“So it’s this fellow.”
Hearing the voice and seeing that giant hand of spiritual power clutching the Void Flying Boat, Lu Qing instantly rembered who it was.
Back then, when he and Xiaoli had just left their ho world, braved the chaotic spatial currents, and entered the territory of the Great Yuan Immortal Domain, they had nearly been caught.
While passing through a small world, they were ambushed by a Nascent Soul cultivator who tried to forcibly suppress their Void Flying Boat.
If not for Lu Qing’s quick reaction in using spatial traversal to escape, they might never have gotten away.
That incident had been the first true crisis since leaving ho. Over ti, he had nearly forgotten about it.
But now, returning after all these years, he actually ran into the very sa man again.
“A dog can never stop eating filth,” Lu Qing muttered, shaking his head.
“What’s going on, Ah Qing?”
The sudden tremor had startled Xiaoli and Wuxing out of ditation. They rushed out of the quiet chamber to ask what was happening.
“Nothing much. Just that sa old fellow from back then—he’s trying to ambush us again.”
“That fellow from back then?”
Xiaoli and Wuxing froze for a mont, then their eyes lit up with recognition.
“You an that Nascent Soul cultivator who almost caught us?”
“Exactly. I’ll deal with him. You two stay here.”
Lu Qing gave a slight nod, and his figure slowly vanished.
“Ah Qing’s going to clean up that guy? Now this will be fun to watch!”
Xiaoli bounced in excitent, already dashing off to see the fight.
…
Outside the Void Flying Boat, a gaunt old man with narrow eyes and a hooked nose floated in the starry void. His face was cold as he pressed down on the silver vessel with a massive black hand of power.
His heart, however, was filled with joy.
Never had he expected to encounter this silver flying boat again after several decades.
To be honest, back then, after that boy had escaped, he had been terrified for a long while. The sword qi that youth released carried hints of a legendary sect’s aura. He had feared retaliation from that sect’s elders.
But when years passed and no one ca to settle accounts, he realized he had been mistaken.
If the boy had truly been from that legendary sword sect, its famously protective disciples would never have let it slide.
Relieved, the old man had begun to brood over his failure. That silver flying boat was clearly a rare spatial treasure, yet he had let it slip away.
Ever since, he had wandered the starry skies from ti to ti, hoping against hope for another encounter.
And against all odds, here it was again.
Though the vessel looked much less battered than before, he recognized it instantly as the one that had once escaped his grasp.
“Heaven itself favors . What is mine will return to my hands sooner or later.”
Overjoyed, the old man instantly unleashed both his treasured artifact and his signature technique to pin the flying boat down. He was determined not to let it escape this ti.
But though he suppressed it, when he tried to drag it into his world, he found it immovable. The silver boat sat like an iron nail fixed in the void.
Just as confusion struck, a figure flew out from within.
With a flick of his sleeve, Lu Qing shattered the massive black hand before the old man could even react.
An irresistible force blasted into him, flinging his body away. He tumbled through the void for a hundred miles in the blink of an eye.
“Impossible!”
The old man’s heart seized with dread. He had kicked an iron plate, and before him now was a power he could not comprehend.
Without hesitation, he poured his power into flight, his body dissolving into a stream of light as he tried to escape back to his ho world.
“Freeze.”
A calm soul-voice echoed. At once, the entire void around him solidified like iron. His stream-of-light form collapsed, his body forced back into shape. He hung frozen like an insect trapped in ice, unable to move no matter how his power roiled.
“You old fool. I was rely passing through back then, and you nearly caught off guard. I had long forgotten the matter, yet you jumped out again on your own. Truly, Heaven may pardon its own sins, but man-made sins cannot be forgiven.”
Step by step, Lu Qing walked toward him.
The old man’s eyes bulged.
This was the very youth from that boat decades ago? A re Golden Core cultivator then—how could he now possess such unimaginable strength? He could not even sense the man’s true realm!
The old man’s heart filled with disbelief.
But just then, words surfaced before Lu Qing’s eyes—information revealed about this old man. His eyes flickered.
He had intended to kill the man with a single palm. Instead, his hand turned, summoning a vast Ten Thousand Arts Palm of five elents that clamped down, sealing all of the old man’s power.
With a casual toss, he threw the prisoner into the Li Huo Cauldron, then returned to the flying boat.
“Ah Qing, why didn’t you kill him?” Xiaoli asked in puzzlent.
“No rush. There’s sothing odd about him. Once we’re back ho, I’ll interrogate him first. For now, getting ho is more important.”
“True. Going ho matters most.”
Satisfied, Xiaoli stopped asking. Whatever Ah Qing decided always had reason.
