Chapter 6

"His younger brother?" The wild boar demon Zhu Yong muttered, then widened his eyes, "You're Qin Yun?"

He recalled it.

Qin Lièhǔ had two sons, one was Qin An, and the other was a young swordsman who was quite famous at the time, but he left home to travel the world six years ago. Back then, Qin Yun's strength was only enough to show off among the younger generation; in the eyes of true powerhouses, he was still very inexperienced. The wild boar demon 'Zhu Yong' was one of the terrifying demons lurking in Guangling County, and he had never looked up to a mere young man.

"You kill me, and the Water Deity will not let you off." The wild boar demon Zhu Yong felt his consciousness weakening and growled in frustration, "The Water Deity will not let you off, will not let you off."

"Water Deity? Out of ten demons in all of Guangling County, seven are under the Water Deity's command." Qin Yun sneered, "I kill demons, and I'm afraid of offending the Water Deity?"

The upper body of the wild boar demon Zhu Yong completely transformed into its original form, a massive half-body of a wild boar, and then fell silent, dead.

The entire hall was silent.

The demon leader, the eight demons including the cat demon, the woman in the pink robe, and the old man in the black robe, were all dead.

Only Qin Yun stood in the center of the hall, lost in thought.

"By just looking at the demon leader's corpse, a single sword strike can sever the body; there are very few in all of Guangling County who can do this. It's easy to expose my identity. I've been back for only six years; it's not the time to confront the Water Deity yet." Qin Yun made up his mind and quickly searched the hall, discovering a box of star-patterned steel.

"Star-patterned steel?" Qin Yun looked at the silver-white metal blocks revealed in the broken wooden box, "With these dozens of pounds of star-patterned steel, the foundation of my life-bound flying sword will be solid, and the time required to refine it can be shortened by one or two months."

He then thoroughly searched the corpses of the demons in the hall, but found nothing as surprising as the star-patterned steel.

Following that, Qin Yun took out a red brocade pouch from his chest, opened it, and found a small bottle inside. He uncorked the bottle and dripped some liquid onto the demon corpses. He dripped seven or eight drops onto the corpse of the wild boar demon Zhu Yong, and one or two drops onto the other demon corpses.

"Chh, chh, chh."

Then he set fire to the corpses.

The corpse of the wild boar demon Zhu Yong, if burned normally, would likely leave bones after several days. However, the liquid dripped on it burned with a dark blue flame, which continuously eroded the corpse. After just a dozen breaths, the corpse was completely burned to ashes, leaving only some ash. As for the other demon corpses, even with only one or two drops of the liquid, they all turned to ashes.

"This 'Mystic Water' is running low; I need to prepare more." Qin Yun muttered, walked to the armrest of the throne, and after a brief search, restored it.

"Rumble~~~" The side door of the hall, which had been closed, opened again.

With his divine eye, Qin Yun easily found the demon leader 'Zhu Yong's' usual living quarters. After a careful search, he quickly found a hidden treasure chest containing gems, pearls, and a stack of silver bills.

"Wow, 63,000 taels?" Qin Yun flipped through the silver bills, somewhat surprised, "This old demon is under the Water Deity's command; he must have to offer most of his gains to the Water Deity, and his usual cultivation also has many expenses. Even so, he managed to save so much silver."

"Cultivation emphasizes method, wealth, companions, and place, with method being the first. Without a method, one cannot cultivate at all. Wealth is second." Qin Yun shook his head, "I am of the sword immortal lineage, and my other expenses are minimal, but nurturing my life-bound flying sword requires a lot. Most of my six years of accumulation has been spent on this. Fortunately, I obtained these silver bills and dozens of pounds of star-patterned steel this time, which, combined with my original savings, should be enough for the next year of nurturing my life-bound flying sword."

Even cultivators have their headaches.

For those of the talisman lineage, even the lowest-grade talisman paper and cinnabar have a significant long-term practice cost. If one wants to create a talisman, the cost is even higher.

For those who refine elixirs and magical treasures, the initial investment is enormous, and the thought of it is terrifying.

...

After thoroughly searching the entire underground palace, Qin Yun left with two bundles. Before leaving, he transmitted a sound that echoed throughout the underground palace, a voice like an old man,沧桑且雄浑 (weathered and resonant): "All the demons have been slain by me. You should quickly flee from here and save your lives." After saying this, he left.

The underground palace was a place of enjoyment for the demons but a place of suffering and despair for the human race.

