Remould the Glory of Sword Art

Blood mist filled the air, swirling ominously.

Xie Xuanyi controlled his sword as he arrived in front of the great hall, his expression dark as he surveyed the scene before him... This secret hall had been completely ransacked, with Yin Mountain evil cultivators licking the remnants like parasites. Half a quarter of an hour ago, this place should have been filled with valuables, but now they had been taken, and even the hall's formations had been destroyed.

He saw the figure of Daoist Bai He, but did not see the "black clothes" that the little junior sister of Longevity House, Song Yu, had mentioned seeing.

The great hall emitted a thick aura of blood.

Someone had crushed a Treasure Pill...

These Yin Mountain evil cultivators loved to draw blood, and the chaos around made one feel restless.

Xie Xuanyi took a shallow breath.

With a cold face, he stepped into the great hall, the Cave Heaven Sword Qi at his brow beginning to roar.

"Back so soon?"

Swish!

Out of the blood mist, suddenly a head shot forth.

Zhong Sha sniffed curiously, wondering, "I smell a familiar scent of blood on you, from that ship... didn't you go looking for 'Wen Daoist'?"

Xie Xuanyi frowned slightly.

He recognized this foolish head before him... a dumb disciple under White Ghost, named Zhong Sha, possessing great strength but having yet to awaken Spirit Wisdom.

"Do not be rude."

Daoist Bai He spoke softly, gently clapping his hands.

The huge head obediently retracted, Zhong Sha retreating from the blood mist and crouching down beside his senior brother.

"Has the great formation of the Secret Tomb been activated?"

Ren Zhong spoke languidly, resuming his previously refined demeanor.

He glanced in the direction of the departing black clothes, then in the direction Xie Xuanyi had come, speaking lightly, "It seems you have been transmitted to another space..."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi fell silent.

In these brief moments, he already understood what had transpired in this great hall.

All around were obvious signs of battle, with faint Lotus Sword Energy lingering where some broken pillars stood.

It seems that the "black clothes" he viewed within Song Yu's Divine Sea had always been traveling with the Yin Mountain evil cultivators, just recently parting for some reason.

Lu Yuzhen had somehow fabricated an "existence" nearly identical to himself... Now Ren Zhong mistakenly regarded him as that "black clothes."

This could be a good thing.

Though Xie Xuanyi had no qualms about starting a fight...

Maintaining this identity was clearly more advantageous.

The sword Qi at his brow gradually dissipated.

Xie Xuanyi concealed the killing intent in his eyes with "All Living Beings," responding coolly.

"...hm."

Seizing the opportunity.

He once again scrutinized the Daoist Bai He before him... Ten years ago, Ren Zhong was a major force in the North Sea battle, a guy, though apprenticed to White Ghost, who comprehended the unique "Bone Realm" of the South Border. Back then, Ren Zhong planted a soul banner at the North Sea, firmly stabilizing one side of White Ghost's formation. Though the Path of Destruction had been sharp, it ultimately couldn't break White Ghost's formation.

Ten years have passed.

Ren Zhong's cultivation realm had advanced further, and Xie Xuanyi could sense Ren Zhong's Divine Soul Qi nearing perfection.

This might be a Great Practitioner of the Yin God Eighteen Realms.

If White Ghost hadn't acquired the "Dao Stele" to restore the fragmentary Great Dao... then in a few years, this Daoist Bai He could cultivate to the Yin God Twenty Realms, becoming one of the new "Three Saints."

"Is it my illusion?"

Ren Zhong also looked at the black clothes before him, suddenly smiling and speaking: "Why do I feel like you've changed..."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi maintained an expressionless face, still staring coldly at Ren Zhong.

Lu Yuzhen's fabricated "black clothes" was identical to himself but inevitably differed in behavior patterns...

He was uncertain if he had been exposed.

A trace of heart thought sank into the Divine Sea.

The sword Qi could unsheath at any moment.

"Did you go to 'Bingyou' and kill people?"

Ren Zhong squinted his eyes, grinning and saying: "I smell fresh blood... are there any survivors on Bingyou?"

"Now... there are none."

Xie Xuanyi's expression remained unchanged.

But the string in the depths of his Heart Lake was gently plucked by these words.

He didn't want to recall Bingyou's self-destruction, nor to remember Song Yu's blood-stained face of despair.

Xie Xuanyi's voice paused slightly, casually projecting a glimpse of Divine Thought, reflecting the image of the Great Chu Treasure Ship's deck space, and coolly said: "Your people aren't thorough in their work, make sure this doesn't happen again next time."

