying sword forged by the Weapon Refining Division for sword cultivators below the Yin Shen Realm."

The woman sat down slowly. "I heard a prophecy circulating outside... It said that the person who holds this sword will become the master of the Dasui Sword Palace in the future."

"My lady, the entire Beihai has been turned upside down in the past ten years."

Qing Falcon was sweating profusely, and he quickly lay down and said, "The owner of this sword has long been dead... I don't know which foolish fortune teller said this prophecy. I'll go check it out and cut off the tongue of this foolish fellow."

"..."

The woman chuckled.

Some issues are actually not that important.

But I never got an answer.

It becomes very important.

The heavily armored man hurriedly crawled forward a few steps.

He looked up at the lofty figure at the end of the hall and cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, do you think that man is not dead?"

"Dead... he must be dead, otherwise there wouldn't be these ten years of peace."

The woman sighed softly and said self-deprecatingly, "It's just that I've been feeling uneasy lately. It has nothing to do with that person, but it has something to do with my serious illness."

The heavily armored man was stunned for a moment.

This sentence is worth pondering.

It has nothing to do with that person, but with the serious illness...

Behind the serious illness is the Dasui Sword Palace!

"I heard that Dasui Sword Palace is reopening and Xuanshui Cave Heaven is choosing a new master."

The woman took a deep breath and ordered in a deep voice: "Qing Falcon, go to the Sword Palace and don't make it public. Re-investigate the Xuan Yi case from that year... No matter what, let me have a good dream."

……

……

The two dynasties of Da Chu and Da Li have been in opposition from north to south for five hundred years.

It is said that there is Chu in the north and Li in the south, but in fact, Da Chu is located in the northwest and is very powerful. Its territory is nearly twice the size of Li.

Five hundred years ago, there were ten dynasties competing with each other in this world.

The Ten Kingdoms Rebellion was eventually quelled by two heroic rulers, and eventually led to a conflict between the North and the South.

That's how we have the "Northern Chu" and "Southern Li" today.

In the early years, the Li Kingdom was actually slightly stronger than the Chu Kingdom, but the disaster of "vitality withering" came too quickly, coupled with the rampant miasma, the Li Kingdom was forced to give up a large piece of territory -

Then the miasma spread.

Da Chu was also forced to give up a piece of "wasteland", but this disaster gave Da Chu the advantage of geographical location.

This territory, shrouded in miasma and uninhabitable, eventually formed the Southern Xinjiang region, which was independent of the two countries.

Of the hundred thousand mountains, if it weren't for the miasma, Dali would account for more than ninety percent.

At the beginning, Beichu and Nanli each set up a "border checkpoint" on the border of southern Xinjiang, and would cut off the cultivation of cultivators who violated the law and exile them to the southern Xinjiang territory.

Miasma abounds in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. But no one would have thought that even if these cultivators gave up their cultivation, they could still survive in the miasma.

Among the earliest exiles, there were several "talented people" who found a "way to survive" in the wasteland of southern Xinjiang where the vitality was declining, and opened up various evil methods of cultivation... blood sacrifice, corpse refining, and poison. The two dynasties could never have imagined that in less than a hundred years, all the evil sects in southern Xinjiang would be established, and they had become quite powerful, even attracting many "cultivators" who were not naturally qualified to come and join them.

But this isn't a bad thing.

This world is not just black and white.

Whether it is Da Chu or Da Li...in fact, they both need the existence of "Nanjiang".
-
Today is the winter solstice.

To the evil cultivators in southern Xinjiang, this day is meaningless.

Shrouded in miasma, the Shiwanda Mountains are scorching hot all year round, with eternal summer all year round and only occasional rainfall.

Maybe it's because Da Chu is too cold.

Southern Xinjiang welcomed a heavy rain tonight.

All the major sects formed formations to receive the rain.

Even if a cultivator has great supernatural powers and can steer a sword to travel a thousand miles a day, he cannot escape this mortal body. There is only one person who can practice fasting, not to mention these evil cultivators... Because they practice evil arts, their seven emotions and six desires are stronger than others, making it extremely difficult to practice fasting.

If there is no water to drink, then one must drink human blood.

Although human life is cheap, rain from the sky is still cheaper.

