Chapter 124: Famous Inscription on Red Blood Cliff

Meng Chuan left the training ground and saw the servants sweeping inside the cave abode. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is Qiyue?"

"Reporting, Master," replied one of the servants, bowing respectfully. "Lady Liu Qiyue went out early this morning. These past few days, she has been practicing until noon before returning."

"Oh," Meng Chuan nodded slightly. "Prepare some tea and send it to my study." He then went to his study, sat down, and spread a painting scroll on the desk, weighing it down with a paperweight. With a leisurely air, he began to wield his brush, painting the scene of Elder Guo Ke performing the second move of the Heart Blade Style. When Elder Guo Ke practiced his blade art, he was already elderly and frail, but he was, after all, a King Godfiend, even unrivaled in his era. Meng Chuan meticulously depicted Elder Guo Ke's graying hair and the aura of an ordinary old man; even the woodcutting knife he held was painted with great care.

Painting Elder Guo Ke's blade swing for the first time gave him a unique perspective, allowing him to view the second move of the Heart Blade Style from a different angle. "At the very least, my blade's aesthetic beauty is far inferior to Elder Guo Ke's," Meng Chuan mused, examining it from a painter's perspective, gaining a new understanding of this second move.

Much later, he heard Qiyue's voice outside. Meng Chuan put down his brush and opened the door to greet her, calling out from afar, "Qiyue!"

Liu Qiyue, carrying her bow and quiver, walked back, her eyes brightening. "You're actually coming out to greet me today! A-Chuan, usually I'm the one pulling you from the training ground to lunch every day. What? Is your secluded cultivation over?"

"It is," Meng Chuan said, walking closer and nodding. "I've tried everything I could from eleven years of accumulating experience in the Heart Intent Blade, and I've naturally reached Blade Soul Perfection. From now on, it will be a slower process of cultivation."

Ten years to sharpen a sword—this is a fundamental truth in cultivation. The further one progresses, the more time and energy are required for improvement, along with exceptionally high comprehension and talent! Many geniuses who enter Yuanchu Mountain spend their entire lives toiling within the Soul Realm, unable to reach the Dao Realm even upon death. Meng Chuan believed that if he could reach the Blade Dao Realm in twenty or thirty years, he would be very satisfied. Even Elder Guo Ke only created the fifth move of the Heart Blade Style in his old age, but by then, his body was too frail for any breakthrough. A breakthrough requires three elements: the physical body, the primordial spirit, and the realm; none can be missing. Such is life—it's rare for everything to go as planned! One can only strive to get closer to their goal through hard work.

"A-Chuan, you've already achieved Blade Soul Perfection?" Liu Qiyue excitedly pulled Meng Chuan to sit on a stone bench around a nearby table. "Doesn't that mean you can become a Great Solar realm Godfiend?"

"Yes," Meng Chuan nodded. "Actually, I reached Blade Soul Perfection two months ago, but my mind was so absorbed in blade arts that I forgot to tell you." Liu Qiyue also said excitedly, "A-Chuan, I have good news for you too!"

"What good news?" Meng Chuan asked. "Last month, while cultivating in the underground magma pool, I felt very close to Soul Realm Perfection. By today, I feel even closer," Liu Qiyue explained. "It might take as little as a month to break through, or at most three to five months should be enough."

"Good!" Meng Chuan exclaimed happily. "That's wonderful! Once you reach Soul Realm Perfection, Qiyue, we'll break through to the Great Solar realm Godfiend together! We'll both pass the Nine Xuan Caverns and then descend the mountain together."

"Mhm," Liu Qiyue nodded. Deliberately lying made her face flush even more. However, she was already beaming with joy because of Meng Chuan's Blade Soul Perfection, so a deeper blush seemed normal.

"What's happened on Yuanchu Mountain these past three months?" Meng Chuan asked.

"A major event occurred," Liu Qiyue recalled, lowering her voice. "It happened eight days ago: Huai Mountain Pass was breached, with heavy casualties."