"Tsk..."

Ren Zhong crossed his arms and couldn't help but laugh bitterly, "Are you saying there's a Cave Heaven Spiritual Treasure hidden in the gaps of the deck? No wonder you were desperately guarding that broken ship, you wanted to keep a flame alive... Well, this time it is indeed my fault."

He didn't doubt what Black Clothes said.

Ren Zhong was extremely confident in his own "breath sensing".

He could smell that Black Clothes was stained with the fresh death aura from the Bingyou... He was a bit hasty in slaughtering for treasure from the Great Chu Treasure Ship earlier.

It's reasonable that some slipped through the net.

The lingering aura at this moment was enough proof that Black Clothes returned to the Bingyou and killed someone.

And the person killed was a disciple of the Longevity House.

"By the way..."

Ren Zhong suddenly spoke, "Earlier, when you followed the direction I pointed out, did you see 'Wen Daoist'?"

Black Clothes' departure and return.

Made Ren Zhong feel a bit strange, but this strangeness wasn't about Black Clothes.

He was somewhat curious about how the formation of the Secret Tomb was operating...

Just now, the "Wen Daoist" bloody smell he smelled, what was that all about?

"No."

Regarding things he didn't understand.

Xie Xuanyi tried to respond concisely.

He said indifferently, "I controlled the sword for a short time, then returned to the location of the 'Bingyou'... someone there was still alive, and then it was as you saw."

"So the formation really distorted the Secret Tomb's space?"

Ren Zhong raised his head, looked at the pitch-black heavenly peak, and frowned, "Damn... why didn't I hear any movement?"

As he finished speaking.

A low tremor sounded from the heavenly peak...

Rumble!

Intense thunder rang above everyone's heads, and Xie Xuanyi instinctively looked up, seeing a "familiar" light source.

Above the great hall, a soft glow radiated...

Similar to the "Bai Ze" characters at the Earth Abyss entrance, this glow hung like a lantern, a blurred demon text visible when divine thought was used to observe it. Xie Xuanyi guessed it was a functionally similar item to the "Bai Ze" characters; Ren Zhong and Black Clothes, although they defeated the giant puppet of the Secret Hall and took all the treasures, hadn't realized the importance of this "light source."

"Someone's coming!"

Amidst the thunderous noise, Daoist Bai He suddenly furrowed his brows.

He coldly gazed outside the great hall.

Previously, he said the formation was operating quietly; this time, he clearly felt the spatial shift sensation, an invisible torrent brushed through the void, the whole hall seemed to be moving, amidst the thunder he sensed more than one powerful presence—

"Array formation!"

Daoist Bai He spoke softly, suddenly flicking his sleeve.

The blood mist from the Nine-Turned Cinnabar Pill exploded, having been completely devoured by the Yin Mountain disciples; at this moment, at his command, the soul banner was raised, countless ghostly spirits surged with the wind.

Xie Xuanyi looked up, witnessing this familiar scene.

Ten years ago.

The White Ghost set up this "Ten Thousand Souls Formation," trapping him by the North Sea.

Ten years later.

The White Ghost's chief disciple also deployed the exact same formation.

Except, ironically...

He was now standing beside Ren Zhong, but the formation wasn't directed at him.

The far end of the great hall was illuminated by fierce light.

After the space misalignment broke, Xie Xuanyi saw a second "Secret Hall" appearing in the distance; the two halls seemed lifted by the Earth Abyss out of thin air, rotating together, presenting an extremely brief "glimpse through the clouds" amidst the void crevice.

Light and fire shone, all appeared.

...All were old friends.

The leader had white hair tied up, clad in black robes, with a solemn expression.

Behind him, vigilant and severe... Baihua Valley, Jiang Family, Martial Sect, Yuqing Pavilion, all drawing their swords, waiting in a strict formation.

In the very center, an elderly man sat cross-legged, lifted in the air by a treasure, with a crimson small sword laid before his knees.

Seeing the scene in the distance.

Ren Zhong, who had prepared for the worst, looked extremely grim.

"Zhou Ceng? Ye Ancestor?"

Across hundreds of feet.

The crowd in the second Secret Hall also saw the scene here.

Auras intertwined, ten thousand souls marching.

Ye Qinglian, looking at Black Clothes standing calmly beside White Crane True Man, gasped in shock, "Xie Zhen?"