Chapter 14 : A Town's Silent Plea

Eldrin Chen's pupils contracted. He silently communicated with the Verdant Leaf Sword [his bonded spiritual sword], ready to strike at any moment.

He cautiously advanced, and before long, he came upon a squad of corpses clad in black armor.

There were ten bodies in total. Their expressions were vacant, as if they had been struck down before they could even comprehend the threat.

"Not a Demonic Beast [a beast corrupted by demonic energy]," he concluded.

The thought solidified instantly in Eldrin Chen's mind.

The Black Armored Cavalry were elite warriors meticulously trained by the Chen Clan. Clad in heavy armor and possessing immense strength, a hundred of them fighting in unison could contend with a low-grade Demonic Beast.

No ordinary beast could have slain them so swiftly, before they could even react. Furthermore, Human Race flesh was a potent nourishment for Demonic Beast; yet these Black Armored Cavalry bore no signs of being mauled or devoured.

"It was a Demonic Cultivator [a cultivator who uses dark, forbidden arts]," he whispered, cold certainty settling in his gut.

"With the Patriarch wounded for three years, the Demonic Cultivator finally can't resist coming to take a bite, can they?"

Herding Chen's gaze turned icy, a flicker of lethal intent passing through his eyes. Access the full story on audio~novel.com.

However, he swiftly suppressed the killing intent in his heart. The defensive formation of Pingyuan Town ahead had already been breached; the garrisoned cultivators and the Black Armored Cavalry were most likely beyond saving.

Gazing at Pingyuan Town so close at hand, Eldrin Chen hesitated for but a moment before deciding to turn back and summon reinforcements.

Yet, at that very instant, he heard the sounds of weeping and wailing coming from within Pingyuan Town, and his footsteps involuntarily halted.

"There are still survivors."

After only a heartbeat's pause, he strode forward and stepped into Pingyuan Town.

The vast expanse of Pingyuan Town was littered with corpses whose foreheads had turned black, clear signs that their souls had been devoured.

As he made his way to the town's Central square, the murderous glint in Eldrin Chen's eyes could no longer be contained.

Upon the training ground at the Central square, the bones of Chen Clan clansmen were piled high. On a raised platform, a black-robed elder was refining a Black Banner.

Seven spectral demons danced around that Black Banner, ceaselessly devouring the souls of thousands of mortals.

"Hahaha, my Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner!"

"At last, it is nearly complete."

Gazing at the Black Banner, the old man's face contorted with a look of manic joy.

The Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner is an exceptionally vile Demonic Path artifact [a magical tool used by cultivators]. This artifact can nurture seven malevolent ghosts, which can continuously devour mortal Human Soul [the spiritual essence of a human being] to advance in power.

Once this Demonic Treasure [a magical artifact imbued with demonic energy] is fully forged, it becomes a top-tier first-rank magical treasure. Each of the seven demonic entities it unleashes would possess strength equivalent to the Vital Essence Refinement Late Stage [the advanced phase of refining one's vital life energy].

With the old man's own Vital Essence Refinement Late Stage cultivation, combined with this Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner, he would likely be able to contend against several ordinary Vital Essence Refinement Late Stage cultivators at once.

At that point, even a cultivator like Eldrin Chen at the Vital Essence Refinement 9th Tier [the ninth and final tier of the Vital Essence Refinement stage] would stand no chance against him. In fact, aside from the Patriarch of the Chen Clan, no one would be able to restrain him.

"Such a Demonic Treasure, once he succeeds in forging it, will undoubtedly become a calamity."

His gaze turning icy in the distance, Herding Chen acted without hesitation.

The Verdant Leaf Sword transformed into a streak of dazzling sword light that cleaved through the air, shooting directly toward the old man.

The Demonic Cultivator [a practitioner of demonic cultivation arts] who dared to refine a Demonic Treasure within the territory of the Chen Clan was not unprepared. Though Eldrin Chen's ambush caught him off guard, a cyan shield upon his person erupted with a radiant barrier, blocking the strike from Eldrin Chen's Verdant Leaf Sword.

The man first showed a flicker of surprise and suspicion, then glanced at Eldrin Chen and quickly grasped the situation.

"I wondered who it might be. To think it's just a little whelp," he sneered.

"Is the Chen Clan truly so bereft of capable men?"

As the old man spoke, he summoned a Black Shuttle magical instrument [a type of enchanted tool used by cultivators], transforming it into a streak of black light that shot across the sky towards Eldrin.

Eldrin Chen's brow furrowed in concentration. He channeled his spiritual energy, sending a golden radiance to meet the attack—it was the top-grade first-rank magical instrument Golden Light Blade, a reward bestowed upon him by Clan Leader Eternal Profound Chen when he broke through to the Vital Essence Refinement 7th Tier.

The Golden Light Blade was a metal-element flying sword. While its speed was inferior to the Verdant Leaf Sword, its offensive power surpassed it by a significant margin. With a single forceful command from Eldrin, the Golden Light Blade sent the opposing Black Shuttle magical instrument spinning away. Dive deeper into the Dao at audio-novel dot com.

