Chapter 63: Who Says Sword Cultivators Are Weak?

"Dead, they are all dead..."
"Everyone from the Xue family is dead! Lord Qi is dead too."
"Run, run for your lives! This person is simply not human."

Yang Le's sword strike did more than just take the life of Qi Tianque; it completely shattered the courage of everyone present.

Ordinary sword cultivators couldn't even unleash such a terrifying momentum, let alone cultivate sword intent itself.

Yet the Yang Le before their eyes...

This single sword strike had crushed not only their courage, but their entire understanding and worldview.

Whoever the hell said sword cultivators are weak, step right out!

They guaranteed they wouldn't beat him to death.

Such a glaring, thousand-meter-tall sword shadow had directly split Linqing City in two.

Under such overwhelming might, you tried to tell them sword cultivators were weak.

In a split second, before Yang Le could even utter a second word, the crowd scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives.

Before Yang Le made his move, because both the Xue family and Qi Tianque were present, they had assumed a single Yang Le could never possibly stir up the slightest wave.

But now?

Not a single person dared to meet Yang Le's gaze for even a second, let alone look at the sword in his hand.

Qi Tianque and Xue Tianlong, who were already thoroughly cold corpses, served as the best examples.

Those who had dared to stand before Yang Le...

were now completely and utterly dead.

"Master, should we deal with these people as well?"
"No need. They won't be able to escape."

Li Qi'er had just recovered from her shock and opened her mouth to question Yang Le the very instant Yang Le acted.

Prior to this, Yang Le had already given the surrounding crowd a chance to live.

Now, they had chosen to forfeit that opportunity themselves.

Naturally, Yang Le would not show mercy.

He drew his sword.

This time, the sword in Yang Le's hand carried no flashy momentum or pretentious aura; all that remained was the ultimate, merciless speed of the sword.

With every flash of cold light, another human life claimed its end in Yang Le's hands.

Yet, within Yang Le's eyes, there was not a trace of softness.

At this moment, Yang Le was slaughtering these people as easily as stray dogs, but if Yang Le had been the one defeated in his previous battle against Qi Tianque and Xue Tianlong...

he firmly believed that these people who had stayed behind would have shown him no mercy whatsoever.

That being the case...

Yang Le's sword grew even faster.

There is no sentimentality in the pugilistic world; there is only life and death.

Yang Le did not particularly enjoy killing, but he despised being killed even more.

Under such circumstances, how could Yang Le possibly show any leniency here?

"Master, I didn't kill the wrong people. I checked all around, and they were all human scum and pure-blooded demons."
"When I swing my sword, I never entertain the thought of killing the wrong person."

After the span of an incense stick, Yang Le halted the sword in his hand.

The entire Xue family estate was now flowing with rivers of blood, corpses littered the ground everywhere, and the blood seeping from the wounds made the ground sticky to the soles of the feet.

As for Li Qi'er, she had harvested a bountiful collection, directly grabbing a tablecloth to bundle up and pack away all the spoils of the trip.

Li Qi'er had even grown so wealthy that she no longer looked down upon ordinary gold and silver treasures.

There was no helping it.

As the preeminent family of Linqing City, though the Xue family could not compare to the prestigious aristocratic clans of Central Province, they undoubtedly possessed a deep foundation.

Among the spoils were seven or eight human cultivation techniques alone, two of which were exceptionally suited for Yang Le.

While many of the heavenly treasures and rare herbs could only be used by demons, an even greater number of medicinal ingredients used for nourishing blood and vital energy could be utilized by humans as well.

In addition, there were numerous scarce materials.

Seeing this, Li Qi'er's eyes flashed with a brilliant sheen.

The sword she had gifted her master was likely at least of Earth-tier quality.

"Aside from these things, are there any special items?"

Taking the two cultivation techniques handed over by Li Qi'er—one being the Drifting Dragon Footwork, a supreme heritage manual of the Eight Trigrams Sect from a century ago that far surpassed the footwork Yang Le had previously acquired from Cangzhou—he examined them.

