19. The Violet Spirit Maiden, the Bride in White (Request)

The Blood Stele stood out starkly amid the other stone monuments, exuding an eerie solitude as if it had existed for countless years—or perhaps had always lingered within the spectral ghost ship.

It appeared peculiarly sinister in the monument forest.

Behind it lay a small, raised mound resembling a modest grave.

Lin Fan’s heart leapt with joy; he had finally found the Blood Stele. As Chen Cun Yuan had told him, when he fell, it was this very stele that caught him, preventing him from shattering into a pulp.

Approaching the Blood Stele, Lin Fan bowed three times, expressing his gratitude.

“Elder, I mean no disturbance. I only wish to retrieve what is mine. If I have erred, please do not hold it against me,” he murmured, mindful that he was about to disturb the earth. Better to say more than less.

This was no blessed ground, and after the incident with the Purple Spirit Maiden, Lin Fan could not afford to be careless.

“Bang!”

Lin Fan began digging; the soil was loose enough, and it wasn’t long before he uncovered a small pit—but the Pure Yang Sword was nowhere in sight.

“Damn! Where did Chen Cun Yuan hide the sword? Surely not buried in the soil?”

Rising, Lin Fan realized that since the sword wasn’t beneath the Blood Stele, it must be buried under the grave mound.

“Cun Yuan is truly bold, daring to disturb a grave!” Lin Fan admired him somewhat. If it were him, he wouldn’t dare touch the tomb.

With no choice, Lin Fan started digging on the mound.

After a while, a bronze coffin emerged from the earth. He cleared the surrounding soil but found no sign of the Pure Yang Sword. Examining the coffin, he saw no indication it had ever been opened, leaving him puzzled.

“Did Cun Yuan hide the Pure Yang Sword elsewhere?”

“Should I open the coffin and have a look?”

Lin Fan hesitated; if the coffin contained a vengeful spirit, opening it would be courting death.

Not to mention, any normal person would be furious if their coffin were disturbed.

“No matter—I cannot lose the Pure Yang Sword, left to me by Martial Void Master. If I lose it, the old man down below will surely strike me down!”

Lin Fan took a deep breath and resolved to open the bronze coffin. At worst, he’d apologize to its owner—anything to retrieve the Pure Yang Sword.

He clasped the grooved edges and exerted a slight force. The lid was heavy—he guessed at least a thousand pounds. Now at the rank of One Spring Six Veins, he easily lifted the coffin cover.

What he saw sent a chill down his spine: a blood-red bridal gown embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, a golden jade crown atop the skull, a red veil hanging low, and beside the bones, jewels gleaming like night pearls.

“A wedding dress?!”

Even with little knowledge, Lin Fan recognized the bridal attire—ancient and exquisite, yet far more refined than usual.

The jade-like bones were slender and delicate. If the coffin’s occupant were still alive, they would have been a stunning beauty.

This was evident even from the quality of the bones.

Suddenly—

“Pure Yang Sword!!”

Lin Fan’s heart soared. Lying on the coffin’s left side was an ancient sword, glowing like gold and jade, iron and bronze. A blood-red bead adorned its hilt—the Pure Yang Sword!

Chen Cun Yuan had not deceived him; the sword was indeed hidden beneath the Blood Stele, though somehow it ended up inside the coffin.

“Thud!”

Carefully, Lin Fan replaced the coffin lid but underestimated its weight, producing a faint creak.

As Lin Fan reached for the Pure Yang Sword, a sharp light sliced across his wrist.

“Drip drip!”

Blood fell inside the coffin.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Suddenly, a mass of black strands rushed toward Lin Fan—hair belonging to the coffin’s occupant, denser and faster. In an instant, he was wrapped like a silkworm cocoon, airtight and suffocating.

“Damn! Again?”

A surge of anger welled up within him. After being ambushed by the Purple Spirit Maiden, now this? Lin Fan clenched his teeth and gripped the Pure Yang Sword.

Since his first day at True Martial Mountain, when Martial Void Master entrusted it to him and confirmed him as the sixty-third successor of True Martial Mountain, the Pure Yang Sword had been more precious to him than a wife.

“Hum!”

Holding the sword, Lin Fan felt a familiar, effortless control, as if it were a natural extension of his arms—intimate and dear.

The sword sensed his presence; it trembled, and the hair strands fell away.

Seizing the moment, Lin Fan somersaulted, sword in hand, bursting out of the coffin to confront its owner.

“Swish!”

Unexpectedly, the bridal woman seemed to resurrect, rising straight up. The sight startled Lin Fan.

“Clack!”

She stepped out of the coffin, and a chilling wind surged forth, stirring ancient wood and stone monuments; even the Blood Stele trembled and collapsed beneath Lin Fan’s eyes, breaking into fragments.

“This bridal woman is even more terrifying than the Purple Spirit Maiden!” Lin Fan’s heart pounded.

The chilling wind seemed to rise from beneath the ground, shaking his soul and numbing his limbs.

Had he not just reached One Spring, he wouldn’t have withstood it.

“Whoosh!”

The bridal woman’s gown billowed as she raised a skeletal hand, striking toward Lin Fan like a gust of wind that suddenly reached his face.

“Clang!”

Lin Fan instinctively raised his sword. The Pure Yang Sword struck the jade-like bone with a metallic ring, as if cutting through refined steel rather than bone.

“What kind of demon is this?!” Lin Fan’s mind sharpened. Ever since encountering the Purple Spirit King, the world had become unbalanced.

Suddenly, Lin Fan gathered his energy into the sword. At that moment, the Pure Yang Sword seemed to awaken, radiating a brilliant golden-white light that pierced the ghostly fog like a blazing sun, awe-inspiring and divine.

“Swish!”

Lin Fan felt the sword sharpen, and with a fierce slash—

Thunder roared through the heavens, the space sliced apart as if paper torn in two.

The bridal woman’s eye sockets flickered with green light, showing unmistakable fear as she retreated defensively. Yet, she was still struck by the sword.

Suddenly, her gown emitted a crimson glow, shielding her and absorbing most of the sword’s attack, preventing injury.

“This bridal gown is a magical artifact!”

Lin Fan’s eyes brightened. The fact that the Pure Yang Sword’s strike was partially blocked proved that the bridal woman had been a cultivator in life and was buried with a treasured artifact.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, the bridal woman, seemingly wary of the Pure Yang Sword, withdrew like a rising tide back into the bronze coffin. With a bang, the lid closed itself, and earth covered it.

She actually retreated into the coffin?!

Lin Fan exhaled, feeling drained. The previous slash had consumed much of his energy. If she hadn’t retreated, he would have had to flee.

Fortunately, she feared the Pure Yang Sword and did not fight to the death.

“This bridal woman has already turned to bones. This monument forest is no lasting place. There might be stronger beings appearing soon. I’d better leave quickly before I end up entombed with her!”

Lin Fan felt a chill of fear. He certainly did not wish to be company to the bridal woman.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: both the Purple Spirit Maiden and the bridal woman wanted to keep him here. Was his constitution so alluring to female ghosts?

Recovering the Pure Yang Sword was the happiest thing he could imagine.

“...”

“...It’s the bloodline of that mysterious ancient clan. His blood awakened a trace of my consciousness. I thought my ritual had failed, yet I was reborn through corpse liberation... If not for that sword, his bloodline would have been devoured by me... Just barely...” A mysterious voice whispered from beneath the Blood Stele.