Chapter 35

Chapter 35: A Wrinkle in the Wind

Xu Qing frowned and turned to look.

Hundreds of small jellyfish charged in from the valley entrance, rushing towards the group of young men and women and their guards.

These people’s expressions drastically changed, and they immediately began to fight back. This was especially so for the guards, who put their lives on the line to stop the jellyfish.

The older young man Xu Qing had noticed before also made his move. Spiritual energy fluctuations of the seventh level of Qi Condensation spread out as he struck out with dazzling light.

But there were too many jellyfish, and these jellyfish even seemed to be somewhat resistant to spells. Despite being hit over and over, they seemed to be taking relatively little damage.

Moreover, these jellyfish were extremely fast, attacked sharply, and flexibly coordinated with each other. In just a short while, seven or eight people had already been killed.

A young man whose expensive clothes were now in tatters revealed despair in his eyes as a jellyfish locked on to him. He scrambled back in a panic and called out for help to the young man on the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

"Young Master Bai, save me!"

As he opened his mouth, a ray of dazzling light whizzed over and blocked the jellyfish, allowing the young man to dodge in a panic.

Although Xu Qing was relatively far away, some jellyfish also targeted him.

Three of them charged towards him, intending to pass through his body and devour his organs.

However, a cold light flashed through Xu Qing’s eyes, and he raised his right hand and punched out.

With a bang, his fist struck the first jellyfish. The jellyfish’s whole body shook, and unable to bear the force, it collapsed and fell apart.

Xu Qing’s movements didn’t stop. A moment later, a dagger appeared in his left hand, and he charged towards the remaining two jellyfish.

He was both faster and more agile than the jellyfish. In the blink of an eye, the two jellyfish suddenly split in half.

The young men and women fighting against the jellyfish saw this scene. Their hearts trembled and they instinctively moved closer to Xu Qing.

After he killed three jellyfish in rapid succession, other jellyfish also opened up the eyes on their tentacles and rushed towards Xu Qing.

This time, more than a dozen jellyfish came over.

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change as he rushed forward instead of retreating. His figure left afterimages as he charged forth, and the dagger in his hand exuded a cold light. Jellyfish collapsed one after another as he passed by.

And with their deaths, a large amount of heterogeneity spread into the surroundings. Most of the plants in the valley turned blue-black instantly, including those in Xu Qing’s medicine house. The injured guards were also tainted by it.

Seeing his valley become like this, Xu Qing’s eyes blazed with killing intent.

His body rushed out again, and he was even faster this time. He rapidly slashed with his dagger, and jellyfish quickly collapsed one after another. However, Xu Qing soon frowned. The dagger in his hand seemed to be unable to bear the constant erosion of heterogeneity, and it quickly broke down.

Xu Qing didn’t have time to feel distressed, so he just pulled out the iron skewer and continued killing jellyfish, also sprinkling poison powder while he was at it.

Although these jellyfish were highly resistant to poison, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to keep throwing out powder. The purpose of his poison wasn’t just to kill, but also to neutralize the scent of the year-centipede blood.

As for his weapon, Xu Qing actually had a problem. Although his iron skewer had strong penetrating power, it wasn’t as good as the dagger when it came to slashing. But at this moment, a low shout came from behind him.

"Friend, use my sword!"

As these words rang out, a sword emitting a cold glow was thrown over from behind Xu Qing, who caught it with his left hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the person who threw the sword was the young man called Young Master Bai.

Xu Qing didn’t speak, but he immediately felt how extraordinary the sword was when he held it.

With a shake, a sharp and cold light spread from the sword. Although Xu Qing had never used a sword, it was sharp enough that he could still cut through seven or eight jellyfish in an instant.

More and more jellyfish corpses littered the ground, and Xu Qing’s body was already covered with their blue blood. The remaining three guards and the rest of the young man and women hid behind him, their eyes full of terror and disbelief.

"Too… too strong!"

“He’s a body refiner, but what level is he at? Could it be that he’s reached the peak level?”

“No, from his spiritual energy fluctuations, it looks like he’s only in the fifth or sixth level.”

“His cultivation isn’t important, what’s most important is his ruthlessness.” The guards and those young men and women were deeply shaken by Xu Qing’s attacks.

Even that Young Master Bai gasped in shock. The glove-wearing woman was also in the crowd, and her heart rate quickened. Facing Xu Qing’s might, she stopped thinking about pulling any little tricks.

