Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 198 - The Cursed Sword (1)

Do not draw the sword!

The writing on the cave wall was crooked, as if carved in great fear and desperation. Zanxing felt a chill run through her heart. Instinctively, she looked up at Meng Ying and shouted, “Senior Sister!”

Meng Ying turned her head in surprise. Suddenly, the sword in her hand began to shake violently, and dark waves of energy started to emanate from the tip of the sword.

“Qi force?” Gu Baiying’s expression froze.

“Senior Sister, what’s happening?” Mu Cengxiao noticed something was wrong and urgently asked.

Meng Ying, holding the Wuyou Sword, looked uncertain and alarmed. “Strange, this sword… is injecting qi into me.”

Ordinary spiritual weapons, even those with a sword spirit, merely assisted their owners and never actively helped them absorb qi force. Zanxing called out to Meng Ying, “Senior Sister, there’s something wrong with this sword!” She pointed to the carved writing on the cave wall. “Throw the sword away quickly!”

Under the illumination of the talisman, the writing on the cave wall was horrifyingly conspicuous. Meng Ying’s eyes narrowed as she tried to release the sword, but she quickly said, “I can’t. I can’t let go of the sword.”

The qi emanating from the sword’s tip, like spider silk, tightly wrapped around Meng Ying and the sword, making it impossible to break free. Gu Baiying coldly remarked, “This is bad.” He raised Xiu Gu and rushed towards the Sword Mound. However, before he could reach her, Meng Ying abruptly turned the sword tip and fiercely thrust it towards Mu Cengxiao, who was the closest to her.

Mu Cengxiao never expected Meng Ying to suddenly attack him. In a hurried attempt to evade, he raised his God-Slaying Blade to meet the attack. The sword and blade clashed with a loud clang and a crack appeared on the God-Slaying Blade’s body. The sharp sword energy also left a gash on Mu Cengxiao’s arm.

“You…” Mu Cengxiao stared at Meng Ying in shock.

“I can’t control the sword,” Meng Ying said calmly. “It has its own consciousness. We were wrong. This sword is probably more powerful than any supreme spiritual weapon. Everyone, get back!”

Zanxing understood that while the God-Slaying Blade appeared to be a broken blade, it was actually a fearsome weapon capable of slaying spirits and demons. For this seemingly elegant and exquisite sword to leave a mark on the God-Slaying Blade so easily demonstrated its terrifying power.

Gu Baiying’s expression turned cold. Without hesitation, he charged forward with his spear, and Tian Fangfang, realizing something was wrong, joined the fray with his Qianyang Axe. Gu Baiying called out to Meng Ying, “Don’t move. I’ll find a way to sever the connection between you and the sword.” As he spoke, a delicate red shadow flowed from the tip of his silver spear, tracing the flow of qi. Gripping his spear tightly, he struck without hesitation.

In an instant, the cave was filled with a dazzling light, scattering qi in all directions, nearly blinding everyone. The cave walls trembled, sending dirt and debris falling, causing Mimi to scurry around in a panic.

Zanxing shielded Men Dong, watching as the dazzling light rapidly converged and flowed back into the silver-white sword. The slender fingers gripping the sword remained unchanged.

The connection had not been severed.

Meng Ying was still bound to the sword.

“What does this sword want?” Men Dong shivered. As he finished speaking, Meng Ying had already charged at Tian Fangfang with the sword.

Tian Fangfang yelped and swung his Qianyang Axe at the Wuyou Sword, saying, “Sorry, divine sword, but for our safety, I’m going to chop you in half!”

“Stop! Don’t move!” Gu Baiying shouted sternly.

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Tian Fangfang’s axe had already struck the Wuyou Sword. Threads of qi from the sword’s tip crept onto the Qianyang Axe, and in an instant, the axe dimmed.

“Huh? What’s happening?” Tian Fangfang suddenly realized something was wrong.

Gu Baiying’s face was unusually grim. “The spiritual weapon’s qi is being absorbed by this sword. This is… qi suppression.”

Superior spiritual weapons can suppress inferior ones. Gu Baiying’s Xiu Gu Spear and Meng Ying’s Moon Soul Sword are both top-grade spiritual weapons, rare even in the cultivation world. Yet here, they were suppressed by the Wuyou Sword, indicating that the Wuyou Sword was far more than just a top-grade spiritual weapon.

Even more terrifying was the Wuyou Sword’s ability to absorb qi from other spiritual weapons. In just a short time, Mu Cengxiao’s God-Slaying Blade, Gu Baiying’s Xiu Gu Spear, and Tian Fangfang’s Qianyang Axe had all become ordinary weapons, devoid of any qi.

Meng Ying’s face began to turn pale.

Mu Cengxiao asked, “Senior Sister, how are you?”

“This sword is continuously flooding me with qi, but it seems to be affecting my mind,” Meng Ying gritted her teeth. “I can’t control it.”

“What does it want?” Gu Baiying asked.

“To kill everyone.”

The tone of this sentence was sinister, as if spoken not by Meng Ying but by the eerie sword spirit within the Wuyou Sword.

Meng Ying suddenly charged at Men Dong with the sword. Gu Baiying leapt to block her, raising his Xiu Gu Spear to intercept.

“Zanxing, take Men Dong and leave!” Gu Baiying commanded. “I’ll stay and find a way to control this sword.”

“No, Martial Uncle,” Men Dong shouted. “Your spiritual veins are already at their limit. Overusing qi before obtaining the Sacred Tree’s fruit will cause serious trouble!”

“I know my limits.” Gu Baiying’s tone was cold as he parried Meng Ying’s thrust. However, the Xiu Gu Spear, now just an ordinary weapon, could only block Meng Ying using his qi. Although he was the highest cultivator present, continuing to fend off Meng Ying like this would still lead to death.

Meng Ying sneered, “None of you will escape.”

On that beautiful face, usually cold and serene, there now lingered an unsettling hostility, making her look like a completely different person.

“Meng Ying!” Mu Cengxiao shouted anxiously, “Do you remember who you are?”

With a loud bang, Meng Ying expressionlessly swept aside the Xiu Gu Spear blocking her path, enunciating each word clearly: “Wu You Sword.”

Wuyou Sword?

As Zanxing hurriedly pulled Men Dong back, she had a sudden realization. In that moment, she understood the truth behind the lie of the divine sword that Zheng Qing had left behind.

This so-called divine sword indeed possessed miraculous powers, capable of easily suppressing even top-grade spiritual weapons. However, it harbored a deadly and terrifying secret: it could seize the wielder’s mind.

Since ancient times, spiritual weapons that developed spirits gained a form of consciousness, making them akin to cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage. Despite their intelligence, they remained mere weapons and did not take over human consciousness. But this sword devoured the wielder’s mind. No, it would be more accurate to say it made the wielder part of the sword spirit, merging them with the divine sword.

If the sword spirit were an ordinary one, focused on cultivation and diligent in its role as a weapon, it might not have been so bad. But this sword had a twisted, antisocial personality, exuding extreme evil and prone to massacre. Thus, the fate of anyone who drew this sword was predictable and dire.