Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1712 – Sword Demons Are Here

"The Frost Cold Sword Sect is here!"

"It is Sect Master Han!"

"Shush! Sect Master Han does not like it when it is too noisy!"

Sudden silence swept over the entrance of the Sword Prison and many swordsmen looked over with bright eyes. Some people had already passed the message about the changes in the Sword Prison to the various sword sects.

There was a flicker in Han Zhengyang's eyes and then he instructed, "Investigate this." He was very far from the board for exploration rankings but he had already seen it.

Honestly, Han Zhengyang could not care less about the Opening Heavens Sword Sect anymore. So what if they reopened their sect? So what if their guardian was mysteriously powerful? As long as he obtained the sealed item, he would be the most powerful swordsman in the world!

With the strength of a swordsman, even a Half-King would be able to fight against a True King. By then, he would be unrivaled in the world!

However, the Sword Prison issue would definitely need a scapegoat in order for the Frost Cold Sword Sect to wipe their hands clean. Otherwise, he would just be a corrupted person in power.

What he was witnessing now gave Han Zhengyang the best direction.

Very soon, the elders of the Frost Cold Sword Sect who had left returned. There was surprise and looks of puzzlement and they whispered in low breaths to Han Zhengyang.

Han Zhengyang frowned slightly, "Are you sure?"

The elder confirmed, "I thought it was strange too so I made sure to double check it. This is truly the case."

There was a cold glare in Han Zhengyang's eyes. His intuition told him that the loss of control of the Sword Prison exceeding his expectations was related to this.

Could the Opening Heavens Sword Sect…

Some thought jumped to his mind and his expression turned colder. He stepped out and appeared by the boards on the stone wall. He stared at Wei Heng and slowly said, "Sect Master Wei, could you explain to me why the South Sea Sword Sect has only lost five disciples and Elder Xu Jing is alright too?"

His cold voice rang through the air and the swordsmen outside the Sword Prison were stunned. They looked at the South Sea Sword Sect in surprise.

Most of the swordsmen from the various great sword sects were dead. This was a fact, yet the majority of the South Sea Sword Sect disciples had actually survived.

This was not normal.

It was not that these swordsmen had such disgusting minds that they did not want others to live. They simply could not understand why this was the case.

Every sword sect had a sent team into the Sword Prison and the environments they encountered were the same. Could they be this lucky that they avoided the massacre?

Now, almost all swordsmen were dead and the South Sea Sword Sect was the only exception. This was not something that 'luck' could simply explain.

Furthermore, everyone could confirm one thing through the board ranking – the South Sea Sword Sect was still exploring the Sword Prison.

With these two things added together, there wasn't even a need to consider – it was obvious that something was wrong.

Wei Heng frowned, "What are you saying, Sect Master Han?"

Han Zhengyang was expressionless and he questioned, "Why are the Opening Heavens Sword Sect and the South Sea Sword Sect allied together and exploring deeper into the Sword Prison? Why is it that during the calamity of the Sword Prison, all thirteen people of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect, including Sect Master Qin Yu, are unharmed?"

Both questions felt like the ripples that arose when a huge rock was thrown in the lake. Many people's eyes bulged open and they were in disbelief.

What ddi this mean?

All members of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect are alive? No one has died? What a joke!

Many people had seen the underdog team when they entered the Sword Prison. They had also recognized many of the members of the team. They were all weak, regular rogue cultivators.

The team's strength was a far cry from even the smaller sword sects, not to mention the great swords sects. However, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect was now ranked fifth on the exploration board and it was certain that they had entered the deep level of the Sword Prison.

No one had died…was this publicly mocking the intelligence of the various sword sects in Swallow Mountain?

Something was wrong!

Something was definitely wrong!

Now, the members of the South Sea Sword Sect were together with the Opening Heavens Sword Sect. A dark and sinister mood shrouded everyone and many people wore solemn looks on their faces.

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Shoosh –

Shoosh –

A few figures shot through the air and arrived outside the Sword Prison's entrance.

