Even as the young man’s anxious voice echoed out, he shot into the blood cloud without a moment of thought given to his personal safety.

At the same time, his subordinates erupted with battle prowess. Those subordinates were from a guard contingent this young man’s clan had assigned to him to keep him safe. They all had extraordinary cultivation bases, and given how many of them there were, not even the special blood clouds could stand up to them.

Rumbling booms echoed out as the blood clouds were ripped apart as if by a giant pair of invisible hands. As they collapsed, three figures appeared!

One was Yue Dong, her expression cold as she pulsed with a baleful aura. Her hands were flashing in an incantation gesture, causing immortal skill fluctuations to roll out. Another of the figures was a zombie puppet with a swarthy face, who appeared to be only seven or eight years old. He was opposite of Yue Dong, and together, they were using magic to bind Sir Blood Dust in place.

The immortal skill fluctuations coming off of Yue Dong and the zombie puppet caused a host of seven-colored threads to wrap around Sir Blood Dust, many of which were connected to his fate. If things continued in this manner, it wouldn’t be very long before Sir Blood Dust was assimilated by the immortal skill. Sir Blood Dust was currently struggling, but it wasn’t doing him any good.

However... the sudden developments, including the collapse of the blood clouds, somehow affected the assimilation process.

The wild winds at play had been unleashed by the young man in the fancy robe as part of his attempt to rescue Yue Dong. But now... a freak combination of factors was resulting in those very same winds saving Sir Blood Dust instead.

In the blink of an eye, Sir Blood Dust’s struggling reached an apex of intensity. Not holding anything back, he unleashed the power of his cultivation base. He even detonated two of his major worlds, sending destructive power sweeping out in all directions.

Meanwhile, the anxious shouting of the young man in the fancy robe caused Erniu’s eyes to widen. As a result of the shock, the immortal skill threads started trembling. At almost the same time, the zombie puppet was also affected, and the threads coming off him started snapping.

In turn, the power of the major world detonation surged out, and Sir Blood Dust shone with blinding blood-colored light. This was because he was unleashing a secret magic that, while inflicting significant injuries on him, also allowed him to transform into a beam of blood-colored light....

An instant later, he broke free. After vanishing from the spot between Yue Dong and the zombie puppet, he reappeared a moment later some distance away. He didn’t pause for a moment. With another flash of blood-colored light, he shot toward the horizon. An instant later, he vanished completely. He had escaped!

Xu Qing, in the form of the child zombie puppet, hovered there with his face completely expressionless, an aura of death surrounding him. He didn’t start chasing after Sir Blood Dust. After all, this puppet form only had a Void Returning cultivation base, and wasn’t supposed to be intelligent. He didn’t want to do anything to break that cover. Although the arrival of this young man in the fancy robe had allowed Xu Qing’s prey to escape, it would still be possible to track down Sir Blood Dust later on. Therefore, Xu Qing wasn’t in any rush. He let the prey escape.

In the final analysis, Xu Qing didn’t mind some unexpected twists and turns popping up. In contrast, Erniu, in his Yue Dong disguise, absolutely had to react in some way.

Spinning, he glared at the young man in the fancy robe.

“What was that all about?” he snapped.

Truth be told, the young man was just as surprised by what happened, and could only smile wryly. He was well aware that his good intentions had led to an unfavorable result. “Miss Dong’er, I happened to hear that you were back, and I was worried about your safety. That’s why I rushed over here. I never imagined that… that I would—”

“Shut up!” Erniu barked, looking very cross. Not only was he irritated at what just happened, but being addressed as ‘Miss Dong’er’ made him feel very uncomfortable.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That was especially true considering that... though he knew from Yue Dong’s memories that there were people who wanted to woo her, the details weren’t very clear. Obviously, Yue Dong didn’t care much about such admirers. Because of that, Erniu had no idea who this young man was. Given that he was feeling irritated and uncomfortable, it was no surprise that his killing intent started bubbling. However... when he noticed all of the bodyguards in the area, he quickly suppressed that killing intent. That said, Yue Dong was a cold person, so he still let out a cold harrumph.

“Don’t show your face around me ever again!” With that, Erniu made a grasping gesture in Xu Qing’s direction. With a yank on the threads, he dragged the zombie puppet toward him and turned to leave.

