Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Ghost Sword Enters the Way

With the aid of the great black cloth, Qin Feng evaded several patrols of mountain-sweeping disciples and successfully reached the Cliff of the Ghost Sword. Here the peaks rose like swords, and the gorges between them were lashed by violent winds. The gale scoured the cliffs and rushed into every hollow, its mournful whistling endless, like the cries of ghosts and the howls of wolves, stirring dread and unease in the heart and breeding a restless irritation.

This was the Cliff of the Ghost Sword.

It was the place where the founder of the Ghost Sword, in years past, had attained enlightenment in the way of the sword.

Qin Feng shook his head. He had a very bad feeling about this place; it gave off a strange oppressive force that put him deeply on edge.

Still, since he had already come, he might as well go in and take a look.

But before that, Qin Feng still had one final obstacle to pass.

At a narrow mountain pass on the only route into the Cliff of the Ghost Sword, two disciples with earthly vigor cultivation stood guard, one fat and one tall. Both were stronger than Qin Feng, one at the third level of the earthly vigor realm, the other at the fourth.

Qin Feng frowned tightly.

To assign two earthly vigor disciples specifically to guard Zhan Bai was enough to show that this matter was probably not simple.

He tugged the black cloth higher, covering his head, making sure his entire body was concealed beneath it, and only then did he slowly move forward.

The pass was very narrow; no matter how Qin Feng moved, he would have to pass under the eyes of the two men.

Along the way, Qin Feng had already confirmed the miraculous nature of this great black cloth.

This time, he wanted to gamble on it, to see whether, with the help of this black cloth, he could simply walk in openly and unchallenged.

And so Qin Feng went on, moving slowly and not daring to make even the slightest sound.

The two men had been chatting the whole time.

"I say, Brother Gu, this Zhan Bai is really too ungrateful, isn't he? All for a woman, he actually turned against the sect master and master, and even dragged us brothers here to suffer in this damned place. Zhan Bai truly deserves to die!" The speaker was the fat one, a third-level earthly vigor cultivator, his face full of resentment and his words laced with bitterness. It was clear he had long disliked Zhan Bai.

"Shh, keep your voice down, Brother Sun. Don't let Zhan Bai hear you. He is, after all, the chief of the Seven Sons of Cloud Sword. If he really loses his temper, the two of us tied together may still not be his match. Besides, the way he is now..." The tall man pressed a finger to his lips in a silencing gesture, peered furtively into the mountain pass, and shot the fat man a wary look, urging him to stop talking.

"What are you afraid of, Brother Gu? Aren't you also one of the Seven Sons of Cloud Sword? Why are you so afraid of Zhan Bai?"

"I'm not afraid of Zhan Bai. I'm afraid of the sword in his hands. It's evil, I tell you!"

"That day, I saw everything with my own eyes. Zhan Bai, for that Fang Xinyi, flew into a rage and drew his sword, injuring Tian Bi, who was also one of the Seven Sons of Cloud Sword. Really, Tian Bi had only been trying to curry favor with the master and mistress, and ended up provoking Zhan Bai. Zhan Bai did show mercy, too—he only wounded Tian Bi. But that one strike..."

"What about it?"

"That sword strike itself wasn't especially powerful. The strange thing was the sword's eerie nature. Tian Bi, once wounded, was drained of all his blood on the spot and turned into a dried husk in an instant!" the tall cultivator said, still shaken.

Tian Bi had died instantly.

"You see how terrifying that is? It's truly sinister!"

They say that sword was brought back by Zhan Bai from outside, and it has already recognized him as its master. Even the sect master could not take it from him. According to the master, the sword is an object of ill omen, and he ordered Zhan Bai to destroy it, but Senior Brother Zhan refused.

That is why he was punished to come to the Cliff of the Ghost Sword and face the wall in penitence.

"Hmph, serves him right!"

He was so arrogant all the time, always looking down on everyone, stealing all the attention, and not even deigning to spare us fellow disciples a proper glance. And now? He has actually fallen into the demonic path. Hah, what sweet justice!

The more the two spoke, the more relieved they became, until at last they forgot to keep their voices down and began cursing loudly.

"Wuah!"

But then, a ghostly cry from the Cliff of the Ghost Sword instantly shut them up. Both men broke out in a cold sweat, too terrified to breathe.

"Hmph, two cowardly mice."

Qin Feng had heard everything. He gave a cold snort in his heart and became even more disappointed in the disciples of Shujian Mountain.

They were all disciples of the same sect, so why was the difference so great?

Thinking of Zhan Bai, Qin Feng felt a sharp pain in his heart.

It seemed that Zhan Bai's descent into demonic practice was most likely true.

"But Zhan Bai, why have you fallen into the demonic path? Could it be for Fang Xinyi?"

Qin Feng's gaze flickered.

Everything would be answered once he saw Zhan Bai.

Taking advantage of the two men trembling in fear and unable to spare attention for anything else, Qin Feng slipped sideways and squeezed through the gap between them. The two only felt a cold breeze sweep past, and the fragile calm they had just recovered rose in their throats once more.

"Haha, just as I expected. This thing is really something."

