Transmigrated as the Villain’s Sword - Chapter 20

The Old Demon Emperor’s words acted as the final fuse to ignite the emotions of both sides. Zhen Xuzi’s face turned grim instantly, and he muttered “Good” three times in a row. “Good, good, good! The Demon Princess hid her identity to infiltrate my Lingxiao Immortal Sect, stole our treasures, killed our disciples, and even caused such a scene during the Sect Competition. It seems the Demon Race truly does not respect the people of our cultivation world. Since that is the case…”

“Then do not blame my Lingxiao Immortal Sect for showing no mercy!”

Ling Chenyan: “…”

If she didn’t know the cause and effect of everything, she might have actually believed this old man’s words.

“Hold it right there,” Ling Chenyan interrupted Zhen Xuzi’s distorted version of the truth, jumping to the Old Demon Emperor’s side. “You old man, why do you only tell half the story? Can’t you speak clearly?”

The veins on Zhen Xuzi’s forehead throbbed. He instinctively felt that nothing good would come out of this sword’s mouth, but under the watchful eyes of all the visiting sects, he had to restrain his temper to maintain the prestige of the Sect Leader of the world’s number one sect.

After all, not every sect hated the Demon Race. Some who did were simply enjoying the show, hoping both sides would exhaust each other so they could profit in the end.

However, the Lingxiao Immortal Sect was not entirely in the right regarding this matter. Zhen Xuzi intended to silence the sword, but Ling Chenyan didn’t give him the chance.

“You say the Demon Princess hid her identity to infiltrate your sect, but wasn’t that because you were secretly kidnapping demon disciples? You say she killed your disciples, but wasn’t it you who killed the demons first, attacked me, and finally teamed up with other sects to try and kill my master? My master was forced to fight back!”

“Yellow-mouthed brat, cease your nonsense!” Zhen Xuzi’s face turned ugly as his deeds were exposed.

Grudges between the various races had existed for a long time. Friction between the Lingxiao Immortal Sect—the world’s top sect—and the Demon and Monster races was common. Usually, these back-and-forth skirmishes were handled with a tacit understanding, but it was a different matter once it was brought out into the open.

Even worse, he couldn’t refute it. Even if he did, no one would believe him; such things had happened throughout the history of almost every cultivation sect.

“Whether I’m talking nonsense, you know very well,” Ling Chenyan’s tone shifted. “Furthermore, my master now suspects that the Lingxiao Immortal Sect, despite being the number one sect, is harboring evil entities and allowing them to harm commoners.”

“Nonsense!”

This time, not only Zhen Xuzi but also Daoist Ling Xu and Daoist Chen Xu refuted her with extreme anger.

“Our Lingxiao Immortal Sect loathes those filthy things most! How could we possibly harbor such unclean entities!”

“Is that so?” Ling Chenyan asked unhurriedly. “Then you are very certain your sect contains no evil spirits?”

“Naturally!” Daoist Ling Xu flicked his sleeve, his face full of contempt and rage.

Zhen Xuzi had also been certain there were no evil entities in the sect; after all, they couldn’t even tolerate demons, so how could they tolerate things called “Evil Objects”? But seeing the silver sword’s conviction, he grew slightly uncertain.

Just then, Guan Luowei walked to Ling Chenyan’s side, took a pill from her spatial bag, and slowly levitated it into the air so everyone could see its true form.

“This is—?!” someone gasped. “A Spirit-Awakening Pill?”

At these words, the cultivators present, whether sincerely or not, all showed expressions of loathing. Only Daoist Guize’s hand, hidden under his robe, trembled slightly.

Guan Luowei spoke at the right moment: “I discovered this pill on Guize Peak, the residence of the Lingxiao Immortal Sect’s Elder Guize.”

The pill suspended quietly in the air, emitting an alluring luster that proved the refiner’s skill was profound. Guan Luowei slowly withdrew the pill and looked at Daoist Guize in the corner. “Furthermore, the Demon Cores required to refine this pill were obtained from the demon disciples who went missing.”

