Qu Liancheng kept a straight face but was appalled inside. His cultivation was superior to Qu Qingning’s. However, was he seen through by this junior?
Was “Qiyu Evil Martial Art” really so powerful?
Thinking of this, Qu Liancheng was suddenly stunned. He unleashed his divine awareness, only to find that Qu Qingning’s holy method had advanced at a terrifying speed and even his cultivation had secretly soared to the late stage to be in nature’s test!
In less than a month, Qu Qingning had skipped four realms of the holy method in a row. Did he directly skip one big realm and three small realms?
He was only a step away from being a Junior Emperor!
What was more, if Qu Liancheng hadn’t come here on a sudden whim today, the Holy Boy of the Ankui Valley would probably complete “Qiyu Evil Martial Art” within a few months and rise to become the elder of the Ankui Valley.
Qu Liancheng thought it was very ridiculous, but the truth lay before him, which made him silent for a while.
This time, the Fate Ancestor’s plans failed repeatedly. What bad luck! Qu Liancheng didn’t know if the Ankui Valley would also get into trouble once it happened again.
Seeing Qu Qingning continue to drink, Qu Liancheng was silent for a moment and said suddenly, “Su Jiuzhou and Su Li are the same person. That’s what I saw.”
Qu Qingning paused and then threw back his head to swig, chuckling, “Why did you tell me this, old ancestor?”
“Aren’t you surprised?”
Qu Qingning’s attitude puzzled Qu Liancheng. Qu Qingning put down his wine jar and shook his head, “I would be surprised if I hadn’t long guessed it. Yin Xuetong and others don’t believe in their own intuition. Just like you, they insist that seeing is believing, but I’m not. As long as I intuitively feel right that she is the same person, then that’s it.”
Hearing this, Qu Liancheng instantly had a sense that he might underestimate Qu Qingning too much. However, his realization now seemed a little too late.
“Put yourself in my shoes.”
Qu Liancheng lowered himself unconsciously, “What will you do?”
With a red face, Qu Qingning tilted his head back and replied lazily, “Old ancestor, what exactly have you encountered that you are willing to ask a junior like me for advice?”
Qu Liancheng seemed to have anticipated this question when asking and said directly without hesitation, “I was under Su Li’s blood poison, and Fate Ancestor suppressed it. Fate Ancestor asked me to imitate Su Li’s poison and throw it on the entire Shengtian Shrine.”
Qu Qingning’s smile vanished in a flash. He muttered, “Oh no. Old ancestor, you can only poison the Shengtian Shrine. Otherwise, Fate Ancestor will instruct the Shengtian Shrine to turn against our Ankui Valley!”
Qu Liancheng’s face puckered, “Why so?”
Qu Qingning pointed to his own head, “An intuition. I believe in my intuition. If you have to hear my some arguments… I think Fate Ancestor never takes human life seriously. Although you do the same, he is different from you. I can’t describe it.
“Just like the Bloody Accident of Holy Spirit back then, you are more or less pity and upset about it, but I don’t think Fate Ancestor would feel the same way.”
“Why?”
Qu Liancheng pretended not to hear Qu Qingning’s sarcasm and continued to ask.
Qu Qingning spread his hands and replied, “I don’t know. Believe it or not, I said before I believed in my intuition.”
Qu Liancheng’s eyelid twitched. He resisted the urge to slap the impudent descendant in front of him and continued, “Then what should I do?”
“Just poison the Shengtian Shrine. Anyway, they deserve to die.”
Qu Qingning gave an indifferent attitude and added when Qu Liancheng turned away, “We should die knowing the reason, shouldn’t we? I am an insignificant existence, so I can go to the Tianxing Valley to ask about it. You always say Fate Ancestor will lead us to the peak, but I don’t think so. Since he was behind the reign of the Qingshui Circle, too many practitioners have died…”
Qu Liancheng was shocked and seemed to capture one point, but he didn’t think it through.
After a moment’s contemplation, he waved his sleeve to break the chains that prevented Qu Qingning from going berserk and said in a deep voice, “Don’t be seen.”
Qu Qingning stood up and exerted a spell to sweep away the smell of alcohol from him. Then he bowed to Qu Liancheng with strong sorrow between his drooping eyebrows.
“Thank you.”
A moment later, Qu Qingning appeared on the land spread by the blood-red veins and looked bleak. He took a deep glance at the direction of the Huangxing Hall. Instead of going to the unique teleporting matrix of the Ankui Valley or the one used by casual practitioners, he left the Holy Region by his bodily movement. Through the teleporting matrix in the nearby region, he went to the Shengxue Region and traveled several other regions to the Jiuzhou Region.
In this way, it took a month.
When Qu Qingning set foot in the Jiuzhou Region, he saw the blood-red veins had spread here. Next, he recognized the direction to the Ni Sect and was about to continue on his journey, but two people blocked him.
Seeing them, Qu Qingning’s cold face changed at once and his peaceful eyes lit up.
“You’re…”
Luo Yichen stood in front of Mei Ruohan and looked at Qu Qingning. With a smile on his cold face, he said in a warm and slow voice, “Even though we are old friends reuniting, you can’t stare at my wife like that.”
Qu Qingning wanted to laugh, but he seemed to be suddenly drowned by sadness and couldn’t laugh.
Luo Yichen stepped forward and patted his shoulder, “No more words. We were originally in seclusion, but Su Jiuzhou made such a big trouble. Both Ruohan and I can’t stand it anymore.”
