Chapter 427: Descending the Mountain, Suppressing Demons!

Extreme Heaven Cliff, Ye Family.

Ye Shaoying, the head of the Ye Family, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, quietly gazing at the mountains beyond. Behind him stood a young man with a sinister expression.

“Eh, what a pity.”

Ye Shaoying sighed softly, helplessness flickering in his eyes. If the Demon-Suppressing True Person had been of one heart with the Ye Family, he would never have taken such action.

After all, this was no different from severing one’s own arm.

‘A pity… Guangji was destined to offer himself to the Sword Dao sooner or later. Since that is the case, when he offers himself no longer matters. Better that he do it now, to win greater benefits for my Ye Family.’

‘After all, it was our Ye Family that nurtured him step by step to this day. Without our cultivation, he could not possibly have attained his current realm and status. Moreover, the greater and stronger our clan becomes, the more likely we will be able to bring him back one day. I believe he too would be pleased with this.’

Ye Shaoying soon persuaded himself.

Or rather, this was simply the way of the Sword Pavilion’s operation. It was only Demon-Suppressing True Person who had always stood apart from it—so now, he was to be excluded.

“Ye Cheng.”

Ye Shaoying turned toward the young man beside him and said softly, “Guangji had no offspring in life. After his death, the 【Sword of No Killing】 and other belongings naturally have no heir.”

“I cannot allow his incense line to be severed.”

“After today, you shall pay respects at the ancestral altar and be adopted under Guangji’s name. I hope you make good use of the 【Sword of No Killing】 and, in the future, revive Guangji’s glory.”

At these words, Ye Cheng immediately cupped his hands in excitement. His handsome features twisted with exhilaration, eyes flashing with light—not only the joy of ascending in a single step but also the satisfaction of long-held vengeance fulfilled. Clearly, he had long been resentful toward Demon-Suppressing True Person, who had stripped him of all status with but a word.

‘This man deserves what he gets!’

At that thought, Ye Cheng almost burst out laughing aloud. Yet, as time passed, his expression slowly froze.

——Demon-Suppressing True Person’s qi had not dispersed.

Not only that—even Evil-Banishing True Person and Bodhisattva Guang Ming, who had been ready to pop open their celebratory wine within the Piercing-Earth Abyss, were left dazed, seemingly unable to react.

‘What’s going on?’

Evil-Banishing True Person frowned slightly, a vague sense of foreboding rising in his heart. Yet just as it surfaced, he forcibly suppressed it.

‘Impossible. No accident could happen. I’ve studied 【Sword Intent】 my entire life—how could I not understand it? To kill with the 【Sword Intent of No Killing】, such immense contradiction—how could the 【Sword Intent】 remain intact? It would surely destroy itself. Once destroyed, fate can no longer be restrained; he must begin offering up his Sword Dao fruit position!’

And the result would inevitably be Demon-Suppressing True Person’s death.

How could there be an accident?

There could not possibly be an accident!

But as time passed, outside the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate, Demon-Suppressing True Person’s qi flow showed no change. The manifestation of seeking the Golden Core that should have appeared… never did.

‘…Master, send someone to check.’

Evil-Banishing True Person spoke at last, turning his gaze toward Bodhisattva Guang Ming. “You’ve been here long enough. You should do something.”

At that, Bodhisattva Guang Ming pressed his palms together.

‘He’s afraid.’

That was natural—because he too was afraid. The reason he had dared to plot so boldly was that he was certain Demon-Suppressing True Person would die beyond doubt, unable to seek revenge.

But if Demon-Suppressing True Person was injured yet not dead…

Then matters would become truly grave.

Especially since his 【Sword Intent of No Killing】 had been shattered—if his rigid and foolish ideal of No Killing was also broken—

“.Amitabha!”

At that thought, Bodhisattva Guang Ming’s true body, far away in the Pure Land, abruptly opened his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath. This ill omen—he dared not touch it.

So going personally was out of the question.

