Chapter 34: Fairness

Blood-red qi and rolling demonic energy pressed down all around.

Lu Hanyi formed a sword seal with her fingers, and Zhaoxue immediately spread a sword screen in front of her.

The blood light slammed down, and the sword screen sagged heavily.

The green bricks beneath her feet cracked inch by inch, her white robes whipped loudly by the bloody wind.

Lu Hanyi’s eyes were ice-cold, and with a flick of her wrist, Zhaoxue cut against the current.

A thread of frost-white sword light split the blood mist, striking straight for the Daoist’s brow.

The Daoist stood still, not even lifting an eyelid.

The blood light before him suddenly condensed, the sword qi slashing against that dark red barrier and blasting a wide swath of frost shards, yet it could not advance half an inch further.

At the same time, three corpse puppets struck viciously.

Dark red blood aura flowed along their bones and tendons, forcibly sealing the wounds Lu Hanyi had opened earlier.

The first corpse puppet to break through the frost slammed both palms into the ground, blood light surging up from the cracks to form several sharp blood spears, driving straight at Lu Hanyi.

Lu Hanyi dodged sideways, and Zhaoxue whipped up in a reverse arc, severing every blood spear.

But the severed blood light did not disperse.

Instead, it burst into a murky blood mist midair, obscuring her vision.

The wind surged close.

Another corpse puppet crashed through the blood mist, blood aura on its arm condensed into a heavy shield-like silhouette, smashing toward her shoulder.

Lu Hanyi raised her sword to block.

Boom!

The blood aura collided with Zhaoxue, and the dull thunder shook the entire rear courtyard.

Zhaoxue erupted with frost light, and the lunging corpse puppet was frozen stiff for a moment.

Just one moment.

“Is that all you’ve got.”

The Daoist in the distance wore a contemptuous smile, his fingertip curling.

A dull rumble came from the depths of the blood array, and the blood aura on the three corpse puppets surged once more.

Before the frost could spread, it was forcibly scattered by the blood qi, and the corpse puppets charged again.

Lu Hanyi forced her breath up, her figure flickering out from the encirclement of the three corpse puppets.

Wherever she passed, snow-white sword marks flashed in succession.

Squelch!

The nearest corpse puppet’s chest was split open, blood aura shattering, its rotting body nearly cleaved in two by that single strike.

The blood array suddenly flared.

The split corpse was forcibly dragged back by the blood light, black blood seeping from the wound turning into fine blood threads.

Right before Lu Hanyi’s eyes, the corpse puppet was pulled back together.

Its recovery was even faster than before.

“Enough, enough. This poor Daoist will stop toying with you.”

The Daoist pressed his five fingers forward.

Dense demonic energy condensed in midair into a withered palm imprint, striking heavily at Lu Hanyi from several zhang away.

Lu Hanyi immediately drew her sword back.

Zhaoxue stood before her, layers of frost-white sword intent stacking up.

But when the palm imprint fell, all the frost light was crushed inward and shattered.

Boom!

Lu Hanyi was sent stumbling backward, two deep furrows dragging under her feet.

She drove Zhaoxue into the ground, the blade sinking into the green brick, barely managing to steady herself.

She lowered her head and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Stark red instantly stained the front of her white robes.

Yet even so, Lu Hanyi still did not fall.

Only the hand gripping Zhaoxue trembled without cease.

Watching her stand firm on her sword, the Daoist no longer moved to strike.

The three corpse puppets stood at Lu Hanyi’s sides, blood qi churning, yet they did not continue their slaughter.

“True inheritor of Taiwei.”

The Daoist stepped closer, his soles treading through frost and mud with a sticky sound.

“Wounded to such a state, and still putting on that lofty air. Is it meant for this poor Daoist to see?”

Lu Hanyi slowly raised her eyes.

She said nothing, the blood at the corner of her lips not yet wiped clean, her former ethereal radiance now gone.

The Daoist’s heart brimmed with satisfaction.

