Moonlight like water poured down upon the flying eaves of the Sword Pavilion. Yun Qingyu arrived quietly, the sword qi within his body resonating with the moonlight, faintly emitting a clear, ringing sword hum. Seven days had passed since the Sword Trials, and while outwardly he was recovering from his wounds, secretly he was investigating the Tiansha Alliance.
"You've come."
Chu Yao stepped out from the shadows of the Sword Pavilion, dressed in a plain white gown. At her waist, the sword was gone, replaced by a short, cyan jade flute. Her complexion remained somewhat pale, though much improved from the previous days.
"How are your injuries?" Yun Qingyu asked softly.
Chu Yao shook her head to indicate she was fine, and led him toward a secluded stone pavilion behind the Sword Pavilion. Intricate sword patterns were carved into the floor tiles at the center of the pavilion, marking the entrance to the underground palace.
"My father is already waiting below." She pressed the jade flute against the center of the sword pattern and blew a crisp, clear note. The floor tiles slowly sank, revealing a spiraling flight of stone steps leading downward.
As they descended step by step, the air gradually grew cold and damp. Night-glowing pearls embedded in the stone walls cast a deep blue light, illuminating a passageway covered in ancient murals. Yun Qingyu's gaze swept over the mottled images, vaguely recognizing scenes from the ancient war between immortals and demons—countless sword cultivators locked in slaughter with demonic beasts, the firmament shattered and mountains and rivers overturned.
"These are..."
"The truth of three thousand years ago." Chu Yao's voice echoed in the tunnel. "The war between immortals and demons was not as simple as the history books record."
After descending more than a hundred zhang into the earth, the view suddenly opened up. A magnificent underground palace came into sight. Nine coiled-dragon pillars surrounded a central altar, and suspended above the altar was none other than the Jiuxiao Sword Box! Unlike before, the sword box was now completely transparent, and a wisp of black Qi could be seen thrashing about inside, yet it was firmly imprisoned by the nine-colored sword qi.
"You're here?" Elder Chu's voice came from behind the altar. He held a bronze ancient lamp, its flame a pure, unblemished white. "You're a quarter-hour earlier than agreed."
Yun Qingyu cupped his fists in salute. "This junior has too many doubts in my heart and had to come early to seek answers."
Elder Chu motioned for the two of them to step forward, and the light of the ancient lamp enveloped them all. In an instant, the scene before Yun Qingyu's eyes changed drastically—the underground palace vanished, replaced by a blood-red battlefield!
"This is the scene from the sword box's memory," Elder Chu's voice seemed to come from far away. "Look closely."
On the battlefield, a sword cultivator in white fought thousands of demonic beasts alone. Every time the long sword in his hand swept out, nine streams of sword light tore apart the heavens and earth—it was precisely the Jiuxiao Sword Art! However, when Yun Qingyu clearly saw the sword cultivator's face, the blood in his entire body nearly froze: that man looked seven parts similar to himself!
"This is..."
"Sword Sovereign Yun Wuhai, your ancestor," Elder Chu dropped a shocking statement. "At the same time, he is the twin brother of the Tiansha Demon Sovereign."
The scene shifted once more. Yun Wuhai plunged a black sword into the Tiansha Demon Sovereign's chest, but unexpectedly, the Demon Sovereign unleashed a secret technique before dying, injecting his foundational demonic Qi into his elder brother. To avoid bringing disaster upon all living beings, Yun Wuhai sealed himself within the Jiuxiao Sword Box, using his lifelong cultivation to suppress the demonic Qi.
"For three thousand years, the sword box has passed through the hands of countless sword cultivators, yet no one has ever truly inherited the Jiuxiao Sword Art," Elder Chu sighed. "Until your appearance."
Yun Qingyu felt as though he had been struck by lightning. No wonder the Jiuxiao Sword Box had recognized him as its master, and no wonder the black Qi and sword qi within his body could coexist—all of this stemmed from his bloodline!
"Then my rebirth..."
"It must have been the sword box sensing that the Tiansha Alliance was about to resurrect the Demon Sovereign, so it used the power of space and time to send you back a hundred years," Elder Chu said with profound eyes. "And the demonic Qi within your body is actually a wisp of the Tiansha Demon Sovereign's divided spirit."
Yun Qingyu felt a chill run through his entire body. This meant that every time he used demonic Qi, he was helping the Demon Sovereign revive!
"Is there a solution?"
Elder Chu and Chu Yao exchanged glances. "Two possibilities. First, you cultivate to the Great Vehicle Stage and use absolute strength to refine the demonic Qi; second..."
