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Chapter 497: The Night Saber's Three Forms

After all, the Mount Shu Sect, the Buddhist Cloud Monastery, the Valley of the Three Absolutes, and the Imperial Supervisory Bureau were already present... With the members of so many major forces already watching this place, one more Night Saber Sect wouldn't make much of a difference.

As Chu Liang sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, he sank his divine sense into the White Pagoda.

After he slayed that giant bear, a new golden phantom appeared in the pagoda. He had some free time now, so it was the perfect moment to reward himself amid this world of ice and snow.

Boom.

He pressed the Refine button, and a red light flashed.

Chu Liang had done this many times, so he was very familiar with the process. Nevertheless, he still got excited every time.

The item that fell into his hands was a large and thick piece of clothing shrouded in white light.

[White Bear Cloak: When worn in a snowy area, this item can hide the wearer and their qi completely within the snow, without leaving any gaps or weak points in the concealment. Note: This cloak is only effective in snow.]

So, it's a cloak used for concealment.

Chu Liang stroked the white fur covering the thick cloak a few times before putting it away. The condition of the cloak being effective only in the snow was rather restrictive. Nevertheless, if it could truly conceal the wearer perfectly in the snow, that meant this was an amazing item.

A person could use typical stealth or camouflage techniques to blend into their surroundings, but such techniques rarely concealed their qi as well. If a cultivator were to investigate the area carefully, they would always notice something was amiss.

This cloak's effect seemed to be that once this white garment covered a person, they would vanish into the snow. However, Chu Liang couldn't test the cloak out now, so he couldn't be certain of how good its effect was.

While he was pondering this, a commotion erupted outside again, and it was even more intense than before.

Chu Liang swiftly opened his eyes. He got up and asked, "What's going on?"

Monk Pushan looked around and replied with a frown, "It's a night parade of a hundred ghosts!"[1]

Boom!

A massive wave of yin qi surged over from afar, sweeping over the mountain peaks outside the range of Fengya Mountain. Ghostly wails rang out incessantly from within the dark wave of yin qi, and numerous ghastly creatures swarmed out from it.

There weren't just a hundred ghosts; it was thousands upon thousands... There were countless ghosts!

"Granny Meng!" Ghost Face's expression turned grim. "It must be her!"

The members of the Dark King Sect didn't know where the corpse of Granny Meng's son was hidden, but they knew she had kept it on Fengya Mountain. So, they surrounded the area, waiting for her to walk into their trap. They had thought she might try to sneak up the mountain, but they had not expected she would be so audacious and do the opposite!

Thinking about it, they realized that the large number of icefield demonic beasts they encountered earlier had likely come out of hibernation early because of Granny Meng. It seemed she planned to disrupt the defenses here and then take the opportunity to sneak up Fengya Mountain.

As this thought crossed their minds, a massive cloud of black fog extended toward Chu Liang's group. At the edges of the fog, sinister ghosts stretched out their limbs as they screamed and wailed, sending chills to the soul.

"How did she summon so many ghosts in such a short time?!" Monk Pushan exclaimed.

"She didn't need to do anything special to summon them. If that valuable item she's carrying isn't sealed, it will naturally attract a large number of ghosts," Ghost Face explained. "They're just some ghastly creatures. Each of you go block off a section of the area. Do not let them pass!"

"Understood!"

Under Ghost Face's command, the three undercover agents flew off in different directions to guard various sections of the mountain.

Although there was a terrifyingly huge number of these ghastly creatures, none of them had a high level of cultivation. Most of them were lonely wandering ghosts. The strongest among them were Chimei Wangliang, which were not particularly strong in combat. There were hardly any vengeful spirits among them, so they were relatively easy to handle.

Chu Liang arrived at the western mountain pass, looking at the wave of ghastly creatures with some excitement. He was about to reap another big harvest!

However, just as he was about to start wiping out the ghastly creatures, a shadowy figure descended from afar.

...

"I was wondering why this place was swarming with evil entities. Turns out it's you diabolical cultivators causing trouble again."

The shadowy figure turned out to be a very thin youngster, who had his hair tied up[2]. He had a pair of dark eyes that gleamed frighteningly bright in the night under the moonlight. Dressed in black, he stood out against the snowy backdrop.

Chu Liang found the person rather familiar. He quickly recalled seeing a young hero named Guo Zhanlei from the Night Saber Sect during the Mount Shu Summit. The youngster standing before Chu Liang bore a striking resemblance to Guo Zhanlei. He was likely his twin brother, Guo Zhanfeng.

Why did I have to run into him? Chu Liang thought. Of all the diabolical cultivators you could go after, you chose me, a righteous cultivator that's undercover as a diabolical cultivator...

Chu Liang's train of thought paused there. He remembered that of the four diabolical cultivators on this mountain, three were undercover agents from righteous sects. That meant Guo Zhanfeng had not had a high chance of encountering a real diabolical cultivator.

Haaa, Chu Liang sighed inwardly.