At this moment, all the top ranked great sword sects were present here.

"Sect Master Han, do you have evidence for what you are saying?" East Mountain Sect Master asked, with an ominous look in his eyes.

He had a disciple in his team who entered the Sword Sect Contest, and it was confirmed that the disciple was dead.

Han Zhengyang's eyes were calm and he looked at the crowd, "I have ordered men to retrieve the records of the recording jade pass. If anyone is still suspicious, you can check it for yourself."

There was dead silence.

No one believed that the Frost Cold Sword Sect would tell a lie that would be disproven so easily.

However, the check still had to be done.

East Mountain Sect Master turned and left.

"I will go with you."

"Me too."

A few elites of Swallow Mountain turned and left with him.

Very soon, they returned. From their facial expressions, everyone could tell that the Frost Cold Sword Sect was speaking the truth.

The silence turned even worse!

East Mountain Sect Master's eyes were icy cold and he glared at Wei Heng, "Sect Master Wei Heng, how are you going to explain this?"

Shoosh –

All eyes turned towards him.

Wei Heng's expression was straight and he answered, "There is no way to communicate with the Sword Prison from the outside world. I don't know what is happening either; how can I explain to you?"

He knew about the situation that the Frost Cold Sword Sect pointed out much earlier, and hence, he was already prepared.

The Opening Heavens Sword Sect…

Evidently, the survival of the team from the South Sea Sword Sect was because of them.

This made Wei Heng feel conflicted. After all, they were standing on opposite sides not long ago.

Originally, he thought that the Frost Cold Sword Sect was his ally, but they stabbed him cruelly in the back. Yet the Opening Heavens Sword Sect that he saw as an enemy extended an arm to help him.

This world was truly hard to understand!

The demands from the various great sword sects now were troublesome, but Wei Heng was not afraid of them.

After all, fear was useless.

Secondly, did the Frost Cold Sword Sect truly think that it would be so easy to push them forward to take the brunt of the attacks?

I may not use a whip on you, but I will definitely hold it in my hands.

If things go badly and we fight out in the open, Frost Cold Sword Sect, you will definitely be implicated too!

East Mountain Sect Master sighed deeply. He raised his hand and pointed to the Sword Prison, "The only son of a good friend of mine is a disciple in my sect. He is among the dead today. If this disaster is related to the Opening Heavens Sword Sect and the South Sea Sword Sect, I will definitely not let you off!"

"Please watch your words, East Mountain Sect Master!"

There was a sharp sword swish in the air and Hu Zhiming floated in the sky. He cupped his hands to the crowd and announced, "I am the protector of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect and I naturally have to uphold its reputation."

His first sentence stated the righteous cause. No one could refute something that had just cause to it.

He straightened his back and said, "East Mountain Sect Master and all elders of sword sects. Everyone should know that the Sword Sect Contest was proposed abruptly and my sword sect was not involved in the decision to start it either. We had only just opened our sect and our disciples were barely enough to make up the numbers. Under such circumstances, how can the incident in the Sword Prison be related to us?

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"Secondly, like Sect Master Wei said, the communication between the Sword Prison and the outside world has been cut off. We do not know what happened in the Sword Prison. Making speculations now is meaningless and we are simply wasting our time. Why don't we try to open the Sword Prison sooner and save our comrades inside? Perhaps we might learn the truth of what happened."

Wei Heng praised him inwardly. Someone who achieved such a cultivation level as a rogue cultivator was good; his words were absolutely correct.

Rescue should be the priority – this was what all sword sects should focus on!

He nodded and added, "Protector Hu's words are right. The South Sea Sword Sect is willing to contribute to the rescue effort."

There was a look of thought on the face of East Mountain Sect Master. Taking in a deep breath of air, he nodded, "Alright, then let's wait till the Sword Prison is reopened to investigate this. However, I have to reiterate my words. Regardless of who is involved in this, once I find you, I will make you pay for it!"

