landbeastnovel Chapter 22 Homecoming
Chapter 22 Homecoming
Liu Yuan stood on a rocky beach at the deepest part of the Sword Tomb.
This is the boundary of the Sword Tomb; beyond that lies the sealing barrier, where the gray mist is so thick it's almost tangible. Broken swords are stuck all around, not a single one intact. All the swords have been snapped in half by some force, the breaks jagged and uneven, as if they were broken by hand.
He is waiting.
The soft sword lay planted at his feet, its black aura already receding, but the surrounding broken swords hummed slightly—a repulsive reaction caused by the clash between demonic energy and sword intent. He didn't care. These broken swords were no match for him when they were alive, and they certainly weren't after death.
He was thinking about something. From the first day he entered the Qingyun Sect, he had been searching for Duan Nian—a sword that could free him from the control of the Shadow Demon General. The remnant soul of the Shadow Demon General had resided within him for twelve years, granting him demonic arts capable of challenging opponents of higher levels, a sword intent capable of corroding all things, and cultivation far surpassing his peers. But at the same time, it was also slowly eroding his soul. Every time he used demonic arts, the Shadow Demon General's will would take over a little more of him. In another two or three years, he would no longer be "Liu Yuan," but rather the next vessel for the Shadow Demon General.
Severing all attachments is the only hope. The Sword Servant's natal sword can cut off all obsessions, including the demonic contract that the Shadow Demon left in his soul. He guarded it for two years, planned for two years, and even went so far as to deliberately display an excessively possessive desire during last year's trial, so that Sword Xuan would take him away from the Sword Tomb in exchange for a year of peace and quiet without being suspected.
Then a newcomer who had been an inner disciple for less than twenty days walked into the Ancient Sword Platform and drew the sword he had been waiting for so long.
There is nothing more absurd than this.
Footsteps echoed through the gray mist. A lone figure made no attempt to conceal his movements, each step landing steadily on the gravel. The mist parted with sword intent, and Ling Chen emerged, Po Jun in his left hand and Duan Nian in his right. Eight protective swords fanned out behind him, their light flickering erratically.
"I thought you would wait until I got out before you made your move," Ling Chen said.
"Outside, there's Jian Xuan, the mountain-protecting formation, and the other elders. Here, only you and I know what happened." Liu Yuan's tone was as calm as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner. "Severing my will is my only chance. I need it to sever the demonic contract within me, and you took it. I am not the Shadow Demon General's servant, at least not now. But if this drags on for another two or three years, I will no longer be myself."
Ling Chen was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "You're wrong. The Severing of Thoughts doesn't sever the demonic contract—it severs obsession. The demonic contract within you is built upon obsession. If you can't let go of your obsession, no divine artifact can help you."
"Do you know what my obsession is?" Liu Yuan asked coldly.
"Live. Live like a human being." Ling Chen looked at him. "From the day you joined the Qingyun Sect, all your efforts have been for the same thing—to break free from the Shadow Demon General's control. So you pursued everything that could make you stronger, including severing your thoughts. But you forgot to ask yourself: once you're truly free, what kind of person do you want to become?"
A fleeting crack appeared in Liu Yuan's eyes. A question he had been avoiding. The Shadow Demon's mission for him was to infiltrate the Qingyun Sect, regularly reporting on the sect's activities, disciple rosters, and the results of the Sword Tomb Trials. He had used various excuses to shirk most of the tasks, even erasing his name from the list collected by the Blood Fiend Sect. He wasn't a good person—he had killed fellow disciples to vent his anger and used the Shadow Demon Technique to erase others' memories. But he wasn't a pure demonic cultivator either. He was someone caught between humanity and demonhood, rejected by both.
"Since you hate Shadow Demon General," Ling Chen drew his sword, the cracks on its surface gleaming with a faint golden light under the infusion of chaotic spiritual power, "why not join forces with me? You have the cultivation of the late stage of the Condensation Realm, and practical experience with the Shadow Demon Technique. With your cooperation with Elder Jian Xuan, it will be much easier to wipe out the demonic cultivator strongholds within the Qingyun Sect."
