The Unparalleled Sword Emperor
Chapter 528 - 527: Ten Great Magical Artifacts! Demon Sword!

Chapter 528: Chapter 527: Ten Great Magical Artifacts! Demon Sword!

Lin Bai stepped on the soft soil of the temple, entering its sanctum.

Ling Tianzi had said that here, Lin Bai would learn about the Devouring Sword Spirit.

The temple was a crumbling ancient sanctuary, utterly dilapidated.

In the courtyard stood a phoenix tree, its demise unknown ages past.

In one corner of the yard lay a dry well.

The ground was soft with soil, bereft even of a single weed.

Lin Bai looked around cautiously, carefully venturing into the temple.

As Lin Bai entered the temple, the Desolate Sword Cultivator, who’d chased the Tiger King into the forest, abruptly turned to look at the temple. Under his disheveled hair, those dead, lifeless pupils turned bloody red.

"No, no, no! No, no!"

The voice of the Desolate Sword Cultivator was hoarse. He stared at the temple, abandoning his pursuit of the Tiger King, and turned directly to rush toward the temple.

The Tiger King was relieved to see the Desolate Sword Cultivator wasn’t chasing him.

He let out a sigh, his eyes full of fear as he watched the departure of the Desolate Sword Cultivator.

Lin Bai stepped inside the temple.

There was a statue of Buddha enshrined in the temple, which at this moment had been cleaved in two by a single sword-strike.

Seeing the sword marks, Lin Bai was able to tell at a glance that they were from the Demon Sword.

Under the Buddha statue lay a skeleton clad in a kasaya.

"The well in the yard, the Seal Heart Pond!"

As Lin Bai looked at the skeleton, an elderly voice made its way into his ears.

Lin Bai was stunned and quickly withdrew the Qingge Sword, asking in a tense voice, "Who’s speaking?"

Lin Bai asked.

But no one answered him.

Suddenly, an angry roar echoed.

"Ah——"

Startled, Lin Bai turned and saw the Desolate Sword Cultivator, eyes bloody red, staring at him as if Lin Bai had stolen his treasure.

He darted forward, crossing a mile in three steps. His Demon Sword raised high, its crimson Sword Aura chopped down with force.

This attack changed the color of heaven and earth, eclipsing the sun and the moon, as if it were the end of the world.

"Damn! How did he come back so fast?"

Swearing, Lin Bai activated his Feng Lei Divine Wings, avoiding the attack by a hair’s breadth.

This attack crashed into the temple.

Originally, Lin Bai’s sword strike was enough to shatter the temple, but he did not expect that the Slash would hit the temple and be shattered by an invisible force.

"To the dry well, quick!"

At this point, the elderly voice urgently instructed.

Seeing the Desolate Sword Cultivator rushing toward him, Lin Bai made a beeline for the dry well without a second thought.

Lin Bai arrived at the well and looked down. There was a clear blue spring at the bottom of the well.

"Jump into it."

The elderly voice said.

"Ahhhh——!"

The Desolate Sword Cultivator saw Lin Bai had reached the well. He let out infuriated roars.

Immediately, his speed surged yet again, targeting Lin Bai’s chest with an explosive sword thrust.

Before the sword ever hit Lin Bai, the blood-red Sword Aura from the Demon Sword caused Lin Bai’s body to feel as if it were being torn apart by countless swords.

"Screw it! If death is what it takes, then jump!"

Cursing, Lin Bai jumped into the well.

Falling into the waters of the dry well, Lin Bai immediately began to sink.

With a swing of his sword that hit nothing but air, the desolate sword cultivator collapsed onto the edge of the well, peering down into it and repeatedly yelling, "No, no, no!"

He plunged into the well waters.

Lin Bai opened his eyes, taking in everything around him.

Beneath the water well, it seemed as though Lin Bai entered another world.

This was a world of azure.

Before Lin Bai, an old monk sat cross-legged.

The old monk looked at Lin Bai descending, slightly opening his eyes, he chuckled, "Don’t be startled, donor, I am but a remnant soul, incapable of inflicting harm upon you."

