Chapter 153: Evil Sword Immortal Slays The Jingtian Demon
Hearing Lu Rang’s shout that sounded like a plea for help, and thinking of the “excellent experimental subject (goblin)” that was about to be credited, Yuan Zhu was filled with motivation and got up from the bed.
He arranged a meeting place via the “mouse walkie-talkie.” He quickly washed up, got dressed, and set off, arriving before 1 o’clock not far from the bus stop, where he spotted the boy carrying a pipe wrench cloth bag from afar. Then he waved to signal.
Seeing Yuan Zhu, the boy immediately jogged over and said happily, “Brother Yuan! You’re finally back.”
Yuan Zhu was also sizing him up and noticed that compared to before, Lu Rang now exuded a sharp edge, his eyes were exceptionally bright, and his spirit was high-spirited.
Setting aside appearance, just in terms of temperament, he had already stood out from ordinary people and was no longer one of the vulgar masses.
“I see a change in your essence, qi, and spirit. Your cultivation has been quite effective this time.”
Getting affirmation, Lu Rang nodded excitedly and said confidently, “That’s right. I feel like I’ve made great progress lately!”
Yuan Zhu was a bit curious about his change in mindset. Calculating by the present world time of Du Ling, it had only been about a week since the last commission “goblin hunting mission.”
But the confidence Lu Rang showed and the unrestrained sharpness did not seem like something that could transform in just a week.
“Oh? Did you encounter some opportunity?”
Lu Rang shook his head: “No. During this time, I followed the Security Bureau’s investigator and carried out two background missions, gaining experience. I also went to Happy Home twice to consult on cultivation doubts and received some pointers from the captain. Plus, truly battling goblins and winning more changed my mindset.”
Yuan Zhu: “Your strength seems to have improved? I can feel your flying sword is nurturing a touch of sharpness.”
After Yuan Zhu now completed seal casting and began condensing soul crystal, his mental power had upgraded in quantity to quality, acuity to perception range.
Holy Light System’s core is spirit and soul. Thus, he could easily discern the change in the other’s flying sword—not only sharpness fully revealed, but also wrapped in a heavy bloody aura.
“Ha, as expected, I can’t hide it from you, Brother Yuan. My sword dao seems to have veered onto the path of evil cultivator? But after consulting the captain, he reassured me it’s normal. Only by maintaining a correct mindset, facing one’s sword heart directly, without evasion or escape, can one avoid falling into the abyss and continue controlling the flying sword.”
Speaking of possibly becoming an evil cultivator, Lu Rang’s tone was relaxed and unconcerned. It seemed to match what he said.
Yuan Zhu, not very knowledgeable about sword cultivators, asked, “Sword dao evil cultivator? What’s that?”
“Brother Yuan, you know the secret technique for sword cultivator entry, pain entry method, right? It requires constantly sacrificing the sword with one’s own pain, perceiving the pain, strengthening understanding of ‘sword and sharpness,’ and refining that feeling into the flying sword to formally enter the dao. And orthodox sword cultivators’ cultivation process requires maintaining this painful experience at all times, using pain to calibrate oneself, progressing step by step, tempering the flying sword’s sharpness…”
Yuan Zhu’s teeth ached listening, but he still nodded; it matched his cognition and understanding of sword cultivators.
Perceiving cutting pain = perceiving sharpness, so pain = sharpness degree. Constantly experiencing pain = flying sword constantly tempered.
Thus, pain to the extreme, one sword opens heaven’s gate. He only admired the power earned through their ability, without a bit of jealousy or envy.
Lu Rang sighed: “At first, I thought I was very tolerant, could bear the pain, and could cultivate supreme sword qi with blessing of the sword. But I overestimated myself; the sword sacrificing process was too painful. After completing initial sword refining and establishing mind-spirit perception with the pipe wrench, I couldn’t continue.”
He spread his hands, looking at his ten fingers with faint scars remaining, eyes showing fear.
“When sword sacrificing reaches a certain level, sword cultivators must seek even more painful torment experiences to further deepen sword qi quality, reinforce sword qi sharpness, temper the flying sword. Moreover, orthodox sword immortals must use pain to calibrate their spirit, must face pain directly, experience pain… cannot take forbidden drugs randomly, twisting the pain experience into happiness, numbing oneself. That’s a sword dao taboo!”
Yuan Zhu followed his words: “So you couldn’t bear it and took forbidden drugs? Stepping into the evil path of ‘distorting pain sensation’?”
Lu Rang shook his head vigorously, very disgusted and rejecting this ‘sword cultivator evil path,’ denying: “No! I just couldn’t bear pain beyond ordinary levels, but I clearly know the harm of this evil path. I won’t deceive my heart, twisting pain and happiness.”
“Then what evil path did you enter?”
