Chapter 108 The Withered Sword Venerable
The black-robed elder—Venerable Withered Sword—listened to the tearful complaints from below and looked at the severed limbs and broken arms scattered across the ground. A chilling killing intent slowly emerged on his face, which resembled withered tree bark.
He had been in secluded cultivation for three hundred years. He never expected that upon emerging, he would see such a tragic scene of his sect on the verge of destruction.
"Good, very good."
Venerable Withered Sword laughed in extreme anger. His withered palm slowly rose, and the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy instantly surged frantically, condensing behind him into a thousand-foot-tall phantom of a gray giant sword.
"Fifth Level Martial Venerable..."
Jin Daoming returned to Ye Haocheng's side, his face now showing an unprecedentedly solemn expression.
"Young Master."
Jin Daoming lowered his voice and sent a hurried sound transmission, "This old fellow is very strong, extremely strong. Even if I use the half-step Venerable Weapon nine-winged mysterious light fan in my hand, I am absolutely no match for him. I can only last a hundred moves under him at most."
"However..."
A flash of pride crossed Jin Daoming's eyes. "If I want to leave, with my extreme speed, he won't be able to keep me. Young Master, a wise man knows when to retreat. Why don't we withdraw first?"
However, facing such a dangerous situation, not a trace of panic could be seen on Ye Haocheng's face.
In fact, the moment Venerable Withered Sword appeared, an imperceptible glint flashed deep in his eyes.
It was the excitement of a hunter seeing his prey fall into a trap.
"Finally... you're willing to come out?"
Ye Haocheng murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint smile.
The reason he had acted so high-profile, why he let Jin Daoming go on a killing spree, and why he continuously humiliated Sect Master Zhang Baizong was all for this moment!
It was all to lure out this old thing entrenched deep within the Sword Mausoleum!
"No need to panic."
Ye Haocheng gently patted Jin Daoming's shoulder, his tone so calm it was unbelievable. "He's just a Fifth Level Martial Venerable; he won't be able to keep us here."
As he spoke, his left hand gently brushed over a simple jade talisman at his waist.
Sealed within it were three full-strength strikes from a peerless sword cultivator at the peak of the Martial Venerable realm.
With this item in hand, combined with Jin Daoming's speed, Ye Haocheng had long since placed himself in an invincible position.
Ye Haocheng looked toward the distant and empty main peak of the Sword Mausoleum and thought to himself:
"Since the old thing has come out, the interior of the Sword Mausoleum must be empty. Wu De, Bai Ze, you two fellows had better move fast..."
...
At the same time.
Deep within the Sword Mausoleum, the forbidden back mountain area of the Sword Burial Mound Sect.
The dark wind howled here, and countless broken swords were thrust into the black earth, emitting mournful sword cries.
The very instant Venerable Withered Sword broke out of his seclusion and his aura moved away from the Sword Mausoleum.
In the previously empty void, a ripple like water suddenly appeared.
Following that, two figures—one fat and one in white—sneaked out like two large rats, looking around suspiciously.
It was the unscrupulous Taoist Wu De and Bai Ze, who had been lying in wait for a long time.
"He's gone! He's really gone!"
Wu De's fat face was now filled with excitement and greed. He held an old compass in his hand; the needle on it was spinning frantically before finally stopping at the "Great Fortune" position.
"Infinite Celestial! Ye Haocheng actually managed to lure that old fossil away!"
Wu De wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, his small, mung-bean-like eyes glowing with a green light. "While that old thing was squatting inside, this Taoist Master didn't even dare to let out a fart. Now that he's gone, hasn't this Sword Mausoleum become our back garden?"
Bai Ze, who was beside him, was also full of excitement.
"Quick, quick, quick! Delay brings change!"
Without any hesitation, the two of them rushed toward the depths of the Sword Mausoleum like arrows released from a bow.
Although there were still some residual restrictive formations along the way, in front of an array master like Wu De, they were practically non-existent.
In just a few moments, the two of them rushed into the innermost stone chamber.
In the center of the stone chamber stood a three-zhang-tall cyan stone stele. The surface of the stele was mottled and covered with ancient characters resembling tadpoles, faintly emitting a heart-palpitating sharpness.
Just one look at it made it feel as if a divine sword was piercing one's eyes.
"This is it! A treasure! A great treasure!"
Wu De was so excited that his fat trembled all over. He rushed forward, hugged the stele, and gave it a hard kiss. "It's this item, it's this item!"
Bai Ze rolled his eyes. "Dead fatty, stop being disgusting. This stele is connected to the earth veins, and it has that old thing's mental imprint on it. It won't be easy to take away."
"Not easy? Hehe, in front of this Taoist Master, there is no treasure that can't be taken!"
Wu De sneered and pulled out a glittering golden shovel from his robes, then took out four small flags covered in talismans, planting them at the four corners of the stele.
"Move the mountains and unload the ridges, follow my command! Rise!"
Following Wu De's low shout, the four small flags burst with light, instantly severing the connection between the stele and the earth veins.
Then, he waved the golden shovel and began digging frantically at the base of the stele.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
The fat man's digging movements were so skilled it was heart-wrenching; clearly, he had done this sort of thing many times.
In just a few breaths, the sword enlightenment stele—which weighed tens of thousands of jin and was connected to the entire Sword Burial Mound Sect's luck—was actually dug loose by him!
"Bai Ze, give me a hand! Let's pull it out by the roots!"
"Got it!"
The two of them together grabbed the stele.
"One, two, three! Lift!"
Rumble!
The entire Sword Mausoleum trembled violently once again. The sword enlightenment stele, which had been passed down for thousands of years, was forcibly pulled out by these two bandits just like that!
"Collect!"
Wu De was quick-eyed and quick-handed. With a wave of his large hand, he stuffed the massive stone stele directly into his storage bag.
Having finished all this, the two looked at each other and saw the wild joy in each other's eyes.
"Success!"
"The wind is tight, let's bolt!"
Wu De pulled out a Thousand-Mile Divine Travel Talisman and slapped it onto his leg with a 'pa'. "That kid Ye probably won't be able to hold out much longer. Let's slip away quickly!"
Without staying for a moment, the two turned into two streaks of light and disappeared into the vast night along the tunnel they had dug earlier.
...
The scene shifted back to the Sword Asking Square.
At this time, Venerable Withered Sword had absolutely no idea that his own nest had been hollowed out and even the sect's treasure had been uprooted.
He was currently standing high above, looking down at Ye Haocheng with eyes that regarded him as nothing more than an ant.
"Young man, you don't know the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth. Today, this old man will let you know what the might of a Martial Venerable is!"
Venerable Withered Sword lost his patience and decided to end the battle quickly.
He took a step forward and lightly grasped the void with his right hand.
"Ten Thousand Swords Return to Ancestor, Perish!"
Buzz—!
Following his movement, the thousand-foot-tall gray giant sword phantom behind him suddenly solidified. Countless streaks of gray sword qi separated from the giant sword, turning into a sky-covering rain of swords. Carrying the deathly aura of decaying all things, they swept down toward Ye Haocheng and Jin Daoming, blanketing the sky.
This strike sealed the heavens and the earth, freezing space itself.
Even with Jin Daoming's extreme speed, it was difficult to fully utilize it under this all-encompassing area-of-effect attack.