Daoist Wuyang returned from out at sea, and the person he intended to kill was Chen Chao. After Yun Jianyue informed him, Chen Chao began to think about how to kill Daoist Wuyang.

There were many people in this world who wanted to kill him, but most of them could be ignored. After all, the current Chen Chao was already a martial artist at the end of Nepenthe.

But Daoist Wuyang was an exception. He had crossed Nepenthe and become an extremely terrifying cultivator. When such a person wanted to kill him, Chen Chao naturally had to prepare early.

That was why he came to the Sword Sect, to meet this person who had also crossed that realm, the number one figure in Sword Dao.

But when he came here, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master ultimately refused him. Even though he indeed still owed a debt of gratitude to the Great Liang Emperor, there was nothing Chen Chao could do.

After all, this number one figure in Sword Dao before him had already crossed that threshold long ago.

Chen Chao said, "Then Sect Master, watching this official be killed by Daoist Wuyang, can you truly feel no guilt in your heart?"

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master said calmly, “In the end, the favor was given by His Majesty. To repay it is to repay His Majesty, not you.”

Before Chen Chao could speak, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master looked up at the pavilion above his head and said calmly, “Lord Warden Commander must be doing well in officialdom. Such words might work on others, but to me, they seem useless.”

Chen Chao clicked his tongue. “Sect Master’s sword heart is indeed steadfast. Without such a sword heart, it would be difficult to reach your current realm.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master said calmly, “Is Lord Warden Commander implying that I am heartless and unfeeling?”

Chen Chao smiled silently.

To say everything outright would be to fall into the inferior way of speaking. Speaking half and leaving half for the other person to guess was the better method.

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master stared at the young man before him, his expression complex. If Yu Xiyi’s talent alone was enough to amaze him, then the young man before him possessed more than talent.

Whether it was his scheming mind or the aura he exuded, none of it could be compared to Yu Xiyi.

“If I could only act against one person between the temple master and the Demon Emperor, would you still choose the temple master?”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master spoke suddenly. This question was filled with meaning.

He also wanted to hear Chen Chao’s answer.

Chen Chao said calmly, “Naturally.”

"Why?"

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master became even more curious, staring at the young martial artist before him as if wanting to truly see through him.

“Sect Master cannot kill him, so naturally the Demon Emperor is left for this official.”

When Chen Chao spoke, his expression was composed, and his eyes were bright with spirit, as if in the eyes of this young martial artist, the matter was a trivial one.

“Just an old demon who has lived a little longer. What’s there to be afraid of?”

The corners of the Sword Sect's Sect Master's mouth twitched. He originally wanted to say something, but recalling the almost merciless words this young martial artist had said to him earlier, he found that for a moment, he could not think of anything to say.

If he knew that this young martial artist before him had dared to raise his middle finger even when he was in the desolate north and knew the Demon Emperor was about to arrive, he probably would have had no idea what to say.

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master was silent for a moment before yielding. “I can unleash a single sword move for you.”

Chen Chao nodded, and his smile immediately brightened. “Then this junior thanks the senior.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master was momentarily stunned. For an instant, he felt a strange sense of dissonance. This young man who had just been addressing himself as “this official” and calling him “Sect Master” now suddenly changed to “senior” and “junior” the moment he agreed.

“Senior, since you’re already going to send out a sword move, how about unleashing one more?”

Chen Chao said with utmost seriousness, “For a powerhouse like the Temple Master, one sword move might not be enough. If you delivery two or three, with Sect Master's cultivation realm, you’ll surely be able to gravely wound him, or even slay him. By then, the world will spread word that Sword Dao stands above all, and all those daoists are nothing but crooked melons and cracked dates; utterly no match for sword cultivators. Wouldn’t that be a fine thing for Sect Master?”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master kept a straight face and said nothing. He was even starting to regret agreeing to unleash a sword move for this fellow.

Chen Chao seemed to see through the Sword Sect's Sect Master’s thoughts and said with a grin, “Senior can’t go back on your word now. If you do, and this junior happens to get drunk someday and accidentally let it slip, and someone happens to overhear... well, whatever rumors spread after that wouldn’t be this junior's fault.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master said nothing, he simply turned into a flash of sword light and vanished.

At the same time, the pavilion whose pillars had long since snapped collapsed toward the ground. Chen Chao failed to dodge in time and was buried beneath it.

When Yu Xiyi arrived, he saw only a young man in black clothes climbing out of the ruined pavilion in a sorry state.

Yu Xiyi was briefly stunned, then burst into hearty laughter, tears almost coming out of his eyes.

Chen Chao walked out of the rubble, dusted off his clothes, but one glance told him his black robe was already full of tears. After thinking for a moment, he took out a new one and changed into it.

The boots too.

Yu Xiyi came closer and asked curiously, “You really made a move against Sect Master?”

Chen Chao gave a short hum. “Sect Master wasn’t that strong. His Sword Dao is nothing much.”

Yu Xiyi looked speechlessly at Chen Chao, thinking, We’re brothers here, there are no outsiders. Why are you still pretending?

Chen Chao only narrowed his eyes and said, “If he didn't rely on cultivation realm, after today, there’ll be talk in the world that Sword Dao is inferior to martial dao.”

"Fine, fine, fine."

