Holy Maiden, wait a minute. Why are you asking me to cultivate again?

At the foot of the mountain, beside a patch of overgrown weeds, Li Xubing's body lay dead, his eyes wide open in death.

Li Xubing was the burly man who blocked the Grand Elder's palace that day, demanding an apprenticeship fee from him.

They too suffered a cruel fate at this moment.

When Song Zhao arrived, many disciples had gathered around to watch.

When the disciples saw that it was Song Zhao, they quickly made way for him.

"Senior Brother Zhou, Senior Brother Li has no external injuries, so he's probably been harmed by the demonic path again..."

Song Zhao went forward to check, and sure enough, Li Xubing had no injuries, but his soul was missing.

He activated his Golden Core Eye to look around, but found no trace of any disciples of the Innate Demonic Sect.

"Fellow disciples, it's best not to go out tonight; stay in your caves."

The disciples whispered among themselves, some wondering why the sect's higher-ups hadn't taken action yet, others saying that this murderous fiend was too terrifying, always managing to leave unscathed after killing someone.

Cui Yu, who was collecting Li Xubing's body, looked stunned. She turned to Song Zhao in the crowd and asked, "Who was his target?"

"Is it me?"

Last night Zhang Xing was killed, and tonight Li Xubing is gone.

Both of them were disciples of Elder Cui Yu.

The disciples all looked at Cui Yu, secretly thinking that this was the right way to do it.

"Could it be that the Grand Elder offended that person?"

"I guess so. What exactly is that person's cultivation level? How could they so easily come into our Heavenly Martial Sect and kill someone?"

"Isn't the Grand Elder going to make a move? Is another disciple going to die tomorrow night?"

"If we kill all those disciples, who's the next target?"

Panic began to spread through the crowd, with Huai Xiaoxiao and Zhou Zhaoxi, who were also in the crowd, being the most nervous.

They were also disciples of the Grand Elder, and the next target of that demonic path might be them.

Song Zhao met Cui Yu's gaze: "His target might be me."

"There's no need for you to panic!"

"Tomorrow night, I, Song, will wait alone outside for the murderer to appear!"

"I'm willing to use myself as bait to lure out that murderous monster!"

Cui Yu quietly approached Song Zhao's side: "You're no match for him!"

"All disciples, listen to my command! Starting tonight, form groups of three to keep watch. I will convene an elders' council and dispatch all elders to protect the disciples with lower cultivation levels!"

She couldn't hold back any longer.

Does he really think that the Tianwu Sect is his territory and he can kill people whenever he wants after provoking him time and time again?

Song Zhao hummed in agreement, looking at Li Xubing's corpse with a sense of impending doom.

The Innate Demonic Sect is a behemoth to the Heavenly Martial Sect; any elder within it is likely to be a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

Such a powerful force has infiltrated the Tianwu Sect. It's possible that besides that Foundation Establishment cultivator, there are even more powerful beings in Xuanzhou.

"The sooner you improve your strength, the better you will be able to protect yourself."

"I thought I could hide and survive within the sect, but who would have thought..."

Song Zhao thought to himself that he had already offended three local forces: the Crescent Moon Demon Slaying Division, the Du family of Xuanzhou, and the Blood Demon Sect. Now he was also being targeted by the Innate Demon Sect. He had too many crises and enemies.

Back at his residence, he took out the Heavenly Demon Pearl, which was engraved with three demonic runes.

"What's wrong? What do you want to sacrifice?" the witch asked with the same relaxed smile as before.

Song Zhao stroked the bead: "Senior, I need an extremely powerful method to protect my life. Do you have one?"

"No, I have already given you the methods to become an immortal. What else could there be?"

The witch crossed her legs and laughed, "Go find your sect leader sister, she has many treasures."

"Perhaps you should hurry up and break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, then that kid from the Innate Demonic Sect will definitely be no match for you."

"I have a useless spiritual root, so breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage isn't that easy."

