"Conquer minds or destroy bodies?"
The young lady who came here on a fish stared fixedly at Ye Que as she questioned him curiously.
Ye Que stared at the plump goldfish in the air that was shaking its wide tail and displaying its four transparent fins. With a sway or two of its body, it landed on the Grass-pecking Cliff. Then, it transformed into a bulging spice bag with a single shake and automatically hung itself on the young lady's waist. After witnessing this strange scene, Ye Que asked indifferently, "Conquering minds or destroying bodies? You can take it whichever you want."
"I think it's conquering minds." The young lady placed a finger to her lips. She encircled Ye Que and then looked at the marks left behind on the ground by the battle earlier. "I spotted your Spirit Sword from afar. If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the 13 Mother and Children of Spring and Autumn Swords recorded in the Million Swords Registry."
"Judging
These were his fellow Qingqiu Sword Sect disciples, his senior brothers and senior sisters, and yet Ye Que didn't know any of them. He hadn't even heard of the name of the so-called girl genius. His knowledge of the birth of the Divine Tool, the River Soldiers, was even more so sparse. This sounded like a fantasy but the truth was that he really had no idea. In his previous life, he had been reticent and laser-focused on cultivation when he first entered the Qingqiu Sword Sect. He completely ignored what was going on in the world outside, least of all the gossip in the Cultivation World. By the time he began communicating with those around him like an ordinary person, a few years had passed and the incident at the ley lines of sovereignty of the Imperial Mausoleum was already a done deal. Not only did the Qingqiu Sword Sect gain nothing, but they even lost their disciples. Naturally, they wouldn't spread this news.
"That Three-eyed Spirit Deer belongs to us." Even though Li Jianqi was her idol, Nalan Rongruo was never one to yield when it came to principles. "The Spirit Deer was left on the ground without anyone picking it up. Since I picked it up, naturally it's mine," Li Jianqi said righteously. "Besides, you caught this deer for food. I didn't say that I'm going to eat it alone. Everyone's free to join." "If anyone's eating it, it's ours," Nalan Rongruo replied stubbornly. "Let's just say the deer is yours, alright?" Li Jianqi rolled her eyes. "So are you eating or not?" "Of course! Whoever doesn't eat it is an idiot." "I have never eaten this deer before." Their Spiritual Force was fluctuating after spending a good 15 minutes running for their lives. Nalan Rongruo and her fellow disciples had depleted nearly all of their Spiritual Force. This Three-eyed Spirit Deer was exactly what they needed
They ran as if their lives depended on it. The group had been running from noon to dusk, from the Grass-pecking Cliff to the lush green forest and all the way to the dark wasteland. The sun gradually descended, dimming what little light in the wasteland as twilight gained strength. Standing against a backdrop of the setting sun, Ye Que and his seven companions looked at the pure-black silhouette that had gradually transformed into a blood-red canvas from afar. By now, they had noticed some rhyme and rhythm to all these phenomena. Every hour since the destruction of the maple forest, the ground would collapse, disappear, and become a hole of immeasurable depth. The ground would start caving in from the sides and gradually compress toward the center. The process would last for 15 minutes each time. This place was like a living rounded pocket that progressively shrunk in an attempt to herd all living creatures toward its center.
The night was so dark that there wasn't even a ray of moonlight. The only light source was the dim stars in the sky. The campsite that they hastily found was a canvas of darkness. This place seemed even darker than the wasteland around them. Silence persisted. The only noise was the faint sound of breathing. The group had changed their campsite three times in a single night. Even if their bodies were made of iron, they would inevitably go hungry. Out of the blue, a sniffling sound came from afar. It didn't sound like the wolves were trying to ambush them but the person on guarding duty was still nervous. Ye Que opened his eyes momentarily before shutting them again. Soon, the sound became closer and it became clear who it was. It was the independent female disciple from the Silent Monastery. She was still riding her plump goldfish but the fish appeared to be in a miserable condition. Half of its gold
The curtain of night enveloped the dark wasteland as a massacre quietly began. Different groups of cultivators were huddled toward the same area by the cracking ground within a short time. The repeated encounters led to fierce battles. The density of humans became increasingly high while the Five Main Tribes of the Demon Race gradually acted upon the cultivators. Some were so terrified that they began hiding while some disguised themselves as demons and killed their opponents in the confusion. There were also those who quietly prepared to hunt demons as a way of gaining notoriety. Soon, countless silhouettes began engaging in a confused battle. The dead fell to the ground, battered and bloodied. The living fought back even more fiercely. Gradually, the earth absorbed more and more blood, some belonging to the human cultivators and some belonging to the cultivators from the Demon Race. E
