Yuyi shouted, channeling seven layers of sword qi. A pale red sword blade extended and retracted unpredictably, like a spirit snake flicking its tongue, radiating a heart-palpitating killing intent. The surrounding demonic cultivators hurriedly dodged, yet several were still shaken back several steps by the sword qi's aftermath, their qi and blood churning, blood seeping from the corners of their mouths. Yuyi shot out his sword sheath with his left hand—the sheath flew like an arrow from a bow, carrying a fierce sound of tearing through air, piercing through the chests of five demonic cultivators in succession. Blood sprayed, the five screamed as they fell, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Yuyi tore off his outer robe, revealing the Battle Soul Dharma Robe beneath. Purple starlight circulated, radiating a chilling killing aura, like an invisible shield. His long sword was infused with purple starlight—a first-class dharma treasure combined with Battle Soul power doubled in might. Where the sword pointed, no one could stand in his way. The demonic cultivators' formation fell into chaos, and the originally tight encirclement showed gaps. Yuyi's form was like lightning, and as sword light flashed, demonic cultivators fell one after another, their blood staining the village streets.
In the span of two quarters, including dozens of reinforcements who had arrived, all died beneath Yuyi's sword. On the village streets, demonic cultivators' bodies lay scattered in disarray, the smell of blood permeating the air. Yuyi stood with sword withdrawn, his brow slightly furrowed: the other demonic cultivators were arriving too slowly—this didn't match common sense. The Blood Fiend Bandit Group always moved swiftly, supporting each other, yet this time reinforcements were迟迟 not appearing. He listened carefully, and from the distance came the sound of sword qi clashing—obviously a high-level battle was occurring. Yuyi employed his movement technique, treading on Cloud-Soaring Boots, rushing toward where the sword qi was most intense.
Yuyi leaped onto a rooftop and saw a middle-aged cultivator alone with sword in hand, resisting a horde of demons. The cultivator wore a green daoist robe—though somewhat worn, the fabric was extraordinary. His features were resolute, his eyes sharp as blades, revealing an unyielding will. He had several external injuries, but none were serious. The surrounding demonic cultivators numbered in the hundreds, densely packed, yet none dared to approach rashly, clearly extremely wary of the cultivator. The cultivator's technique style was extremely unfamiliar, his moves filled with killing intent, each sword strike aimed at vital points, showing no mercy. After killing several people in succession, he would quickly sheath his sword, and the demonic cultivators' eyes were filled with terror.
Yuyi focused his gaze carefully—the cultivator's technique was peculiar: first using the sword sheath to wound several enemies in front, the sheath moving like a whip, striking the demonic cultivators' bodies, breaking bones and severing tendons. Then his form shifted slightly to the side, and the sword naturally emerged from its sheath, the speed and force suddenly increasing several times over. The sword light was like lightning, tearing through the air, emitting a sharp whistling sound. He didn't consider blocking—the sword always pierced the throat or penetrated the chest one step ahead, killing with a single strike. Using the momentum to slay another, his movement avoided several enemies' attacks like flowing water, without any drag.
Yuyi felt excited about this sword art, a fervent light flashing in his eyes, his breathing becoming somewhat rapid. He had never seen such remarkable sword art—this style completely matched his understanding of sword dao: killing enemies in the simplest, most direct way, not wasting the slightest bit of effort. This was true sword dao, the sword dao of killing.
The cultivator's sword art had no fixed forms, yet flowed like water, each strike perfectly placed. Yuyi analyzed the sword dao's selfless realm in his heart: returning to simplicity and truth. The strength of formlessness lay in attacks with incredibly accurate striking points within moves that had no fixed shape, making it impossible for enemies to predict or defend—they could only watch helplessly as the sword point pierced their bodies.
He absolutely had to learn this sword art. A strong desire surged in Yuyi's heart, burning like flames. He was dissatisfied with the Quick Sword Art's attack power and speed—the Quick Sword Art was fast, but its power was insufficient, appearing inadequate when facing strong enemies. Righteous path techniques emphasized breaking moves with moves, with complex and flowery forms that were impractical. Yuyi preferred the simple and direct way of killing—striking fatally with one sword, leaving no future trouble.
The cultivator didn't have much actual combat experience—Yuyi could see this at a glance. To have such imposing power was entirely due to the technique itself he cultivated—the technique was too exquisite, making up for the lack of experience. His movement technique, mental method, and sword art were obviously a complete set, complementing each other, forming an integrated whole.
Yuyi jumped from the rooftop into the battle circle, his long sword brandishing, fully employing the Quick Sword Art. Pale red sword qi swept out like a violent storm, and wherever it passed, demonic cultivators fell in droves. Seeing this, the cultivator's spirits lifted, and he said loudly: "Thank you, fellow daoist, for your assistance!" The two fought side by side, sword light interweaving like two nets of death, harvesting the lives of demonic cultivators.
