Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy-Chapter 446 - 396

"It’s not that urgent." Qi Xiu lifted his gaze to size up the inner chamber before him. A faint fragrance wafted to his nose. This scent was very light, yet it exuded an indescribable sense of relaxation, easing the tension in Qi Xiu’s nerves, which had been taut since learning the Great Tribulation of Dao Body was imminent.

"Since it’s not urgent, why not rest your feet here? I’ve been living here alone for quite some time and haven’t spoken to anyone for ages. If you don’t mind, brother, please, take a seat." Qingyun said, "I notice that your brow hides worries and your mind seems clouded; you must be tangled in worldly cares."

As though they were old friends, Qingyun cordially led Qi Xiu to a seat. In just a few exchanges, they found themselves conversing more and more freely.

As a Divine Origin, Qingyun’s words and phrases held unique insights. When Qi Xiu shared some of the puzzlements he encountered in his daily Cultivation, Qingyun was quick to offer different views and conclusions. The gods’ understanding of the essence of the Dao was far beyond what cultivators could achieve. Under Qingyun’s unstinting guidance, although Qi Xiu’s Cultivation did not increase, his application of various Dharma Gates took a qualitative leap.

In return, Qi Xiu recounted the various wonders of the current era to this god who had lived in isolation for countless years. These new things amazed Qingyun; the great world he had never set foot in unfolded before him like a vibrant, colorful scroll. Unconsciously, their conversation flowed more and more smoothly, to the point where they lost track of time.

"It’s truly unexpected that the outside world is so colorful." With an amazed sigh, Qingyun waved his hand, conjuring a teacup and casually handing it to Qi Xiu. Warm, aromatic steam rose from the tea. However, as Qi Xiu gazed at the clear, steaming tea before him, he first glanced at Qingyun opposite, then slowly shook his head.

"Finally, you couldn’t hold back any longer, could you?"

The calm surface of the tea trembled slightly, sending ripples across it. Qingyun’s right arm, holding the teacup, froze mid-air. After a few breaths, he chuckled twice, "What are you talking about? Hold back what..."

"Thanks to your guidance, I’ve addressed many of my shortcomings. If you were of the Human Race, perhaps we could have become good friends." Slowly standing up, Qi Xiu looked down at Qingyun, who was still struggling to appear calm and natural.

"Still keeping up the act?" Shaking his head, Qi Xiu reached out. A handful of crystal-clear willow catkins, emitting a refined fragrance, suddenly appeared in his palm. "From the moment I arrived under the willow tree, you’ve been trying to hypnotize me, to immerse me in your words. This stuff is potent; ordinary cultivators couldn’t possibly resist it. But I’m not ordinary." Streaks of golden light suddenly emerged from the willow catkins in his palm. These catkins, meant to ensnare the mind, were covered in Suppressing Talismans.

Seeing his tactics exposed by Qi Xiu, Qingyun’s smile vanished completely. He stared at the young Daoist before him with cold, harsh eyes. "You knew I meant to harm you, yet you chatted with me for so long. You’re a bold one for a Daoist!"

"You are, after all, a former god. Your experience and knowledge are rare treasures in this world. Since you wanted to put on an act, I, Qi, was willing to play along. Consider it the price of admission for the unstinting teachings you provided earlier."

Suddenly, strands of tyrannical, pure purple fire began to surge and boil in the void. Qi Xiu looked down indifferently at Qingyun. "Now, tell me where the Bone Staff Elder has gone."

"Heh! You think *you* can make me? I am a god!" Gone was his previous scholarly and gentle demeanor. Qingyun’s face twisted ferociously. Simultaneously, the peaceful, idyllic village outside transformed into a chaotic graveyard of upturned bones. The simple, honest-looking villagers tore off their human guises of flesh and blood, revealing themselves as terrifying Demons woven from grass and wood. They glared with blood-red eyes, all focused on Qi Xiu.

"A god? Take a good look at yourself. Do you retain even a shred of a god’s appearance anymore?" Qi Xiu calmly regarded Qingyun, whose demeanor had done a complete one-eighty. He raised his hand and summoned the Haotian Mirror. The snow-white, flawless surface of the Haotian Mirror’s Light shone like a dazzling sun, illuminating this squalid, corrupt, and unholy land. Under the Haotian Mirror’s Light, the terrifying entities in the surroundings instantly shrieked and disintegrated.

"This is all your fault, you vermin! We are gods! The lofty gods! How dare you lowly creatures presume to speak of equality with us! Kill! Kill! Kill! I will slaughter every last one of you!" Roaring hysterically, Qingyun’s figure abruptly vanished before Qi Xiu’s eyes.