The silver boat shot off as a streak of light, vanishing into the distance.
Monts later, more than a dozen figures flew out from the small world below, watching it go with fear etched across their faces.
“That young man… he subdued our ancestor with a single move!”
“Whoever he is, he’s not soone we can afford to provoke.”
“Our ancestor has been captured. What now?”
“What else can we do? If even the ancestor couldn’t resist, do you think we could?”
“I an if the righteous cultivators learn of this, they’ll surely stir up trouble.”
“So what? The ancestor is immortal. Even if his body is destroyed, he’ll revive from the blood pool. The righteous path can’t overturn anything.”
“Regardless, we must seal the news. Do not let the Righteous Path Alliance know.”
“Understood.”
Lu Qing, of course, sensed those spying from below. But to invade a world was no small matter, and he had no ti to waste.
For now, ho was all that mattered.
…
Back in the ho world, Jiuli Village.
“Doctor Chen, did you just say you’re leaving?” Wei Shanhai stared at the elder in shock.
“Yes.” Doctor Chen nodded slightly.
“But why so suddenly? The demonic cultivators are rampaging, sects and clans everywhere are living in fear. Even the Sacred Mountain has shut its gates. It’s dangerous to go out now.” Wei Shanhai tried to dissuade him.
“Precisely because the demonic cultivators run wild and the righteous path wanes, I must go.” Doctor Chen’s voice was calm but firm.
“After yesterday’s battle with that demonic cultivator, I realized sothing.”
“Their strength is not as insurmountable as I once thought. With my current power, I can at least face them.”
“And if so, how can I stand idle while the world drowns in misery? Soone must act. Otherwise, the common people will be left with no hope.”
Wei Shanhai fell silent. He knew Doctor Chen was right. But he also knew what it ant: a road strewn with thorns and peril.
After a long pause, he said, “But if you go, what of Jiuli Village? If that fiend returns, we can’t hold it off with only and Xinghe.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve arranged for soone to take my place in maintaining Jiuli’s formation. With him here, even if that fiend returns, the village will be safe.”
“Soone else?” Wei Shanhai blinked. Who else could match Doctor Chen’s power with the formations?
“Yes. By now, he should be arriving.”
Doctor Chen looked up.
Wei Shanhai followed his gaze.
A streak of light shot out from the depths of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, landing in the courtyard without the slightest hindrance from the village’s defenses.
When Wei Shanhai saw the newcor’s face, his eyes went wide.
“Lu Xiaolangjun?!”
The man looked identical to Lu Qing. But hadn’t Lu Qing long since departed this world? When had he returned?
Wei Shanhai’s heart leapt with joy—then doubt.
This “Lu Qing” glanced at him coldly, expressionless. Without a word, he bowed to Doctor Chen. “Master.”
“Jiuli Village will be in your care. I must set out.”
“I understand, Master,” the youth replied with a nod.
“Doctor Chen… this is…” Wei Shanhai finally realized—this was not Lu Qing.
“This is a clone Lu Qing left behind before departing. He has been cultivating deep within the mountains all these years, rarely showing himself. That’s why you did not know.”
“A clone?” Wei Shanhai murmured, realization dawning. So Lu Qing had left this as Jiuli’s final safeguard.
“I leave the village in Ah Qing’s hands. You need not worry for its safety.”
“With Lu Xiaolangjun here, Jiuli is secure.”
Even if it was only a clone, Wei Shanhai sensed a dangerous aura from the youth. Clearly, this incarnation possessed terrifying strength.
And since Lu Qing himself had arranged Jiuli’s formation, the clone controlling it would wield even greater power than Doctor Chen.
The village was safer than ever.
“Ah Qing, I leave it to you. I’m going now.”
With a last word of parting, Doctor Chen turned into a stream of light and soared into the skies.
Wei Shanhai’s blood burned hot as he watched him depart.
He knew Doctor Chen’s journey was one of slaying demons and purging evil—a path of peril, yet also one of boundless valor.
Were his own strength sufficient, he would gladly follow.
…
anwhile, in a blood-drenched palace, the beautiful yet sinister man from before stood with two other late-stage Golden Core demonic cultivators around a blood pool.
They poured endless incantations into it, feeding eighteen blood banners that exuded a suffocatingly evil aura.
The thick blood within the pool churned, faces twisting within as if countless souls tried to break free.
But each attempt was ruthlessly suppressed, only birthing more resentnt and pain.
The sinister man paused mid-incantation, frowning.
“Where is that eagle demon? We’re short one blood soul for completing the refinent of the Blood Fiend Soul Banner. Yet he’s nowhere to be found at such a critical ti!”
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