After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 29

When Wu Ruo arrived at the main gate, the night had already dispersed, with faint light filtering through the clouds. The surroundings were utterly silent.

The security at the main entrance of Zhiyuan Immortal Sect was far stricter than that of a single peak like Luoxue Peak. The watchtowers rotated guards every six hours, and in addition, the sect’s guardian puppets stood ready at the gates at all times.

A massive mechanical puppet crouched silently before the sect’s entrance, its appearance resembling an enormous tortoise shell, with its limbs and head retracted into the colossal carapace. From a distance, an unknowing observer might mistake it for a weathered, bluish-gray boulder.

This was the artifact puppet of the sect’s guardian divine beast, the Black Tortoise, forged many years ago by the previous sect leader. It had always stood behind the massive stone gate, its shell bearing the marks of wind and rain.

At this moment, it happened to be the shift change for the guards. A row of cultivators in cloud-patterned robes filed out of the watchtowers in an orderly manner each robe in one of four colors: cyan, pink, blue, and yellow representing the four main peaks.

Wu Ruo watched quietly, wrapping her aura in spiritual energy. Before leaving, she had changed into robes that blended perfectly with the night, allowing her to conceal her presence.

Taking advantage of the guards’ distraction during the shift change, it was the perfect opportunity to slip out unnoticed.

With a quick glance toward the watchtowers, she seized the moment when the moon was obscured by clouds and hurried toward the gate. Just as she was about to pass through,

BOOM!

A deafening tremor shook the heavens, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth splitting apart. Dust billowed at the sect’s entrance.

The massive stone inscribed with the words “Zhiyuan Immortal Sect” plummeted to the ground in an instant, kicking up a cloud of ochre dust.

An enormous figure, like a monstrous beast blotting out the sky, slowly rose. The bluish-gray tortoise shell trembled violently as thick limbs extended, shaking the earth beneath it.

The beast’s head gradually emerged from its shell just its head alone was as tall as ten cultivators stacked together. Its head and limbs were pieced together from mechanical parts, emitting sharp, grating sounds.

The creature spoke in human tongue, its overwhelming pressure instantly suffusing the surroundings, weighing down on Wu Ruo’s chest as if a thousand pounds pressed upon her entire body:

“You bear neither a mission scroll nor an exit token of the sect’s disciples. You are not a member of Zhiyuan Immortal Sect! Who are you?”

“I am not from Zhiyuan Immortal Sect. Please allow me to leave,” Wu Ruo replied, neither submissive nor arrogant despite the immense pressure.

“Denied. A nameless trespasser dares to intrude upon Zhiyuan Immortal Sect, do you think you can leave unscathed?”

The beast’s voice was thunderous, escalating into a threatening roar by the end. Wu Ruo’s heart sank. She quickly glanced at the watchtowers and saw the guards, now fully alert, drawing their swords and advancing.

“Halt! Who are you?”

The eight guards, originally in the midst of their shift change, had been startled into cold sweat by the commotion. The four main peaks primarily cultivated sword practitioners, who took on the sect’s security duties. Now, all eight drew their swords in unison, their imposing aura radiating spiritual light in all directions, illuminating the sky as bright as day.

“I merely wandered in by mistake,” Wu Ruo turned to face them.

Seeing the guards approach, the guardian puppet ceased its aggressive stance, though it remained poised, ready to strike a fatal blow at any moment.

“Impossible!” a cultivator adorned with green cloud patterns shouted loudly. “The Zhiyuan Immortal Sect is heavily guarded, there’s no way an outsider could sneak in! You must be a thief here to cause trouble, and now you think you can just leave?”

The guards erupted into a clamor of voices, but only one cultivator standing at the very back, dressed in blue cloud patterns, a disciple of the Snowfall Peak remained silent. She stared at the graceful figure at the mountain gate in disbelief and gasped, “Peak Master Luo? No, that can’t be!”

Wu Ruo turned her head and met the disciple’s gaze.

The Snowfall Peak disciple sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide with shock. “It’s not Peak Master Luo but why does she carry such an overwhelming aura of the Peak Master?”

“Who cares about some ‘Peak Master Luo’ aura? She’s definitely a demonic cultivator!” the green-patterned cultivator from the Everwind Peak, long at odds with Snowfall Peak snapped impatiently. “You Snowfall Peak folks are so clueless, lacking even the most basic common sense!”

He raised his sword horizontally, dark cyan spiritual energy swirling around its edge. In an instant, a fierce gale erupted, kicking up dust and obscuring the sky.

