Martial Cultivator

This time, meeting Autumn again, this princess of the demon race truly had changed somewhat. Just like before, she still wanted to kill Chen Chao, still insisted on doing it alone, but compared to the past, she truly no longer fussed over many things.

For instance, in today’s situation, at any other time in the past, Autumn most likely would never have chosen to join forces with other demons. Not to mention joining forces, even merely appearing here together would have been nearly impossible.

Her pride most likely surpassed everyone else in the demon race. At certain times, even the Demon Emperor could not compare to her.

And when such a person one day chose to set aside her pride and do certain things, it often became very frightening. Of course, this also meant that, in her heart, Chen Chao had already reached an absolute height.

Chen Chao could understand this, but he did not know whether he should feel troubled or pleased.

He only tightened his grip on the saber in his hand, then spoke calmly through voice transmission, ”This official will tear open a gap for you later. Master, flee far away without delay, do not linger.”

Monk Xuankong slightly furrowed his brows, then shook his head, also replying through voice transmission, ”Why should Your Excellency die, while this destitute monk lives? That seems unreasonable no matter how you put it.”

Chen Chao said calmly, ”Then Master stays, and this official leaves?”

Monk Xuankong was taken aback, but before he could reply, Chen Chao chuckled. ”Master, you don’t seem to have that ability.”

These words counted as answering Monk Xuankong’s earlier question. Chen Chao rubbed his cheek, looked at the group of great demons before him, and finally said through voice transmission, ”Northeast direction, about one incense stick’s time later.”

After saying this, Chen Chao then looked at Autumn and smiled softly. ”One last request. Before I die, can you at least not set your sights on this monk?”

Autumn glanced at Monk Xuankong and shook her head. ”I cannot control them.”

”Tsk, tsk, tsk. Do you think anyone would believe that? A princess of the demon race, and you can’t even make the call on such a trivial matter?”

Chen Chao cast a glance at Autumn, the mockery in his words undisguised.

But Autumn remained indifferent, only saying indifferently, ”Chen Chao, in your eyes now, the life of a Nepenthe cultivator is just a trivial matter?”

Chen Chao likewise could not be bothered to pay Autumn any mind, instead looking around and speaking calmly. ”Since even your princess’ words carry no weight, then I’ll add one thing: whoever dares lay a hand on this monk right under my eyes, think carefully whether your princess here will surely be able to protect you.”

”Still the same old thing: I may only have one saber, but it doesn’t look like any of you have two lives.”

After Chen Chao finished saying this, he licked his lips. From his expression, it seemed he did not care at all, as if he had casually mentioned some trivial matter.

It was precisely because he spoke so lightly that these words carried weight.

Autumn could not be bothered to say more. The slender flying sword in her hand was once again gripped tightly, then suddenly smashed down. A terrifying surge of qi burst forth from above, as though someone had lifted the sharpest sword in the world and was now bringing it down heavily.

Heaven and earth split apart.

The endless wind and snow were instantly cleaved open by this sword. At this moment, a visible crack appeared out of thin air between heaven and earth. The snow on both sides fell rapidly, no longer like a blizzard, but like flowing snowflakes.

Chen Chao sighed. The sight he least wanted to see still appeared before his eyes at this moment.

Before leaving the divine mountain, Chen Chao was already worried that after refining those sword qi, Autumn would become his greatest trouble. And this trouble, unavoidable as it was, was one he had personally created.

But at that time, he had no other choice.

So now, no matter the situation, Chen Chao could only accept it.

Under that sword strike, which still contained little sword qi, but mostly demonic qi, Chen Chao shifted his body to dodge. Yet very quickly, he realized that this choice was not quite right, because when he moved aside, he could clearly feel that hidden within that terrifying demonic qi was a sharp edge. It was absolutely not something as simple as ordinary demonic qi. ṟа₦оBÈṢ

He figured out the crux of it almost instantly: turns out that this woman had not chosen to cultivate the sword after possessing what might be the sharpest and most profound sword qi under heaven. Instead, she chose to refine those sword qi and fuse them with her own demonic qi.

She had carved out onto an entirely new path.

If most sword cultivators in the world knew of such an act, they would surely think this woman had gone mad. This was clearly discarding the essential for the secondary, like obtaining a mountain of gold, yet instead of enjoying its wealth, melting it all down just to forge a hairpin for a beloved woman.

What the world could not understand, in Autumn’s eyes, was never a matter that needed explanation.

She had always been such a woman, doing as she pleased, her eyes set above the heavens. Never mind these sword qi, even if the Demon Emperor were to say today that he would pass down all his cultivation to her, she would most likely disdainfully refuse.

In Chen Chao’s view, there were only two extraordinary women in this world.

One human, one demon.

But now, both of them were in the desolate north.

Whether they might meet, he did not know.

As this thought crossed his mind, the Cloud Mud in Chen Chao’s hand was finally unsheathed. Whether against other great demons or even an ordinary demon lord, Chen Chao would not necessarily have been so cautious. But when facing Autumn, he could not afford even the slightest carelessness.

The consequences of carelessness were hard to say, but very rarely would they end well.

The saber edge of Cloud Mud cut through the dense demonic qi before him. The tip of the saber seemed to burst with a dazzling light, drawing out a brilliant white line. Yet as soon as that white line appeared, it was devoured by Autumn’s demonic qi.

This woman had always acted this way; utterly domineering.

Chen Chao reversed his grip on the saber, pulling it halfway back, then struck out heavily.