Two demonic cultivator leaders saw the situation was unfavorable and attacked Yuyi together. They were both Golden Core early stage experts, and their combined power was doubled. Yuyi channeled ten layers of spiritual power to attack forcefully, his long sword like a dragon, sword qi crisscrossing, fighting two opponents alone without retreating. The two leaders were heavily wounded, vomiting blood as they flew backward. Yuyi was also struck by three swords, the wounds two inches deep, but he paid no heed, his fighting spirit growing even stronger.
Yuyi's Quick Sword Art sword qi crazily unleashed with full power, holding nothing back. Within two hundred zhang, continuous pale red sword qi filled the air like a sea, waves surging. Demonic cultivators fell in droves, screams rising one after another, blood flowing like rivers. After half a quarter, the demonic cultivators were nearly all dead.
Yuyi's spiritual power dropped below the critical value, the spiritual power in his body nearly exhausted, his dantian empty. The remaining several dozen people were spared total destruction due to their distance, but they were terrified out of their wits and scattered in flight. Yuyi pursued and killed over ten demonic cultivators, but his spiritual power was insufficient, so he abandoned the chase. He turned and walked to the cultivator's side, cupping his hands: "I am Yuyi, greetings, fellow daoist."
The cultivator was extremely grateful and returned the courtesy with cupped hands: "I am... greetings, Fellow Daoist Yuyi. Thank you for your assistance—if not for your timely arrival, I fear I could not have held on. I hope Fellow Daoist can help search the village for remaining demonic cultivators to prevent them from continuing to cause harm." Yuyi nodded, and each went in a direction to search house by house.
Yuyi pushed open a worn wooden door, and suppressed crying came from within. Following the sound, he found three demonic cultivators in a room taking turns raping a mortal girl. The girl's clothes were in disarray, her eyes red and swollen, her whole body weak, collapsed on the ground, her gaze hollow, like a walking corpse.
Yuyi sighed, a sense of desolation rising in his heart. In the cultivation world, the weak were prey to the strong, mortals were like ants, slaughtered at will, without any dignity. He used sword qi to sever all the meridians in the demonic cultivators' bodies. The demonic cultivators screamed once and fell dead. Yuyi said softly: "It's safe now. I'm sorry I came too late." The girl didn't respond, still staring blankly at the void. Yuyi left, unable to bear looking at the girl's eyes that had lost all color.
Yuyi and the cultivator worked together to bury the dead, laying the villagers' bodies to rest one by one, erecting simple tombstones. The cultivator was named Mochen, a rogue cultivator with a simple and honest character. He enthusiastically invited Yuyi to recuperate in the village, and Yuyi gladly agreed. Along the way, Yuyi's mind was constantly pondering how to obtain Mochen's set of exquisitely peerless sword art. Mochen's thinking was simple, and because Yuyi had saved him, he considered him a great hero, elevating him to nearly divine status.
Late at night, Yuyi had a sudden inspiration and voluntarily offered to pass on his technique insights to Mochen. He took out Xuantian Sect's secret manuals, including Cloud-Soaring Step, Quick Sword Art, and Hunyuan Mental Method, giving them all to Mochen, while explaining key points and cultivation insights. This decision required great courage from Yuyi, because each sect's technique secret manuals had only one copy—giving away the secret manuals meant Yuyi could never continue cultivating these techniques.
Mochen was endlessly grateful, his words filled with guilt: "Brother Yuyi, you've passed on such precious secret manuals to me—I truly have nothing to repay you with."
Yuyi waved his hand: "Fellow daoist need not be this way—meeting is fate."
Mochen fell silent for a moment, then finally spoke: "Brother Yuyi, to be honest, this set of martial arts has been passed down through my ancestors for generations, taught to men but not women, to insiders but not outsiders. But Brother Yuyi's great kindness and virtue, Mochen has nothing to repay with, so I am willing to give this technique as a gift."
Yuyi feigned refusal: "How could I accept this? This is fellow daoist's ancestral treasure."
But Mochen insisted on giving it: "If Brother Yuyi doesn't accept it, Mochen's heart will be troubled. This set of martial arts is said to have been obtained by an ancestor four generations ago in the deep mountains. Its creator once roamed the cultivation world invincible. The martial arts are divided into Nirvana Mental Method, Nirvana Sword Art, Nirvana Hidden Weapons Chapter, and Nirvana Movement Technique—a complete set of technique system. If Brother Yuyi can master it, you will surely roam the cultivation world unhindered."
Yuyi was ecstatic in his heart, but on the surface showed no emotion, and only after repeatedly declining did he reluctantly accept. He flipped through the secret manual and saw the four characters "Nirvana Sword Art" on the cover, vigorous and powerful, radiating a solemn killing aura. But looking carefully, these four characters seemed to be added later—the original characters had been torn away.
Yuyi waited in the village for Mochen to cultivate the Xuantian Sect techniques while recuperating from his injuries. Several days later, his injuries had recovered about seventy to eighty percent, and Yuyi bid farewell to everyone and left. To protect the secret manual on his person, Yuyi used an Earth Escape Talisman to instantly reach Zhongzhou City, stored the secret manual in a money house, then urgently returned to Youyue Valley, impatient to begin cultivating the Nirvana Sword Art.
He had a vague premonition that this technique would completely change his destiny.