“I refuse to believe it, you can’t possibly be Duan Tianya!”

The demonic cultivator swallowed a blood-red Zhu fruit, and a surge of demonic energy violently erupted from within him, rapidly converging on his severed arm.

In the blink of an eye, his arm regrew.

“Once turned into a Corpse Ghost, it’s impossible to regain memories from your previous life. Who are you, really?”

The demonic cultivator, gripping his blade, became shrouded in an increasingly dense aura of demonic energy, and his body began to transform, his skin, previously as black as charcoal, suddenly emitting a cold gleam like that of dark iron.

“You’ll believe it soon enough.”

Duan Tianya lifted the firewood cutter’s knife in his hand.

As he raised it, the rust on the blade began to flake off, revealing a blade as clear as autumn water, and the previously notched edge gradually sharpened.

In an instant, the firewood cutter’s knife shed its humble appearance, revealing its true form.

“Even if you are Duan Tianya, I don’t believe you still possess your former strength.”

The demonic cultivator stuffed another Zhu fruit into his mouth and then grasped the hilt of his dark long blade with his other hand.

“Boom!”

The moment he gripped the blade.

Xu Taiping suddenly had the illusion that even the heavens and earth were in his grasp.

Having practiced with the blade for two or three years, he was acutely aware that the demonic cultivator was wielding the power of the heavens and earth.

Turning the power of the heavens and earth into one’s own power is one of the ultimate pursuits for every cultivator.

Facing the blade’s power of the demonic cultivator, Duan Tianya merely pushed forward the knife he was holding upright.

“Boom!” A fierce gust of wind, like an arrow shot from a crossbow, struck the demonic cultivator with force.

With just that push, the borrowed power of the demonic cultivator’s blade was shattered by Duan Tianya.

“Swish!”

At the same time, Duan Tianya’s knife, without warning, slashed towards the demonic cultivator.

“I refuse to believe that I, a mighty Demon Lord, cannot defeat a mere Corpse Ghost!”

Gritting his teeth, the demonic cultivator held his blade with both hands and met Duan Tianya’s slash head-on.

“Boom!” Blade clashed against blade, and the demonic cultivator was sent flying by Duan Tianya’s strike, crashing heavily into the courtyard wall.

“It really is… Duan Tianya!”

The demonic cultivator, who had swiftly stood up, showed a look of shock on his face for the first time.

“Swish!”

Then, Duan Tianya’s knife once again descended upon him.

“Bang!” The demonic cultivator raised his hand to block, only to be sent flying once again.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

Following that, Duan Tianya, like a shadow, struck the demonic cultivator with three consecutive slashes.

The third one even broke the blade in the demonic cultivator’s hand, leaving a long gash on his chest.

Had his demonic body not been harder than refined iron, that single slash might have cut him in two.

“Swish!”

Just then, with another whoosh of cutting wind, Duan Tianya’s blade appeared once again above the demonic cultivator’s head.

And with this slash, even Xu Taiping, who was secretly watching, felt as if even a mountain under Duan Tianya’s blade could be split in two.

If Xu Taiping could sense this, needless to say, so could the demonic cultivator.

“Bang!”

The demonic cultivator channeled all his demonic energy and slammed his palms onto the ground.

“Boom!”

Amidst the thunderous noise, a black stone gate emitting a stench of blood suddenly rose from the ground, blocking between the demonic cultivator and Duan Tianya’s blade.

However, even this stone gate, summoned with all the demonic cultivator’s energy, couldn’t stop Duan Tianya’s blade.

“Clang!”

Amidst the sound of the blade, the stone gate was split in two by Duan Tianya’s Severing Water blade.

But the demonic cultivator seemed to have anticipated this, and the moment the stone gate rose, he had already turned into a cloud of demonic energy and fled from the courtyard.

Facing the fleeing demonic cultivator, Duan Tianya did not give chase but simply lifted his knife and declared loudly, “Split mountains when I meet them, sever waters when I encounter them, nothing in heaven or earth is beyond my slash, my blade cuts all without fail!”

Upon hearing this, Xu Taiping felt a chill run down his spine.

It seemed as if he too was under the mercy of Duan Tianya’s blade.

He even had the illusion that even if he fled this small courtyard, even if he escaped Hemp Mountain, he could not escape the reach of Duan Tianya’s blade.

“Duan Tianya’s blade has turned the power of the entire Hemp Mountain into his own.”

A terrifying thought suddenly crossed Xu Taiping’s mind.

For most cultivators, being able to borrow the power of the heavens and earth for a single strike was an achievement, and to harness the power within a few meters was already extraordinary.

Yet Duan Tianya had managed to wield the power of the entire Hemp Mountain. Had Xu Taiping not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed such a being existed in the world.

“Swish!”

Just then, a streak of blade light descended from the sky, striking the fleeing cloud of demonic energy with precision.

“Boom!” Amidst the thunderous noise, the cloud of demonic energy was slashed into pieces.

The demonic cultivator within fell to the ground with a “thud.”

“Swish!”

The moment the demonic cultivator’s body hit the ground, Duan Tianya’s knife turned into countless shadows, slashing at the demonic cultivator’s body like waves.

“Boom!”

The entire courtyard shook.

And the demonic cultivator’s body, under the onslaught of blade shadows, turned into a pile of flesh on the ground.

The crisscrossing blade energy in the courtyard lingered for a long time.

“Bang!”

However, after delivering that strike, Duan Tianya suddenly knelt on the ground, black blood oozing from the hole in his chest, and his once robust physique withered in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a fierce ghost with a green face and fangs into an old man with white hair.

“Clap!”

The Severing Water blade slipped from his hand.

Clearly, his withered arm could no longer lift the blade.

“Boom!”

Just then, a surge of demonic energy once again rose from the demonic cultivator’s remains.

To Xu Taiping’s astonishment, the pieces of flesh on the ground began to merge at a visible rate.

In an instant, half of the demonic cultivator’s face was reassembled.

“Duan Tianya, you’ve grown old, failing to destroy my divine essence with a single slash!”

The half-faced demonic cultivator roared with a fierce expression.

Duan Tianya didn’t seem surprised by this; he didn’t look at the demonic cultivator but picked up the demonic cultivator’s cloth bag from the ground, struggled to open it, and released the body of the female Flying Zombie.

“Yes, I grew old a long time ago.”

As he spoke, he reached out tenderly to smooth the disheveled hair of the female Flying Zombie with a look of affection.

“Duan Tianya, do you have any last words? Speak now, or you’ll never get the chance.”

The demonic cultivator sneered as he looked at Duan Tianya.

As he spoke, his entire head had been put back together.

Hearing this, Duan Tianya let go of the hair, then turned his head with difficulty.

However, he didn’t look at the demonic cultivator’s head but at the water jar, and then with a smile, he said:

“My boy, could you do me a favor?”

Hearing this, the demonic cultivator instantly became alert and also turned his gaze to the water jar.

“What favor?”

Before long, a young voice came from the water jar.

“Help me burn this filth.”

Duan Tianya smiled broadly.

After a while, another voice came from the water jar—

“Alright.”