It didn't take long for the temperature in the dark wasteland to drop tremendously low. The wind never ceased. Though the gusts weren't terribly cold, they could pierce the depths of the body through the crevices of clothing like fine strands of hair and gradually rob the body of its warmth. After evading yet another cracking on the ground, Ye Que's group finally detected something unusual. The Eldest Senior Brother of the Seven Sabers Sect of Qingqiu, Yan Ziyue, stared into the distance with a frown. Looking past the sparse and short shrubs, he could vaguely see some shadows moving. "Something's wrong. Let's not set up camp first. Send a few people to scout out the place," Yan Ziyue said, sounding a little uncertain. "Senior Brother Yan, did you notice something?" Lin Xibei from the Incense Fragrance Valley of Qingqiu turned his head to look around. "Better safe than sorry. It's never wrong to be mo
The sun bathed the clouds in blood-red sunlight. The daytime that should represent vitality now resembled the white cloth hung during a funeral. Danger and death were knocking at the door but the discussion was still ongoing. This concerned their lives; no one was willing to make a joke out of it. "I think we should break out of the siege from the east. There, we can prevent a two-sided attack. Who knows if those from Mount Shu and the Judicature aren't mad? If they're really trying to weaken our strength to obtain the Divine Tool, they might silence us with death!" Yan Ziyue of the Seven Sabers Sect of Qingqiu suggested the cruelest, worst-case scenario. "Not the east. We should break out the siege from the north. Don't forget the natural disaster that will swallow us is right behind us. What if the ground cracks while we're breaking out? The north is safer," Lin Xibei of the Incense Fragrance Valley said serenely. "Didn't any
In no time at all. Ye Que tamed the extremely wild Cloud-hoofed Red Hare. The hare had no choice because it could feel, through its human-like cloud-hooves, that the youngster in front of it would definitely keep his word and kill it. No matter how wild the hare was, it was nonetheless one that knew its capabilities. This logic was particularly evident in the world of beasts. The Cloud-hoofed Red Hare shook its head, the size of a horse or a deer's head, and curled its thick lips. It shook its large buttocks with force and even blinked its large eyes. Its meaning was clear without needing to be verbalized. Not only it had completely surrendered, but it was also trying its best to placate its new master. Ye Que ignored the beast and took out a 10-meter-long pike from the spice bag tied to his waist. Initially, he had prepared the pike for Qian Shuhua but he discovered it when inspecting his spice bag yesterday. The stubborn girl
Li Jianqi was a Formless Realm expert who had absorbed the Battle Soul of the Great Founder. Even though she was not well versed in formations, she did not have to be so careful. However, both Uncle Jiao and her walked extremely carefully. The higher the realm, the more a practitioner was able to understand how tough the path to cultivation was, and the more he or she was able to understand that there was always someone more powerful than them out there. Moreover, the formations gave off an obvious prehistoric aura and were evidently not from any technique of the current Cultivation World. As such, neither of them dared to take the formations lightly. They were not in the royal palace. Who knew what sort of offensive capabilities Ye Que had incorporated into these formations? What if they attacked them without differentiating between friend and foe? They were not really worried about dying in the manor, but mostly they were afr
Even Ye Que himself was not entirely sure of the phenomenon, much less Li Jianqi. However, a lack of understanding would not obstruct him from learning. The Divine Book seemed to have grown increasingly amazing. Till now, there were already more than 20000 Divine Sect Seminary disciples, and its name was already known among all of the people at the bottom of society in Luoyang. It did not collect fees nor commission and imparted cultivation methods for free. It took it upon itself to explain one's doubts in cultivation away, and it was not a front. The methods Ye Que taught his disciples really allowed them to sense Nature's Spiritual Qi. It was only natural that something as wonderful as this was passed on by mouth, and more people began joining. No one was able to withstand the temptation of progressing in the world of cultivation once he or she entered it. Naturally, they would join the wild goose chase. As its
Winning the competition held among the troops stationed in Luoyang with a set of saber skills? One had to know that the Southern Encampment did not consist of troops stationed at the border. Even though they underwent much training, their prowess in battle was still somewhat behind the border troops. During the previous competitions of such small groups of a thousand soldiers each, the four encampments were not favorites to win. Ye Que had just allowed 1000 soldiers from the Southern Encampment to win the competition after teaching them a set of saber techniques consisting of only about a dozen moves over three days! It was no wonder that Zhang Yue would find it necessary to report the matter to Li Jianqi. "Is the saber technique related to the Southern Encampment winning the competition?" Li Jianqi asked somewhat suspiciously. There were battle techniques in the army as well. Each encampment had its own recognize