A bitter smile appeared on Liu Yuan's lips.
"You think I haven't tried? Once the Shadow Demon Technique enters the body, the remnant soul will sense even the slightest thought of betrayal. I've said so much to you now, and some of my words have already crossed his line. He's awake." Black veins were faintly visible beneath the skin of his right hand, as if something was writhing within the meridians. "He no longer trusts this body of mine. He could have waited until I broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm before completely taking over, but I've recently been disobeying orders frequently, and he's lost patience. So this is the last chance—while I still control this body, I'll sever the demonic contract with the Severing Thoughts technique."
"If it weren't to kill you, but to beg you—I wouldn't be here."
Ling Chen's sword-wielding hand froze in mid-air. In Liu Yuan's increasingly dim pupils, he saw for the first time the true nature of a person who had struggled in pain for twelve years.
"On my first day at the Qingyun Sect, Elder Jianxuan told me that the first rule for a swordsman is not to abandon his fellow disciples."
Liu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.
"I will sever that wisp of remnant soul within you. You will repay the life debts you owe the sect yourself."
The black veins had spread to his neck, and the Shadow Demon's will was taking over the hoarse, distorted voice: "You mere early-stage Qi Gathering cultivator, yet you dare to dream of severing my demonic contract? Liu Yuan, you too—today we shall all be buried in this sword tomb."
Liu Yuan's body began to tremble violently. He was desperately suppressing his instinct to draw his sword, using his last remaining willpower to drive the soft sword into the ground, all the way to the hilt. Then, he bit his thumb and drew a demon-suppressing talisman on his left palm, forcibly locking the Shadow Demon's surging demonic energy within his body for at least ten breaths. Ten breaths was the only window of opportunity he could buy for Ling Chen at this moment.
"Ten breaths! Hurry!"
Ling Chen did not hesitate. Golden light suddenly shone on the Severing Thoughts Sword, the sword intent gleaned from the sword monument, the sword techniques inherited from the sword servant, and the saber intent of the Nine Heaven-Splitting Slashes—all these powers merged into one in this single strike. He whispered the name of that move: "Return to Thoughts."
utter silence reigned. There was no clang of metal, no explosive shockwaves. The sword, severing its grip, pierced half an inch into Liu Yuan's dantian, its tip just touching the pulsating demonic seed. The seed's splitting sound wasn't a scream, but a low, almost liberating sigh. The Shadow Demon General's remnant soul disintegrated inch by inch in the golden light.
Liu Yuan knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. His dantian had been torn, but not shattered—Gui Nian had held back the last three-tenths of his strength. His cultivation had plummeted from the late stage of the Condensing True Realm to the mid-stage of the Gathering Qi Realm; most of the cultivation he had absorbed and refined through demonic arts over the past twelve years had dissipated along with the demonic contract. But the demonic energy within his body had completely vanished. For the first time in twelve years, only pure spiritual energy flowed through his meridians.
Why...?
"You crippled one of my hands, I almost killed you. And you still want to save me?"
Ling Chen sheathed his sword and looked down at Liu Yuan, who was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over.
"The Sword Servant forged the Severing Thoughts to protect her master, but the first sword I wielded with it—she told me not to slay you." He walked to the soft sword stuck in the ground, exerted his strength to pull out the hilt, and the tip of the sword lifted Liu Yuan's chin but did not pierce him. "The Severing Thoughts Slash severs obsession, not fate. Your obsession—the remnant soul of the Shadow Demon General—has been severed. What remains is the path you must walk yourself."
Liu Yuan knelt among the rocks, looking down at his hands. The demon-suppressing talisman on his palm was blurred and soaked in blood, but his hands no longer trembled. He raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, but his tone was calmer than ever before.
