Chương 271: Transformation

Plum Villa. Song Que was carefully examining all the changes within his body. The Tesseract had officially advanced, now resembling a pale golden orb of light. With the surplus of energy over the past few days, he had continuously used it to strengthen his body. Currently, Master Song's brute strength must be nearing two elephants, and the range of his Domain had expanded beyond thirty meters. His agility and nerve reflexes hadn't increased quite as visibly, but they had certainly improved as well.

Overall, his combat power had grown by a large margin—at least thirty percent higher than before. The progress was incredibly promising. Then came the Marvellous Lotus Sutra visualizations. Over the past while, the number of lives that had perished at 'Old Demon Song's' hands approached nearly a hundred. The karma clinging to his body could be described as terrifying to behold.

A thick, gloomy ghost Qi, as viscous and foul as stagnant swamp water, enveloped his soul, continuously howling and shrieking, making it difficult for his mind to find peace. But it was precisely because of this bizarre situation that the more karma he cleansed, the faster his cultivation of the Lotus Sutra progressed. By now, he felt this technique was nearing the grand completion stage. Within his mind, he had already visualized 80, 000 petals on the Precious Lotus Pedestal.

The radiant, jewel-like light shining from it was dazzling, colorful, and sacrosanct. Once all 84, 000 petals were fully formed, the Lotus Pedestal would transform into a treasure dharma idol, allowing his soul to take a seat upon it. From then on, he would be untainted by mortal dust, impervious to myriad evils, able to see clearly his own true heart, and capable of shattering all external demonic illusions and delusions. That time was fast approaching.

At his current cultivation speed, by the time he finished refining the remaining karma, he would more or less reach the grand completion of the Lotus Sutra. Next was the Seven Kills Demonic Saber. Song Que felt his balls ache for a moment before deciding to unroll the human skin scroll recording this demonic art to study it, hoping to gain some inspiration. On the scroll, fresh blood had been used to draw incredibly lifelike human figures executing saber techniques.

Just looking at it made him feel an overwhelming, heaven-covering murderous intent crashing down on his face. Little Tian Dao at his waist immediately buzzed, ringing continuous alarms. Gently patting his little rascal to pacify it, Master Song carefully read the detailed annotations beside the drawings. As he spent more time studying them, he suddenly felt as if he was being dragged into an endless, blood-red space.

Knowing this was merely an illusion, Song Que wasn't in a hurry to wake up, immersing himself in the vision to see its reality. In a trance, his vision suddenly merged with that of a person holding a blood-red saber, madly slaughtering the surrounding enemies. With every swing, tens or hundreds of people perished. The saber techniques were bizarre, unpredictable, and incredibly cruel. The flesh and blood of anyone struck would instantly evaporate.

Even their souls would be incinerated into nothingness, never to reincarnate. Ultimately, even their dry bones would quickly wither and return to the void. It was truly a strike of ultimate Yin and ultimate evil! A single strike carried all seven 'kills' of the world: Disaster Kill, Calamity Kill, Year Kill, Destiny Kill... Not only did it kill the person, but it also destroyed their destiny, erasing all their karmic traces from the world. It was truly a saber technique that deeply violated the harmony of heaven.

To practice this Demonic Saber, the practitioner first needed to use their divine soul to absorb all kinds of worldly malicious energies—murderous intent, resentment, fierce Qi, death Qi... —to form the 'Murderous Demon' dharma idol. Those with weak willpower would easily be driven into Qi deviation by this technique. Their rationality would be erased, transforming them into a genuine Murderous Demon that knew nothing but mad slaughter until they exhausted themselves and died, or were killed by someone else.

Only a very small number were lucky enough to awaken like the old thief Qin Jin previously. It was precisely because of this that even within the God-Slaying Sect, those who dared to practice this demonic art were extremely rare. Reaching a realm like Old Qin's made him the only one of his kind. The human skin scroll obtained from that guy's hands was also a rare manuscript personally recorded by a senior of the God-Slaying Sect who had successfully cultivated this Demonic Saber.

Therefore, it contained the vast intent of this person's lifetime, making it easier for others to comprehend the essence of the Seven Kills Demonic Saber. Qin Jin would also gaze at it daily, gaining insights and deepening his comprehension. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Closing his eyes and pondering for a long time, even though Master Song drooled over the immense power of this First-Tier saber technique, he still decided against practicing it. Putting aside its extreme cruelty—which was just a fleeting cloud anyway—the main issue was that it completely clashed with the Marvellous Lotus Sutra visualizations! One side cleansed away resentment, while the other desperately tried to absorb it. What the hell was there left to cultivate?!

Furthermore, there wasn't much to learn from the techniques of the Seven Kills Demonic Saber itself. Song Que's saber skills had already reached their limit; what he lacked now was the 'Saber Intent' realm. Unfortunately, there was nothing here to guide him in that aspect. Grandee Song sighed regretfully and stored the manual away. Sulking, he rolled onto his bed and buried his head to sleep. No cultivation today!........... The Moon-Lacking Pavilion.