Xu Qing gave off the same aura as those people in her family who were called monsters.

Those monsters had each killed countless people, and she would instinctively shrink back in fear whenever she saw them. Right now, the young man in front of her was giving her the exact same feeling.

She didn’t want to provoke such a person.

This was even more so now that her mission had been completed. She had done her job and attracted a swarm of jellyfish over, so whether or not the people from the church could successfully get what they wanted from the jellyfish nest had nothing to do with her.

In addition, the danger this time had exceeded her expectations. Reaching with her right hand, she pulled a jade slip out of her bosom. This was a talisman treasure that was used for teleportation.

It was also what she was relying on.

Just when she was hesitating about whether or not to crush it, a boom rang out from the entrance to the valley, and dozens of jellyfish rushed in.

The girl no longer hesitated and crushed the teleportation jade slip in her hand. Her figure instantly disappeared from the valley.

Her departure made complicated expressions appear on the faces of the companions beside her.

Xu Qing didn’t pay attention to any of this. He stared at the swarm of jellyfish rushing over, calculating the distance. As he stood there, the qi and blood in his body burst forth, and he opened his mouth and let out a roar towards the incoming jellyfish.

As his qi and blood swelled, he quickly circulated the Sea and Mountain Art. The Chief Shadow immediately appeared behind him, also letting out a roar.

The Chief Shadow had a ferocious demeanor, and with the single horn on its head and its pitch black body, it seemed to have crawled out of hell. Faint purple light flashed in its eyes, giving it a bizarre and awe-inspiring appearance.

Its roar was soundless, but it combined with Xu Qing’s roar to give off a powerful deterrent. The jellyfish that were rushing over stopped one after another, and they opened all their eyes to stare at Xu Qing.

And it wasn’t only the jellyfish who were shocked to a stop. The young men and women behind Xu Qing instantly turned pale, and their pupils contracted when they saw the Chief Shadow behind Xu Qing.

“Qi and blood forming a shadow!!”

“This… this is… this is something that will only appear in a person at the peak of body refinement!”

Their minds shook violently in astonishment.

Those jellyfish could also clearly feel Xu Qing’s ferocity, and the poison he previously scattered finally showed its effect. By now, the scent of the year-centipede blood in the valley had dissipated.

So after staring at Xu Qing for a while, the jellyfish slowly retreated, reaching the valley entrance and quickly leaving.

Watching the jellyfish leave, Xu Qing also heaved a sigh of relief. He turned around and looked coldly at the group of young men and women.

In particular, his gaze focused on the place where the glove-wearing girl had been before.

He no longer saw her.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes.

At the same time, as he glanced over them, a few young girls of the group were so scared they started crying.

After all, Xu Qing looked extremely ghastly at this moment.

Moonlight poured down on him, and his whole body was covered with blue blood. Combining his ice-cold eyes and the ferocious Chief Shadow behind him, he seemed like a ghost that had stepped out of hell!

Only that young man surnamed Bai could barely suppress the fear in his heart, cupping his fists towards Xu Qing.

“I am Bai Yundong. Thank you for your help, friend. We will definitely repay this kindness!”

Seemingly noticing where Xu Qing had glanced at just now, Bai Yundong took a deep breath before explaining.

“The one who teleported away is Li Ruolin. Her family is skilled at array formations, so they gave her a teleportation talisman in order to allow her to escape a life-threatening crisis.”

“You don’t have one?” Xu Qing looked at Bai Yundong.

Bai Yundong smiled bitterly, and the young men and women beside him were also silent.

“Although we are all from Great Clans of Purple Earth, we’re not direct descendants. We might look glamorous, but it’s all superficial.”

Xu Qing nodded and tossed the sword in his hand to Bai Yundong. As the other young men and women continued to thank him, he suddenly looked at Bai Yundong and asked.

“Who is Grandmaster Bai to you?”

“He’s my third grandfather.” Bai Yundong was taken aback. After answering, he asked his own question.

“You know my third grandfather?”

Xu Qing looked at him deeply and nodded without saying a word. He turned around to look at the valley entrance, then looked up at the sky.

“The heterogeneity here is too strong. You can’t stay for a long time, so I’ll send you off.”

After he spoke, Xu Qing walked to the entrance of the valley. Bai Yundong hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and following. The other young men and women also knew what was good for them, so they followed one after another.