"Find the sealing place of the Tiansha Demon Sovereign and completely destroy his origin," Chu Yao took over, a trace of pain flashing in her eyes. "This is also the secret my mother risked her life to pursue."
Only then did Yun Qingyu notice that a wordless jade stele stood below the altar, with a small incense burner placed before it.
"Lady Chu..."
"She was killed ten years ago while investigating the Demon Sovereign's seal," Elder Chu said in a deep voice. "But she sent back a message before her death—the Demon Sovereign's seal is right beneath the Xuantian Sect!"
This news exploded like a thunderclap. Yun Qingyu suddenly remembered that strange and massive explosion at the Xuantian Sect in his past life, where the entire main peak collapsed into a valley—it turned out it was no accident!
"The Tiansha Alliance knows this, which is why they have spared no effort to infiltrate the sect," Chu Yao gently caressed the jade stele. "They need the Jiuxiao Sword Master as the key to open the final seal."
While they were talking, the sword box on the altar suddenly shook violently! That wisp of black Qi condensed into a ferocious human face, emitting a silent roar. The demonic Qi within Yun Qingyu's body churned in response, his eyes instantly bloodshot and red!
"Clear your heart and steady your mind!" Elder Chu struck his back with a palm, and vast spiritual energy poured into his meridians. Chu Yao also immediately grasped his hand, and that special, pure spiritual Qi once again stabilized the rampaging demonic Qi.
When the crisis subsided, Elder Chu produced three jade slips. "These are three possible sealing locations I deduced based on the clues left behind by Yao'er's mother. You must investigate them as soon as possible."
Yun Qingyu took the jade slips and swept his divine sense across them, discovering that the three locations were respectively: deep within the Xuantian Secret Realm, the bottom of the Sword Washing Pool, and... the Lingxiao Cave where the Sect Master was in seclusion!
"This..."
"I know what you're thinking," Elder Chu gave a bitter smile. "That's right, we suspect that Sect Master Xuanxiao may have already been controlled by the Tiansha Alliance. The irregularities at the Sword Trials are the proof."
Chu Yao added, "My father's secret investigations revealed that the Sect Master's temperament has changed drastically over the past ten years, and every time the moon is full, he secretly goes to the Lingxiao Cave."
Yun Qingyu remembered that in his past life, the Sect Master had indeed mysteriously disappeared during the sect's massive explosion. Could it be...
"Next, you will use the pretext of experiential training to investigate the Xuantian Secret Realm first." Elder Chu handed over a sword-shaped token. "The secret realm opens in three days, and I have already arranged your quotas."
When they left the underground palace, the eastern sky was already showing the pale white of dawn. Chu Yao accompanied Yun Qingyu to the fork in the mountain path, hesitating to speak.
"Is there something else?" Yun Qingyu asked gently.
Chu Yao retrieved a half-moon jade pendant from her bosom. "This is the last keepsake my mother left behind; it can sense demonic Qi. Take it with you... and be careful."
The jade pendant felt warm to the touch when he took it, and Yun Qingyu was surprised to find that it could actually resonate with the sword qi inside his body! Even more wondrously, when the jade pendant pressed close to his heart, he seemed to see a hazy image—a woman resembling Chu Yao, standing on an endless glacier playing a jade flute...
"This jade pendant..."
"It is said to come from my mother's clan," Chu Yao's eyes shimmered with hazy nostalgia. "Since I was little, I've always had strange dreams of boundless snow and ice and towering palaces..."
A thought stirred in Yun Qingyu's heart. In his past life, he had heard during his travels that in the far north there was a secluded immortal clan called the "Cold Moon Palace", whose members all used jade flutes as weapons and excelled at manipulating ice and snow. Could Chu Yao's mother be a person from the Cold Moon Palace?
After parting ways, Yun Qingyu did not return directly to his quarters, but instead detoured to the Scripture Pavilion. He needed to consult more records concerning the war between immortals and demons and the Cold Moon Palace.
On the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion, dust-covered texts filled the bookshelves. As Yun Qingyu intently consulted a volume titled "Northern Realm Strange Tales", he suddenly sensed someone approaching. He quickly blended into the shadow of a bookshelf and saw a hunched figure sneaking stealthily toward the forbidden books section.
"Old Du?" Yun Qingyu recognized that as the old servant of the Sword Pavilion, but at this moment Old Du's movements were nimble—where was there any trace of his usual senility?
Old Du took a small black flag from his bosom and planted it in the center of the forbidden books section. Instantly, countless hair-thin wisps of black Qi seeped out from the flag's surface, beginning to corrode the protective barrier array on the bookshelves!
