The sky was clear and blue, and even the clouds that had lingered above the mountains all year round had dissipated. The vast mountains of the Qingliu Sword Sect were finally revealed to the world. The ancient pines and strange rocks on the thousand-foot-high cliffs lost some of their fairy air without the backdrop of the clouds, and regained some of the solemn and murderous aura unique to the Sword Sect.
The fire phoenix circled in the sky for a long time. The boys and girls below who were still struggling to climb up looked up at it, then knelt on the ground in surprise and joy.
Finally, it made a clear sound above the head of the man who was standing quietly, shocking the heaven and earth, and turned into a ray of golden-red fire that gradually dissipated.
The green grass on the ground was still covered with drops of water, moist and soft. The blood that had just been spilled was washed away by the rain, without even the slightest smell of blood, as if the ever-changing life-and-death struggle had never happened.
However, everyone witnessed the tragic scene where the supreme elder in their hearts was killed by a single sword, without even a corpse left.
The so-called life-and-death battle was not as fierce as everyone imagined. Elder Ouyang was defeated too thoroughly and too miserably.
In fact, if he fought with all his might, he might be able to win, but the people who were most afraid of Ye Shubai were not the demon cultivators, but his fellow disciples who had been surrounded by his aura since childhood.
After all, all the demon cultivators who knew how powerful Ye Shubai was were dead. They had been watching Ye Shubai for hundreds of years since he showed his prowess, and their fear of him grew deeper day by day.
So when Ye Shubai's sword intent suddenly arose, Grand Elder Ouyang's first reaction was that he had recovered his cultivation level of half a step to ascension. He was so frightened that he didn't even think of fighting back, and subconsciously thought of escaping.
It was exactly the same as when he faced the devil cultivator back then. He turned around and fled when he met a strong enemy. Unfortunately, he could only escape for a while, not forever. Back then, he could still escape because his senior masters and elders were blocking him in front of him. But now, no one stood up to block for him.
A cold wind suddenly blew, and the bright white jade baby turned into a tiny spot of light in Ye Shubai's palm. After losing the power of Ye Shubai's jade baby, Elder Ouyang's jade gradually became dim. The original green jade texture became more and more rough, and finally turned into a piece of bluestone without any spiritual power, which was almost the same as the bluestone slab on the Life and Death Platform.
After the stolen item was returned, its true appearance was finally revealed. It didn't even have a golden color, but was completely gray. If it weren't for the law of life and death on Ye Shu's white jade infant, Elder Ouyang would have lived out his life long ago.
The sword cultivators were startled, and after seeing this scene, they believed Wen Yun's words about 70% to 80%.
When they looked at the young man in white again, in addition to the initial curiosity, there was also a hint of obvious fear in the eyes of all the disciples.
Ye Shubai didn't look at the others. He put away his sword, as if he had just done something insignificant, and walked slowly down the mountain.
The sword cultivators who had been crowded together silently made way for him. The moment Ye Shubai approached, they quickly lowered their heads and dared not look at him directly. Even the disciples of the First Peak of Elder Ouyang's direct lineage did not dare to speak and retreated step by step.
Great Elder Hong Zhuo's face was ashen and expressionless, and his hands hidden in his wide sleeves could not stop shaking. He could only use all his skills to ensure that he did not lose face under this terrible pressure. However, he could no longer muster the courage to give orders and scold everyone as he did just now.
He led all the disciples from the First Peak, stood straight, and refused to bow his head.
When Ye Shubai passed by him, Great Elder Hong Zhuo snorted coldly and said in a bad tone: "Master Ye is too much to kill his fellow disciples when there are internal and external troubles..."
His voice stopped abruptly because the man who had been walking slowly forward suddenly paused and stopped in front of him.
Ye Shubai didn't say anything, but just looked over indifferently, with the corners of his beautiful eyes slightly raised. They were so cold that one glance made people feel like they were stabbed by a sharp sword and they dared not look directly at him.
Elder Hong Zhuo choked back the slanderous words that were about to come out of his mouth, and swallowed them with difficulty, then reluctantly stepped back and got out of the way.
The man who had just killed someone waved to the young girl in front of everyone. The latter ran to him with an innocent look, and the two walked down the mountain side by side.
Ye Shubai had killed many people, but this was the first time someone came up to him after he killed someone and asked him with concern: "Are you hurt?"
