Chapter 152: Slaying Two Demons with a Sword

"Hehe, March spring equinox, fireworks blooming brilliantly. Such a fine day and lovely scenery, on this night of a full moon and blooming flowers, it is truly an excellent time for the two of you to be buried!"

Hearing a sinister and gloomy voice laugh from the dark, a middle-aged man in a long robe stepped out from the woods.

This man had shriveled skin and a greenish complexion. It would have been better if he hadn't smiled, but when he did, two long cyan fangs were exposed, looking rather spine-chilling.

Scarcely had his voice faded when another person chimed in from the woods:

"Hmph! Why bother wasting so much flowery language on two little brats! Wouldn't it be much more delightful for the old man to simply boil them down to accompany my wine!"

Speaking thus, this person also walked out of the woods. Liang Yan turned to look and saw an old man with white hair and a white beard, who stood there with his hands behind his back, shoulder-to-shoulder with the previous middle-aged man.

"It seems the two of you are the ones who forged the letters and lured us both here at the same time!" Liang Yan glanced at them and said indifferently.

"Indeed, you two ignorant brats, today is your day of death!"

"I have no grudge against you two. Why go to such elaborate lengths to bring about our deaths?" Liang Yan asked.

"No grudge, hehe, the grudge is huge..." The white-haired old man chuckled and was about to say something when Li Xiran suddenly interrupted him:

"Presumably, the two of you are the remaining members of the 'Three Ghosts' of the Corpse Ghost Sect?"

"You're no fool, little brat!" the cyan-robed man laughed. "That's right, we are the Blue Fang Ghost and the White Beard Ghost of the 'Three Ghosts'. We've come this time specifically to avenge our third brother who died!"

The white-haired old man also smiled slightly and said, "Originally, we only planned to kill this girl first, and then go look for this fellow surnamed Liang. Who would have thought heaven would be so kind as to deliver him right to our doorstep! Hehe, kid, this is called taking the road to heaven even though there is none, and charging blindly into hell where the door is closed!"

Both of these men were at the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Having already crossed the threshold of the second stage of Qi Refining, their spiritual power was more than twice as pure as that of ordinary cultivators, which was why they didn't take Liang Yan and his companion seriously at all.

"The Red-Faced Ghost ignored the laws and slaughtered mortals en masse. Every cultivator in the State of Zhao has the right to execute him. As his accomplices, you two cannot escape your share of the blame!"

Facing two cultivators at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, Li Xiran showed no fear at all. She drew her long saber from behind her, pointed it at the two ghosts, and said righteously.

Seeing this, Liang Yan shook his head slightly, thinking to himself, "Nothing good ever comes from running into this reckless fool!"

"Hard to escape blame, eh? Once I turn you into the old man's drinking snack in a moment, you won't be able to spout such big words anymore!" The White Beard Ghost bristled his beard in anger and reached into his storage pouch, pulling out a bone-white object.

Liang Yan concentrated his gaze and saw that the object was actually a human skull. The White Beard Ghost tapped it lightly, and thick black smoke immediately billowed from the skull's eye sockets and lips.

This black smoke slowly gathered in mid-air, transforming into a three-taller black evil ghost. Drooling from the corners of its mouth and possessing extraordinarily long fingernails, the evil ghost shrieked and lunged toward Liang Yan the moment it formed.

Liang Yan showed not a trace of panic on his face. He held his right hand straight before his chest and pinched a sword incantation, whereupon a silver-white moon-bright treasured sword soared into the sky. Spinning briskly in mid-air, it slashed straight toward the black evil ghost.

"Sword cultivator!"

The Blue Fang Ghost and the White Beard Ghost changed color simultaneously, no longer daring to be the least bit careless.

"Attack together, lest we capsize in a drainage ditch!" The White Beard Ghost roared. The Blue Fang Ghost nodded with a grave expression and also retrieved a cyan disc from his bosom, tossing it toward Liang Yan with a flick of his hand.

