Shi Feiyang hadn't expected this Sword Spirit to be so glib; his nine swords still carried the pride of a Heavenly Demon. Although they occasionally ingratiated themselves by rubbing against his fingers gently with their sword spines, emitting rhythmically soothing hums, expressing pleasure at bolstering his will, they had never been so shamelessly brazen!

Shi Feiyang said, "I already possess enough Flying Swords; I don't need you. This time I came to capture you to destroy you, to prevent you from harming the Human World."

The Demon Sword quickly pleaded for mercy, "Master Shi, spare my life! I never wanted to harm the Human World! It's just that many Sword Immortals have been trying to capture me; you don't know what I had to endure these years... I haven't dared to kill anyone. You scared me so much. I was broken, hiding and scurrying in the Human World, terrified of leaving any traces that might lead a Sword Immortal to me..."

"You haven't killed anyone?"

"If I had recklessly killed people and sucked their blood, I would have become famous long ago, wouldn't I? I have been cautious and terrified, and every day I see illusions of you coming at me with Suiren's Drill."

"Was Zhao Xinyuan not killed by you?"

"Uh... I did kill a few, but I was compelled; I only kill when absolutely necessary... but I never kill normal people, only those Cultivators who covet me. When they try to seize me, I exploit their greed and kill them, drinking their blood... That's not important; what's important is, a few years ago I wondered, 'What does the blood laced with Pure Yang True Qi from a Taoist taste like? What about the blood from a Monk with a Pure Heart?' So I deliberately exposed my whereabouts and lured a Monk. Guess who he was?"

Shi Feiyang knew that this Sword Spirit was a fusion of the Primordial Spirits of Han Ling Emperor and Xu Wan, and Xu Wan was never so base; it must have been an influence from Han Ling Emperor, or perhaps it was from the contamination of the mortal realm over the years. "I don't care who he is! I'm going to chisel you into thirteen pieces using Suiren's Drill and lock you back into the Furnace of Eight Diagrams, burn you with Civil and Martial Fire for forty-nine days until you are completely refined."

"No! No! You must listen to me, True Master! The monk I lured was the abbot from Miao Yin Temple on White Horse Slope of Min Mountain, his dharma name is Yichen." The Sword Spirit said, "I pretended to be brought back to the temple by the Monk, and when he entered meditation, I invaded his Divine Sense, disturbing his mindset and intending to suck his blood.

Unexpectedly, that old Monk had strong Mana and managed to remain unflustered even within the Demon Realm I conjured, and instead suppressed me with Buddha Light. We fought a fierce battle, and in the end, neither could overcome the other. I nearly managed to draw his entire Essence Blood remotely, but he suppressed me using a Golden Buddha.

I thought I was doomed, fearing that he might destroy me, but surprisingly, he refrained from any further actions and instead said he wanted me to aid his Cultivation. He allowed me to create various Demon Realms during his Cultivation, affecting his five senses and six consciousnesses, to temper his spirit."

Shi Feiyang pondered; although Zen Master Yichen wasn't one of those top-tier Buddhist greats like the Three Monks and Two Nuns, nor was he as eminent as Zen Master Zhifei or Ascetic Monk, he was still of that caliber, a friend and peer of Ling Hun, and known for preaching Buddhist Scriptures to various Beast Species like Black Tigers, White Apes, Red Pythons, and Mystic Foxes.

The Sword Spirit continued, "I was suppressed by the Golden Buddha, unable to escape, and I wanted to drive the old Monk into Deviation so I could drink his blood and take over his flesh for my actions. If I could truly do so, who could imagine that inside the body of such a deeply enlightened old Monk hid this Demon Sword? And by using a Buddha Artifact to mask the Demonic Qi, it would have been infallible.

Thus, after he entered meditation, I tried every tactic to lead him into Deviation. His Buddhist Law was profound, his meditation deep, but I occasionally found vulnerabilities in his mind to fiercely attack, nearly causing him to lose his wisdom and fall into my control. Sadly, his fortune was profound as well; he would always awaken at the last moment. As they say, fears arise not from thought, but from belated awareness; ultimately, I couldn't destroy his Golden Body Vow."