Wen Yun was not short, but he still had to tilt his head upwards to look at him. His delicate face, facing the sunlight, fell into his eyes. His eyebrows and eyes were all outlined with gentle edges by the bright golden light, making him look particularly beautiful.
Facing such a face, the negative emotions that had just arisen in his heart disappeared, and the ice in his eyes gradually melted, becoming much softer.
Ye Shubai shook his head and replied softly, "I'm fine."
Wen Yun glanced back furtively, and realized that no one could see him now as he was far away, so he quietly grabbed his hand and held it in front of his eyes. Sure enough, there were countless blood spots on it from the sharp needles transformed from the heavy rain.
She pulled her hand towards herself, then leaned forward and blew on him carefully, but then felt that this was inappropriate, so she cast two healing spells on him.
Ye Shubai did not stop her and let her do whatever she wanted.
Wen Yun felt distressed and muttered softly, "I knew you would be bullied by that old dog. Look, such a beautiful pair of hands, but now they are injured like this."
He lowered his eyes and stared at the girl who was mumbling all the way. He heard from her many adjectives that had never been used to describe him, such as honest and easy to bully. In her eyes, he turned out to be the most honest person in the world.
Ye Shubai raised his lips slightly, then quickly pursed them tightly and whispered, "I'm not as good as you say. I have already killed two of my fellow disciples."
He let Shou Wenyun hold his hand, his voice was so light that it seemed like it would be blown away by the cool breeze at any time.
"Since you have been with me growing up, you should know how my masters taught me. They always said that with great ability comes great responsibility. Since I have enjoyed opportunities that other brothers and sisters have never had, I should protect the people of the sect. I have taken away a bit of spiritual energy from the world, so I should contribute a bit to the people of this world. So when my brothers went to the front line to fight against the demons and protect the people, I followed them."
Wen Yun was shocked. What she had heard and seen in the world of cultivation before was just a verification of the four words "survival of the fittest". This was the first time she heard of such a truth.
The dark hair brushed across his fair face, and his beautiful eyes drooped slightly: "I didn't protect my fellow disciples as the masters taught me. Instead, I killed the only two remaining brothers. I just heard someone say that I was cruel and ruthless. Do you also think that I have changed?"
She had clearly healed his hand with a healing spell, but maybe because they were talking too seriously, she held his hand tightly and didn't let go. She touched her chin with her other hand and said seriously, "It has indeed changed, but for the better. If you were still like before, always thinking about so-called tolerance or putting the overall situation first, I would probably be mad at you, and then go back and pack my bags and leave overnight, and never walk with you again."
Wen Yun has always been a person who is happy to repay kindness and to avenge hatred. He is never willing to put himself in a difficult position, and he hates to see someone being wronged for the sake of the overall situation.
In her opinion, everyone is a part of the world. It would be so unfair to sacrifice one person for the sake of the world. Why can't the people of the world work together instead of sacrificing one person
If Ye Shubai really let Elder Ouyang go today and created some drama about the brothers reconciling and fighting the evil cultivators together, she probably wouldn't even bother to talk to him, let alone feel sorry for his injured hand like she does now.
He was pulled forward by her, and said softly: "In fact, I have never regretted killing him. When I saw you killing Xie Mi'an, I thought you did the right thing, so what I did today, I also felt was right."
Wen Yun was very satisfied after hearing this, and felt relieved that his honest sword spirit had become smart.
She pulled Ye Shubai and ran happily towards the Tenth Peak: "Come on, let's go. I'll go back and check if you're still injured. Once you're well, we can go find trouble with other people!"
Ye Shubai's face froze, and he said stiffly: "There are differences between men and women..."
"Huh? What kind of indecent scene are you thinking of, Ye Xiaobai? I said I'd make a magic circle for your whole body treatment, not strip you of your clothes and apply medicine!"
…
The sword was a wooden sword, the clothes were white, and the backs of the two people were deeply imprinted in the memory of this generation of young disciples. They watched the two people walk away, and no one dared to move for a long time.
"Alright, alright, we've watched the excitement, but we're still recruiting disciples. The peak masters and managers of each peak should quickly return to the main hall of the mountain gate to continue presiding over the disciple-recruiting ceremony."
Xu Wanfeng had taken out a folding fan with a beautiful purple cloud pattern on it and was fanning himself slowly. His baby face, which looked no more than a dozen years old, did not match his generation at all.
