Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 487: Zhao Changhe's First God-Slaying

Zhao Changhe did not know who had helped him, so he instinctively credited the blind woman.

That was timely assistance!

The sword qi flowing out of his body was originally meant to be guided within, according to the training methods of the Bashan Sword Hut. Shi Wuding was able to unleash sword qi from his mouth because he had nurtured sword qi internally, making it his ultimate hidden weapon.

If cultivated properly, every single movement one made would emit sword qi. This was the legendary innate sword qi, where even a drop of blood could be a sword.

Shi Wuding was only half a step away from this level.

In other words, if he could handle the sword qi circulating within him, Zhao Changhe would not need the Sharp Blade Grass. The Sharp Blade Grass was simply a means to produce and condense sword qi.

Everyone’s cultivation methods differed. Zhao Changhe originally could not control this sword qi or guide it. But now, with his internal energy significantly diminished, he could try to use it.

He already had the necessary sword intent and knew exactly what to do.

Zhao Changhe quickly focused inward, guiding the scattered sword qi into his limbs, letting it flow through his blood and integrate with his vicious qi, refining it in the same way that Li Shentong had once mentioned for tempering the body.

Ordinary people would not be able to do this, but the transformation brought about by the Heavenly Blood Jade gave him a solid foundation to succeed. It was indeed the ideal requirement for the body cultivation path the Heavenly Tome had revealed.

To Zhao Changhe, it felt like ages had passed. He could feel his very blood cells becoming unbelievably sharp, like tiny swords coursing through his body, with threads of vicious qi weaving through like even more swords, shuttling back and forth.

When he grew somewhat accustomed to it, the sword qi began to surge again as the curse’s effect faded and his energy returned.

The second level of the Blood Asura Body had been achieved.

At the same time, the door to the second layer of the Profound Mysteries opened slightly, allowing Zhao Changhe a glimpse of what lay beyond.

It was actually simple, something he had anticipated for a while. When his internal cultivation caught up, he would break through. In this moment of clarity, he could feel that he was just one step away.

The Profound Mysteries were not all that mysterious. In essence, they were still known as “Bodily Profound Mysteries,” meaning it was still about manipulating one’s own body in various ways. But unlike when making one’s way through the Profound Gate, it was more individualized, with each person’s path differing greatly. This lack of a uniform standard had left Zhao Changhe feeling lost between the first and second layers, but now, he had finally found his way.

Exploring the Profound Mysteries could wait... Zhao Changhe opened his blood-red eyes, as the pressing battle at hand was his immediate concern.

Even though the tempering of his body felt like it had taken ages, it had actually been fairly quick—after all, even for normal people, it only takes about twenty seconds for blood to complete a circulation throughout the body. With his physique, it took only a few seconds. This might be a long time in a fight, but fortunately, the Blood Ao was still a short distance away from the crowd.

Zhao Changhe put away Dragon Bird and drew the bone sword, heavily driving it into the tiny crack in the Blood Ao’s skull.

The originally boundless power coursing through his body like a rushing river was now focused into a tiny point at the sword tip. A razor-sharp strand of sword qi pierced through, breaking into the Blood Ao’s skull.

The Blood Ao let out a thunderous, agonized scream.

The soul of the Buddhist venerable and the body of the Blood Ao were incompatible. This incompatibility was not a major issue normally, but now it had encountered the Spirit Tribe’s Beast Spirit Saint, who found this crack and was furiously tearing it open to seize control.

Yue Hongling had destabilized its spiritual platform, allowing the corpse demon to merge directly and attempt to seize the body.

Zhao Changhe’s strike at the crown further disrupted the connection, severing the already unstable soul-body bond. A stream of black qi erupted from the head, the telltale sign of a soul being forcibly expelled.

The black qi shot straight at Zhao Changhe’s face, seemingly attempting to possess him instead. Zhao Changhe quickly pulled out a talisman and slapped it on the black qi.

With another painful shriek, the black qi transformed into a dark beam and fled toward the sacred mountain, disappearing from sight.

Zhao Changhe lacked the strength to chase it; he clung weakly to the Blood Ao’s head, barely keeping himself from falling. He could only watch as the black qi entered the sacred mountain.