Lu Rang answered: “I consulted the captain; he said orthodox sword cultivators’ pain entry method is called self-mutilation faction, the oldest, most traditional, and most difficult ascetic cultivation faction. Without great perseverance, one can’t reach the peak. Outside the self-mutilation faction, more factions developed.”
“I didn’t understand these originally. I was just hunting goblins in the sewer and unintentionally severely injured one, chopping it into a cripple, severing its legs, but not killing it. Then at some moment, seeing it struggling painfully in the sewage, I suddenly felt pity and resonated with its phantom pain in thought, and my sword qi suddenly grew a bit.”
Yuan Zhu: “Hm?”
“I didn’t know what was happening then either, but afterward I couldn’t resist trying a few more times. It was like just transferring my ‘pain’ onto others, observing, immersing in the false experience, could also cultivate and train sword qi. But this sword qi’s properties and quality were very strange, very different from what I refined myself. And my mindset and thoughts were also distorted by it, becoming very off.”
“Afterward, I was a bit scared, so I went to Happy Home to consult the captain. He told me this is a dangerous evil path called torment sword faction, a type of sword dao demonic cultivation. It gradually twists one into a pervert through tormenting prey, transforming the sword cultivator core of experiencing one’s own pain into creating pain by tormenting others, letting the ‘flying sword’ taste and feel endless pain, thus achieving the sword sacrificing purpose. But it’s also very easy to lose control…”
Yuan Zhu: What the hell kind of fall seal behavior is this? Just like holy light not burning one’s own life, but specializing in burning other meat batteries, accelerating holy light turning black, as happy as that?
Seeing Lu Rang’s strange expression, both ashamed and excited, still striving to face his heart, dissecting his mental journey for himself to hear.
Yuan Zhu reached out and patted his shoulder, in the tone of bitterly persuading a roommate to skip class and play games together instead of studying: “Stop, bro gets you! Highly pure holy light requires igniting oneself to continuously integrate soul ash, shaping attributes. But just burning others is really fun and happy, impossible to stop.”
“No! That’s just falling, will accelerate soul pollution, shifting toward loss of control. In the Security Bureau, I audited a few law system public classes and decided to use law clauses for self-restraint. My flying sword absolutely cannot be used to torment humans; fighting and killing is fine, but not tormenting for cultivation. This evil method will only be used on ‘goblins’; that’s the bottom line and persistence.”
Yuan: “Great idea! You’re preparing to join the law system? Using law to restrain and control the flying sword?”
Lu Rang: “No, just learning and borrowing the law system’s self-restraint methods, integrating into my own cultivation method, not accepting law’s constraints or switching camps.”
“Got it!”
The boy still had ideas, just unknown how far he could persist before revising his bottom line again, step by step retreating into the abyss.
…
In their exploration and exchange, Lu Rang led the way, and the two arrived again near his home, in that remote cluster of abandoned buildings.
He pointed to a roughly three-story-high abandoned building and said: “This week, whenever I had time, I’d enter the sewer for cultivation trials, stockpiled quite a few goblins, and used chains to uniformly lock them in this abandoned building. As the number increased, not only did I have to go to the Security Bureau for classes, go to the sewer for cultivation, but also divert effort to make feeding food to ensure they don’t starve to death. Time is increasingly insufficient, goblins more and more, really can’t manage them; they’re about to explode poop!”
Speaking of illegally imprisoning and raising goblins, Lu Rang finally escaped the negative mental state of self-analysis, becoming cheerful, complaining with a face full of disgust.
Yuan Zhu puzzled: “What poop explosion?”
“This garbage is really shameless and has exceptionally tenacious vitality. Brother Yuan, you said to keep them alive, and even severely disabled goblins are fine. These days I’ve been diligently catching a large batch, using them to refine and nurture the sword, so they’re very badly injured and disabled. To keep them from dying easily, I bought life-overdrawing stimulants from an underground black clinic, diluted them to prolong life; and from the garbage bins beside those restaurant back alleys, got buckets of swill so they don’t starve.”
Yuan Zhu just listening felt the other was a ruthless character. But Lu Rang had an innocent + complaining face, as if thinking his actions were still kind. You clearly felt pity for tormenting goblins in your heart, so why are you so cruel in raising goblins without realizing it?
The other continued complaining: “Didn’t expect these disgusting guys to eat it with relish? Even with legs broken, arms severed, internal organs heavily damaged, facing swill they can have a last burst of energy to devour it, and show no sign of dying, as if as long as fed full, they could eat another five hundred days.”
Then, his expression grew uglier, face full of disgust: “These guys not only eat a lot, they also poop a lot. I used iron chains to lock them in the abandoned building, concentrated imprisonment for convenience. But in just a few days, the room became dirtier than a pigsty; I really dare not step in.”
Speaking of imprisoning goblins, Lu Rang’s actions were somewhat hasty. This abandoned building had no sewage system, and goblins concentrated together, eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing in place every day; explosion was inevitable sooner or later.
