Zhou Wuji spoke in an unhurried voice, yet everyone around heard him clearly.
The numerous Daoists from the Lower Court kept silent, most of them skeptical at heart.
Still, as fellow cultivators of the Lower Court, it was hardly their place to openly contradict Zhou Wuji.
Friction between different lineages was one thing, but out in the world, they all represented the Arctic Sect.
Zhihe nodded slightly. Looking down into the sinkhole, he reasoned there could not be too many subterranean tunnels, so continuing to divert water inside would undoubtedly fill them.
Unlike ghosts, malevolent spirits almost always possessed physical bodies.
The malevolent spirit here fed on earthly fiend qi to survive. Once the water flooded the tunnels, that fiend qi would be drowned out, forcing the creature into the open even if it did not fear water itself.
Turning to the surrounding Daoists, Zhihe said, "Form groups of seven and take turns guarding this site. On no account let the fiend escape."
The assembled Daoists bowed with clasped hands, answering in unison.
Daoist Yiding held the highest standing, serving as the temporary supervisor here, and it fell to him to arrange the watch.
He did not assign Zhou Wuji to any shift—partly because Zhou Wuji had accompanied Zhihe, who clearly held this junior in high regard, and partly because Zhou Wuji was unfamiliar with the others, making an assignment more troublesome than it was worth.
Zhou Wuji was glad for the free time and directed Yang Tieying to pitch their tent.
His Five Yin Pouch was capacious, and having prepared well in advance, he carried all manner of daily necessities with him.
The summer air was stifling, but with the earthly fiend qi submerged beneath water, the oppressive heat subsided considerably.
Moreover, Zhou Wuji possessed high cultivation, and a wave of the horsetail whisk in his hand stirred a cool breeze that not only warded off the heat but also kept mosquitoes at bay.
That night, having finished his evening devotions, Zhou Wuji found himself with nothing to do when a sudden premonition struck him. Buckling on his sword, he rose to his feet.
Yang Tieying was still awake as well, and seeing this, he hurriedly grasped his sword and fell in behind his master.
Not a drop of water could be seen pooled in the deep pit, meaning the subterranean tunnels had not yet been filled.
For that very reason, the malevolent spirit lurking below had made no move.
An altar stood nearby, and a Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Array had long been laid around the sinkhole. Even without anyone watching, the moment the fiend emerged from the pit, it would trigger the formation.
Zhou Wuji drifted over with his young disciple trailing behind, drawing sour looks from several Daoists on watch.
While everyone else was hard at work, this fellow strutted about in splendid Daoist robes with a longsword at his waist, looking poised and carefree as though an elder making an inspection. It was thoroughly irritating to watch.
One Daoist could not resist goading Wu Leng: "Senior Sister, Zhou Wuji claims his swordsmanship is matchless. For someone from Tianshu to say such a thing—it's utterly laughable."
Wu Leng knew this man wanted to provoke her into picking a fight, and such petty scheming disgusted her.
With an impassive expression, she glanced at the Daoist. "If you're so unconvinced, go up and challenge him yourself."
The young Daoist looked awkward. Though he was Rank Seven, he had enough self-awareness to know he was far behind Wu'ai, the Lower Court's foremost swordsman, let alone Zhou Wuji.
Having failed to stir up trouble and only embarrassing himself, the young Daoist slunk aside in chagrin.
Zhou Wuji overheard the young Daoist's remark as well as Wu Leng's retort. It was clear the Yuheng lineage was hardly united from within.
Wu Leng was exceptional, so others tried to use her as a blade... Fortunately, she was calm and clever, refusing to take the bait.
His gaze fell upon her. This female cultivator had guarded Wu Family Village for over half a month. Though her green Daoist robes remained clean, dust inevitably clung to her hair bun, yet it failed to obscure her refined features and the sharp resolve in her brow.
Noticing Zhou Wuji's gaze, Wu Leng glanced back, not expecting him to walk straight toward her.
"Junior Sister Wu Leng, you've worked hard," Zhou Wuji greeted her with a smile.
Wu Leng raised a sword-sharp brow. She was likely a year or two older than Zhou Wuji and outranked him in seniority and origins.
For him to stride over and address her as junior sister was rather presumptuous.
Still, it would be petty to make a fuss over a mere form of address.
"Is there something you need?" she asked.
