As Long as Resentment Remains, I Am Still Human

Heavenly Sword Sect, Broken Sword Peak.

This place was once a holy land for sword cultivators in the Northern Region, but now only broken walls and ruins remained.

Broken Sword Peak, the main peak that once towered into the clouds, was now covered in wind and snow, looking exceptionally desolate.

Li Zhaoye landed his sword, holding Bai Ling in his arms.

"Senior Sister, we’re here."

Li Zhaoye’s eyes turned red as he looked at the familiar ruins before him.

Twenty years ago, this place was bustling with people. It was his senior sister who had carried him on her back, crawling all the way back from a wolf’s den.

Ten years ago, during the great war, this place was strewn with corpses. He had wanted to carry her out of the pile of dead, only to hear the news that she had betrayed the sect.

Now, nothing was left.

The scenery remained, but the people were gone.

Bai Ling didn't speak. She just held the unformed sword embryo in her arms tightly, her eyes alert.

"Where is that old thief Xu Yunzi?"

Li Zhaoye’s throat tightened, and he turned his head away. "Xu Yunzi is dead. The person who harmed you is already dead."

Bai Ling’s body trembled slightly. She seemed to understand, yet she also seemed lost.

She lowered her head, her fingers gently stroking the cold sword embryo as she murmured to herself, "Not dead... The sword is still here, so he's not dead."

The sword embryo was incredibly crude, one might even call it a piece of scrap iron, but in Bai Ling’s eyes, it was more important than her own life.

"Are you... Eldest Senior Sister?"

A timid voice came from the ruins.

A young girl covered in injuries poked her head out from behind a collapsed stone stele.

It was Qingque. She had been taken to Reflection Cliff by the Hall of Discipline to reflect, but that misfortune had turned into a blessing, allowing her to escape the slaughter.

Seeing Bai Ling, Qingque’s tears instantly burst forth as she stumbled over.

"Eldest Senior Sister, is it really you? Uuu... I thought I’d never see you again in this life..."

Qingque cried piteously, wanting to throw herself into Bai Ling’s arms.

Clang—!

A piercing sword hum rang out.

Though the sword embryo in Bai Ling’s hand had no edge, she suddenly raised it, pointing it straight at Qingque’s throat.

She narrowed her eyes, her body as tense as a drawn bow. A low growl like that of a wild beast escaped her throat—an instinctive wariness toward all humanoid beings.

Qingque froze in place, looking at the tip of the sword in disbelief, tears still hanging on her face.

"Senior Sister... It’s me, Qingque... Don’t you recognize me?"

"Senior Sister, she..." Li Zhaoye bitterly pressed down on Bai Ling’s hand. "She doesn't remember many things."

Qingque felt as if she had been struck by lightning. The Eldest Senior Sister who was once so high-spirited and loved them the most had actually become like this.

Rumble—

At that moment, the world shook violently.

The ground in the distance suddenly split open, and a massive, dark-red fleshy pillar, like a surging earth dragon, burst forth from the soil.

The umbilical cord of Ksitigarbha of Great Vows had already spread here from the Wolf Court.

A weird Buddhist light radiated from the surface of the umbilical cord. Several surviving outer disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect nearby didn't even have time to react before their skin began to fester, and they were instantly swallowed by the cord.

"Ah!! Help!!"

Desperate screams shattered the silence.

"What... what kind of monster is that?!" Li Zhaoye’s expression changed drastically.

"Don't just stand there dazed! That's a root of misfortune condensed from death qi!"

A figure sped through the sky toward them; it was Jian Huaishuang.

Behind him followed a group of noisy paper people.

"Ouch, this light is a bit blinding."

"Stop talking nonsense. Block the light first. These people can’t take it; their mortal bodies will rot."

"Big brother, you stepped on my face!"

"We're all paper, where would we have faces? Just make do!"

Although this group of paper people from the Corpse Soul Sect were talkative, their movements were extremely agile.

They did not fear death and felt no pain. One by one, they lunged at the massive umbilical cord without regard for their lives, layering their bodies to form a paper wall that actually managed to block the Buddhist light.

Jian Huaishuang wasted no words. His greatsword, wrapped in staggering death qi, slashed down fiercely at the umbilical cord!

Clang!

A crisp sound of metal clashing echoed.

The seemingly soft umbilical cord was actually as hard as iron. The shock split the webbing of Jian Huaishuang's thumb and forefinger, leaving only a shallow white mark on the cord.

"Dammit, this is a combination of vow power and death qi. This is going to be troublesome."

Jian Huaishuang looked anxiously at the massive phantom in the direction of the Wolf Court.

"The source is over there. This is just a branch."

On the other side, seeing the umbilical cord seemed to trigger some terrifying memory in Bai Ling.

Ten years ago, she had seen something like this too.

"Kill..."

Bai Ling acted like she was possessed. She charged forward with the unformed sword embryo, hacking wildly without any technique.

"Aim better! You hit me in the kidney!"

A paper person stuck to the umbilical cord screamed as a large hole was smashed into its waist by Bai Ling.

Li Zhaoye couldn't hold Bai Ling back, so he could only grit his teeth, draw his sword, and follow her.

Sensing the attack, the pores on the surface of the umbilical cord suddenly sprayed out a large number of rotting demon wolves.

These demon wolves had no sanity and bit anything they saw.

"Senior Sister! Watch out!"

Li Zhaoye split a demon wolf lunging at Bai Ling in half with a single strike.

But he discovered to his horror that the wolf hair on his body was becoming denser. The bestial nature in his heart was slowly devouring his reason.

The rotting demon wolves were inducing the wolf blood in his body to boil.

'Let resentment be your spine, let anger be your blade.'

Whispers suddenly echoed in Li Zhaoye’s ears.

It was what that lord who destroyed the Heavenly Sword Sect had once said to him.

Yes.

Hatred.

If not for these demons and monsters, how could the Heavenly Sword Sect have been destroyed? How could his senior sister have gone mad? How could they have become these things that were neither human nor ghost?

As long as my resentment remains, I am still human.

"Members of the Heavenly Sword Sect, follow me and slay the enemy!"

Li Zhaoye’s eyes quickly became bloodshot, and his sword moves became incredibly ruthless, each strike aimed to kill.

The disciples who had been hiding in the ruins, barely surviving and already turning into wolves, were now infected by Li Zhaoye’s hatred. One by one, their eyes turned crimson.

Though their bodies had turned into beasts, the 【Seed of Resentment】 planted within them was awakened by their obsession for revenge.

"Awoo!!"

The pack of wolves howled. They rose into the air on their swords. Even if their claws couldn't grip the hilts, they used their mouths to bite down on the swords, charging madly at the rotting demon soldiers.

Li Zhaoye fought through the bloodbath, shouting to Jian Huaishuang in the air.

"Senior, leave this place to us! The Heavenly Sword Sect... needs to atone!"

Jian Huaishuang watched this scene with a complex expression.

As someone who had been through it, he understood this feeling all too well.

"Can you hold it?"

Li Zhaoye shattered a demon wolf's head with a sword strike, wiped the blood off his face, and said ferociously, "To the death!"

"Good! The paper people will stay to help you. I’m going to the Wolf Court to help the lord slay that fake Buddha!"

"Understood!" the paper people shrieked in unison.

Jian Huaishuang nodded, sheathed his sword, and transformed into a streak of light, rushing toward the Wolf Court.