C13 The Dead Money That Came for Nothing

"Thunder Shocking Sword, you're now my partner through the impending tempest of blood and violence," Zhang Yu murmured, affectionately stroking the Divine Sword he had just acquired.

The blade quivered slightly, as if in silent accord with his words.

Realizing he still had time, Zhang Yu began to reflect on the Thunder Shocking Sword Spell he had recently mastered, intent on honing it to perfection. He knew that true ownership meant transforming it into his own strength; otherwise, no matter how many gifts one receives, they're meaningless if one cannot defend them.

Two hours passed, and Zhang Yu gently lifted the Thunder Shocking Sword, immersing himself in his insights. He swung it softly, not channeling any spiritual energy, but purely to grasp the spell's true essence.

In those moments, Zhang Yu seemed to lose himself, the sword in his hand moving without purpose—slashing, chopping, thrusting—tirelessly repeating the motions. A figure emerged in his mind, a silhouette also wielding a sword, moving with increasing speed until it became a streak of white light and vanished.

Opening his eyes slowly, Zhang Yu silently savored the sensations and sounds of his recent practice. He had felt an invisible barrier hindering his understanding.

The sword is the emperor of weapons! Unsheathing it demands an unstoppable spirit and a resolve to face death. Those who walk the path of the sword, whether righteous or wicked, must believe in the blade they wield, which is ultimately a belief in themselves. Zhang Yu, once scorned as worthless, had carried the weight of inferiority for over a decade. Now, on the path of cultivation, he still harbored fears of never catching up to the so-called prodigies.

What he was missing was absolute confidence.

With this realization, it was as if Zhang Yu had shed a heavy load; clarity dawned in his heart, and the barriers that once hindered him dissolved in an instant.

Wielding the Thunder Shocking Sword once more, Zhang Yu faced no more obstacles. An unstoppable presence erupted from within him, sharp and forceful. Each thrust of his sword stirred up clouds of debris, as though even the sturdiest mountain walls could not withstand the ferocity of his blade.

"Ha!" Zhang Yu bellowed as he plunged the Thunder Shocking Sword into the rock wall.

With a thunderous rumble, chunks of rock tumbled from the wall, crashing heavily to the ground below. In a moment of sudden insight, Zhang Yu had mastered the Thunder Shocking Sword Technique and couldn't resist testing the might of the Divine Sword. The power exceeded his expectations, shattering the rock layer.

As the cave threatened to collapse, Zhang Yu dashed towards the exit.

With a resounding boom, a cloud of dust billowed behind him as the cave gave way entirely.

Rubbing his chin, Zhang Yu lamented, "I should have been more cautious. What a shame to leave those Night-Luminescent Pearls behind."

Realizing he could no longer remain, Zhang Yu, now versed in the Thunder Shocking Sword Spell, resolved to descend the mountain. Clutching at the vines and plants draping the cliffside, he spent a grueling two hours finally reaching the base of the mountain safely.

He glanced up at the peak, obscured by mist, still out of sight.

"Liu Zhong, I've been fortunate to survive this ordeal. Your day of reckoning will come when I return," Zhang Yu declared with an icy tone.

Surveying his surroundings, Zhang Yu set his course and ventured deeper into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, intent on finding a secure spot to advance to warrior status. The energy from numerous battles, coupled with the vast power of the Demon Crystals and the energy drained from the Thunder Shocking Sword, stirred a sense of urgency within him—his cultivation realm was on the brink of breakthrough.

...

After covering nearly twenty miles, a suitable cultivation site still eluded Zhang Yu. Knowing the importance of this next step, he continued his search with patience and precision.

Suddenly, a fearsome roar pierced the sky, startling Zhang Yu into a crouch within a nearby hiding spot, motionless. The sound alone told him that the Demon Beast ahead was a formidable creature, one he could only aspire to confront.

Zhang Yu, concealed from view, could only sense heart-palpitating fluctuations emanating from the distance. No Demon Beasts had appeared, so he gradually gathered the courage to inch forward, little by little.

"Damn Black Snakes, is it really necessary to go to such lengths? It was just an accident that I harmed one of your eggs; it's not as if I've doomed your lineage. In a century or so, you could simply have another, right? What if I find some lovely females from your snake clan for you to enjoy daily?" Tu Hong, with his gaunt and sinister appearance, rasped.

"You killed my child. You must pay with your life, no matter what!" A muscular man spoke to Tu Hong with an icy tone.

"Damn it, if you won't heed my friendly warnings, then I'll flay you and make snake soup out of you!" Tu Hong, enraged by the persistent Black Snakes' refusal to back down, lashed out.

