I Can Strengthen Infinitely

Looking at these Seven-Star Supervisors who used to work with Li Mu, Qin Yuesheng nodded to himself in secret. Ever since Li Mu crushed the purple-gold Exorcism Toad that day, Chang’an had fallen into chaos. If anyone could solve this problem, maybe the answer lay in these people.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Even though they were experts in the Inner Power Realm, facing the emperor, these Seven-Star Supervisory Deputy Generals could only kneel with both knees, which seemed rather pitiful.

"Beloved officials, please rise." Li Qi calmly waved his hand through the air, granting permission for them to stand.

"Beloved officials, this is the capable person I have specially invited to deal with the current chaos in Chang’an. He needs your assistance this time—for the sake of restoring Chang’an to normal, you must cooperate fully," said Li Qi.

"We obey Your Majesty’s orders."

Since the emperor himself had commanded, none could refuse. All lifted their heads to size up Qin Yuesheng, wanting to see what solution this young man could possibly have to restore Chang’an.

Qin Yuesheng stepped forward and asked, "You are the Deputy Generals of the Seven-Star Supervisory under Prince Li Mu. I want to ask, do any of you know the secret behind Prince Li Mu’s purple-gold Exorcism Toad?"

The six thought for a moment: "Do you mean Chang’an ended up like this because the General released malice? That can’t be... The Prince is the Seven-Star Supervisory General, he understands better than anyone that malice must never be released. Especially in Chang’an—any mistake would turn all its citizens into soulless corpses, and the city into a haunt for ghosts."

"But in truth, that’s exactly what Li Mu did. I hope you are willing to cooperate with me, so we can restore Chang’an together," Qin Yuesheng replied calmly.

"Alright, fine. The truth is as follows." One Deputy General considered, then honestly revealed everything he knew.

It turned out that beneath the Seven-Star Supervisory compound, there was a hidden chamber containing a black toad—the toad was carved from Jade Block, originally immaculate White Jade, but after storing malice for centuries, it had turned completely pitch-black.

Within Li Mu’s purple-gold Exorcism Toad, there was a treasure that could command the malice stored within the black toad.

Malice Source Pearl.

"If you have the Malice Source Pearl, can you recover all the released malice?" Qin Yuesheng asked.

"In Chang’an, the main toad is under the Seven-Star Supervisory compound, but there are nine spots around the city with eight more small toads, all hiding malice. If the Malice Source Pearl is used, it should be possible to resolve Chang’an’s situation."

Qin Yuesheng asked, "Do you know how to control the Malice Source Pearl?"

"Only the Generals of each generation know. Deputy Generals cannot touch the Malice Source Pearl." They all shook their heads.

"Then take me to the main toad underground now."

Apart from the Supervisory Generals and their deputies, nobody else knew that beneath the Seven-Star Supervisory compound lay another secret chamber—even the emperor himself had no idea.

Descending the stone steps passage, when they saw that towering black toad—larger than three men—Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but shiver, feeling a chill seep into his bones.

As the vessel storing centuries of malice, the Jade Toad not having become a monster already seemed a miracle to Qin Yuesheng.

"So cold..." The martial artists following behind couldn’t help but mumble.

Once malice gets thick enough, even the bodies of martial artists can’t handle it.

Nine Little Red Suns erupted from Qin Yuesheng’s body as he walked toward the toad, reaching into his spatial pouch to retrieve the Malice Source Pearl. Sure enough, there was a strange resonance; as the Pearl approached the Jade Toad, it instantly grew restless.

Unlike before, the Malice Source Pearl suddenly tried to burrow into Qin Yuesheng’s palm, as if to invade his body.

Qin Yuesheng wasn’t about to let that happen. He blocked it with Inner Strength, gripping it tightly so it couldn’t move an inch.

"Let’s see whose power prevails—your centuries of malice, or my power of decomposition." With a fierce gleam in his eye, Qin Yuesheng pressed his hand to the surface of the Jade Toad.

Sssss!

The instant Qin Yuesheng’s palm touched the Jade Toad, an indescribably icy chill flooded out, making Qin Yuesheng shudder and instantly lose feeling in his hand.

But he didn’t care, immediately triggering the decomposition ability.

Oooh! Oooh!

[Decomposition successful, acquired ’Four Hundred Years Malice Soul x1’, ’Sixty Years Malice Soul x1’]

Beyond anyone’s expectations, the massive black Jade Toad suddenly vanished before their eyes, and the frigid aura dispersed in an instant, gone without a trace.

"This..." The six Deputy Generals were the most shocked of all; nobody understood how terrifying the malice here was better than them. Even Li Mu himself was always afraid to get too close—yet now, it was just... gone?

Qin Yuesheng picked up the two balls of light on the ground, storing them in his spatial pouch, then turned and headed straight down the passage.

...

As soon as the Jade Toad vanished, the black clouds above Chang’an cracked open, fragments splitting away to reveal the sunlight of day.

Beams of sunlight, like heavenly swords, poured down, illuminating Chang’an with brilliance.

The black clouds cleared with increasing speed until they finally dissolved completely, restoring Chang’an to normal.

"Daybreak! It’s daybreak!"

"Thank the Bodhisattva, thank the Bodhisattva!"

In that instant, all of Chang’an City erupted—old folks fell to their knees, giving thanks to the gods.

Many linked this event to newly enthroned Emperor Li Qi—the more inexplicable the event, the more people attributed it to divine intervention.

So Li Qi became a lucky star in the eyes of Chang’an’s people.

Qin Yuesheng didn’t care about any of that. With Li Mu dead, Chang’an was now securely his. Let Sanhuang remain here and play at being emperor; Qin Yuesheng had no intention of staying—after months away from home, it was finally time to visit his parents.

...

To the south of Chang’an, regions like the Central Plains and Jiangnan were now the safest places in all the Nine Provinces. With no rebel uprisings, the migrants could settle down, the government opened its granaries, and life in the south was gradually improving.

"As for Bai Ningxuan, I don’t need to go looking for her. Let her stay over there a while longer—I’m enjoying my freedom."

Qin Yuesheng rode a white horse, sauntering south on the official road.

"How’s it going up north? Qin Killer went to suppress the rebellion, but who knows if he managed?"

Ever since Qin Killer left for the north, quite a bit of time had passed, but the situation there was still unstable. Qin Yuesheng planned to visit his relatives in Cyan Yang City first, and then hurry north to check things out.

Now, as summer turned to autumn, the weather was cool—perfect for traveling. Along the way, Qin Yuesheng passed several cities and saw some ladies from wealthy families going out for sightseeing, a sign that order had returned to Jiangnan, far from the chaos of before.

Before the month was out, Qin Yuesheng arrived in Yangzhou Prefecture. While the journey seemed leisurely, he’d absorbed a good amount of Wood Qi along the way, making some progress in the Wood Qi Chaoyuan Realm.

Staring up at the majestic Yangzhou Prefecture, Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but recall everything he’d experienced in Jiangnan’s greatest city. Though he was now a Grandmaster, nostalgia welled inside him as he spurred his horse into the city.

"Hey! You little brat, how dare you hit me!"

"In broad daylight you tried to molest this lady—I’ll hit you as much as I want!"

Suddenly, chaos erupted at the city gate and a crowd rapidly gathered, ready to watch the commotion.