Hearing this, Qu Qingning gave a smile, “Su Jiuzhou…and Su Li are the same person. I… got a good beating from her.”
Mei Ruohan didn’t look haggard as before. Her cultivation was still at the Yuanying Realm, but with Luo Yichen’s care, her appearance was not as haggard and ghastly as it was back then.
At this time, Qu Qingning’s words immediately reminded Mei Ruohan of the illusion she saw inexplicably in the Yuxu Sect.
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
That tone was definitely Su Jiuzhou’s!
Mei Ruohan couldn’t control her emotions, and her hands began to tremble. Luo Yichen held her palm nervously, and his eyes darkened. He said to Qu Qingning, “Let’s talk in another place.”
Qu Qingning glanced at Mei Ruohan, who was obviously in an abnormal state, and nodded gently.
After a while, the three of them arrived at a clean thatched hut in the mountains. The thatches and woods were still new, so it should have been built a short time ago.
“Since Ruohan and I arrived in the Jiuzhou Region, we have been living here temporarily. The nimbus is scarce here, and no practitioner will pass by.”
Luo Yichen closed the door cautiously, but he didn’t set a protection boundary for fear that it would provoke greater suspicion.
Qu Qingning sat down and looked at Mei Ruohan who had been shivering all over. Then he shifted his gaze to Luo Yichen’s calm face and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you afraid that I’m not the same as before?”
“Your sorrow doesn’t lie.”
Luo Yichen wore a faint smile, “If you hadn’t let go of the past, your ‘Qiyu Evil Martial Art’ wouldn’t have progressed so rapidly.”
“Why do you know that?”
Qu Qingning was puzzled. But luckily, Luo Yichen gave him the answer soon.
“That’s because I also practiced this martial art and completed it.”
Qu Qingning’s face stiffened. Then he heard Luo Yichen continue, “You’re not as talented as I am.”
Qu Qingning furrowed his brow and forced a smile, “I want to beat you up more than ever.”
“You’re the same to me. If Su Jiuzhou hadn’t captured you in advance, you would have passed the second nature’s test later, and then I couldn’t help killing you.”
Luo Yichen resumed his serious look.
“Did you also go to the Tianjiao Battle?” Qu Qingning was astonished, “Weren’t you in seclusion at that time?”
Luo Yichen answered with a poker face, “I lied.”
Qu Qingning was speechless.
“Stop teasing Qingning.”
Mei Ruohan finally made a sound. Her voice was as hoarse and terrible as a worn bellows, which startled Qu Qingning.
Hearing his wife’s instruction, Luo Yichen became solemn at once, “Do you know the Many-faced Witch?”
“Who?”
Qu Qingning looked confused. Among the holy boys of the top four holy sects, he was congenitally lazy and could be considered as knowing the least about the past of the Qingshui Circle.
Luo Yichen slapped his forehead with a helpless look.
“I knew your reaction… Lead us into the Ni Sect.”
“Why don’t you guys go there by yourselves?”
“Of course, we have a reason…”
Qu Qingning didn’t understand what was going on, but he still knocked on the gate of the Ni Sect. Because of his identity, the Ni Sect was like facing a formidable enemy, and he was soon received by Hua Yan.
While walking, Mei Ruohan transmitted words to Qu Qingning. Then he vaguely understood why the two people couldn’t enter the Ni Sect.
“He divided half of his soul to drive out my residual soul. For this reason… he has some changes in temperament.”
Qu Qingning suddenly understood and fell into silence.
A while later, the three of them arrived at the hall of the Ni Sect. Hua Yan saw Mei Ruohan and gave a smile, “Long time no see, Ruohan.”
Mei Ruohan paused and nodded gently. She at least seemed to have a good relationship with Hua Yan when Su Li was still the Holy Girl of the Yuxu Sect.
“Yichen managed to drive out my residual soul recently.”
She stroked her brow and smiled lightly, “Now that the spell is broken, I can say a lot of things.”
Hua Yan and Qu Qingning couldn’t understand her words with a puzzled look. Fortunately, Luo Yichen added aside, “Do you know the Many-faced Witch, Lord Hua?”
Hua Yan’s eyes glinted, “I’ve heard of her. She is Fate Ancestor’s helper and can change into any person or breath. Even Senior Bai hasn’t found her traces.”
“I used to be her disciple and had many secrets sealed under her spell. As long as I exposed those secrets, I would be tortured as if death was preferable.”
Mei Ruohan’s gaze was deep, “It wasn’t until I had a new soul in the Reincarnation Mirror. Later on, because of my two souls fighting, I was out of mind for 1,000 years. It lasted until Yichen got me out and healed me, so I could completely escape her control.”
Hua Yan was shocked to hear it.
She didn’t expect that Mei Ruohan had been a disciple of the Many-faced Witch.
“Then what about Fang Ling?”
Mei Ruohan pinched her sleeves, “After I went crazy… I became an abandoned pawn. Now the Many-faced Witch thought I should be already dead. She needed new eyes to rest on the Yuxu Sect, so… Fang Ling became her new pawn.”
Hua Yan remembered Fang Ling who was still locked up in the dungeon and breathed a light sigh of relief. Fortunately, Su Li didn’t release Fang Ling for old times’ sake.
At this point, Mei Ruohan added, “That wasn’t Fang Ling’s volition. She felt guilty and volunteered to be a disciple of the Many-faced Witch to help me. It’s… all my fault.”
Luo Yichen clenched Mei Ruohan’s cold hands and said to Hua Yan, “Fang Ling indeed came to me at that time.”