With rapid movements, his hands formed intricate seals, and a colossal fist materialized in midair, sending waves of energy that rippled through space.

"Taste the power of my Sky Ancient Fist!" Tu Hong bellowed.

"Boom!" The massive fist's phantom struck the burly man solidly.

"What?" Tu Hong exclaimed in shock, seeing that his full-force blow had only inflicted minor damage on the burly man.

"I refuse to believe you're that formidable. Take another of my Fist Dominates the World!" Tu Hong shouted. A small mountain swiftly emerged in the sky, bearing down on the burly man.

With a ferocious howl, sensing the immense energy of the strike, the burly man transformed into a gargantuan Black Snake, a hundred meters in length. The burly man was, in fact, a Demon Beast in human guise, and only a Lord Level Demon Beast could achieve such a transformation. Therefore, the grim elder who could stand toe-to-toe with a Lord Level Demon Beast must be at least a Martial Ancestor Stage powerhouse.

The clash of two titans at the Martial Ancestor Stage was nothing short of a legendary battle in the modest Yishui Town! A Martial Ancestor, as the title suggests, had reached the pinnacle of martial mastery, each capable of founding a sect and being revered as an ancestor. In Yishui Town, where the highest level was merely that of a Great Martial Master, a Martial Ancestor could effortlessly crush a Great Martial Master as if squashing a mere ant.

After enduring such a ferocious assault, the black Giant Snake's body was riddled with cracks. Scales were flung off in all directions, and a large swath of its flesh was reduced to a bloody pulp.

The severely wounded black Giant Snake, in a sudden surge of defiance, hoisted its hefty tail, channeling the power within its Demon Crystal, and lashed out at Tu Hong.

Tu Hong, quick to react, wove a series of intricate hand signs, conjuring a transparent shield of spiritual energy before him. It was visibly pulsating as energy was ceaselessly funneled into it.

Yet, with a resounding "Crack!" the formidable shield could not hold against the Giant Snake's mighty blow. It shattered in an instant, and Tu Hong was sent hurtling to the ground, his impact carving out an enormous crater.

Coughing up blood, Tu Hong pushed himself up and faced the Giant Snake, "You've pushed me to this. I didn't want to resort to this technique; the toll it takes on me is too great. But now, to repay your kindness, I'm sparing no expense."

"Blood sacrifice to the heavens, obliterate all beneath the sky!" Tu Hong bellowed, and his already gaunt figure withered further, shriveling up like a plant devoid of moisture, resembling nothing less than a mummified corpse. The spiritual energy of the world seemed to drain away in an instant, furiously rushing into Tu Hong's body.

"Perish!" With his martial technique ready, Tu Hong sneered and bellowed at the towering Black Snake.

Initially, the Black Snake had dismissed Tu Hong's grave injuries with indifference. But the moment it sensed the spiritual forces of the world converging on Tu Hong, its expression turned to one of stark terror. As a massive surge of energy bore down upon it, the Black Snake opened its gaping maw and expelled its Demon Crystal, the wellspring of its power.

With a cataclysmic "Boom!" reminiscent of the apocalypse, their energies collided, blasting a tremendous crater into the landscape. The Demon Crystal, once expelled by the Black Snake, dissipated into nothingness, and the creature's body was nearly cleaved in two. Tu Hong, having delivered his devastating strike, was not blessed with such resilience. Gazing upon his mutilated form, blood poured forth in torrents.

"I'll wait for you," he uttered, just four words before collapsing to the ground, silent forevermore.

...

Shaking his head to rid himself of the dirt he had unwittingly swallowed, Zhang Yu slowly got to his feet. The shock of the blast that had knocked him out sent a shiver through his heart. Looking around, he saw the once dense forest had vanished, leaving a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of a typhoon—trees strewn haphazardly, a landscape of destruction.

Zhang Yu crept toward the motionless black Giant Snake lying in the distance.

"Hopefully they're all gone. I'm just here to see if there's any worthless junk to salvage. Please, no more surprises," he muttered to bolster his courage. To Zhang Yu, these two were akin to towering mountains, capable of snuffing out his life with a mere gesture.

"Damn, this old guy looks just like a mummy, scared the life out of me," Zhang Yu exclaimed as he approached Tu Hong. He had intended to search the body for anything of value but recoiled at the sight of Tu Hong's face. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he reached out and touched Tu Hong.

"Huh, he's cold to the touch. Looks like he's truly gone." With the reality of Tu Hong's death confirmed, Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.