Ye Que remained in the Southern Encampment for three days. Ye Que began to hypothesize on the third day the reason that caused the strange phenomenon within his Spiritual Sea. With the aid of the soldiers, Ye Que was finally able to come to a conclusion. The Divine Sect Seminary disciples and the soldiers had practiced the Mountain-Splitting, Water-ceasing and Heaven-Splitting techniques, and there was no reaction from his Spiritual Sea if there were 100 or less than them. If there were more than 100 of them, however, his Spiritual Sea would begin to froth, but only when seminary disciples who had learned the Divine Sect's cultivation technique were present. It did not react when soldiers from the Southern Encampment practiced the Mountain-Splitting stroke. Also, if the energy and spirits of the disciples were not in sync, and they were training at their own pace, there would not be any reaction from his Spiritual Sea. Four cri
"Lend me a thousand soldiers. I have to test a hypothesis." The figure in red light armor standing in front of the military monument had just stopped releasing more sword energy when Ye Que walked up to her. When she turned to face him, Li Jianqi's aura had reverted back to the youthful and beautiful young woman, completely devoid of the bloodthirsty battle intent she displayed earlier on. As Ye Que thought about it, he believed that it should be the effects of absorbing her ancestor's Battle Soul in the Imperial Mausoleum. "Ye Que?" Li Jianqi exclaimed, somewhat shocked. "You want to borrow a thousand soldiers? For a deduction?" "Stop asking me so many questions. I can't explain all of them right away. Just tell me if you would lend them to me?" Ye Que asked somewhat impatiently. Anyone would also be in a hurry to prove his or her theory correct after experiencing so many amazing things and a way of amplifying the power of one's own cultiva
Three saber strokes were made before the gates of the seminary. Ye Que's Spiritual Sea exploded thrice. Ye Que nearly stumbled off the Bridge of Long Life and looked incredulously at the disciples not far away from him. They had still not noticed him and were still practicing their saber techniques. This was because they had also discovered something amazing. It was common for practitioners to be unable to grasp the essence of their training while practicing saber techniques on their own. Their physical selves, sabers, Spiritual Forces, Spiritual Seas and pathways of their sabers were always in disharmony. Training with thousands of other people, however, would speed things up, causing man and saber to reach a state of harmony very quickly, as if the larger the number of practitioners, the greater the benefits. Some of the practitioners had not realized this fact during the first round of training, but by the third round, even
Xichuan Town was a small ordinary town at the western border of Tang State, but it was renowned far and wide. This was because it was situated at a position that was nearly as far away from each of the six neighboring nations at the western border. During a normal day, cargo and trade flowed in and out of the town, as did merchants and travelers. A teahouse was located at the entrance to the town, and two elders sat at a table near the windows. Both of them had white hair, and a chess set was placed right in front of them. The black and white chess pieces were engaged in a titanic battle, and the moves they made were so complicated that it was hard to tell who would emerge as the victor. The elder on the left of the table pinched up a white chess piece with his fingers. "The Tang State has sent out 30 thousand light cavalries to Western Xia. Looks like they are expecting a quick victory." The other elder at the opposite end of the table laug
Gradually, the sky took on a marble-white color as dawn arrived. Frost and dew gathered on the walls of the palace. Li Chunzhi's brows were decorated with a layer of frost. The Chief Councillor of the Grand Council of Tang State trailed behind him, with the imperial bodyguards staying put a short distance away. Countless cultivators from the Judicature lay in ambush at all corners. Tang State continued to be compromised from all sides. If anything happened to Li Chunzhi, it would be the cherry on top of their misfortune. No one went up to stop him. Neither did they dare to. They could all tell that this soon-to-be Emperor was stewed in worries underneath his expressionless face. At dawn, Li Jianqi draped a white robe over her shoulders and climbed up the tower atop the walls. She stood behind Li Chunzhi and contemplated for some time before saying gently, "Father, you should mind your health. You've stood here for an entire nig
Inside the quiet General's Manor, a black-clothed man was shouting himself hoarse. Ye Que didn't think he would be ambushed on his first official return to the manor or that the assassins would be survivors of the Ye Army. These people must have mistaken him for being a Devil Seed after he used his Sword Qi to bind them. Perhaps the battle in You Prefecture left too deep a trauma in them that they would mistake anyone with supernatural powers as a cultivator, a devil, and the culprit behind their brothers' massacre. "Did all of you run from the city of You Prefecture?" Ye Que had released the bind his Sword Qi placed on them. The group of men remained deeply wary of him even after they were freed. However, they refused to let Ye Que distort the truth out of principle. "I'll repeat this again. We didn't flee from the battle. We broke out of the siege under Chief Wu's orders. We didn't run." The person repeated hims