144: Chapter 144 Natal Flying Sword

Through his Divine Sense, Li Changsheng could "see" the tiny cracks on the wall, the imperceptible dust on the ground, and even the minute particles of Evil Qi floating in the air.

He followed the trail of bloodstains, tracking them all the way.

The bloodstains were intermittent, sometimes disappearing into piles of rubble, only to reappear a few yards away.

"He has to lean against the wall to rest every few steps."

Li Changsheng looked at the several Blood Hand prints left on the wall and muttered to himself.

"It seems that fat man's injuries are clearly very serious."

Li Changsheng followed the bloodstains deep into the back of the great hall.

There was a side path he had never noticed before, hidden behind a massive stone pillar.

The bloodstains extended inside and vanished into the darkness.

Li Changsheng gripped his jade talisman tightly and stepped into the side path.

The side path was longer than he had imagined, winding downwards with an increasingly steep slope.

After walking for about half a cup of tea's time, a stone door appeared ahead.

The stone door was half-ajar, with a faint light leaking through the crack.

Li Changsheng held his breath and extended his Divine Sense into the crack of the door.

Behind the door was a stone chamber, not very large, about two yards in circumference.

In the center of the stone chamber was a stone table, and on the table sat a palm-sized jade box.

The jade box was open, and it was completely empty inside.

On the stone bed lay a person.

It was exactly that brutish-looking Cultivator with a face full of flesh.

"Not good."

Seeing this, Li Changsheng hurriedly slapped a Vajra Talisman onto his body.

He then took half a step back, preparing to activate the jade talisman to kill this person.

The brutish Cultivator heard someone approaching and tried to struggle to sit up, but was powerless to do so.

After a few struggles, he lay there motionless, his chest still rising and falling weakly.

Seeing that the fat Cultivator couldn't even manage to sit up, Li Changsheng finally let go of the worry in his heart and stopped the activation of the jade talisman he had prepared.

"This fat man is likely at the end of his rope."

"I don't know what Medicinal Pill he ate from the table, but it doesn't seem to have helped."

The wounds on the fat man's body were still oozing blood, and his face was as pale as paper.

His chest, which had been rising and falling weakly just a moment ago, now showed no movement at all; he had clearly fallen into a coma.

Li Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief.

He condensed a small fireball in his hand and blasted it toward the fat man's head.

The fat man remained unmoved until his head was struck by the small fireball, charring it black.

"So he wasn't faking his death?"

Li Changsheng pushed the door open and entered, carefully walking over to the Cultivator's side.

"This person is severely injured; his heart meridian is damaged, and his spiritual power is chaotic. Even if I hadn't come, he would only have half a life left if he were to wake up."

As Li Changsheng spoke, he quickly reached out and snatched the Storage Pouch from the man's waist.

After some searching, he unexpectedly found another Storage Pouch hidden within his clothes.

"This one should be the thin man's Storage Pouch."

Li Changsheng looked at the traces of the Spirit Devourer's bindings on this Storage Pouch and said indifferently.

Then, he turned his head, his gaze falling upon the stone table.

Beside the jade box on the stone table lay a sword.

"This is not the fat man's sword."

Li Changsheng walked up to it and examined it carefully.

He saw that the sword was pitch black, its body covered in cracks, and there were several notches on the blade.

It looked tattered and worn, as if it might shatter at any moment.

However, on the hilt, two ancient, simple characters were carved.

"Xuan Yun."

Li Changsheng's breathing suddenly hitched.

"True Lord Xuan Yun's Natal Flying Sword!"

"So it was here all along!"

Li Changsheng reached out with trembling hands and gripped the hilt.

In an instant, a vast Sword Intent surged from the sword and rushed into his Sea of Consciousness!

In his Sea of Consciousness, a scene appeared.

The world was vast and desolate, and a golden sword light shot up into the sky, slashing towards a black demonic Soul that blotted out the sun!

The sword light collided with the demonic Soul, causing the heavens and earth to change color and the mountains and rivers to shatter!

The scene flashed and vanished.

Li Changsheng came back to his senses, his body soaked in cold sweat.

"This was the scene of the final battle between True Lord Xuan Yun and the Spirit Devourer!"

He looked down at the sword in his hand, his eyes filled with shock.

