Chapter 426 – East Divine Continent Shangqing Dao Palace, Reunion with Old Friends

Azure Cloud World, East Divine Continent.

Fifteen years had now passed since the Nine Realms invaded the Azure Cloud World.

For Cultivators, fifteen years was but the blink of an eye.

Yet for Mortals, it was enough time for an infant to grow into a youth.

And for the East Divine Continent, these fifteen years had also witnessed many events.

The most shocking among them was undoubtedly the destruction of the East Sea Gate.

Although the East Sea Gate looked down upon this barren land of the East Divine Continent,

a single province could still produce considerable resources.

Thus, the East Sea Gate treated the East Divine Continent as its own backyard.

But with the East Sea Gate’s destruction, the East Divine Continent fell into complete chaos.

First, without the East Sea Gate’s suppression, many Sects within the East Divine Continent began to harbor ulterior motives.

Such as unifying the East Divine Continent to establish a massive Sect, ultimately gaining entry into the Central Province.

Second, the Corpse Fiend Cave, which replaced the East Sea Gate, was notorious for its practice of refining humans into corpses.

This led to widespread grievances throughout the East Divine Continent.

However, because the East Divine Continent was separated from the East Sea in the eastern part of the Central Province by the Abyssal Sky,

it was not easy for Cultivators from the Corpse Fiend Cave to enter the East Divine Continent.

Especially since, before the East Sea Gate was destroyed, they had first destroyed the ‘Adverse Current Bridge’ that originally allowed direct passage over the Abyssal Sky into the East Divine Continent.

As a result, the Corpse Fiend Cave’s control over the East Divine Continent could only rely on teleportation arrays established by other small Sects around the East Sea.

But activating a teleportation array not only consumed significant resources, but the two major Schools of the Central Province—the Hundred Refinements Sect and the Azure Fire Valley—continuously launched attacks against the Corpse Fiend Cave during this process.

Although the Corpse Fiend Cave was powerful, they were fighting on foreign ground.

So over the years, they mostly focused on defense.

Aiming to firmly establish themselves in the East Sea.

Thus, even though the Disciples of the Corpse Fiend Cave wished to wreak havoc in the East Divine Continent,

their ambitions exceeded their capabilities.

Moreover, to placate the Cultivators of the East Divine Continent,

the Corpse Fiend Cave, while secretly supporting many Schools in the East Divine Continent,

publicly stated that the internal Sects of the East Divine Continent should decide matters themselves.

This made the situation in the East Divine Continent even more complex.

Every year, Sects were destroyed, and every year, new Sects emerged, repeating the cycle.

During these fifteen years, a Sect called the Supreme Purity Dao Palace suddenly appeared.

The origins of this Sect were quite peculiar.

Initially, this Sect had only two members.

A one-armed Sword Cultivator and an infant.

Although there were only two, the one-armed Sword Cultivator of the Supreme Purity Dao Palace was incredibly powerful.

Despite being only at the Golden Core level, he had mastered the Sword Domain, which many Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators had not achieved.

This allowed him to defeat many Nascent Soul Stage experts despite being at a lower cultivation stage.

Such strength would be considered quite remarkable even in the Central Province.

Let alone in the so-called cultivation barren land of the East Divine Continent.

With such a powerful Sect Leader, the Supreme Purity Dao Palace naturally attracted many people.

Coupled with the fact that the Supreme Purity Dao Palace unexpectedly occupied the territory of a former Nascent Soul Sect in the East Divine Continent,

the number of Cultivators joining them grew incessantly.

Although most of these Cultivators were Rogue Cultivators,

there were also some among them with exceptional talent.

Supreme Purity Dao Palace, Memory Melody Main Peak.

“Uncle Yi, Uncle Yi, look, look!”

“This is a Foundation Establishment Stage demonic Cultivator I captured while descending the mountain!”On the Main Peak, a young girl excitedly carried a demonic cultivator whose limbs had been severed, rushing eagerly toward a thatched cottage in the Bamboo Forest.

Just as the girl was about to charge into the cottage, an invisible Sword Intent emanated from within.

The Sword Intent was immense, like a fierce gale, directly blowing the girl off her feet and sending her crashing heavily to the ground.

Along with her, the demonic cultivator in her hand also slammed into the ground with a thud, letting out a miserable scream.

The girl clearly hadn’t anticipated this move, lying on the ground with a puzzled expression.

It seemed she couldn’t figure out why she had suddenly been attacked by Uncle Yi’s Sword Intent.

Had she done something wrong again?

Before the girl could ponder further, the sound of footsteps approached from in front of her.

Soon, a pair of Dao shoes came into her view.

“Buhui, I’ve told you many times—a sword wielder must harbor spiritual clarity and act with righteousness.”

“Look at yourself now—do you still possess even a trace of the spiritual clarity I spoke of?”

“At this moment, you resemble nothing more than a butcher at the village entrance, slaying enemies merely for the sake of slaying, reckless and unrestrained. Stand up.”