But no one dared to refute him. The elders with white hair and wrinkled faces were familiar with him and knew that he was of an extraordinary seniority. Besides, the ancestor of the Tenth Peak had returned, so they did not dare to complain and all did as he said.
He waved at Bai Yushan, patted the dark-skinned girl who won first place beside him and said, "Third Junior Brother, I'll leave this girl to you. Master and Junior Sister were not kind enough to go back directly. We can't do this. The seedlings this time are all good. We need to recruit more disciples to join our Tenth Peak."
He smiled and pinched the little girl's face: "By the way, what's your name?"
The black girl tilted her head back and answered naturally, "I don't have a name. My parents usually call me a money-loser."
Xu Wanfeng, who had always been the most compassionate and gentle to female cultivators, suddenly changed his expression, spat, and told the black girl very seriously: "You have to remember, no little girl should be called this name. Little girls are like the white clouds in the sky and the beautiful flowers on the trees. They are very precious, so I will give you a name. How about calling you A Bao?"
The young girl, who was still young and ignorant, frowned and said, "But I heard others praise Fairy Wen Yun, saying that she is the most powerful weapon in the world. I don't want to be a flower, I just want to be the most powerful weapon."
Xu Wanfeng fanned himself with a fan and said, "Okay, then don't call yourself A Bao anymore. Call yourself Baoqi instead, which means the most precious weapon in the world. How about this name?"
He was just saying some nonsense, but the little girl didn't understand what treasure meant, so she happily responded, "Okay! Then I'll be called treasure from now on!"
Elder Ziyun, who was passing by Xu Wanfeng, paused and happened to hear it. She glared at him with her beautiful eyes and said, "How dare you tease this girl like this? I didn't expect you to be this kind of person."
Xu Wanfeng was startled and immediately chased after her: "Hey, Ziyun, listen to my explanation. I just made it up, but I didn't know this silly girl would take it seriously! Wait for me, take a look at my fan, it's still the same style you mentioned that day..."
Abao didn't understand, and Xiaohei's face was full of confusion.
Bai Yushan patted her head and discussed with Yue Xingzhou as if he was used to it: "Big Brother, the second brother ran away, so let's go and recruit disciples into the peak?"
Yue Xingzhou could only nod and take A Bao and Bai Yushan to the mountain gate to recruit disciples into the Tenth Peak.
However, surprisingly, there were quite a few young boys and girls who went up the mountain this time who wanted to join the Tenth Peak. Most of them were children from poor families. Almost all of them had heard about the stories circulating among the people by accident and developed a yearning for Wen Yun.
As for the children from cultivation families or royal aristocrats, none of them chose the Tenth Peak because they had already heard instructions from their elders or had acquaintances on the other peaks.
Yue Xingzhou and Bai Yushan were quite satisfied. Even Abao consciously acted as the eldest senior sister, leading a group of boys and girls older than her, while she tried desperately to describe how stunningly beautiful Fairy Wen Yun was and how gentle and pleasant her voice was, which made Yue Xingzhou wonder whether this girl came here to practice Taoism or to pursue Wen Yun.
The sect's disciple-recruiting ceremony was very successful. The appearance of the stunning fire phoenix made all the disciples loyal to the Qingliu Sword Sect. Even the group of children who entered the outer sect felt that they had truly entered the immortal sect. As soon as they entered the sect, they got up early to practice sword skills, even earlier than the helicopter chicken on the second peak.
The fact that Ye Shubai killed Grand Elder Ouyang with a single sword after his return could not be concealed, but now all the sects remained silent. No one sent gifts to congratulate Ye Shubai on his return, and no one came to send paper money to burn for Elder Ouyang.
There was also a strange silence within the Qingliu Sword Sect, as if no one had figured out how to face the returning ancestor. In addition, the sect leader was not there, so each peak accepted disciples as usual in a low-key manner. Some practiced sword skills, while others went out to gain experience on their own. No one dared to go to the Tenth Peak to get close, and no one dared to go to the First Peak to pay their respects.
Of course, there are always some people who can't keep a low profile.
They were born with brilliant brilliance and loud voices, and once they opened their mouths, they wished that the entire sect and the mountains could hear them clearly.
"What? What kind of person is Master Ye? Oh, you've really asked the right person!"
