The name Lu Hanyi, along with the Battle of Qingwu, had spread through every market in the southern region in just over ten days.
“Have you heard? That demonic cultivator who was killed recently.”
Inside a teahouse, a cultivator lowered his voice, and no sooner had he spoken than the gazes of several nearby tables gathered on him.
“This has already spread everywhere. Do we need you to tell us?”
“That was territory under Taiwei’s jurisdiction.”
The cultivator slapped the table.
“The demonic sects of the southern region were wiped out over a hundred years ago. Who would have thought a demonic cultivator would still dare hide right under Taiwei’s nose!”
“Maybe Taiwei is harboring them?”
One cultivator muttered quietly.
The cultivators beside him glanced at him upon hearing this, then moved their seats away one by one.
People who courted death were not uncommon, but someone this blatant probably had something wrong with their head.
This small incident did not attract much attention.
Someone nearby could not help but ask, “I heard a lot of people died?”
The one who spoke earlier shook his head.
“More than a lot.”
“That demonic cultivator extracted people’s essence blood to refine corpse puppets. The blood formation spanned nearly a hundred li, swallowing up several villages.”
“Even the cultivators the sect sent to investigate lost several members.”
The teahouse fell silent for a moment.
The incident site was over a thousand li away, and few present had any personal connection to it.
“What happened afterward?”
“Afterward?”
Finally hearing this expected question, the speaker’s spirits lifted, and his tone rose several notches.
“I heard that Lu Xianzi of Cold Sword Peak arrived.”
“By then the blood formation had already been activated, and the demonic cultivator also had several Foundation Establishment corpse puppets protecting him.”
“Lu Xianzi stood alone before the formation, trading dozens of rounds with that demonic cultivator.”
“Until the final moment, Lu Xianzi broke through mid-battle, stepping into Crystal Formation in one go!”
“Although that Daoist’s cultivation was at the mid Crystal Formation stage, beneath her sword, he lasted but a moment before being cleaved in two by a single strike!”
Someone drew in a sharp breath.
“Less than sixty years, and she’s already stepped into Crystal Formation?”
“Taiwei has truly produced another extraordinary figure this time.”
“Among the young generation of the six southern sects, those who could reach Crystal Formation within sixty years were already few and far between. What level is that true disciple on Taiwei’s main peak at now?”
“Who knows. No news for a long time.”
“Entering Crystal Formation before sixty years, then slaying a mid Crystal Formation demonic cultivator. Across the six southern sects, there are probably few in the younger generation who can match her.”
“Cold Sword Peak is truly about to rise again.”
Inside the teahouse, praises lingered long without fading.
What spread alongside the Qingwu affair was not entirely Lu Hanyi’s fame.
The cultivators who had lost their Dharma swords naturally could not sit still, and they followed the lingering aura of their blades to Qingwu one after another.
After the sword rain had fallen completely, countless swords remained within the ruins of Medicine Manor.
Upon the scorched black earth, ten thousand blades stood thrust at angles.
From afar, it looked like a silent graveyard of swords.
But when they found their own swords among the ruins, they discovered that the spiritual patterns within had long since collapsed, leaving not a trace of radiance.
Those slightly better off could still retain the shape of a sword.
Those with worse luck watched their blades shatter into several pieces the moment they were pulled from the earth, right before their owners’ eyes.
Losing a Dharma sword was already enough to infuriate anyone.
By the time everyone investigated and learned that the anomaly which summoned ten thousand swords was connected to the Taiwei Immortal Sect, all that anger naturally turned toward Taiwei’s mountain gate.
Within just a few days, cultivators seeking compensation had gathered in force outside the Taiwei Immortal Sect’s mountain gate.
Below the White Stone Long Stairs, broken swords piled up across the ground.
The duty disciples stood blocking the mountain gate, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.
“Everyone, the sect is already investigating this matter. Please remain calm…”
“Investigating?”
Angry shouts immediately rose from the crowd.
“My Profound Edge Sword was with me for twelve years. That day it inexplicably flew off to Qingwu, and when it came back, it was a lump of scrap iron. Are you saying Taiwei expects me to swallow this loss with just a word about investigating?”
“My sword was destroyed too!”
“My junior brother’s Crimson Scale Sword was a top-grade magic tool. How many sect missions did he complete just to buy that sword? Now that the sword is ruined, what is he supposed to use for the secret realm!”
The speaker wore the robes of another sect, with a sect emblem embroidered on his sleeve, clearly no ordinary rogue cultivator.
The scope of this anomaly was far too wide.
Within several hundred li of Qingwu, almost every unbound sword had been forcibly drawn away.
If Taiwei refused to give an explanation, this matter would soon become a dispute of face between several sects.
As the argument raged, the crowd below the stone stairs suddenly quieted somewhat.
Several cultivators in resplendent attire walked over slowly.
They released no spiritual pressure, nor did they shout anyone away.
Yet the rogue cultivators and disciples of other sects who had been cursing loudly along the way recognized the golden emblem on the leading figure’s sleeve, and one by one they fell silent, voluntarily parting to clear the path.
When the duty disciples saw who had arrived, the bitterness on their faces deepened, and they hurried forward to bow.
Myriad Treasure Pavilion.
Whether sect or rogue cultivator, none in the southern region could avoid dealing with them.
