Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao-Chapter 149 - 046: The Prime of Life Fades Away

"If not for this, how could someone whom even Ji Taichong fears and Chen Tianjian and Feng Yunyan take seriously be so easily cornered and suppressed by you and me?"

The old man’s voice was cold as ice, and suddenly he straightened his back. At this moment, he no longer seemed so small and weak.

"Heh heh, indeed, indeed, the elder truly is a ’True Man’ in disguise. It looks like you’re also set on getting your hands on the Taiyin Talisman Scripture this time!"

The person appearing as Pan Yuming still had a somewhat hoarse voice, different from before.

But in his words, there was already a tone of obsequious laughter, clearly very respectful towards the old man.

By this time, Zhou Yan silently realized that this person was not actually Pan Yuming.

As for where the real Pan Yuming was, that was still a mystery.

But there was no denying that what Jiang Yuning had previously done to restrain Pan Yuming and leave had certainly happened.

Because some things can be deceived, but others absolutely cannot be.

That is to say, someone had changed what was supposed to happen and turned it into a trap, waiting for him to fall into it.

And at this time, without a doubt, it was this seemingly useless old man who had done it.

As for Pan Yuming... He knew everything about Pan Yuming, so the real identity of this person was about to emerge.

Zhou Yan watched the two men, his expression still calm. He sighed lightly and said, "You are not Pan Yuming, you are Li Qiyun, aren’t you? You’re the real person who betrayed Pan Yuming and Feng Lingzhu."

"Ha ha ha, smart! Indeed worthy of being a True Spirit Level genius. Your mental reflexes are just a bit stronger than ordinary people’s."

Li Qiyun chuckled, his voice particularly rough and hoarse.

It turns out it wasn’t that Feng Lingzhu had mistakenly trusted Pan Yuming, nor was it Pan Yuming who had betrayed her, but rather it was all manipulated by Li Qiyun. He had even spoken in the tone of Pan Yuming to recite Li Qiyun’s series of tragic events, mixing truth and falsehood, showing a depth of cunning.

Zhou Yan remained silent. In fact, he understood most of it already, but he wouldn’t act rashly until the end.

He nodded and said, "I see, now everything is clear."

"Yes, clear, now you can die without regrets, and with your Essence Blood, I believe the elder will also—"

Li Qiyun’s words were cut off as he suddenly made a move. This time, it was the terrifyingly destructive Sword Intent and Sword Soul.

When the Sword Soul Illusion appeared, it was like a gluttonous centipede, utterly terrifying.

As soon as the centipede illusion emerged, it bit down on the old man’s head.

Now that the scheme had succeeded, Li Qiyun even wanted to kill the old man.

But instead of the old man’s head being bitten off and killed instantly as Li Qiyun expected, the figure of the old man cracked like a statue and turned to dust.

At the same time, a furious shout came from behind Li Qiyun. What had shattered and vanished was only a residual illusion of the old man!

His hunched body, like a sword leaving its scabbard, emitted a dazzling brilliance! That dreadful aura instantly surged towards Zhou Yan, enveloping him as well.

This was a genuine Sword Soul Realm Supreme Strongman, who had been willing to hide here in obscurity, waiting silently for who knows how many years.

At this moment, his frail body seemed to burn with fearsome vitality. His face darkened, and each wrinkle was as if cast in iron, firmly set, sharply defined. His hand, like an eagle’s claw, suddenly swelled enormously and directly gripped the giant centipede Sword Soul.

At the same time, he bellowed, "You dare to take action against me?!"

The seemingly average and incapable old man now revealed a terrifyingly fierce and brutal nature. The tremulous facade he had shown before was gone completely.

It was as though he suddenly became a different person, even his bark-like old face turning purple with a faint glow. Those colors were like the dazzling display of a venomous snake, unique and striking.

Seeing this transformation, Li Qiyun’s face instantly turned ashen, as if in that instant he truly recognized who the old man was, which is why he almost immediately cried out in horror, "Elder, please spare my life, I didn’t know the elder was actually—"

He didn’t finish his words. His plea was already uttered, but it was too late. The moment he opened his mouth, the old man had already crushed the giant centipede Sword Soul and thrust a sword directly through Li Qiyun’s head.

Li Qiyun wore a powerful Guardian Spirit Armor, which Zhou Yan had tested earlier, but now it was of no use at all.

The old man’s sword, along with Li Qiyun’s mighty Spirit Armor, was violently penetrated.

The indescribable shock of that force, at least for Zhou Yan who stood not far away, was also quite unexpected. He had a new recognition and insight about such a sword strike.

It appeared to be another pinnacle of strength.

With that sword strike, the moment Li Qiyun’s head was pierced, following the ’thud’ of an impact, all occurred in an instant.

Li Qiyun’s body convulsed violently, as if he couldn’t believe he would be wounded like this, could die like this.