Hearing Uncle Yi’s words, the girl immediately rose to her feet.

The girl wore green bamboo robes, her eyes like autumn waters, her features soft and delicate, with slender willow-leaf eyebrows reminiscent of a misty, rainy landscape, evoking a sense of fondness in others.

Yet, in stark contrast to her gentle appearance, deep within the girl’s pupils lay an indescribable sharpness, brimming with fierce hostility.

But this brilliance was hidden in the deepest recesses of her gaze, imperceptible to ordinary people.

Seeing the girl bowing her head in apology before him, Yi Hanqing understood that her submission was only temporary.

If she had truly taken his words to heart, she would never have been so ‘ruthless’ when wielding her sword.

At this thought, Yi Hanqing couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Although over the years, he had consistently used his own Sword Intent to suppress the hostility within the girl’s heart, that hostility had not faded with the passage of time.

Instead, tempered by his Sword Intent, it had grown even stronger and more resilient.

Recalling the gentle nature of the girl’s mother and gazing at the girl’s face, which bore an eighty percent resemblance to her mother’s,

Yi Hanqing knew he ought to seize this opportunity to sternly admonish the girl for ‘torturing’ her enemy.

Yet, due to certain special circumstances and his own feelings of guilt toward her mother, he ultimately could not bring himself to be harsh.

“Enough, enough. Some matters are simply too profound for you to grasp at this stage.”

“Just remember this: eradicating demons and defending the Dao is not wrong, nor is giving your all in battle against an enemy.”

“Your mistake lies in wielding your sword with a playful mindset even after you’ve already defeated your opponent.”

“In such a state, what you wield is not a sword—it is merely the malice within your heart.”

As he spoke, Yi Hanqing lowered his gaze to the demonic cultivator the girl had brought.

Demonic cultivators—though notorious in the Central Province, they were rarely seen there.

After all, due to the influence of the Azure Cloud Sect, even if some among the hundred sects of the Central Province harbored wicked thoughts,

they would restrain themselves as much as possible out of fear of the Azure Cloud Sect’s power.

This made it difficult for demonic cultivators to survive in the Central Province.

Only a few powerful demonic cultivators with complex backgrounds could fortunate gain a foothold there.

But the premise was that they could not act overtly.

Because once they caused too much of a stir,

even without the Azure Cloud Sect taking action, many among the hundred sects of the Central Province would proactively step in to annihilate them, reducing them to dust.

Yet here in the Eastern Divine Continent, demonic cultivators not only thrived openly…With the disappearance of the East Sea Gate and the tacit consent of the Corpse Fiend Cave,

the number of demonic cultivators has vaguely begun to surpass that of the righteous sects in the Eastern Divine Continent.

This is undoubtedly not good news.

And what the young girl before him had brought was a demonic cultivator who had appeared in the territory near the Supreme Purity Dao Palace.

The opponent’s strength was actually not weak—a cultivator at the seventh layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Moreover, so-called demonic cultivators were inherently a group who took unorthodox paths and harbored ruthless minds,

which often granted them formidable combat prowess among cultivators of the same Realm.

Yet, despite being such a capable demonic cultivator,

he was easily captured by this young girl, who appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Judging by the wounds on his body, many were neither vital nor severe,

clearly the result of the girl toying with him.

And the girl’s cultivation was merely at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

A Sword Cultivator at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage had effortlessly captured a demonic cultivator at the seventh layer.

Not only that, the demonic cultivator bore clear injuries imbued with Sword Intent.

A fifteen-year-old Sword Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage, who had also comprehended Sword Intent—

the girl’s extraordinary talent was evident.

Even in the Central Province, where prodigies gathered like clouds,

her aptitude could be considered top-tier.

And this girl was none other than the infant Yi Hanqing had brought back from the Central Province years ago—

the daughter of his childhood friend Qu Linghong, Qu Buhui.

Over the past fifteen years, Yi Hanqing had taken on a dual role as both a quasi-family member and a master,

imparting to Qu Buhui the ways of the Sword Path and cultivation methods.

However, having voluntarily withdrawn from the Azure Cloud Sect,

Yi Hanqing did not teach her the cultivation manuals of the Azure Cloud Sect,

instead opting for other techniques.

Even so, with her Heavenly Spiritual Root and outstanding Aptitude,

Qu Buhui had displayed remarkable talent in cultivation.

Yet, this talent was not entirely a blessing for her.

Because her mother had once been used as a “Heart Refining Furnace” by the Heavenly Heart Villa,

Qu Buhui’s own True Spirit had been affected.

A strand of innate hostility had fused with her Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits, nearly becoming inseparable from them.

Yi Hanqing had tried many methods to eradicate this hostility, but all ended in failure.

In the end, he could only resort to using his own Sword Intent to help suppress it—a temporary solution that did not address the root cause.

If the girl’s aptitude had been ordinary, Yi Hanqing, with his own cultivation, could have ensured that the growth rate of the negative energy within her lagged behind his own cultivation progress, thus continuously helping her suppress it.

