"The disciple’s friend, having not seen him leave his home for several days, came to visit half an hour ago. After getting no response to his knocks and Talisman Communication, he pushed the door open and found these two dried corpses inside the courtyard,"
Wanji Peak Sect Leader Yi Hanshuang wore a look of solemn concern, his expression filled with extreme anxiety. The Blood Demon that had possessed Great Elder Xue Dao had previously caused Wanji Peak tremendous losses.
To his dismay, just as that incident had settled down, signs of the Blood Demon had emerged again. Although these two dried corpses were in different death states, there was no need for a detailed investigation to surmise that they were the work of the Blood Demon. He urgently asked Bai Xin to request Ye Zhen’s presence for a consultation, for in their eyes, Ye Zhen had ample experience in dealing with the Blood Demon!
The two corpses, one of them being the owner of this small courtyard in the Early-stage Spirit Summoning Realm, were entitled to a single-entry small courtyard and a maid according to Wanji Peak’s treatment of martial artists in the Spirit Summoning Realm.
The other corpse was the maid of the courtyard, but the two had died slightly differently.
Both bodies were shriveled up as if drained of all fluids, clearly victims of the Blood Demon’s bloodsucking. The only difference was that the Spirit Summoning Realm martial artist had a fist-sized hole in the top of his skull.
As if something had burrowed out from inside him.
Viewing this hole, Ye Zhen inwardly sighed. Indeed, what that elder named Ning Shiyi had predicted came true.
The Blood Demon Guardian Blood Spirit had used its Avatar to extend its life, planting a Blood Demon Seed within, and to facilitate care, placed it nearby. As for the maid, a mere mortal, she was easily possessed and drained of all essence blood by the Blood Demon.
Gauging the degree of their withering, they must have been dead for at least two days. In other words, the remains of the Blood Spirit had escaped two days ago.
Tracking it down now was impossible.
With the cunning movements of the Blood Demon, if it sensed danger while fleeing, it could simply transfer its possession into any animal, making it impossible for anyone to find it.
All Ye Zhen could hope for now was for the remains of the Blood Spirit to roll away as far as possible, preferably out of the Black Dragon Domain.
"Young Hero Ye, I am almost certain that this is the work of the Blood Demon. May I ask if Young Hero Ye could lend a hand to help me hunt down the remnants of the Blood Demon?" Wanji Peak Master Yi Hanshuang said.
"Sect Leader Yi, not to conceal the truth from you, not only me but even if Wanji Peak mobilizes all its power, there is no possibility of tracking it down," Ye Zhen said.
Yi Hanshuang’s complexion changed abruptly. "Young Hero Ye, I beg you not to stand idly by. You must help Wanji Peak survive this calamity! As for the Sword Heart Enlightenment mental method you require, I can promise to let Young Hero Ye have a peek at it right now!"
Wanji Peak Master Yi Hanshuang was truly desperate; the recent Blood Demon crisis had cut Wanji Peak’s strength by more than a third, and with the Blood Demon emerging again, if something similar happened a few more times, or even just once more, Wanji Peak would have to surrender a large portion of its territory.
At these words, Ye Zhen’s expression grew serious.
"Sect Leader Yi, you underestimate me, Ye Zhen! Glimpsing the Sword Manual of Extinction has always been a long-standing wish of mine, unrelated to the hunting of the Blood Demon.
No matter whether Sect Leader Yi can produce the Sword Manual of Extinction, as long as there’s the slightest possibility, I will spare no effort in hunting down the Blood Demon!"
Yi Hanshuang was taken aback. "Then why, Young Hero Ye?"
"Sect Leader Yi, when I say it cannot be tracked, there is actually a reason..."
In the midst of speaking, Ye Zhen shared the information he had previously learned from the mysterious elder Ning Shiqi with Yi Hanshuang, who then began to understand.
"So it is. I have been mistakenly wary..." Yi Hanshuang said with a face full of shame.
