Xuanmen was constructed by the fisherman with the Fallen Immortal Lake as its center, it was split into four halls and eight temples. The four halls had four late-stage Nascent Soul level venerated elders guarding it. These four people were disciple brothers from Qing XuZi’s generation. In the world, they were also considered peak-level seniors. The divine sword intent was the secret technique the Xuanmen Sect Leader would only pass onto the next successor and what these four people controlled was precisely this centuries-old inheritance.
Outside of the four halls are the eight temples which are managed by the newest generation of Nascent Soul stage elders. Although the status was incomparable to the four halls, these elders were still young and had the chance to reach the Calamity Crossing Stage. Every building here was located on top of a spiritual vein and built to resonate with each other to form an array that covered the entire sect. As long as the eight temples weren’t destroyed, no one below an immortal could enter the Xuanmen Righteous Sect, if the four halls still stood, then no one could break even a tile of the eight temples. As for the crux of the four hall’s array, it was the fishing rod that hung over the side of the Fallen Immortal Lake for hundreds of years.
When a cultivator falls short at ascension, they either nurse their divine consciousness in hopes of trying again or remain in the lower realms to be a wandering immortal. With the power the fisherman held back then both were good choices, but when he was within the lightning tribulation his final choice was to use his body as a medium and lead the heaven’s power into the Fallen Immortal Lake, creating what can be considered an impenetrable array in the human realm.
This array was crafted with the might of the heavens, the only way to break it was to destroy the array’s crux. However, every generation, the Xuanmen Righteous Sect’s Leader would live at the Fallen Immortal Lake, which meant that as long as the sect leader was alive, no one could even touch a single blade of grass of Xuanmen.
The fisherman perished in the tribulation, but his magic weapon remained at the Fallen Immortal Lake, serving as the most stable shield in the world and helping to guard Xuanmen’s disciples in his place.
This was one of the most convincing reasons why no one believed Bu QingYun had been set up by someone because no one could break through Xuanmen’s protective array and enter. Back then, although he wasn’t at the Nascent Soul stage, he was still Xuanmen’s successor and was in charge of the QianTian Temple of the eight temples. At that time, he had stumbled into a rare bit of comprehension and was about to break through to the next stage, he only informed his junior brother Bu YaoLian before locking himself in his room for cultivation.
When a cultivator is breaking through, they could not risk getting disturbed. Bu QingYun was only twenty at the time and didn’t have any disciples, so his junior brother Bu YaoLian volunteered to stand guard for him. The security within the QianTian Temple was extremely tight and Bu YaoLian, as the sect leader’s direct disciple, was also extremely talented, under these circumstances, there should have been no issues. However, the only mishap was that the disciple tasked with guarding the mountain’s gate went out.
Back when the previous dynasty’s courtesan came to Xuanmen to seek help, all the higher leveled disciples were out, so it was a disciple named He Kao who brought her into Xuanmen to wait. At that time, he had given the courtesan the cloud bell used by Xuanmen disciples to seek help and promised that as soon as his seniors returned he would inform her. However, in the end, she hadn’t waited until then. After seven days, she disappeared.
Fourteen years passed. That night, He Kao suddenly heard the chime of the cloud bell and remembered that girl’s heartbroken and grieving expression. He thought that she had met with danger outside of Xuanmen, so he immediately brought his sword to go save her. But what stood in front of him was a demonic cultivator wearing a deranged look.
QianTian Temple was in charge of the security layout of Xuanmen, because of this, Bu QingYun more or less knew every guard disciple. Due to their limited talent in cultivation, all of these disciples would’ve been considered lucky if they could make it to the Golden Core stage. Many of them who could achieve any measure of success from Xuanmen would return to their clan to be an elder, peacefully living out the remainder of their lives. Thus, rarely would there be anyone who would stay for more than a decade. In Bu QingYun’s impressions, this He Kao disciple has been with the sect since even before he joined. Even though he had already formed his core, he didn’t have the intention to leave. Bu QingYun had once curiously asked He Kao about this, since there was no more room for his cultivation to improve, why doesn’t he return to his hometown like the other seniors?