At the same time, Autumn swept in from afar, the slender flying sword in her hand suddenly descending.

Saber and sword clashed at that moment.

Chen Chao’s wrist was numbed instantly by the impact. That terrifying sword strike carried Autumn’s newfound comprehension. With her now standing at the end of Nepenthe, the power within that one sword was dreadful.

Cloud Mud in Chen Chao’s hand was forced down. He watched helplessly as the blade of the flying sword named Autumn Beyond the Tower, Autumn swept past, the demonic qi it stirred cutting off a few strands of his hair.

The sword edge even grazed across Chen Chao’s face, leaving behind a blood mark. With a push of his toe, Chen Chao retreated backward, and only after pulling open several dozen feet of distance did he reach up to touch his face, cursing, ”You tigress, don’t you know the rule that one doesn’t aim for the face? You don’t follow a single damn rule, do you?”

Autumn narrowed her eyes, saying nothing.

”Your Father isn’t even married yet. You’ve gone and ruined this face of mine, are you hoping I’ll spend the rest of my life alone and die in solitude?”

Autumn frowned slightly. The great demons watching from afar, who had yet to make a move, were all a bit dumbfounded. They had long known this young martial artist was a powerhouse of the current age. Many of them had even deliberately inquired about the deeds of this young Lord Warden Commander. From those accounts, they always thought this young martial artist should be a decisive and domineering figure. Yet at this moment, he had transformed into something more like a street rascal.

”Speaking of which, if you die, I might as well take the chance to kill her too. Then I’ll toss one corpse into the rivers and seas, and casually carry the other with me, so that you two will never meet again for all eternity.”

It was rare for Autumn to speak so much, and as she spoke, there even seemed to be a faint smile on her face? Did she truly mean to do this?

Chen Chao shook his head helplessly and cursed, ”What a crazy bitch.”

Before the words had even fallen, he was already charging forward. Their first clash had tilted slightly in Autumn’s favor, but Chen Chao did not believe that every clash afterward would be the same.

Both were standing at the end of Nepenthe, Chen Chao had never feared anyone!

The qi within Chen Chao’s body surged through his meridians like floodwaters breaking loose, vast and unending.

As he rushed forward again, countless afterimages layered upon one another, as if dozens of Chen Chaos had appeared in the heavens and earth.

When he closed in on Autumn, those afterimages all surged forward, fusing back into Chen Chao’s body. At the instant they fully converged, Chen Chao struck out with a heavy slash.

Vast saber qi arose from the heavens and earth, gathering the falling snow. In but the blink of an eye, a colossal saber force, hundreds of feet long, manifested between heaven and earth, crashing down with crushing weight.

The ground split open instantly, a fissure spreading endlessly outward.

Chen Chao stepped through the snow with saber in hand, chasing after Autumn.

Autumn gripped her slender flying sword, shattering the falling snow again and again, yet her steps never faltered. Though it had not been long since their last battle, she knew full well that even after reaching the end of Nepenthe and refining those sword qi, this young martial artist before her was still no easy foe.

Among the human race, many cultivators of the foreign lands had long regarded Chen Chao and Yun Jianyue as the two prodigies of this generation. Some even said the two were lifelong enemies. But only Chen Chao knew, his true lifelong enemy was not Yun Jianyue, but Autumn.

This demon race princess lacked nothing, excelled in everything, and still harbored the purest killing intent toward Chen Chao.

Chen Chao actually really wanted to kill her too.

Because if nothing unexpected happened, after the Demon Emperor, this woman would become the next Demon Emperor - the only empress in the history of the demon race. And it was highly possible that one day, she might even surpass the Demon Emperor, becoming the strongest Demon Emperor in history.

For the human race, Autumn had always been a great enemy.

Especially since Chen Chao and Xie Nandu sought the annihilation of the demon race, then Autumn had to be killed.

Chen Chao was willing to do this.

But it was a very difficult matter.

The two clashed.

The wind and snow could not get close to them.

As the fight dragged on, the great demons were half-entranced by the battle. Some found it unbelievable, others felt admiration, but all were worried.

For the demon race, the rise of a human powerhouse was never a good thing.

Among those great demons, one was the first to snap out of it. Narrowing his eyes at the monk Xuankong in the distance, he suddenly moved like a ghost, appearing not far from Xuankong’s side.

A vast wave of demonic qi crashed down.

Monk Xuankong’s mind had been taut with vigilance. But in this moment, his reaction was slow. By the time that demonic qi pressed close, only then did a lotus blossom bloom at his fingertips.

That lotus had barely withstood the force before, in the next instant, another surge of demonic qi struck him from behind without restraint.

In that instant, Monk Xuankong’s whole body radiated a buddhist light. Though he blocked most of the demonic qi, he was still struck and spat out blood.

”Monk, you have some skill, to have learned a bit of vajra technique.”

Monk Xuankong said nothing, only silently chanting as behind him slowly condensed the Dharma image of a Buddha. Golden light scattered, driving back the demonic qi.

But since it was two great demons joining forces, the Dharma image behind Xuankong quickly dimmed and dissipated.

One great demon stepped forward, demonic qi surging to crush the monk before him.

If nothing unexpected happened, Monk Xuankong would soon be slain here.

But just at that moment, a saber light came ”from afar,” cleaving through the demonic qi. The figure of the black-clad martial artist suddenly appeared, his voice icy cold, ”Do you really take this official’s words to be bullshit?!”