I'll Slaughter My Way to Immortality on the Bones of Betrayers - Chapter 48:

Chapter 48: Walking the Same Path Again

The sword intent of that strike erupted from nothing in an instant—zero-frame initiation! It left no time to react. Just like when Lu Hengge had suddenly vanished earlier—it happened in the blink of an eye.

But that was the only strike. It seemed to have exhausted the power of the cliff, leaving it unable to unleash a second slash. If there had been another, Mo Ditian would’ve suffered more than just injury.

In an instant, demonic Qi surged. In mere seconds, Mo Ditian’s body, which had been severed at the waist, completely recovered, showing no visible wounds. But in truth, the demonic Qi had only healed the surface. The sword intent remaining inside his body would take a long time to purge.

“I was nearly killed with one strike,” Mo Ditian sneered, lips curled in a twisted grin. His expression was a mix of relief at surviving and humiliation at being defeated.

Nearby, the dying Jian Tongming laughed freely. To witness Mo Ditian in such a sorry state before dying—this resolved one of his final regrets.

“You’re laughing at me?” Mo Ditian grabbed Jian Tongming, his eyes flickering with dangerous, violent light.

Jian Tongming coughed up blood, his gaze dimming, but his words remained sharp, “I might not be able to beat you, but there are always those stronger than you. Mo Ditian, your vision is far too narrow.”

As he finished speaking, a radiant white light began to emit from Jian Tongming’s body.

It was the sign of transcendence!

When a Divine Ascension Realm cultivator died, their body would radiate such brilliance. Once the body and soul fully dissolved, the heavens would weep, and a rain of spiritual Qi would fall to nourish the world.

Jian Tongming was at the peak Divine Ascension Realm, so the phenomenon was even more intense. Even Mo Ditian found the white light glaring and scorching—it clashed strongly with his demonic Qi.

“Ten thousand years of cultivation,” Jian Tongming looked up at the heavens, unsure whom he was addressing, “all for nothing in the end.”

The next second, Mo Ditian snorted coldly, “I won’t let you die that easily.”

In an instant, demonic Qi roared to the sky. Behind Mo Ditian, the shadows of ancient demon gods appeared—each one exuding an overwhelming, ancient presence. Eyes glowing eerily opened one by one, causing the entire Sword Prison to tremble.

Ordinarily, the Immortal-Demon Body could only manifest two projections: one immortal and one demonic. But now, more than ten demonic projections stood behind Mo Ditian. Each began forming hand seals in unison, pouring torrents of demonic Qi into Jian Tongming’s body.

Drip…

Drip drip drip…

In the sky, spiritual rain began to fall. But Jian Tongming did not ascend. The white light on his body exploded into shards, and a dark red demonic seed emerged from within him.

“Mo Ditian, what are you doing?!” Jian Tongming’s calm shattered. He would rather die than become a lackey of the demon race.

But clearly, this wasn’t up to him anymore.

Mo Ditian stared straight at the cliff. Since he couldn’t enter himself, he would just send someone else.

He split off a wisp of his soul and embedded it into Jian Tongming’s body. Then he said, “Go write your name on the cliff.”

Jian Tongming instantly understood—he was to be used as a tool.

“You ba—” He didn’t get to finish. His voice abruptly stopped as his body, out of his control, moved toward the cliff.

Mo Ditian was clever. He hadn’t stripped Jian Tongming of his spiritual Qi, knowing that the cliff might reject demonic Qi. By using Jian Tongming’s spiritual Qi, he might be able to slip through.

Using his finger as a brush, Jian Tongming unwillingly wrote his name on the cliff.

Mo Ditian took a few steps back. In front of him, demonic Qi condensed into a dense wall for defense. He was not reconciled. Why could a little Foundation Establishment Realm brat enter the Sword Tomb, and he couldn’t?

And Lu Hengge was using demonic Qi too—not spiritual Qi—so why wasn’t he rejected?

Something didn’t add up.

Jian Tongming finished writing his name and stood still.

After a brief silence, two characters appeared on the cliff: “Permitted Entry.”

In a flash, Jian Tongming vanished.

Seeing this, Mo Ditian smiled. “It worked.”

“Once Jian Tongming is inside the Sword Tomb, I’ll replace his consciousness with that wisp of my soul.”

The biggest drawback of this method was that, entering through Jian Tongming’s body, he couldn’t exert his full power. But that wasn’t a problem. Even if his soul was weakened, it would still be enough to kill a lowly Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator like Lu Hengge.

Mo Ditian had a plan. He would use Jian Tongming’s body to tail Lu Hengge silently. Once Lu Hengge found the treasures inside the Sword Tomb, he would strike and take them for himself.

Then, Mo Ditian sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Consciousness replacement.

The wisp of Mo Ditian’s soul in Jian Tongming’s body took over completely. From this moment on, Jian Tongming was Mo Ditian.

Opening his eyes, he saw a long corridor stretching ahead.

Mo Ditian spent a moment adjusting to Jian Tongming’s body before releasing his divine sense to locate Lu Hengge.

“As expected, this kid knows his way around the Sword Tomb.”

Mo Ditian looked toward the end of the passage. Judging from Lu Hengge’s swift and purposeful movements, it was clear he was very familiar with the Sword Tomb—it was like returning home.

…

“That sword is at an altar inside the Sword Tomb.”

“If I remember correctly, there’s also a sword cultivator technique on the altar.”

Lu Hengge recalled his past life.

He had only taken the sword, not the technique. The reason he hadn’t taken the technique was that it required a special physique to cultivate. At the time, he had already developed the Sword Bone Body. To forcefully abandon it for an unknown technique was too risky.

But in this life, Lu Hengge couldn’t afford to miss out.

Last time, his caution cost him a heaven-defying technique. He wouldn’t repeat that mistake.

Inside the dark corridor, Lu Hengge moved quickly.

Soon, a massive bronze door appeared before him. It wasn’t locked—it opened with a gentle push.

A simple grey palace appeared in front of him.

Inside the palace, countless humanoid statues stood silently. None of them had facial features, and each held a stone sword, frozen mid-swing in various sword techniques, as if demonstrating a cultivation method.

At the end of the statue-lined hall stood a silent altar.

In the center of the altar was the rusted sword—and a nameless technique book.

Lu Hengge took a deep breath. The altar was right ahead.

But getting from here to that altar would be harder than ascending to the heavens.

He looked at the statues on either side. A long sword of condensed demonic Qi appeared in his palm.

“Time to fight for my life again.”