129 The Encounter

The next day.

"Zhou You, go and bring your senior brother back immediately," Chen Wangsheng said, covering Zhao Yaoyang's body with a white cloth.

"Granduncle-master, my master has only just passed away. I wish to handle his funeral rites first. Besides, I have no idea where my senior brother has gone." Zhou You felt deep down that he did not want Zhao Yaoyang to end up like this.

"Alas, your senior brother has also taken the sect's supreme techniques, the Heaven and Earth Twin Peerless Sword Arts, along with the Sword Heart. Given his temperament, he will surely court danger and head to the Ten Thousand Sword Grave in search of the Heaven Ultimate Sword. I fear he will perish in the grave before he even finds the blade." Chen Wangsheng sighed. "Since his whereabouts are unknown, let us prioritize your master's funeral."

"Yes, Granduncle-master." Zhou You had no choice but to make the arrangements for Zhao Yaoyang.

Meanwhile, Zhao Longjie and Hei Yue had already reached the Ten Thousand Sword Grave—a place surrounded by waist-high grass, with three-meter-tall stone swords standing in the center.

"Hei Yue, if I do not return, do not enter the grave." Zhao Longjie reached into the grass, and green blades instantly flew out like razor-sharp swords, slicing his hand and drawing blood. He recoiled in pain, his hand quickly healing. "Hmph, a mere illusion!"

He stepped into the grave, and the scenery shifted; the ground was littered with bones, each impaled by swords. Blades swarmed him, piercing his body. He felt the pain, yet knowing it was an illusion, he pressed on. Upon reaching the center, he felt the strain of the ordeal. He pulled the Sword Heart Stone from his robes, and the central stone sword acted like a magnet, drawing the stone from his hand. The stone sword shattered, revealing the blood-red blade of the Heaven Ultimate Sword.

"This is the Heaven Ultimate Sword!" Zhao Longjie picked it up, his eyes flickering with a crimson light.

After finishing the funeral, Zhou You rushed to the Ten Thousand Sword Grave. Seeing the shattered stone, he knew Zhao Longjie had obtained the blade. Realizing the Earth Ultimate Sword was next, he hurried back toward the Xuanxu Temple. When he arrived, the grounds were stained with the blood of his fellow disciples. They had all been killed by a single strike, though Bian Yiyuan had survived thanks to Chen Wangsheng's protection.

"Yiyuan, go outside. I need to speak with your master," Chen Wangsheng said, sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat.

"Yes, Grand-martial Uncle." Bian Yiyuan left, trembling.

"Kneel," Chen Wangsheng commanded once they were alone. Zhou You obeyed.

"I have words for you, Zhou You. I am like a candle nearing its end. The future of our sect rests on you."

"Granduncle-master, what did my senior brother do to you?" Zhou You asked, filled with anger; it was enough that he had wiped out the temple, but to not spare even Chen Wangsheng was unbearable.

"Do not blame your senior brother; it is all fate. That he obtained the Heaven and Earth Ultimate Swords is fate, and that you are the Sect Master is also fate. We were too soft-hearted back then, which allowed Longjie to enter this world. We are the ones who sowed these seeds of catastrophe," Chen Wangsheng said, shaking his head at the resentment in Zhou You's heart.

"It cannot be. I will find a way to persuade him," Zhou You insisted, scratching his head.

"You foolish child, he cannot be persuaded. He is now controlled by the evil poison within him. Only the Five Elements Pagoda Array can force it out, but the time is not yet right. You must cultivate the Sect Master's techniques to operate the array. The Five Elements Stones are kept in the pagoda at the back of the mountain by my junior brother."

"Granduncle-master, how do I master these techniques now that my master is gone?" Zhou You asked, overwhelmed by the pressure.

"When you open your Heaven's Eye, you will have mastered all the techniques of the Xuanxu Temple." Chen Wangsheng smiled, then slowly lowered his head and collapsed.

"Granduncle-master!" Zhou You rushed to catch him, but Chen Wangsheng had passed. No matter how much he called or rubbed his hands, the body remained cold. "Granduncle-master, you haven't told me how to achieve mastery yet! Don't leave!" He wept, swearing to fulfill his wishes.

After the funeral, Zhou You sat in his room, carving the spirit tablets for Zhao Yaoyang and Chen Wangsheng. Once finished, he called for Bian Yiyuan. "Take these to the Ancestral Hall. From today on, I am going into seclusion to cultivate the Sect Master's techniques. Take care of yourself."

Zhou You's seclusion lasted ten years. Recalling this, he sighed and went to the back of the mountain. Inside the pagoda, he found an elderly man sitting on a mat, his face shrouded in dark energy, his time clearly running out.

"I have finally waited for you," the elder said. "Your master foresaw this tribulation, but it seems you have found someone who can help you survive it."

"Granduncle-master, I have indeed found a righteous scholar to assist me. I have come for the Five Elements Stones." Zhou You knelt.

"Take them." The elder waved a hand, and a five-colored stone appeared. "The fate of the Xuanxu Temple now rests with you and your brothers." With those words, the elder turned to dust and drifted out of the pagoda.

***

In the Chen Village, the Corpse Demon had absorbed Zhao Longjie's memories. It discarded its old weapons, took up the Heaven and Earth Ultimate Swords, and began to practice the Twin Peerless Sword Arts.

At the village's righteous hall, Zhou You returned to Li Xintian. "I have the stones. We can set up the array."

"I understand what you plan to do, Daoist Zhou. But afterward, you must assist me," Li Xintian said, guessing that Zhou You intended to transfer the poison from Zhao Longjie to the Corpse Demon.

"I will do my utmost."

"Good. I sense the Corpse Demon changing. It will be a hard battle. You all stay here; I will go with Daoist Zhou. Zou Wu, Red Tiger, protect this place."

The Corpse Demon used its demonic energy to cleave a mountain in half, the Heaven and Earth Ultimate Swords merging into a single blade with alternating red and white light.

Li Xintian and Zhou You watched from the shadows. "That is the Heaven and Earth Ultimate Sword," Zhou You said, his face pale. "It is our sect's supreme treasure, but it has been tainted by the blood of evil, becoming a demonic blade. It was sealed away because it turns its wielder into a puppet, but it seems the grave's energy failed to cleanse it."

"Do you have anything to counter it?" Li Xintian asked.

"Only by separating the blades can we revert them to ordinary, albeit sharp, swords," Zhou You admitted sheepishly.

"And how do we separate them now that they are fused?"

"My master... never mentioned that."

Li Xintian sighed, but agreed to proceed. Li Xintian stepped out to confront the Corpse Demon, engaging in a war of words while Zhou You frantically set up the Five Elements Pagoda Array.

"Corpse Demon, you've gained quite a treasure," Li Xintian taunted.

The demon didn't hesitate, unleashing a hundred-meter-long X-shaped energy blade that decimated the village. Li Xintian raised a translucent wall, crushing the blade into dust. "A mere test!" the demon hissed, summoning a colossal sword from the sky, locking onto Li Xintian with immense pressure.

Li Xintian clenched his fist, coating it in righteous fire, and punched upward. A beam of intense light shattered the giant sword. The Corpse Demon stared in shock.

"Well, Corpse Demon," Li Xintian said, blowing on his fist, "are you ready to hand over your treasure now?"