"The Tiansha Alliance's Corrosion Array Flag!" Yun Qingyu's pupils constricted. This old servant was actually a traitor!
Just as he was about to make a move to stop him, the sound of wind breaking suddenly came from behind! Yun Qingyu instinctively sidestepped as a pitch-black dagger grazed his neck and buried itself deeply into a bookshelf.
"So you really are here." A chilling voice came from the end of the corridor as a silver-masked man walked slowly closer. "Greetings, Sword Master."
Yun Qingyu drew his sword, only to find that the circulation of spiritual energy within his body felt sluggish—the entire floor of the Scripture Pavilion had been sealed off by some sort of array!
"Don't waste your effort," the silver-masked man chuckled softly. "This time, the Chu family girl isn't here to save you."
Hearing the commotion, Old Du hurried over. Upon seeing Yun Qingyu, not only was he unafraid, but he even bowed respectfully to the silver-masked man. "Milord, the corrosion array is complete. It can be activated at any time."
"Very good," the silver-masked man nodded with satisfaction, turning to Yun Qingyu. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mo Ying, the Left Envoy of the Tiansha Alliance. By the Alliance Master's order, I invite the Sword Master to the headquarters for a chat."
Yun Qingyu sneered. "Is poison required for an invitation?"
"Just some little tricks to keep the Sword Master well-behaved." Mo Ying clapped his hands, and four figures in black emerged from the shadows, each gripping a chain wreathed in black Qi. "The Alliance Master said, dead or alive is fine."
The battle erupted instantly! Yun Qingyu gritted his teeth against the sluggishness of his spiritual energy, countering with pure sword techniques. The Jiuxiao Sword Art was exquisite and peerless; even without the enhancement of spiritual energy, it kept him from falling into a disadvantage for the moment. But good times did not last long; as the black Qi from the Corrosion Array Flag permeated the air, the demonic Qi inside his body began to stir restlessly once again!
"Ah!" A miserable scream suddenly rang out. From the corner of his eye, Yun Qingyu caught a glimpse of a sword tip protruding from Old Du's chest—and the wielder of the sword was none other than Lin Xiaofan!
"Senior Brother Yun, run!" the youth shouted aloud. "The core of the array is in the northwest corner!"
Mo Ying flew into a rage. "Traitor!" With a single palm strike, he sent Lin Xiaofan flying. Taking advantage of the opening, Yun Qingyu lunged toward the northwest corner and indeed discovered a black crystal embedded in the wall. Without the slightest hesitation, he slashed down with his sword, and the crystal shattered amidst a crisp crack!
The instant his spiritual energy recovered, the sword qi within Yun Qingyu surged violently! Infused with fury, the second form of the Jiuxiao Sword Art, "Heaven-Riving", struck out, directly cutting two of the men in black clean in half!
"Damn it!" Seeing that the situation had turned unfavorable, Mo Ying crushed an amulet, transforming into black smoke to escape. The remaining men in black wanted to flee as well, but they were surrounded tightly by the suddenly arriving Sword Pavilion disciples.
"Senior Brother Yun!" Blood spilled from the corners of Lin Xiaofan's mouth, but he was still alive. "I suspected Old Du all along... I've been secretly investigating..."
Yun Qingyu helped the youth up. "Don't speak. I'll take you back to the Sword Pavilion to tend to your wounds."
Lin Xiaofan shook his head, pulling a blood-stained piece of silk from his bosom. "Old Du's room... secret compartment... has important..." Before he could finish his sentence, he fainted dead away.
While the Sword Pavilion disciples dealt with the aftermath, Yun Qingyu quietly slipped away. Following Lin Xiaofan's directions, he found Old Du's residence and indeed discovered a secret compartment beneath the bed boards. Inside, besides some secret correspondence detailing transactions with the Tiansha Alliance, there was also a blueprint that made Yun Qingyu's hair stand on end—a structural diagram of the Xuantian Sect's underground, marking a secret passage leading straight from the Sword Washing Pool to the Lingxiao Cave!
"Could the Sect Master really..." Yun Qingyu put away the blueprint and was about to leave when he suddenly felt the half-moon jade pendant in his bosom grow scorching hot. He spun around abruptly, only to catch sight of a black shadow flashing past outside the window!
When he chased out of the house, the black shadow had vanished without a trace. However, a note was left on the ground, bearing only four words written in blood:
"Full moon, be careful."
Yun Qingyu raised his head to look at the sky, where the bright moon was gradually growing round. Only two days remained until the night of the full moon...