Several leaders were having a heated argument in the main hall of the First Peak on the Seven Kill Sect’s grounds.
“Everyone, the seal over the Devil Abyss is about to be broken. I think that should be our utmost priority right now,” said Zhan Wuchang in a grim voice.
“Ho! And what’s going to happen if You Hantian suddenly decides to sell us out?” Zhou Lingfeng snorted at his statement.
While it was true that they were willing to do anything to stop You Hantian from reporting to the empire, they also needed You Hantian to guarantee their safety and make sure that nobody knew about what happened.
Otherwise, if anybody else heard about how they had tried to kill a cultivator from the empire for no reason, they were in big trouble. It would be akin to turning the lights on in a bathroom that was purposely left with the lights off – there’d be shit everywhere.
“Enough!” You Hanyun raised his voice and glared frostily at everyone with a sinister gaze. It felt as though he had just poured a bucket of cold water over their heads.
You Hanyun stared at them for a while. A conflicted look appeared in his eyes, and his expression was nasty as he spat through gritted teeth, “State your terms.”
This was a sign that he was willing to humble himself. His plans had failed, so the only thing he could do now was to admit defeat. Otherwise, the only thing awaiting him was a heartless report by You Hantian to the empire, followed by the empire killing him quickly and silently in fury or allowing You Hantian to kill him with great fanfare.
“My dear older brother. It’s been so many years, but you’re still so childish,” said You Hantian with a scoff as he calmly uttered these rather sarcastic words.
“Childish…” You Hanyun’s expression suddenly turned to one of fury. His face was twisted in anger, and his eyes glowered while his body couldn’t stop trembling as he clenched his fists tightly. He was ready to kill You Hantian anytime.
“That’s right. The most childish thing about you is how highly you think of yourself!” You Hantian got up, walked over to where You Hanyun was seated, folded his arms behind his back, and peered down at his brother. “Since we were children, you were bent on fighting with me for everything. You were the older brother, so I should have given in to you. Unfortunately, you went too far. You crossed a line you shouldn’t have.”
You Hanyun looked up and said bitterly, “You’re willing to throw away blood ties over a silly demonic beast. I’ve got nothing to say to that.”
“A silly demonic beast?” You Hantian had an amused smile on his face. “That was just the last straw. The real reason… You’ve been oppressing, bullying, and insulting your younger siblings all your life. Besides, you’re nothing but trash in the first place.”
By the time he said that last sentence, his expression was filled with disdain, contempt, mockery, and disgust. Any expression that showed how much he despised his older brother appeared on his face.
“Trash?” You Hanyun’s teeth chattered loudly in anger as he glared at You Hantian fiercely, as though he were a vengeful spirit coming back for revenge. “I am the eldest son of the family. I have inherited the most of the bloodline, I…”
You Hantian waved his hand to cut his brother off. He bent down and whispered into You Hanyun’s ear, “But you…are still a piece of trash who hasn’t reached Nascent Change yet.”
“Why, you…!” Pfft! You Hanyun was already getting too angry to begin with, so once he heard those nasty words from his younger brother that really hit his sore spot, his face turned red, and he spat a mouthful of blood out.
“You are indeed nothing but a piece of trash. Your father, the head of the family, was also a piece of trash. He’s been planning this for a long time. He made all the connections and got you to hide yourself in the shadows in hope of making use of me, then force me to give you the credit after I’ve killed Qingming. All because I’m your brother!”
“How…how did you…”
“How do I know all of this?” You Hantian snorted. “It’s very simple. You’re too useless. So useless that the person who you contacted for help back then can’t stand seeing this anymore. So, he chose me instead,” said You Hantian as he retrieved a jade slip and threw it at his brother.
“And the rest of you. Aren’t you hoping to do something to make up for what you’ve done?” You Hantian was now like a prowling tiger as he glared at the frightened other sect leaders with his bloodthirsty eyes. “Then get these three things done for me properly. If you do that, not only will I not mention that all of you were part of this, but I’ll also share some of the credit with you.”
“What are these three things?” asked Zhou Lingfeng without hesitation.
The rest of the sect leaders hurriedly expressed their interest in hearing about these three things and ignored You Hanyun, who was still staring in shock and despair at the jade slip in his hands.