In the blink of an eye, Eldrin Chen seized the upper hand. Dividing his focus, he simultaneously commanded two magical instruments, pressing the Demonic Cultivator [a practitioner of forbidden, malevolent arts] relentlessly.

After all, he was a cultivator of the Vital Essence Refinement 9th Tier, wielding two top-grade first-rank magical instruments. The Demonic Cultivator, merely at the Vital Essence Refinement 7th Tier, possessed only one top-grade first-rank instrument—the Verdant Light Shield—while his Black Shuttle Demonic Treasure [an artifact forged with demonic energy] was only of mid-grade first-rank quality.

Though the Chen Clan had declined, it remained an Foundation Establishment family, one of the few dominant powers within a radius of tens of thousands of Li-length [one Li-length equals five hundred meters] around Yu County.

Had it not been for his desire to refine the Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner, this Demonic Cultivator might never have dared to be the first to test the depths of the Chen Clan's remaining strength.

The disparity in cultivation and magical treasures caused beads of cold sweat to trickle down the old Demonic Cultivator's forehead. He could endure it no longer. Channeling his spiritual energy, he unleashed the seven malevolent specters from his Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner [a sinister banner that traps and commands the souls of the slain], sending them flying towards Eldrin Chen.

These seven specters had not yet completed their advancement. Apart from the two leading ones which had reached the Vital Essence Refinement Late Stage, the rest were only at the Vital Essence Refinement Mid Stage. Yet, even so, if these seven specters managed to latch onto their target, even a cultivator at the Vital Essence Refinement Peak Stage would likely be drained to a desiccated husk.

At this critical moment, Eldrin Chen remained exceptionally calm. He first activated a Golden Armor Talisman [a defensive talisman that conjures a suit of shimmering golden armor] to shield himself, then used a Fleetfoot Talisman [a talisman that greatly enhances the user's speed and agility] to dramatically increase his mobility, deftly evading the specters' pouncing attacks. Seizing the opening, he unleashed a Fireball Technique [a basic fire-elemental offensive spell], instantly incinerating one of the weaker specters into a wisp of smoke.

But this alone was not enough. In the blink of an eye, he directed his Golden Light Blade to parry the incoming Black Shuttle, sending it spinning away, and then drove the golden blade straight towards the Demonic Cultivator's true body.

Seeing the Golden Light Blade streaking towards him, the old man's heart seized with panic. While the specters of the Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner were formidable, they had a clear weakness: their speed was only comparable to a cultivator of the same realm.

With Eldrin Chen's enhanced speed, as long as he avoided being surrounded, he could easily dodge most of the specters' assaults. Furthermore, protected by the Golden Armor Talisman, he could hold out for a considerable time.

However, his opponent's flying sword was swift as lightning. Although his Verdant Light Shield was a fine treasure, the gap in their cultivation meant it might not withstand the relentless assault of Eldrin Chen simultaneously controlling two flying swords.

In his fluster, the old man recalled the specters to his side, intending to entangle and impede the Golden Light Blade.

And in that very instant, Eldrin Chen leapt into action, unleashing his hidden trump card.

"Crimson Flame Talisman!"

The Crimson Flame Talisman [a powerful talisman that unleashes a devastating crimson fire] was a premium-grade treasure left behind by Seventh Granduncle Eternal Verdancy Chen. Even a cultivator at the Vital Essence Refinement 9th Tier would pale at the sight of it. As Eldrin Chen invoked it now, the battle was decided in an instant.

Crimson flames that could scorch the heavens erupted, scattering the demonic fiends in a panicked retreat. In a flash, they shattered the protective glow of the Verdant Light Shield [a shield artifact emitting a verdant, protective light]. Immediately after, the Verdant Leaf Sword [a sword as swift and sharp as a falling leaf] sang through the air with a metallic ring, cleaving the old demon's head from its shoulders.

"Hah..."

With the battle concluded, Eldrin Chen could not help but draw a deep, steadying breath.

The fight had seemed straightforward, yet it had carried an undercurrent of peril. Had he been even half a day later, allowing the fiend to complete the refinement of the Seven-Soul Malevolent Ghost Banner [a sinister banner capable of harnessing and commanding seven vengeful ghost souls], not even he could have stood against it. His only recourse would have been to turn and flee for his life.

After the battle ended, he thoroughly looted the old demon's treasures before turning his attention to assessing the situation in Pingyuan Town.

Struck by this demonic calamity, nearly all of Pingyuan Town's population of over three thousand had been killed or wounded. Searching through the devastated town, he finally found only two young children, around five or six years old, hiding within the town guard's main hall at the Central rear of the settlement.

The two children were a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The moment they saw Eldrin Chen, they threw themselves into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

He spent a long while comforting them before finally learning their names. The boy was called Dawn Frost Chen, and the girl was Mist Chen. Both had just turned six. They were the sole survivors of the entire town. Continue reading this story at audio - novel . com.