Stranger Danger

“Er, maybe you didn’t hear me clearly earlier, but this guy is the Earthly Sovereign Hall descendant’s servant.”

“I heard you. So what?” Ye Qing countered.

“So what? First you killed his subordinate, now you’re taking his Profound Yellow Qi! Do you really want to fight Yue Juejiang to the death?!”

Yi Pin said urgently, “It’s one thing if you’re not injured, but just look at the state of you! Fighting him now would be like an old man eating poison to live longer! So please, put down that calabash already. It’ll be better for everyone.”

You might have a death wish, but I don’t!

Ye Qing didn’t give him an answer immediately. “Heh. Can I ask you a question, brother? What kind of person is Yue Juejiang?”

“He’s arrogant and domineering,” Yi Pin replied. “Why do you want to know?”

“Exactly as I imagined him to be then. People like him cannot tolerate even the slightest defiance. Even if his servant is no more than a dog in his eyes, he is still the dog’s master. As such, he will never allow this slight to go unpunished,” Ye Qing explained. “From the moment we killed him, Yue Juejiang has become our sworn enemy.”

“Excuse you? You’re the one who did everything! I’ve got nothing to do with this!” Yi Pin corrected, though he had to admit that Ye Qing’s argument held a grain of truth.

“Haha, let’s not fuss over the details, shall we? My point is, the situation can’t get any worse than it already is, so why not make the best out of it?” Ye Qing smiled. “Besides, if you move fast enough, then the danger won’t be able to catch up to us.”

Yi Pin looked completely confused. The hell are you talking about?

Ye Qing ignored him and waved his left hand. The Netherflame immediately gushed out and turned Han Meng into a pile of ash.

“What are you doing?” Yi Pin asked.

“I’m eliminating the evidence,” Ye Qing answered before waving his hand again and scattering the ashes. Now, not even a trace of Han Meng’s existence was left in this world.

“Eliminating the evidence?” Yi Pin repeated numbly like a parrot.

He must have done this many times in the past, Yi Pin thought. Just look at how casual and practiced his movements are.

Wait, that’s not the point. The point is, this is a useless act.

“Brother, destroying the body isn’t going to help anyone. After all, the calabash is still here. It’s called the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash, an exclusive Strange Artifact that the Earthly Sovereign Hall had specifically created to store the Profound Yellow Qi. I’m certain Yue Juejian has left a mental imprint on it, so trying to hide it is just delaying the inevitable. The only thing you can do is to destroy it.”

“However, the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash is grown from a Innate Spirit Root Profound Yellow Vine. It is impervious to the elements and tough as steel. At our current strength, it’s literally impossible to destroy it.”

Yi Pin let out a depressed sigh when an idea occurred to him. “Wait a second. I have a plan! We can simply throw it away! That way, Yue Juejiang won’t be able to trace it back to us!”

Han Meng was gone in every sense of the word. It should be impossible for Yue Juejiang to identify his murderer, nor was it worth the time and effort. It was highly unlikely that Yue Juejiang would turn the place upside down over the death of a single dog unless the Profound Yellow Qi in the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash was used.

The Profound Yellow Qi was an object of nature. There were only a handful of spiritual objects such as the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash that could contain it, which made it impossible to store and hide the Profound Yellow Qi for future use.

Refining it wasn’t an option either since the Profound Yellow Qi wasn’t something that could be fully refined on the spot. It took at least one to two incense sticks to refine it to a level where it was almost invisible to another’s senses. Five?

It wouldn’t take much longer before Yue Juejiang noticed that something was amiss. There was no way Ye Qing could fully refine and absorb five wisps of Profound Yellow Qi before the man acted. If he was found out, things most likely wouldn’t end well.

Therefore, killing Yue Juejiang’s dog was fine, but stealing his Profound Yellow Qi was absolutely unacceptable.

“Throw it away? Never.”

Ye Qing let down Yi Pin with a shake of his head, however. He was going to hold onto this calabash for life.

The Profound Yellow Qi was extremely beneficial to his injuries. Just the two he absorbed earlier had eliminated some of the saber intent and Black Sky Divine Palm force wreaking havoc inside his body. Already, he was feeling much sturdier than before.

It wasn’t enough, however. Not even close. He needed a lot more Profound Yellow Qi to heal himself, and five of them had just been delivered to his doorstep. He would die before he let them slip through his grasp.

Besides, his present situation wasn’t the only danger he had to contend with. In the future, he would have to clash against the Intelligence Department and the bastard who put him in this situation in the first place. He desperately needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible, damn the risks.

It was his only way to survive the future.

“Why won’t you listen, brother?” Yi Pin felt like pulling his hair out.

