Qian Chen raised his sword level with his brows and pointed it straight, resembling a swordsman paying homage to the supreme way of the sword.
In Ghost-Devouring Lord's hand, Wind God's Howl emitted a soul-shaking, eerie howl. The shrill wind sobbed and wailed, rising and falling in a melody that unsettled the spirit.
As the melody reached his ears, Qian Chen's sword light faltered, and his eyes gradually grew unfocused.
Tearing the wind into claws, Ghost-Devouring Lord used the tiger-headed gauntlet on his right hand to seize the Startled Swan Sword, trapping the blade's radiance within his grasp.
A sharp, flexible sword, firmly gripped by a divine weapon fundamentally superior to it, had all variations of its sword light locked down in an instant.
Only then did Ghost-Devouring Lord unleash his trump card. Hooking the fingers of his left hand into claws, clad in an unassuming black glove, he funneled his true qi through the gauntlet to coalesce into an eerie, pitch-black baleful aura laden with a sinister power to snatch souls and sever spirits, clawing straight for Qian Chen's face.
A single strike from those claws could rip a person's soul right out of their body.
Ghost-Devouring Lord felt a swell of smugness. To tear out the soul of this young, newly risen great grandmaster right before the eyes of the martial world's righteous path would deal a crushing blow to their morale.
The black glove on his left hand was Netherworld Palace's true ancestral divine weapon—Ghost-God Weep!
Ghost-Devouring Lord was a rare prodigy in the martial world, capable of wielding two divine weapons simultaneously. He used the immensely powerful, terrifying Wind God's Howl as his overt reliance, while secretly employing the covert, treacherous Ghost-God Weep as his finishing blow. This time, Qian Chen seemed doomed.
From afar, the few great grandmasters whose vision could pierce the veil of raging wind and watch the battlefield could not help but sigh. It seemed as though they were bidding farewell to the youngest great grandmaster in the history of the martial world.
Still too young after all!
Yet, just as Ghost-Devouring Lord's hand was about to strike Qian Chen's face, the daze vanished from Qian Chen's eyes in an instant, and he offered a faint smile. Releasing the Startled Swan Sword from his grip, a black banner appeared in his left hand out of nowhere. With a swift swipe across Ghost-Devouring Lord's face, he flipped his right wrist, slipping off a jade ring that swept downward in a loop.
Struck by that sweep, Ghost-Devouring Lord was instantly overwhelmed by the seven emotions and six desires. Wind God's Howl slipped unawares from his grip, sucked into the restriction of the Dragon Sparrow Ring.
Taking back the Startled Swan Sword, Qian Chen delivered a flick of sword light that pierced Ghost-Devouring Lord right between the eyebrows, ending his life with effortless ease.
You have two divine weapons? I'm hiding at least eight magical implements!
You thought I was a swordsman devoted to the sword? I let go! Surprised?
Why didn't the soul-snatching power work on me? Because my true form is an Innate Spirit Treasure! Succumbing earlier was entirely an act... Being devoted to the sword was an act, this whole identity is an act... I had already gathered information about you from Mist-Riding Lord, learning the capabilities of your second divine weapon, whereas you know nothing about me.
Friend... you're still too young!
If I couldn't handle a young whelp like you, wouldn't I have lived over several million years in vain?
Holding the Startled Swan Sword, Qian Chen wore a look of desolation in the way of the sword, even gently blowing away the wisp of fresh blood on the sword tip. His expression held a trace of melancholy... and loneliness. By now, as Wind God's Howl had been taken away by Qian Chen, the raging tornado had subsided, allowing the many righteous heroes to witness Qian Chen's theatrical curtain call.
Kang Qiandeng was instantly awestruck!
What sublime loneliness of one truly devoted to the sword! It felt as though what he blew away was neither snow nor blood, but the solitude of having no one to test his blade against, no worthy rivals... as though the sword itself were loneliness incarnate.
The sight of Qian Chen clad in white robes, standing before Ghost-Devouring Lord's corpse and gently blowing the blood from the tip of his blade, became an unforgettable memory etched into the hearts of many swordsmen present. Many of them would dedicate their entire lives to pursuing that aloof, transcendent aura of the sword path.
