One Strike

Shi Yuzhen stared coldly ahead, the tip of the Ink Sword aimed directly at the creature wrapped in strands of hair.

The person before him had once been the master who guided him into the Immortal Marsh Sect, but now his gaze burned like a torch, as if looking at a lifeless object.

Shi Yuzhen had grown up in an environment far from normal, and naturally, he had been shaped into someone aloof and proud, single-minded in his pursuit of the Dao.

He cared for no one—neither his sect nor his master, not his fellow disciples, nor the men and women who tried to cozy up to him.

He cared only for himself. So when he was ambushed during a critical breakthrough, his fury nearly consumed him. He valued himself too highly and dismissed others too easily. How could he allow anyone to stand in the way of his ascension?

Such obsession was perhaps etched deeply into every high-ranking cultivator in the Immortal Marsh.

When he learned that Master Chen, who had taught him for decades, had long become a puppet under Master Xu’s control, he felt little emotion.

Now, with the Ink Sword just an inch away from breaking through Master Xu’s defenses, Shi Yuzhen remained unmoved.

But then, a sudden, inexplicable surge of anger struck him like a bolt of lightning.

For just a moment, he hesitated.

Master Xu noticed immediately. With a sinister grin, he revealed his plot. “Hehehehe… Do you like fried chicken? At last, you’ve fallen for—”

Before he could finish, Shi Yuzhen struck down with a vicious slash. The sword roared like a mountain collapsing.

Master Xu’s grin split apart… No, this wasn’t right… The slow-acting poison administered daily should have taken effect long ago.

Why?! Where did it go wrong?

Master Xu was slammed to the ground by the force of the sword, vomiting mouthfuls of foul blood. The strands of hair returned to normal, now draping over him like a black shroud.

His entire body was riddled with wounds from the Ink Sword. Soon, dark red blood began to seep from beneath the hair.

In the blink of an eye, the Ink Sword, moving with terrifying speed, pierced toward him from all directions, ready to turn him into a sieve.

The gathered cultivators finally arrived at the scene of the two incidents, only to witness a shocking sight: Shi Yuzhen had gone mad and slain his master!

None dared step forward. This wasn’t just a battle of spiritual power—it was a one-sided massacre, far more devastating than any explosion.

Some cultivators, unaware of the truth, assumed that An Jiaze, who had been under Xu Ya’s care, had also been injured by Shi Yuzhen. They rushed over to check on him and, finding Xu Ya in the way, rudely shoved her aside.

Caught off guard, Xu Ya, whose current constitution was only slightly better than a mortal’s, stumbled and fell to her knees.

Just then, a flash of sword light streaked by. The Ink Sword left a clean cut through a strand of hair on the cultivator who had touched An Jiaze, a clear warning.

At that moment, sharp-eyed cultivators noticed Master Xu lying motionless on the ground, eyes wide open in a grotesque expression, as if he had died with unresolved hatred.

“This…” One cultivator was so terrified he nearly collapsed, only staying upright with the support of those behind him. Drenched in sweat, he screamed, “Murder! He’s killed someone! Shi… Shi Yuzhen killed Master Xu!”

“Master!!”

The crowd of cultivators erupted into chaos at his words.

Though An Jiaze had recovered somewhat after eating the fried chicken Xu Ya gave him, the prolonged strangulation by Master Xu’s sinister hair had left his throat damaged. He could no longer speak.

Just as he tried to say something, a sharp pain and itch flared in his throat, sending him into a fit of coughing.

Xu Ya scrambled up from the ground and rushed to support the now extremely weak An Jiaze.

Out of nowhere, Shi Yuzhen appeared, leaning slightly on Xu Ya, but his grip on the Ink Sword was firm as he pressed its tip against An Jiaze’s chin. His face was dark and blood-streaked, his tone indifferent as he ordered, “Explain.”

An Jiaze looked at him deeply.

After a long silence, he steadied himself against the wall and stood, coughing sharply. Then he solemnly addressed the crowd, revealing the truth: “It was Master Xu. At the most critical moment of my breakthrough, he ambushed me and tried to snatch my body.”

“Do you have any proof?!” Among the surrounding cultivators were Master Xu’s personal disciples. Seeing their master’s tragic end, they were horrified. Reason told them they should seek justice for him, but in the face of a high-level cultivator, they could only cower like quails, waiting for the others to act. “How do we know this isn’t just a scheme between you two to kill your master?!”

Suddenly, a disciple shouted, “Something’s wrong! We found Master Chen’s burned and rotting corpse at Senior Brother Shi’s residence!”

The news sent shockwaves through the crowd.

Their expressions shifted rapidly—from anger to confusion, then to fear. Had he fallen to inner demons and escaped?

Just then, a powerful voice transmission echoed from the skies, reaching every cultivator’s ears. It was a voice both unfamiliar and ancient, followed by the familiar tone of Zhan Zhengzhen.

The commanding voice, brimming with spiritual energy, resonated in everyone’s minds: “Allow me to explain everything.”

Zhan Zhengzhen arrived at the outer perimeter of the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh’s dungeon, accompanied by an elderly man of great age.

Some cultivators who often went on expeditions recognized the bearded elder at once and exclaimed in shock, “Elder Xu? Could it be… are you Xu Ducang of the Supreme Dao Palace?!”

Others who had heard of him murmured, “Xu Ducang? The Deity Transformation Stage cultivator? It’s really him? Why is he here?”

The cultivators buzzed with speculation.

Xu Ducang was a legendary figure known to all cultivators. A living fossil of the Supreme Dao Palace, he appeared aged and frail, but his cultivation had already reached the Deity Transformation Stage.

