Chapter 15: Danger
Nine Nethers Secret Realm.
Leng Hanshuang wore a dark expression, tendrils of frigid energy seeping from her body and freezing the surrounding vegetation solid.
At her feet lay more than a dozen freshly slain corpses of Shenxiao Sword Sect disciples — three of them Inner Disciples.
Three days ago, Leng Hanshuang had come across the bodies of several Qingyun Sect disciples. After a careful examination, she confirmed they had died at the hands of the black-robed figures.
After lengthy deliberation, she had decided to pursue them and nip the danger in the bud. After three days of tracking, she had been closing the gap steadily — only to find this many Shenxiao Sword Sect disciples lying dead before her. The sight filled Leng Hanshuang with fury.
Those bastards actually dared to kill Shenxiao Sword Sect members right under her nose. They were courting death.
Although the mission that had brought her into the Nine Nethers Secret Realm was to find the Bianhua Flower, Leng Hanshuang, as one of the Seven Swords of Shenxiao and Peak Master of Jade Maiden Peak, could not simply stand by and watch her sect's people be slaughtered.
The Bianhua Flower was important, but the lives of these several thousand sect members mattered more — and among them was Leng Hanshuang's own Core Disciple, Ye Qingxuan.
It was no easy task for the Seven Swords of Shenxiao to find an inheritor.
To this day, the seven of them had only found four inheritors; the remaining three had yet to find suitable candidates.
Only by eliminating the majority of the black-robed figures could Leng Hanshuang set her mind at ease and go search for the Bianhua Flower.
The deaths of over a dozen Shenxiao Sword Sect disciples only hardened her resolve to wipe out the black-robed figures entirely. Even if she could not kill them all, she would make them tremble with fear and dare not show their faces again.
A short while later, Leng Hanshuang drew several deep breaths, gradually calming herself, then prepared to continue following the trail the black-robed figures had left behind — to deal with them as swiftly as possible.
But as she turned her head—
An object in the dense forest caught her eye.
It was a bloodstained white sash.
Leng Hanshuang, who had just managed to calm herself, tensed up immediately.
A white sash was something only Core Disciples were permitted to wear.
Could it be that a Core Disciple had fled and was being hunted down?
Who could it be?
Surely not Qingxuan?
The anxious thought crossed Leng Hanshuang's mind.
Ye Qingxuan was different from the other Core Disciples. She was not only a disciple Leng Hanshuang had painstakingly cultivated, but also the inheritor of the Bingpo Sword. If something happened to her, who knew how long it would take to find another suitable candidate.
Even if it was not Ye Qingxuan—
Losing a Core Disciple would still be a significant blow to the Shenxiao Sword Sect.
Every Core Disciple was a future pillar of the Shenxiao Sword Sect.
With no time to think further, Leng Hanshuang gave swift chase. Along the way she discovered more fresh bloodstains, which only reinforced her suspicion, and she pushed her speed even higher.
Four hours later.
Leng Hanshuang arrived at a mountain valley and strode straight in without a second thought, unconcerned about any ambush within.
Perhaps in her view, her own strength was sufficient to handle any surprise.
No scheme or stratagem could avail against absolute power.
In the outside world, Leng Hanshuang would not have been so reckless — after all, there was no age restriction out there, and the Li Continent harbored no shortage of ancient monsters lurking in the shadows. But here in the Nine Nethers Secret Realm, she had both the confidence and the grounds for it.
The valley was vast.
After pressing forward for more than ten minutes after entering, she spotted a figure lying motionless on the ground — impossible to tell whether dead or alive.
The figure wore the green robes of a Shenxiao Sword Sect disciple.
It was a man.
A flicker of relief passed through Leng Hanshuang's heart.
At least it was not Ye Qingxuan — that was a blessing amid misfortune.
She stepped forward, crouched down, and turned the person over.
Zhu Jie!
A Core Disciple from Pinyang Peak.
She reached out and tested the air beneath his nose — there was still a faint, fragile breath.
Just as Leng Hanshuang was about to examine Zhu Jie's injuries, every sound in the surroundings suddenly vanished.
At the same moment—
Several black-robed figures attacked from all directions, their speed so great that in the blink of an eye they were upon her.
Yet just as they believed they had her—
A bone-piercing cold air erupted from Leng Hanshuang's body.
Every black-robed figure that came into contact with it was instantly frozen solid, unable to advance another inch.
In an instant—
The black-robed figures who had closed in on Leng Hanshuang became human-shaped ice sculptures.
"A pack of petty villains, and you dare lay hands on members of my Shenxiao Sword Sect — you are truly seeking death!" Leng Hanshuang said with a cold laugh.
"Worthy of the Master of the Bingpo Sword — truly formidable. What a pity that you will not leave this valley today. The Seven Swords of Shenxiao have already lost the Haoran Sword; now another sword is about to fall. Soon you will be the Five Swords of Shenxiao."
A group of black-robed figures emerged from the dense forest.
The one who had spoken was at the very front.
All the others stood a step behind him — clearly he held the highest rank among the black-robed figures.
