Chapter 17: Entering the Devil

  At dawn, a red glow rises from the horizon.

  Inside the rear courtyard of the Wu'an Marquis's estate, a faint golden light flowed and turned above Tang An's hands. His hands did not hold a sword, but instead casually stepped out with one palm after another.

  The golden true yuan circulated within his body, incredibly dense. After the intense battle yesterday, he found that his true yuan not only hadn't been depleted but had instead become even more concentrated. The true yuan liquid in his dantian was now thicker and more viscous. And the golden true yuan in the three major acupoints seemed to be showing signs of gasification. However, within this golden color, there was a tiny, almost invisible dark gold-colored particle.

  "What is that?" Tang An furrowed his brow, and the true yuan in his hand surged out even more fiercely. Instantly, the garden was filled with broken branches and fallen leaves. In the three major acupoints, the golden true yuan churned and flowed, and the dark gold-colored particle also spun faster and faster, as if in the process of this true yuan flow, the dark gold-colored particle was constantly dissolving, filling the meridians with the powerful energy contained within it.

  After running for several weeks, Tang An was able to clearly feel that his meridians had become stronger and more robust, and his entire body was full of energy. It seemed as if he had endless strength.

  Tang An suddenly accelerated the circulation of his true yuan, and the garden was instantly filled with a brilliant light. The golden light, like water, completely surrounded Tang An and Ba. After a long time, this light finally stopped. However, immediately after that, Tang An jumped up into mid-air again, stretched out his hand, and a branch appeared in his hand from the ground, serving as a long sword, which he began to wield.

  As he wielded his sword, the true yuan converged along the meridians and condensed into his sword intent. His swordsmanship seemed to have come alive. However, this vitality was not what Tang An should possess. His sword was a killing sword, merged with life force, but this killing intent had become impure. The power of this sword was naturally not as it once was.

  After a while, Tang An finally finished his self-cultivation. At this moment, the sky had already brightened up, and hearing the commotion from the garden side, many people had gathered over, with Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli among them. They waved their hands, and the rest of the servants bowed and left.

  Nian Wushuang took a glance and had already seen clearly, then said to Yuan Wanli: "His swordsmanship seems to have changed again. That forward-killing intent has actually faded, and its power has greatly decreased. Did you say something to him yesterday?"

  Nian Wushuang's eyes gleamed like electricity as he stared at Yuan Wanli for a moment, and from the look in his eyes, he had already read out the answer.

  "You shouldn't have interfered. Have you forgotten that he still has a major battle on June 6th? Even if you remind him now, maybe in the future he can merge life and death into one, but it's absolutely not the right time! His killing intent hasn't reached its limit yet, and it shouldn't be changed too early."

  Nian Wushuang looked up again and saw that Tang An's sword was no longer as sharp as before. It seemed that Yuan Wanli's words yesterday had indeed had a significant impact on him.

  Nian Wushuang shook his head: "Alas... what a pity. However, he is still young, and it's hard to say how things will turn out in the future."

  Yuan Wanli saw that Tang An's swordsmanship had become somewhat disordered, and he lowered his head, his face revealing shame, saying: "It was my fault. Originally I thought he hadn't seen it himself, so I kindly reminded him. The end of the kill is a dead end. Now it seems that I have harmed him instead."

  Just as Wanli finished speaking, Tang An in the sky suddenly changed his sword move, and a strong gust of wind began to blow in the garden.

  "I did not want to kill, but the world forced me, forcing me to kill! Killing is an original sin! But if I don't kill, people will kill me! The way of heaven is unfair! The saintly way of gentlemen is false, so I'll enter the devil's path and achieve the ultimate killing way!"

  In an instant, the golden true yuan in Tang An's body suddenly went wild and crazy. His body was surrounded by a fierce storm, and visible black sword energy was forced out of his body, shooting towards all directions. Branches that were swept away would instantly fall to the ground with a "rustling" sound.

  The branch in Tang An's hand could no longer withstand his true yuan and snapped with a "crack".

  Tang An's hands were empty, but at this moment, he suddenly used his fingers as a sword. In an instant, the black sword energy that was scattered in the air seemed to be attracted by something and returned to his fingertips. The black sword energy continued to gather on his fingertips, merging and transforming until after a moment, it had transformed into a steel nail the size of a small sword!