Zhu Erchong sat on the top of the nameless peak where the inner sect disciples practiced swordsmanship. He took out a jar of spiritual spring water with his left hand, tilted his head back and took a sip. He patted the jar and laughed heartily: "Look, this jar of spiritual spring water was filled by Master Ye himself and given to me!"
The disciples sitting around showed envy in their eyes.
"Master Ye is so generous. This jar can probably be exchanged for tens of thousands of top-grade spiritual jades, right?"
Zhu Erchong's vanity was greatly satisfied. He waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "I still have dozens of jars in my mustard seed bag. They were all given to me by Master Ye himself!"
That was true, because when he first arrived at Lingquan, he started drinking right away, and it was mostly Wen Yun and Ye Shubai who filled the jars.
Someone's eyes lit up and he looked over: "Brother Zhu, you have so many spiritual springs. I was injured in a sword fight with the Tianjian Sect a few days ago, so I want to ask for a bottle..."
Zhu Erchong immediately put the spiritual spring back into the mustard seed bag and changed the subject from the spiritual spring as if nothing had happened: "Hey, you're asking about the relationship between Master Ye and us? That can't be summed up in one word."
Bao Pilong, who was standing next to him, finally found an opportunity to answer the question and immediately said, "The reason why we have made great progress in swordsmanship after returning this time is because Master Ye taught us step by step! That was a continuous practice day and night..."
Yes, he was beaten to the ground by Ye Shubai's stick day and night, unable to get up. Finally, he cried and begged Wen Yun to come and take care of him.
The sword practitioners immediately thought of the cool and elegant Ye Shubai holding the hand of the bearded Bao Pilong and teaching him sword skills in a gentle voice, and they felt a chill in their stomach.
"After sword training, he ate and slept with us. He is really a rare and kind senior."
The sword cultivators were all confused as they got goosebumps. Someone couldn't help but ask, "You said he was kind and friendly, but Master Ye ruthlessly killed Grand Elder Ouyang as soon as he came back..."
"Hey!" Bao Pilong glared at the disciple who was speaking, and raised his voice a few notches: "As cultivators, we should take pleasure in repaying kindness and avenging hatred. If I stole your golden elixir today and ruined your cultivation, would you still respectfully call me senior brother tomorrow? Wouldn't you be so angry that you would kill me immediately and split my elixir to vent your hatred? This is not called cruelty, this is called repaying kindness and avenging hatred!"
"Like before, Junior Sister Wen..."
"Brother Bao, you called him the wrong name. According to seniority, he is also the Grandmaster."
"..." Bao Pilong pulled the corner of his mouth. He really couldn't call Master Wen Yun, so he pretended not to hear and continued: "Junior Sister Wen killed Xie Mi'an and took back the golden elixir. Everyone felt very happy because everyone had been with her for a while and knew that she was not a cruel person. Also, because Xie Mi'an didn't deal with people like us at all and had no friendship with him, they could accept her revenge."
"Now, just because everyone is not familiar with Master Ye and is more familiar with Grand Elder Ouyang, it is too narrow-minded to think that this revenge is inappropriate."
The swordsman who was refuted wiped the spit on his face. He felt that Bao Pilong was disgusting, but also felt that what he said made sense.
Bao Pilong was very proud after scolding him, and continued to recall with deep affection: "Master Ye was actually very good to us younger generations. He even made roasted chicken for us personally. It was the fairy chicken on the second peak. You know the helicopter chicken? We were tired of eating it every day. Later on, we only ate chicken legs and even threw away the chicken wings."
Zhu Erchong chuckled, "As for deliciousness, grilled fish is better. Anyway, Master Ye appreciated us very much and was very humble and low-key. At that time, we were friends for life and death, and we were just short of swearing blood oath. However, we could see that he was not an ordinary person, so we politely declined his proposal to become sworn brothers. This way, we did not offend our ancestor. Otherwise, my master would have to call me ancestor now!"
After he finished bragging, no one responded. Instead, dozens of people made faces at Zhu Erchong.
Zhu Erchong didn't understand, but he felt something was wrong.
A murderous aura so strong that it seemed tangible came from behind him. He rolled forward in a dangerous manner and hastily avoided it.
At this time, a loud and rough voice roared: "Zhu Erchong, you pig worm, roll over here, I will let you know who is your ancestor immortal!"
Zhu Erchong's face froze, and then he saw his master flying towards him on the clouds with a two-handed sword in hand.
"Master, spare my life!"