Chapter 180 - 131: Killing Trap
「Just then—」
"Hm."
Shao Qiu, who was sitting on a treetop, suddenly furrowed his brow and looked into the distance. Soon, a man in a cyan robe appeared. His hands were clasped behind his back, and a cyan light glowed beneath his feet. With incredible speed, he closed the distance and arrived before the carriage.
A miniature Cyan Blade floated beside him.
It let out an occasional BUZZ.
"So, you’ve come."
Shao Qiu looked at the newcomer, fiddling with the dagger in his hand. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he said with a smile, "You didn’t actually need to come. I’m enough for this. I have the situation under control."
The newcomer was none other than Qi Yue.
Shao Qiu was rather annoyed with Qi Yue. It wasn’t because Qi Yue had once pinned him to the ground with Sword Qi; he didn’t care much about that. It was normal to be outmatched. What irked him was that the guy had actually claimed no one in the world could kill him.
’The guy’s just a Level 9 Cultivator. Even if he’s only one step away from becoming a Martial King, that one step is an insurmountable chasm for many people—one they might never cross in their entire lives.’
’Isn’t that a little too arrogant?’
’My greatest achievement was assassinating a Level 11 Martial King, after all!’
’Besides, the guy was just too damn cocky.’
「These past few days.」
Qi Yue had remained in the Mortal Realm to train Zhou Mo and the others. The results were obvious: the Cultivation and combat strength of everyone in the Mortal Realm’s Battle Pavilion had increased dramatically in a short period.
The Sheep Race had been placed entirely under Gongyang Yiyue’s management and was also participating in the market frenzy led by the Mortal Realm.
Only Gongyang Yue stood at the entrance to the canyon every day, holding a meal and waiting for Qi Yue.
Currently, Qi Yue was the only outsider permitted to enter the Mortal Realm; no one else was allowed.
"..."
Qi Yue stood in the jungle, clad in his cyan robe with his hands behind his back. He withdrew his gaze from Shao Qiu, letting it fall upon the solitary carriage. "The Domain Lord summoned me," he said calmly. "He said something was wrong with the people in the carriage and that my help might be needed."
"But you..."
"Your Cultivation is much higher than the last time we met. You’ve improved quickly."
"Heh."
Sitting on the branch, Shao Qiu swung his legs, tilting his head with a smile. "Before, a part of my soul was held by that woman, stored in a Soul Token. The Domain Lord has now returned it to me, so my strength and Cultivation have naturally recovered."
"You didn’t actually think I was a nobody, did you?"
"My greatest achievement was assassinating a Level 11 Martial King."
A flicker of movement in Qi Yue’s eyes. He had heard of Soul Tokens, but...
"The Domain Lord trusts you that much?"
"I am worthy of trust."
"I’ve heard of Swordsmen being trustworthy, and I’ve heard of other Swordsmen being trustworthy. But I’ve never heard of an Assassin being trustworthy."
"You seem to have some prejudice against Assassins."
Shao Qiu stared intently at Qi Yue, his dissatisfaction growing. "In your eyes, it’s like Assassins are some kind of filth. You make us sound like rats hiding in the gutter, waiting to deal a fatal blow to our enemies at any moment."
"And you’re not?"
Shao Qiu was momentarily speechless. Just as he was about to say something more...
The carriage suddenly stopped.
The people inside were no longer struggling.
Qi Yue, still standing in the same spot, felt his pupils contract. The miniature Cyan Blade circling beside him suddenly shot out, aiming straight for the carriage. In an instant, the carriage, pulled by three Skeleton Horses, shattered. The Skeleton Horses themselves disintegrated into Bone Shards.
The people from the carriage fell to the ground.
They were already unconscious, their skin covered in a dense network of patterns that had appeared from nowhere. The sight was deeply unsettling.
"..."
Shao Qiu watched this, a trace of fear in his eyes. ’This guy is definitely not an Ordinary Level 9 Cultivator,’ he thought. ’That carriage had fifty percent of the defense of a Level 1 City Wall, and he shattered it with a single casual strike.’
’His strength cannot be underestimated.’
’Getting hit by that sword would probably hurt a little.’
But he couldn’t resist a verbal jab.
"That carriage sells for 5,000 Ghost Stones in the Mortal Realm Marketplace. That was an expensive sword strike."
But then, his expression changed in an instant when he noticed the patterns on the men’s bodies. He retreated rapidly, vanishing in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a single, urgent shout.
"Fall back!"
"That’s the Nine Heavens Divine Demon Pattern!"
The very instant Shao Qiu’s voice sounded, Qi Yue retreated, disappearing into the jungle. As for Lame Monkey, he had already led his men from the Punishment Pavilion to a safe distance long before.
「The next moment—」
"BOOM!!!"
The bodies of the men covered in patterns instantly exploded. A bloody mist filled the entire jungle, and the sound was so loud it echoed throughout Nameless Mountain.
Even the ground trembled faintly.
「When they returned to the spot,」
The carriage and the men were gone. All that remained was a Deep Pit in the ground. The power of that blast was enough to destroy... a Level 2 City Wall.
"Domain Lord."
Shao Qiu’s expression was grim as he spoke. "Those men self-destructed. It was the Nine Heavens Divine Demon Pattern. It’s an extremely vicious pattern, originally an Artifact Refining inscription handed down from the Ancient Era. But later, it was discovered that carving it onto human skin in a specific way produces a peculiar effect."
"What do you mean, ’Ancient Era’?"
Qi Yue immediately seized on the key phrase in Shao Qiu’s words and turned to look at him.
"Now is not the time for that."
"Domain Lord, you might be in danger."
"Be careful. I’m on my way."
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shao Qiu activated his Body Technique. His form dissolved into a gray mist, bobbing through the jungle as he rushed down the mountain at a speed even faster than the Skeleton Horses.
’Nothing can happen to the Domain Lord.’
’Otherwise, I’ll never be able to build the world-renowned Dark Pavilion!’
’This is my dream.’
’Everyone needs a dream. Otherwise, what’s the difference between being alive and being dead?’
Qi Yue also moved swiftly through the jungle, following closely behind Shao Qiu. However, his Body Technique was inferior to the assassin’s, and the distance between them gradually widened.