Everyone followed her gaze to Daoist Guize. Seeing him in his black robe, they secretly tried to probe him with their divine sense, but without exception, no one could detect his aura.

Some realized something was wrong, but most still didn’t believe it.

A blue-robed elder stepped forward and asked softly, “Does the Princess have evidence for such claims?”

Ling Chenyan glanced at the elder and repeated, “Evidence?”

Taking advantage of the prompt, Zhen Xuzi and the others quickly spoke up. “Guize is an elder of our Lingxiao Immortal Sect. Because of a great war many years ago, his face was mostly destroyed, which is why he has covered himself in black robes and studied concealment techniques ever since. This is no secret in our sect. Though he is mysterious, saying he killed demon disciples based on that is a stretch.”

Guan Luowei looked at Zhen Xuzi, sneered, and said, “Whether he is an evil entity or not, we will know after a test.”

Zhen Xuzi looked up sharply, only to see Guan Luowei’s merciless lethal strike already slashing toward Daoist Guize in the corner.

This strike used ninety percent of her power; the shockwave alone made those present turn pale with fright. Zhen Xuzi’s pupils contracted, and as ten thousand thoughts flashed through his mind, Daoist Guize still stood his ground.

His robes flapped violently in the wind, but he remained rooted, neither dodging nor avoiding the blow. Just as the strike was about to land, Daoist Guize lifted his head.

The world went silent, followed by a chorus of gasps.

“An Evil Object!” someone screamed. “It really is an Evil Object!”

Under the robes, Daoist Guize’s eyes were blood-red. His face, which resembled withered tree bark, gradually twisted and turned into a void of blackness. He emitted a loathsome, evil, and cold aura, identical to the monster seen in Fengxiang Town.

If the crowd couldn’t see it now, they would have lived their lives in vain.

In fact, the moment Daoist Guize revealed his true form, many cultivators present surrounded him.

Strangely, Daoist Guize did not dodge under these circumstances. Instead, he stared fixedly at Guan Luowei and let out a raspy, unpleasant laugh. “You cannot stop the descent of my Lord…”

“My Lord…” Daoist Guize did not flinch. At the last moment, he laughed maniacally, using all his power to make his final words reach everyone’s ears, his voice filled with fanaticism and adoration.

“My Lord, for ten thousand generations!”

BOOM!

The black-robed figure gradually dissipated. Everyone heard his final words. Those with high cultivation felt their ears ringing and vision blurring; those with lower cultivation even lost their senses and began to murmur to themselves.

After a brief moment of daze, the sect leaders shouted to their disciples: “Block your ears and focus your minds! Meditate on the spot!”

Zhen Xuzi was also shocked by the sudden turn of events. He never imagined that this junior brother, who had followed him since childhood, would be an evil entity.

Regaining his senses, Zhen Xuzi immediately woke his disciples and then looked at Guan Luowei and the others with complex, flickering eyes.

Guan Luowei also hadn’t expected the creature not to resist, but instead to use its final moments and full power to make an announcement.

She returned to Ling Chenyan’s side, pulling the sword closer. “Yinye, stay close to me.”

Ling Chenyan obediently snuggled against her.

Silence reigned for a while as the various sect elders looked on with grim faces.

That evil entity was something they had never seen before in the cultivation world. If his final words were true, it meant there was more than one such creature in the world today.

Immediately, someone spoke up sarcastically: “Daoist Zhen Xuzi, we respected the Lingxiao Immortal Sect as the world’s number one sect because we hoped you could exterminate demons and cleanse the world. But today’s event truly shames your title as the first sect.”

“Indeed. Whether you knew or not, this evil entity came from your sect. You must give us an explanation.”

With this sudden turn of events, every sect began using the incident as leverage to pull the Lingxiao Sect down from its pedestal.

In light of this, no one was focused on the dispute between the demons and the Lingxiao Sect. Ling Chenyan, ever the spectator, hung beside Guan Luowei, her eyes fixed on Jinjin in Zhen Xuzi’s arms.

She could feel that Jinjin was currently unconscious, leaving only a shred of awareness to monitor the outside world.