A hundred years of bitter cultivation, and finally these proud prodigies standing above the clouds were trampled beneath his feet.

Thus did heaven’s wheel turn.

In years past, those geniuses loved to fight and flaunt their power, their heads and bodies parted, becoming mere laughingstocks.

And now, who was looking down on whom?

“People like you eat the finest spirit pills, learn the supreme immortal arts, and even your natal spirit swords are heavenly-made immortal treasures.”

“What others risk their lives to obtain is, for you, merely a casual gift from your elders.”

“And now, you lose to this poor Daoist. Ah ha ha ha ha.”

Lu Hanyi’s hand around her sword tightened slightly.

She came from Taiwei, entered Cold Sword Peak, and took a Golden Core Realm master as her teacher.

Much of what she had seen since childhood were immortal fortunes that others could not touch in a lifetime.

Even in effort, she could not claim to be sufficiently arduous.

Compared to others, she still fell short.

The Daoist’s words easily peeled open the anxiety and confusion she had long hidden in her heart.

Lu Hanyi was silent for a moment, her gaze falling on the corpse puppets.

And on the ground by the carriage shaft, the still-wet blood.

“These corpse puppets practice a technique from the same origin as yours. They are your disciples.”

“Spirits are still locked within their bodies, eroded by blood qi day and night.”

“Refining arrays with children, raising corpses with the living.”

Lu Hanyi’s voice was cold and sharp.

“An evil heretic art, truly venomous.”

The Daoist’s smile dimmed for a moment, then slowly spread again.

“See, you’re in a hurry again.”

“You think this poor Daoist is venomous, but do you know what kind of life they lived before they met me?”

“You don’t. You only care about your own great path.”

“They were trapped here by your kind their whole lives, living like pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep.”

“And even so, others coveted and fought over them.”

“Had this poor Daoist not been merciful, this place would long ago have been reduced to ruins.”

“Sword Immortal.”

“Tell me, is this fair?”

Lu Hanyi snapped in fury, “Cease your smooth talk! When has Taiwei ever treated mortals so harshly!”

“Heh, heh hah hah hah hah.”

The Daoist suddenly burst into wild laughter, then turned to look at Zhou Huai in the distance.

“Steward Zhou, did you hear that? Is that not the funniest joke this poor Daoist has ever heard!”

Zhou Huai knelt on the ground, silent for a long time, nor did he answer the Daoist’s words.

Lu Hanyi gripped Zhaoxue tightly.

“What is so funny!”

“Forget it.”

Seeing her anger, the Daoist shook his head.

“Lady Immortal, you dwell high above the clouds and know nothing of mortal affairs.”

“Speaking of these things to you is like playing a lute before a cow.”

Hearing those words, Lu Hanyi’s chest heaved with fury.

The words of that female rogue cultivator yesterday seemed to fall on her ears again.

“It’s just that I feel Lady Lu is truly perched up high.”

And yet she did not know when she had ever been perched up high.

The Daoist sneered, his gaunt face growing even colder.

“The phrase ‘countless living beings’ is all too foreign to you.”

“This great path that everyone yearns for—is it fair?”

“It is not fair!”

The Daoist’s voice echoed through the blood light, shaking the entire courtyard.

Wailing arose, mournful and weeping.

Lu Hanyi’s face was pale, the wound in her chest surging, another wave of coppery sweetness rising in her throat.

At that moment, a gentle voice came from the front courtyard.

“So you chose the path of death for them?”

The Daoist’s smile stiffened, and he frowned as he turned around.

Lu Hanyi raised her eyes as well.

Xu Ning walked out from the blood mist.

His clothes were scorched black, dust and ash on his face, yet held tightly in his arms was an old clay jar.

The pressure of the Foundation Establishment realm pressed down on him, forcing each step to be agonizingly slow.

But still, he walked into everyone’s sight.

Xu Ning looked at the Daoist, his voice cold and clear.

“The countless living beings you speak of.”

“When did they ever agree to become the firewood for your Golden Core path?”