Chapter 290: Furry

Li Yunxin was slightly stunned, looking down from the peak of Trapped Sky Mountain in disbelief.

This "disbelief" wasn't because he didn't know who had sent the flying sword. On the contrary, he had known for a long time.

When he first exited Trapped Sky Mountain, he noticed a minor demon heading this way. At the time, Li Yunxin assumed it was just a local monster emboldened enough to see if there were any scraps to scavenge, so he hadn't paid it any mind.

He was a Great Demon of the True Realm; why would he bother with such small fry?

But now...

That minor demon had unleashed a flying sword, and it was currently vibrating in the ground right in front of him.

What kind of audacity was this?!

After a brief moment of shock, Li Yunxin walked to the edge of the summit and peered down.

Only half of Trapped Sky Mountain remained, but it was still several hundred meters high. Even with his supernatural vision, he couldn't see perfectly—he only saw the silhouette of the minor demon standing at the foot of the mountain, looking up. It seemed to be checking if its strike had achieved any results.

It was a little monster that hadn't even learned to fly yet—its cultivation hadn't even reached the Manifestation Realm.

Li Yunxin glanced at it, then walked back to examine the sword. The blade had struck deep into the earth, but it was currently trembling as if trying to pull itself out and fly away.

However, it was stuck in the flat ground Li Yunxin had prepared for his formation. When he had leveled this piece of Earth Spirit land, he had used Spiritual Power, making the ground both incredibly hard and resilient. Now that the sword was wedged in, escaping wouldn't be easy.

As Li Yunxin scrutinized the sword, it looked familiar. It was a thin rapier, the blade only two fingers wide. The bright white metal had no decorative patterns but showed no rust either. The hilt was long enough for a two-handed grip, wrapped in coarse hemp rope.

Months ago, on that rainy night when two cultivators from the Sword Sect pursued him, they had carried swords just like this.

But now, a sword that clearly belonged to the Sword Sect appeared in the hands of a minor demon, and... this demon knew how to command a flying sword.

This meant the monster was proficient in the Daoist Arts of the Sword Sect and had a systematic cultivation path. Monsters were born of the wild; they didn't naturally understand human ethics or creation. Whether learning to read and write or studying the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law, it should be much harder for them than for humans. Yet this monster had not only learned it but mastered it, which meant it wasn't self-taught—there had to be a systematic master-disciple education.

Li Yunxin immediately recalled a name—Yang Jianzi.

Before the Evil King died, he said the person he hated most was Yang Jianzi, located south of the Kingdom of Qing, within the borders of the Kingdom of Yu.

The name had "Sword" in it, followed by "Master," a suffix typically used by human cultivators as a title of respect...

Could it be a human?

A human who understood the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law and passed those techniques onto monsters?

How bizarre. The Sword Sect and the Daoist Orthodoxy wouldn't tolerate such a thing... would they?

He suddenly missed the world he used to live in. For instance, regarding the current situation—

He was in the Kingdom of Qing. Yang Jianzi was in the neighboring Kingdom of Yu and was a Great Demon King.

For a figure of that level and at such a distance... if he had the right tools, he could just type a few characters into a search bar and pull up a mountain of information, maybe even find out what the man looked like.

But in this era, he was truly in the dark.

The people, cultivators, and monsters of this age might be used to this life, but Li Yunxin always found it awkward and inconceivable. People of this era struggled to grasp the terrifying weight of "information asymmetry" the way he did.

He reached down, gripped the sword on the summit, and yanked it out.

The thin sword vibrated even more violently in his hand, threatening to break free. Li Yunxin circulated his Spiritual Power and flicked the blade with his finger, snapping a small notch into the edge. The sword immediately went still.

Then, Li Yunxin leaped off Trapped Sky Mountain. He conjured a mist in mid-air to glide forward, landing a few dozen feet behind the minor demon.

The demon’s vision wasn't as good as his, and it couldn't see what was happening hundreds of meters up. Thus, it was completely unaware that a Great Demon of the True Realm was glaring at its back. Instead, it paced around the foot of the mountain, looking up. Seeing that the flying sword had gone quiet, it seemed to be looking for a path up the mountain to investigate.

This little demon looked strange. It wore a set of blue cloth Daoist robes, looking like a Human Cultivator. But its head wasn't human; it was the head of a dog or a wolf—considering it was a monster, it was likely a wolf.

