Chapter 43: The Sword Path of Slaughter

  With a flick of his arm, in the black-clothed leader's astonished gaze, the sword energy on Lu Qing's Heart Refining Sword suddenly surged up an inch, and the four-inch-long purple electric sword energy flashed by, with all its lightning power being instantly unleashed by Lu Qing. Almost in the same instant that the black-clothed leader was stunned, the Heart Refining Sword, accompanied by a crackling of small lightning, cut off the hilt of the sword in his hand, and the long sword fell to the ground. Lu Qing then withdrew his sword energy and slapped his palm backwards with great force.

  With a loud crash, the black-clad leader was suddenly smashed onto the rubble, spitting out a mouthful of purple-red blood, which also contained small pieces of internal organs. It was clear that Lu Qing's move was not easy to withstand, and if it weren't for the timely rotation of his sword energy to protect himself, this blow would have been enough to shatter his bones and sever his tendons. Even so, the black-clad leader had already lost the ability to act.

  Lu Qing stepped forward, grabbed one of them and said with a stern face: "Tell me, who sent you here!" After finishing speaking, he pulled off the headscarf that covered his face, revealing a man with a full beard and a hint of bloodthirst in his eyes.

  At this time, Yi Lao walked forward and said: "If you can accept the proposal I made earlier, then what I said before is still valid."

  With a sneer, the leader of the black-clad men spat out another mouthful of blood and said, "Since you already know our identities, then you should also know what kind of swordsmanship we cultivate. Talking nonsense is useless."

  Heaving a sigh, Yi Lao said: "Alright, you've already owed me a life for killing and capturing me once. If you're willing to go assassinate someone for me in return, we'll consider today's matter settled."

  "Hmph, old man, you're quite calculating," the leader of the black-clad men said with a sly smile. "However, since we've got you in our grasp today, and our swordsmanship emphasizes reciprocal killing, I'll accept your challenge. Speak up, who is it? As for whether you succeed or not, that's not something I can guarantee."

  "This is naturally understood," said Yi Lao, pulling Lu Qing back two steps to let him stand up, "As for the person who wants to kill you, I suppose you also know, the two heads of the Lu family's side branches in Changyang City." As he spoke, Yi Lao stared fixedly at the eyes of the black-clothed leader, wanting to see something from them.

  However, the leader of the black-clad men had apparently anticipated this and shook his head, saying: "Your probing is useless. We've accepted your assassination attempt, but we still need to recover from our injuries. It'll probably take a month's time. Just wait for news."

  Knowing that the leader of the black-clad men was on high alert, Yi Lao also knew that things couldn't be done, and with a wave of his hand, he let the mountain men release the two people who had been tied up earlier. Obviously, Yi Lao didn't want their lives, so even the meridians at their wrists, which had been severed, were sealed off by Yi Lao's sword energy; otherwise, they would have definitely bled to death in this short period of time.

  Mutually supporting each other, the two men in black returned to the side of the leader of the men in black and stood still, picking up the severed hand and sword that had fallen to the ground earlier. Their eyes were devoid of sorrow or joy, a picture of indifference, apparently their mental state had undergone some breakthrough. This could be considered a small gain from their unsuccessful assassination attempt today.

  Suddenly, the leader of the black-clad men shifted his gaze to Lu Qing, and a sincere look of admiration appeared on his face: "You are a genius-like figure, and in the future, you will also be a good opponent. Maybe we won't be able to catch up with you. In this future realm of Zixia Sect, there must be a place for you."

  "May we never meet again." —— Lu Qing threw a punch towards the sky, and the three men in black simultaneously supported each other as they left.

  Watching the three people's figures gradually disappear into the distance, Lu Qing's eyes revealed a hint of faint praise. These three people were indeed impressive, and from start to finish, they never weakened their own momentum as swordsmen.

  As he watched the three leave, Yi Lao turned his head to look at the four mountain men, and a clear murderous intent appeared in his eyes, frightening the four mountain men so much that their legs trembled and they stuttered, unable to speak. However, after a moment, he restrained himself and let out a long sigh. "Today I have also implicated you all," Yi Lao said. "If I were to take the path of exterminating witnesses, I would have no face to meet your wives and children. Let it go. You four must make a heavy oath in the name of the Sword God, and this matter will not be mentioned again."

  Four mountain men, as if they had met a great amnesty, hastily knelt down and drew their index fingers with blood to swear an oath, facing the direction of Jian Shen Mountain. Now, Lu Qing, who has become a sword cultivator after building his foundation and gathering his yuan, once again faces the blood drop that emits a faint golden light, but only feels a hint of the vast and majestic aura hidden within the blood drop, which almost disperses his probing divine sense.

  In shock, Lu Qing hastily withdrew his divine consciousness from the Divine Court, but his complexion turned somewhat pale, which made Yi Lao a bit worried. However, Lu Qing didn't speak up, and he also couldn't ask anything more.

  "Right, Yilao had figured out the identities of those three men earlier. What's their origin?" Lu Qing finally asked the question that had been on his mind.

  "They all entered the killing chart," said Yi Lao, a rare look of hesitation on his face. "The killing chart is actually just a ranking list of the sect's disciples' strength."

  He paused for a moment, and Yi Lao continued: "This sect is somewhat special, called the Gate of Life and Death. The year it was built is unknown, and its main cultivation is the Sword Way of Slaughter!"

