Chapter 19 Kundu

"Tianya Sword Pavilion Command..."

"Tianya Sword Pavilion Command..."

The voice repeated three times in succession, and the ferry began to slow down gradually.

"What's happened?"

"Why has the ship stopped?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, it's the Tianya Sword Pavilion..."

Noise erupted on the ship as many people hurried out of their rooms, heading toward the deck.

Zhao Rong listened to the discussions around him while following the crowd toward the front of the ship.

By this time, Qingfeng Pavilion's ferry had come to a stop, and on the spacious deck, a hundred or so people had gathered.

Zhao Rong pressed forward and found a spot with a clear view.

He saw a group of "uninvited guests" hovering not far in front of the ship.

A line of eleven individuals—aside from the leader clad in hemp clothing, the ten behind him were all dressed in uniform dark blue sword robes.

Zhao Rong saw the steward rush into the ship's interior, apparently to fetch someone in charge.

Liu Sanbian had mentioned before that every ferry traveling within the continent would have at least one Golden Core Realm cultivator overseeing it.

With nothing better to do, Zhao Rong began to examine the group in the sky more attentively.

The uniforms of the ten people featured a pattern of lines, with a small sword embroidered on the cuffs.

Initially, Zhao Rong found those patterns chaotic, but upon closer inspection, they began to make his head spin and eyes blur.

And these ten, both men and women, exuded an extraordinary air: some held long swords, some had them strapped to their backs, and others bore them horizontally at their waists—each in a unique posture, but all were armed with swords.

Yet, the hemp-clothed leader had empty hands and wore no accessories other than his plain-looking clothes.

What truly made Zhao Rong feel intrigued wasn't the man's attire, but rather the eerie patterns tattooed on his gaunt cheeks, which extended down to his neck and disappeared into his collar, their endpoints unknown.

The tattoos were red, with peculiar patterns.

Upon close examination, Zhao Rong realized that they seemed to depict several... ghastly faces?

What was this? Otherworldly non-mainstream?

"That's a sword pattern."

"Kundu Sword Pattern."

Gui's voice resonated within the Heart Lake.

"Oh? Sounds impressive. Is there something special about it?"

Zhao Rong smoothly continued the conversation, coaxing Gui to keep talking. It wasn't that he was especially eager to know these things; having seen so many novel sights in this world already, he had grown used to the unusual and wasn't particularly interested; moreover, some of the things Gui talked about were too exalted and abstract for Zhao Rong, who felt he might never engage with them in his lifetime.

The reason he listened to Gui and engaged in conversation was that he knew Gui was actually quite lonely.

Zhao Rong didn't know if it was because Gui had been isolated for too long before meeting him or because its former position had been exceedingly high.

He could sense its loneliness because he had also experienced loneliness.

His four years in college were unexceptional—lacking any melodramatic love stories or life-changing mentors and friends. He had known excitement and solitude, immersed himself in games and novels, and had moments of sudden realization. He ran each morning, memorized words, clocked in at the library... As graduation approached and friends scattered in different directions, he discovered that life is essentially a solitary journey, with companions coming and going, their presence fleeting.

Apart from parents who can only accompany you for half of your life, having a partner or a confidant with you on the road ahead would be a stroke of immense fortune.

Although Gui was proud, sharp-tongued, and cared too much about face, Zhao Rong found it to be quite adorable after spending time together. While he didn't necessarily agree with some of Gui's values, he believed in "harmony in diversity."

So, Zhao Rong felt that the rare fate of sharing weal and woe with Gui for the remainder of their lives meant he wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

At the same time, he knew that if he responded with just a simple "hmm" or "oh," Gui might not talk to him for days—he had already experienced this a few times. So, it was better to go along with whatever Gui said, to avoid keeping it bottled up again...

Gui was unaware that someone was coveting the position of its closest confidant, even going so far as to label it "quite adorable." If it knew, it would probably "laughingly" pry open Zhao Rong's crown chakra, leap out, and die together with him in a fit of exasperation.

At this moment, it heard Zhao Rong's curious tone and was quite satisfied, continuing to speak.

"The marks on his face are red sword patterns, made from the heart blood of a Demonic Cultivator at the Divinity Transformation Realm. Hmm... a Demonic Cultivator at the Divinity Transformation Realm corresponds to the Human Clan's Nascent Soul Realm. Although I can't discern his cultivation right now, judging by his appearance, he should not have reached Taiyi, so he's probably at the Nascent Soul Realm."