Song Zhao sighed and placed the still-warm Heavenly Spirit Thorn in front of the Heavenly Demon Pearl: "Heavenly Demon Pearl, you both share the surname Heaven, so grant me a powerful spell!"

He prepared to offer the Heavenly Spirit Thorn as a sacrifice.

This sword technique is already very powerful, and after the sacrifice, the Heavenly Demon Pearl may bestow upon it an even more powerful sword technique.

In a life-or-death situation, it could very well be decided in a single move.

hum-

A scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared, and the Heavenly Demon whispered in the air, with countless withered hands within the light trying to grab at the real world...

After the sacrifice was completed, Song Zhao saw a page of flowing silver on the spot where the Heavenly Spirit Thorn had been placed.

He picked up the book and found that it was full of text he couldn't understand.

At that moment, his spirits sank to the bottom, but he still held onto a sliver of hope and asked the witch, "Senior, do you recognize the writing on it?"

"Hmm, let me see, this seems to be the script of a certain royal family."

The witch examined it closely: "That's right, this should be the script of the Taiyin royal family of the demon race, and it should be a fragment of a sword manual."

"An incomplete sword technique?" Song Zhao looked disappointed and somewhat displeased.

He clearly gave him the complete Heavenly Spirit Thorn, so how could the Heavenly Demon Pearl give him an incomplete sword technique?

The witch snorted, "Don't be upset, you brat."

"Even if this sword manual is incomplete, it's still a hundred times better than your so-called Heavenly Spirit Thorn!"

Song Zhao was overjoyed: "Please teach me this sword technique, senior!"

"Teach? This cannot be taught using your human language. Only if you know the language of the Taiyin Demon Clan can you learn it," the witch cursed.

Song Zhao said very seriously, "Then please teach me the language of the Taiyin Demon Clan, senior!"

"It's not impossible to learn the language of the Taiyin Demon Clan."

The witch's tone became seductive: "When you cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage, I want your Nascent Soul to leave your body and stay with me in the Heavenly Demon Pearl for one night."

Sure enough, the witch finally revealed her true colors!

But it's unknown how many years it will be before he reaches the Nascent Soul stage, so he should agree first. Learning the Taiyin Demon Clan's swordsmanship is the most important thing for him to save his life.

"Okay," Song Zhao replied without hesitation.

"Hehehe, then you should sign a contract first." The witch was afraid that Song Zhao would go back on his word, so she directly formed a contract on the surface of the Heavenly Demon Pearl.

Song Zhao grasped the Heavenly Demon Pearl in his hand, and after confirming that the contents of the contract were correct, he agreed to the contract.

Once the contract took effect, an invisible connection instantly bound him and the witch together.

Once he completes his Nascent Soul cultivation and leaves his body, he'll probably be used as a furnace by the witch...

"Hahahaha." The witch let out a lewd laugh, then began to teach Song Zhao the demon script, word by word.

Overnight, Song Zhao had mastered some basic demonic script. When he looked at the incomplete demonic sword manual again, he could understand most of it.

"The Taiyin Overlord Sword uses the power of Taiyin to imitate the domineering power of the sun, nourishing the sword with moonlight..."

This fragment of the sword manual only explains how to use the Taiyin Overlord Sword and how to nurture the sword; it does not contain any specific moves.

However, judging from the description in the sword manual, Song Zhao could completely combine the Heavenly Spirit Thorn and the Taiyin Overlord Sword.

"Nurturing the sword is the most crucial step; after a hundred days of nurturing, one can slay enemies from a thousand miles away..."

Song Zhao sighed inwardly, for it was already dawn, not night.

"Wait, since we can use the essence of the moon to nourish the sword, what will happen if I use the opposite method and nourish the sword with the essence of the sun?"

I acted on my thoughts.

Song Zhao hurriedly left the palace and went to an open area at the foot of the mountain.

It was just as the sky was beginning to lighten, with a faint purple hue visible.

Song Zhao summoned the flying sword "Heyi" from his sleeve, facing east, and reversed the sword-nurturing technique of the Taiyin Overlord Sword.