266: Chapter 266 The sword was stolen; is this a case of daring to mess with the powerful?

[Chu Sheng saw Elder Zhou off and returned to his tent.]

[He sat cross-legged and habitually inspected his Dantian.]

[The next moment, his expression changed.]

[His Dantian was empty.]

[The four swords of zhuxian, all four of them, were gone.]

[Chu Sheng stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair, which hit the ground with a dull thud.]

[He reached for his waist, but the sword hanging at his side was also gone.]

[It wasn't that he hadn't refined it; it had been stolen.]

[He had clearly stored the sword in his Dantian. Who could steal something from his Dantian?]

[Chu Sheng's mind buzzed for a moment, and then he quickly calmed down.]

[He closed his eyes and sensed the aura of the zhu xian sword.]

[Four faint connections came from the direction of the Duanhun River.]

[He lifted the tent flap, his figure flashed, and he vanished into the night.]

[By the Duanhun River, the fog was thick.]

[Chu Sheng landed on the riverbank and saw two dark golden lights bobbing in the river water.]

[Those were two of his zhu xian swords.]

[The other two had already sunk to the bottom of the river and were drifting downstream with the current.]

[No, that wasn't downstream.]

[Chu Sheng looked closely and saw that those two lights were not going downstream, but upstream.]

[The river flowed from west to east, yet those two swords were moving from east to west at an astonishing speed.]

[Someone was controlling them.]

[Chu Sheng did not hesitate and leaped into the river.]

[The river water was bone-chillingly cold, and countless Resentful Souls churned at the bottom, stretching out pale arms to try and grab him.]

[Chu Sheng slashed through the blocking Resentful Souls with a sword and reached out to grab the two sinking swords.]

[As the swords touched his hands, the Sword Qi resonated, and his mind steadied slightly.]

[But the other two had already drifted upstream, hundreds of feet away.]

[Chu Sheng leaped out of the river, stepping on the water's surface, and gave chase toward the two lights.]

[His speed was astonishing; although his Divine Ability, Fuyao Ninety Thousand Miles, had not reached Major Achievement, his speed while skimming across the water's surface was far beyond that of mortals.]

[One hundred feet, fifty feet, thirty feet—]

[He saw clearly that in front of those two lights, there was a black figure.]

[The person was wearing a black robe, had a thin frame, and was shrouded in dense Devilish Qi.]

[He had the cultivation of the Palace Building Realm, and his aura was very unfamiliar, not belonging to any of the Nine Nether Palace, Wanmo Hall, or Blood God Sect.]

[His hands were held in a phantom grip, with the two zhu xian swords suspended in front of him, guided by some secret technique as they moved upstream.]

[Chu Sheng was furious.]

["Daring to touch the head of Tai Sui?"]

["Things that even Ling Wushuang hadn't expected, and he just took them?"]

[He accelerated and struck a palm toward the black-robed figure.]

[The palm wind was like thunder, kicking up waves several feet high.]

[The black-robed figure did not even turn his head, merely waving his hand gently.]

[The surface of the Duanhun River suddenly exploded, and countless Resentful Souls surged from the river bottom, rushing toward Chu Sheng like a tide.]

[These Resentful Souls were not ordinary wandering spirits; they were fierce ghosts imprisoned in the Duanhun River for thousands of years, each carrying intense resentment and corrosive power.]

[Chu Sheng slashed through a swath of them with his sword, but more Resentful Souls surged up, dense and covering the sky.]

[By the time Chu Sheng cleared away these Resentful Souls, the black-robed figure had already drifted another few dozen miles away.]

[His figure flickered in and out of view on the river surface, like a wisp of black smoke.]

[Chu Sheng gritted his teeth and continued to pursue.]

[He could not lose those two swords.]

[The four swords of zhuxian were indispensable; if one was missing, the power of the sword formation would be greatly reduced.]

[The river water retreated rapidly beneath his feet, and the scenery on both banks turned into blurred shadows.]

[The black-robed figure was very fast and extremely familiar with the terrain of the Duanhun River.]

[Every time he waved his sleeve, he could summon a batch of Resentful Souls from the river bottom to block Chu Sheng.]

[Chu Sheng fought while pursuing; his Daoist robe was torn in several places by the Resentful Souls, leaving black corrosive marks on his skin.]

[But he did not stop.]

[His gaze was fixed firmly on that black figure, like a leopard stalking its prey.]

[The black-robed figure seemed to notice his persistence and suddenly turned his head.]

[Across a distance of several dozen feet, Chu Sheng saw his face clearly.]

[It was a pale, expressionless face, like a mask.]

[His eyes were black, and there was no light in his pupils, like two bottomless black holes.]

[He glanced at Chu Sheng, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.]

[That was not a smile, but an expression that made one's hair stand on end, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.]

[Then he turned his head and continued to control the two swords, moving upstream.]

[Chu Sheng's heart sank.]

[This person was no ordinary thief.]

[He was too familiar with the Duanhun River, and too familiar with the zhu xian sword.]

["Who exactly is he?"]

[Chu Sheng gripped the two swords in his hands tightly and accelerated.]

[The river water exploded beneath his feet, and the Resentful Souls dissipated under his sword.]

[He did not look back.]

[Ahead, those two dark golden lights were getting further and further away, and dimmer and dimmer.]

[But he would not give up.]

["That is my sword."]

["No one is allowed to take it away."]