While Zhen Xuzi was arguing with the others, Ling Chenyan used the secret spirit-language to call out: “Jinjin, Jinjin, wake up quickly…”

The sleeping Jinjin could vaguely sense the outside world but couldn’t speak or move. Only after a loud bang did he feel his five senses slowly recovering.

Soon, a familiar voice began calling his name anxiously. Jinjin struggled to open his eyes and responded weakly: “Sister… Yinye.”

“Great, Jinjin,” Ling Chenyan said. “You’re awake?”

With his senses restored, Jinjin’s eyes widened at her voice. “Sister Yinye! You—are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ling Chenyan’s eyes rolled. “But I almost died just now. Jinjin, did you know? The Lingxiao Immortal Sect was harboring an evil entity! Do you really still want to stay here?”

While Jinjin had been unconscious, he couldn’t respond, but he was fully aware of what those people had done.

Immediately, he shook his head. “No, Sister Yinye. Take me away. I don’t want to stay here anymore.”

Ling Chenyan was overjoyed. “Good. Now, do exactly as I say…”

After Zhen Xuzi had pacified the crowd one by one, he turned his gaze toward the composed group of demons.

“Failing to detect the evil entity was an error of our Lingxiao Immortal Sect. I originally handed the demon disciples to him for custody and did not know he had killed them. It is understandable for the demons to seek revenge, but the Princess has already killed many of our disciples just now. We shall consider that matter settled. However…”

Zhen Xuzi shifted his gaze to Guan Luowei, his eyes eventually landing on the silver sword. “The fact remains that the sword spirit by the Princess’s side stole the treasures of our elders. Setting aside previous matters, how do you explain this?”

The silver sword turned away, pretending not to hear.

Zhen Xuzi narrowed his eyes at the Demon Princess, only to see Guan Luowei’s eyes full of softness as she looked at her sword. Then, as if remembering something, she looked back at Zhen Xuzi with a gaze as cold as frost. “Has the Sect Leader forgotten what he did to my spirit sword earlier?”

When Guan Luowei first saw the silver sword, her mind was occupied only by the news that the sword wasn’t dead. But now that she had regained her composure, she noticed something different about her.

The wisp of Source Power from the Zither Spirit within her was gone.

At the thought of the treatment the silver sword had endured, Guan Luowei said coldly, “All things have spirits. Since the Sect Leader treated my sword in such a manner, those items are no more than a fair compensation.”

“You!” Daoist Ling Xu’s eyes bulged. He wanted to say she was just a spirit sword and couldn’t compare to their life savings (“coffin money”), but meeting Guan Luowei’s gaze made him falter.

Guan Luowei’s strength made everyone’s scalp tingle.

Zhen Xuzi grit his teeth so hard they nearly broke. Finally, he relented. “Fine.”

They had only intended to return the wisp of Source Power to the Zither Spirit, but ended up losing their life savings.

With the demon army present and the messy situation with the evil entity, a war would be more disadvantageous to the Lingxiao Sect.

Zhen Xuzi flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Behind him, Ling Chenyan handed the stolen treasures to the Old Demon Emperor. The Old Emperor immediately understood her meaning and gave her a secret thumbs-up, looking quite smugly at Zhen Xuzi’s back.

Just as Zhen Xuzi turned, the Old Demon Emperor’s voice rang out: “Disrupting the Sect Competition was the fault of my Demon Race. We have some small gifts to offer everyone as an apology.”

With that, he divided the treasures Ling Chenyan had given him and sent them floating toward the elders of the various sects.

Zhen Xuzi glanced back curiously, and his face turned black the moment he saw the items.

Daoist Chen Xu’s hand trembled as he touched his scorched chin. “This is too much! Simply too much!”

Ling Chenyan kindly reminded the Old Emperor: “Your Majesty, you forgot to give an apology gift to our host, the Lingxiao Immortal Sect.”

The Old Emperor slapped his forehead. “Right you are, right you are!”

He pulled another portion from the pile and sent it to Zhen Xuzi, smiling. “Pardon our intrusion. I hope the Sect Leader accepts this gift; let us not let this affect our relationship.”