“What activates the Black Tortoise puppet? The scent of demonic cultivators! Evil spirits, cursed insects, vengeful ghosts, corpse puppets, all trigger it! This woman is undoubtedly a vile demonic cultivator who stole Peak Master Luo’s spiritual energy to disguise herself. She might have already succeeded!”

“Impossible! Peak Master Luo is the foremost expert in the cultivation world she wouldn’t fall for such petty tricks! If a demonic cultivator infiltrated Snowfall Peak, she’d be the first to notice and would never let them wreak havoc!”

“Then explain why this woman was stopped by the Black Tortoise puppet, huh?” The Everwind Peak disciple sneered, cutting off the other’s words. With a flick of his sword, a blade of energy shot through the air and embedded itself at Wu Ruo’s feet. “Demonic cultivator, drop your weapons! Don’t even think of trying anything!”

“I have no weapons,” Wu Ruo replied coldly, casting a disdainful glance at him. Her hands were empty, what weapons could she possibly drop?

“Hah! Demonic fiends are always the best at playing innocent.”

The young woman from Snowfall Peak bit her lip, too upset to speak.

She watched Wu Ruo’s slender figure in the distance, enveloped in that unmistakable aura of Peak Master Luo. She knew that despite Peak Master Luo’s outwardly cold demeanor, she was deeply kind-hearted and treated every disciple with care. Something told her that this woman and Peak Master Luo their connection couldn’t simply be one of stolen energy.

“Senior Brother Chen, don’t act rashly!”

BOOM!

The disciple surnamed Chen ignored her completely. A sword strike vast enough to blot out the moon tore through the air, crashing mercilessly toward Wu Ruo!

Dust and sand whirled violently, the gale so fierce that no one could keep their eyes open. A single careless moment, and the grit would sting their pupils unbearably.

Wu Ruo watched as the raging wind swept up the earth around her. The spiritual energy in the surroundings seemed to vanish in an instant, and the sword energy at her feet transformed into flickering talisman scripts, a binding spell.

Behind her loomed the Black Tortoise puppet, its limbs forged from dense black iron. A single strike from it could turn even the sturdiest flesh into pulp.

No way out?

Perfect.

This was the perfect chance to test just how far her swordsmanship training under Yue Qinglan had brought her.

Wu Ruo cast a cold glance at the Chen-named disciple and reached into her personal spatial storage, intending to pull out the low-grade training sword she had been using. But the moment she withdrew it, she froze, staring in disbelief at the blade in her hand.

It wasn’t the low-grade sword she had been practicing with, nor was it any of the ones she had seen in the room. The sword she now held was bright as water, its edge keen and sharp, its entire body a pale blue. On the hilt was a cloud-patterned engraving, along with a single character: “Luo.”

It was Luo Qingyi’s lifebound sword,”Startling Swan Descends to the Mortal Realm.”

She had no time to wonder why Luo Qingyi’s sword had appeared in her possession. The situation demanded urgency, so she hastily gripped the hilt.

The moment her fingers closed around it, a surge of comfort radiated from within, flowing through her meridians and limbs like a fish returning to water. It coalesced into an overwhelmingly powerful spiritual energy!

Strange, how could this be?

But there was no time for further thought. The raging tempest was nearly upon her, its ferocious aura slicing tiny cuts into her exposed skin. With danger imminent, she steadied her breath and recalled the swordsmanship she had learned these past days.

Though her recent training had been under Yue Qinglan’s guidance, in this fleeting moment, her mind held only one memory that first day, when Luo Qingyi had stood before her, graceful as a swan, sleeves fluttering like drifting clouds.

Like a startling swan’s reflection, like a soaring dragon’s dance.

“Falling Snow Style.”

Mimicking Luo Qingyi’s stance, she swung the sword expressionlessly, raising her arm. Spiritual energy gathered along the blade’s edge before she lowered her elbow again, merging herself and the sword with the heavens and earth then she struck.

Swish!

The sound of the sword was soft, her movements light, composed, and elegant. Yet in that instant, the world seemed to lose its color.

Snowflakes seemed to drift in the air, though none were visible to the naked eye.

The violent winds that had risen from nowhere gradually stilled, dwindling into faint currents before vanishing entirely. Not a whisper of wind remained in the sky.

The terrifying tempest that had raged moments ago had been effortlessly dispelled by a mere Golden Core cultivator with just a single move!

The swirling dust was pressed to the ground by invisible snowfall, then gathered and receded. The spiritual energy that had been drained from the world began to circulate anew. The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, its gentle light bathing the land.