"Sword patterns are tattooing ghost faces on the face?"

"The designs of the sword patterns are not fixed, as long as the materials, array, and Lifebound Flying Sword are all available, one can tattoo the sword pattern. Heh, the pattern he has isn't a ghost face, it's a Seng Seng and a Jue Ru, which should be the original forms of the strongest few Demonic Cultivators he has slain. In Kundu, many Sword Cultivators like to do this."

"When I went to Kundu to slay demons in the past, I also tattooed a sword pattern, heh, but it was purple," Gui said proudly.

"You also tattooed a ghost face on your face?"

"Scram!"

"Okay, not a ghost face, but that's pretty ugly too... Why would you ever think of tattooing your face?"

"I didn't tattoo my face!"

"Then where did you tattoo?"

"None of your business!"

"…"

The topic was once again derailed by Zhao Rong, but he later asked a few more questions and roughly understood what the Kundu Sword Pattern was.

In the far west of Fu Yao Continent, there is a Kundu, renowned in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Noted for three things.

A Kunpeng corpse

A Gate of Demon Desolation.

A Marquis Mansion to select an emperor.

The Kunpeng corpse belonged to an Ancient Demon of the Demon Race. After its death, its formidable power remained, suspended in the air for tens of thousands of years without falling. Kundu was built upon the enormous corpse of this Ancient Demon—a city floating in the air.

Tens of thousands of years ago, Emperor Xuan, the first Great Emperor of the Human Clan, exiled most of the Demon Race to an Ancient Domain, and the Gate of Demon Desolation is the passage between that Ancient Domain and the Xuanhuang Realm, located within the corpse of that Ancient Demon.

And the Marquis Mansion to select an emperor is Kundu's ruler, the owner of the Ancient Saint's corpse, possessing the immense power granted by the Supreme Law Code of the Human Clan, "Xuan Emperor's Law," while also shouldering the corresponding duty to eternally suppress the Ancient Demons within the Gate of Demon Desolation!

Those Ancient Demons were once the sources of several major calamities in Xuanhuang Realm's history, which is why the Gate of Demon Desolation is also one of the locations heavily guarded by the Human Clan of Xuanhuang.

Aside from that Marquis Mansion, there is also one of the Human Clan's four greatest Tai Sects, the Taia Sword Pavilion, and several factions from the "Hundred Schools of Thought" assisting in the defense.

The majority in Kundu are Sword Cultivators. Sword Cultivators from all over the world take pride in going to Kundu to slay demons, and thus the Kundu Sword Pattern came into being.

Those who tattoo these marks use the heart blood of the slain Demon Race as the main material, supplemented by an array and their Lifebound Flying Sword, to condense the sword pattern.

Sword patterns serve many purposes, but the most important is to protect the demon slayers from the long-term erosion of the Demon World's foul aura and to use the foul aura to temper their swords.

Sword Cultivators who have slain demons in Kundu all tattoo sword patterns, and different colors of sword patterns correspond to the Realm of the Great Demons they have slain. They are the credentials of status and symbols of glory.

While Zhao Rong was attentively listening to Gui's words, he continued to observe the group of people when suddenly, a hand clapped on his shoulder.

"Those are people from the Tianya Sword Pavilion."

Zhao Rong was startled and quickly turned around, only to see that the hand belonged to Liu Sanbian. He let out a sigh of relief, a mix of crying and laughter.

"How can you walk without making a sound?"

With an apologetic face, Liu Sanbian then spoke a few words to Zhao Rong.

The Tianya Sword Pavilion is a branch of the Taia Sword Pavilion, one of the four great Tai Sects, and is located in Wangque Continent.

Wangque Continent is too small. Among the four great Tai Sects, only the Taia Sword Pavilion has established a branch there.

The Tianya Sword Pavilion is like a sword suspended over the heads of all the sects and Cultivators on the mountains of Wangque Continent, akin to an official supervisory agency for the mountainous region, only involved with significant matters that affect the order and not meddling with common affairs.

The two did not talk for long.

The ferry steward, following a white-haired elder, re-emerged on the deck and parted the crowd, walking towards the people from the Tianya Sword Pavilion.