When the disc flew into mid-air, it suddenly shot out a pillar of black light. Within the light beam, ghosts wailed and wolves howled, faintly exuding a foul stench.

Seeing the black light beam striking toward Liang Yan, Li Xiran shifted her stance, preparing to intervene. However, Liang Yan took a step forward, waved a hand at her, and said, "No need! Fellow Daoist Li, just guard the flanks for me; handling this alone is more than enough!"

He changed the incantations in his hands, and abruptly the flying sword in mid-air flickered slightly, dividing into three identical flying swords. Two of them continued to slash toward the black evil ghost, while the third flew toward the cyan disc.

The Lesser Three Talents Sword Art takes the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Man as its foundation, embodying three sword stances: the Human Way, the Earth Treasury's Birth, and the Heavenly Mystery's Shift.

Among them, "Sword Light Differentiation, One Splitting into Three" is precisely the divine ability of the Earth Treasury's Birth.

The two silver-white flying swords fluttered up and down, turning into two moon-white glows that instantly plunged into the body of the black evil ghost. The evil ghost wailed and roared, but within the span of a few breaths, it was shredded into powder.

Meanwhile, the other flying sword bypassed the black light beam and directly cleaved down onto the cyan disc.

Crack!

A crisp sound echoed as the cyan disc in mid-air was split cleanly into two halves, and the foul-smelling black light beam instantly vanished like smoke.

From the moment Liang Yan drew his sword until the two ghosts' divine abilities were broken, barely a few breaths had passed.

The Blue Fang Ghost opposite stood frozen in place, seemingly failing to recover his senses yet. The white-haired old ghost beside him, however, was exceptionally decisive. He tugged at the Blue Fang Ghost's sleeve and barked in a low voice, "Run!"

Only then did the Blue Fang Ghost snap out of it, turning around and fleeing alongside the White Beard Ghost without looking back.

Both of these men were villains who had scraped by on the brink of life and death for many years, possessing an extraordinary perception of danger.

Seeing how effortlessly Liang Yan shattered their divine abilities with a flick of a finger, they completely lost any will to fight and only wished to flee for their lives.

At this sight, a cold smile curved the corners of Liang Yan's mouth. Urging the incantation in his hands urgently, he sent the three flying swords accelerating rapidly to slash toward the backs of the two escaping ghosts.

"Go!"

The Blue Fang Ghost threw a limp, slender rope backward over his shoulder. The rope grew rapidly in the wind, transforming into a twin-headed green snake that bared its fangs and hissed at the pursuing flying swords in mid-air.

Swish! Swish!

As the flying swords swept past, the green snake was cut into several pieces without making even the slightest sound, dropping to the ground and reverting to several severed lengths of rope.

Fast as the two ghosts were in their flight, how could they possibly outpace flying swords? Seeing that Liang Yan was relentless, the Blue Fang Ghost suddenly roared, "I'll fight you to the death!"

He halted his steps, frantically pinching incantations before his chest with both hands. Layers of green scales instantly grew all over his body, his two sharp fangs curled outward, and ghostly auras surged around him.

By now, the three flying swords had reached them. With a fierce roar, the Blue Fang Ghost took the initiative to drive the surrounding ghostly aura to taint the treasured sword in mid-air.

Yet those three flying swords merely flickered slightly before vanishing right where they were.

"What?!"

The Blue Fang Ghost's eyes widened to their utmost, as if he had witnessed something utterly inconceivable.

The next moment, two flying swords radiating biting, frigid coldness emerged beside his neck. With a single mid-air twist from these two swords, the Blue Fang Ghost's entire head soared into the sky, leaving only a headless corpse collapsing to the ground.

By this time, the White Beard Ghost had already slipped far away. Glancing back just in time to see the Blue Fang Ghost's head plummeting from mid-air, his heart clenched violently, and he forced his feet to move even faster.

"No! There's still one more flying sword!"

This was the White Beard Ghost's final conscious thought.

The next instant, a stream of moon-white radiance pierced straight through his chest, pinning him ruthlessly onto a large tree beside the Ten-Mile Slope.