The two stopped in their tracks. Samuel immediately put on a smile. “Greetings, senior brothers.”
Samuel’s expression changed so quickly, his ingratiating smile so natural, that Leo couldn’t help but admire him. This guy should have been an actor.
One of the Heaven’s Origin Sect disciples looked Samuel up and down and asked coldly, “What are you two doing here? Don’t you know that below the third level is forbidden?”
Samuel chuckled awkwardly. “Senior brothers, we are here to repair the lights. The second steward sent us.”
Hearing the name of the second steward, the two young men exchanged glances, their expressions changing slightly. One of them said, “Then hurry up and finish your repairs and leave immediately!”
“Thank you, senior brother.” Samuel bowed deeply, his servile manner leaving Leo speechless.
They passed by and continued forward.
At a fork in the path, they turned and quickly walked away.
A moment later, Leo looked at Samuel curiously. “Samuel, are you familiar with the organizational structure of Heaven’s Origin Sect?”
Samuel replied proudly, “I know a bit. The second steward I mentioned is a senior disciple of Heaven’s Origin Sect, responsible for maintaining and patrolling the underground passages.”
Leo nodded and asked again, “How many levels does this tunnel have?”
Samuel responded, “I’ve only been to the fourth level before. I didn’t have the chance to go deeper. The second steward is on the fourth level where we are headed next.”
“So we will encounter the second steward?”
“Yes, if we meet him, we’ll have to force our way through. I suspect that beyond the fourth level lies Heaven’s Origin Sect’s true secrets.”
They continued downward. Whenever they encountered patrolling disciples, Samuel used the second steward’s name to intimidate them.
Upon reaching the fourth level, Samuel whispered, “The second steward is just ahead. Get ready.”
Samuel then drew his twin blades from his waist.
They entered a well-lit transit station filled with furniture.
As soon as they appeared, a Taoist priest in robes stood up abruptly and shouted, “Who are you?”
Without a word, Samuel threw one of his blades.
The priest dodged swiftly and with a wave of his hand, a black sword appeared from his robe’s sleeve.
The priest shook his wrist, and the black sword hummed with a dark aura, emitting faint sounds of wailing ghosts.
Seeing the black sword, Samuel’s expression changed instantly. He exclaimed, “Necromantic Sword! How dare you forge a Necromantic Sword! Aren’t you afraid of being condemned by the cultivation world?”
The priest sneered. “Fools who trespass in Heaven’s Origin Sect’s forbidden grounds dare to threaten me?”
“Very well. My Necromantic Sword hasn’t tasted blood yet. I’ll use you to test it.”
With that, the priest swung the black sword, releasing a dark aura.
Samuel quickly dodged and shouted to Leo, “Be careful! The Necromantic Sword’s aura carries a death curse. Don’t touch it.”
“Samuel, is the Necromantic Sword really that terrifying?”
Samuel retreated awkwardly and replied in shock, “Don’t you know? The Necromantic Sword is a forbidden weapon made from living souls. It requires twenty-four virgin boys and twenty-four virgin girls’ souls, tortured to evoke their greatest resentment, then fused into the sword through secret methods to form a deadly death curse.”
“Anyone killed by the sword will have their soul and blood essence devoured by it. The more it consumes, the stronger it becomes.”
After hearing Samuel’s explanation, Leo coldly said to the priest, “You deserve to die.”
The priest sneered and released another dark aura towards Leo.
“Be careful,” Samuel warned.
Leo didn’t dodge. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a chain that formed a circle to block the dark aura.
The dark aura hit the chain and began corroding it like acid.
The priest smirked. “With the Necromantic Sword in hand, only you will die.”
He continued swinging the Necromantic Sword, sending more dark aura at the chain.
Leo showed disdain. With a wave of his hand, the chain expanded and attacked the priest like lightning.
“Impossible!” The priest’s smug expression turned to fear as he retreated to avoid the chain.
The Necromantic Sword was fragile. Even ordinary weapons could break it with enough strikes.
If the sword broke, it would become useless.
Seeing Leo’s chain withstand the Necromantic Sword’s corrosion shocked the priest. He thought it must be a magical artifact.
But he didn’t give up. While dodging, he continued releasing dark aura to corrode the chain.
Soon, the chain couldn’t withstand the corrosive power and broke into pieces of light.
The priest sighed in relief and mocked Leo. “Weren’t you going to kill me? Try again.”
Leo smiled and summoned another chain.
The priest was stunned.
Raising the Necromantic Sword, he felt heavy-hearted. The sword’s aura consumed a lot of energy. With his current cultivation level, he couldn’t release more corrosive power.
Facing such a tough opponent made him consider retreating.
He suddenly swung his hand, releasing dark aura to block the chain before running towards a nearby passage.
“Dream on!” Leo had been prepared. With a cold snort, he summoned another chain to block the priest’s path.
The priest’s face changed drastically.
Two chains attacked from above and below, making it hard for him to defend.
His Necromantic Sword was struck several times, almost breaking.
Now terrified, the priest pleaded, “I’ll let you go. Stop attacking.”
Leo ignored him.
The priest continued desperately, “The Necromantic Sword contains terrifying souls of the dead. If it breaks, everyone will die.”
Leo remained unmoved and kept controlling the chains.
With a snap, one chain broke the Necromantic Sword in half. A piece of the blade fell to the ground.
Holding half a broken sword, the priest froze in shock as black mist emerged from it, forming a cloud of wailing spirits.
Seeing this, the priest panicked and tried to run.
But the chains blocked his way. Terrified, he shouted, “Let me go or we’ll all die.”
Leo was unfazed.
Samuel urgently said, “He’s telling the truth! When the Necromantic Sword breaks, the souls inside will fully unleash their resentment and kill everything in sight. We need to leave now.”