Having just returned home, Pavilion Master Song made a rare appearance here the next morning, wanting to personally understand the changes within the Pavilion over the recent days. Sitting in the Discussion Hall, a group of high-ranking Moon-Lacking members laughed boisterously as they reported their achievements to Master Song.

"Pavilion Master! Ever since the news of us joining the Phoenix Society was verified, the number of people rushing to Qinghe to sign up and join the Pavilion has been increasing. Among them are quite a few 2nd Tier experts. Vice Pavilion Master Tie and I have temporarily arranged for them to stay at an inn, waiting for your return to discuss a plan together," Shen Ziming was the first to deliver the good news. Tie Feilong's face was also glowing with excitement, and he chimed in radiantly:"Indeed, Pavilion Master.

If it weren't for the fear of recruiting too many outsiders at once and suppressing the old brothers in the Pavilion, the two of us would have already taken the initiative to recruit them on your behalf."

"Haha, with you two thinking things through so thoroughly, I can be at ease." Laughing loudly and offering a word of praise, Song Que began issuing orders:"Let's do this: have people investigate the backgrounds of the newcomers. If necessary, you can ask the Heavenly River Sword Sect for help. Once their character is verified, Brother Shen and Uncle Tie, you two can independently assign tasks to those at the 4th Grade or below.

For 5th Grade martial artists, provided they aren't too old, they can be granted the title of Elder. But if a 6th Grade Marrow Cleansing realm expert comes to visit, report it to me immediately so I can personally host them."

"Understood, Pavilion Master!" the two replied loudly.

"Everyone, the booming development of the Moon-Lacking Pavilion is an unstoppable trend. All of you sitting here cannot afford to slack off! You must all strive to seize the time to cultivate and break through to the 5th Grade, 6th Grade, or even become First-Tier experts as soon as possible! You have the cultivation methods, and the resources provided by the Pavilion will only increase.

If you don't grasp this opportunity, and wait until the newcomers' cultivation levels surpass yours, don't blame me when you can no longer keep the seats you're currently sitting on."

"Natural selection, survival of the fittest! I handle matters fairly and impartially. Your capabilities determine the scale of your work. Whoever cannot keep up with this Young Master's footsteps will step down to make way for the capable. I won't mistreat the old meritorious subjects; I'll simply assign them to more relaxed, suitable positions." The excited crowd was instantly doused with a bucket of cold water by Song Que.

Everyone felt immense pressure, shuddering as they replied solemnly:"Understood, Pavilion Master!"

"Good! Brother Hong, how is the business doing recently?"

"Haha, extremely well!" Zhong Hong, who didn't practice martial arts and thus felt absolutely no pressure, laughed happily. Listening to his recount, Song Que finally understood why the Head and Deputy Hall Masters of the Outer Affairs Hall were so joyous. The reason lay entirely with the Phoenix Society. Ever since the Moon-Lacking Pavilion raised the Phoenix flag, the people seeking cooperation had practically trampled the threshold of the Outer Affairs Hall's main gates.

Regardless of what you were selling, as long as the price wasn't absurd, they would readily open their wallets to cooperate. This must undoubtedly be the will of the Blood Moon Enchantress's faction. Therefore, merchants all around Linjiang City, and even those traveling downstream from neighboring commanderies and counties, were desperately trying to build connections and relationships with the rising star, Master Song. Because of this, the Moon-Lacking Pavilion had expanded into quite a few new business sectors.

From firewood, weapons, and furs, to medicinal herbs and mountain products, they had a hand in everything. After all, they had absolutely no fear of not finding buyers. A tall tree provides a large shade; the ancestors didn't deceive me! It was all money! Master Song also felt extremely satisfied.

"Very good. Since even the merchant guilds of Linjiang City want to do business with us, it's time for the Shunfeng Escort Agency to expand its territory. Uncle Guan, Brother Shen, Uncle Tie. Later, the three of you sit down together and take this opportunity to allocate a few 2nd Grade experts as fresh blood to Shunfeng. They can be registered under the Moon-Lacking Pavilion or Shunfeng as they please. Just ensure that this trade route is completely secured for me in the shortest time possible."

"Understood, Pavilion Master!" Guan, Shen, and Tie answered loudly. Speaking of the Shunfeng Escort Agency, the position of this property within Master Song's system was rather awkward. Its strength was lacking. In the entire Escort Agency, there wasn't a single decent expert holding down the fort. Escort missions mostly relied on assistance from the Moon-Lacking Pavilion's people.

Given the 'three-legged cat' martial arts of Guan Xing and the others, one could say Shunfeng's combat power wasn't even on par with the non-combat personnel of the Outer Affairs Hall here. Yet, despite this, it hadn't been absorbed into the Moon-Lacking Pavilion. It still flew its own flag and possessed a separate, imposing headquarters. Over time, everyone realized that Grandee Song showed a certain favoritism toward this place.

With the Escort Agency expanding this time, it wasn't impossible that some might start harboring unusual thoughts.