Chapter 171: Quest (Part 4)
Xie Qing did not object. He merely shrugged his shoulders, looking nonchalant at Xie Qin’s silent behavior.
“From my death, it has been… hm… when was the Ancient Era, brat?”
“More than a million years ago,” Xie Qing frowned but answered.
“A million years? Oh, oh… how long ago that was… hmm… even after so long, I couldn’t enter Samsara?”
Xie Qing darkened. He had a guess. Looking at the man, he asked, “Are you the King of Hunting?”
“Hehe…”
The man laughed. His laughter was loud and echoed, immediately attracting the attention of the Evil Spirits. “Looking” at Xie Qing, he replied, “Yes, boy, I am the King of Hunting. So why not show your respect and help the elder restore his body?” said the King of Hunting, and two holes appeared on his smooth face, located where his eyes should be. From these holes peered bottomless, black eyes, devoid of pupils.
Xie Qing did not answer and only silently drew his sword. The King of Hunting let out a terrifying laugh, which sounded like scraping a fork on a plate.
Boom!
A deafening explosion sounded, and the floor began to shake. Xie Qing took three steps back and easily tossed a token into the air. The King of Hunting narrowed his eyes and sent Qi, trying to destroy the token, but the youth took measures and destroyed his own Qi with his Sword Aura.
“Hm! Not bad, kid. But how long can you last?” the King of Hunting said with a smirk, then looked at the token that created a barrier around Li Yuilan. He asked in puzzlement, “Why are you even trying to protect this girl? She is obviously blind and useless. Although she has a good talent, now she is just an extra burden.”
“Funny question,” Xie Qing said and narrowed his eyes, gripping the sword handle tighter: “You can’t understand my actions because our philosophies are different.”
“You’re right. Smart boy,” the King of Hunting nodded, and his terrifying eyes narrowed with a slurp: “You know, you’re a little… special. Why do I sense the scent of the Dragon Clan from you? Are you their descendant?”
“Pff.”
Xie Qing snorted and did not answer. He clearly saw the desire in the eyes of this monster, so there was no point in explaining anything. Most likely, this King of Hunting saw him only as food.
Speaking of level, they were both at Soul Integration. The King of Hunting was dangerous because he had terrifying physical strength, and his body was filled with Negative Karma.
“Not talkative, eh!” The King of Hunting shook his head and took a stance. His right leg was moved two steps back, and his left leg was moved three steps to the left: “Then we’ll have to fight. I’m just hungry after a long sleep.”
Boom!
As soon as the King of Hunting finished his speech, a loud explosion suddenly sounded, and the place where he stood was covered with cracks, resembling a spider web. And Xie Qing, narrowing his eyes, jumped to the left.
Bang!
“Not bad. Your reaction deserves separate attention, boy…”
The King of Hunting laughed. It was still unclear where his voice came from, but Xie Qin no longer cared about this.
His opponent easily covered distances and struck so fast and hard that it was extremely difficult to resist him.
Although Xie Qing’s physical strength was not bad, he could not compare with a cultivator who had dedicated his entire life to training his body. These were different leagues!
“Lion Fist Strike!”
The King of Hunting shouted the name of some technique, and Xie Qing was thrown back. He clenched his teeth.
“Pha-a…”
Unable to hold back, he coughed up blood. There was a palm print on his chest.
The King of Hunting, standing ten meters away, jumped first on one foot, then on the other. His face began to tear apart, and he clenched his fingers, tearing the skin off himself!
“…”
Xie Qing was impressed. The King of Hunting spat out blood. This monster… made a mouth for himself!
“DIY?”
“Stop, no time for nonsense!”
The young man got serious. He took a stance and exhaled. His sword shone with a bright golden light.
“This…”
The King of Hunting tried to move, but suddenly Xie Qing’s eyes lit up with an amber glow. The monster was forced to stop and resist this restraining force.
And when he came to his senses…
Xie Qing, who had raised his sword high above his head, clenched his teeth and swung it, making a vertical slash.
“Lord of the Nine Realms and Heavens – Sword God Strike!”
The King of Hunting frowned.
“***!”
“I can’t move!”
For the first time in so long, he was so frightened for his life. At the moment when he finally managed to free himself from the control of the Dragon’s Gaze, the golden light instantly caught up with him.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
***
“Faster! Open the barrier!”
Zhang Mei stood with a worried look in front of the ruins. She became worried when Xie Qing and Li Yuilan did not return for so long.