"Huai Mountain Pass?" Meng Chuan was shocked. "That's a medium-sized city pass!"

Among all the city passes in the world, medium-sized ones are the most dangerous. Small city passes are relatively easy to defend, and large city passes have King Godfiends guarding them! Only medium-sized passes require Marquis Godfiends for complete suppression. However, the number of Marquis Godfiends is too small, so most medium-sized passes are defended by a few highly capable Great Solar realm Godfiends working together, aided by a group of other Godfiends.

Liu Qiyue nodded gently. "Yes, the breach of a medium-sized city pass sent shockwaves across the land, and the casualties were exceptionally heavy. Twenty-seven Godfiends were at Huai Mountain Pass, and Brother Qian Yu was among them." "Qian Yu was also at Huai Mountain Pass?" Meng Chuan listened intently, asking solemnly, "What were the casualties?" "Marquis Meijiang rushed there quickly, but by the time he arrived, he only managed to rescue one Godfiend: Brother Qian Yu! Because Brother Qian Yu was a Great Solar realm Godfiend and an agile archer, the other Godfiends desperately protected him, so he luckily survived, while all twenty-six other Godfiends died in battle. Brother Qian Yu's Godfiend body was on the verge of collapse from using a forbidden art for too long. Even though Yuanchu Mountain is trying desperately to save him, his Godfiend body and shattered meridians can be repaired, but his completely shattered Dantian cannot be restored."

"His Dantian shattered?" Meng Chuan felt a pang of sadness. The Dantian space is crucial for Godfiends; a completely shattered Dantian means there's no cure, and the path of cultivation is completely cut off.

"Marquis Meijiang said that because the other Godfiends protected Brother Qian Yu, shielding him from the demon kings, Brother Qian Yu, while frantically using his forbidden art, killed sixty-two demon kings with his arrows! Over a hundred demon kings were killed by Godfiends who fought to the death. However, in that battle, about three hundred demon kings broke through, some of them elite triple-heaven demon kings. Huai Mountain Pass exhausted all its defensive treasures but still couldn't hold them back," Liu Qiyue explained. "Marquis Meijiang arrived too late; many powerful demon kings had already infiltrated our human world, and the remaining demon kings immediately abandoned pursuing Brother Qian Yu and fled back to the demon world. Marquis Meijiang only had time to slay about twenty demon kings."

Meng Chuan also knew that whenever a city pass was breached, some demon kings would retreat to the demon world, while others were specifically ordered to infiltrate the human world.

"Brother Qian Yu is the only survivor, and he's been in a daze, unresponsive to anyone," Liu Qiyue shook her head. "His cultivation path severed, and all his comrades dying while he alone survived—it truly hit him hard."

Meng Chuan nodded gently.

September 28th. If a Godfiend from Yuanchu Mountain died in battle, their name would be carved onto Red Blood Cliff on the twenty-eighth of that month. On this day, the autumn wind was bleak, and rain drizzled.

Meng Chuan, Liu Qiyue, Yan Jin, Li Ying, and a host of other Godfiends all arrived at Red Blood Cliff. They walked along the cave, which was embedded with sparkling gems, their faint light illuminating the names carved on the stone walls within the cave for countless years.

Name after name, meticulously and orderly carved. Countless names covered wall after wall.

Meng Chuan and all the other Godfiends walked inward, everyone quiet and solemn. These were the Godfiends who had died in battle for Yuanchu Mountain, heroes of the human race.

"This time, among the twenty-six Godfiends who died at Huai Mountain Pass, nine were Yuanchu Mountain disciples," Liu Qiyue transmitted secretly. Meng Chuan nodded slightly, continuing to walk with the crowd.

Medium-sized city passes bear immense pressure, so the proportion of Yuanchu Mountain disciples defending them is much higher. There was no other way; weaker Godfiends would only be sent to their deaths.