The sky was overcast.

Thunder trembles.

In a remote and desolate mountain, two wandering monks stopped here.

Although Southern Xinjiang is the land of evil cultivators... the two dynasties do not impose a curfew, so other cultivators often set foot here.

Taoism, Sword Palace, and Buddhism.

Young disciples from these three major religions often come to southern Xinjiang to practice.

When the three major sects in southern Xinjiang were at their most rampant, they were suppressed extremely miserably.

Later, there was even a custom of "Jia Zi to eliminate demons".

"Master, how come I haven't seen any trace of evil cultivators in the past few days? Could it be that they were all killed by that guy?"

The young monk sighed and said, "If we go further north, we will soon reach Da Chu. Has this journey to exorcise demons been successfully completed?"

The old monk shook his head without saying anything. He just held the Buddhist pestle and continued walking forward.

These days.

They had a very peaceful journey.

I encountered several evil sects on the way, but they were all wiped out...

They captured a person alive, but before they could question him, he died.

From the evil cultivator, the two learned that a murderous sword cultivator suddenly came to the "Liu Chong Mountain" area in recent days. He did not care about the rules of Southern Xinjiang at all and would take the lives of any evil cultivator he met.

Especially the "Yinshan" disciples who practice the art of controlling spirits!
As long as you tell me your name, I promise that not even your body will be left!
It was raining heavily.

The two came to a dilapidated old temple.

The Dali Dynasty highly respected Buddhism, and many years ago, Buddhist temples and monasteries were built on many hilltops in the southern border areas that still belonged to the Li Kingdom. Later, the evil cultivators who were exiled from the Li Kingdom established the three major sects, the notorious "Hehuan Sect", which included the Zen practice of the Laughing Buddha.

As a result, these ancient temples shrouded in miasma were able to survive and be saved from demolition.

The old monk frowned and stopped in front of the temple.

A hundred years later.

The Buddhist aura in the temple had long been eroded by the miasma, and the foul odor of the Hehuan Sect's Happy Zen was overflowing.

From dozens of feet away, one could see the woman's tattered clothes scattered on the ground, as well as her white bones weathered by years of weathering.

"Master, there's someone."

The little monk's ears trembled slightly. He frowned and whispered, "From the sound, it's the dirty stuff from the Hehuan Sect."

There was a sound of violent shaking in the temple.

Turning clouds and rain——

The woman's wailing was so piercing that it could be clearly heard through the heavy rain, and it even carried a hint of a plea for mercy.

Such a scene is really embarrassing.

The old monk slowly grasped the vajra, lowered his brows and said: "I am from the Dali Dynasty, Fanyin Temple, and my name is Fazhao..."

"roll!!"

A cold and angry roar was heard in the rain.

With a loud bang, the sound spread and directly shattered the rain curtain!

"Crash!!"

The little monk looked pale and fell to the ground in shock. Although he had covered his ears with his hands early on, blood still flowed out from between his fingers.

Fazhao took a step forward and came in front of the little monk!
"boom!!!"

The sound waves spread, and the vajra burst out with a trembling sound. The old monk's eyebrows, beard and long hair fluttered, and then slowly fell back.

The next moment the temple exploded and countless pieces of rubble burst out.

All I saw was a rickety wooden couch, covered by layers of curtains.

The slender woman was covered with a layer of veil and her voice was shrill and explosive: "Nanli's bald ass, why did you come at any other time, but now?!"

The leader of the Hehuan Sect practices the art of the soul.

The Nanli Buddhist sect, on the other hand, focuses on the physical body.

Fazhao took a deep breath. This time he brought his disciples to southern Xinjiang in order to tame the monkey mind and make up for the biggest flaw in the body refining technique.

He stretched out his hand and threw the vajra.

The Buddha's light shone everywhere, the heavy rain evaporated, and the Buddha's pestle suddenly became golden and dazzling.

But the next moment, Fazhao realized something was wrong.

Behind the curtains, on the bed, lay a man with his clothes undressed.

From beginning to end, the man's reaction was very calm, and he even seemed to enjoy it...

On the other hand, the "Dirty Bodhisattva" of the Hehuan Sect was wailing all over the mountain, and it seemed that he was not acting, but was truly begging for mercy!
and many more.

