In the military camp outside Xuanliang Commandery, a figure emerged from the central military tent, and then disappeared into the expanse of the world. When it reappeared, it had already arrived in the courtyard in the commandery city.
Entering the courtyard, it appeared in that house. It was not night, but there was indeed a solitary lamp inside. A man stood at the door and said respectfully, "The matter has been handled. Everything in Xuanliang Commandery today is under control."
"Well done, Yuanshan."
After a moment, a voice of praise, neither loud nor soft, emanated from inside the house. Judging from the voice, it seemed to be an elderly person.
Listening to this familiar yet unfamiliar voice, Daoist Yuanshan lowered his head even more, saying softly, "It's this disciple's honor to be able to serve Ancestor."
"Hehe, what do you mean by serving me? Accomplishing this task is to eliminate a major calamity for the entire cultivation world. How can it be my personal selfishness?"
The voice of the elderly man held some vicissitudes of emotion, but it mostly carried a sense of helplessness. "How can the monarch of Great Liang be so easy to kill? Even the Demon Emperor couldn't keep him in the Demon Realm. Even if we, this group of people, take advantage of the situation, where would we find the courage?"
As he spoke, the old man laughed. "Yuanshan, come on in."
Daoist Yuanshan's expression instantly became extremely solemn. He pushed open the large door and walked inside.
The current room was relatively simple in its arrangement. In the center, there was a wooden table with a lone lamp atop it. Despite it not being nighttime, the room appeared somewhat dim. Even with the faint light from the lone lamp, it did not manage to illuminate the room much.
Beside the wooden table, there stood four individuals, each with white or graying hair, solemn expressions, and perhaps a tinge of sorrow.
Among the four, the one standing north of the wooden table, the person at the head wore an old daoist robe. It seemed to have accumulated years of dust, giving it a worn-out appearance. The original color was no longer discernible, and all that remained was a grayish hue.
This was also the person that Daoist Yuanshan called 'Ancestor' just now.
In reality, cultivators seldom harbored the idea of having descendants. The so-called 'Ancestor' was merely because the gray-robed old daoist was extremely senior in the sect, his status highly respected.
They hailed from the Three Willow Temple, a branch of the Longevity Dao lineage. Despite being a major sect within this lineage, the Three Willow Temple's reputation had waned in recent years. This was because an accident happened to the previous temple master while cultivating the sect's daoist technique, the Five Elements Mystic Art. That great daoist sage's cultivation realm fell and the entire focus of the Three Willow Temple in recent years had been to seek rare materials and treasures to restore that temple master's cultivation. As a result, the sect had paid little attention to external affairs. The absence of Three Willow Temple disciples at the previous Myriad Willow Convention was due to this reason.
As for why this elderly daoist from the Three Willow Temple, who was even higher in status than the Temple Master, appeared here, there was no way of knowing.
To the left of the gray-robed old daoist was an old man with a lonely face. He appeared frail, with a face marked by deep wrinkles, showing the signs of old age. A piece of cloth covered his eyes, it looked like he had been blind for many years. However, he carried a sword scabbard on his back. The scabbard was also wrapped with cloth, but upon closer inspection, anyone could hear the sound of sword cries within it. Moreover, the sword cries were not uniform, suggesting that there were likely several flying swords in the scabbard. Sword qi slowly seeped out of the gaps, causing the lone lamp flame to flicker.
Sensing the sharp sword qi that was casually flowing out, everyone understood that the blind old man before them was probably a sword immortal.
In the foreign cultivation world, the various major sects would nurture sword cultivators. However, there were likely few who could cultivate to the realm of a sword immortal. Once the sword immortal of a sect reached the realm of sword immortal, they would undoubtedly be treated as a precious asset to the sect. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not be allowed to leave the sect and face dangers outside.
The presence of this blind sword immortal indicated that this great battle was unlikely to end as a mere probing.
After all, sword cultivators possessed unparalleled killing power. They were the most adept at killing people.
To the right of the gray-robed daoist stood a slender middle-aged man. This person did not appear to be very old, and his aura was restrained, making it difficult to discern his depths. However, a single look revealed that this person was absolutely terrifying.
Because the more ordinary a person appeared, the more terrifying they seemed.
The man glanced at the gray-robed daoist and said calmly, "I'll take my leave for now. When it's time for me to appear, I'll naturally show up."
After saying these words, the middle-aged man walked towards the exit and soon disappeared without a trace.
The gray-robed daoist did not speak. However, the burly man who had been standing south of the wooden table this entire time had an ugly expression as he scolded, "These guys have been hiding in the shadows too much! To show such disrespect to the Venerable Sage!"
The burly man who spoke had a tall and robust physique. He was not a martial artist but practiced Buddhism's Great Vajra Technique. This cultivation method shared similarities with martial arts as both focused on body tempering. However, they differed in that martial artists honed their physique solely through tempering, making their flesh and bones extraordinarily robust. On the other hand, practitioners of Buddhism's Great Vajra Technique used Buddhist methods to transcend their bodies. Inside their meridians, buddhist light flowed, and outside the body, a layer of buddhist light would manifest when using the technique. This made their bodies incredibly tough. Ordinary cultivators could not compare with them.
