Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1706 – Top Grade Sword Demon

Opening Heavens Sword Sect.

When the Sword Prison opened, Rourou sensed it. She lifted her head and looked in the direction where the sky had significantly darkened. This was caused by the aura leaking out from the Sword Prison and it influenced the external world. After carefully examining the aura, Rourou began to smirk.

They were still alive!

This was the most important thing. Otherwise, she would have made effort only for the bucket of water to spill. This would have delayed her plans and, more importantly, influenced what was to come.

With a mental thought, the protective array around the Opening Heavens Sword Sect was activated. A sinister sword intent shot to the sky and enveloped a small area in the world.

Within that small area, it felt like a violent sword lake. Anything that had any living aura in it would be sliced apart into a million pieces the moment it entered.

Now, Rourou was the only one in the Opening Heavens Sword Sect and she did not really care much. As she walked in the sword aura, it parted to make way for her like water.

Rourou stopped. Before her were the stone steps that she had walked over countless times before. Right now, they were covered by the sword aura. The space around them vibrated slightly and they felt like they were hiding something. There was a suppressive aura nearby.

Rourou pointed her finger in the air. Like a massive stone that dropped into the ocean, it instantly caused huge waves to spread out. The space around the stone steps immediately crumbled.

……

Sword Prison.

Sword aura was thick and intense here, and it felt like a prison.

This was also its specialty, and why this place was called a prison!

It was suppressive and powerful. The violent sword aura came from an unknown place. At the same time, this sword aura gave birth to and sustained the lives of various Sword Demons.

The contest for the various sword sects involved having disciples from each sect head in for the test. The greatest danger came from these Sword Demons.

Before they entered, Hu Zhiming urgently told Qin Yu everything he knew about the Sword Prison. He was not hopeful that it would be of much use, but at least Qin Yu would not be heading in blind.

"Protector Hu, don't worry."

Hu Zhiming nodded with a solemn face and he thought to himself, 'It is truly hard for me not to worry.'

"Sect Master, you should be extra careful. If you are alive, there will still be hope…I shall not speak anymore. I will wait here for you."

Qin Yu thought about it, "The entrance of the Sword Prison does not have good fengshui. If you are going to wait, stay further back."

He turned around and beckoned, "Let's go."

The opening of the Sword Prison meant that the Sword Sect Contest had begun. In the time that the two of them conversed, a lot of swordsmen had already entered the Sword Prison.

Sometimes, the saying of moving first to move quickly made sense. Of course, this was also dependent on one's power. Otherwise, the faster one moved, the faster he would die too.

People died in the Sword Prison. In fact, every time it opened, there would be a number of swordsmen who ended up dead or injured. Although the various great sword sects would send elite members of the sect to be guardians to ensure that their talented disciples would not lose their lives, interference by the guardians meant failure. It also meant that the sword sect would lose their opportunity to rise up the ranks.

The ranking from the Sword Sect Contest was directly related to the benefits each sword sect would receive.

As such, guardians would not interfere easily. As long as…not everyone died, even if there were dead or injured, they would choose to ignore them.

Hu Zhiming's expression changed as he stared at Qin Yu leading the group into the Sword Prison. He felt like Qin Yu's last words had a deeper meaning. Since Qin Yu said that the fengshui was bad, Hu Zhiming decided to stay further away where he could just observe the entrance.

Their vision was dark, but a few moments later, light returned. Qin Yu squinted his eyes and tried to get used to the special lighting in this area.

The reason why the underground area was not pitch black was because of a special moss that grew on the side of the walls. It emitted a soft light in the darkness that was barely enough to illuminate the way ahead. However, because the light was green color, it gave off a sinister aura in the underground, making people feel repressed.

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Qin Yu scanned the area and did not sense anything wrong. He beckoned, "Come with me." He randomly chose a direction and went ahead. There were many swordsmen at the entrance and it was not suitable to talk here. Furthermore, it was in the Opening Heavens Sword Sect's best interest to avoid the crowd now.

Just based on the environment of the Sword Prison, it could be seen as an underground maze. It had numerous paths that headed in different directions. However, the good thing was that to leave the Sword Prison, one would not need to be afraid of being lost. He could choose to head upwards all the way. As long as his luck was not bad, he would be able to find the exit.

Shoosh –

Qin Yu stopped and turned around, "Tell me, what did Grand Elder instruct you all to do in the Secret Sword Peak Realm?" Rourou had not discussed with him and she made her own decision. She must have a plan.

Zhang Xiashan stepped forward and cupped his hands, "Grand Elder told us to listen to Sect Master's instructions and continue ahead."

Qin Yu blinked his eyes in confusion.

Once Zhang Xiashan finished speaking, he had already backed off.

Therefore, there really wasn't anything else.

Qin Yu's head hurt.

He could not help lifting his hand and rubbing his forehead. Just those words? Did she not have anything else to say? That was so useless. Two words, 'Continue ahead'. You didn't even say where to go.

"That's all? Think carefully, did Grand Elder say anything else?" Qin Yu was not going to give up.

However, the twelve people shook their heads simultaneously.

Rourou, you are mean!

Qin Yu sighed deeply, "Let's go."

Where should they go? What should they do? What danger was ahead? He did not know anything!

When he left the Sword Prison, he would definitely have a serious conversation with Rourou.

She was so discreet with her moves and her habit of speaking in vague manners had to change.

If he was unlucky, he would die because of this habit!

An hour after they entered the Sword Prison, the team from the Opening Heavens Sword Sect finally met a wave of Sword Demons.

