407: Chapter 401 Valley of Ten Thousand Poisons

"Put away that ridiculous pride of yours. From today on, we are dogs. As long as the master is happy, we'll bite whoever he tells us to bite, and if he tells us to eat shit, we'll have to swallow it with a smile. Only then can we survive in this son-of-a-bitch Southern Wilderness."

...

While Heavenly Sword City was undergoing a cruel reshuffling and bloody massacre.

Deep in the Southern Wilderness, tens of thousands of miles away from Tianjian Island.

The Hundred Thousand Mountains were shrouded in miasma.

Within a deep canyon where sunlight never reached and venomous insects crawled everywhere.

This canyon was named the "Ten Thousand Poison Valley," one of the oldest, most mysterious, and most terrifying Demonic Path Sects in the Southern Wilderness.

At this moment, in a hall carved out of a hollowed-out giant venomous spider skull in the deepest part of the canyon.

Three figures exuding an extremely terrifying and cold aura sat cross-legged on bone cushions entwined with countless venomous snakes.

In the center of the hall stood a large bronze incense burner. Inside it burned an extremely pungent dark green poisonous smoke. For ordinary Cultivators, a single touch of this smoke meant certain death, but these three seemed to be breathing the purest Spiritual Qi, letting the poisonous smoke drift in and out of their seven orifices.

"Crack."

Abruptly, among a row of blood-colored Life Tablets hanging above the hall, a jade tablet carved with a skull pattern shattered without warning, turning into a cloud of dim bone powder that drifted onto the black stone floor of the hall.

The figure sitting cross-legged in the very center suddenly opened his eyes.

Those were a pair of vertical pupils like a venomous snake's, emitting an eerie green light. His entire body was shrouded in a large dark green robe, making his face invisible, but the terrifying pressure belonging to a Golden Core Great Perfection, or even a Half-step Nascent Soul, caused the poisonous smoke in the hall to stop churning.

"Blood Nether... is dead."

A raspy and piercing voice came from under the dark green robe, sounding like two rusty iron plates rubbing together violently.

Sitting to his left was an old woman as thin as a skeleton and covered in sores. Hearing this, she suddenly looked up, her ghost-like face filled with disbelief.

"What? Valley Master, could you have seen it wrong? Although that old monster Blood Nether's cultivation has been stagnant at the Early Nascent Soul Stage for many years, with the bone ship and the 'Ten Thousand Blood Return to Ancestry Array' in his hands, he could retreat safely even if he encountered a Middle Stage old monster! How could he suddenly fall?"

"The Life Tablet is shattered, and his Divine Soul is extinguished." The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons' voice showed no emotional fluctuation. "The news just came from the Shadow Hall. That new Grand Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Chen Zhiwen, only used one sword strike."

"One sword strike?!"

A burly man sitting on the right cried out in alarm. He was shirtless, his body covered in dense tattoos of venomous centipedes. He was the Punishment Elder of the Ten Thousand Poison Valley, also possessing a Late Golden Core Stage cultivation.

"Killing an Early Nascent Soul Stage with one sword strike? How is that possible! Isn't that Chen Zhiwen rumored to be an outcast exiled from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to the Southern Wilderness? How could an outcast possess such terrifying strength!"

"Whether he's an outcast or not is no longer important." The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons' vertical pupils narrowed slightly, revealing a cold calculation like a snake eyeing its prey. "What matters is that the Heavenly Sword Sect, riding the momentum of killing Blood Nether, will surely stir up a bloodbath in the Southern Wilderness. The landscape of the Southern Wilderness is about to change."

The old woman let out a cold sneer, the sores all over her body oozing poisonous fluid as she laughed. "Change? Based on just one outsider? How could our local forces in the Southern Wilderness sit idly by and watch him become the sole power? Valley Master, should I immediately contact those old fellows from the 'Yin Gui Sect' and 'Hehuan Valley' so we can join forces..."

"Fool!"

The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons interrupted the old woman mercilessly, his extremely powerful Divine Sense directly suppressing her until she let out a muffled groan.

"To be able to kill Blood Nether with one sword strike, such strength is definitely not something we can easily take down even if we join forces. Before we figure out Chen Zhiwen's true background, no one is allowed to act rashly!"

The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons pondered for a moment, seemingly weighing extremely complex gains and losses.

After a moment, he slowly raised his hand.

"Go, open the inner treasury, pick ten stalks of three-thousand-year-old 'Nine Netherworld Bone Grass,' and bring twenty beautiful female cauldron cultivators."

A hint of sinister cunning flashed in the Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons' vertical pupils.

"Punishment Elder, you personally make a trip to Heavenly Sword City. Say that my Ten Thousand Poison Valley heard of the Heavenly Sword Sect slaying demons and came specifically to 'congratulate' them. You must act respectfully in front of Chen Zhiwen. I want you to use your eyes to see clearly exactly what the situation is in that Heavenly Sword City!"

"A probe?" The burly man immediately understood the Valley Master's intention and grinned, revealing a cruel smile. "I understand. If that Chen Zhiwen is truly unfathomable, we will temporarily avoid his edge; if he is just a paper tiger and killing Blood Nether was only due to some shady secret treasure..."