“Relax. I know a way to stop Yue Juejiang from sensing his Profound Yellow Qi Calabash,” Ye Qing replied calmly.

“You do? How?” Yi Pin looked astonished.

“It’s a secret.” Ye Qing smiled mysteriously. “Anyway, no one was outside when I killed the guy earlier, so make sure you say that he took our Profound Yellow Qi and left, and that we don’t know anything, okay? It’s not like he’ll attack us ‘livestocks’, so it’ll be fine.”

As he said this, Ye Qing’s body morphed into a completely different appearance. He also suppressed the presence of the Profound Yellow Qi he just refined using his demonic thought and Zhou Hengshan’s saber intent. Finally, he altered his cultivation level to appear weaker than he was.

On a related note, the two wisps of Profound Yellow Qi he absorbed had been fully refined and absorbed into his muscles and bones. A small bit of tweaking was all he needed to conceal their presence perfectly.

There were several reasons why he made such a thorough preparation. One, he didn’t want to risk others recognizing him as Ye Qing. That was a whole can of worms he wasn’t eager to open now or forever. Second, his new appearance would make it easier for Yue Juejiang to believe his story.

And finally, he lowered his cultivation level to avoid drawing attention. Right now, caution and low key was the name of the game.

He wasn’t worried that someone might see through his disguise and ruin his whole plan. The “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” was a miraculous martial art that could easily alter his presence and conceal his cultivation level. Barring certain exceptions, not even a late-stage Spirit Master or a Half-Step Grandmaster would be able to see through his disguise.

Yi Pin hadn’t specified Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong’s cultivation level earlier, but he was almost certain that they were early-stage Spirit Masters. As for Yue Tongjiang, the guy was just a Half-Step Spirit Master, so he was even less of an issue.

In conclusion, everything was under his control, and there was nothing to be afraid of.

At the side, Yi Pin watched as Ye Qing physically and mentally transformed himself into an early-stage Spirit Purifier with a dark, psychopathic appearance. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to say something only to discover that he had nothing to say.

One thing Yi Pin noticed was how Ye Qing was able to conceal his true cultivation level and the Profound Yellow Qi he just refined perfectly even from his eyes. He had to admit that it was quite impressive.

So, what should he do with Ye Qing’s plan? Should he agree or disagree?

He agreed, of course. He literally had no other option.

If he disagreed, the first person Ye Qing was going to kill was him as he was the one person who knew his whole plan. Plus, he needed Ye Qing to survive this place.

As for pretending to agree to Ye Qing’s plan and inform the others about it later, the thought did cross his mind, but that was all. He might suck at martial arts, but he was a good judge of character. Sun Xuanzhen and Huo Linglong were one thing, but Yue Juejiang didn’t think of anyone else as human. In his eyes, he was just a tool to collect the Profound Yellow Qi and an ant he could kill any time he wanted to.

Even if his betrayal had gone perfectly, all he would earn for his efforts was nothing. He might as well help Ye Qing out and ensure that his insane plan succeeded.

He was in Ye Qing’s boat whether he liked it or not.

There was one more reason he believed that helping Ye Qing was the right option. Inside the Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin, the threads of fate were blurry and impossible to divine. However, he was the descendant of the Temple of Divination. He might not be able to divine an exact answer, but his sixth sense still told him that Ye Qing would be fine, just like how he knew that he wouldn’t die here.

After all, Ye Qing came not long after he was trapped in this heavens-forsaken place, didn't he?

So, he surrendered to Ye Qing’s whims and did whatever he wanted.

......

“Hmm? Something went wrong?”

Inside a different room, a handsome youngster in his twenties was meditating in silence. He wore a dark yellow robe that oozed with nobility, and his posture bespoke cultivated grace and power.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. The walls shook like a thunderclap had erupted inside the room.

“An ant dares to covet my Profound Yellow Qi Calabash? They must die!”

The young man was none other than Yue Juejiang, and just now, his connection to the Profound Yellow Qi Calabash suddenly disappeared into thin air.

As Yue Juejiang rose to his feet, it was like a mountain was slowly rising from the ground. The air groaned as if it couldn’t withstand the pressure.

After he left his room, he stomped the floor so hard that the surrounding air rippled outward like a tidal wave. Then, he roared, “All of you, show yourself this instant!”

The air was already whipping about in a chaotic and disorderly fashion, but his roar literally tore it asunder.

“Who’s the bastard who’s shouting like a madman? Do you want to die?”

One man slammed open his door and rushed out into the open, but the blood drained away from his face when he realized his mistake. Yue Juejiang threw a punch, and he slammed into the bluestone wall behind him. His limbs were spread wide, and blood poured out of every orifice.

Those who just left their rooms turned as silent as death when they saw this.

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