But why would Elder Xu Ducang come to the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh, a place with no ties to him?

In the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh, strength was everything. Now, faced with a Deity Transformation Stage cultivator, everyone became as obedient as toddlers, standing respectfully with heads raised, waiting to hear what Elder Xu had to say.

Despite his age, Elder Xu was still full of vitality. He spoke slowly but clearly, his voice steady and commanding: “Previously, young friend Zhan accepted a request from me and completed the task admirably. I promised him that should he ever face trouble, I would assist him with all my strength.”

He paused, then continued, “That day, young friend Zhan brought me a handful of unusual black sand. He claimed it was this very sand that nearly cost him his life, allowing another to reap the rewards of his efforts. Everyone, take a look.”

As he spoke, Elder Xu extended a wrinkled hand, holding a handkerchief infused with spiritual energy. On it lay the strange black sand from the Soul Snatching Talisman incident.

Xu Ya recognized it instantly. No wonder Senior Brother Zhan had been so evasive when he asked her for this favor and later secretly helped heal the wound on her palm. He must have taken a sample for testing by an expert.

“What you don’t know,” Elder Xu said gravely, “is that this substance is known as Shadow Thread Sand, refined from blood essence. It is an ancient dark art. This technique has ties to my own lineage. You’ve likely heard that the Supreme Dao Palace has been investigating the old case of the bloodbath at Qixia Immortal Marsh. That case uncovered many of the vile deeds Qixia Immortal Marsh committed in secret over the years.”

Some cultivators had heard bits and pieces. Qixia Immortal Marsh had always seemed unremarkable, barely worth discussing in cultivation circles. But the year it was suddenly wiped out, it became the center of attention. All the Immortal Marshes feared indiscriminate attacks, and panic spread, leaving cultivators too unsettled to focus on their training.

Eventually, the Supreme Dao Palace was chosen to investigate.

Though the investigation had dragged on for decades with only sparse updates, many assumed it had been abandoned. But now, Elder Xu had brought it back into the light.

Could it be that all these incidents were connected?

“The refinement of this Yin Thread Sand is far inferior to the remnants found at the scene of the Qixia Immortal Marsh massacre years ago. Back then, the entire peak and surrounding lands were littered with this deliberately refined Yin Thread Sand. I can only reveal a little—this kind of dark art was passed down within Qixia Immortal Marsh itself.”

“It was so vile that the Supreme Dao Palace chose to suppress the findings at the time, fearing it would plunge the world into chaos. I ask that you, young friends, keep what you’ve learned to yourselves and not spread it further.”

“What? But that was a major sect! How could they have taught such wicked arts?”

Elder Xu slowly recounted the results of the investigation from back then, along with some of the Supreme Dao Palace’s speculations. The investigation had dragged on for over thirty years, but no further leads were found, and it was ultimately shelved and buried.

What was discovered, however, was this: for a long time, Qixia Immortal Marsh had been using dark arts to steal the cultivation talents of its disciples and maliciously sell them to demonic cultivators across the realm. This handful of Yin Thread Sand was one of the tools used in the process.

After a thorough investigation, it was almost certain that the one who committed the brutal slaughter of thousands within Qixia Immortal Marsh was a disciple of the sect itself. The atrocity was so heinous that the Supreme Dao Palace unanimously decided to keep the matter a secret.

Just the other day, Elder Xu had been asked by Zhan Zhengzhen to investigate the ambush that occurred during a reinforcement mission. Only then did the two incidents begin to connect.

Now, thirty years later, this Yin Thread Sand has resurfaced in the cultivation world—and it just so happened to be encountered by Zhan Zhengzhen and his group. Was it truly a coincidence, or part of a larger conspiracy? Could the criminal from back then have resurfaced?

Zhan Zhengzhen pulled a sheet of white paper from his sleeve. As it slowly revealed its contents, it turned out to be the remnant image of the talisman that Xu Ya had destroyed that day.

He spoke clearly and firmly, “Fellow disciples, take a look. That day, Senior Brother Shi, Senior Sister Rong, Yu Manjing, Cai Wenle, Junior Sister Xu, and I went into the dense forest to reinforce the team. We found the array core without much trouble. But just as we were breaking the formation, this sand appeared at the array core, along with a strange rune. When we infused spiritual energy into it to break the formation, our essence, energy, and spirit were all being drawn into it. None of us could resist. If not for Junior Sister Xu’s help, we might not have made it out alive.”

“This talisman grows stronger the more power it encounters. Even Senior Brother Shi was helpless against it. Only Junior Sister Xu’s unique constitution allowed her to break it.”

Several cultivators who frequented the Yunmeng Book Pavilion recognized the remnant talisman. “Could that be one of the Seven Forbidden Arts—the Soul Snatching Talisman from the Heaven-Seizing Creation chapter?!”

“What? They actually encountered that talisman?!”

“It really does look like it!”

Zhan Zhengzhen said, “It was indeed the Soul Snatching Talisman. Someone planted it at the array core, right in our path. They used the wicked Yin Thread Sand. Their intent deserves death.”

“That was truly dangerous. If Xu Ya hadn’t been there, wouldn’t they all have perished?”

After finishing his explanation, Zhan Zhengzhen gestured politely to Elder Xu, inviting him to continue with what he had yet to say. “If these two incidents are connected, perhaps it’s coincidence. But what about the self-detonation incident involving a cultivator at the A Ya Fried Chicken Shop? That can’t be just coincidence, can it?”

“There’s something involving Xu Ya in that too? Wasn’t that case already closed without issue by An Jiaze? How could it be connected to all this?”

An Jiaze had been very close to the self-detonating cultivator during the incident. Upon hearing this, his expression darkened slightly…