"Then let him, bones and flesh alike, rot completely in the poison pits of my Ten Thousand Poison Valley." The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons' voice carried a chilling viciousness.

...

The wind rises from the tip of the duckweed; undercurrents surge wildly beneath the vast land of the Southern Wilderness.

And at the very center of the storm.

Heavenly Sword City, Inner City.

An extremely bloody and efficient purge was proceeding without suspense.

Outside the magnificent Huang Family compound, flames soared into the sky.

Three hundred Inner Sect Disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect, holding sharp blades and wearing cold expressions, had already surrounded the vast estate so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak out.

"Chen Zhengchu! What is the meaning of this! My grandfather is fighting a bloody battle on the front lines to defend the city! How dare you lead people to surround my Huang Family compound! Do you still have any respect for the Sect's laws!"

In front of the tightly closed vermilion gates of the Huang Family compound.

The Huang Family Young Lord, Huang Tianba, stood on the steps with a flushed face, holding a Medium Grade Flying Sword. Behind him followed dozens of Huang Family Qi Refining Stage juniors and house guards. Although they were putting on a brave front, their legs were shaking uncontrollably as they looked at the wolf-like Inner Sect Disciples around them.

Chen Zhengchu stood at the very front of the crowd. The humility and fear he had shown when facing Chen Zhiwen in Crescent Moon Valley were long gone.

At this moment, he had regained his high-and-mighty coldness and ruthlessness as an Elder of the Internal Affairs Hall.

Looking at Huang Tianba, who was like a cornered beast still fighting, he curled his lips into an extremely disdainful cold sneer—a smile that was almost identical to Chen Zhiwen's.

"Sect laws? The laws of my Heavenly Sword Sect are the will of the Grand Elder."

Chen Zhengchu very slowly drew a longsword flashing with cold light from his sleeve, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

"Young Lord Huang, there's no need to wait for your grandfather. That old man was overly ambitious and secretly practiced evil arts, leading to Qi Deviation and his body exploding. The Grand Elder took pity on the Huang Family for losing its backbone and specifically ordered me to come and send your whole family down to reunite with the old family head."

"You're lying!" Huang Tianba's eyes were bloodshot as he roared hysterically, "My grandfather was about to form a Golden Core! How could he suffer Qi Deviation! It's you! You, the Heavenly Sword Sect, are burning bridges! You covet my Huang Family's wealth, you despicable villains!"

"Burning bridges? This is called 'an ordinary man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty.' If you want to blame someone, blame your grandfather for being too stupid and too greedy."

Chen Zhengchu didn't even bother to say another word. He abruptly swung the longsword in his hand.

"By order of the Grand Elder, leave no one alive in the Huang Family. Kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Accompanied by the simultaneous roars of three hundred Inner Sect Disciples, cold sword light flooded into the Huang Family compound like a tide.

This was a one-sided massacre without any suspense. Without its Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Old Ancestor to oversee things, the Huang Family was as fragile as paper in front of these elite wolf-like disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Screams, cries, and the sound of clashing Flying Swords intertwined into a symphony of death, echoing over the Inner City.

Blood stained the expensive bluestone paths and the meticulously manicured flower beds.

Chen Zhengchu watched expressionlessly as Huang Tianba was hacked to pieces by several Inner Sect Disciples, his eyes showing not the slightest ripple.

He knew this was only the beginning. The Grand Elder's abyss-like ambition would definitely not stop just because a small Huang Family was destroyed. The future Southern Wilderness was destined to be baptized in endless blood.

...

At this very moment.

Away from the blood of the Outer City, the madness of the bone ship, the schemes of the Southern Wilderness, and the massacre of the Inner City.

In the deepest part of Crescent Moon Valley.

Chen Zhiwen still sat upon that jade pavilion.

The cup of spiritual tea on the table in front of him had long since turned cold, but he didn't take another sip.

All of his attention was focused on the "Autumn Water" longsword lying flat across his knees.

"Buzz— Buzz— Buzz—"

The blade of the Autumn Water sword was vibrating violently at an extremely high frequency.

Wisps of extremely pure ice-blue Sword Intent, mixed with Chen Zhiwen's vast, ocean-like Nascent Soul true essence, were being continuously poured into the sword's body.

And inside that ancient pattern on the blade that emitted a faint blood-colored luster.

Old Ancestor Blood Nether's Nascent Soul, its consciousness already wiped away, was undergoing its final and most painful tempering.

Although it had no consciousness, the instinctive pain of the Soul being forcibly compressed, refined, and even shredded inch by inch by Sword Intent before being reorganized still caused that ball of Soul energy to let out extremely faint wails, like the chirping of insects.

"Is it painful?"

Chen Zhiwen stroked the blade extremely gently, feeling the violent struggle coming from within.

"To become this seat's sword spirit, this is a baptism you must undergo. To strip away the filthy Soul Power of a demonic old monster like you, leaving only the purest killing instinct. This is the greatest glory of your life."

As Chen Zhiwen's true essence continued to intensify.

The wails of the Nascent Soul energy grew fainter and fainter, but the aura it emitted became increasingly sharp and pure. The intelligence belonging to a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was completely erased, replaced by an unconscious sword spirit that was perfectly fused with the Autumn Water sword's ice-cold Sword Intent and filled with an absolute desire for destruction.