"Sect Leader Yi, even though the Blood Demon cannot be tracked, that doesn’t mean you should just let it go. You could send out elite disciples in squads in all directions looking for traces of the Blood Demon’s remnants. If any animals or humans turn into dried corpses, send a signal immediately to notify the Sect. There might still be a slim chance to track down that remainder of the Blood Demon!"
"Very well!"
Instantly, Yi Hanshuang sent out more than a dozen Dao Talisman Communications, ordering the Wanji Peak disciples to mobilize urgently, clearly terrified by the reemergence of the Blood Demon.
"Sect Leader Yi, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave..."
"Wait!"
"Young Hero Ye, there is something I’d like to discuss with you," Yi Hanshuang said.
"Please speak, Sect Leader Yi!"
"Truth be told, if Young Hero Ye hadn’t appeared this time and unveiled the true face of the Blood Demon Guardian Blood Spirit, Wanji Peak might have been silently wiped out by the Blood Demon.
From a moral standpoint, not only should I let you glimpse the mental method for the Sword Manual of Extinction, but the whole manual itself should be unconditionally available for Young Hero Ye to study, given that your kindness to us is as great as rebirth."
Ye Zhen listened without changing his expression, knowing that what would follow was likely the main point.
"However, the Sword Manual of Extinction is the founding text of Wanji Peak and is not to be learned by anyone other than the Sect Leader, nor can it be passed on lightly. But we must repay the great kindness you have shown to Wanji Peak. So, I have thought of a compromise, and I hope Young Hero Ye will understand," Yi Hanshuang said.
"Please continue," Ye Zhen said.
"Since the Sword Manual of Extinction is critical to the foundation of our Sect, I can only offer to let Young Hero Ye glance at its mental method, but I cannot give you the cultivation technique. I hope for your understanding, Young Hero Ye," Yi Hanshuang said.
Upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Ye Zhen’s mouth. After much calculation, he was finally about to gain access to the Sword Manual of Extinction.
"It’s not a problem. Besides, my original intention was to compare the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction with my Sword Heart Enlightenment," Ye Zhen said.
"That’s good to hear. However, before allowing Young Hero Ye to examine the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction, I must ask Young Hero Ye to make a Divine Soul Oath in my presence—that for the rest of your life, you shall not impart the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction you see today to anyone, nor shall you record it in any text or medium such as Jade Scrolls!" Wanji Peak Master Yi Hanshuang said with a very serious expression, her thoughts very thorough.
"No problem!"
The condition was not excessive, after all, it was their Sect’s treasured classic, and as long as Ye Zhen kept his promise, there would be no loss to him.
Thereupon, Ye Zhen made the Divine Soul Oath in front of Yi Hanshuang. Subsequently, the Peak Master Yi Hanshuang handed Ye Zhen a Jade Scroll, which contained the first half of the Sword Manual of Extinction, namely the mental method.
An hour later, Yi Hanshuang took back the Jade Scroll, and after thanking her, Ye Zhen headed straight for the guest residence where he was staying.
Having only glanced once at the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction, Ye Zhen’s First Sword Vein Divine Power began to resonate involuntarily, subtly responding to the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction.
This discovery immediately caused Ye Zhen to be overwhelmed with excitement. He had taken the right path this time!
Ye Zhen could not describe the brilliance of the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction which he was comprehending at this moment.
It felt like a truth that had been obscure for many years, one that he could almost understand in his mind, but he had always been unable to articulate systematically.
But upon seeing the Sword Manual of Extinction, that truth suddenly became clear and understandable.
Each line within the Sword Manual of Extinction was a precious gem of the Sword Dao, serving as a general outline that provided a systematic summary for many of Ye Zhen’s cultivation insights.
Especially, the sword techniques Ye Zhen had gleaned from the various Broken Swords he collected in the Spirit Sword Grave Mountain were very fragmented pieces of Sword Dao.