His eyes bulged out, his eyeballs completely protruded like the eyes of a dead fish.

His head stayed in the Void, not flying away after being pierced by the sword, but instead breaking off from the neck. The rest of his body, due to the aftershock, flew back.

Then, his body hit the walls of the courtyard, rebounded, and crashed heavily to the ground.

Blood spread all over, splattering everywhere.

That sword strike, ordinary and unremarkable in its approach, faster than one could react, possessed an invincible domineering aura and brutal force.

Zhou Yan sighed and said, "I told you long ago, if you took the Memory Crystal Stone of Sword Illusion Realm, you would die even faster. Yet you chose not to believe it."

The old warrior paid no heed to Zhou Yan’s words, instead, he simply put away his dull and unremarkable short sword, then started to rub it with his hand.

His hand was the color of a dirt snake, grey and scaly like tree bark, looking somewhat disgusting.

But the way he wiped the bloodstained short sword was extremely gentle.

It was hard to imagine that such a ferocious and ruthless old man could also possess such tenderness.

As he wiped, he muttered to himself, "Waited for twenty years, twenty years like a speck of dust in the vast ocean, yet here, it feels as difficult as ten thousand years. Twenty years ago, I roamed free and unfettered, but twenty years later, I’ve had ten thousand years of life drained from me."

His voice was hoarse, like the low rumble of thunder, humming throughout.

Yet Zhou Yan could not ignore his words, for they confirmed that this man was indeed the once famed and illustrious figure.

"But now, after so many years have passed, so many things have also passed."

Zhou Yan pondered lightly.

"It seems you know who I am."

"Indeed, Yang Wufeng’s reputation is not something that anyone would not know," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"But those who know this reputation and still dare to talk to me like this, none have lived," said the elder Yang Wufeng, his words cold and callous.

"Of course, that woman is an exception."

Zhou Yan said casually.

"That woman... you’re right."

Yang Wufeng’s expression gradually became fluctuating, making his already wrinkled face appear even more ferocious.

"However, at this very moment, you still have the mindset to mention that woman. It seems you truly do not take death seriously, and you certainly do not take me, Yang Wufeng, seriously either."

Yang Wufeng said with some anger in his tone.

"No, regarding this, I only hold admiration, without any intention to ridicule. To me, everything is an illusion, only my own true heart is real.

A man who can face endless dangers and pursue the ultimate path of Heaven and Earth Tao with the woman he loves is indeed something worthy of praise."

Zhou Yan said earnestly.

Because the dual cultivation between Yang Wufeng and Xia Wenjing was not criticized by others, it was in fact considered a beautiful tale.

"Hehe."

Yang Wufeng chuckled few times, with a hint of sarcasm in his laughter.

"There are too many cruelties in this world. Being able to abandon it all in pursuit of the path of dual cultivation is not necessarily a bad thing. Could it be that I’m wrong?"

Zhou Yan retorted.

"You’re not only wrong, but also wildly so, because rumors often cannot be taken as truth."

Yang Wufeng laughed eerily.

"So it is, with that my last shred of respect for you has now disappeared as well. I did not expect that Yang Qingtan’s father would turn out to be such an incompetent and despicable person, targeting me and even setting up such a scheme."

Zhou Yan sighed, his face seemed filled with regret.

Yang Wufeng looked at him with a chilling gaze, his eyes brimming with lethal intent and venomous malice.

But just then, an extremely pleasant voice came through, "On this point, you have wronged Yang Wufeng. Although he wanted to drain your essence blood for alchemy, he doesn’t have the capability to set up such a scheme. This trap has always been here; he’s too incompetent to have concocted it."

When this beautiful and charming voice arrived, an extraordinarily alluring woman stepped out from behind Yang Wufeng.

With a distinct charm in her speech, the woman seemed to have been overly indulged. There was a sense of puffiness about her, as if she was subtly swollen or as though her body had slackened from too many romantic entanglements.

Even though the image was unclear, Zhou Yan had a very strong feeling about this.

Twenty years ago, Xia Wenjing of the Da Xia Family, just like Feng Yunyan and others of current times, was second to none, unparalleled in beauty.

But twenty years later, the once dazzling beauty now seemed so hollow.

She did not appear to be aged from the passage of life energy like Yang Wufeng. Her eyes were still seductive, her teeth remained white and delicate like pearl shells, and her waistline was still slender and perfect.

Yet her aura... had lost its purity.

Zhou Yan suddenly recalled a phrase from his master’s Earth world—"There are only cows that die from exhaustion, not fields that wear out from plowing."

This woman, at this moment, seemed like such a field, plowed countless times.

Zhou Yan even wondered whether Yang Wufeng had started to find it bland?

The thought was somewhat evil, yet upon seeing this woman, he could not help but think so.