So Ye Wuyin really did possess a treasure, but tragically it was a gem cast into darkness, and in the end it had benefited Qin Feng.

Having passed the mountain-pass defense with ease, Qin Feng finally reached the Cliff of the Ghost Sword.

Under the hazy moonlight stood a lone white figure, proud and aloof, at the edge of the precipice. His head was tilted up, yet his eyes were tightly shut, and no one knew what Zhan Bai was thinking.

Beside him, ghostly winds howled like blades, circling Qin Feng without end.

"This..."

At once, Qin Feng's expression grew grave.

Zhan Bai's strength had actually advanced dramatically.

It seemed the matter was not as simple as merely falling into the demonic path.

Sure enough, just as Qin Feng sighed inwardly, Zhan Bai suddenly opened his eyes, flicked his hand, and a streak of sword light burst forth. In an instant it transformed into countless shards of cold brilliance in midair. Every flying sword carried with it a gust of ghost wind, circling through the air around Zhan Bai.

The innumerable swords grew faster and faster, wrapping Zhan Bai completely in a gigantic cocoon of blades. Their light was cold and sharp, yet upon that radiance loomed great black ghostly heads, wailing incessantly.

Those ghost heads seemed trapped within the flying swords by Zhan Bai, unable to escape, and could only contort, swell, and howl in endless agony. The cries were not only profoundly unsettling, but also gnawed at and disordered the mind.

In that instant, Qin Feng felt his consciousness suddenly blur.

Realizing something was wrong, the Tai'a Tempered Spirit Technique automatically began circulating within him. Shortly after, Qin Feng's mind cleared again, but even so he staggered, nearly falling to the ground.

That he was Qin Feng was the only reason this did not end with him being haunted and lost to himself long ago.

"Who's there?!"

Zhan Bai sensed something. The enormous sword cocoon surrounding him exploded apart with a deafening boom, and countless flying swords, each held aloft by skull-like specters, shot through the air at him.

Like the cries of ghosts and the howls of wolves.

The spectacle was truly terrifying.

The reason he had revealed himself earlier was that Qin Feng had momentarily let down his guard and been shaken by the uncanny apparitions, causing a great noise that drew Zhan Bai's attention.

Zhan Bai had already struck, and with overwhelming force. One wrong move here, and the result would be a rain of ten thousand arrows piercing the heart and a body shattered to pieces.

Originally Qin Feng had meant to watch a little longer, but who could have guessed he would expose himself?

This was also because the person before him was Zhan Bai; Qin Feng had relaxed his vigilance.

Now that Zhan Bai had locked onto his position with divine sense, evasion was clearly impossible. Moreover, these flying swords moved as if they had grown wings, several times swifter than when Zhan Bai had wielded his sword before.

Fast, ruthless, and venomous.

A style wholly of the demonic path.

Since there was no way to avoid it, Qin Feng simply stood still. Just as the flying swords were about to strike him, a massive coffin materialized from thin air and swallowed him whole.

After a thunderous crash, one flying sword, tinged with a faint red glow, was knocked back into Zhan Bai's hand.

Seeing this, Zhan Bai was startled and cried out in disbelief:

"The Demon Blood Abyss Coffin? You are Qin Feng!"

"That's right, it's me."

Qin Feng rose unhurriedly from within the coffin, then put it away, his gaze settling on Zhan Bai.

Zhan Bai had grown thin, very noticeably so, and his spirit was poor as well.

Especially those eyes: within what should have been clear pupils, they were now densely veined with blood. What could have happened to make a young hero who once believed in justice abandon all he had held to, and instead cultivate the Ghost Sword?

There was astonishment on Zhan Bai's face too, for he had never expected to encounter Qin Feng here, and Qin Feng was even wearing the attire of a disciple of Shujian Mountain.

Qin Feng explained, "Senior Brother Zhan, I am now an outer sect disciple of Shujian Mountain."

Zhan Bai's brow tightened.

"You joined Shujian Mountain?"

This time, Qin Feng did not answer. He simply looked silently at the haggard man before him. Suddenly he realized that the white-robed figure that had lived in his memory was already beginning to blur.

Yet Zhan Bai was still Zhan Bai; only his aura had changed completely.

"Senior Brother Zhan, this isn't you... Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Zhan Bai's eyes contracted, then he closed them. Shame seemed to cross his face, but even more than that, there was fury and hatred.

Once, Zhan Bai had proclaimed that if Qin Feng ever fell into the demonic path, he would cut him down with his sword.

And now? Qin Feng, who possessed the Demon Blood Abyss Coffin, had not fallen to demonic corruption, while he himself, wielding the Supreme Profound Infinite Sword, had been the first to succumb to it.

Was this not irony?

Zhan Bai opened his eyes and looked at the Supreme Profound Infinite Sword, now tinged faintly with blood-red, and a complicated emotion flashed in his gaze.

Qin Feng kept staring into Zhan Bai's eyes.

He could also see the hesitation and struggle in Zhan Bai's heart.

Technique lies in the person, not in the art itself.

Zhan Bai's heart was righteous. But the problem was that the environment could change a man, and shape him into a devil.

That environment was Shujian Mountain.