Although they heard various loud noises from the hall, the dancers, musicians, and servants were all terrified and hid in their respective quarters, not daring to come out. After hearing Qin Yun's transmission, they waited for a while before cautiously coming out. They found no obstacles, and many of the trap doors were already open, allowing them to escape smoothly. When they reached the street, they were immediately discovered by the night patrol officers, and the underground palace was naturally exposed.

Upon investigation, the officials of Guangling County learned that the owner of the underground palace was the demon leader 'Zhu Yong'.

For Guangling County, 'Zhu Yong' was one of the most terrifying old demons hidden in the darkness, causing chaos in the county for decades, and his lair had always been a mystery.

This matter immediately alarmed the higher-ups of Guangling County.

******

In the Qin residence, in a small courtyard belonging to Qin Yun.

Warm light filtered through the lampshade, illuminating the room.

"Thud."

Qin Yun casually placed the bundle containing silver bills and jewels into the wardrobe beside the bed. The other bundle he placed on the bed and quickly opened, revealing blocks of star-patterned steel: "Star-patterned steel, if privately stored by civilians, is usually a capital offense. However, with my status, even if this amount of star-patterned steel is discovered, it would only be a minor issue."

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Qin Yun closed his eyes and calmed his mind for a moment.

In his dantian.

The dantian was like a sea, with rivers of true essence flowing and circulating. A bright silver metal sphere floated within.

Suddenly, the bright silver metal sphere began to rotate and slowly unfolded into a 'metal hair strand.' If the bright silver metal sphere was very small, about the size of a grain of sand, then the metal strand it unfolded into was even finer, like a hair.

"Whoosh."

The metal hair strand instantly flew out of the dantian, traveling along the meridians in his body, quickly reaching the tip of his right index finger. It pierced through the skin, leaving a hair-thin wound, which Qin Yun naturally healed instantly.

After the bright silver hair strand emerged from the fingertip, it immediately grew larger, rapidly expanding.

It transformed into a three-inch-long bright silver small sword, floating in front of Qin Yun.

"Life-bound flying sword." Qin Yun sat cross-legged, looking at the three-inch-long flying sword floating in front of him, "It will take nearly a year for my life-bound flying sword to be fully refined. By then, it won't need to be so carefully handled when entering and exiting the dantian."

Currently, the life-bound flying sword hasn't been fully refined, and the flying sword inside the body doesn't distinguish between friend and foe. If it pierces the organs, it can cause serious injury. Therefore, when nurturing it in the dantian, it is usually coiled into a 'sword pill.' If it is stored in the dantian in its 'sword shape,' and it hasn't been fully refined, any accidental injury to the dantian would be regrettable.

Once the life-bound flying sword is fully refined, it becomes a magical treasure, capable of being large or small, with terrifying power.

Even if one obtains a refined flying sword, it is far inferior to a life-bound flying sword. What is a 'life-bound flying sword'? It is nurtured in the dantian day and night, even infused with the soul, gradually becoming a part of one's life, with naturally terrifying power. If the life-bound flying sword is destroyed, the consequences can range from serious injury to the end of one's cultivation path.

"Go." Picking up a piece of star-patterned steel weighing about ten pounds, he casually threw it, and immediately a thread of true essence emerged from his finger, wrapping around the star-patterned steel, suspending it below the three-inch-long flying sword.

Buzz~~~

As Qin Yun activated the technique, a layer of light haloed the surface of the three-inch-long flying sword, continuously absorbing the essence of the star-patterned steel. Tiny light points flew out from the star-patterned steel and entered the three-inch flying sword, while the suspended piece of star-patterned steel gradually shed some fragments.

After about half an hour, the three-inch flying sword trembled and emitted a sword cry.

"That's enough for today." Qin Yun extended his hand, and the star-patterned steel, now reduced to the size of a pebble and weighing about two pounds, flew back into his hand, "I have refined about eight pounds of star-patterned steel. If I refine it once a day, it will likely take ten days to fully refine all the star-patterned steel, and the foundation of my life-bound flying sword will be even more solid."

"Nurturing and refining a life-bound flying sword is truly not easy. If it were a regular cultivator, even one of the sword immortal lineage, it would take decades of hard work to nurture and refine their own life-bound flying sword. I have comprehended the 'Smoke and Rain Sword Intent,' which has accelerated the nurturing process by ten times, allowing me to complete it in just a few years. Unfortunately, the materials required for nurturing a life-bound flying sword cannot be reduced in the slightest." Qin Yun sighed inwardly.

It truly feels like throwing mountains of gold and silver into the furnace, all for a single flying sword.