Although this sword was damaged, that Sword Intent still existed.

If it could be nurtured and restored, it would definitely be a Sharp Weapon to suppress the Spirit Devourer!

He carefully put the sword away and searched the stone chamber one last time, seeing that there was nothing else of value.

He turned around, walked out of the stone chamber, and retraced his steps.

When he walked out of the mine, the sky was already slightly bright.

The Evil Qi in Qinghe Town was indeed much fainter than it had been a few days ago.

The panic on the faces of the few early-rising townsfolk had mostly dissipated, and the streets even had a bit of life.

When Li Changsheng piloted his Flying Shuttle back to the Li Mansion, Li Zhenshan and the Grand Elder were waiting at the entrance.

"Changsheng!"

Li Zhenshan hurried to greet him, but his expression changed instantly when he saw that he was covered in wounds.

"How are you?"

Li Changsheng shook his head.

"I'm fine. Zhou Yuan, he..."

He was silent for a moment, then handed the unfinished letter he had taken from Zhou Yuan to Li Zhenshan.

After reading it, Li Zhenshan's expression turned solemn, and he let out a long sigh.

"He was a good child; it's a pity."

Li Changsheng nodded without speaking.

He stood in the courtyard, gazing at the distant sky.

On the horizon, there was still a wisp of faint black mist; the black mist was extremely faint, so faint that ordinary people could not see it at all.

But Li Changsheng could see it, and he could perceive that familiar, heart-palpitating aura within it.

The Spirit Devourer.

It had not given up yet.

It was still waiting.

Li Changsheng clenched his fist and then released it.

Li Changsheng returned to his room, closed the door, placed the damaged Xuan Yun sword and the two Storage Pouches on the table, and then sat on the edge of the bed, letting out a long breath.

Exhausted.

From his body to his Soul, he was exhausted to the extreme.

But he did not sleep.

He just sat there, staring at the items on the table, his mind racing quickly.

The sneaky-looking Cultivator's Storage Pouch did not contain many things.

A few bottles of low-grade Medicinal Pill, a few hundred Spirit Stones, an old map, and a token from the Blood Fiend Sect.

On that map, several locations were marked, all of which were mountain ranges and wilderness areas within Yunzhou; he did not know what the purpose was.

The brutish Cultivator's Storage Pouch was slightly richer.

More than two thousand Spirit Stones, three bottles of peiyuan pill for the Foundation Establishment Stage, two Medium Grade Magical Artifacts, and several letters.

He didn't read the contents of the letters in detail, but they vaguely mentioned terms like "gathering at the border" and "waiting for the opportunity."

The most precious item was, naturally, that Xuan Yun sword.

Although it was battered and broken, the Sword Intent contained within it was enough to drive any Sword Cultivator crazy.

He reached out and gently stroked the sword's body.

The cracks on the sword were shocking to the eye, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

But he knew that this sword would not shatter so easily.

It was True Lord Xuan Yun's Natal Flying Sword, which had once slain demonic Souls and drunk demonic blood; even if damaged, it was not comparable to ordinary Magical Artifacts.

If it could be nurtured and restored...

He shook his head and temporarily suppressed this thought.

Now was not the time to think about these things.

He closed his eyes and began to review his experiences over the past two nights and one day.

True Lord Xuan Yun's Secret Realm, the threat of the demonic Soul, the traces of the Blood Fiend Sect, and that brutish Cultivator who faked his death halfway through...

Wait.

"Although that fat man is in a coma in the stone chamber, when he was awake earlier, could he have already told the Blood Fiend Sect about what happened here..."

Thinking of this, Li Changsheng suddenly opened his eyes.

"No, it's not just the Blood Fiend Sect."

Shen Jun had left.

That Loose Cultivator Shen, although he looked upright, might not keep the secret.

Even if he kept it, the corpses of the Blood Fiend Sect members were still there.

Moreover, their newly built altar had been destroyed; surely, other personnel would come to investigate, which was unavoidable.

The news would definitely spread.

Sooner or later, someone would discover the truth about True Lord Xuan Yun's Secret Realm.

The news about the soul-suppressing jade wall.

The news about the demonic Soul.

And... the news about that Natal Flying Sword.

Cold sweat seeped from Li Changsheng's palms.