Its legs were digitigrade wolf legs, and while its hands had transformed into five fingers, they were covered in thick fur. A tail poked out from the back of the Daoist robes—the monster seemed very self-conscious about this tail, occasionally tucking it into its hem, trying to hide it.

Li Yunxin stared at this sight for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing.

A specific phrase came to mind—a dog in human clothes.

He laughed out loud a few yards behind the monster. The demon's ears twitched violently, and it spun around instantly.

Seeing Li Yunxin, it was startled, but then its gaze fell on the thin sword in his hand, and its expression changed immediately.

It had a wolf's head, so it should have been hard to read its expression, but it bared its teeth and wrinkled its snout like an angry dog or wolf, letting out a low growl to intimidate him.

After putting on this fierce act, it spoke in human tongue: "What kind of Daoist Priest are you?! How dare you take my precious sword?!"

Li Yunxin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're a brave little monster... you think I'm a Daoist Priest, yet you don't run. Your cultivation hasn't even hit the Manifestation Realm; aren't you afraid I'll cut you down with one stroke?"

The monster let out a harsh, cackling laugh. "You ignorant wandering priest! Have you never heard of the Sword Palace? I am a Master of the Sword Palace. What can you possibly do to me?"

Li Yunxin realized immediately that this wolf demon indeed had a background and status—and it wasn't from the Kingdom of Qing. Based on its tone, this "Sword Palace" was a big deal, but Li Yunxin had never heard of such a thing within Qing’s borders.

This was exactly the information he needed. He smiled, held the sword behind his back, and walked over.

The wolf demon wasn't sure what to do, but it seemed to care deeply about its image and didn't plan to flee. However, it didn't plan to attack first either—Li Yunxin had caught its flying sword, which suggested formidable strength.

In that moment of hesitation, Li Yunxin reached him and raised the sword.

He used the flat of the blade to smack the wolf demon into the dirt.

Li Yunxin was fast and powerful. The wolf demon was like a child before him, completely helpless. It fell flat and took a long time to regain its senses. Just as it prepared to jump up—

Thwack!

The thin sword was slammed into the ground right next to its face, nearly slicing off its nose.

Then it heard Li Yunxin’s cold voice: "Tell me about this Sword Palace of yours."

The wolf demon looked utterly shocked—it seemingly couldn't believe this was happening.

Li Yunxin was equally surprised by its shock—this monster acted far too little like a monster and far too much like a human. It cared about its image and hesitated when he approached. This meant the rational part of its brain outweighed its instincts. When faced with a situation, its logical mind pondered things like "will I lose my momentum," "will I lose face," or "maybe he's just bluffing"...

Rather than acting like a true monster or wild beast—simply seeing a threat and attacking.

What kind of system or education could turn a monster into this, even eroding its primal nature?!

If it were an ordinary monster, wild and untamable, Li Yunxin would have had to waste more breath or perhaps break a leg or pull out some guts. But this wolf demon was different.

It tried to get up but nearly lost its nose. It immediately stopped struggling and lay obediently with its face pressed against the ground.

It began talking about the Sword Palace while still hurling threats.

"I am the Abbot of the Plain Temple of the Sword Palace... how dare you treat me like this! This is outrageous! Outrageous!"

"Do you know of the Sword Palace of the Kingdom of Yu?! Our Palace Master is titled Yang Jianzi. He is a high cultivator of the Sword Sect who came to the Kingdom of Yu to teach and civilize monsters... You dared to ruin my flying sword! You're seeking your own destruction! Destruction!"

As the wolf demon spoke, it squinted at a crack on the flying sword.

If this flying sword were truly a life-bound weapon refined according to the Sword Sect’s orthodox methods, then it was indeed ruined—to fix it, one would have to re-infuse the Formations and spiritual energy. That wasn't something just any cultivator could do.

However, despite its angry words, it seemed to realize Li Yunxin was a man of few words and ruthless actions—a dangerous character.

So it continued: "My Palace Master is a Dao-born Sword Seed, his cultivation is profound! The Sword Palace has vast power... ah, have you heard of the National Teacher of the Kingdom of Qing?! Our Palace Master is also a National Teacher—you dared to ruin my sword! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"

At this point, Li Yunxin kicked it. "You're the Abbot of the Plain Temple—where is this temple? On the border of Yu and Qing?"

The wolf demon gave a sneaky grin. "Exactly! I have hundreds of disciples in that temple; they'll be coming to save me soon!"