All who witnessed it were stunned.

Someone was the first to speak, their voice trembling slightly, laced with an undercurrent of awe. “T-this which elder from Falling Snow Peak is this? Such pure swordsmanship, such overwhelming power. Could she be one of the secluded experts from the main peak?”

“If she were a demonic cultivator, how could she possibly wield Falling Snow Peak’s signature technique? Could the Black Tortoise puppet have made a mistake?”

“She’s incredible. I sensed her at Golden Core realm, but that single move defeated Senior Brother Chen, who’s at Nascent Soul?”

“She just…” murmured the young girl from Falling Snow Peak, her voice barely audible. The moment she had seen the other’s strike, she had felt it viscerally.

“Her bearing she looks just like Peak Master Luo.”

Though no snow fell, the chill of snowfall permeated the air. An invisible blanket of snow settled at the entrance of Zhiyuan Immortal Sect’s mountain gate. Even the poised Black Tortoise puppet seemed moved, its hostility toward Wu Ruo fading.

This is an orthodox immortal sect technique. Only those with pure hearts, free from distractions, and possessing the clearest of souls can execute the Falling Snow technique. The immense pressure from the Black Tortoise was gradually easing as it slowly entered standby mode.

Wu Ruo lowered her sword and sheathed it once more, her inner shock no less than that of the onlookers.

The Chen disciple was at the Nascent Soul stage so how could she challenge someone above her level? Moreover, why did Luo Qingyi’s lifebound sword seem as though it was bound to her when she wielded it?

Her mind flashed back to Luo Qingyi’s initial explanation: Rebuilding the Dao Bone may occasionally result in shared sensations with Luo Qingyi.

At the time, she hadn’t paid it much mind, assuming the other had simply used some miraculous elixir to regrow her spiritual roots and Dao Bone. But upon closer thought, if that were the case, why would she share sensations with Luo Qingyi?

There was only one possibility. The new Dao Bone within her had been extracted from Luo Qingyi’s own flesh and blood, refined, and then bestowed upon her.

And extracting one’s own bone and blood would inevitably bring endless agony and torment, even at the cost of cultivation or life itself.

The weight of Jinghong Descends Upon the World in her hand felt like a thousand pounds not just from the sword itself, but from the realization that she no longer knew how to face Luo Qingyi.

Pressing her lips together in silence, her gaze remained fixed on the sword in her hand, unable to tear away. But then, a furious roar finally reached her ears, the Chen disciple, unwilling to accept his defeat, had gone mad in an instant.

Struck down by his own gale-force backlash, the Chen disciple now lay sprawled on the ground, covered in dust and grime. “You! Impossible. How could you break my Gale technique?! No one can defeat me! A trash like you at the Golden Core stage, how could you possibly break my move?!”

His eyes turned bloodshot, his face twisted into a grotesque mask of rage, swollen and engorged as if he might transform into a monstrous beast in the next second, tearing apart all who defied him.

“You can’t possibly be from Falling Snow Peak you’re a demonic cultivator! Only demonic cultivators have such power! You must have devoured someone from Falling Snow Peak to learn their sword techniques!”

Compared to Wu Ruo, he was the one who resembled a demonic cultivator.

Several of the guards nearby exchanged uneasy glances, some even stepping away from him. But the enraged male cultivator staggered back to his feet, pulling out some kind of spiritual artifact from his sleeve. Then, before everyone’s eyes, he activated his lightness skill and swiftly leaped onto the head of the Black Tortoise puppet!

“Black Tortoise, heed my command! This demonic disciple has trespassed into our Zhiyuan Immortal Sect show no mercy!”

The Black Tortoise puppet, which had already quieted down, its obsidian eyes dulled from deactivation, had been slowly returning to standby mode.

Yet at this man’s command, the Black Tortoise’s eyes blazed back to life, flashing several times before unleashing a deafening roar!

“Wuuuu!”

“That’s the Black Tortoise Command Token of the Peak Master!” shrieked another disciple from Gale Peak. “How could someone like him have it?! I heard from my senior sister that these are the control artifacts for the four guardian puppets of the sect capable of commanding the four divine beasts unconditionally! These divine artifacts are immensely powerful, each held by one of the four main peak masters. How does he have one?!”

But her words were cut off by a deafening roar. Disciple Chen had clearly lost all reason. The mechanical head emitted a series of sharp clicks as it spun rapidly 180 degrees, as if searching for Wu Ruo’s position to launch a fatal attack!

“Buzz… Target locked.”

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