Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 405 - 055 Ancient Blood Thunder Emperor Qi!

Chapter 405: Chapter 055 Ancient Blood Thunder Emperor Qi!

Zhou Yan turned around, his gaze slightly lowered as he looked beneath the crystal coffin, where a broken, snow-white long sword lay.

This sword was snow-white, so white that it seemed almost forlorn.

Many spider-web-like cracks marred its surface.

Within those cracks, a broken Sword Spirit lay sleeping.

"Little Xue... I’ve arrived. Now, I have become a true powerful warrior among the Twelve Sword Souls, a supreme genius, far surpassing the Dual Sword Souls...

I’m going to save your sister, Xiao Shuang... But you must hold on!"

Zhou Yan gently cradled the sword as if holding a rare treasure. This broken sword now appeared extremely desolate, bleak.

A bone-chilling coldness emanated bit by bit from the sword, no longer possessing the warmth it once had.

The Little Xue of the past, the Feng Lingqing of the past... Memories of a happily laughing past. Though powerless, not mighty, and far from a notable genius, those days represented a lifetime of joyful memories.

"So many years have passed, Little Xue; Brother Zhou Yan’s heart has aged. But Brother Zhou Yan... really misses you, really misses Qing’er..."

For the first time, Zhou Yan opened his heart, his Soul Consciousness nestling close to Little Xue’s Sword Body, hoping to offer her a bit of aid.

He didn’t notice the humid breath that seeped out from the broken cracks.

...

Zhou Yan’s Soul Consciousness withdrew from the Purple Flame Void. His face bore an unspeakable look of desolation and bleakness.

It was a feeling of almost painful loneliness, as well as suffocating time-worn desolation.

Zhou Yan’s mood hadn’t improved with his advancement in Realm. Instead, after unraveling the seal on the Emperor Qi Sword Body and facing everything from the past, he felt somewhat sad.

However, he quickly composed himself and then took out a flask of wine—Fiery Flame Sword Heart Wine—from the extreme jade cold light ring refined by Yanyan.

There had been a stockpile of this wine, but it had been hidden away, sealed along with Yanyan. Now, it had reappeared.

Zhou Yan took a sip of the wine, bitter and scalding hot, but that was all.

The wine that once seared the soul with its fervent heat now tasted as insipid as water.

The wine was still the same from the past.

But the person was no longer who he once was.

"Eh? What wine is this? It smells wonderful! I like it, brother!"

Xiong Ba woke up, bouncing to his feet with the terrifying pressure of a Sword Soul Realm Demon Beast.

However, it quickly retracted that aura and then gazed at Zhou Yan with eager eyes.

"Let’s not drink for now. We should leave this place soon; it’s far too dangerous. The better off I am, the more I feel like I’m walking on thin ice."

"Uh... okay."

Xiong Ba, seeing Zhou Yan had returned to his normal self, found him somewhat curious and gave Zhou Yan another look before saying nothing more.

"Looking at your condition, your Combat Power must be close to breaking eight or even nearing nine, and you’re also at the Sword Soul Three Heavens, nearly as strong as me."

Zhou Yan sensed for a moment and realized that Xiong Ba’s Blood Qi was indeed extremely formidable, not much less than his own.

"Hmm, if you hadn’t refined the Heaven-reaching Creation Pill and turned your Blood Qi into Ancient Blood, you wouldn’t be on par with me now. Right now, with your Ancient Blood, you can shake the Ten Thousand Clans with just a burst of Blood Qi; you can crush them just with the force of your presence."

Xiong Ba stated matter-of-factly.

It didn’t seem ashamed that it might be slightly less powerful than Zhou Yan, rather it felt honored, as if that was something to be proud of.

Zhou Yan vaguely understood this was because of his ’identity’ from the past, but he didn’t want to think too deeply about it. He simply nodded at Xiong Ba’s words and asked, "Xiong Ba, if I wanted to rescue the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts, where should I start?"

Zhou Yan inquired.