Thus, a group of youths stepped out of the valley and ran towards the edge of the jungle in the dark night.

Although they hadn’t put up much of a resistance against the jellyfish, each of them had a decent cultivation base. After experiencing this life and death crisis, they had also transformed mentally.

So as they ran through the night, they didn’t speak. All of them just silently followed Xu Qing.

Even though those few young girls in the group were exhausted, they gritted their teeth and persevered. Just like that, the group walked all night.

Finally, when dawn broke, they saw the world beyond the edge of the jungle in the distance.

Excitement rose up in their hearts, and their tired bodies seemed to suddenly fill with strength. Just then, a whistling sound came from a distance.

Xu Qing looked up vigilantly, and he immediately saw three airborne figures soaring over.

They were the experts who had previously been with the group of young men and women.

Xu Qing’s previous judgment was correct. These experts had previously lured away the large jellyfish, and they clearly had suffered casualties. After they arrived, the young men and women quickly ran over and started excitedly narrating the past events, and the experts turned to take a deep look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked back vigilantly and remained a certain distance away. He secretly took out some of his poison powder.

However, these three experts didn’t approach Xu Qing. Instead, they nodded to him and stepped to the front of the party.

Although they had seen the edge of the jungle at dawn, the group only left the forbidden area when it was just before noon.

When the group of young men and women left the jungle and stepped into the outside world, their excitement could no longer be suppressed. Many of them even began to cry.

Xu Qing was the last to leave the jungle. He stood a distance away as he watched these people without saying a word.

Soon, Bai Yundong and the rest of the young men and women went over to Xu Qing. After giving him their sincere thanks, they all introduced themselves.

“We only came here to gain experience temporarily. We used up everything valuable on our persons in the forbidden area, and the heterogeneity in our bodies is too strong, so we need to go through the teleportation arrays in nearby cities and return to Purple Earth as soon as possible. None of us will forget this favor. Also… you can keep this sword.”

Bai Yundong bowed deeply and left behind his sword.

Xu Qing watched the group leave before picking up the sharp sword.

The blade of the sword was an orchid purple, and it glowed with cold light. Despite having killed many jellyfish and being inundated by heterogeneity, it wasn’t damaged or corroded at all. Just by looking at it, the icy coldness could be felt. Clearly, this sword was one of the best weapons below talisman treasures.

Although it was a bit long and not as convenient as a dagger, Xu Qing still found it easy enough to use. He wrapped it in hemp to hide the edge and carried it behind his back.

Looking up at the sky, Xu Qing returned to the scavenger camp.

He planned to go back and buy a few daggers, then wait a few days for the jellyfish swarm to disperse before returning to the forbidden area.

Time passed, and the afternoon sun lazily shone down when Xu Qing arrived at the camp. However, after only walking a few steps, he frowned slightly. He felt that something seemed off...

There were many strangers in the camp.

The surrounding scavengers all had strange looks on their faces when they saw Xu Qing. One of them was among those whom he’d saved back then, and when he saw Xu Qing, he looked like he wanted to say something.

In the end, although the scavenger didn’t speak, he pointed in the direction of Xu Qing’s residence.

Xu Qing’s heart skipped a beat, and while glancing around, he also began to hurry.

When he arrived at his residence, he immediately noticed that many gazes fell on him, staring coldly.

Xu Qing immediately recognized the owners of these gazes from their clothing. They were all guards who came from the camp owner’s mansion!

In an alley not far away, the camp owner’s trident-bearded subordinate smiled at him coldly.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and pushed open the door to the courtyard. He saw a pale Cross sitting there with an ugly expression, and Luan Ya was beside him, seemingly heavily injured.

The moment Xu Qing walked in, both of them suddenly looked over.

"Kid, it’s Captain Thunder...something happened." Cross’s right hand was bandaged, and it was still trembling. After seeing Xu Qing, he spoke in a low voice before coughing violently and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

His words were like a thunderclap to Xu Qing’s ears. Instantly, Xu Qing’s heart tensed up and his breathing hastened as a rumbling sounds reverberated in his mind.

Xu Qing’s heart began to pound, and his body froze up. He had a bad premonition, and an astonishing killing intent erupted from his body, causing the surrounding temperature to seemingly cool down.

“What happened?” The chill emitted from his body was nothing compared to the bone-deep chill in his slightly trembling voice.

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