So she immediately took a group of cultivators and headed for the ruins.
“***! Why did I make the barrier so strong?!” Zhang Mei began to regret.
Even a cultivator of her strength found it extremely difficult to break through. Therefore, she had to ask the others to open the passage as quickly as possible.
“Sect Master, the barrier does not give in! Spatial interference detected!” reported one of her subordinates. He looked nervous and knelt down, lowering his head. He thought, “The sect master is enraged! We’re all doomed!”
“What?!”
Of course, Zhang Mei was enraged! Would she have to watch as her disciple died in this rotten place?
“My Li Yuilan…”
Even such a cold girl as she could not help but feel despair. Her eyes slightly moistened. Memories of Li Yuilan’s growth flashed before her eyes.
And at the moment when she desperately tried to find a way to get inside…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A loud, deafening explosion sounded inside the ruins. Even the powerful barrier trembled and began to show oscillations.
“There! Sect Master, we managed to open the passage!” someone shouted.
“Excellent!”
Zhang Mei immediately went inside. She was scared. This explosion was too powerful!
The other cultivators who remained behind looked at each other. Although they were afraid to go inside, they were even more afraid of Zhang Mei’s wrath.
So, clenching their teeth, they had to enter the barrier.
***
Zhang Mei and her group quickly made their way inside. The Evil Spirits inside somehow ended up destroyed.
“This…”
The girl was shocked. She remembered well that this dungeon had always been strong and looked extremely gloomy, but…
“Everything is destroyed!” someone shouted in shock: “What kind of monster was this?!”
“Horror… could Miss Li…”
“Shut up!” Zhang Mei shouted angrily at the one who said something about Li Yuilan.
“I-I’m sorry…”
Frowning, Zhang Mei waved her hand, and they began to quickly search for Li Yuilan and Xie Qing. In the end, Zhang Mei caught the Sword Aura, which she knew well.
“This is Xie Qing!”
She waved her hand, and a vortex appeared around them, which instantly allowed them to reach Xie Qing’s location.
This was a small room… or rather, it used to be. The walls had long been destroyed. Zhang Mei widened her eyes.
“This…”
The corners of the girl’s eyes trembled. She could not believe her eyes!
Li Yuilan was still sleeping under the barrier. Amazingly, the space around her looked intact.
But Xie Qing… his appearance, to put it mildly, was pitiful. His clothes were torn, and his skin was visible through the torn parts, covered with burns and countless wounds – from serious to ordinary cuts.
He stood upright, holding his sword in his hand, which was lowered by 90 degrees. Beneath him stretched a terrifying line ten meters deep and twenty meters wide.
And this line led to a corpse… hm… a shadow? The monster looked extremely pitiful. All his limbs were cut off, and he was cut in half up to his chest.
This dismembered sight made several cultivators from Zhang Mei’s group present their today’s lunch.
Zhang Mei scanned Xie Qing’s opponent and noticed that he was dead in body and soul. She could not help but be surprised.
“He killed a cultivator at the fifth stage of Soul Integration? Amazing…”
However, there was no time to admire his techniques. She approached him and examined Xie Qing’s body. Then she frowned.
“His Qi is completely drained. Even a hundred years of lifespan have been spent…” she concluded, then waved her hand, sending a stream of Qi into the young man’s spiritual channels.
***
Xie Qing wearily opened his eyes. He examined his body with Qi and exhaled.
“This time, I overdid it. This technique drained me completely, and even my cultivation technique couldn’t handle it,” he thought and raised an eyebrow: “By the way, why does my chest feel heavy?”
The young man lowered his head, and his face became strange.
“Zhang Mei?”
He was lying on a bed in a small dimly lit room. Zhang Mei was sitting on a chair next to his bed, and she had fallen asleep, resting her head on his chest.
It looked… somewhat cute.
“It seems she found us… hah… at least I managed to save Li Yuilan. That’s good,” he thought and sighed.
This expedition was too dangerous. Of course, he did not regret it, because Li Yuilan was his friend. He would feel just awful if she died while he was somewhere having fun.
His Qi was fully restored, as were his wounds. The body was just a little sore from overexertion.
Otherwise, he was quite lively. The young man smiled rather cheerfully.
“Well, at least I tried hard.”
And while he was thinking…
Knock-knock…
“S-Xie Qing… are you asleep?”
“Hm?”
It was Li Yuilan’s voice!