In the time I spent at Miao Yin Temple, day in and day out, I dueled with him, allowing his heart to grow ever closer to perfection, his Buddhist practice to become dauntingly diligent, and ultimately, he even ascended! He thanked me, stating that because of me, his merits were complete ahead of time, allowing him to ascend to the Nirvana.

Shi Feiyang marveled as well, "This old monk is something else, to cultivate a pure heart within the Demon Realm, his courage and wisdom greatly surpass that of ordinary people. Now that his cultivation is perfected, you are of no use to him; not only did he not destroy you, but he also thanked you?"

The Sword Spirit said, "Yes, that day he bowed deeply to me, expressing his gratitude, and he also said... during this past year, through refining Buddhism with demons, he made great progress, and by refining demons with Buddhism, I benefited as well. I disagreed right there, but he replied that he had read many Buddhist Scriptures to me and explained their profound meanings. I may not regard it seriously now,

but in fact, they've all been deeply embedded in my memory, like numerous Vajra Seeds, which will bloom and bear fruit once the conditions are ripe. He also mentioned that he has a disciple who accidently killed a Mystic Fox that had attained enlightenment and broke a major precept. He bestowed upon him Soldier Disintegration to reincarnate, and he asked me to look after him occasionally, to share the Buddhist teachings I know. I told him I am a Demon Sword,

seen by all evil demons in the world as an object of greed, and heard of by those in Buddhism as something that provokes anger! I could never surpass those experts, only able to scurry meekly and hide, feeling the future burdens and not even certain if I can survive them, let alone take care of your disciple. The old monk told me that my greatest tribulation will be you, Master Shi,

and if I encounter you again, and am caught with no escape, I should recount this tale to you and sincerely repent, and you will surely spare my life. Master Shi, I am truly repentant now, in the future, I'll do whatever you ask, kill anyone you command, I am just a poor, innocent life, please show mercy and spare me!"

Shi Feiyang held the sword with one hand and sighed, "Who would have thought that your journey into the mortal world would bring such fortune."

Hearing the Sword Spirit speaking of skulking and hiding, drawing greed from evil demons and anger from the path of Buddhism, he was touched and recalled his own past life as a dragon, also cautious, unable to find a place among the cultivators of good and evil, realizing that this Demon Sword was an anomaly, and in fact, this anomaly had arisen due to his own suggestion years ago.

"What else did Master Yichen tell you after that?"

"He didn't say much else, I am just a sword, he couldn't pass on Miao Yin Temple's heritage to me, that went to another monk in the temple, but he gave me his Shariputra," the Sword Spirit said. "On the night the old monk entered nirvana, it was I who protected his law, and after he passed, his physical body transformed into three Shariputra,

finally telling me that he knew I wanted to absorb his blood, and when he first sought my help in his cultivation, he had the intention to give all his essence, energy, and marrow to me, and the merits from a year of cultivation were also dedicated to me, hoping that one day I would be liberated from the sword body, escaping from the sea of suffering. Now that his merits were perfected, he combined all the essence, merits, and wisdom into three Shariputra and gave them to me."

At this point, the Sword Spirit trembled lightly with a buzzing sound, and a layer of golden Buddha Light emitted on the surface of the Demon Light: "I've refined these three Shariputra, now I cultivate both Buddha and demon!"

Then, it pleaded pitifully, "Master Shi, I truly am repentant, I regret my actions, in the future, I'll do whatever you ask, please don't destroy my existence? Of course, if you're determined to kill me, I won't resist! Ever since that time in the Star Constellations Sea, I knew,

sooner or later, I would be killed by you, and only you could do it, having you kill me would not disgrace me... actually, what does it matter whether I live or die? Without the ego, without the individual, without sentient beings, without life... My kingdom is gone, if I die, I die..."

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