The veins on Zhen Xuzi’s forehead throbbed. This wasn’t a gift; it was an insult. But he held back the fuming Daoist Ling Xu, waved his hand to accept the treasures, and said with a forced smile, “Since that is the case, then I thank the Demon Emperor.”

“Not at all, not at all,” the Old Emperor said modestly.

Zhen Xuzi suppressed his murderous intent and turned to leave, but then another change occurred.

Everyone saw the long zither in Zhen Xuzi’s arms suddenly erupt with brilliant golden light. Then, under Zhen Xuzi’s excited gaze, it flew straight toward the silver sword beside the Demon Princess.

Everyone: “…”

After a deathly silence, Zhen Xuzi could no longer endure. His spiritual power surged as he stared at Ling Chenyan with murderous intent. “Little thief, die!”

Based on previous events, everyone assumed the sword spirit was up to her tricks again, trying to steal the Sect’s treasure. After all, she could find treasures hidden by the Sect Leader and elders; it wasn’t far-fetched to think she could manipulate the Divine Artifact to follow her.

Facing the crowd’s gaze, Ling Chenyan felt a bit guilty but straightened her back, looking surprised at the zither. “What are you doing?”

She didn’t care about Zhen Xuzi’s attack; with Guan Luowei and the Old Emperor there, he couldn’t touch her.

The zither buzzed and vibrated.

Ling Chenyan looked shocked. “You say you want to go with me? Why?”

The zither buzzed again.

Ling Chenyan sighed with regret. “You say the Lingxiao Immortal Sect is unforgivable for harboring an evil entity?”

The zither stopped vibrating and hugged the silver sword tightly, making its stance clear.

Members of the various sects began whispering. Some were greedy, some disapproving, and some asked curiously why Zhen Xuzi had looked so excited when the zither glowed.

“That’s because the artifact showed the intention to recognize a master. That’s why it glowed. When a Divine Artifact truly recognizes a master, the scene is much grander than this.”

Ling Chenyan didn’t know the specifics and assumed this was part of her deal with Jinjin.

Zhen Xuzi couldn’t accept the loss of the Sect’s treasure. But he knew the Deceptive God Zither; it wouldn’t glow unless it truly wished to.

After exchanging a few moves with Guan Luowei, he flipped back to his sect and roared, “Nonsense! The artifact hasn’t shown a master-seeking intention in years. Right now, no one understands spiritual items but you. How do we know you aren’t making this up!”

However, many members of other sects spoke up: “What the spirit sword says is true.”

When Ling Chenyan was negotiating with Jinjin earlier, she had used private transmissions. But now, in front of everyone, she didn’t just speak aloud—she intentionally raised her volume.

Zhen Xuzi’s face was so dark it could drip ink. Even though everyone said she was telling the truth, he had no intention of letting the artifact go.

While they were in a standoff, the sky suddenly changed. Auspicious seven-colored clouds rose from the east. A golden dragon and a fiery phoenix appeared, intertwined. A low dragon’s roar and a high-pitched phoenix cry rippled through the air.

Countless disciples were awestruck by the heavenly phenomenon. Only a few high-level cultivators looked on with envy or jealousy. “It is recognizing a master.”

Only Zhen Xuzi and the two elders of the Lingxiao Sect roared in fury: “NO!!”

A beam of golden light descended from the sky, enveloping the Deceptive God Zither and the silver sword beside it.

Warmth seemed to erupt from her soul, traveling from her head to her toes. Ling Chenyan felt as warm as melting spring water. Afterward, she felt an indescribable connection between her and Jinjin.

As the golden light dissipated, Ling Chenyan opened her eyes only to see Zhen Xuzi vomiting blood and fainting on the spot.

She scanned the cultivators of the various sects; their eyes were nearly popping out of their heads.

One had heard of Divine Artifacts recognizing humans as masters, but a Divine Artifact recognizing a spiritual weapon as its master was unheard of!

Author’s Note:

Ling Chenyan: Heh, well, you’ve seen it today.