The young man looked cautiously at Yue Dong. He was obviously frustrated at how things had played out. Seeing that she was about to leave, he anxiously cried out, “Miss Dong’er, it was really just an accident. I... I was concerned for your safety! You’ve been gone for over 500 days, and I missed you that entire time!” R̃Á𐌽ƟＢЕṣ

That just irritated Erniu even more, so he sped up. There was still no expression visible on Xu Qing’s face, but he was paying very close attention to everything that was happening. Truth be told... he was very pleased to see something like this happen to his Eldest Brother.

The young man in the fancy robe looked very pale in the face, and his heart was overflowing with regret. As Yue Dong got further off into the distance, he grimaced.

“It really was an accident, Dong’er,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for over 500 days to meet you in person again. I even went to the trouble of preparing a special gift for you.”

Erniu suddenly stopped in place.

The young man, meanwhile, continued speaking. “I know you don’t want any gifts. You never accept anything from me. But I—”

Before he could finish speaking, Erniu spun in place. “What gift?”

The young man’s jaw nearly dropped. Suddenly looking elated, he gushed, “It’s stardragon marrow! Back at the Lan Clan, I overheard someone saying that you were injured from cultivating an immortal skill. So I begged the patriarch for some of that specific kind of marrow....”

With that, he pulled a jade bottle out of his bag of holding.

Erniu vanished, then reappeared in front of the young man. Grabbing the bottle, he opened it, took a sniff, and then put it away in his robe.

“Fine, I’ll take your gift,” he said coolly. “But what you did just now was simply intolerable....”

The young man looked very excited. He had been pursuing Yue Dong for years, and this was the first time she had ever taken a gift from him. As far as he was concerned, it was a sign. A sign that he had touched Dong’er’s heart!

I need to strike while the iron’s hot!

Quickly producing a dazzling bracelet, he said, “Dong’er, this is another gift I prepared for you. It’s made from starcrystal.”

Erniu looked at the glittering bracelet. He blinked a few times. Then he took it, put it into his robe, and cleared his throat. “Alright, fine. Fine. I can see you’re being sincere....”

“Miss Dong’er, I have another gift. It’s a hair clip made from supreme-grade immortal jade....”

Getting increasingly excited, the young man started taking out one gift after another. Erniu took all of them, and his eyes began to glitter brightly. Ultimately... the young man beamed with anticipation as he suggested traveling with Yue Dong as an escort.

Erniu hesitated. The young man then took out another gift. Eyeing the gift, Erniu took a deep breath and decided not to refuse after all. Smiling, he nodded. That smile caused the young man’s heart to surge.

Xu Qing stood by while it all happened. Then, as they started traveling, he continued to observe the scene play out.

The young man began to explain what happened in the holy land in the more than 500 days that Yue Dong had been gone. He spoke with tender warmth, with his every word full of passion. And he continued to produce gifts....

Erniu had never experienced anything like this, not in his current life nor in any of his previous lives. Eventually, he was left looking visibly stunned.

As for Xu Qing, he was getting a much better understanding of the Devilbirds thanks to this young man. And especially noteworthy... was that he got information about Lu Lingzi, the apprentice of Grand Emperor Netherflame, as well as the Lan Clan.

After those matters were covered, Erniu asked some follow-up questions. The young man was happy to provide even more detailed information. Lu Lingzi had returned a month ago!

“For a long time, Miss Dong’er, I only knew some surface-level information about Lu Lingzi and the Lan Clan. That’s why I never said anything to you about them before. However, after being promoted within my clan, I heard our patriarch talking about them.... As it turns out, the high-level members of our holy land have long since been aware of the friction between the Lan Clan and Lu Lingzi.

“Of course, no one could predict who would come out on top of that conflict, the Lan Clan or Lu Lingzi. What’s more, it didn’t matter to them which side prevailed. They would support whoever it was that came out on top.

“A month ago, Lu Lingzi returned with an Imperial Sovereign cultivation base. He announced publicly that the Lan Clan had been plotting against him, but that he’d turned the tables on them and beat them at their own game. After breaking through to Imperial Sovereign, he actually killed Patriarch Lan. Although there were some suspicious elements to his story, nobody cared to dig too deeply into the truth. And that’s because Lu Lingzi did two things after he came back.