There is more than one evil cultivator here!
Yes, two!
"Master, something doesn't seem right?!"

The young monk also noticed something strange.

The originally dark and silent mountaintop suddenly had many bright silver pupils, and the shrill crows' cries were heard in the dark night.

"Bald donkey, take action!"

The woman from the Hehuan Sect screamed, "I can't stand this guy's 'Spirit Control' technique any longer. If we don't kill him, we'll all die!"

A strange light suddenly flashed from Fazhao's cloudy eyes.

It turns out that this intercourse was not the Hehuan Sect squeezing the furnace cauldron...

Instead, it was Yinshan Zhenren who was using the art of controlling spirits to control the souls of the Hehuan Sect's monks!

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The vajra shot out in the air, emitting dozens of rays of Buddha light towards the curtain.

But alas, it's too late.

After a sharp scream, the woman from the Hehuan Sect lowered her body and lay on the man's naked chest. Then she raised her head again, her eyes were only gray. Layers of curtains shot out like swords, and with the sound of tearing silk, the Vajra Buddha's light was entangled by the bed curtains and dimmed in an instant.

Fazhao looked grim, took a step forward and threw a punch!
With a loud "boom", heaven and earth resonated.

But the next moment, countless crows flew over and turned into a black wave. The punch created a wave of air that broke the tide of crows in half, and the splattering hot blood and rain fell on the old monk's cheek.

Fazhao was stunned for a moment.

next moment.

A pale and beautiful face suddenly broke through the tide of crows. The woman from the Hehuan Sect, whose soul was controlled by the spirit-controlling technique, jumped onto the old monk like a vampire locust.

She opened her mouth and bit.

Fazhao quickly raised his palm, and the golden Buddha's body emitted wind and thunder, which blew it away.

But the next moment, his whole body was shaken violently!
A sound from heaven descended and landed on the lake of heart!

"service--"

This word came from the heir of the spirit-controlling technique who slowly stood up from the collapsed temple.

Fazhao suddenly froze.

He stared in disbelief at the figure standing in the heavy rain. Lightning flashed in the rainy night, and the figure's face became more and more familiar the more he looked at it.

"You are……"

Fazhao spoke with a hoarse voice and great difficulty.

He read out the other person's name.

"Jin...Yuan?"

There are twelve favorite disciples under the Three Saints of Yinshan.

Master Jin Yuan, ranked seventh.

"Good eyesight."

Master Jin Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Bald donkey... are you the one who recently attacked and killed the 'Yinshan monks'? You don't look like one. You are only at the sixth level of the Cave Heaven Realm, much weaker than I thought."

The deep voice echoed in the heavy rain.

The man slowly closed his clothes, and countless black crows circled around him.

Fazhao wanted to say something.

but……

The moment the Soul Controlling Technique landed on Xin Lake, his entire soul could only be used for defense.

"Or is it you?"

Master Jin Yuan looked at the little monk on the ground with disgust and said with a sneer, "The Controlling Equipment Realm is even weaker."

The little monk looked pale.

boom!
The lightning sounded again.

Master Jin Yuan was stunned. He frowned and looked towards the little monk...

There is a new figure here.

A young figure dressed in black and wearing a bamboo hat, looking only sixteen or seventeen years old.

He was quite sure that just a moment ago, this place was empty.

"Or maybe that person is me?"

The voice of the young man in the bamboo hat echoed on the mountain top, louder than the thunder and the crows cawing in the temple.

"..."

Master Jin Yuan looked a little ugly.

He looked at the boy.

This young man doesn't have much vitality in his body, and looks even worse than a young monk!

But this just made him feel scared.

"Master Jin Yuan, I have long heard of your great name."

Xie Zhen took off his bamboo hat, threw it on the ground, and said softly: "I have been waiting for you in Southern Xinjiang for a month, and finally I waited for you."

……

……

(PS: Thank you for your waiting. This volume is called "On the Lotus Peak", and the story outline is basically finalized. I just spent a long time sorting out the opening chapters, picking and choosing, and finally chose this opening chapter to start with. Don't worry, I will get to the main storyline soon. Ahaha... I hope you like it.)
(End of this chapter)