Sword Technique of Slaying Life!

“Big Brother!”

Silver Horn’s eyes were bloodshot as he let out a piercing and mournful scream.

He watched his elder brother’s head roll across the ground, saw that emaciated body lose all vitality, and felt an agonizing pain twist inside him.

The pain was so intense it nearly drove him mad.

“Wuu… wuu…” Silver Horn howled up at the sky, “Big Brother, your death is so tragic! Chen Huangpi is wicked to the core—he will surely meet retribution!”

“Yes, Chen Huangpi!”

As if struck by a sudden thought, Silver Horn whirled around and fixed his gaze on Chen Huangpi, all eight beast eyes swollen and veined as if they would bleed tears.

But both Silver Horn and Gold Horn were aberrations, no longer the flesh-and-blood offspring of Di Ting. How could they shed blood and tears?

Chen Huangpi tilted his head and said, “What do you want?”

“Does your oath from earlier still stand?”

“Of course it does. I never break my word of my own accord.”

“Good, I trust you. You’re a good man,” Silver Horn said earnestly, “You killed my big brother, so you can’t kill me as well.”

After all, his elder brother was already dead. Let it be as though he had returned to the underworld.

Chen Huangpi was stunned by Silver Horn’s words.

This Silver Horn… seemed a bit off.

Clearly, he was the master and they were his dogs. Though their minds were connected, Silver Horn’s thoughts veered unexpectedly.

The bronze oil lamp could hardly believe it. “Silver Horn, if your big brother could hear those words, death would not grant him peace!”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care,” Silver Horn said matter-of-factly. “If Gold Horn were me, he’d do the same. He’s my full-blood brother from another father and mother, and I saw through him even in the womb.”

With that, he glanced down at Gold Horn’s massive beast head rolling at his feet.

Eight eyes still glared furiously, as if refusing to rest in death—one glance invoked pity.

“Big Brother, you’re so pitiful. You know I’m timid; I can’t stand sights like these. I’ll have nightmares.”

With that, Silver Horn slapped Gold Horn’s head, sending it flying.

But Gold Horn’s horn was threaded through with a chain forged of Shou Mountain copper; as the head flew, the chain snapped taut and the head bounced back.

By sheer mischance, the head landed right on Silver Horn’s own.

Silver Horn erupted in fury, “You old dog! How dare you insult me! I’ll eat you for this!”

But just then, Gold Horn’s head began trembling violently.

Suddenly, a ghastly, spectral head emerged from within.

Gold Horn opened his fanged maw and roared, “Silver Horn!”

“Ah, a haunting!” Silver Horn shrieked, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—if only he had a tail, but his phantom limb throbbed with pain, so much that he leapt onto the foundation and instantly turned to stone, unmoving.

“What a pity,” Chen Huangpi shook his head.

The dog-taming scripture was truly uncanny; even after slaying Gold Horn with a single strike, he could enslave the dead spirit.

Alive, they were his dogs; dead, they remained his dogs.

The bronze oil lamp was puzzled. “Pity? Didn’t Gold Horn succeed? Now we have a guide for the underworld.”

Gold Horn’s spirit immediately realized the problem.

Though revived in this strange state, his mind was much clearer than when he was an aberration.

His eight eyes darted about as he secretly pricked up his ears.

Chen Huangpi said, “Success and failure are fifty-fifty. Gold Horn succeeded, so Silver Horn must fail. That’s the pity.”

Gold Horn understood at last, and felt immense relief.

Silver Horn, confused and anguished, murmured, “Big Brother…”

“Little Brother…”

The two brothers exchanged a look, saying nothing, yet saying everything.

Gold Horn silently thought, “Silver Horn, don’t worry. When I reach the underworld, I’ll enjoy your share. Stay safe here on earth as the hostage; don’t fret for me.”

——

After all, they were real brothers.

No lasting grudges; their arguments were only words.

Gold Horn let out a howl toward his headless body, a sound like a soul-harvesting ghost.

That cry, sharing its source with the script of the underworld, arose from the yellow springs.

His body shuddered a few times.

The remaining half of his spirit slipped out.

Gold Horn pressed his head to the spirit’s body, and instantly the ghostly form became vivid and lifelike.

“Let’s go, quickly!”

“Wait,” Chen Huangpi shook his head and looked at the scripture repository’s gate.

He had come not only for Gold Horn and Silver Horn, but also for other reasons.

With this in mind, Chen Huangpi glanced at the bronze oil lamp.

Just that one look, and the lamp quietly prepared its 'Escaping Divine Light.'

“Go in without worry. I’m here.”

“Alright.” Chen Huangpi nodded and pushed open the scripture repository’s door.

A rotten, icy odor rushed out.

The first floor, aside from scattered bookshelves and randomly strewn Daoist scripts and wordless techniques, was much as before.

The repository was spacious, but only half remained—the other half had been cut away by a sword.

Chen Huangpi saw the darkness at the broken edge.

