35: Chapter 35 A Silent Infiltration! The Old Monster's Observations!

The night was thick, so dark one could not see one's own fingers.

A hundred miles outside the Taixuan Sect, deep within a dense forest.

A shadow clung to the canopy of a towering ancient tree, merging perfectly with the darkness, without a single trace of aura leaking out.

It was Elder Blood River.

He wore the "Nether Ghost Skin," and his entire being seemed to be completely erased by this world; even if Divine Sense were to sweep over him repeatedly, one would only perceive him as an ordinary leaf.

He did not rush to approach.

Like a hunter hiding in wait to the extreme, he observed his prey from afar with a cold, indifferent patience.

His turbid eyes flashed with an almost non-existent glimmer in the night.

"The Taixuan Sect... The Mountain Protection Grand Array has been raised to the highest Rank."

He could perceive that the curtain of Spiritual Qi shrouding the Taixuan Mountain Range was operating at full power, its intensity sufficient to force several Golden Core Cultivators to return empty-handed.

"The number of patrolling Disciples has increased more than threefold; it is almost one guard every three steps, one sentry every five."

"It seems Shadow Killer's failure has indeed made them birds startled by the mere twang of a bow."

Elder Blood River's lips curled into a silent arc—it was disdain.

In his eyes, these mundane arrangements were no different from paper cutouts.

He waited quietly.

Waiting for the deepest part of the night, the hour of the Rat when human spirits are most weary.

The hour of the Rat arrived.

Elder Blood River's figure, like a withered leaf, drifted down from the canopy silently, without stirring even a breath of wind.

He did not choose to attack the Formation head-on but instead circled to a weak node of the Formation at the back of the mountain.

He extended a withered finger and tapped lightly into the Void Realm.

A flash of red light appeared at his fingertip, condensing into a blood-colored insect the size of a grain of rice.

The insect silently burrowed into the Formation's light curtain.

The light curtain only rippled slightly like water before instantly returning to normal, without triggering any alarms.

Inside the Formation, the insect was frantically gnawing at the energy node.

A moment later, a tiny gap, just large enough for one person to pass through, opened silently in the Grand Array.

Elder Blood River flickered and slipped inside.

The entire process was smooth and fluid.

"The Formation of a third-rate Sect is indeed full of holes everywhere."

After successfully infiltrating, Elder Blood River's vigilance did not decrease but instead increased.

He retracted his own aura to the extreme, turning into a true ghost, and drifted slowly toward the destination of this trip—Changge Peak.

The closer he got to Changge Peak, the heavier the pressure in his heart became.

The thick clouds and mist shrouding the entire peak were like an ancient beast in deep slumber, coiled there, emitting an inexplicable Dao Rhyme that made even his Nascent Soul cultivation feel his Soul palpitate.

"What a strange Formation... No, this is not a Formation!"

"This looks more like a... naturally formed Dao Field!"

Elder Blood River stopped abruptly, hiding behind a giant rock, and dared not advance even a fraction further.

The "Nine-Orifice Calming Jade" on his chest was emitting wisps of coolness, forcibly suppressing his agitated spirit and allowing him to maintain absolute calmness.

"Shadow Killer was lost right here; there must be great terror here."

He decided not to go any deeper.

He would just wait quietly on the periphery.

He firmly believed that as long as the other party was a living being, there would always be a time when they came out to move about.

Once they moved, they would reveal a flaw.

He waited for an entire day and night.

This patience was enough to grind away the vigilance of any prey.

Finally, on the morning of the second day, the first ray of dawn light pierced through the sea of clouds.

That patch of deathly silent clouds and mist finally stirred.

A figure in white slowly walked out from the clouds and mist.

Elder Blood River's pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant!

He held his breath completely, focusing all his spirit on that figure.

It was a young girl who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.

Wearing a white dress, with a stunning face and a cold temperament, she was like a snow lotus growing on the highest peak.

"Foundation Establishment Middle Stage..."

Elder Blood River saw through her cultivation at a glance, yet a trace of astonishment surged in his heart.

"What astonishing talent! At this age, with this level of cultivation, even the Saintess of those top Sects in the Eastern Wasteland would be no better!"

"She must be that girl from the rumors who crippled Zhao Wuji with one sword."

He saw that after the girl walked out of the clouds and mist, she did not leave but instead slowly drew the long sword at her waist in the open space at the foot of the mountain.

Then, she began to practice swordplay.

Thrust.

Hack.

Chop.

Lift.

Every move and style was the most basic, simplest introductory sword technique.

As Elder Blood River watched, his brows furrowed tightly.

"What... path is this?"

He could not understand it.

With this girl's talent, even if the Taixuan Sect were destitute, they wouldn't let her practice something like this, would they?

"Could it be... there is some hidden mystery within?"

Elder Blood River dared not be careless; he activated a Blood Eye secret technique, and an eerie red light flashed deep within his eyes, staring fixedly at every movement of Ye Qingyao.

Under the enhancement of the secret technique, the world before his eyes changed.

He saw that every time the girl swung her sword, it seemed simple, yet it drew upon the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, operating in an abstruse trajectory he could not comprehend at all.

Every breath she took resonated perfectly with the rise and fall of the sword.

Her spirit, her will, her Soul... seemed to be completely poured into that ordinary iron long sword.

"The rudiment of Human-Sword Unity? No, it is far more profound and terrifying than that!"

"She is... Nurturing the Sword!"

"Using this world as a furnace, using her Physical Body as a scabbard, nurturing a supreme edge for the future!"

Elder Blood River's Dao Heart surged with monstrous waves at this moment.

He had only seen a few words recorded about this cultivation method in some long-lost ancient demonic texts.

It was a supreme method that pointed directly to the Origin of the Dao of the sword!

"How could a third-rate Sect possess such a Legacy?!"

His heart was filled with immense shock and bewilderment.

Just then, he saw that after Ye Qingyao finished practicing swordplay, she actually bowed deeply and respectfully toward the direction of the most dilapidated thatched cottage on top of the peak.

Her posture was humble to the extreme.

Elder Blood River's heart gave a violent jolt.

"That thatched cottage... lives her Revered Master?"

"What kind of terrifying existence must the Revered Master be who could teach such a Disciple?!"

Curiosity and fear instantly swallowed his mind completely.

He stared fixedly at that thatched cottage, expecting, yet fearing, wanting to see clearly who exactly the sacred being living inside was.

Finally.

The dilapidated wooden door of the thatched cottage was pushed open from the inside with a creak.

A young man dressed in coarse linen clothes walked out, yawning and bleary-eyed.