Kang Qiandeng was thoroughly enthralled by this scene. Many years later, whenever he slew a formidable enemy, he would want to imitate Qian Chen and blow away the loneliness on his blade, yet he always felt those opponents were unworthy of such a ceremony. In the end, he could only gaze at the tip of his sword with faint sorrow and lonely eyes—which, in itself, became a popular trend for a time.
Chan Master Kongming was shocked as well!
Could what happened just now have been an illusion wrought by the ghostly wails? Was that person who abandoned his sword without hesitation, pulled out a long banner divine weapon to ambush Ghost-Devouring Lord, and drew forth a jade ring divine weapon to snare Wind God's Howl... not the proud, aloof swordsman standing before them? Or had the wind merely played tricks on his eyes?
Subconsciously looking back, Chan Master Kongming saw Daoist Wanshi and Hong Sihai equally dumbfounded, confirming that his eyes had not deceived him.
At that moment, a thought arose in his heart in tacit harmony with Qian Chen's own: *This old monk has lived seventy-eight years in vain. I truly am still too young after all. My experience is too limited... compared to the young people of today... this old monk really is...*
Holding the sword, Qian Chen strolled over at an unhurried pace, his graceful bearing making the rough folk of the jianghu feel utterly unrefined by comparison.
Returning the Startled Swan Sword to Kang Qiandeng, Qian Chen was startled by the intense adoration blazing in Kang Qiandeng's eyes. It was obvious that if the Startled Swan Sword were not his family's ancestral divine weapon, he could hardly have resisted offering it to Qian Chen on the spot. Kang Qiandeng had likely cast the matter of Qian Chen poisoning Suo Sanguan to death completely out of mind, convinced with all his heart that Qian Chen was a peerless swordsman "devoted to the sword."
Qian Chen shook his head inwardly. *Young man, you won't learn anything about the sword from me!*
*But I can teach you how to strike a pose!*
*That tiger tried to out-pose me just now, but using merely thirty percent of my power, I crushed him into utter humiliation.*
*Master even ten percent of my style, and it'll be enough for you to swagger across the realm!*
Naturally, Qian Chen would not say anything so disruptive to the mood aloud. Carrying the Heavenly Net Umbrella on his back, he took satisfaction in claiming another kill, advancing his quest tally to three. Just as Qian Chen was preparing to claim yet another head with ease, Dawn-Crowing Lord, who had been tangled with Hong Sihai, sensed something amiss early on and leapt back in retreat, joining Big-Bellied Lord to coordinate an escape.
Just as the two were preparing to fly away together, Big-Bellied Lord's expression suddenly twisted in shock. He stared behind Dawn-Crowing Lord as if Qian Chen were standing right behind him. Dawn-Crowing Lord could not help but panic and glance back, only to find no one there.
By then, Big-Bellied Lord had already pulled out an enormous cloth bag—his divine weapon, the Huntian Cloth Bag. The mouth of the bag opened wide, swallowing Dawn-Crowing Lord whole.
Hoisting the massive cloth bag containing Dawn-Crowing Lord onto his back, Big-Bellied Lord ran toward Qian Chen, shouting as he ran, "Don't attack! I'm on your side!"
"Who's on your side?! You kill-stealing dog!" Qian Chen's eyes widened in dismay. At this rate, two kills were about to slip through his fingers!
Potbelly bouncing, Big-Bellied Lord trotted up before Chan Master Kongming and Qian Chen, took off his mask to reveal a beaming, chubby face, and bowed and scraped with obsequious nods. "To tell the truth, I'm Shaolin's undercover agent too! I was the one who tipped you off about the Twelve Yuan Chen's attack on Four Seas Hall! I was only acting just now. I couldn't beat that tiger, so I planned to mingle with Senior Brother, pretend to fight our way over to the tiger, and then turn around and take him down. Who would have thought you'd be so terrifyingly fierce, brother?"
"We're all on the same side, so don't get the wrong idea, alright?"
Chan Master Kongming pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed helplessly, "He is indeed my junior brother, the Laughing Maitreya! Dharma name Kongxu..."
Chapter 24