Fortunately, his Pure Land was vast; expendable pawns were in abundance. With that thought, he willed one forth and summoned a guardian monk from outside the temple.

“Vimodo, go to the Sword Pavilion.”

“Ah? Me?”

The monk froze, but since the Bodhisattva had spoken, how could a Pure Land Venerable—comparable to a late-stage Foundation Establishment True Person—refuse?

He could only bow in acceptance, then rode forth upon a streak of Buddhist light, flying into the distance.

Jiangnan, outside the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate.

Lü Yang stood with both hands before him, eyes on his nose, nose on his heart—standing upright, experiencing the “intent” pervading heaven and earth.

It felt like being pierced by ten thousand arrows, sliced by a thousand blades—though there was nothing around him, he could still feel the agony of being flayed alive. This was only because his own 【Sword Intent】 protected him. Otherwise, like all others, he would have been dragged into that reality of torment.

“Ah!!”

“No—I was wrong! Demon-Suppressing True Person, I was wrong!”

“Spare us…”

“Don’t!”

Lü Yang looked around, seeing all those whom the elder Mo Shiyuan had brought earlier rolling on the ground, crying and begging for mercy.

And this wasn’t even Demon-Suppressing True Person punishing them.

‘It’s only because his emotions shifted too violently—he lost control of his 【Sword Intent】. And this… was caused by you all.’

You reap what you sow!

Still, what made Lü Yang both exasperated and deeply respectful was that—as the screams rose—Demon-Suppressing True Person came back to himself.

In the next instant, that terrifying 【Sword Intent】 that made one feel the pain of dismemberment slowly receded. In but moments, wind and clouds dispersed; no trace of anomaly remained. Only Demon-Suppressing True Person stood there in his blood-stained robe, his sword-like brows calm as he gazed down upon the crowd.

“Rumble!”

Suddenly, Lü Yang saw the fortune above his master’s head surge violently, on the verge of breaking through a barrier that would drive him into an irreversible path.

Yet the next second——

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Four polite words. Demon-Suppressing True Person raised his head toward the heavens, hands clasped in salute. Yet even before receiving any response, he acted.

His index and middle fingers extended, joined together as a sword.

In that instant, a 【Sword Intent】 utterly unlike the 【Sword of No Killing】—no weaker, but even greater—burst forth from his fingertips!

“Caw——!”

In that moment, Lü Yang’s vision went dark—the trace of his divine sense resting upon that 【Sword Intent】 was annihilated outright!

Moreover, within the small area around Demon-Suppressing True Person’s fingertips, spiritual energy, Dao laws, light—everything—was severed, leaving behind only a spherical void like a black hole, silently suspended in midair.

‘This is… 【Killing】?’

Demon-Suppressing True Person made no effort to conceal it, so everyone could sense it clearly—this was a 【Sword Intent】 related to 【Killing】.

Yet this was not a sword to kill men.

It did not target any individual, but encompassed all things—heaven and earth, creation and beings alike—slaying all without distinction!

This was—

‘The Sword that Slays Heaven!?’

The sword light flashed—and vanished.

In the next instant, the grand fortune above Demon-Suppressing True Person’s head, which had been on the verge of overflowing, was sliced away in half and quietly dissipated.

He had cut his own fate!

With that one sword, the offering that would have forced him toward the Golden Core realm was halted. Though the severed fate was already regenerating, he had nonetheless gained precious time—just as he had said:

——Let certain people… wait a little longer.

“Yan Xiao.”

Lü Yang shuddered. Demon-Suppressing True Person turned calmly toward him, saying softly, “I wish to do something. Would you follow?”

“Disciple is willing.”

Lü Yang immediately bowed. “May I ask, Master, what do you intend to do?”

Before the words finished leaving his mouth, Demon-Suppressing True Person waved his sleeve, resting one hand upon the hilt of the 【Sword of No Killing】 at his waist, and casually gave the answer:

“Go to the Pure Land.”

Descend the mountain—suppress the demons!