“The first was that he publicly took the pure Lan Clan blood he had acquired and fed it into his devil-eye. As of now, it seems very apparent that Lu Lingzi is the true successor of Grand Emperor Netherflame! Having become an Imperial Sovereign, he’s now at the peak of strength and power!

“The second thing Lu Lingzi did was notify everyone that, in three months, he would go to Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities to officially accept the complete legacy.

“Meanwhile, Lu Lingzi also suggested that all of his Imperial Sovereign fellow apprentices go with him. He also said he would take five chosen members of our species. And instead of taking the legacy only for himself, he would share the good fortune with everyone! That’s earned him the praise and approval of everyone in the Holy land. Even Grand Emperor Devilbird himself offered his approval.

“After all, Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities have been sealed, and the only person who can open it up is the true successor of the Grand Emperor, and someone who has Lan Clan blood. In other words, that’s Lu Lingzi. Of course, the other apprentices need to help as well. As you can well imagine, there have been a lot of things going on behind the scenes in our holy land since he made that announcement about the three months. Everybody wants to win one of those five spots.

“Now, I know you’re a smart person, Dong’er. You stayed out of the conflict between Lu Lingzi and the Lan Clan. That’s why he hasn’t even mentioned your name since he came back.”

Upon hearing all of that information, Erniu’s eyes glittered as he glanced at Xu Qing. Xu Qing’s facial expression didn’t change, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected by what he had just heard.

Both of them knew the truth. And this news... came with a lot of hidden implications.

That said, they weren’t alone, so they couldn’t exactly confer about the subject. And thus, the young man continued to ply Erniu with disgusting praise as they continued on their way. Three days later, the young man had escorted them to a city. This place was their ultimate destination.

The young man didn’t want to part ways with Yue Dong, but his jade slip kept vibrating with messages. Ultimately, he had to bid farewell and make his way toward the front lines of the war. Before leaving, he tenderly offered a few more gifts to Erniu. Erniu took them with a complicated expression on his face.

The young man kept looking over his shoulder as he walked away. When he was out of sight, Xu Qing turned to Erniu.

“What a romantic encounter that was, Eldest Brother.”

Erniu had an odd expression on his face as he sighed. “Well, shit,” he said. “Next life I’d better reincarnate as a woman! I got gifts the entire trip! It would be a big shame if we had to leave the holy land now....”

Upon seeing his Eldest Brother sigh like this, Xu Qing decided not to tease him any further. Instead, he shifted the conversation to Lu Lingzi.

Erniu’s eyes narrowed. “There’s something fishy going on with that Lu Lingzi. Who is he, really? Could my guess from before be accurate?”

Erniu looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked back at him quietly as he contemplated the situation.

Shortly after, Erniu cleared his throat. “Regardless, this Lu Lingzi had better not even think of hogging the loot! And we need to think of a way to be there when the three-month time period is up. For now, though, I’m planning to take a trip to the eastern Devilbirds’ Immortal Skills Hall and help Yue Dong achieve her dream. What about you, little Ah Qing? Want to come along?”

Xu Qing shook his head and looked off into the distance. “I don’t need to go to the Immortal Skills Hall at the moment. I need to settle the issue of my identity first.”

***

Meanwhile, not far from the Grand Emperor Netherflame dao altar, there was a huge mountain.

A month ago, that mountain didn’t exist. It had only risen up recently. In fact, it came into existence after Lu Lingzi returned as an Imperial Sovereign. It was the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain.

Inside a grand hall on that mountain was Lu Lingzi, clad in a golden robe as he sat cross-legged in meditation. His breathing was like heavenly thunder, shaking the hall and resonating through the mountain. A moment later, his eyes opened, and they were like dazzling heavenly bodies.

Frowning slightly, he looked at a jade slip in his hand. The jade slip was notifying him of matters relating to Yue Dong, and it caused his frown to deepen.

“I sent you so far away, but you somehow managed to end up here??”

Deathblade's Thoughts

This chapter is very nearly 1,000 characters longer than average.