Even a great sect like the Taiwei Immortal Sect would not dare treat them lightly.
The middle-aged man at the lead only offered a slight bow in return.
“Myriad Treasure Pavilion has come to pay respects at the mountain.”
With that, the middle-aged man raised a hand.
Two attendants behind him stepped forward and set a pitch-black sword case upon the White Stone Long Stairs.
As it landed, the stone steps gave out a dull, heavy sound.
The lid slowly opened.
A faint golden light seeped out from within.
Inside the case lay a golden longsword. Its blade bore no ordinary ornamentation, only a glaring crack running from the spine of the sword all the way to the edge.
It was clearly already severely damaged, yet the moment the case opened, every broken Dharma sword on the stone steps trembled and whined in unison.
The vestige of spirituality remaining in them instinctively feared the sword within the case.
Someone in the crowd drew in a sharp breath.
“A spiritual treasure…”
The middle-aged man looked toward the mountain gate, his tone still courteous.
“This sword is a low-grade spiritual treasure my pavilion was preparing to send to the southern branch. It had not yet chosen its master.”
“Over ten days ago, it broke free of its case on its own and flew toward Qingwu.”
As he spoke, he ran a hand along the spine of the sword.
A long, thin crack immediately revealed itself within the golden blade.
The previously silent sword let out a feeble whimper in response.
“Now its spiritual resonance is damaged, and its sword embryo has cracked.”
“Myriad Treasure Pavilion is in the business of trade. We have no wish to sour relations with the Taiwei Immortal Sect.”
The middle-aged man still wore a harmonious expression, yet his words sent a chill down the backs of the duty disciples.
“But the cost of this damaged spiritual treasure cannot very well be borne by our pavilion alone.”
The crowd at the mountain gate immediately erupted in clamor once more.
If even an unsold spiritual treasure from Myriad Treasure Pavilion had been destroyed at Qingwu, then what were their mere Dharma swords compared to that?
“Taiwei must give us an answer!”
“The swords flew off from your territory, and the demonic cultivator was hiding on your land as well!”
“A dignified immortal sect cannot simply bully the weak with its power!”
The wave of voices climbed up the mountain steps, startling many outer disciples into keeping their distance.
The duty disciples’ expressions turned rigid. They had already sent several communication talismans in succession, yet no response came from above.
Just then, a clear, cold sword cry suddenly rang out from within the mountain gate.
The clamoring crowd quieted once more.
A figure in white robes walked slowly from the end of the mountain path.
Her face, cold as frost, still bore a hint of sickly pallor, but the aura of the Crystal Formation stage was not restrained in the slightest.
Today she had not let her long hair fall loose as she usually did, but had pinned it up with a white jade hairpin.
Her hanging side locks were mostly concealed by her collar, and the exposed tip of her hair faintly shimmered with frost-white.
From a distance, there was even a certain dignified quality to her coiffure, like that of a married woman.
“Lu Hanyi!”
Someone recognized her quickly.
The crowd grew even more restless.
No one had expected her to appear in person.
Lu Hanyi’s gaze swept over the broken Dharma swords scattered on the ground, finally settling on the open sword case of Myriad Treasure Pavilion.
The middle-aged man from Myriad Treasure Pavilion looked at her with a serious expression.
“Lu Xianzi, the matter of Qingwu has been the talk of the outside world.”
“Our pavilion has come today to ask but one question.”
“That sword aura which drew away the swords of the four directions, what exactly caused it?”
“If you are willing to tell us, our pavilion can forgo pursuing the matter of the damaged spiritual treasure.”
The crowd burst into an uproar.
Countless eyes fell upon Lu Hanyi.
Her expression did not change.
After a moment, she finally spoke.
“It was stirred by my breakthrough.”
“In the battle at Qingwu, I broke through mid-combat. My sword intent briefly slipped out of control and drew in the sword artifacts of the four directions.”
Her tone was perfectly calm.
“Your Dharma swords were damaged because of this, and Myriad Treasure Pavilion’s spiritual treasure was wounded as well.”
“I am deeply ashamed of this matter. All of your losses will be borne by the Taiwei Immortal Sect.”
The duty disciples looked up in shock.
Doubts appeared on some faces within the crowd.
Could such a massive sword aura truly have been stirred by a disciple who had just stepped into Crystal Formation?
But Lu Hanyi stood there, cold and imposing.
And with the memory of her rumored feat of slaying a Crystal Formation demonic cultivator in battle, those doubts seemed far less important.
The middle-aged man from Myriad Treasure Pavilion studied her for several breaths, a meaningful glint in his eyes.
He clasped his hands and said, “Since Lu Xianzi is willing to acknowledge this matter, then it can be readily discussed.”
Lu Hanyi gave a slight nod.
Soon, someone finally arrived from deep within the mountain gate.
A representative dispatched by the Taiwei Immortal Sect’s high echelons made a public promise on the spot.
Any Dharma sword damaged by the sword aura at Qingwu would, after verification, be compensated at full value by the sect.
They also invited the esteemed guest from Myriad Treasure Pavilion to the main peak for discussion.
At these words, the angry voices outside the mountain gate finally subsided.
Only the several stewards in charge of the pill repository and external affairs were left staring at the field of broken swords, none of them looking very pleased.
To preserve Taiwei’s face, the sect was going to have to cut off a sizable chunk of flesh this time.
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