But he only agreed to help catch goblins; how would he consider a series of ‘storage, transfer luck, raising, cleaning’ issues? So Lu Rang doing this much, proactively stealing swill from restaurant back alleys, buying life-prolonging stimulants, was already benevolent to the utmost.
While talking, the two arrived at the abandoned building holding the goblins. The latter stopped first, looking up fearfully at the second floor, pointing the way for Yuan Zhu: “Brother Yuan, it’s up there. I only after personally experiencing ‘raising goblins’ completely severed the remaining ‘pity’ in my heart, truly facing my inner self, tormenting goblins without breeding inner demon. They really deserve to die, death not enough to atone!”
Lu Rang had a air of ‘let goblins feel pain, sacrifice to my sword sharpness, this is heavenly dao!’ as if rightful.
No wonder he adjusted his mindset so quickly, edging back and forth on the verge of evil cultivator sword dao.
Yuan Zhu stood before the stairs, hesitant: “Holy shit! You don’t dare enter, so I dare?!”
“Then what to do? The smell inside is really awful. This herd of beasts really deserves to die! No wonder everyone unanimously opposes listing them as intelligent beings; they really deserve killing! Fit to sacrifice to my pipe wrench.”
At the emotional point, the cloth bag on his back began buzzing, as if about to detach from the sword pouch and fly through the air. This was already preliminarily able to control sword?
…
The two mutually yielded, pushing each other, dawdling up to the second floor. Not yet nearing the room holding goblins, a foul smell was already drifting.
Along with it, the excitement and anticipation for using goblins in ‘pollution experiments, insect system experiments, artificial qi refining experiments’ began to zero out.
“How many did you catch?”
Lu Rang responded: “Fully 51! During this time, I also rested one day to go to the Security Bureau for a big class and participated in investigating an evil spirit attack case.”
In just six days, catching this many, plus quite a few killed by ‘sword sacrificing’ during hunting. Such results were simply heaven-defying.
“I’m very curious, how did you do it? From zero experience newcomer to rapid success ‘veteran goblin hunter,’ inconceivable.”
Lu Rang humbly said: “Actually at first, I was also panicked and clumsy, knew nothing. First day entering the sewer, risking clothes stained with poop, relying on lure agent, barely caught 3.”
Yuan Zhu hurriedly interrupted: “Pause, no need for specific details. I know you worked hard; please skip.”
“Alright, on the second day, I encountered a mercenary squad. They were catching goblin experimental subjects for a small laboratory. I proactively stepped forward and offered free help, just to accumulate some ‘sewer combat experience.’ They saw I carried a flying sword, not an ordinary sewer scavenger, and welcomed this free helper. Someone even simply pointed out some ‘sword skills’; we got along very pleasantly.”
Lu Rang recalled: “In the cooperation process, I did the grunt work, and heard them chatting that they had a conflict with the employer. Delaying salary remuneration, and not fulfilling the contract as pre-agreed. The laboratory hiring them originally promised a special drug assisting cultivation, plus would feedback life extension, major body damage repair tonic based on goblin kill count. But the cultivation drug had huge side effects, and tonic quantity greatly discounted, so the team had big grievances.”
“I followed their actions for two days and timely proposed buying goblins. Brother Yuan, didn’t you give me a sum of money? I didn’t want to spend it recklessly, so used it as goblin purchase funds, and proposed priority recycling disabled, heavily injured goblins for cooperation. On one hand they didn’t want to continue serving the employer, on the other I freebie worked and foolishly spent money buying, still specializing in crippled goblins; they definitely profited, so agreed to cooperate, and their attitude toward me got even better.”
“……??” Yuan Zhu was surprised for a moment, then praised: “You actually had this idea? You’re a genius!”
The first time he contacted Lu Rang at Happy Home, he thought the other was a chicken comb head hot-blooded little thug who could click his tongue. But after interacting, found his character not bad. Now looking again, his brain wasn’t bad either.
Lu Rang rolled his eyes: “I’m not stupid; after getting the ‘sword cultivator opportunity,’ naturally I must reform with confidence and plan life well. I freebie worked with diligent attitude, constant good words; everyone got along very pleasantly. They taught me much experience; if continued freebie money, their attitude toward me would only get better. And it did; the big brothers not only seriously taught me many small skills, but even agreed to cooperate together in the future if opportunity arises.”
“It’s continuing to freebie you.”
“That’s fine too; I have status in the Security Bureau, later have Brother Yuan covering me, plus Happy Home; won’t suffer losses.”
Yuan Zhu nodded in agreement; Happy Home was full of talents. Meng Xiyue excelled at ‘throwing oneself into the pit, selling oneself’; Lu Rang also comprehended the truth of ‘pasting upside down, freebie, exchanging for pointers.’
Looks like he should also lean this way, learn to yield profit.