  "What's 'Killing Sword Way'?" Lu Qing was somewhat perplexed.

  The old man smiled and said: "Young master, you have a natural talent that surpasses others, and your comprehension is extremely good. However, since you've only recently come into contact with the sword path, it's normal that many things are still unclear to you. As for this killing sword path, the Purple Mist Sword Emperor's 'Sword Classic' says: The sword path is the heavenly way, the heavenly way has three thousand paths, the sword path has three thousand paths, and choosing one can lead to success. In our Purple Mist Sect, many people cultivate the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Sword Path. You should know that the foundation of the sword's origin is not only divided into four levels: human, earth, heaven, and emperor, but also into the basic five elements of heaven and earth. The sword techniques are the same way. For example, the Human Stage Sword Origin Technique 'Sunrise Heart Classic' that you practice on Chao Yang Peak belongs to the yang aspect, so in the future, after you cultivate your innate nature and become a swordsman, you won't be able to cultivate water-based sword techniques. Otherwise, the sword technique and the origin of the sword will conflict, not only making no progress but also possibly leading to the dispersal of one's vital energy and death."

  "While each person's sword path is mostly determined by the sword element they belong to after being born from a sword master, if there are no accidents, then those who have achieved fire-element swords will cultivate the fire-element sword path, and those with water-element swords will cultivate the water-element sword path, and so on. Apart from the five-element sword paths, there are also some unusual powers in the world."

  "Other powers, for example..." Lu Qing was completely absorbed in Mr. Yi's words at this time.

  He shook his head, and Yi Lao sighed: "These things are too mysterious and not something that a small swordsman like me can touch. However, the Sword Emperor's 'Sword Classic' does mention that this world is based on the Five Elements, and also gives rise to other extraordinary powers such as wind, thunder, ice, etc. Apart from that, there are some sword paths that are derived from human nature, with the first being this Slaughter Sword Path. Slaughter, slaughter, using slaughter to prove one's sword path, is achieved by depriving countless people of their right to live."

  He nodded silently, and Lu Qing said: "This swordsmanship is too destructive to human nature. If it really becomes a way, wouldn't it be that blood flows like rivers and the earth is scorched for thousands of miles?" Then Lu Qing wondered again, "But since you say Yi Lao's strength is powerful, why isn't he among the four major sects I know: Qingfan, Jintian, Bailin, and Zihuang?"

  "This sect advocates for free slaughter, so it is not subject to the management of the Sword God Temple, and has not received a name from the Sword God Temple. Moreover, with more than 10,000 disciples scattered across various regions, and the sect's location being extremely secretive, even the Sword God Temple cannot accurately investigate it. However, just based on its currently revealed power, it already possesses the strength of a White Spirit-level sect."

  "These three people are the ones who have stepped into the gate of life and death, cultivating the sword path of slaughter. This sect has established a killing list, ranking one million disciples according to their strength, and accepting commissions from external forces to increase or decrease the number of killings. People like these three have an obvious bloody aura on them, which can be seen from their sword energy. Although it seems like the Water Attribute Sword Energy of the Yuan Gong, it clearly reveals a cold and sinister blood energy. This is the famous 'Blood Water Sword Energy' of the Life and Death Gate's Yuan Gong, which when cultivated to the highest level of six layers of sword energy, is like blood and water, with waves of bloody wind that confuse people's minds."

  "They are too famous, the killing list is all over the mainland, and they are the most dreaded group among various sects. So, Master, if you encounter them in the future, try to escape if possible. They won't attack again if they can't win with one strike, but if they can fight, it's not allowed to kill them. Although this sect advocates for killing, internally they are tightly bound together. If someone kills a person on the killing list, regardless of the reason, all those on the killing list will be pursued and killed." Yi Lao finished speaking, still with some lingering fear, staring steadily at Lu Qing.

  Lu Qing was also extremely shocked and fearful of the sect's power after hearing this. It was truly terrifying! Recalling the recent battle, Lu Qing thought back to when he had clashed with them earlier and indeed felt a chill run down his spine from the sword energy that came from the opponent, but it was instantly dispelled by the lightning energy attached to the Purple Electric Sword, so he hadn't paid much attention to it.

  Now thinking back, if it were an ordinary swordsman, I'm afraid eight or nine out of ten would be intimidated by the aura above and take advantage of it. Fortunately, I was able to cultivate a unique purple electric sword energy. Lu Qing thought to himself that his purple electric sword energy had predetermined the ownership of the sword energy, which should belong to the thunder category of the Heavenly Earthly Deviant Power. Only the majestic heavenly energy contained in the thunder could easily refine the opponent's blood water sword energy.

  At this moment, Lu Qing felt a little fortunate for his luck in obtaining the Lei Yuan Beast Dan that might have been left by Lei Peng on that day. However, he was also confused about his future cultivation, what sword technique could he choose after cultivating Xiantian? Was there a thunder-attribute sword technique on Chaoyang Peak? What kind of sword intent would he achieve as a swordsman? Many questions began to emerge one after another.

  Rushing to the new people's list, urgently seeking recommendation votes and collections, hoping everyone will generously assist, letting Ten Steps truly live up to its name, killing one person with a single step, traveling a thousand miles without leaving a trail, killing all the way to the top ten!