Stranger Danger

“Losing your head already? You haven’t improved at all, Chen Cang.”

Ye Qing shook his head in disappointment.

“This isn’t over, Ye Qing. You killed Cheng Qishang and countless Swordsgrave disciples. They will chase you to the ends of the earth!”

Chen Cang uttered in a crazed voice, “You will die! You will die a worse death than me!”

“Thank you for your concern, but it is unnecessary.”

Ye Qing smirked. “You should worry about yourself first.”

“Worry about myself? Are you going to let me live?” Chen Cang asked.

“For someone your appearance, you sure enjoy dreaming!”

Ye Qing scoffed. “I’m asking you how you want to die.”

“Don’t worry. Whatever your choice might be, I won’t let you pass comfortably.”

Once he was finished speaking, Ye Qing tapped his finger against Chen Cang’s forehead and injected his demonic seed into his mind. Chen Cang began shaking violently.

“Kill me! Kill me!”

Chen Cang screamed at the top of his lungs. “Kill me if you dare! KILL ME!!!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Sigh… this is no fun.”

Ye Qing shook his head as Chen Cang rolled back and forth in pain. He snapped his fingers, and Chen Cang’s screams came to an abrupt stop. His pupils dilated, and his mind was no more.

“How do you feel?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Ye Qing.

“Nothing, really. He’s too weak.” Ye Qing shrugged. He did not turn around.

“Tsk tsk… that’s the kind of talk that earns you a beating, you know?” Feng Qingyou appeared behind him with a smile.

“Hahaha—cough! Cough! Cough…”

Ye Qing rubbed his nose and tried to laugh, but he accidentally triggered his injuries and tarted coughing violently.

“Are you alright?” Feng Qingyou reappeared beside Ye Qing and produced a pill. “Eat this.”

“Thanks.”

Ye Qing did not hesitate. He swallowed the pill and felt his pain decreasing drastically. “When did you arrive, Qingyou?”

“When Cheng Qishang is using his seventh sword,” Feng Qingyou answered.

“What? Why didn’t you help me then?” Ye Qing complained.

“It’s just Cheng Qishang. I know he is no match for you,” Feng Qingyou said with a smile.

“You sure seem confident in my strength.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose.

“It’s just facts,” Feng Qingyou explained in a nonchalant voice, “Cheng Qishang’s sword qi and sword intent are strong, but his body is too frail to support the sword intent of the ‘Seven Wounds Sword Art’. On the other hand, you possess a powerful physique. You are the bane of his existence.” Ȓ

“In fact, you might have won a bit easier if you had chosen to drag out this fight instead of clashing against him directly.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ye Qing lifted an eyebrow.

“You don’t know?” Feng Qingyou’s gaze turned teasing. “I thought you knew from the start but ignored it because you wanted to test out Cheng Qishang’s sword. Was I wrong?”

Ye Qing: “...”

At this point, Ye Qing had to admit that it was a him problem. Since he started practicing the “Three Origins Hammer” and “Earthly Sovereign Scripture”, he rarely fought his enemies in a roundabout fashion anymore. He preferred head-on clashes and brute force suppression. In other words, he had allowed arrogance to get into his head and was punished for it.

“Cough cough… you’re right. I wanted to test out the ‘Seven Wounds Sword Art’ and check out how strong it really was,” Ye Qing lied brazenly. “And in the end, I was right. The ‘Seven Wounds Sword Art’ cannot defeat me, hahaha!”

Shame only exists if you allow it to exist.

Feng Qingyou giggled, clear, bright eyes curling into delicate crescents.

“Ahem…” Despite himself, Ye Qing blushed at the sight of Feng Qingyou’s smile. He hurriedly changed the subject, “So, what do you think I should do with Cheng Qishang, Qingyou?”

Yes, Cheng Qishang wasn’t dead. He was just unconscious.

Of course, he was going to die if he did not receive treatment soon.

“The living is more useful than the dead.” Feng Qingyou smiled. “Plus, you’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”

“Haha! You know me well, Qingyou!” Ye Qing laughed.

As Feng Qingyou said, he was planning to keep Cheng Qishang alive—or more accurately, he was going to keep as many Swordsgrave disciples alive as possible—from the very beginning.

For one, killing this many Swordsgrave disciples and even one of their Twelve Ultimate Swords Cheng Qishang would surely earn him the Swordsgrave’s eternal vengeance. They might not figure out that he was the culprit immediately, but it was only a matter of time before they found out. Naturally, he wanted to avoid that outcome as much as possible.

Two, every single one of these Swordsgrave disciples were strong. Keeping them alive would be beneficial for his cultivation and his future plans and activities.

Of course, this was only possible if he had them firmly in his grip, but he wasn’t worried. Not only did the “Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent” ensure that they would never betray him, a Heavenly Demon Dependent’s mind and consciousness were fully intact. They acted and behaved no different from who they were before except for the fact that they now served him as their eternal master. Even Swordsgrave would be hardpressed to find anything wrong with them.

In summary, keeping the Swordsgrave disciples alive and converting them using the “Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent” would be killing several birds in one stone. Why not?

But why didn’t he keep Chen Cang alive? Because he didn’t deserve it, of course.

After his injuries were healed to a certain extent, Ye Qing walked up to the unconscious Cheng Qishang and tapped his forehead. He successfully injected a demonic seed into the swordsman’s mind and converted him into a Heavenly Demon Dependent. The whole process ended smoothly without a hitch.

Unlike the others, Cheng Qishang was exceptionally powerful, and he possessed a bright and clear sword heart. He could not be converted into a Heavenly Demon Dependent with a single thought like he had done to the others. That was why he had no choice but to severely injure the swordsman and weaken his mind before implanting a demonic seed.

Ye Qing did not rush to leave after converting all disciples into Heavenly Demon Dependents. In fact, he would remain in Sword Tomb for three days both to recover from his injuries and to observe if his Magia might be flawed in some way he didn’t know.

Luckily, it turned out to be just excessive worry.

Withthat done, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou began sailing south. They were going to enter Qi via the Fury Wind River.

They weren’t riding the Profound Origin Turtle, however. They were riding the whale tomb.

Originally, the plan was to ride the Profound Origin Turtle south to Qi. However, they changed their mind.

It wasn’t because they wasted too much time killing Chen Cang and missed the Profound Origin Turtle. They simply had a better choice now: the whale tomb.

When Swordsgrave first discovered this whale tomb, they realized its potential and spared no effort in refining it and building a branch hall on top of it. What this meant was that the whale tomb could be freely piloted by members of the Swordsgrave like a ship. With that in mind, why would they ride the Profound Origin Turtle?

The whale tomb was slower than the Profound Origin Turtle, but it was steadier, comfortable, and well-hidden. They could even practice at their leisure while the whale tomb took them to their destination.

Besides, the whale tomb was slow only if you compared it to the Profound Origin Turtle. In reality, it was anything but slow. In just a day’s time, they had crossed thousands of kilometers and entered Qi.

“Is that the Leya (Delightful Cliff) Point?”

On the whale tomb, Ye Qing asked while looking at the brightly lit ferry point overflowing with noise and activity.

“It is,” Feng Qingyou answered simply.

“No wonder they call it the best ferry point of northern Qi,” Ye Qing praised.