The problem, however, lay in her exceptional talent.

It was so formidable that Yi Hanqing had gradually begun to feel unable to keep up, growing increasingly powerless to restrain her hostility.

Yet, Yi Hanqing did not voice these concerns.

He merely did his utmost to guide her onto the Righteous Path.

Although this method likewise could not cure the root cause, at least for now, Qu Buhui remained largely normal, unaffected by the negativity in her heart.

Only occasionally during battles did she struggle to control her bloodthirsty desires.

Seeing that he had already admonished her and that Qu Buhui now appeared sincerely repentant,

Yi Hanqing ultimately let her off.

“Alright, come with me now, and tell me what has been happening at the foot of the mountain recently.”

Hearing this, Qu Buhui immediately stood up with a grin,

clearly having let Yi Hanqing’s earlier words go in one ear and out the other.The demonic cultivator at her feet had long since had his heart meridians shattered by Yi Hanqing’s Sword Intent, dead beyond dead.

As soon as she entered the thatched cottage, Qu Buhui familiarly made her way to a rattan chair in the courtyard, preparing to sit down directly.

But before she could sit, another gust of Sword Intent wind blew, pushing her aside.

Then, under her resentful gaze, Yi Hanqing calmly lay down on the rattan chair, looking quite comfortable.

“Uncle Yi, why can’t you have one more rattan chair in your courtyard? You always make me sit on this stone chair, it’s really tiring.”

Hearing this, Yi Hanqing, lying on the rattan chair, slowly said, “If the heart is not calm, sitting anywhere feels like sitting on pins and needles.”

“Since your heart is not calm, I can’t let you ruin my precious things.”

At these words, Qu Buhui pouted discontentedly.

What calm heart or not, I think you just enjoy watching me suffer while you relax.

Though she thought this, Qu Buhui still obediently sat on the stone chair beside Yi Hanqing and recounted her experiences at the foot of the mountain in detail.

Throughout this, Yi Hanqing acted like an old father, not interrupting and patiently listening.

In the end, Yi Hanqing understood the current situation at the foot of the mountain.

Although the Eastern Divine Continent was in chaos, it could generally be divided into the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path.

While the Righteous Path was powerful, internal scheming prevented them from uniting.

Though the Demonic Path was a newly risen force, with the covert support of the Corpse Fiend Cave, it was gradually gaining momentum.

The Supreme Purity Dao Palace, located deep in the Eastern Divine Continent, was considered the area farthest from the conflict.

Yet, scattered members of the Demonic Path were beginning to appear nearby, enough to show how powerful the Demonic Path forces in the Eastern Divine Continent had become.

Just as Yi Hanqing was about to say something more, he suddenly sensed a powerful Sword Intent approaching.

Instantly, Yi Hanqing’s only arm swiftly rose, and a bamboo sword swept through the air.

The flash of sword light, like lightning, struck directly at the cold gleam descending from above.

Bang!

Just from this simple exchange, the resulting shockwave swept through Yi Hanqing’s small courtyard like a gale.

Qu Buhui, sitting beside Yi Hanqing, completely caught off guard, was once again blown aside and fell into the flowerbed in the courtyard.

When she looked up toward the sky, she saw an unfamiliar Sword Cultivator standing on a sword, smiling down.

Seeing this unfamiliar Sword Cultivator, Qu Buhui immediately showed a fierce expression, her eyes sharp.

But unlike her guarded demeanor, Yi Hanqing, after a brief moment of surprise, was replaced by long-awaited joy.

“Senior Brother Yi, it’s been many years. Your Sword Intent has begun to show signs of returning to simplicity.”

“It seems these years in the Eastern Divine Continent have not dulled your sword but refined it further.”

Hearing this, Yi Hanqing below smiled and raised the bamboo sword in his hand.

“Hearing such words from Junior Brother Lu, I truly don’t know if you’re praising me or mocking me.”

“In terms of progress on the Sword Path, who in the entire Azure Cloud Sect can compare to you?”

“Not to mention the Azure Cloud Sect—even if all the prodigies across the Five Continents were combined, they probably still couldn’t match your Swordsmanship.”

“If I’m not mistaken, that sword strike of yours just now contained no Sword Intent at all, did it?””Formless and intentionless, I merely approach the return to simplicity, while you, Junior Brother Lu… have truly returned to authenticity.”

Having said this, Yi Hanqing casually tossed aside the bamboo sword in his hand.

At the same time, Lu Chen descended from the air.

Without caring whether Yi Hanqing was willing or not, he directly lay down on the rattan chair where Yi Hanqing had just been resting.

“This chair of yours is quite nice, Senior Brother Yi. How about giving it to me?”

Hearing this, Yi Hanqing said helplessly, “It’s just an ordinary object. What would you want it for?”

Lu Chen looked toward Qu Buhui, who was not far away and showed undisguised hostility toward him, and said meaningfully, “What you see as ordinary might not be seen the same way by certain others.”

(End of Chapter)