Even now, Lin Bai was still in dread, the power of the Demon Sword was truly startling.

Seeing the old monk in this form, a mere remnant of his former self, Lin Bai felt somewhat more at ease.

The old monk chuckled, "Donor, you are the only person who has entered the temple alive in thousands of years."

Lin Bai asked in bewilderment, "Are you saying that no warrior has entered the temple in thousands of years?"

The old monk chuckled, "Perhaps someone wanted to come to the temple, or perhaps they were already killed by him."

"Him? The ’him’ that master refers to, would that be the sword cultivator with the Black Sword?" Lin Bai curiously asked.

The old monk nodded, "Yes, his name is Ji Xiang. He was once the First Sword Cultivator of the Lingdong 700 States, but he dabbled too much in his practice and lost his mind and conscience, becoming a heartless killer."

"His father found me and begged me to intervene, to convince Ji Xiang to lay down the slaughter knife, but when I encountered Ji Xiang, I discovered that the sword he held was anything but ordinary."

Lin Bai asked curiously, "That sword is indeed extraordinary."

The old monk said, "That sword is called the Demon Sword, one of the Ten Great Magical Artifacts of the Barbarian Ancient Continent. If a warrior whose spirit isn’t resolute wields this sword, they will be bewitched by the evil spirit within the sword, be led astray and become a killing machine."

"When I found Ji Xiang, he was past the point of no return. I subdued him and brought him to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, far away from the Martial Arts Empire, to minimize the killing."

"I initially wanted to convince him to lay down the Demon Sword, but he was deeply attached to it."

After hearing this, Lin Bai laughed scornfully, "A sword cultivator will never give up his sword."

This was the destiny of a sword cultivator!

A sword cultivator will never lay down his sword.

To lay down the sword is equivalent to abandoning the dignity, the power, the martial arts of a sword cultivator...

The old monk chuckled, "Indeed, I later invited a general from the Holy Night Dynasty to work with me, we aimed to seize the Demon Sword."

"However, to my surprise, during this period, Ji Xiang’s cultivation surged. Even when the general and I combined forces, we proved no match for Ji Xiang."

"That general was immediately beheaded by Ji Xiang on the spot; I was injured by Ji Xiang’s Sword Qi and my life was hanging by a thread."

"On my deathbed, I set up a secret skill, using the temple as a cage to trap Ji Xiang here, just to prevent him from wantonly massacring innocents."

"But I didn’t expect that Ji Xiang had no intention of leaving. He just wanted to stay here forever with the Demon Sword, believing that this would stop people from trying to take his sword."

The old monk laughed bitterly.

After hearing this, Lin Bai realized that Ji Xiang, beguiled by the Demon Sword, had completely lost his humanity.

Then, the old monk sought out a general from the Holy Night Dynasty to help him sieze the Demon Sword, which terrified Ji Xiang.

Now, Ji Xiang believed that anyone who appeared here was here to take his Demon Sword.

Therefore, when he saw Lin Bai step into the temple, he was so agitated and nervous. He feared that the remnant soul of the old monk would tell Lin Bai a trick to seize his Demon Sword.

"Since the old monk has already said so much, could you perhaps grant a small favor and rid the world of this great calamity," the old monk’s expression suddenly turned solemn, staring intently at Lin Bai.

Lin Bai asked, "What kind of favor?"

The old monk said, "Years ago, I set up a heaven-connecting secret method in this temple, trapping Ji Xiang here. I originally wanted to painstakingly persuade him to become good, but now it seems, the old monk no longer can."

"So, I have no other choice but to take the final step."

"In the past, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to control Ji Xiang, so I left a backup plan under this water pond, a magic circle named ’Four Locks Trapping God Array’. But now, as the old monk’s cultivation has been exhausted, only a fragment of his soul remains, he can no longer command the magic circle."

"If you could help me activate this magic circle, you will be able to suppress Ji Xiang. Then the old monk can finally rest in peace."

The old monk said, grinning.

"Of course, this small favor will not be for nothing. The old monk has one last bit of strength to help you unriddle the Mirror Flower and Water Moon, allowing you to see a glimpse of the future."

"How about this trade-off?"