As for the other technique, it was far more intriguing, belonging to a heterodox art:

The Art of Pill Internalization.

Practiced daily, it could expand the dantian and firm up inner Qi, making it a rare and exquisite secret method for human cultivators.

Of course, Yang Le merely tucked both items into his tunic and then looked at Li Qi'er with an expectant gaze.

Having spent this much time together, Yang Le was quite familiar with Li Qi'er's personality.

This little girl would never bring out the truly good things at first glance.

"Master, this is no ordinary good thing."

Meeting Yang Le's gaze, Li Qi'er stopped playing coy and pulled out a transparent glazed bottle radiating a faint golden glow from her bosom.

It was about an inch in size, containing only a single item:

A drop of fluid that resembled flowing gold sand.

"Glazed Golden Spirit. Legend has it that it's a treasure left behind by immortals of the upper realm. It can fuse into the dantian to nourish the Conception and Governing vessels in advance, making it an essential item for breaking into the upper three ranks. Even martial artists of other ranks can use it ahead of time, saving countless years on the long and arduous martial path."

After describing the item in her hand, Li Qi'er handed it directly to Yang Le. "Master, Xue Tianlong probably prepared this secret treasure specifically to break through from the fourth rank into the third rank. Now it's our master's bargain."

"Mm, I understand."

The moment he received the Glazed Golden Spirit, Yang Le swallowed it straight into his mouth.

Then...

Then nothing happened.

Just as it entered his mouth, Yang Le felt a strange stir originate from within his dantian.

The first to react was the sliver of inner Qi occupying the furthest corner. Sensing the aura of the Glazed Golden Spirit, the inner Qi violently surged out from its corner,

spreading itself entirely wide.

It was as if the Glazed Golden Spirit naturally belonged to it all along.

However, just as the Glazed Golden Spirit was about to merge completely with the inner Qi, a sudden mutation occurred within Yang Le's dantian.

The small sword in the center struck first, slashing the inner Qi apart with a single sword stroke before seizing the center position and awaiting the Glazed Golden Spirit.

The aura originally transformed from the supremacy of the Sword Dao found the small sword's edge irresistible and retreated to second best,

converging into a single point and occupying the right side of the dantian.

Meanwhile, wisps of mortal worldly aura disdainfully chose not to contend, taking up the left side instead.

They presented quite the posture of dividing the Glazed Golden Spirit into three parts.

Just when Yang Le thought this contention had finally settled into dust,

a seven-colored radiance abruptly suppressed all three factions, and a sword shadow materialized out of thin air, towering majestically above everything else.

The small sword initially intended to put up a fight to prove its status as the big brother of the dantian.

Yet, after merely perceiving the aura for a moment, it instantly became utterly obedient and dared not move an inch.

In the end, the giant sword shadow cleaved the Glazed Golden Spirit in two, monopolizing fifty percent for itself.

The small sword claimed twenty percent from the share, while the mortal worldly aura and the intent of Sword Dao Supremacy each took ten percent.

The final ten percent melted into Yang Le's sword bones.

The originally pale golden sword bones now shone with an even more brilliant luster.

As for the inner Qi at the very bottom...

Not a single hair of it got anything.

"Master, why are your Conception and Governing vessels showing zero reaction? Not to mention a heaven-pride master like you, even an ordinary person would experience massive turbulence upon obtaining the Glazed Golden Spirit..."

After the various entities inside the dantian cleanly carved up the Glazed Golden Spirit among themselves, Yang Le only offered a calm smile.

Seeing this, Li Qi'er beside him was

dumbfounded.

Damn it, could the Glazed Golden Spirit she gave her master have been a fake?

"No matter, this is indeed a good thing."

Yang Le stroked Li Qi'er's puzzled little head, as a trace of faint golden Qi also fused into the sword in his hand.