After I Play-and-Runned the World's Number One Sword Cultivator - Chapter 4

Qin Zhizhi knew better than anyone else just how good-looking Xie Yutai was.

He possessed long, narrow phoenix eyes, and sweeping eyebrows that extended into his hairline.

There were rumors that when Xie Yutai practiced his swordplay at the Wenjian Peak of the Guiyuan Sect, clad in a white shirt and a crane cloak, his fluttering garments were so ethereal that they actually attracted celestial cranes to fly over and hover around him, refusing to disperse for a long time. The cranes cried in the high marshes, their voices echoing across the heavens.

Not only was he exceptionally good-looking, but he was also terrifyingly strong. He reached Foundation Establishment at age thirteen and formed his core at twenty-three. In a mere fraction of the time, he completed a height that others might not necessarily achieve even after decades, making him the absolute top tier among the top tiers in the cultivation world. The elders of the Guiyuan Sect marveled at Xie Yutai’s demeanor and talent, and loved to call him the “Little Banished Immortal.” He was universally recognized in the current world as the genius with the highest prospects of ascending to immortality within a century.

Qin Zhizhi knew precisely how beautiful Xie Yutai’s eyes were. When he practiced his swordplay, his gaze was filled with a bleak and chilly sword intent, yet when he looked at others, it was detached, peaceful, and mild.

But now, those extraordinarily beautiful eyes were completely covered by a band of white silk, without exposing even a shred, causing her heart to sink upon seeing it.

Xie Yutai was blind.

“Daoist Friend Xie!”

“It’s Senior Brother Xie from the Guiyuan Sect!”

The moment the Heguang Sect disciples saw their savior arrive, their eyes lit up, and they called out one after another.

Xie Yutai stood outside the tavern. The white silk covering his eyes was tied behind his head, fluttering slightly with the wind. Hearing that their voices were still quite resonant and not smelling any scent of blood, he figured there shouldn’t be any major issues, so he gave a slight nod.

Even though he’s blind, he’s still so arrogant, Qin Zhizhi thought to herself. Still just as arrogant as ever.

“Xie Yutai, how can you be here?” That demon appeared somewhat unable to believe it. Clearly, Xie Yutai had been detained by Jiang Yuanzhi in the lands of the demonic cultivators, so how could he have arrived at Fotan in such a short amount of time? Could it be that someone else from the cultivation world was acting as a reinforcement? However, he quickly dismissed this thought.

Xie Yutai stood alone with a single sword, appearing fundamentally unlike someone who had reinforcements.

But seeing that his eyes were covered, the demon pondered for a moment and instantly smiled, saying, “How truly interesting. The number one sword cultivator of the cultivation world is actually blind now?”

Even as he spoke, the edge of Xie Yutai’s sword moved!

A chilling sword intent instantly sliced through the sky, carrying an brooks-no-argument absolute determination as it swept over all-enveloping. With a loud crash, the tavern window was damaged by the sword intent and abruptly burst open. One deep fracture after another appeared on the originally smooth window frame.

“Lu Yuandao, southwest.” Within the dust and smoke, Xie Yutai’s voice drifted over, sounding like the clashing of jade pendants, crisp and clear.

Hearing this, Lu Yuandao’s brows knitted tightly. With a “dang” sound, his first pluck across the zither strings resembled a pebble thrown into a pool of water, carving out layer upon layer of ripples. The ripples expanded continuously in midair, circle after circle, forming a massive convergence field of spiritual energy. Lu Yuandao’s right hand swept across the seven strings with a “shu” sound, and a powerful, oppressive aura instantly flowed toward the southwest.

The yellow sand was blown apart by the spiritual energy, revealing a young silhouette. The person wore a blue shirt and a white robe, with his hair styled in a sky-high topknot. He stood perfectly straight, holding a talisman in his hand, presenting the exact appearance of a mortal cultivator. Seeing his array broken and his true body revealed, he did not panic at all. Shaking his head, he remarked, “We meet again, Senior Brother Xie.”

Upon seeing this person, Lu Yuandao’s expression suddenly shifted. “Isn’t this Junior Brother Zong Yan of the Guiyuan Sect?”

Qin Zhizhi was also somewhat surprised. She had met Zong Yan in the past, but Zong Yan was merely an outer sect disciple of Wenjian Peak, so she was not very familiar with him. However, no matter how much of an outer disciple Zong Yan was, he was ultimately a person of cultivation. How could he be completely filled with demonic aura now, and even have his cultivation level surge drastically?

Su Qingyi ground her teeth and said, “But Junior Brother Zong Yan has clearly already died!”

He had died precisely during that grand covenant ceremony at the Guiyuan Sect. Jiang Yuanzhi had led the demonic army to attack the Guiyuan Sect without any warning, ruining Xie Yutai’s wedding. The people who died that day were far more than just Qin Zhizhi.

“Senior Brother Xie, if it weren’t for attending your covenant ceremony, I wouldn’t have died either, you know.” Bearing Zong Yan’s face, the person smiled exceptionally brightly. Tilting his head, he inquired, “How does Senior Brother plan to compensate me?”

He activated the rune in his hand, yet the surrounding walking corpses showed absolutely no reaction. The smile originally on his face abruptly shifted, revealing a hint of sinister malice and disgust. “What a bunch of useless trash, to be frightened into this state by mere sword intent.”

As he spoke, he bit his finger. The original rune burned in midair, and blood suffused with black energy drew a rune in the sky. The bloodstains did not disperse in the wind but solidified in front of him, ghostly and sinister.

“Go!” With his smile, the surrounding corpses instantly sprang into action. They no longer bent their waists but took steps, advancing toward Xie Yutai step by step.