As for the middle-aged man he was scolding, his origins were even more mysterious. He did not belong to any foreign sect but was an itinerant cultivator. Most major sects occupied the best cultivation resources in the world, and with their own self-operating systems, they did not worry much about cultivation resources or other resources that they needed. However, if itinerant cultivators wanted to survive and continue advancing in the cultivation world, the effort they needed to put in was far greater than that of ordinary cultivators.
Hence, it gave rise to a role in the cultivation world whose purpose was to obtain cultivation resources. These kinds of people were termed assassins.
In fact, there was an assassin ranking list in the foreign cultivation world. The top-ranked figure was extremely mysterious, rumored to have long reached the realm of Nepenthe, possibly even reaching the end of Nepenthe. Such an unparalleled assassin would demand an exorbitant price for their services in completing missions for others.
Even if other assassins were experts in the art of assassination too, striking lethally when their enemies were most vulnerable. The one who had just left was ranked fifth on the assassin ranking list. Although he had not stepped into the Nepenthe Realm, he was already a powerhouse at high-level Great Beyond Realm. There were even instances of him successfully assassinating Nepenthe Realm powerhouses.
Now, of these four individuals, one was a great sage of Daoism, another a sword immortal with unparalleled killing power, then a Vajra of Buddhism. In addition, an assassin who might strike from the shadows at any moment. Facing the human monarch who returned from the desolate north with great difficulty, no matter how you looked at it, the odds of success were high.
However, even so, after the old daoist in the gray robes glanced at the Buddhist Vajra, he slowly opened his mouth to say, "Everything must be done with utmost caution. He hasn't entered Nepenthe, attacking openly will be virtually ineffective. It's better to hide in the shadows. As for the three of us, I'll have to trouble you to make the first move. I want to see how that Great Liang Emperor is doing now. Earlier, they all said he was not worth worrying about; merely a martial artist. But now, looking at it, it's hard to find a second martial artist like this in the entire world. To kill him, the few of us must be prepared for the possibility of embracing death."
The burly man nodded and said softly, "I'll follow Venerable Sage's lead."
The gray-robed daoist smiled self-deprecatingly, saying, "I've just lived a bit longer; it has nothing to do with being venerable. If there are any mistakes later, it goes badly for anyone, you can just cuss me when you arrive in the underworld."
Collaborating to kill an enemy, especially when they were from different sects, had never been easy. Although all of them shared the idea of wanting to kill the Great Liang Emperor, each had their own considerations. Whether to go all out, each harbored their own thoughts, making it difficult to say.
The blind sword immortal said faintly, "Why bother saying more, Fellow Daoist? As long as we go all out, a heavily injured Great Liang Emperor, no matter how extraordinary he is, he'll die at our hands today."
The daoist in the gray robes smiled faintly and said, "If Sword Immortal Gan allows the power accumulated over half a sixty-year cycle to bloom, then this matter can indeed succeed."
Upon hearing the term "half a sixty-year cycle," the blind sword immortal's expression changed slightly, but he still said calmly, "Thirty years have passed. Whether it is the setting sun or an old tree sprouting new shoots, I'll leave it to Fellow Daoist to judge."
Thirty years ago, a major event took place in the foreign cultivation world. A sword immortal who was surnamed Gan emerged, challenging many sword cultivators in the foreign lands with his sword. He gained unrivaled fame for some time. However, he later encountered a certain sword immortal from the Sword Sect. Since they met, there would naturally be a battle. Although that battle was ultimately won by the sword immortal from the Sword Sect, the blind sword immortal suffered injuries to both eyes in that battle, rendering him blind and unable to see anymore.
And so, after that battle, the blind sword immortal hardly traveled the world anymore. There were rumors in the world that after that battle, his sword heart was damaged, and he could no longer lift his sword. However, since he appeared in this place now, it proved that these were just rumors. Nevertheless, whether this old man remained stagnant for thirty years, or has he advanced a step further in the path of the sword after becoming blind, it was difficult to say.
The world of sword cultivators often defied logic.
A sudden enlightenment often led to a profound understanding of the sword, unleashing a sword that was never thought possible in everyday practice. This was a common occurrence.
That was also why many cultivators in the world felt a sense of apprehension regarding sword cultivators.
The gray-robed daoist nodded and smiled, "Naturally, we'll wait and see."
After saying this, the gray-robed daoist looked towards the Daoist Yuanshan who was by the side. But before Daoist Yuanshan could speak, the gray-robed daoist suddenly looked towards the outside of the door.
The blind sword immortal felt something and immediately raised his head.
The burly man was the last to react, but at the same time, he looked up and gazed into the distance too.
The old daoist in the gray robe said with vicissitudes of emotion, "Indeed well-deserving of being a monarch of great ability and boldness. Such breadth of spirit."
On the table, the lone lamp suddenly flickered at this moment, as if startled, in a state of great panic.