"That’s simple; lure some top-level powerhouses into this Netherworld Demon Cave so that the numerous restrictions can suppress them. They will struggle against the Demon Cave, which will gradually weaken its power. Of course, we can also grow faster this way. Saint flesh, that’s a great tonic!"

Xiong Ba said, licking its lips greedily.

This was an absolutely deceitful idea.

"Provoke peerless powerhouses, is there any chance of actually bringing them here? I imagine they’d be suppressed to death on the road. After all, a peerless powerhouse can kill with just a gesture of their intent."

Zhou Yan frowned slightly as he analyzed.

"That’s where my Array Dao comes in. I’ll handle the arrays to guide you, Brother Zhou Yan, and you’ll be responsible for luring a few Saints chasing us into this place. By then, the Origin Energy refined from the Saints’ flesh, we’ll share it fifty-five. The treasures of the Saints, well, I’ll grudgingly take just half of them."

Xiong Ba suggested.

"You think the Saints are fools?"

Zhou Yan frowned again.

"No, why would Saints be fools? But all you need to do is go out there, flaunt the might of the Ancient Blood, strongly suppress a Prohibition Genius and that will draw them in. Everything outside this Netherworld Demon Cave is actually under the Saints’ watch. Any genius who comprehends a part of the Ancient Blood’s Secret Technique will be closely monitored. The geniuses being tested in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb—they’re just tools, or rather, there’s a traitor among the Saints scheming against the rest. The tested geniuses—are victims."

Xiong Ba’s words sent a chill through Zhou Yan’s heart.

He suddenly thought of the words of ’Miao Han Xuanzhe’ and his mood immediately became grave.

Zhou Yan had always assumed that ’Miao Han Xuanzhe’s words were lies because they seemed to be from a fabricated character derived from an Evil Spirit. But now, it seemed those words might be closest to the truth.

As for how Xiong Ba knew so much, Zhou Yan felt that Xiong Ba must possess a terrifying special ability, or perhaps its innate divine skill had an exceedingly mysterious power that could capture many unpredictable things; or maybe it was simply because it was all too familiar with this place.

Zhou Yan didn’t ask Xiong Ba; he knew that even if he asked, the bear would not tell him.

Zhou Yan pondered for a moment and then said, "Let’s do it as you’ve suggested."

"Good, then I’ll start setting up the grand array here—you take this foundational array stone. It’s a Mother-child Soul Suppressing Stone. With this Soul Stone, you can exhibit the ability to traverse the Void in times of danger, navigating through the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.

However, don’t think that those above the Ancestor-level can’t chase after you. When you traverse the Void, Ancestor-level powerhouses can sense the disturbance in the Void and pursue to kill, so don’t be careless.

Eh, it’s no big deal if you fail, but it will make me, Xiong Ba, quite depressed to have wasted brain cells on setting up a grand array for nothing and be left without food!"

Xiong Ba immediately prattled on with a lot to say.

Zhou Yan nodded, taking a piece of Green Jade Jade from its furry beast paw. He took a closer look and found that this item looked very much like the Heavenly Dao Soul Stone but was even purer.

"It seems there are quite a few treasures on Xiong Ba," Zhou Yan thought to himself, yet he didn’t point this out explicitly, storing the Green Jade Jade in the ring that Yanyan had refined to a Soul Artifact level, the Extreme Jade Cold Light Ring.

The Extreme Jade Cold Light Ring was once a gift from Jiang Yushuang, the sister of the Holy Daughter, to Zhou Yan. He had always kept it, and now that it had returned to its original form, he did not deliberately change it.

...

Zhou Yan bade farewell to the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts and, following Xiong Ba’s guidance, left the Netherworld Demon Cave alone ahead of them.

With the map provided by Xiong Ba, Zhou Yan made his way out of the dreadful Demon Cave without any dangers.

Once outside, Heaven and Earth were still desolate; the gravity was still enormous, a myriad of times stronger, yet it was much better than inside the Netherworld Demon Cave.

At the same time, the wind was howling through, and the vast expanse was dotted with desolate Sword Tombs.

Here, this was the true territory of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.

