Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy-Chapter 402 - 363: Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword

Chapter 402: Chapter 363: Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword

Seeing the cloth bag and gourd tied to the figures in the mural on the bronze corridor’s wall, Qi Xiu nodded slightly.

Others might not recognize these two standard-issue Magic Artifacts from the Food Demon Sect, but he was extremely familiar with them.

Without these two Magic Artifacts in hand, he would probably still be hovering in the Dao-Entering Realm, with no capital to achieve today’s Blood-summit Peak Physique.

The bronze corridor was lengthy and cramped, twisting forward, with a dim, inky-blue glow slowly spreading through the void.

Walking unhurriedly in this corridor for about six hours, Qi Xiu’s bronze ring on his hand suddenly warmed up slightly, as if sensing something. With his next step, the ground beneath him suddenly disappeared, and he plunged straight down.

With a calm expression, the wind roaring against his robe, Qi Xiu pinched a spell with one hand. A clump of dark thunderclouds suddenly formed beneath his feet, holding him aloft.

"This place is..."

After steadying himself, Qi Xiu looked intently ahead.

This was an endless white hell, with vast white bones covering every corner in sight, as if all beings between heaven and earth were buried here!

The stacks of white bones piled up like mountains, shattered and icy cold.

In the sky, huge black cloud vortices slowly rotated, like a pair of heartless eyes overlooking this land of death.

Dark abysses continuously poured more bones from the sky, adding to the vastness and desolation of this sea of white bones.

Every fall of skeletal remains was accompanied by dull thuds. In this endless land of death, a solitary stone monument stood tall, reaching into the clouds, strikingly conspicuous.

The surface of the monument was covered with traces of frost, but it could not conceal the text carved upon it.

Those twelve blood-red etched words, like flames burning on the cold stone, were tyrannical and greedy, proclaiming an arrogant desire that transcended life and death!

"Seize the power of all things in heaven and earth, become an eternal and indestructible sovereign."

Such great ambition. No wonder even the Sky Demon Sect, the leader of all demons, couldn’t tolerate you and had to secretly take you out.

As his gaze fell upon that proudly standing stone monument and he saw those words, Qi Xiu also understood why the Sky Demon Sect, one of the Ten Great Demon Sects, would secretly strike to erase the Food Demon Sect from their own alliance.

Too conspicuous.

Seize the power of all things in heaven and earth?

Plainly speaking, it meant regarding all things in heaven and earth as nourishment to strengthen oneself.

Does that include the Sky Demon Sect?

If so, how could the Sky Demon Sect, the foremost leader in the Demonic Path, tolerate such a potentially disruptive underling right under their nose?

It’s not just the Demonic Path; given the way the Food Demon Sect operates, even if the Sky Demon Sect didn’t make a move, the Righteous Path or other Demon Sects, even Demons, would seize the opportunity to eradicate them. After all, they were too indiscreet. If their reputation hadn’t been so prominent, with the foundation of the Food Demon Sect, had they laid low and secretly grown stronger, then made a surprising move, they might have had a chance to counterattack and ascend to supremacy, solidifying their position as the leader of the Demonic Path.

Looking away, Qi Xiu slowly surveyed this pale land.

According to the guidance of the bronze ring, the inheritance of the Food Demon Sect should be right in this place.

However, after arriving here, the bronze ring fell silent again. It seemed that from now on, he would have to figure out the next steps on his own.

Just as Qi Xiu was thoughtfully observing the slowly rotating black cloud vortices in the sky, a small rift quietly opened up in the space behind him.

A pitch-black, slender, and narrow Longsword slowly extended out.

"Really haven’t made any progress?"

Without even turning around, Qi Xiu murmured lightly, already aware of the sinister man behind him, ready to launch another stealthy strike like a venomous snake.

BOOM—

Before Qi Xiu could finish speaking, that black sword suddenly erupted, as if a crazed and chaotic dark monarch slowly opened its eyes.

Feigning incompetence?

Sensing the power the sinister man erupted with at that moment, Qi Xiu instantly turned into a Lei Mang, widening the distance.

Interesting. This aura... he truly had been intentionally showing weakness before.

Looking over the sinister man who stepped out of the void with a light smile, Qi Xiu slowly unfurrowed his brow.

At this moment, the sinister man was a completely different person. His presence was terrifying to the extreme, deep as a netherworld ancient well, filled with countless horrifying terrors. A single breath emitted from him was sufficient to turn the universe into nether soil.

"Earlier outside, someone was watching, making it inconvenient to take action. But here, it’s a secret only we can enter. We can now fight unrestrainedly," he proclaimed.

Slowly spreading his arms, the sinister man’s robe slipped off, revealing an extremely pale and faintly luminescent upper body.

"Hmm? What’s this?"

The Primordial Sword Gourd at his waist vibrated subtly, and Qi Xiu raised an eyebrow.

The sinister man’s upper body startlingly displayed nine indifferent, slumbering faces, each with its eyes tightly closed.

Each of the nine faces, old or young, male or female, had an ancient mark at the center of its forehead, all of them distinctly different.

Ninth Nether Sword Path—Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword?

Looking at the black sword in the man’s hand and the nine faces on his body, Qi Xiu immediately recalled a method called the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword.

Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword.

A path of extreme swordsmanship that killed for the sake of killing, hence also known as the Path of No Life.