However, the black snow falling from the sky indicated that the Dark King Sect's leader could be watching this place. Chu Liang couldn't openly reveal his identity, so he adopted the tone of a real diabolical cultivator when he spoke.

He asked, "Who are you, thief, to come here and obstruct the Dark King Sect's business? Do you know that our sect leader is present?!"

Chu Liang said that in the hope that Guo Zhanfeng would recognize the danger and retreat or report to his sect elders instead of acting recklessly.

Yet, no one could have expected what came next.

Guo Zhanfeng narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to scare me?"

Why are you getting angry?

I'm warning you of the danger you're in...

"I'm just advising you to leave this place quickly!" Chu Liang replied helplessly, flinging out his hand and gesturing for Guo Zhanfeng to go.

"I'm Guo Zhanfeng. You can go ask around," the youth stared at Chu Liang. "I ain't no scaredy cat!"

Without any hesitation, he jumped toward Chu Liang!

Why does he have to start fighting at the drop of a hat...

Chu Liang had no choice but to brace himself and defend prudently. Compared to the black fog of ghosts, Guo Zhanfeng was clearly more dangerous.

He was lunging toward Chu Liang without a saber in his hand, but the warning that Ghost Face had given earlier rang in Chu Liang's mind.

"The Night Saber's Three Forms are the three saber forms that the members of the Night Saber Sect use the most. The first form is the Hidden Saber!

"That is the first saber form their members learn when they join the Night Saber Sect. It appears as if they have no saber in hand, but they can draw a long saber at any time, catching their enemy off guard. Even if they are stark naked, they can still instantly pull out a long saber! It is nearly impossible to guard against!"

Chu Liang kept those words in mind and didn't step forward to engage Guo Zhanfeng. However, he couldn't summon his Dustless Sword without giving away his identity, so he had to dodge by leaping backward.

As Guo Zhanfeng closed in on Chu Liang, he raised his right hand.

Shiiing.

Just as Chu Liang had expected, the piercing glint of a saber appeared from nowhere. When Guo Zhanfeng lowered his right hand, it was already holding a terrifying sharp black-bladed saber!

Fortunately, Chu Liang was prepared. He turned to the side, barely avoiding getting slashed!

The typical process for summoning a weapon from a storage enchanted tool required the summoner to raise their hand and turn it over. Yet, the Night Saber Sect's Hidden Saber form seemed to involve hiding the blade in the void, allowing it to be drawn in an instant.

If Chu Liang hadn't been on guard, he might have been struck by that attack!

Nevertheless, now that the saber had been drawn, it was no longer as threatening. Chu Liang flipped around and delivered a whipping kick that hit the side of the saber. Then he struck forth with his palm, forcing Guo Zhanfeng to retreat.

Boom!

Guo Zhanfeng's fist collided against Chu Liang's palm, and the impact pushed the two of them backward more than ten zhang.

The immense force behind Chu Liang's palm strike shocked Guo Zhanfeng. Was this diabolical cultivator actually a martial artist or a physical cultivator? How could a casual palm strike carry the same level of power as an attack from a demonic beast?

Bewildered, Guo Zhanfeng turned his hand over and put his saber away into his storage enchanted tool.

Then he said, "You seem to have a high cultivation level. If you dare, stay here. I'll go back to my sect and bring my fellow disciples here to fight you."

"I'd be happy to," Chu Liang replied calmly.

Guo Zhanfeng turned away, seemingly about to leave. Nonetheless, Chu Liang kept his gaze fixed on Guo Zhanfeng's back.

Ghost Face's words continued to ring in Chu Liang's mind.

"The second form of the Night Saber's Three Forms is the Sheathed Saber. The disciples of the Night Saber Sect are extremely cunning. They often sheathe their sabers mid-battle, making you think they're retreating. But just when you let down your guard, they unleash a thunderous strike on you!"

...

Right when Guo Zhanfeng seemed to be leaving, the ground beneath Chu Liang's feet shook and rumbled. Then a gust of black wind burst out of it!

It was lucky he had remained on high alert. Chu Liang managed to see the gaping mouth of a ferocious beast just in time!

He threw out another palm strike, knocking the black wind away.

Thud, thud.

The black beast tumbled a few times before swiftly getting back onto its feet. That's when Chu Liang was able to see that the beast was a demonic hound with a glossy coat of black fur and eyes that had flickering black flames. It was clearly no ordinary beast.

While Chu Liang was occupied by the hound's attack, Guo Zhanfeng flew toward Chu Liang in a twisting motion and instantly crossed a distance of more than ten zhang. With that great momentum, he sent a powerful saberlight toward Chu Liang with a whoosh!

It turned out that the essence of the Night Saber's Three Forms was pretty much the same and could be summed up in three words. They were all... shameless sneak attacks!

1. This can also be translated to Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, so I guess it's a reference to, as stated in the name, a parade of oni and yokai in Japanese folklore. ☜

2. In ancient China, when boys tie their hair up, it indicates they are in their adolescence. ☜