After coming out, Zhou Yan sensed the presence of two Cultivators fluctuating nearby by simply scanning the surrounding aura.

When he sensed them, the Cultivators who sensed Zhou Yan’s undisguised aura also detected him. Therefore, he did not seek them out nor did he intentionally leave but pondered the possible location of Xiao Shuang, the sister of Sword Spirit Xiao Xue.

As for the other Cultivators, Zhou Yan no longer cared about them.

"Hmm? Zhou Yan? Emperor Qi Sword Body Zhou Yan? Good! I did not expect to encounter you here!"

Zhou Yan paid no attention, but at this moment, one of the Cultivators, following the trace of his aura, flew toward him. Upon seeing Zhou Yan, he immediately showed a strong desire to kill.

"Yun Li Xuanzhe? The third-ranked man? Yun Lu Xuanzhe, the ninth-ranked woman?"

Zhou Yan stopped contemplating, looking down at the two green-clothed men and women with a superior gaze.

These two resembled each other in appearance and their strength was unfathomably deep, as if each harbored a divine presence within, exuding a fearsome aura.

If it were the Zhou Yan who had not merged or made progress before entering the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, even if he used all of his trump cards without Fist Intent, he would not be able to withstand the two, and he might even have perished.

But now, he looked at these two as if they were grasshoppers.

"Knowing that is good enough!" the green-clothed woman, Yun Lu Xuanzhe, said coldly.

Her voice was pleasant to hear, laced with an exotic charm, wrapped in a wisp of a unique Luck Power, with Tao Principle Radiance faintly visible around her.

"It seems you are no brute, but it is a pity you chose a name that is destined for death! The death of Emperor Kong Lian Cheng was all because of that Zhou Yan! And clearly, by changing your name from ’Lee Sha’ to ’Zhou Yan,’ you aim to cling to the favor of the Holy Daughter’s heart, which is blatantly obvious!

Zhou Yan is dead, and yet you still use this name to showcase the might of your Thunderflame Sword Body, seizing the Qi Fortune of the Emperor Qi Sword Body, all of these make you deserving of death!"

The man spoke with a deep hatred, which seemed somewhat inexplicable.

"As long as I kill you, it would be the same as killing the invincible aura of Emperor Qi Sword Body Zhou Yan at the same time! It has been said by a Sage that by using the name ’Zhou Yan,’ you are actually seizing the remaining Qi Fortune of the Emperor Qi Sword Body."

The woman explained, but her attitude was cold as ice.

"I see. If I didn’t go by the name ’Zhou Yan,’ could I live?"

A cold smile appeared on Zhou Yan’s face as he asked in return.

"You’d still be heading down a dead end!"

The green-clothed man sternly said, "The ancient Thunderflame Sword Body, if killed and its soul shattered, watching it dissipate into ash, will certainly grant mastery over a certain aspect of the soul’s way. It is tremendously beneficial for comprehending Sword Intent here. Hence, any ancient Sword Body is a target for all geniuses here!"

"So that’s how it is. I finally understand... why I am so hated!" Zhou Yan nodded then suddenly said, "Now, you both can die!"

After Zhou Yan spoke, the transformed ancient bloodline inside him surged forth immediately, forming a terrifying golden Blood Qi, as if an eternal War God was suddenly reborn from the fire.

"What?"

"How can he be so strong?!"

Yun Li Xuanzhe and Yun Lu Xuanzhe were both taken aback, showing panic on their faces.

But they did not have time to respond, because at that moment, the ancient blood vibrated, and a terrible pressure manifested in the world, the wrath of a Thunder King.

The blood of Thunder and Emperor Qi Sword Body combined, revealing the might of a Thunder King. When this aura of Blood Qi erupted, it instantly pinned down the two Profound Level geniuses in place, completely immobilized.

"Heavenly Dragon Sword Soul!"

"Thunderhawk Sword Soul!"

With a single thought from Zhou Yan, two Sword Souls suddenly flew out from within him, like ancient Immortal Beasts released by a Thunder King!

The dragon soared!

The hawk screamed!