After specializing in the Gourd Sword Skill and Heaven and Earth Myriad Dominance Sword Skill, Qi Xiu could now also be considered half a master in the Sword Dao.

After all, one of these sword techniques originated from the first major Sword Sect of the Near Ancient Era, and the other came from the premier Sword Sect of the royal era, the Taibai Sword Sect. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

With these two sword techniques as his foundation, Qi Xiu knew quite a bit about many of the Sword Dao’s secrets.

It was rumored that the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword was not created by human hands, but instead originated from a place that even the living, and certainly the dead, were reluctant to step foot into.

Nine Nether!

After creatures die, if their souls are preserved, they either wander the heavens and earth, becoming free-roaming ghosts, or they enter the Yellow Springs, becoming a different kind of netherworldly being.

However, the Nine Nether is even below the Yellow Springs.

The character for ’nether’ implies quietness and secrecy; the ’nine’ is the most revered number, hence it carries the meaning of ’extreme.’ So Nine Nether refers to the ultimate land of the netherworld.

There too exist mountains, peaks, ridges, caves, and streams; except that the mountains bear no grass, the peaks do not pierce the sky, the ridges see no travelers, the caves take in no clouds, and the streams flow no water.

Ghouls and fiends lurk before the banks; gods and demons dwell beneath the ridges.

The caves harbor stray ghosts; the abyss conceals malevolent souls.

It was rumored that the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword suddenly appeared on an ancient battlefield.

At the time of the sword skill’s appearance, the heavens and earth changed colors, turning everything within thousands of miles into a black and red hue; rolling black fog spread across the sky, turning the vast stretch of land into a barren waste.

In order to prevent this sword skill from appearing in the world, the heavens once struck down nine bolts of Divine Thunder, intending to annihilate it.

But for reasons unknown, it was not successful.

After that, the sword skill vanished.

And hundreds of years after this incident, a Sword Cultivator master named Zuo Liancang suddenly emerged.

Wielding a black sword, wherever he passed, nothing would grow and all things would perish; no living creature could escape.

Seeing Zuo Liancang’s overwhelming strength, many Demons and Demonic Cultivators voluntarily approached to side with him, attempting to join forces for havoc.

But Zuo Liancang paid them no mind; whoever appeared before him, be they human or demon, immortal or devil, he would execute them all!

From this, both the Righteous and Demonic Paths saw clearly.

Zuo Liancang was a complete madman; his eyes saw only slaughter and destruction.

Thus, Zuo Liancang, who had suddenly emerged and in a short time drawn the attention of most from both the Righteous and Demonic Paths, found himself surrounded on a stormy night. Ten True Monarchs of the Sword Sect fiercely attacked him and ultimately pinned him to a cliff.

That cliff, too, because of Zuo Liancang, was sealed off and strictly guarded by the Sword Sect.

The matter of the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword should have ended there.

Alas, by the late Near Ancient Era, the Sword Sect fell into internal strife and collapsed.

Consequently, the cliff containing Zuo Liancang’s corpse also disappeared without a trace.

Since then, this extreme and terrifying sword technique began to spread.

But apart from Zuo Liancang, over countless years, no one has successfully mastered this sword technique.

The reason was simple: this sword technique had once been severely punished by the Heavenly Dao. Although it wasn’t eradicated, the aura of heavenly retribution had seeped into it.

Anyone who practiced this sword technique would become tainted with this aura of heavenly retribution.

Afterward, their fortunes would plummet, and they would face incessant calamities.

The ultimate fate of those who trained in the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword was either to suffer a horrible disaster or to be directly struck to death by lightning.

And as the message of the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword’s ten-deaths-and-no-life cultivation spread, this sword technique gradually vanished from people’s view.

Until today.

"Good eye. I am Wei Ling. How may I address you?"

As he exerted his body, Wei Ling’s presence began to overflow with a harsh and chilling air of slaughter, like a peerless fiend who had broken out from the Nine Nether Land. A black cloth covered his eyes, which slowly bled beneath it, tracing two bloody lines across his face.

"After Zuo Liancang, you must be the second one to have mastered the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword."

Sensing the oppressive aura emanating from Wei Ling, Qi Xiu’s hands hung down, a flash of white light faintly visible in his palms.

"Qi Xiu of the Shenxiao Sect."

"Ah, so you are Qi. You’re mistaken. I’m not the second to have mastered the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword, but rather... the third!"

Pausing for a moment, one of the faces on Wei Ling’s body suddenly opened its eyes. He took a single step and swung his black sword fiercely, immediately unleashing an immeasurable killing light. The heavens and earth convulsed. The land below Qi Xiu violently cracked open, creating a daunting ravine several hundred miles long.

The might of that one powerful strike was sufficient to annihilate any being in the Blood-Stained Realm.

This was the power of the Nine Nether Gathering Shriek Divine Sword. For each face he condensed on his body, he could connect to one level of the Netherworld.

The sword Wei Ling swung appeared to be wielded by him, but in reality, it was the collective force of an entire Netherworld bearing down.

Hunyuan Ultimate Cannon!

Feeling the oppressive force of Wei Ling’s sword, Qi Xiu raised his hand and released a surge of brilliantly dazzling light, accompanied by a thunderous roar of creation, hurtling forward.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Their clash set off a horrendously terrifying shockwave, exploding outward in ripples of violent turbulence that tore countless rifts in the surrounding void; the ground for thousands of miles around was peeled away in thick layers.