Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 197 - 197 196 The Sorrow of the Family

197: Chapter 196: The Sorrow of the Family 197: Chapter 196: The Sorrow of the Family The offering that was supposed to be a tribute suddenly turned into sending someone off for reincarnation, a change that caught everyone by surprise.

But the crowd soon rallied, and the dead man’s two friends, not caring that they were in the sanctity of a memorial hall, one drew his sword and lunged forward, while the other threw out a spiritual artifact in the form of a spinning, chaotic blade wheel, clearly used to such cooperation.

Hou Niao raised his sword and thrust it directly into the center of the blade wheel, instantly breaking the fragile connection between it and its master.

After all, it was just a spiritual artifact controlled not by divine sense but merely guided by spiritual power, making it easily decipherable by others.

That was the limitation of loose cultivators; they considered their so-called spiritual artifacts remarkable, but in reality, they were nothing in front of true sect disciples.

Taking advantage of the momentum, he swept his sword across, carrying the blade wheel with it towards the oncoming swordsman.

The cultivator was taken aback, unable to figure out how his longsword could deal with this enormous light wheel.

He twisted his body hastily, no longer focused on attacking his enemy, and managed to dodge by a hair’s breadth, only to feel a chill under his ribs as a sharp object penetrated his body!

The one who launched the blade wheel died by it, and the one who drew the longsword was killed by it.

All in all, it was merely one sword move, yet two lives were extinguished.

Such swordsmanship, almost divine; to accurately target the weak point in the center of the spinning blade wheel, instantly severing spiritual power control, then flicking it back to kill, and all the while taking another life with the sword—the intricacies involved were immense.

A member of the Wen family exclaimed, “You are a Quanzhen Sword Cultivator!”

Hou Niao, unhurried, replied, “Who I am does not matter!

What matters is that everyone must follow the rules.

If you don’t follow the rules, I will send you down to discuss them with Daoist Wen.”

The Wen family members fell silent; some knew their old uncle had friends who were sword cultivators, but were unaware of who exactly?

It turned out the old uncle had entrusted his resources to a sword cultivator, complicating matters significantly.

No one dared to force their hand anymore, as they might have to confront a member of the Demon Sect!

The loose cultivators were also shaken; they were brave and fierce, but it depended on whom they faced.

Could ten or more cultivators take down one?

Perhaps, but at what cost?

Was it worth it?

Would it all end up being in vain?

The status of loose cultivators in the cultivation world was like that of wild beasts in the wilderness; their priority was to ensure their own safety, like the so-called ferocious animals, they too would pick their battles, not just humans—it’s not the human quality of bullying the weak and fearing the strong without adequate temptation, firm belief, and a supporting system in place, who would dare risk injury lightly?

Hou Niao was well aware of their thoughts, having once been one of the myriad loose cultivators himself.

“Since no one is speaking, I will set a rule; as a cultivation family, strength should do the talking; everything else is an illusion.

Each lineage produces three cultivators to compete and discuss victory or defeat, and at least one of the three must be a descendant of the Wen family.

Calling for outside help—what kind of a practice is that?”

The final victor will receive three Treasure Gourds, the runner-up two, and the next one, one, with the remaining two to be divided among the ten families.

Does anyone have any objections?”

With his words, Hou Niao successfully stirred up the competitive spirit among the thirteen Wen lineages; even if he genuinely handed over these Treasure Gourds, it was most likely that the Wen family would internally struggle to decide their distribution, otherwise, they would never be able to peacefully divide them.

Powerful lineages naturally hoped to obtain more, and the weaker ones also hoped to earn their share through their own efforts, with very few truly remaining indifferent and unprovoked.

Yet, this method of distribution immediately eliminated a few lineages, for what could they do if there were no cultivators within a lineage?

In the Cultivation Lineage, without cultivators, what is there to compete for in terms of cultivation resources?

What is the point of upholding the Wen Family’s banner?

The only option left was to wait until the end when the ten losing families would share the two Treasure Gourds; although small, they were still better than nothing.

At that time, four family branches withdrew from the competition, and to Hou Niao’s surprise, a side branch with two cultivators also withdrew, one practicing Fasting and the other Essence Building.

This branch was staunch, not only withdrawing from the competition but also forfeiting their chance to share in the spoils of the defeated, declaring on the spot that they would establish their own sect before turning around and walking away, earning the respect of all present.

Only nine families remained, and after a fierce round of bargaining, an intense competition began.

At first, since they were all clan members, there was some courtesy and restraint, but as the battle intensified and the lure of resources grew incredibly strong, and given that the Quanzhen envoy seemed indifferent to their fratricidal behavior, their moves became ruthless, soon leading to injuries and eventually the first death, from which there was no turning back.

Centuries of pent-up grievances were finally aired at this moment, airing old grievances and petty quarrels in full display, showing the true nature of a major family.

This was the harm of autocracy; with Wen Jinglai around, all of this had been hidden beneath the surface, but once that control was lost, the eruption was even more cruel and bloody than external conflicts.

The competition lasted a whole day and night, everyone was injured and more than half died, and in reality, no clear winner emerged because it is impossible to expect a group of enraged people to follow any rules, so the losers did not concede, and the winners did not gain any proper recognition.

Hou Niao was troubled, “With you all like this, it really puts me in a difficult position to choose.

How about this, let’s not divide you into first, second, and third place anymore; let’s make it so that the winner takes all, and the winner is the king!”

There was no need for further incitement; after a day, everyone was truly enraged, and now was the perfect opportunity to settle everything at once.

They began forming factions and alliances, plotting confrontations; the losers suffered appalling losses and withdrew in silence, while the winners ended up splitting internally and continued fighting until, of the original twenty or thirty family and outsider cultivators, only three to five could still stand.

Finally, they realized something was amiss.

The catastrophe of ‘Eight Gourds slaughtering thirteen lineages’ had indeed become a reality!

“Where is the guest from Quanzhen?

Has anyone seen them?”

Everyone looked at each other, speechless and unable to respond, for that vicious Quanzhen Sword Cultivator had disappeared without a trace at some unknown time amidst the fray; thankfully, the Treasure Gourds were still there, which was why no one had noticed that person’s absence.

A Wen Family cultivator, panting, already had a bad premonition, although he couldn’t pinpoint the source.

Rushing to the front, he picked up one of the gourds, his face pale with shock!

This was not at all an artifact from the Cultivation World, but rather a toy plastic gourd sold at street stalls to amuse children.

When cultivation had become the premier path of advancement, everyone prided themselves on having a Treasure Gourd hanging from their waist, just as children might carry wooden swords.

It was indeed a gourd, but not the gourd they expected.

Picking up the other Treasure Gourds to examine them, the more he looked, the colder his heart became, the angrier he felt; they were all dead gourds, containing nothing more than the occasional gourd seed!

“The treacherous Quanzhen villain has broken his faith and fled with the money!”