Chapter 12: Escape

“S-Sect Master, save me!” Xiao Shan cried out in terror, immediately begging Gu Jianfeng for help.

“Noisy!” Chu Feng snorted coldly and struck out with a palm.

The Spiritual Sea at Xiao Shan’s dantian shattered, and all of his cultivation vanished, turning him into a cripple.

Chu Feng threw Xiao Shan to Su Yanran’s feet. “I’ll leave this dog’s life for you to take personally.”

Su Yanran stared at Xiao Shan lying at her feet, and overwhelming hatred surged in her apricot eyes. She grabbed him and walked toward an unoccupied area.

She would not end him with a single sword strike. That would only be letting him off too easily...

After Su Yanran left, Gu Jianfeng finally recovered from his shock. He said nothing, but he had already roughly guessed the truth in his heart.

Half an incense stick later, Su Yanran returned. A thick smell of blood clung to her body.

“Thank you, Young Master Chu, for avenging my clan. I have nothing with which to repay you, so I am willing to follow by your side for the rest of my life and serve you,” Su Yanran said as she knelt before Chu Feng, her expression resolute.

“Yanran, what are you saying? What do you mean by avenging your clan?” Gu Jianfeng asked, his face full of shock.

Chu Feng glanced at Su Yanran and sighed. “Get up.”

Su Yanran rose to her feet and told Gu Jianfeng about the evil deeds Xiao Shan had committed against the Su family.

After hearing it, Gu Jianfeng flew into a rage. He immediately told Su Yanran that he would personally deal with Xiao Shan’s faction and avenge his old friend.

Su Yanran merely nodded calmly after hearing that.

Gu Jianfeng then looked at the Demonic Sword in Chu Feng’s hand. After hesitating again and again, he finally said, “Senior, how do you intend to deal with this Demonic Sword?”

At the mention of the Demonic Sword, Gu Jianfeng could not help sighing inwardly.

The former Sect Master of the Gujian Sect had actually always wanted to pass the position of Sect Master to He Yan, because whether it was cultivation talent or sword-forging skill, He Yan had surpassed Gu Jianfeng.

But after He Yan forged this Demonic Sword, his temperament changed drastically. Only after he committed a grave crime did the position of Sect Master fall to Gu Jianfeng.

This Demonic Sword had been forged by He Yan through all the knowledge and skill he had accumulated throughout his life. It was extremely sinister, and at the same time, the quality of its blade was extraordinary.

Even when Gu Jianfeng had previously invited a Grandmaster Realm expert to destroy it, the weapon had remained unharmed.

Left with no other choice, Gu Jianfeng could only seal it away in a place known to no one. Yet unexpectedly, someone still found it, which led to what happened today.

Now that the matter had come to an end, Gu Jianfeng did not want the Demonic Sword to remain in the world and bring further disaster.

Chu Feng understood the meaning behind Gu Jianfeng’s words and smiled. “Although the quality of this Demonic Sword is enough to rival the Ten Famous Swords, it is far too sinister. It cannot be kept.”

With that, Chu Feng struck the Demonic Sword with a palm.

The Demonic Sword instantly cracked apart and shattered into a pile of scrap iron.

“...”

Gu Jianfeng’s eyes widened, and he remained speechless for a long time.

A Demonic Sword that even a Grandmaster Realm expert could not destroy had shattered just like that?

The look in Gu Jianfeng’s eyes as he stared at Chu Feng immediately filled with shock. If he still could not guess Chu Feng’s realm at this point, then all his years had truly been wasted on a dog.

After destroying the Demonic Sword, Gu Jianfeng invited Chu Feng to stay at the Gujian Sect for a few days.

Chu Feng readily agreed and remained at the Gujian Sect.

That night, after dealing with everything, Gu Jianfeng was summoned by Chu Feng to his residence.

“This old one greets Your Highness, Seventh Prince.”

When Gu Jianfeng learned Chu Feng’s identity from Su Yanran, his face had been full of shock.

He had never imagined that this Great Grandmaster, despite being so young, was actually also a prince of the Great Xuan Dynasty.

At the same time as he was shocked, Gu Jianfeng could not help sighing at just how powerful the national fortune of the Great Xuan Dynasty was.

As long as Chu Feng remained alive, the Great Xuan Dynasty would surely enjoy flourishing national fortune for the next five hundred years and fear no foreign enemy.

