The four Refining God Immortals of the Taihe Sword Sect thought that by concealing their auras, disguising themselves as commoners, or hiding in dark chambers, they could evade Gu Jinlai’s search.
was that they provided Gu Jinlai with a golden opportunity to defeat them one by one with ease.
Even if the four Refining God Immortals joined forces, they still wouldn’t be a match for Gu Jinlai, who, with the body of a Great Demon, wielded the Great Sun True Demon Body, but at least they could have caused him considerable trouble.
As Gu Jinlai killed Ye Longfei, the Sect Leader of the Taihe Sword Sect, and deliberately toured around Taihe City several times, taking out every Red Name he could find, including those Light Red Names who could not obtain Qingguang, one by one, the battle of Taihe City could be said to be at an end.
"Twelve rays of Qingguang, since I retained two, there are ten new ones,"
Gu Jinlai sensed his spiritual world.
The number wasn’t large.
Back in Lingxiao City, he had gathered a total of more than forty rays of Qingguang in bits and pieces, allowing him to perfect his Heavenly Master Technique, the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method, which was easy at the beginning but difficult later on, and pointed directly to the status of a Heavenly Monarch.
Compared to Lingxiao City, the gains from Taihe City were much smaller.
However, Lingxiao City was a special case due to the collusion between the Three Great Families and the Red Blood Demon Sect.
In reality, most cities with a population of less than a million would yield about ten rays of Qingguang.
Cities occupied by forces like the Purgatory Demon Sect and the Cold Moon Demon Sect might have a bit more, but to collect over forty rays of Qingguang in one go as was done in Lingxiao City is no easy task anymore.
Unless he were to conquer the Capitals of Red State or Blue State.
Those places were filled with masters.
More masters meant more evildoers.
"During this time, Gu Chaoyang vigorously enforced the policies I provided, making places like Lingxiao City and Yuanhua City regain order, with civilians obeying laws and living peacefully and happily. The once yellow layers of Karma on him have dropped to a white level, and that’s because he’s been somewhat hasty in his actions. If he had been gentler... Perhaps his Karma would have already evolved into a faint purple glow,"
Gu Jinlai contemplated quietly.
This confirmed his guess.
Doing good deeds indeed can reduce the Karma on a cultivator.
For someone like Gu Jinlai...
Although those beneficial deeds for the commoners were not executed by him personally, because the orders came from him, he too shared some of the benefits.
This was also why his Karma hardly increased as long as he did not instigate wars.
"It’s just a pity that once a war starts, even if I deliberately avoid collateral damage, I often still have to strike those without Karma."
Both parties were bound to their own masters, and he could not afford to show mercy.
Gu Jinlai gathered his Divine Sense, his gaze lingering on the twelve rays of Qingguang.
In the two days he spent in Taihe City, dozens died by his hand, but because they were all Red Names or Light Red Names, his Karma hardly increased.
Therefore, there was no need to use Qingguang to cleanse Karma.
Apart from the two rays he reserved, the remaining ten were all available for use.
His gaze first turned to the fundamental technique "Eternal Furnace."
However, remembering the amount of Qingguang spent on advancing from entry-level to Small Achievement...
Even if he used all ten rays of Qingguang, it would likely be in vain.
For a moment, he directed his focus on the sword techniques.
Accompanied by the wash of Qingguang, all sorts of mysterious aspects of All Swords Return to One surged into his mind.
How a sword would conform to aerodynamics when struck, the optical effects it could induce, the assistance that human biology could provide to the sword strike, and the ways to maximize damage upon hitting a human target, all flowed one after another.
All Swords Return to One: Small Achievement→Mahayana.
A new trait emerged, Qian Ye.
All Swords Return to One: Mahayana→Perfection.
A new trait emerged, Ten Directions Annihilation.
The ten rays of Qingguang lifted this sword technique directly to the Perfect Level, giving rise to two powerful Killing Moves.
The description of the two Killing Moves was uncertain.
Qian Ye was a defensive sword move.
After a detailed sensation by Gu Jinlai, he went to the courtyard where a spiritual explosion occurred, and the several thousand-jin heavy sword soon became as light as a feather.
Following that, he performed his sword techniques, and the more than two-meter-long Giant Sword in his hand vibrated at an extremely fast speed, almost like turning into a high-frequency blade.
The next moment, the Giant Sword spun rapidly, creating a sense of...
as if he had installed an electric motor in his hand, with the Giant Sword transforming into a fan blade of an electric fan.
Not only did this rapid rotation create an impenetrable defense similar to that of water, but the centrifugal force that accompanied the swing also significantly reduced the intensity of any attacks suffered.
And Ten Directions Annihilation...
was a special application of swordsmanship.
Or rather, a Throwing Sword Skill.
Combining one’s physical power, spirit, and sword to enter a unique state.
In this state, the heavy sword could be thrown like lightning, spinning rapidly, and accelerating to twice the speed of sound, in a missile-like fashion that took the enemy by surprise.
After the thrown target is hit, the rebound caused by spiritual attraction and the interaction force could also make the sword return to the thrower’s hand!
"Flying Knife Skill? Flying Sword Skill? Boomerang?"
Gu Jinlai wielded the sword, his body twisting, and the Giant Sword in his hand was thrown into the void with a piercing breaking sound.
It instantly broke the sound barrier.
After flying out a thousand meters, Gu Jinlai, still maintaining a spiritual explosion, manipulated the spirit, causing the Giant Sword to vibrate at a specific frequency, then performed a "U" turn, returning to him and being firmly grasped in his hand.