"I've long heard of your brilliant swordsmanship, Junior Sister, and came specially to see it for myself." Zhou Wuji had raised his Xiaoxiang Sword to the perfection stage, confident that his sword technique reigned supreme in Rank Six and would hold its own even against Rank Five.
Yet that confidence was drawn purely from his own experience; the Rank Five foes he had slain were demonic cultivators and ghosts, which differed from genuine orthodox cultivators and martial artists.
He had come to gauge Wu Leng's true capabilities and see what a Rank Six sword cultivator of the Yuheng lineage was made of.
Wu Leng was slightly surprised that Zhou Wuji had sought her out to test swords.
She had long wanted to measure his skills herself, but the timing and setting had never been right.
Now that Zhou Wuji had approached her with a challenge, she could hardly refuse, even with onlookers around and while on duty.
"Very well."
Without wasting words, Wu Leng rested her hand on her sword hilt. "The riverbank is spacious and deserted. Let us go there."
"No need to trouble ourselves,"
Zhou Wuji replied placidly, resting a hand on his hilt. "We'll compete to see who kills that creature first."
Puzzlement flickered in Wu Leng's bright eyes, but an instant later, her own senses flared.
The invisible net of spiritual power cast over the sinkhole suddenly blazed with light. A towering, crimson silhouette vaulted out of the deep pit, standing over ten feet tall, bounding up the pit's walls faster than an ape.
Alerted to the danger, some Daoists launched warning signals while others chanted incantations and formed hand seals to activate the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Array.
The immense net covering the pit radiated azure light, gleaming brilliantly against the night sky.
The crimson fiend scrambled up with astonishing speed, surging to the rim within breaths and slamming straight into the azure net of light.
Triggered by the fiend, the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Array channeled converging beams of azure starlight, tightly binding the creature.
The fiend shuddered violently within the net as the red glow across its body rapidly dimmed.
At the altar, a Daoist rang the Demon-Subduing Bell, chanting spells and stepping in alignment with the stars to invoke the Eight Divisions of Divine Troops to empower the array and subdue the demon.
With the altar channeling the divine power of the Arctic Celestial Emperor, the divine troops answered with far greater potency.
Though formless and invisible, the Eight Divisions of Divine Troops permeated the void to form an immense dharma domain, guarding the six directions and reinforcing the array, easily tripling its power.
Spirits and malevolent entities were naturally countered by such arrays, and possessing little intelligence, they had no notion of avoiding strength to strike at weakness.
Seeing the fiend ensnared by the net and its wicked energy dispersing rapidly, the Daoists rejoiced.
Yet Wu Leng glanced at Zhou Wuji in bewilderment. Had he known before the creature even emerged?
Zhou Wuji murmured to her, "Don't look at me. The fiend is about to break out."
Just as Wu Leng went to counter that an array empowered by an altar was not something a mindless fiend could breach, the creature's entire body violently detonated into thousands of fiery sparks.
A portion of the flames pierced through the net of light, reassembling into a humanoid form barely five feet tall.
Evidently, detonating its own form had cost the fiend more than half its mass, and its wicked aura had weakened considerably.
Yet instead of fleeing into the distance, the escaped fiend charged straight toward the gathered Daoists.
Wu Leng was stunned. Zhou Wuji had not only foreseen that the fiend would escape the net, but also known it would rush their way—almost as if he had raised the creature himself!
With no time for questions, Wu Leng drew the Yaoguang Sword at her waist, surged her true qi, and stepped in the Seven Stars Dipper Steps to intercept the fiend.
The fellow disciples around her were all Rank Seven, and facing the fiend on short notice would be perilous; as the strongest among them, she had to stand at the fore.
Zhou Wuji watched Wu Leng move with ethereal grace. With every stride, heptagonal star patterns of true qi rippled beneath her feet as though she were treading across the constellations, harmonizing her steps, posture, and breath into one seamless whole.
He had seen this footwork on Wu'ai before, but Wu Leng's higher cultivation lent her Northern Dipper Seven Stars Steps an even more profound, elusive mystery.
The thought that he would soon learn the Northern Dipper Seven Stars Steps filled Zhou Wuji with delight.
Beyond her marvelous footwork, Wu Leng's internal and external forces were refined into unified harmony—she had attained Rank Seven Transforming Jin.
Only now, as Wu Leng unleashed her full might, could Zhou Wuji discern her true physical condition.
His envy for the Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword grew; the sword art clearly incorporated a corresponding body-refining method to cultivate both internal and external realms simultaneously.