At that time, Ye Zhen could only forcefully comprehend the scattered Sword Dao contained in the Broken Swords, and forcefully integrate the fragmented Sword Dao into the seed of Sword Heart Enlightenment of his First Sword Vein.
However, the mental method of the Sword Manual of Extinction acted like myriad rivers flowing into the sea, sorting and summarizing these fragmented Sword Dao pieces, causing the Origin Sword Vein within Ye Zhen’s First Sword Vein to grow rapidly in strength.
Ye Zhen immersed his mind into the Sword Heart Enlightenment of the First Sword Vein to comprehend the Sword Manual of Extinction, and with each piece he understood, the level of Vein Forging in the First Sword Vein increased.
In just half an hour, the level of Vein Forging in Ye Zhen’s First Sword Vein had surged from around sixty-seven percent to seventy percent.
Indeed, the speed was that fast.
The gains from this half hour were worth a month of arduous cultivation that Ye Zhen had previously on Spirit Sword Grave Mountain. Of course, if it hadn’t been for that time spent in grueling cultivation on Spirit Sword Grave Mountain, his current understanding of the Sword Manual of Extinction would not have yielded such tremendous results.
To put it in another way, the Sword Dao knowledge Ye Zhen had acquired from the Broken Swords on Spirit Sword Grave Mountain was like obtaining thousands of independent, stagnant ponds and lakes.
The role of the Sword Manual of Extinction was like dredging channels, connecting these independent, enclosed ponds and lakes into a vast and interconnected network of water veins, turning still water into flowing water.
As ponds and lakes turned into rivers and converged, their power increased tens of thousands of times.
That also led to the rapid increase in the level of Vein Forging in Ye Zhen’s Sword Heart Enlightenment.
Having gained such astonishing results, Ye Zhen naturally spent days and nights comprehending the Sword Manual of Extinction, with new insights every day.
After the initial surge, the level of Vein Forging in the First Sword Vein began to increase steadily day by day, and his insight into the Sword Dao soared.
Ye Zhen immersed himself in arduous cultivation and contemplation for more than a month.
During that time, Wanji Peak Master Yi Hanshuang visited once, bringing the results of Wanji Peak disciples’ half-month-long pursuit of the Blood Demon remnants.
In this half month, the disciples of Wanji Peak had nearly searched the entire area within a thirty-thousand-li radius of Wanji Peak, but they found almost no useful information.
Only in a mountain range to the southeast, where Demon Beasts abounded, did they find the dried corpses of four Earth Level Monster Beasts that looked like the handiwork of the Blood Demon, each separated by about ten thousand li and only one day apart considering the speed of the Blood Demon remnants.
However, after discovering this clue, the Blood Demon remnants disappeared without a trace again.
This indicated that this Blood Demon remnant, as Ye Zhen or the mysterious elder Ning Shiyi had said, was almost like a frightened bird, hastening away in panic, fleeing as far and as fast as possible.
With this development, not only did Wanji Peak Master Yi Hanshuang feel relieved, but Ye Zhen also felt at ease and continued to concentrate on comprehending the Sword Manual of Extinction at Wanji Peak.
After a month of wholehearted contemplation of the Sword Manual of Extinction, the Vein Forging level of Ye Zhen’s First Sword Vein soared from the initial sixty-seven percent to eighty percent.
Now, whenever Ye Zhen plunged his Divine Sense into the First Sword Vein, eight or nine times out of ten, he could enter the state of Sword Heart Enlightenment.
Having reaped tremendous gains, the benefits of contemplating the Sword Manual of Extinction were diminishing, and Ye Zhen even had plans to leave in the coming days.
However, just as Ye Zhen was beginning to entertain this thought, a purple Dao Talisman Communication, like a meteor, fell from the sky, heading straight for the distinguished guest courtyard where he was staying.
The moment he saw this Talisman Communication, Ye Zhen’s face changed color.
The purple meteor-like Dao Talisman Communication was an urgent message from the Qiyun Sect!(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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