Li Yunxin ignored the nonsense. After a thought, he asked, "So, if your Palace Master is a National Teacher and the Sword Palace is as powerful as you say, does every city in the Kingdom of Yu have one of your temples?"

The wolf demon nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly! You've provoked a massive problem for yourself! But if you realize your mistake and return my sword, I might be generous enough to overlook this!"

The wolf demon seemed to enjoy using sophisticated vocabulary. It made its speech sound even more bizarre.

But Li Yunxin stepped on its back to keep it from flipping over and organized his thoughts.

From the details revealed by the wolf demon... the Sword Palace’s influence did seem massive, and strangely so.

Setting aside whether there was a temple in "every city"—though Li Yunxin was inclined to believe it given the monster's behavior—the fact that Yang Jianzi, the "Dao-born Sword Seed," was the National Teacher of Yu was the key.

He knew many countries had National Teachers. They were either true cultivators from the Daoist Orthodoxy or Sword Sect, or famous "independent priests"—for instance, the National Teacher of Qing was a Great Artificer.

But if the National Teacher of Yu was Yang Jianzi...

If he were a monster, the Daoist Orthodoxy and Sword Sect wouldn't stand by while a monster controlled a nation.

If he were a human cultivator, they wouldn't stand by while he taught cultivation laws to monsters.

This was suspicious—Li Yunxin had originally planned to pick off a few Great Monsters and take their resources for himself. But now, his innate curiosity was bubbling up. He found this Yang Jianzi of the Kingdom of Yu...

Quite interesting.

Because of this curiosity, the sense of oppression and unease he had felt after seeing that skeleton underground began to dissipate. He became cheerful again, even leaning down with a kind expression to stare into the wolf demon's yellow eyes, asking gently: "So—what realm is your Palace Master at? And what are you doing here at Trapped Sky Mountain?"

The wolf demon was stunned by his sudden change in demeanor. Then, thinking the other was cowering because of its master’s reputation, it narrowed its eyes and wrinkled its nose. "My Palace Master is a high cultivator of the True Realm—do you understand? Why am I here? Heh!"

"The Evil King had a grudge with my master years ago. I heard Trapped Sky Mountain was raided and leveled, and that the Evil King was at death's door, so I came to investigate. Now I see it’s true—these thousands of miles of the Stone Forest Mountains will fall under the jurisdiction of our Sword Palace! You’re an ungrateful one; you don't realize that once I report this, it will be a great merit... and in the future, when I am appointed governor of this Stone... Forest... Mountain..."

The wolf demon spoke with high spirits at first, feeling as if the world were its oyster.

But as it spoke, it gradually realized something was off. Its voice lowered. Finally, it stopped, staring wide-eyed at Li Yunxin for a moment, then glancing at the severed limbs and wreckage buried in the nearby mounds of earth and stone.

Its two furry ears suddenly flattened. It stammered, "Ah... was it you... who did this to Trapped Sky Mountain...?"

As an honest man, Li Yunxin didn't want to deceive the wolf. He smiled coldly and said, "The Evil King died by my hand. When you recklessly sent that sword at me just now, didn't you think of that?"

The wolf demon kept its ears pressed down and bowed its head even lower. "Ah... yikes... I was just... well, I saw the spiritual energy around the mountain moving again... I thought the mountain's Restriction had triggered itself... so I sent a sword toward the Formation Core to test it..."

Li Yunxin smiled faintly, reached out, and rubbed the furry wolf head, saying warmly: "Good. Now, recite a few verses of the sword techniques passed down by your Sword Palace."

Earlier, when he spoke warmly, the wolf thought he was yielding. But after hearing "The Evil King died by my hand," it realized this guy might be... terrifying.

So now, hearing his "gentle words," it felt even scarier than a cold tone—who knew if he would suddenly flip and skin him alive?

The wolf pondered for a long time before saying, "The techniques... I... well, I don't remember very clearly. I only remember two or three lines... something about..."

It stammered through two or three vague lines, then claimed it couldn't remember the rest.

But Li Yunxin knew it just didn't want to say. Moreover, those two or three lines were intentionally scrambled and wrong, meant to fool him.

However, for someone to be able to camouflage a technique to deceive others meant they actually knew the truth. Li Yunxin listened to the wolf's lines and noticed that the parts it intentionally messed up were all critical points. If those details were confused, no one could successfully practice the technique.

Thus, he knew...

It was indeed the Celestial Heart Orthodox Law.

What an audacious man, this Yang Jianzi.