At that time, the young man only returned a somewhat embarrassed smile and replied, “When I first joined the sect I met a girl who had been harmed by a demonic cultivator. Back then, my cultivation was basically negligible. Even when I was made aware of the atrocities the girl had suffered I had no way to help her. Now that I’ve formed my core, I want to stand guard here and give everyone who comes here to seek help a bit of assistance.”
The Bu QingYun of those days was still just a teenager, his heart was filled with the ambition to change the world and immediately said to him, “Don’t worry, there will come a day when I completely wipe out the demonic faction, I’ll make it so that no one would dare harm others again.”
Bu QingYun also remembered that at that time, when the guarding disciple looked at his high-spirited self he had a face of total faith and laughed, “In that case, I will stay at this mountain gate and await the day I can personally see it happen.”
But in the end, he never saw that day come.
Bu QingYun would never be able to forget what He Kao looked like the last time he saw him. Feng Xie had countless ways to torture a person, in the end, the young man couldn’t hold up against the torment and led Feng Xie into QianTian Temple. At that time, Bu QingYun had long heard the sounds of Bu YaoLian fighting outside, however, he was at the most important junction of the breakthrough. He could not even afford to twitch. A moment later, the door was pushed open.
The face of the person who entered wasn’t unfamiliar, he knew that this was that senior who stood at the mountain’s gate, but it was only when that person’s clothes began to slip off his shoulders that Bu QingYun realized that there was not even an inch of flesh that remained untouched. It was like someone had chewed him inch by inch, his chest was severely mutilated, and his face was slack, his mind had clearly been destroyed.
The current him was only operating based on instinct, he swayed to in front of Bu QingYun. Seeing his fellow sect member like this, Bu QingYun no longer cared for anything else, he broke off his breakthrough and moved forward to hold him up. From their new proximity, Bu QingYun finally heard what the young man kept subconsciously repeating, “R…run…”
In the instant he smelled the fragrance coming off of his sect mate, Bu QingYun knew he had fallen into a trap. His qi and blood had both been turbulent because he forcefully stopped his breakthrough, after he had inhaled the scent it became even more so. Even when he used all of his power, he could just barely hold onto clarity. At this time, the main culprit finally floated out from within his puppet and ripped open Bu QingYun’s clothes, he revealed a smile that made others feel incredibly disgusted and jeered, “The Xuanmen Righteous Sect’s successor, sure is a heaven-sent beauty.”
Feng Xie’s reputation was widely spread around the Jianghu, when Bu QingYun saw him he did everything he could to pull out his sword, yet what he stabbed through was Bu YaoLian who that person had suddenly pulled to block in front of him.
His junior disciple brother’s hot blood flowed along his CaiYun Sword onto his palm, his eyes were bloodshot, Bu QingYun finally lost his reason. Like a madman, he used his all to shout, uncontrolled sword energy echoed wantonly within the room yet none of them hit the person he wanted to kill.
“Everyone you care about is about to be killed and you are here, helpless to do anything. Isn’t that feeling just wonderful?”
“To only be twenty years old and have such quality sword energy, you really are a genius even within geniuses. How great! I just love to watch you geniuses who have been carefully treasured since young be ruined. I want to see your faces, when I see you cry and wail in anguish, I feel unspeakably delighted!”
“I wonder how long you can resist this Palace Master’s aphrodisiac powder. You may as well come over here obediently and this Palace Master will let you know what true pleasure is.”
“Don’t you worry, this Palace Master will first enjoy you, then I’ll take care of your brother in front of you.”
The divine sword intent counters all demonic techniques, even though Bu QingYun had qi-deviated his sword energy was still overpowering. Feng Xie had been trapped at the beginning stage of the Nascent Soul stage for several years and couldn’t do anything about it either. He could only continuously provoke him with words and try to get him to exhaust his spiritual energy. Right now, Bu QingYun had already lost his reason, once he runs out of energy then he’d be free to do whatever he pleases.
However, one thing he hadn’t foreseen was that the shout Bu QingYun released before he lost his reason actually drew out Qing XuZi who was at the Fallen Immortal Lake. The reason why Feng Xie was able to stay alive for all these years despite all the evils he had committed was precisely because of his ability to melt into the surrounding environment and his cowardly and cautious style of work. The second he heard the sound of a sword coming from the sky, he immediately concealed his presence, gave up on what he was doing, and fled.