  The small sword was dull and without luster, with a thread of black air flowing across its surface like a black hole. As the air passed by, it made a "hissing" sound in the air, as if the void was about to be torn apart.

  This is the origin of the killing path, the first sword!

  "Swords are for killing! Have you ever heard of a sword that can save lives? Haha... Am I wrong?"

  "I'm right!"

  "It's wrong of you!" Tang An suddenly burst out laughing, his face turned crazy and demonic. He looked at Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli, and a burst of divine light exploded in his eyes. His gaze was too dark and bright, like a lantern of ghostly fire illuminating the hearts of Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli, making them feel a chill.

  Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli were standing not far away, quietly gazing at him. Seeing this pair of eyes, the two were suddenly shocked, their hearts racing, and they involuntarily retreated two steps. A cold sweat trickled down Nian Wushuang's forehead.

  "He has a demon in his heart, and his sword is a demonic sword. Now that he has comprehended the Kill Sword Origin Sword, I'm afraid there are few people in this world who can withstand his one sword. For these past few days, you and I will guard him within the manor, and absolutely must not let him receive any more stimulation. Otherwise, under his Kill Sword, I fear that even the entire Yanjing City will fall into chaos. It seems that we can only wait until June 6th, when he will engage in a battle with Wang Ruitu. Perhaps by then, his sword intent will be complete and his heart demon will retreat. If not..." Nian Wushuang shook her head, but couldn't continue speaking."

  Yuan Wanli also saw that Tang An's mind was already a bit off.

  The long-term pressure had put Tang An's mental state on the verge of collapse, if not for his strong will, he would have gone mad a long time ago.

  His heart must have long understood that the sword was not going to reach the end of the road, but he deceived himself. If it weren't for my words yesterday, the seed in his heart would not have been induced, and now he wouldn't have become like this. If his sword intent were perfect, the demon in his heart would not be able to shake his will at all. But I inadvertently harmed him. Yuan Wanli thought of this, sighed, and couldn't help but blame himself.

  At this time, Tang An had already come down from mid-air. His eyes no longer had the breath of a human being and looked no different from the clay sculptures in that temple.

  He walked to Yuan Wanjun and Nian Wushuang, raised his eyelids, and said coldly: "In this world, no one can kill me. No one! My killing sword has merged with the five styles, just wait for June 6th, I will avenge my ten-year-old grudge!"

  He said he would avenge, and finally there was a ripple in his eyes. Then he muttered to himself: "Then I can go home... It's been ten years, I can finally go home... Yangzhou Lin'an County, I didn't forget. How could I forget... Mother, son is going home."

  Tang An's expression was like that of a madman, muttering to himself as if no one else was present, and had already frightened Yuan Wanli and Nian Wushuang half to death. The two exchanged a glance, both thinking "Looks like he really has gone crazy!"

  Tang An finished speaking, took two steps forward, but suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli again. He curled up the corner of his mouth and gave a sly smile, saying: "You must think I've gone mad, right? Unfortunately, you're all wrong! I'm voluntarily going mad!"

  Nian Wushuang and Yuan Wanli heard this, their hearts tightened, and their bodies chilled to the point of stiffness. Yuan Wanli couldn't help but rebuke: "Are you crazy? You actually chose to enter demonic cultivation! Do you know what the demonic path is like? This road, can humans even walk through it?"

  Tang An glanced at Yuan Wanli, but suddenly burst out laughing: "You still don't understand. My path is completely different from yours. If I don't enter the demonic state, how can I comprehend the Killing Sword? If I don't comprehend the Killing Sword, how can I comprehend the Life Sword! From the moment I embarked on this path, I knew that its end could only be a grave. Perhaps it's only when I'm at death's door that I'll have a glimmer of hope!"

  Tang An finished speaking and took a step forward, then disappeared into the courtyard.

  Yu Wanli was shocked and wanted to rush up, but was pulled back by Nian Wusuo. "In this world, there are actually such ruthless people! If he can't even save himself, then none of us have a way out. Rather than being anxious, let's just go with it. I, Nian Wusuo, want to see what kind of path he will take..."

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