"During last year's Sword Tomb Trial, I crippled a fellow disciple named Zhou Qing. Afterwards, the sect sentenced me to three years of confinement, but I was only confined for two months. The outer disciple who went missing after you joined the sect—possessed by the Shadow Demon General's demonic thoughts—I personally cleansed the demonic seed within him only after confirming that it was out of control. I lied to Elder Jian Xuan, saying that I accidentally killed him. Because if I truthfully revealed the existence of the Shadow Demon General, he would possess my body prematurely, and at that time, more than one outer disciple would die in the sect."
Ling Chen listened in silence without interrupting.
"I will personally explain these matters to Elder Jianxuan. This includes all of Shadow Demon General's contact points inside and outside the sect, as well as the list of spies planted in various forces in Qingzhou back then. But I need to tell you one thing in advance—Shadow Demon General's remnant soul did not begin with him. Within the Qingyun Sect, there are still the old subordinates left behind by the previous host."
"Who?"
"I don't know. The Shadow Demon's remnant soul will split off a wisp and parasitize the next host when the host is on the verge of death. The old host will be killed after being drained. The previous generation's host should have handed over all the old subordinates and strongholds after his death, but that host's death record was deliberately erased. Without knowing the date of death, we can't find out how many hidden cultivators are still in his network. The only thing we can confirm is that the identity or status of that previous generation's host was enough to tamper with the sect's records. So that hidden cultivator's status is no lower than—an elder."
Ling Chen pulled Liu Yuan up from the rubble. The golden light on the Broken Thought Sword had faded, but the lingering echo of the sword servant's final move, Returning Thought, still flowed slowly in the air—not with killing intent, but with a faint sense of relief. He glanced down at the faded character "Thought" on the sword tassel, thinking that if that white-clad girl from back then had a spirit in heaven, she would probably be very happy to see that the first sword strike after Broken Thought's birth was to save someone rather than kill them.
"Let's go out first." Ling Chen returned the soft sword to Liu Yuan. "This sword has no demonic energy, so it can still be used."
Liu Yuan took the soft sword, then paused, "You trust me?"
"Elder Jianxuan taught you swordsmanship, taught you rules, taught you your first lesson—the most important thing he should have taught you was to trust your fellow disciples." Ling Chen turned his back to him and walked out of the gray mist. "I won't teach him for him. Go find him and apologize after you get out. But there's one thing—you'd better speak up before he does. Elder Jianxuan's judgment of people is rarely wrong."
Liu Yuan gripped the sword hilt tightly, his knuckles turning white. After a moment, he glanced down at the smear of blood from the demon-suppressing talisman on the hilt that hadn't yet faded, and then followed.
There is less than a day left in the Sword Tomb Trial.
Most of the inner disciples had awakened from their individual insights and were gathering at the exit, each carrying some gains. The gray fog was thinning, and the crack torn open by Jian Xuan reappeared in the sky, with the sword monument and waiting crowd vaguely visible on the other side of the crack. No one noticed the two figures emerging from the depths of the gray fog, one after the other, their robes stained with the same dark red blood, their steps uneven, one heavy and the other light. Xiao Lie breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Ling Chen's safe return from afar. Just as he was about to greet him, his gaze fell on Liu Yuan behind him, and his hand immediately went to the hilt of his sword. Ling Chen shook his head at him. Xiao Lie hesitated for a moment, then removed his hand from the hilt.
The seal crack in the Sword Tomb silently closed in the sky, and the gray mist completely dissipated. The thirty-six people emerged from the tomb, and the sunlight on the Sword Stele Square was dazzling. Ling Chen looked up and saw Jian Xuan standing under the Sword Stele, watching them. The old man's gaze swept from the bloodstains on his body to Liu Yuan's empty dantian. He remained silent for a moment, asked nothing, and simply tilted his head towards the Hall of Transmission.
"Go and treat your injuries first. Come see me together in an hour."