Chapter 243: Secrets

Chapter 243: Secrets

The Demonic Blade—Soul Abyss—has claimed countless lives.

If one recklessly wields a power beyond their control, such as activating the Blade Domain at the Golden Core stage, the backlash from demonic energy is inevitable.

Aside from excruciating pain, the wielder’s body may temporarily be possessed by the vengeful spirits trapped within the blade. The possession only ceases when these spirits have had their fill of slaughter and absorbed enough baleful energy. However, the baleful energy they consume also strengthens Soul Abyss, pushing it closer to a state where it can overpower its wielder—turning them into nothing more than a mindless puppet, completely enslaved to the blade.

In essence, Soul Abyss draws its power from the vengeful spirits within and can manipulate them to attack. However, when demonic energy backlashes, it cannot control whether the spirits emerge or not. It’s like a dog that has been locked inside for too long—once the door cracks open, it bolts out, unstoppable.

Just like now.

It really didn’t want the demonic backlash to happen… because this was the Sword Pavilion.

As a young girl slowly stepped forward, Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes.

【Mo Shumei】

【Status: Demonic Backlash】

“Demonic backlash? Interesting!”

Su Qinian chuckled. “Old Ancestor, so this is the demonic cultivator Qingran brought back? Interesting~”

A certain elder stroked his beard. “This is the first time I’ve observed a demonic cultivator up close. Quite intriguing.”

The vengeful spirit’s vision blurred for a moment. In the next second, it realized it was already surrounded by a group of cultivators.

Each one radiated the overwhelming pressure of the Nascent Soul stage—some even more unfathomable.

“K—Kill…” The vengeful spirit’s voice wavered… then suddenly, in a bizarre turn of events, it broke into a folk song:

"The sand drifts with the wind, the flowers float upon the water…"

"Oh, my beloved girl, where are you now…"

Then, without missing a beat, it performed a little dance.

Immediately after, it bolted from Mo Shumei’s body and scurried back into Soul Abyss.

The demonic backlash ended.

Mo Shumei’s eyes snapped open.

With a startled yelp, she plopped down onto the ground.

“Mom, help me!”

Her gaze landed on the gleaming jade tokens at the waists of these cultivators, all engraved with the words “Sword Pavilion.”

She suddenly felt very, very close to death.

A tall figure loomed over her.

“Young girl,” Su Qinian said, cracking his knuckles, his face dark and unreadable. “At such a tender age, and yet you've chosen to walk the demonic path? Troublesome. But it doesn’t matter. Since you’ve stepped into my Sword Pavilion, whatever you practiced before is irrelevant—henceforth, you will be nothing but a proper swordsman.” 𝘳άꞐỖ𝐛Ε𝙎

His gaze sharpened.

“The Holy Land of Jade Pool harbors sinister intentions. What do you know?”

Mo Shumei took a deep breath.

From the gaps between these high-ranking Sword Pavilion cultivators, she spotted Li Qingran peeking in from the doorway.

That steadied her nerves—if only a little.

She didn’t remember how she got here.

After leaving the secret realm, she had barely managed to suppress the demonic backlash.

But then that Buddhist light hit her.

Her demonic energy had boiled over like water in a kettle, completely uncontrollable.

After that, she lost consciousness.

Clearly, that female cultivator must have dragged her all the way back to the Sword Pavilion.

But it didn’t matter.

Even if she told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe her.

Mo Shumei let out a cold snort, lowering her gaze to the grass beneath her feet.

The Sword Pavilion was a righteous sect. And the righteous sects worshipped the Three Great Holy Lands without question.

Even if they harbored doubts, they would never believe that a Holy Land could be so utterly depraved.

Not to mention, as a demonic cultivator, anything she said was inherently unreliable in their eyes.

“Let’s hear it first,” Chen Huaian said indifferently. “I have already slain many Nascent Soul elders of the Holy Lands and even destroyed Jade Pool and Burning Purity’s dojos. Right now, I am just as much a public enemy in the Cangyun Realm as any demonic cultivator. I have no bias against your identity.”

He paused.

“Besides, you were brought here by my disciple.”

His tone softened slightly.

“I trust her.”

At that, Li Qingran’s face flushed red. She hid behind the door, covering her face with her hands, twisting side to side in embarrassment.

Mo Shumei, however, was utterly dumbfounded.

“You… what? You killed Holy Land elders? You destroyed their dojos?!”

“Correct.” Chen Huaian nodded, exuding a faint trace of Nascent Soul-stage pressure.

It was a minuscule amount—just enough to prove his strength without outright crushing a mere Golden Core cultivator like Mo Shumei.

But it was enough for Soul Abyss to tremble.

The usually arrogant demonic blade was eerily silent.

Back when they entered the secret realm, Soul Abyss had mocked the righteous sects, saying they could barely muster a few Unity-stage cultivators and were being crushed like dogs by the Three Holy Lands.

But now…

Seeing how the blade quivered, Mo Shumei couldn’t help but take this old Sword Pavilion ancestor seriously.

He wasn’t bluffing.

There was no need to deceive her.

“…Fine. I’ll tell you,” she said at last, crossing her arms. “Not that it matters. The Holy Land isn’t going to keep playing nice forever. Sooner or later, they’ll bare their fangs.”

She exhaled sharply.

“Jade Pool’s True Person Yuyao is nearing the end of her lifespan. She is attempting to create a ‘Five-Element Perfect Physique’ for a body-snatching ritual.”

Her voice grew colder.

“The Five-Element Perfect Physique is the strongest cultivation physique. It requires five distinct mutated single spiritual roots… and a Grade-1 Dantian.

“Yuyao wants to become an immortal.”

“Wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense!” Su Qinian’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I can understand stealing a physique. I can even understand transplanting spiritual roots. But a Dantian? That’s part of a person’s body! How the hell do you take that?!”

Mo Shumei rolled her eyes.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” She sneered and clammed up.

“Don’t interrupt.” Chen Huaian shot Su Qinian a glare before turning back to Mo Shumei.

“Continue. How do you know about Jade Pool’s plan? And how exactly are they extracting Dantians and physiques?”

“…Because I used to have a Metal spiritual root.”

Mo Shumei’s voice dropped to a low murmur.

“But Jade Pool tore it out.”

Her fingers clenched around the hilt of Soul Abyss, trembling.

“I was young then. My family thought it was a great fortune and sent me to a Jade Pool outpost in East Continent, believing I’d become one of their disciples.

“But that very night, Song Chiyue ripped out my spiritual root, crippled my cultivation, and tossed me into a beast pen as food for spirit beasts.

“By sheer luck, the beasts weren’t hungry that day, so they ignored me. That’s how I found a chance to escape.

“But my cultivation was ruined. I had to change my name and go into hiding.

“Still, word got out. To draw me out, Song Chiyue slaughtered my entire family.

“Yet even as my parents died, they never revealed my whereabouts…

“In a Central Continent secret realm, I stumbled upon this demonic blade—Soul Abyss—and fragments of the

Great Lamentation Sutra

. This cursed blade tempted me onto the path of demonic cultivation. I had no choice. If I wanted revenge… I had to embrace the demonic arts.”

She lifted Soul Abyss, offering it to Chen Huaian.

The blade trembled violently.

Seeing this, Mo Shumei smirked and pushed it even closer.

The mighty, boastful demonic blade—cowering like a frightened child.

Let’s see how scared you get today, you damned knife!

Chen Huaian’s lips twitched.

“…Are you surrendering yourself for judgment? Or offering up the blade for execution?”

This brat… definitely did that on purpose.

Just look at how much that sword was shaking!