Such a method had to be highly selective, as Wu'ai was merely at Rank Eight hidden force, falling far short.
The sword in Wu Leng's hand was slender, its blade gleaming with an azure sheen. Though its rank was indistinct, it was unquestionably a fine weapon.
Of course, it was still no match for the White Rainbow Sword!
Through the reflection of his Heart Mirror, Zhou Wuji saw through Wu Leng completely. It was not out of any personal interest in her, but pure fascination with the Rank Six Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword.
Naturally, most of his attention remained fixed on the malevolent spirit.
Lurking deep underground, the fiend had commanded fiendish qi on par with a Rank Four ghost marshal, so it had likely been Rank Four.
To break free of the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Array, it had sacrificed at least seventy percent of its power in splitting its body, leaving it roughly at Rank Five.
Orthodox Daoist arts were the natural bane of malevolent spirits and demons.
At an equal rank, a Daoist cultivator held a near-guaranteed victory against such creatures and could often triumph across an entire rank.
Wu Leng had also realized the fiend outranked her, yet bolstered by the altar and wielding her Yaoguang Sword, she brimmed with confidence.
The five-foot crimson fiend radiated a suffocating, blistering stench of sulfur.
A single whiff made Wu Leng slightly dizzy, prompting her to hold her breath and immediately invoke the Golden Light Divine Incantation upon herself.
A dense shroud of golden radiance enveloped her, sealing her off entirely from the fiend's aura.
Catching sight of the golden light around Wu Leng, hesitation flickered in the fiend's crimson eyes.
Though unintelligent and unfamiliar with the Golden Light Divine Incantation, it felt an instinctive repulsion and dread toward the light, wanting to retreat.
Yet it could not abandon the abundant, vibrant life force nearby. Having lost so much strength, devouring this fresh flesh and blood would restore its power and make it even stronger.
Given its crude intellect, the lure of fresh blood quickly outweighed any threat posed by the glowing figure.
Its five-foot body was remarkably tough and powerful. Stamping a crater into the earth, it kicked up showers of sand and gravel as it shot forward like an arrow splitting the air.
Feeling immense pressure, Wu Leng took a step back to adjust her true qi and stance, then raised the Yaoguang Sword to thrust straight at the fiend.
She executed the Yaoguang style of the Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword.
The Yaoguang Sword was divided into two routines: Yaoguang and Pojun. Yaoguang was fierce and sharp, emphasizing shifting variations, while Pojun was unyielding, ferocious, and overwhelmingly domineering.
The Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword encompassed seven astral sword variations, extraordinarily intricate and profound.
Most sword cultivators of the Yuheng lineage chose only one or two paths suited to their temperament for dedicated cultivation.
Wu Leng's foundation lay in the Tianshu Sword, yet the Yaoguang Sword resonated most with her nature. Under her true qi, the blade rippled with azure radiance, and her forward thrust coalesced into a dazzling, heptagonal starburst.
Ignorant of swordsmanship, the fiend merely sensed danger in the starburst and hurled both fists forward with savage force.
With a flick of her thrusting blade, the single heptagonal starburst instantly fractured into hundreds of shimmering points—the technique known as Stars Falling Like Rain from the Yaoguang Sword.
Driven by sword qi, it interwove reality and illusion with peerless finesse.
Though unable to grasp the sword variations, the fiend possessed unusual eyes capable of tracking the blade, and it brought its flaming fists down in a ferocious smash.
A thunderous boom rang out as the fiend's fists struck Wu Leng's blade. Unable to withstand such brutal force, she fell back using the Northern Dipper Seven Stars Steps to diffuse the impact. The sword hummed and trembled violently in her grip, while the golden radiance around her flickered unstably...
Having knocked Wu Leng back, the fiend paid her no further heed and lunged with savage momentum straight toward the other Daoists.
Right then, a blinding sword light stabbed forward. The fiend tried to smash it with a punch, but the radiant gleam accelerated abruptly, plunging clean through its head.
With a fluid turn, the blazing sword light transformed into a blistering wheel of blades, shredding the fiend into countless crimson fragments...
Poised to strike again, Wu Leng froze in her tracks. The Daoists drawing their blades to meet the charge were left dumbfounded with shock...
Yang Tieying's jaw dropped open. An instant later, ecstatic pride flooded his face, and he wanted nothing more than to roar at the top of his lungs, "Master is incredible!"
Chapter 138