Ahead, the Yuanchu Mountain Master personally held a carving knife, meticulously engraving each name. Whether it was Yuanchu Mountain, Black Sand Grotto Heaven, or Two World Island, the sect master personally carved the names of their fallen disciples. This time, there were nine disciples' names. As the Yuanchu Mountain Master carved them onto the stone wall, it was as if he were carving them into his own heart, his eyes slightly reddened.

He remembered every disciple represented by a name, because he had personally sent each of them down the mountain. Some were exceptionally talented, with the potential to become Marquis Godfiends. Some were still very young. And there was even a pair of Godfiend disciples who had married.

The Yuanchu Mountain Master continued carving, while other disciples stood by, watching silently. After finishing, the Yuanchu Mountain Master turned and quietly left.

Meng Chuan and the others stood there for a long time before leaving one by one.

As they emerged from the cave, Meng Chuan and the others immediately saw a disheveled man walking along the distant mountain path, drenched by the rain. He carried a wine flask and simply walked along in silence.

"It's Brother Qian Yu," Meng Chuan and the others recognized him. With the strength of a Godfiend, one could easily ward off rain; even if their True Yuan was exhausted, they could still influence the forces of heaven and earth to block the rain. Yet, at this moment, Qian Yu allowed the rain to completely drench him.

Meng Chuan clearly remembered the slightly provocative Brother Qian Yu at Qiyue's cave abode, with the aristocratic pride of a descendant of an ancient Godfiend family. He remembered Brother Qian Yu who had gracefully apologized to him during the debate. He remembered Brother Qian Yu who was full of fighting spirit and determined to achieve great merits when he descended the mountain! How vibrant and eager for battle he had been when his image was recorded at Red Blood Cliff. Now, he was utterly despondent, his heart as mournful as death.

"Brother Qian," someone called out.

Qian Yu ignored them. He walked into the cave alone, seemingly in a daze.

"Let's go," the other disciples sighed, leaving one by one. Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue exchanged glances, helpless, and could only depart as well.

Deep inside the cave, Qian Yu walked to the innermost stone wall, sat down, and tremblingly reached out to touch the names.

Every name was a friend with whom he had repeatedly faced life and death. They were fellow disciples, willing to sacrifice their lives for him.

"Brother Qian, don't worry. With me, Zhang Lie, here, no demon king will touch a single hair on your head. Just keep shooting arrows, kill those demon kings, the more, the better!" The image of Zhang Lie, the burly deputy general of Huai Mountain Pass, holding a large shield with one hand and laughing loudly during their first meeting, seemed to flicker before his eyes. "Run! Run! We can't hold them back! Live! You must live!" Zhang Lie frantically fought to block the demon kings.

"Hahaha, to have you brothers in this life, my death is worth it. Kill! Kill! Kill!!!" Qian Yu desperately used forbidden arts and movement techniques, dodging while firing arrows wildly. As a Great Solar realm Godfiend and a genius archer from Yuanchu Mountain, his desperate volleys repeatedly reaped the lives of demon kings.

"My wife, Sister Yang, and I decided we'd have a child after two years, once we leave Huai Mountain Pass to guard another location. It's really not suitable for children here." Brother Yu, who once sat with him on the city wall, drinking and chatting, had eyes full of anticipation for the day he and his wife would have a child.

"Brother Qian, you're still young, and you've become a Great Solar realm Godfiend so early. Perhaps you'll even become a Marquis Godfiend in the future; keep up the good work." General Huang Yu of Huai Mountain Pass, his hair already gray, had laughed.

One familiar person after another, one comrade after another with whom he had shared life and death. Qian Yu caressed these names, his face already silently wet with tears. "You're all gone, and only I am left," Qian Yu said hoarsely. "I miss you all so much, so much. How good it would be if everyone were alive, how good!"

"Hahahaha, hahahaha..." Qian Yu laughed and cried, like a madman.