Volume One: The Emperor's Sword Chapter 121: An Unexpected Presence

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The strange noise gradually drew nearer, accompanied by heavy footsteps.

Yun Que had exceptionally keen hearing and could easily tell that it was not a savage beast, but a person.

What puzzled him was how a human being could produce such a terrifying wheezing sound, as if a broken bellows had been lodged in his throat. It sent chills down the spine.

The Snowtrace Sword hovered in midair, pointing toward the woods outside.

Yun Que was prepared to strike at any moment, but the footsteps did not stop. They gradually faded into the distance.

Since the person was not coming for him, Yun Que had no interest in whether they were human or demon.

He silently sensed his own cultivation.

Aside from the considerable increase in spiritual energy, Yun Que could now control seven flying swords at once.

An improvement in cultivation often brought a cultivator a powerful surge of confidence. Yun Que was no exception.

After steadying his emotions, Yun Que finally left the hollow in the tree.

The moment he pushed aside the weeds, two screams rang out in quick succession from the distance.

The cries were brief, cut off almost instantly.

Judging by the sound, the victims were likely doomed.

Who had struck with such brutality?

Two kills in a single attack?

Yun Que found it baffling.

Defeating an opponent would have been enough; at most, one would leave them unable to move. Unless the two sides were mortal enemies, it was uncommon to kill outright.

After all, the struggle for the title of Sword Heir was about reputation and benefits, not life and death.

The screams had come from nearby. As soon as Yun Que stepped out of the tree hollow, he saw two corpses lying in the distance.

Both were disciples of the Western Court.

Yun Que recognized one of them vaguely. The man had once followed Chu Hu and made a throat-slitting gesture at him.

He had been one of the dozens of Western Court experts gathered by Chu Hu. They had intended to hunt Yun Que in the Transcendent Realm, only to become someone else’s prey.

They had thought themselves hunters, yet ended up as prey. It was undeniably ironic.

After seeing the wounds, Yun Que frowned.

The deaths of the two men were exceedingly strange.

Both had suffered fatal injuries to the heart. Something had torn enormous holes through their chests, leaving blood gushing everywhere.

Upon closer inspection, Yun Que discovered that their hearts had vanished entirely.

“Heart theft?”

Yun Que muttered under his breath.

Between lovers, those words might sound romantic. Taken literally, however, they were horrifying.

Something had stolen the hearts of the two Western Court disciples, leaving behind only their corpses.

Their storage pouches were gone, and one of them had even lost his outer robe.

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Taking the storage pouches was perfectly normal, but removing their hearts was not—especially when one entire set of clothing had also been taken. It made the matter even stranger.

Could the killer have had nothing to wear?

Unable to make sense of it, Yun Que left the corpses behind and continued toward the mountain summit.

Danger existed throughout these mountains, but where danger lay, heavenly materials and earthly treasures were certain to be found as well.

Before long, he discovered two groups facing each other in a mountain hollow.

One side consisted of more than a dozen Northern Court disciples led by Wu Dachuan. Opposing them was Huan Zhi of the Eastern Court, who had brought two fellow disciples.

The reason for the confrontation was obvious.

On a Swordbone Tree in the hollow hung a single deep-blue leaf.

A sword leaf.

The leaves of an ordinary Swordbone Tree were only faintly blue. This particular leaf, however, was a deep, profound blue. It hung lower than the others, slanting from a branch and standing out conspicuously.

Both sides were poised for violence.

The Northern Court disciples in particular were tense, their faces revealing fear. Yet they could not bear to surrender the sword leaf and were clearly forcing themselves to hold their ground.

Huan Zhi’s side, by contrast, appeared relaxed and casual. A contemptuous smile played at the corners of their mouths, and they did not take the group of sword servants seriously at all.

“Why are you still here? Do you truly intend to fight?” Huan Zhi shouted coldly.

“We found the sword leaf first! You—you arrived later!” Wu Dachuan gripped his sword tightly, his palms slick with cold sweat.

He knew all too well how frightening a Lightning Spirit Root was. If Huan Zhi attacked, more than a dozen sword servants would be utterly outmatched.

“What a joke! If simply seeing something first made it yours, then every one of you sword servants would have a chance to claim the title of Sword Heir. My patience is limited. I will give you one final warning: get out of here at once. Otherwise, none of you will leave!”

As he spoke, Huan Zhi sneered and summoned two swords.

His mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivation was revealed without the slightest concealment.

The other two Eastern Court disciples were not highly cultivated, but they were no less arrogant. They sneered one after another.

“A bunch of useless fools, yet you dare compete with Sword Disciples for treasure? You must have lost your minds!”

“The Northern Court is full of trash. It seems the rumors are true!”

Faced with such taunts, the Northern Court disciples could only swallow their anger. After all, Huan Zhi could wield two swords simultaneously, and his cultivation was far beyond theirs.

Earlier, outside the Hall of Ten Thousand Blades, Wu Dachuan had heard that Huan Zhi had reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement. He had not quite believed it, clinging to a trace of hope.

If Huan Zhi had not reached the middle stage and possessed only early-stage cultivation, then even with three people on the other side, their dozen or so sword servants would still have had a chance to fight.

But now that Huan Zhi had truly demonstrated the ability to control two swords, proving himself to be a genuine mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, Wu Dachuan immediately lost his nerve and began considering retreat.

He cast one last deeply reluctant glance at the sword leaf and was about to withdraw.

At that moment, Huan Zhi suddenly sneered.

“Too late. My patience is exhausted. None of you are leaving. Hand over your storage pouches, and you may go. Refuse, and—heh—the consequences are yours to bear.”

He had merely been toying with them. His earlier promise had meant nothing.

“What did you say?”

“That’s outrageous!”

“So what if you’re in the middle stage of Qi Refinement? Let’s fight them!”

The Northern Court sword servants erupted in fury, cursing him loudly.

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To a sword servant, a storage pouch and a Spirit-Overflow artifact represented their entire fortune. They might not contain much wealth, but every item had been hard-won.

Sword servants could not compare with Sword Disciples. If they wanted sword tassels or magical artifacts, they had to labor tirelessly to complete missions for the Sword Palace. Not only was the work exhausting, but they also had to accumulate their gains over many years before obtaining anything truly useful.

Now, with a single demand, Huan Zhi was asking them to throw away years of effort.

Even Wu Dachuan could no longer endure it.

There was only one path left: fight.

In any case, whether one extended one’s head or kept it tucked away, the blade would fall all the same.

Wu Dachuan fully activated his Spirit-Overflow Ring and prepared to attack. At that moment, a familiar voice sounded beside him.

“A toothless fellow really doesn’t have much patience.”

The remark was obviously aimed at Huan Zhi, whose entire mouthful of teeth had been knocked out.

Upon hearing it, Huan Zhi’s expression instantly turned icy, and fury surged within him. But when he saw who had spoken, he suddenly burst into laughter.

“It’s you! Ha! I searched everywhere for you, and here you’ve delivered yourself straight to my door! I was just looking for you so I could settle our score!”

Wu Dachuan whipped around and, sure enough, saw Yun Que standing beside him.

At once, his confidence returned. His earlier unease and cowardice vanished without a trace.

The two Eastern Court disciples beside Huan Zhi grew wary the moment they saw Yun Que. The sword-qi armor around him had been truly astonishing.

But they soon noticed something.

“He doesn’t have the sword-qi armor anymore!”

“So it really was an illusion! This bastard deceived everyone!”

They had indeed feared Yun Que when he wore that heavy armor.

But a sword servant without even a sword-qi cloak was nothing worth mentioning.

The two men had not thought the matter through. They overlooked one crucial fact: without even a sword-qi cloak, Yun Que had still stood unharmed amid the rain of swords.

Huan Zhi bared his teeth in a vicious grin.

“Today, we’ll settle our accounts properly. I’ve lost my teeth, and you’re about to lose your life!”

Facing Huan Zhi’s menacing advance, Yun Que instructed Wu Dachuan, “I’ll deal with the toothless dog. The other two are yours.”

“Gladly! Leave them to us!” Wu Dachuan replied with complete confidence.

Both men were early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, no higher than the third level at most. With more than a dozen sword servants, they might not be able to defeat them, but by gritting their teeth, they could at least hold them off for a while.

“How many people did you gather?” Yun Que asked, seemingly offhand.

“Twelve, counting me,” Wu Dachuan answered just as casually.

At the sound of that number, Yun Que’s gaze turned cold.

Including Wu Dachuan, there were thirteen Northern Court sword servants confronting Huan Zhi here.

With Yun Que added, there were fourteen.

Wu Dachuan had not noticed that, without a sound, one more person had joined the group he had assembled.

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