“Rise. I called you here because there are a few things I want to ask you about,” Chu Feng said with a nod.

After He Yan broke out of the seal today, he had repeatedly mentioned the words “escape,” which had piqued Chu Feng’s curiosity.

That was precisely why Chu Feng had chosen to remain at the Gujian Sect.

When he heard Chu Feng asking about that matter, a dazed expression appeared on Gu Jianfeng’s face, as though he had recalled a long-buried past.

After that brief lapse, Gu Jianfeng stopped hiding anything and explained the whole reason behind it.

Aside from loving sword forging, He Yan also had another hobby: reading strange records and bizarre ancient texts.

It had been an ordinary day. After spending the entire day forging swords, He Yan had gone to the Gujian Sect’s library pavilion to look for ancient books to pass the time.

It was from that moment onward that He Yan’s temperament began to change drastically. His entire mental state became irritable and violent, and he would often mutter strange things under his breath.

Things like how heaven and earth were a cage, how everything was fake, and how he wanted to escape.

Then, not long afterward, He Yan locked himself away. And when he appeared again, the Demonic Sword was in his hand...

After listening to Gu Jianfeng’s explanation, Chu Feng rubbed his chin, and his eyes flickered even more intensely.

“Do you know which ancient text he read back then?” Chu Feng asked.

“That, I do not know. After that incident, all the strange and bizarre books in the library pavilion were separated out and no longer shown to anyone,” Gu Jianfeng replied truthfully.

Chu Feng nodded. “Leave me a token. I’ll go to the library pavilion myself tomorrow and take a look.”

“Yes.”

Gu Jianfeng took out a jade-green token and handed it to Chu Feng.

...

In the Capital, within the residence of the Third Prince.

Inside a luxurious hall, Chu Jingyun reclined on a couch. While admiring the music and the dancing women, he held an exquisite dagger in one hand and sliced off pieces of meat to feed into his mouth.

At that moment, a shadow soundlessly appeared inside the hall.

Chu Jingyun’s eyes sharpened, and he waved his hand, dismissing everyone from the hall.

“How did it go?” Chu Jingyun asked leisurely as he toyed with the dagger in his hand.

“The Demonic Sword was activated. Imperial Prince Kun returned without success,” a sinister voice came from within the shadow.

When Chu Jingyun heard that, a smile appeared on his wickedly charming face.

Everything had gone exactly as Chu Jingyun had expected. Once the Demonic Sword appeared, how could the Gujian Sect still have time to choose sides? It would already be fortunate enough if they survived at all.

“Send some people to clean up this mess. That is, if anyone from the Gujian Sect is still alive,” Chu Jingyun said unhurriedly.

The shadow looked at Chu Jingyun in silence. Even he had been startled by Chu Jingyun’s nearly insane methods.

Just because Chu Jingshan had intended to win over the Gujian Sect, Chu Jingyun had chosen to wipe out the entire sect the moment it could not be used by him!

Such ruthless, consequence-blind methods were enough to make one shudder.

“The outcome differed somewhat from what you expected.”

“The appearance of the Demonic Sword did not cause any major upheaval, and the Gujian Sect was not heavily damaged,” the shadow said.

“Oh?” Chu Jingyun was taken aback when he heard that, and interest appeared on his face.

“What happened?”

The shadow shook his head. “I do not know the exact details. The disturbance at the summit of the Gujian Sect was too great at the time, so I did not dare get too close.”

“For now, all I know is that the crisis involving the Demonic Sword has already been resolved by the Gujian Sect, and Imperial Prince Kun has left Gujian City.”

Chu Jingyun lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before lifting his head. “Very well. I understand.”

The shadow nodded. Then his figure instantly disappeared from the hall, as though he had never appeared there at all.

“With He Yan and the Demonic Sword together, there are practically no opponents within the Innate Realm who can match him. Yet the Gujian Sect actually survived this catastrophe. Could it be that they have a Grandmaster Realm expert within the sect?” Chu Jingyun muttered with a frown. Then he suddenly laughed.

“The Gujian Sect, the foremost sword sect of the Great Xuan Dynasty. It seems I underestimated you before.”

Chu Jingyun rose to his feet and cast an indifferent glance at the exquisite dagger in his hand. With a twist of his five fingers, the dagger shattered into broken fragments.

He casually tossed the dagger aside and turned to leave the hall.