Han Zhengyang was expressionless but he scoffed inwardly. Since the sealed object was going to be revealed, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect would not be able to evade responsibility. The South Sea Sword Sect was involved as well and they would be seeking their own deaths!

………

At the deep level of the Sword Prison.

It was even darker here and the moss on the walls could not illuminate the surroundings. It felt like there was an invisible force in this darkness that was devouring all light. What remained was pure darkness.

Qin Yu walked at the front. Behind him, the underdog team had spread out, surrounding the South Sea Sword Sect members.

In the beginning, Jin Hua and the rest of the South Sea Sword Sect disciples were not happy with this. What right did they have? Did the underdog team think they deserved to protect them with their measly strength?

However, they quickly got rid of these thoughts and looked at the Opening Heavens Sword Sect members with conflicted expressions. They finally understood why Elder Xu Jing decided to lead them deeper into the underground with just one sentence from Qin Yu.

It was too quiet!

The deep level of the Sword Prison now felt like a silent pool in the middle of the night.

There was not any disturbance at all and the terrifyingly murderous and vicious Sword Demons were nowhere to be found. Ever since the two sects gathered here together, they had not met a single one.

There were only two possibilities for this. First, the Sword Demons had disappeared. But this was obviously not the case…second, the Sword Demons were scared of approaching them!

Regardless of the reason, the scenario was painted very clearly – they were truly afraid of the swordsmen from the Opening Heavens Sword Sect. It was definitely not because of their cultivation realm. Then, they must be carrying something that the Sword Demons were scared of!

Some among the disciples of the South Sea Sword Sect heaved a sigh of relief and there was a look of gratitude on their faces. However others felt like the silence was a mockery. It felt like a huge stone was pressed on their chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Jin Hua sucked in a deep breath of air and suddenly said, "Sect Master Qin!"

In the silence of the Sword Prison, his voice boomed out.

Qin Yu frowned slightly and turned towards him.

Jin Hua asked in a deep voice, "This junior does not understand. If the Opening Heavens Sword Sect had a treasure that could control the Sword Demons, why didn't you step forward to help others? There were a few thousand swordsmen in the Sword Prison and they should not have lost their lives so tragically."

"Shut up!" Xu Jing snapped angrily, "Jin Hua, hurry up and apologize to Sect Master Qin."

Jin Hua sighed deeply, "Elder Xu, I asked my question and I will not back down without an answer. Please forgive me. If Sect Master Qin is willing to answer, I am willing to leave the team voluntarily and kill myself to seek forgiveness from Sect Master Qin."

"How dare you!"

Xu Jing lifted his hand and Vast Sea Sword aura instantly exploded.

"Elder, don't!" One of the female disciples stood in front of Jin Hua desperately, "Senior Sister Cheng Hua has passed; she and Senior Brother Jin Hua had signed a heart contract and he has not recovered from his sadness. He made the mistake of offending Sect Master Qin."

There was desperation in her eyes as she pleaded, "Sect Master Qin, please be gracious and don't fault Senior Brother Jin Hua for it. He is fooled by his grief."

Qin Yu turned around and continued walking forward.

Jin Hua wanted to add on but the swordswoman hugged him tightly and shook her head strongly with tear-filled eyes.

Xu Jing walked over, "Jin Hua, people cannot be revived if they die. I understand your feelings but you will not get another chance next time. Otherwise, before Sect Master Qin makes a move, I will kill you personally to avoid dragging in the rest."

"...Yes, Elder."

Right at this moment, Qin Yu suddenly stopped and stared into the darkness ahead. He could vaguely hear the suppressed noises of breathing, unease, and movement…but there was also passion that could not be hidden!

As expected, even Rourou's skills could not scare them all the time. Otherwise, their journey into the Sword Prison would be too easy.

He sighed deeply and slowly told the rest, "Be prepared, the Sword Demons are coming!"

Without hesitation, he stepped forward. A low growl started to come from the darkness.