Yu Xiyi spoke repeatedly, truly impressed by the man before him. He could lie without blinking, as if everything he said were true.

Chen Chao continued, “Anyway, there’s one thing that can be said: if your Sect Master really suppressed his realm to fight me, he would definitely lose.”

Before the words even faded, a sword light descended from the sky, striking the ruins where the pavilion had been and blasting a deep crater into the ground.

Even after that one sword, the sword qi lingered for a long time.

Yu Xiyi felt as if his back were pricked with needles, his seat covered in thorns, his throat blocked by a bone. “Elder Brother, I’m begging you, can you stop posturing already?”

Chen Chao kept a straight face.

Only then did Yu Xiyi carefully ask, “When are we going to kill the Demon Emperor? And how many helpers did you find? If it’s just the two of us, we might not pull it off.”

Chen Chao glanced at Yu Xiyi and said irritably, “Who said anything about killing the Demon Emperor?”

"AHH!"

Yu Xiyi jumped to his feet, eyes wide with disbelief. “You wrote to me asking about my cultivation realm, and you just came back from the desolate north, if you’re not going to kill the Demon Emperor, then who the hell are you killing? In other words, who else in this world could make you look for help to kill? Don’t tell me you’re planning to kill Sect Master? I’m telling you, Sect Master might be disgusting, but he’s still the Sect Master. You think Your Father will actually team up with outsiders to kill him?”

Before he finished speaking, another sword light fell from the sky, smashing into the ground near Yu Xiyi and leaving another deep pit.

Yu Xiyi flinched, but still muttered stubbornly, “I didn’t say anything wrong about the Sect Master being disgusting.”

But as soon as he said that, Yu Xiyi immediately hid behind Chen Chao. If another sword came down, he’d let this guy take the hit.

After waiting for a long while and seeing no second sword, Yu Xiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“You bastard, just say it already, who are you going to kill? Oh... I get it. Is this something outsiders can’t know? Then how about we talk after we leave?”

Yu Xiyi fixed his gaze on Chen Chao, his eyes as sharp as swords.

If not for thinking they were going to kill the Demon Emperor, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush to break through his realm or to fight the Sword Sect’s Sect Master to the death.

Chen Chao said weakly, “I never said anything like that. You’re the one who thought it up yourself, what do you want me to do about it?”

Yu Xiyi let out another “ah,” just as he was about to curse the heavens, when Chen Chao quickly covered his mouth and scolded, “Can you shut the hell up for a moment?”

After saying that, Chen Chao let go and gave Yu Xiyi a look full of disgust. “You really think we can kill the Demon Emperor right now? When Your Father met him in the desolate north, I almost didn’t make it back alive. Forget you and me, even if we added one or two more at the end of Nepenthe, it still wouldn’t be of any damn use.”

Before Yu Xiyi could respond, Chen Chao continued, “But yes, there is someone to kill - a daoist.”

Yu Xiyi heard this and immediately lost heart. “Killing a daoist again? Not interested.”

Chen Chao glanced at Yu Xiyi and said to himself, “Anyway, this one is much tougher than the last daoist we killed. Will you kill him or not?”

“Hmm? Killing Yun Jianyue? But if we really kill him, do we need to team up? Hang on, are you planning to wipe out the Infatuation Daoist Temple?”

Yu Xiyi thought seriously for a moment and said, “If we team up, it seems we might actually pull it off. But... damn, have you gotten addicted to destroying sects? You want to wipe out the leader of Daoism just because you say so?”

Chen Chao was too lazy to beat around the bush. Since the matter had been stated this far, there was no point in circling, he said plainly, “Daoist Wuyang has returned from overseas. The old daoist was lucky not to die overseas and instead advanced his realm. This old bastard has come back to kill me. Yun Jianyue told me in the desolate north and plans to join with me to slaughter him.”

Yu Xiyi didn’t find anything strange in the preceding words, but when he heard the last part he couldn’t believe it. “Yun Jianyue that punk got addicted to killing his martial uncles?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “They can’t tolerate each other in the competition of the Great Dao”

“If Daoist Wuyang becomes the Temple Master of Infatuation Daoist Temple again, everything I've done will have been for nothing, so I must kill him.”

Yu Xiyi narrowed his eyes. “So this time it’s still the three of us, still killing an old daoist?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “I just asked Sect Master for a sword move. He’ll deliver a sword strike then; otherwise we really can’t win.”

Yu Xiyi suddenly understood. “Turns out you came to the Sword Sect because you have designs on him. But why would he listen to you?”

Chen Chao had a headache. This guy’s sword skill was decent, but his brain was basically useless.

“Are you coming or not?”

Chen Chao was too lazy to waste words.

“Of course I’m coming. That old daoist is no good anyway. If he left it’d be fine, but he dares to come back and cause you trouble, I’ll make him regret it!”

Yu Xiyi threw his head back, full of confidence.

Chen Chao patted his shoulder and smiled, “Good brother.”

Yu Xiyi hesitated a moment and tentatively asked, “Then can we go kill the Demon Emperor later?”

Chen Chao glanced at him and shook his head, “You can play a role with matters related to the Demon Emperor, but you can try to kill a few demon lords then.”

Yu Xiyi swore loudly, “Screw you!”