Due to the state of spiritual explosion, the Giant Sword seemed weightless, but the kinetic energy it carried still burst into a visible shock wave upon contact with Gu Jinlai’s palm, blowing away dust and debris around him, causing a haze of dust to rise within a radius of several meters.
"Ten Directions Annihilation has directly expanded my attack range to several hundred meters."
With the state of Ten Directions Annihilation and the ability to accurately sense flying swords, slashing flying swords was no longer wishful thinking.
"Battle is the best path to strength, and now I am even stronger."
He just didn’t know how he compared to a Primordial Spirit Monarch.
After a moment’s thought, Gu Jinlai performed a flourish with his sword, easily planting it into the ground.
Stones flew everywhere.
There’s no need to hurry.
Certainly, within a year, upon having condensed a Middle Level Demon Body one would officially possess the power to fight a Primordial Spirit True Monarch. Why then rush to provoke a True Monarch right now and face such a pinnacle existence that, looking south of Tianhe, is already at the peak?
"Although I can currently only exhibit the mystery of the Mental Realm through the power of the True Spirit, with the aid of the True Spirit, realizing the true essence of the Mental Realm is merely a matter of time. Beyond that, there’s the concept of the ’momentum’ of Heaven and Earth..."
Once he had grasped the momentum of Heaven and Earth, he would truly be unmatched south of Tianhe.
Purgatory Sect headquarters.
At this moment, the Hall Masters gathered again upon the summons of the Sect Master.
In contrast to the previous meeting, where Hall Masters were filled with righteous indignation demanding accountability from Gu Jinlai for the death of Yang Kan, this time, they were very quiet.
They had to be quiet.
Tan Qingquan was dead.
An elder with a top-grade spiritual sword and Cultivation at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Cultivator had died.
Also dead at the scene was Taihe Sword Sect’s Supreme Elder, the Divinity Transformation Cultivator Ye Yiren.
The strength to counter-kill two attackers of the Divinity Transformation realm...
Had already exceeded the limits of what these Hall Masters could fight against or conspire. Therefore, during this meeting, all the Hall Masters were very sincere, even cautious.
"Why is everyone silent?"
Lu Dengxian’s voice echoed in the grand hall: "Baihe City is lost, Elder Tan Qingquan has died in battle. Speak up, how should we resolve this matter?"
The Hall Masters exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
This was a huge matter...
"Sect Master, shall we ask the on-duty Supreme Elder to convene an Elder Council meeting for the elders to discuss a resolution? After all... the invasion of Star State is related to our entire Purgatory Sect’s strategy, a major decision affecting our sect’s future."
The Dongzhen Hall Master, Yuan Xizhi, suggested.
"Ask the on-duty Supreme Elder to convene an Elder Council meeting..."
Lu Dengxian glanced at Yuan Xizhi.
He had been aware of the severity of the situation when Elder Sha Wuji relayed the news, and had reported it to the Venerable Daoist.
The Venerable Daoist had not even bothered.
All their energy and attention had been spent on studying the Sky Extreme Sword.
Everyone was trying to figure out how to be the first to have the sword recognize them as its master.
In the face of such a huge temptation, capable of challenging the Devas themselves, what was the loss of Baihe City in comparison?
What was the significance of Tan Qingquan rashly going against Gu Jinlai and losing his life?
Unless the Purgatory Sect faced a life or death threat, all other matters had to stand aside.
"The Venerable Daoist and the other elders are preoccupied with significant matters and have no time to deal with the affair of Baihe City for the moment,"
The Hall Masters exchanged looks again.
Gu Jinlai’s strength had reached a level where it was beyond salvation without the intervention of a Primordial Spirit True Monarch. Under such circumstances, with the Supreme Elders focused on the Sky Extreme Sword, ignoring Baihe City and leaving it to them?
Two Divinity Transformation Cultivators had already been killed by Gu Jinlai’s counter attack! It would probably take three to four Divinity Transformation Cultivators to challenge him, five or six to defeat him, and to ensure he had almost no chance of escape, and to kill him without fail, at least seven or eight Divinity Transformation Cultivators, right?
Seven or eight Divinity Transformation Cultivators would be needed to kill Gu Jinlai, so how could these Refining God Realm Hall Masters meddle in this matter...
Considering their own lives too long?
For a moment, all the Hall Masters remained silent.
Even Chong Qianguang, who had good relations with Lin Xiao and had been quite hostile towards Gu Jinlai before, remained quiet.
Lu Dengxian watched this scene with a sense of helplessness.
Had truly become a towering figure.
He wanted to say something, but in the end, he found that he didn’t know what to say.
After a while, he turned his gaze towards the Deputy Sect Master, Qin Li.
Feeling the gaze of the Sect Master, Qin Li was startled and took a moment to react.
Gu Jinlai had killed Tan Qingquan.
This was a catastrophe like the sky falling down.
As a supporter of Gu Jinlai, his heart trembled when he received the news. Before this meeting began, he had already made up his mind to find a way to distance himself from Gu Jinlai.
However, it was only when the meeting actually commenced that he realized the situation seemed a bit off.
The Supreme Elders were focusing on studying how to become the master of the Sky Extreme Sword?
The sect was unwilling, or rather unable, to wage war with Gu Jinlai for Elder Tan Qingquan’s cause?
Especially when Lu Dengxian’s gaze fell on him, asking him to say something, his suspicions were confirmed instantly.
Truly did not want to confront Gu Jinlai at this time.
Recalling the letter given to him by Elder Zhao Qian, he was instantly invigorated.
"Fellow Hall Masters, hear me out. Is there a possibility..."