Although the word 'Sword Demon' was used to describe them, they were more like evil spirits. They did not have a real body but they held a long sword in their hand that was formed from gathered sword aura. Furthermore, they were very strong.

At this point, the problem with the underdog team was exposed. When two Sword Demons suddenly ambushed them, they were thrown into a state of chaos and they almost dug their own graves.

Thankfully, Zhang Xiashan had good experience and he blocked the first attack from the two Sword Demons. This bought some time for the other members of the underdog team.

Qin Yu raised his eyebrows.

The underdog team formed a sword array and with Zhang Xiashan as the main attack point while the others supported him. They were actually quite strong.

A few moments later, the two Sword Demons were punished and they disappeared.

Two red dots formed on the jade pass that Qin Yu held in his hand. It signified the success of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect.

The jade pass was created by the Main Sword Masters and it could suck in a particular aura that the Sword Demons gave off once they were killed. It was an accurate form of record.

Aside from that, as the Sword Demons were killed, a pure sword aura was leaked out and Zhang Xiashan and the rest quickly sat down and absorbed it.

When they opened their eyes again, there was an eager look in Zhang Xiashan's eyes.

Evidently, the sword aura that leaked out after the Sword Demons were killed was beneficial for them.

This was also a form of compensation that the disciples of sword sects got for attending the Sword Sect Contest.

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Otherwise, it would be frivolous to call it 'patriotism to the sword sect'. Without any benefits, why would people risk their lives in the Sword Prison? There was no such logic in this world.

After the first win, the underdog team straightened up. Their nervousness had been reduced substantially. Qin Yu glanced at the two dots on the red pass one last time before he stored it. He felt that the underdog's team confidence came too early.

Although he did not know much about the Sword Prison, from Hu Zhiming's words, it was not difficult to conclude that the two Sword Demons they met were ordinary Sword Demons in the Sword Prison. The real danger lay beyond. From the strength that the team displayed, it was hard to determine how long they would last.

Of course, Rourou must have given them a hidden card. Otherwise, these lads would not have been so gleeful when they left the Secret Sword Peak Realm back then.

Hopefully, the hidden card was strong enough. The journey in the Sword Prison was not going to be easy!

……

"Did you see clearly where the team from the Opening Heavens Sword Sect went?" The elder of the Three Whole Sword Sect asked in a serious voice.

Two disciples nodded, "Elder, don't worry, we saw clearly that they went in that direction."

The elder heaved a sigh of relief and smiled, "Very good, you two did well."

He waved his hand, "Let's go."

Without any hesitation, he led the twelve swordsmen from the Three Whole Sword Sect in the other direction.

The Sword Prison was very dangerous and people may die. However, danger had different grades too. The Opening Heavens Sword Sect was a walking disaster and whoever met them would be unlucky.

As such…they treasured their lives and they would be far away from the Opening Heavens Sword Sect.

This was a tacit understanding that various sword sects in Swallow Mountain shared with the opening of the Sword Prison.

However, were things really like that?

An hour later, the elder of the Three Whole Sword Sect tumbled on the ground. His eyes were filled with horror and despair. He had not imagined that he would meet such a top grade Sword Demon at such a shallow level of the Sword Prison.

Furthermore, it was a Shadow Sword Demon that would only appear in the deepest levels of the Sword Prison.

The elder of the Three Whole Sword Sect had been caught off guard. The disciples around him sustained heavy injuries with one slice by the Shadow Sword Demon. He was killed directly and he was not even able to call for emergency help.

A few moments later, a few figures appeared where the Three Whole Sword Sect disciples had been massacred. The bodies of the disciples had been mummified as their flesh and blood were sucked out of them.

This scene made the patrol team from the Sword Prison frown deeply.

Ordinary Sword Demons who killed swordsmen would not do this. Those who liked to devour flesh and blood of swordsmen were top grade Sword Demons.

Among them, the Shadow Sword Demon was the most likely culprit.

What they saw allowed them to confirm that the massacre of the Three Whole Sword Sect swordsmen were done by a Shadow Sword Demon. However, this was a shallow level of the Sword Prison. Under normal circumstances, top grade Sword Demons would not come here.

After some careful investigation, the patrol team did not find anything else. They discussed for a short while before they informed the Main Sword Masters about the incident. They recognized this as an accident caused by a top grade Sword Demon.

The Main Sword Masters acknowledged the report and ordered the patrol team in the Sword Prison to investigate the area quickly to confirm that the top grade Sword Demon returned to the deeper levels of the Sword Prison after its meal.

This matter came to a close.

The Three Whole Sword Sect was informed that all their disciples and the elder were killed in Sword Prison. Their first assumption was that the team had been involved with the Opening Heavens Sword Sect.

Otherwise, how could they all die in such a short period of time if they were only in the shallow levels of the Sword Prison?

This conspiracy continued for a while and attracted a lot of attention. It even reached the ears of the Main Sword Masters. An Old Ancestor of the Three Whole Sword Sect, together with the Sect Master, personally came forward to reprimand the public for the rumors getting out of hand. They had to explain things thoroughly.

Nothing was certain. It was rare for top grade Sword Demons to appear in the shallow levels of the Sword Prison. However, this was not the first time it had happened when the Sword Prison opened.

They could only blame the Three Whole Sword Sect for being unlucky and they could not drag others in.

An entire team of swordsmen was massacred when the Sword Prison just opened. Furthermore, it was a team of the Three Whole Sword Sect cultivators who were powerful.

Outside the Sword Prison, many swordsmen waiting for the results felt their hearts clench. They had a feeling that things would not be so simple this time.