Su Qingyi said furiously, “This is not Zong Yan!”

Of course it isn’t, Qin Zhizhi thought to herself while enclosed within the musical domain upon hearing Su Qingyi’s words. To possess this level of cultivation and technique, there is only one person across the world—the Left Protector of the demonic race, Dan Wuning.

Sure enough, in the next instant, Lu Yuandao let out a cold laugh. “Left Protector of the demonic race, the ghost cultivator Dan Wuning.”

Aside from the Demon Venerable, the demonic race possessed two great protectors: the Left Protector ghost cultivator Dan Wuning, and the Right Protector enchantress Jiang Yuanzhi. Jiang Yuanzhi loved insidious plots and playing with human hearts, making her a thorough demonic enchantress. Dan Wuning excelled at “refining corpses” and most preferred to capture cultivators to turn into his own puppets, whom he could continue to command even after death. After all, nothing was more obedient than a dead person.

It was just that outsiders had only ever seen Jiang Yuanzhi, whereas no one had ever seen Dan Wuning. Every time he appeared, he utilized a puppet avatar, so no one knew his true strength or actual appearance.

Under Dan Wuning’s instigation, the crowd of corpses surrounded Xie Yutai. The situation on Lu Yuandao’s side was also far from optimistic. This group of corpses that had already been dead for a long time seemed as though they were injected with chicken blood, throwing themselves against the musical domain one after another. The Heguang Sect disciples’ zither music surged powerfully, constructing a defensive barrier of sound. However, the unfeeling corpses forced themselves against the musical domain, piling up one after another to fill the space with their physical bodies. The cultivation energy scorched the flesh, emitting a “zi-zi” sound. Very soon, the defensive music of the Heguang Sect disciples began to weaken, and with a “shu” sound, a large opening was ripped through the musical domain!

“Terrible,” a Heguang Sect disciple called out in a low voice.

Lu Yuandao’s brows furrowed deeply. He was the eldest senior brother among this group of people, and his cultivation had already reached the Bigu stage, making him far more stable and composed than these reckless youngsters. Seeing the array broken, he pushed away the disciple beside the opening, using his own body to block the crowd of corpses. Amidst the plucking techniques of gou, tuo, mo, and tiao, a rendition of Breaking the Array played out the grandeur of armored horses and iron weapons.

“So noisy,” Dan Wuning complained. “I absolute hate you zither cultivators the most.”

He threw back his head and roared toward the sky. The roaring sound surged straight into the nine heavens, its internal force long and continuous. Lu Yuandao, who was currently resisting it, was directly struck by the backlash of the demonic aura, throwing up a mouthful of fresh blood with a “wah.” The other disciples of the Heguang Sect were also disrupted by the roar, and Su Qingyi unexpectedly fainted right away.

Right at this moment, the surrounded Xie Yutai suddenly made his move. His sword techniques were extraordinarily fast, his entire being resembling the sword in his hand, and at that instant, his sword also seemed to possess a soul. No one could see clearly how exactly he struck. The sword intent whipped up the scattered yellow sand, and the crowd of corpses was suppressed by it; the ring of corpses closest to Xie Yutai was instantly slaughtered by the sword intent, sliced cleanly into two halves.

Such terrifying and astonishing sword intent caused the corpses originally surrounding Lu Yuandao and the others to shift their direction, dragging their already ruined bodies as they stumbled and closed in on Xie Yutai.

Xie Yutai’s movements were exceptionally swift as he broke through the crowd of corpses. The wind rolled the dust and sand, blurring everyone’s vision; they could only catch a glimpse of a corner of his robe sweeping past, flashing faintly alongside the sword light.

Xie Yutai stood entirely alone, facing Dan Wuning. Surrounding him were scattered, broken corpse-men, and blood traces were currently sliding down the edge of his sword.

The wind blew the white silk tied behind his head, entangling it with a few strands of black hair.

“You talk too much nonsense.”

Faced with this current situation of deities fighting, as an ordinary human completely devoid of cultivation, Qin Zhizhi had absolutely no recourse. She had originally been leaning sideways against a table leg, but seeing the situation turn in Xie Yutai’s favor, she pondered for a moment and then quietly lay down right beside Su Qingyi.

Since I’m useless anyway, I might as well just play dead.

Seeking survival by playing dead she was incredibly familiar with this.

Witnessing the entire process of Qin Zhizhi’s actions, Lu Yuandao failed to bring up a breath of spiritual energy, nearly causing his energy channels to clog.

Qin Zhizhi looked completely justified and perfectly innocent.

Her greatest capability was lying down without moving.

The corpse array was broken, yet Dan Wuning did not panic in the slightest. He looked at Xie Yutai, the smile on his face fading by a fraction. “You are indeed very strong.”

“Only, why is there demonic aura upon your body?”

Demonic aura? Qin Zhizhi couldn’t help but prick up her ears.

Xie Yutai was a cultivator with a pure spiritual root, possessing outstanding natural talent, pure spiritual energy, and a righteous, unyielding character. Furthermore, what he practiced was the unyielding, slaughter-filled Dao of Absolute Emotionlessness, so it was impossible by any means for him to be connected to the word “demon.” What did Dan Wuning mean by those words?

Qin Zhizhi couldn’t help but tilt her head, wanting to steal a glance toward Xie Yutai’s direction. Who could have known that the moment she moved, Dan Wuning suddenly let out a “yi” sound: “How is there still a fish that slipped through the net?”

What fish that slipped through the net? Could there actually be someone else here? Qin Zhizhi was still filled with doubt.

And then, she went flying.

Qin Zhizhi: You? Uh? This?