In that darkness, something seemed to sense his arrival, and began to encroach upon him.

Chen Huangpi gripped his sword, fashioned from the magic tree’s branch, and said coldly, “Stop right there.”

The darkness halted.

It was as if all the lurking evil that pushed this shadow forward had withdrawn its hand.

Seeing this, Chen Huangpi felt some relief.

If it came any closer, he would have the lamp take him away, just as last time.

Now, gazing at the thick, inky smoke, Chen Huangpi seemed to glimpse blurred figures.

Those were all Daoists of Pure Immortal Temple, trapped here after death.

“Xu Qingshan!”

Chen Huangpi spoke coldly, “I bear you no past grudge, no recent enmity. You are a Daoist of Pure Immortal Temple, and I am its sole heir. Tell me, did the Seventy-Two Secrets of Pills have any tampering?”

“Was it Third Master who made you do it?”

Last time, Chen Huangpi had come seeking the pill scripture.

But all cultivation texts had been erased.

Instead, Xu Qingshan, now a malevolent thing, gave him the Seventy-Two Secrets.

Back then, Chen Huangpi was still innocent, believing in the goodness of people.

Now, having suffered, he had learned his lesson and grown more wary.

As if hearing his words, a rustling of paper echoed, and a scent of ink drifted from the darkness.

Chen Huangpi held his breath.

Soon, Xu Qingshan’s pallid, bloodless hand reached out, holding a sheet of paper.

On it were four words: “Not my crime.”

“Very well,” Chen Huangpi said calmly. “It’s not your fault, then Third Master must be responsible.”

At that, Xu Qingshan handed out another sheet.

This time, it bore two sentences: “Dare not discuss” and “Formula has no fault.”

Chen Huangpi knew that these ghosts and others dared not speak of the master.

To bring it up meant the master would hear.

But the formula flawless? Impossible.

Otherwise, why would the First and Second Masters have ended up like this?

Disappointed, Chen Huangpi said, “Since you won’t tell the truth, I won’t press you further. Take care of yourself.”

With that, he turned and left.

——

Those presences behind him did not stop him.

Only after he left did the darkness recede to its original place.

——

Within the old temple, blue mist still shrouded the sky.

Chen Huangpi rode atop Gold Horn, with the bronze oil lamp in tow, searching for the exit.

He had grown much taller recently.

No longer the eight- or nine-year-old child, but now an eleven- or twelve-year-old youth.

Gold Horn, though skin and bones, possessed an enormous frame, with a ferocious head, eight murderous eyes, and a towering single horn—enough to daunt any onlooker.

Chen Huangpi on Gold Horn looked majestic, heroic.

“Chen Huangpi, is the ride enjoyable?”

“Very much so.”

“There’s even better!” Gold Horn boasted, “I am the offspring of Di Ting, born with wonders. Not only can I ride clouds and mist, but I am also easily dissolved in water. When we return to the underworld, I can regrow my body, and you’ll be able to ride me sideways across the world!”

“Mm.” Chen Huangpi forced a smile, weighed down with worry.

At that moment, the bronze oil lamp hanging at his waist tugged at his clothes.

“Master, don’t dwell on it. Xu Qingshan is a dog; take his words as nonsense.”

“I know, but…” Chen Huangpi shook his head. “I just feel something’s off, though I can’t pinpoint what. It’s very wrong.”

“Then pretend it doesn’t exist,” the lamp said gently. “You’ve grown a lot; too much maturity isn’t good. Other kids your age are just children. At your age… well, you aren’t even as old as me, so there’s no need to be so grown-up.”

“You have plenty of time to grow. I’ll be with you, until the day you no longer need me.”

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi frowned. “No, Huang Er, you’re family. I won’t abandon you.”

“…”

The bronze oil lamp fell silent. It had only spoken from emotion.

But Chen Huangpi’s words of ‘family’ made it falter.

The temple master was family, now cold in death.

Gold Horn and Silver Horn were family, one waiting in the repository, the other slain.

So, what did Chen Huangpi mean by ‘family’?

The lamp dared not ponder it.

It could only hope it was true.

Just then,

Chen Huangpi suddenly looked ahead. “I see the exit! Gold Horn, quick—through that courtyard gate, and we’re out of the old temple!”

“Roar!”

Gold Horn let out an excited roar, turned into a bolt of lightning, and charged toward the gate.

His head passed through the darkness, his horn sensing the breath of the outside world.

But at that moment,

Chen Huangpi felt his scalp tingle.

A warning blared in his heart!

Something was wrong.

Without hesitation, he gripped the dead tree branch and slashed at the mist to his right.

That strike drained the magic tree of all its power for the day.

The blue mist scattered before the sword’s energy.

Suddenly, with a boom,

Chunks of pallid flesh and shattered bone rained down.

Dozens of bloodless arms emerged.

Each arm formed a seal,

The Killing Sword Formula—Soul-Slaying!

Five chapters updated.

As promised, I’m exhausted—time for a rest.

(The End of This Chapter)