Bu QingYun had never wanted to kill someone as much as he did now, he couldn’t remember how many times he had waved his sword, all he knew was that he couldn’t stop until that person was dead. However, as his spiritual energy dwindled, his body became increasingly warm. When the demonic energy in the room disappeared, he finally couldn’t continue anymore. In his daze and half-conscious state, he seemed to have touched something. The contact with someone’s smooth skin made him feel incredibly comfortable and he subconsciously hugged the body.
“QingYun, what’s happened to you?!”
In the end, what awoke him was Qing XuZi’s sudden shout. The old cultivator’s every move carried the intent of heavenly law, the cry of his sword at full strength chased away all demonic effects. When Bu QingYun opened his eyes, he was greeted with the worst scene of his life.
His clothes were in disarray as he laid atop Bu YaoLian’s body, on the side was He Lai’s corpse which had become almost entirely unrecognizable after being cut up by Bu QingYun’s sword energy. Bu YaoLian was barely alive, and Bu QingYun’s hand was currently resting on his still bleeding chest.
This type of scene had even Qing XuZi stunned in shock. He looked at his two disciples in a daze, lips imperceptibly trembling, at that moment he didn’t know what to say. So much that even until Bu QingYun’s expression had completely crumpled and ran out the door, he still couldn’t move.
He Kao’s body, the cause of which had been the divine sword intent, laid in Bu QingYun’s room. Qing XuZi also personally saw him try to rape Bu YaoLian while in the midst of his qi-deviation, even the wound on Bu YaoLian’s chest clearly bore the unique markings of his CaiYun sword. Both human testimony and material evidence was there, there was no way to push the blame away. That day, Qing XuZi announced that Bu QingYun had been expelled from the sect and according to the rules, has had all his meridians broken, never to be reaccepted into the sect.
The entire Jianghu searched for an entire month, all unable to find any trace of Bu QingYun, until news came from the demonic faction, Bu QingYun one person one sword slaughtered his way up the barren mountain, slayed the Palace of Bliss’ Palace Master Feng Xie, he obtained all his beauties and troops and has now joined the demonic faction.
Three months later, Xuanmen announced to the world that Bu YaoLian would be the new Xuanmen successor.
That same day, Bu QingYun welcomed a siege from the demonic sects. Fresh blood dyed his robes completely red, the young man walked over the mountain of bodies and sea of blood and out of the Palace of Bliss’ Main Hall. He announced to the world that from that day on, there would no longer exist Bu QingYun in the world, he was now only the Palace of Bliss’ Palace Master, the demonic cultivator He Huan.
This was the truth of that year, just a single woman’s revenge changed so many people’s lives. In this tale of love and hate, the most innocent person was He Kao. He also knew that the woman he went to save just at the sound of a bell was precisely the person who sold him out to Feng Xie. As for her, she’s probably already forgotten who he was, even in her final confessions of regret, she didn’t once bring up his name.
This was the actual reason why He Huan flew into a rage that night. In his heart wasn’t just the disappointment towards the human heart, but also the feeling of unreconciliation. For He Kao’s meaningless sacrifice, for his own, and for the countless people in the world who hold a kind heart but are failed by others’ greed. Such was the cold indifference of the demonic path. Even though he was in the demonic faction, he also firmly believed that only when this kind of cruel demonic faction did their best to terrorize the people of the world would there be true peace.
This was why he couldn’t allow the most powerful demonic cultivator, He Huan, to continue to exist in the world.
He Huan’s century worth of memories finally dispersed, the young man who had seen everything slowly woke up. He felt the overwhelming energy flowing through his meridians, the cry of a sword rung out in his mind, his spiritual awareness followed the sound through layers of arteries and veins, and saw his heart which had been filled by moonlight. This was a very beautiful sword intent, however, the golden core which should have originally been there was gone.
Slowly coming to his senses, he heard someone ask him, “Bu QingYun, after much hardship, has finally been reborn. How do you feel?”
He thought his mood would be unsteady, but the moment he opened his eyes he found that everything was calm. At this time, as if welcoming his return, snow suddenly fell from the sky. In the wind and snow, he stood up, the young man raised his head, in his eyes was a cold sword intent that has yet to be moved. He said, “My name is He Ku, don’t get it wrong.”