Clearly, the enemy had planned for this contingency. They knew how to get inside and had already made arrangements. But that was fine. When it came to the Heavenly Tome, there was still the blind woman that the other party would have to go through.

Yue Hongling flew to his side, hurriedly supporting the wavering Zhao Changhe. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine...” Zhao Changhe’s gaze was icy as he looked down at the Blood Ao’s head. “But let’s see if that little guy is okay...”

The Blood Ao continued to scream in pain, a sign of its body merging with another soul. The corpse demon’s voice reverberated in Zhao Changhe’s mind, “I commend you for risking your lives to drive away that bald monk and deliver me this sacred body... As a reward, I’ll leave you an intact corpse... Haha... Hahaha...”

As laughter continued, Zhao Changhe casually flipped his hand and threw the other sword pill into the Blood Ao’s mouth.

“???” The laughter abruptly stopped.

“I know how to guide sword qi, but I can’t withstand its rampage. You can’t either, and neither can the Blood Ao’s body. I’d like to see how you’ll handle it.” Zhao Changhe muttered wearily, “The Blood Ao’s shell is tough, but I doubt its guts are just as tough.”

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze. In the next instant, the Blood Ao’s abdomen was shredded from within by countless swords.

Even when Zhao Changhe could not fully suppress the sword qi, he could at least channel it in an orderly way, directing it outward without any of it stabbing into his heart. But neither the Blood Ao nor the corpse demon had the slightest understanding of this. Adding to that, the Blood Ao’s body structure was vastly different from a human’s, so the sword qi, which followed Zhao Changhe’s intended pathways based on human blood flow, was utterly chaotic inside the Blood Ao.

Swish, swish, swish!

In an instant, the sword qi tore through Blood Ao’s insides, turning it into mush and leaving it with almost no intact internal organs.

The newly possessed Blood Ao’s body slumped to the ground, motionless, as if the sword pill had directly poisoned it to death.

A wisp of black qi escaped from the crack in its skull.

The corpse demon was furious. The struggle with the Blood Ao’s soul had been far from easy, thus it was far weaker than before, and yet it was left with nothing.

Fine, it doesn’t matter if the body is dead, Zhao Changhe must be even weaker now. I can just possess him instead!

Just as it emerged from the Blood Ao’s skull, it came face-to-face with a talisman and with Zhao Changhe’s cold gaze.

Beside him, Yue Hongling’s sword erupted with dazzling light. Having understood everything, she struck down with Dragon Emperor, a radiant golden beam piercing straight down.

“No! You’re destroying the bridge after crossing...” The corpse demon let out a wretched scream, and the black qi fizzled, twisting into a distorted face before finally dissipating entirely.

It never understood, even in its last moments, how Zhao Changhe had prepared the talisman so early on, as if he had anticipated dealing with two vengeful spirits all along.

At that moment, Sisi arrived, flying in from the distant sacred mountain. “Are you two all right?”

Zhao Changhe lay weakly on the turtle shell, and Yue Hongling leaned tiredly against him. The two sat close together, laughing. “It seems we just killed your true ancestral god or something. Do we need to run for our lives now?”

Sisi rolled her eyes at their affectionate scene and quickly pulled out two pills for them. “Killing the Blood Ao... It depends on how you spin it. As long as I talk it up, it becomes a feat accomplished only by true envoys carrying divine orders.”

She paused, lowering her voice. “As for that soul earlier, well, he was a bad guy, wasn’t he?”

Zhao Changhe looked at her deeply, finally feeling relieved. Exhaustion overtook him, and he passed out.

Sisi gazed at him, his body drenched in blood, with hardly a patch of flesh untouched by the rampaging sword qi... She could not fathom how he had managed to stay conscious through the entire battle, making every move precisely as needed.

Tears welled up in her peach-blossom eyes, almost spilling over.

Yue Hongling, slumped beside them, muttered, “Take us somewhere we can recover. Whatever you have to say, save it for later.”

Sisi gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Big Sis Yue. You’ve helped so much, and I...”

“You’re welcome...” Yue Hongling replied lazily. “It’s fine. I’ve messed with you before too.”

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