“I don’t mind telling you now. Qingming…is already dead,” said You Hantian with a chuckle as he sat back down to take a sip of tea even as everyone was staring so intensely at him, they nearly stared a hole in his head.
“What?!”
“That’s impossible!”
Zhan Wuchang got up with a start, like a giant bear ready to kill someone. He asked in a forceful manner, “How did he die?”
You Hantian merely raised an eyebrow at the way everyone had reacted so violently and replied calmly, “No idea. But my guess is that the Evil Ghost retaliated.”
“The Evil Ghost?” All of them scoffed as though they had just heard a joke. They clearly did not buy You Hantian’s explanation at all.
“That Evil Ghost…is from the Workshop,” said You Hantian with a snort as he glanced at all of them.
“Oh my.”
“Are you serious?”
Zhou Lingfeng, Zhan Wuchang, and even the dazed You Hanyun couldn’t help but shudder at these words.
“So, my first request is that…you have to capture that Evil Ghost alive,” said You Hantian resolutely as he put his teacup down.
“You Hantian, don’t you think that’s a little too much to ask?” Zhou Lingfeng raised an eyebrow and protested, refusing to back down.
“My second request is that you need to suppress the Devil Abyss,” You Hantian continued, ignoring Zhou Lingfeng’s protest. He knew that the sect leaders had been pushed into a corner, and there was no way they could possibly refuse his requests. Or rather, there was no way they could refuse to listen to his commands.
“You…”
“My third request is for all of you…to kill You Hanyun yourselves.” You Hantian looked at his own older brother. A greenish, icy cold, ghoulish flame seemed to light up in his eyes, and they looked terrifying.
“You…you…”
Zhan Wuchang and the other sect leaders took several steps backward in horror as they stared straight at You Hantian, as if they were trying to read something from his expression.
“I’ll be waiting to hear good news from all of you,” said You Hantian before turning to look at the pale and ashen You Hanyun.
“Aren’t you afraid…that the family will discipline you for this?” asked You Hanyun as he forced himself to keep calm.
You Hantian merely snorted and said disdainfully, “The family? They’re nothing but trash. I will take my revenge on them someday. Besides, would they dare to do anything to me? Especially…after you’re dead?”
You Hanyun fell silent. Hate seemed to spew from his eyes as he glared back at You Hantian’s disdainful expression.
“Are all of you still considering?” said You Hantian suddenly in an annoyingly sarcastic voice, making the faces of the hesitant sect leaders look more and more dismayed.
“Now!” Taohua, who was now possessed by Gu Suihan, turned toward Lihua and pointed at the sword in front of her that was trembling silently as if she was giving a command. If you looked carefully, you would notice that the sword…seemed to be missing a section.
Lihua was like a marionette as she dashed forward without hesitation, like a moth flying into the fire.
“It has begun…” A creepy smile suddenly spread across Taohua’s pretty face.
Woong! As though some ferocious beast had been awakened, the broken sword suddenly hummed loudly and gave off a bright light as it caused ten-meter flames to rise.
“Can you refuse?” Gu Suihan removed that intricate, blackish-red little sword filled with murderous qi from his pocket and snorted as he threw it.
The screeching of a sword resounded through the underground cave. It gave off a bright glow and the immense amount of sword qi shot toward Gu Suihan like raindrops.
“That’s…the way it’s supposed to be!” chuckled Gu Suihan as he slowly removed his consciousness from inside Taohua’s body.
But his ruthless voice seemed to continue to echo inside that cave.
The sword qi filled the entire cave, slicing Taohua and Lihua into minced meat. Then, as if it couldn’t sense any threat, the broken sword made a humming noise and swam toward the small sword as though it were sentient.
The two swords seemed to be able to communicate with one another. The tiny sword slowly turned into a black and shiny liquid that flowed onto the broken sword and wriggled slowly around its broken end.
The broken sword sensed danger. Its sentience was sufficient to make it suddenly fly into the air in an attempt to shake off the black and shiny liquid on itself.
Unfortunately, the black and shiny liquid was like a leech as it stuck itself firmly onto the broken sword and slowly tainted the rest of the seemingly transparent blade.