The next moment, the massive willow tree, so large it obscured the sky, seemed to come alive. A tremendous divine might swept forth, threatening to overturn heaven and earth, disrupt the cycle of reincarnation, and annihilate all living beings of this great era!

"It seems the Sword Immortal who nearly eradicated your kind all those years ago was not wrong."

"Nonsense!"

Completely enraged by Qi Xiu’s words, Qingyun flew into a berserk fury. An endless, tyrannical killing intent erupted, causing the heavens to roil as strands of divine might tore through the void.

"Empty bluster. Endless ages have already eroded your power. Can you truly still call yourself a god now?" Unaffected by Qingyun’s heaven-toppling aura, Qi Xiu spoke slowly.

Time. That is a force that even Primordial Spirit magnates must constantly be wary of. Gods may live as long as the heavens, but that only applies to gods who remain on their divine thrones, their power undiminished. The Qingyun before me is merely a Divine Origin; his divine body was slain by that Sword Immortal countless eons ago. His very survival to this day is only due to that Sword Immortal’s deliberate act of mercy. The long passage of time has thoroughly washed away his power. This current outburst is nothing more than the fleeting, final radiance of a setting sun.

"I don’t believe it! I don’t..." Before Qi Xiu could finish speaking, Qingyun’s aura plummeted. His imposing figure seemed to deflate as if hollowed out, and he swayed weakly backward. "Impossible... impossible... I am a god, a god who looks down upon all mortals..." His body gradually reverted to the form of the man in light robes. Qingyun, eyes vacant, muttered under his breath.

"Tell me where the Bone Staff Elder is, and I can grant you a swift end." Approaching Qingyun, Qi Xiu looked down at him and spoke softly.

Slowly turning his eyes to look at Qi Xiu, a flicker of light reappeared in Qingyun’s dim gaze. "Heh heh... You’ll never find him... Our great age... is about to descend! The day of the gods’ return... is near!"

BANG! With a flick of his sleeve, Qi Xiu produced the Black Gold Imperial Seal and instantly captured Qingyun’s Divine Origin, his own face expressionless. This Divine Origin contains the will of a god. Subduing it and absorbing it into my Ancestral Aperture will be comparable to refining tens of thousands of remnant souls. That’s its final bit of value, at least.

"You think I can’t find him just because you won’t speak?" Raging purple flames incinerated the surroundings for a thousand li. Qi Xiu spread open his right palm, revealing three gruesome wounds that had only healed by a fraction. The repeated use of the Command Talisman and the cumulative backlash had slowed their healing even further. Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll need to use it.

With a flicker in his gaze, Qi Xiu once again raised his right hand. As his fingers came together, an endless, multicolored brilliance surged through the gaps.

"By my command! Arrest the traitor!"

As the command was issued, a long avenue paved with radiant, multicolored light suddenly unfurled from beneath Qi Xiu’s feet. At the end of this avenue, a somewhat hunched figure, holding a Bone Armor Compass, knelt before a stone stele, muttering incantations.

Stepping onto the avenue of light, Qi Xiu took a single stride. Instantly, countless expanses of space seemed to contract beneath his feet, transforming vast distances into mere inches. With that one step, he arrived behind the Bone Staff Elder.

Sensing the overwhelming, familiar, and terrifying aura behind him—an aura as oppressive as the sky itself collapsing—the Bone Staff Elder did not panic as he had before. Instead, he turned his head, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a grim smile. "Heh heh heh, you’re too late."

SMACK! Before the words left his mouth, the Bone Staff Elder violently smashed the Bone Armor Compass in his hand against the ink-black stone stele. With a crisp shattering sound, the Compass disintegrated into countless tiny fragments.

Frowning at the Bone Staff Elder’s actions, Qi Xiu was about to move to capture him. But in the very next instant, an intense surge of unease gripped his heart.

CRACK-BOOM— The stone stele shattered with a thunderous roar. Its fragments, like black lightning, shot out in all directions, piercing through the void and unleashing an endless, overwhelming radiance! Simultaneously, an indistinct streak of light erupted from the ground, powerfully tearing through the Cosmic Bi and flying off towards an unknown destination.

"What have you done?" Gazing at the stone stele, now only a stump remaining in the ground, Qi Xiu’s sense of unease grew even more intense.

"Nothing much..." Collapsed on the ground like a heap of mud, the Bone Staff Elder, as if drained of all strength, spoke weakly, a sinister smile on his face. "I just released the sword that was suppressing the Valley of Deceased Gods."

RUMBLE! An intangible wave instantly spread throughout the entire Valley of Deceased Gods. In that moment, all the divine corpses buried deep underground, previously devoid of any life...

All opened their eyes!

...