"Keep me here? With just you lot?" Leng Hanshuang was utterly unmoved.
She genuinely did not believe anyone could trap her inside the Nine Nethers Secret Realm.
This was not arrogance — it was confidence.
"Leng Hanshuang, we have gone to great lengths and made thorough preparations to deal with you. Today, you will not leave alive."
"Is that so? Then let us see. If you cannot keep me here, once the Nine Nethers Secret Realm opens again, the entire Li Continent will learn that your Seven Slaughter Sect has once again secretly cultivated the forbidden art, the God-Slaying Decree. At that point, the Seven Slaughter Sect will become the common enemy of the Li Continent, just as it did a thousand years ago. I would like to see how you explain yourselves to every faction on the Li Continent then." Leng Hanshuang said calmly.
She had already guessed the identity of the black-robed figures.
A thousand years ago, the Seven Slaughter Sect had cultivated an extraordinarily fearsome force that fought battle after battle, growing stronger with every engagement, and had even come close to elevating the Seven Slaughter Sect to the position of overlord of the Li Continent.
Yet as the force grew ever more powerful, it began to slip beyond the Seven Slaughter Sect's control, no longer heeding its commands. Wherever it passed, every living thing — man and beast alike — was annihilated, leaving no survivors.
This was because every member had cultivated a forbidden art called the God-Slaying Decree. Taken to its extreme, it transformed its practitioners into emotionless killing machines.
The situation escalated until every faction on the Li Continent united to intercept this force. After wiping it out entirely, they marched collectively to the Seven Slaughter Sect to demand an accounting.
Seeing the great factions bearing down on them in full force, and knowing they were in the wrong, the Seven Slaughter Sect faced annihilation if they mishandled the situation. Left with no other choice, they surrendered over ten thousand years' worth of accumulated sect resources to appease everyone's fury, and swore never to cultivate the God-Slaying Decree again — only then were they permitted to survive.
From that point on, the Seven Slaughter Sect's vitality was gravely diminished, and they had never fully recovered.
To think that a thousand years later, they had secretly begun cultivating the God-Slaying Decree once more.
"As expected, it could not be hidden forever! But Leng Hanshuang, you have no chance of leaving."
"I am curious — are you not afraid of being consumed by the killing intent and becoming emotionless machines? Living like that would be a fate worse than death!" Leng Hanshuang asked with genuine curiosity.
"That is none of your concern! Our Seven Slaughter Sect has spent a thousand years refining the God-Slaying Decree — the side effects have been eliminated. Now you had better think about how to escape from our inescapable net! As long as you die here, no one will know our identities for the time being. And the future? Once our Seven Slaughter Sect unifies the Li Continent, who would dare defy us?" the black-robed figure declared with wild arrogance.
Leng Hanshuang said nothing more in reply.
A long sword, entirely silver-white and radiating threads of icy chill, had appeared in her hand at some unknown moment — and with it, the temperature of the surrounding air dropped considerably.
The Bingpo Sword!!!
One of the Seven Swords of Shenxiao.
Forged from the Bingpo Heart — ice that had never melted in ten thousand years — it required extreme-cold True Essence to unleash its full power. An ordinary person could not wield it at all; anyone of insufficient cultivation who touched it would be instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.
Leng Hanshuang's extreme-cold True Essence had been cultivated to an extraordinarily high level. Combined with the Bingpo Sword, its might was immense.
Battle was imminent.
"Leng Hanshuang! Let me witness just what is so extraordinary about the Bingpo Sword, one of the Seven Swords of Shenxiao."
"As you wish!!!"
Boom!!!
Two surges of energy — one white, one red — collided within the valley.
The fierce battle began.
The white was Leng Hanshuang's extreme-cold energy; the red was the murderous killing energy released collectively by the black-robed figures.
The two forces were evenly matched.
"Ha ha ha… Leng Hanshuang, the Bingpo Sword is nothing more than this! If that is all you are capable of, then stay here today! Formation, rise!!!"
The black-robed figure laughed.
Several beams of red light rose from within the valley.
To deal with Leng Hanshuang, they had not dared to be careless — they had prepared a full three-layered grand Array Formation.
Each layer had been meticulously arranged at tremendous cost.
No one dared underestimate a Sword Cultivator of the Shenxiao Sword Sect, let alone one of the Seven Swords of Shenxiao.
Bolstered by the Array Formation, the killing energy gradually suppressed and devoured the extreme-cold energy, until at last only a crimson killing energy lingered throughout the valley.
At that very moment—
A point of white light appeared.
Then Leng Hanshuang's voice rang out.
"One Sword of Frost and Cold — Ice Seals Ten Thousand Miles!!!"
A white sword beam sliced through the sky, tearing a gash in the killing energy.
Leng Hanshuang burst through the opening and fled swiftly toward the mouth of the valley, leaving everything in her wake encased in ice.
She was no fool. The enemy had come prepared, and under the enhancement of the Array Formation she could not bring her full strength to bear. Continuing to fight might truly mean her end here.
"Pursue her!!!"
Dozens of black shadows gave chase in the direction Leng Hanshuang had fled.