346 I’ll Strike First
Xu Qing, who was walking in the ruins, had no idea what had happened in the Wanggu Continent.
However, he faintly felt that there seemed to be a hint of red in the afternoon sky.
Other than that, there were no other abnormalities.
Moreover, the additional redness was very light, making it difficult for others to associate it with anything.
Hence, he only swept a glance toward the sky before retracting his gaze. He then continued to check the debris in the ruins.
The style of this ruined city was different from the cities Xu Qing had been to. The roof structures here were made with beams of various sizes that were arranged in vertical and horizontal directions1. They looked very orderly and contained some sort of rules.
Although the entire city had experienced the invasion of time, one could still see luxury and exquisiteness.
Every floor tile had patterns and every house carried spirit stones. Every street was paved with white jade and every river channel was pasted with gold foil.
Now, these luxurious items had lost their splendor and value due to the corrosion of anomalous substances and time. Only when the later generations swept their gazes over could they imagine the former glory and wealth of this city.
However, after the imagination ended, what greeted their eyes were the feces of various birds and beasts, mud everywhere, insects that occasionally crawled through the mud on the ground, and sharp weeds that grew all over the city.
All of this caused the withering of this city to be very obvious. Xu Qing soon saw a fragmented stone tablet on which the word ‘purple’ was carved.
“According to the map in the Immortal Cleansing Pool, this is the residence of the crown prince of the Purple Green Kingdom.”
Xu Qing walked on the muddy street and looked at the messy footprints on the ground. He swept his gaze in all directions and noticed the figures of cultivators passing by some buildings.
There weren’t many cultivators here but there seemed to be some people around all year round.
Through the information he gathered about the ruins in the sect, Xu Qing knew that there would always be cultivators here.
They came from all over the Nanhuang Continent.
Some were cultivators from sects, and some were rogue cultivators. Because the Phoenix Forbidden was extremely vast and had abundant resources, even though it was dangerous, it still became a place for many cultivators to obtain resources.
After all, everyone had to fight for the resources in this chaotic world, especially the people of the small sects, minor forces, and rogue cultivators.
Their every increase in cultivation base and combat strength was filled with bloodshed and challenging death.
Cultivators from large sects also had such hardships. It was just that the things they fought for were at a different level and the danger they faced were also higher.
This ruin had existed for many years, so it could be considered safe. As such, it became the resting place for cultivators who came to the Phoenix Forbidden to obtain resources.
Xu Qing’s arrival attracted the attention of many people. However, they only took a glance before quickly retracting their gazes. Most of the people here had cautious personalities and were especially vigilant against others.
Xu Qing’s personality was the same.
As he moved forward, his gaze swept to the sides, vigilant of danger and malice that might arrive. He didn’t slow down and continued to speed up toward the center of the ruined city.
Not long later, a familiar-looking temple appeared in his vision.
Unlike the other buildings in the ruined city, the top of the Extreme Heaven Dao Temple was circular.
If one looked down from a high altitude, they would see that there was only one circular building in the entire ruins and it was at the center.
With such an arrangement, one could imagine that when this place was flourishing back then, the status of this temple must have been extremely high.
Xu Qing silently stared at it and moved closer.
From afar, he saw dozens of cultivators in different clothes sitting outside the temple.
Some of these people were in groups of two to three, and some were alone. They were all sitting at spots from where they could see the inside of the temple. They would occasionally lift their heads and look into the temple.
As for their cultivation levels, most of them were at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm. There were also Foundation Building cultivators who didn’t have life fire. Only the two gray-haired and wrinkled old men’s cultivation levels had reached the level of one fire.
It could be considered reasonable for these two one-fire Foundation Building old men and three to five Foundation Building cultivators in the crowd who hadn’t formed their life fire to be here. After all, it wasn’t impossible for them to succeed in comprehending the Extreme Heaven Saber. Once they succeeded in comprehending the Extreme Heaven Saber, it would be equivalent to reaching the heavens in a single step.
However, the existence of other Perfected Qi Condensation cultivators here was strange.
After Xu Qing swept his gaze over, he had an answer in his mind.
This was because the instant he walked over, he sensed hints of greedy malice from the crowd. However, after sensing his aura, these greedy malice quickly retreated like a startled bird.
There were some rotting bones in the surrounding grass that no one cared about.
This was the Extreme Heaven Dao Temple, the place to comprehend the Extreme Heaven Saber.
However, this was also a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
With the reputation of the Extreme Heaven Dao Temple, cultivators would come here from time to time. If they were experts, they would naturally be fine. If their cultivation levels weren’t high enough, they would definitely die tragically here and lose everything.
From Xu Qing’s judgment, even if they deliberately formed groups of two to three, it couldn’t change the fact that they were in the same gang.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought and walked over step by step.
The dozens of people outside the Dao temple exchanged veiled glances. In the end, they didn’t dare to attack Xu Qing.
Since they could survive here, they naturally had good judgment. They could faintly tell that Xu Qing wasn’t harmless.
As Xu Qing got closer to the temple, he saw the familiar statue with some unfamiliarities in it. He also saw Saintly Star meditating under the statue.
The piercing light emitted by that golden robe was dazzling. The stream of light from the canopy above his head flowed in all directions like water.
Now that his eyes were closed, his entire body emitted a coldness, as though all his emotions were unnecessary to him.
Xu Qing stopped in his tracks and vigilance rose in his mind. He didn’t pay much attention to Saintly Star in the sect and didn’t expect him to be here.
Although Xu Qing’s cultivation was extraordinary now, his preferred way of fighting was to suppress with absolute strength. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wasn’t willing to fight a hard battle.
After some thought, although Xu Qing was tempted by the other party’s life lantern, there was no need for him to plunder it and have conflicts for no reason. He didn’t step into the temple but planned to find a place outside where he could see the statue and try to comprehend it.
‘The tree wants to remain still but the wind wouldn’t let it.’
Saintly Star seemed to have sensed something. His slender eyes slowly opened with no emotions in them. His gaze was like sharp blades that directly landed on Xu Qing, who was outside the temple.
The moment he saw Xu Qing, he waved his hand without saying anything.
Immediately, the void in front of him distorted and ripples spread in the air, stirring up the dust on the ground which gathered into a stone sword.
As soon as this sword appeared, it released an astonishing aura and emitted streams of sword qi that created ravines on the ground.
Outside the temple, the expressions of the two one-fire Foundation Building old men changed drastically and they quickly retreated.
They knew that with their strength, even if they were only scratched by this casually formed sword, they would definitely die.
The others were the same and quickly retreated.
The instant they retreated, the tip of the sword in the temple turned and pointed at Xu Qing. It then charged fiercely, whistling as it headed straight for Xu Qing.
It stirred up the sound of air being torn apart, creating a series of ripples. It instantly passed the temple gate and arrived in front of Xu Qing, stabbing between his brows.
Xu Qing’s expression sank as he flicked the incoming stone sword.
There was a loud sound of collision.
The stone sword collapsed and shattered into pieces. When the pieces landed in front of Xu Qing, they created a storm that swept in all directions. Wherever it passed, the weeds on the ground broke at the roots and soil flew up.
Fortunately, the dozens of cultivators had retreated quickly. Otherwise, if they were in the range of this storm, there would be no chance of survival.
In the dust storm, Xu Qing’s expression was ugly. He coldly looked at the temple. His gaze met with Saintly Star’s.
“What are you trying to do?” Xu Qing slowly spoke.
Saintly Star’s expression was as calm as ever. To him, everything he did was based on his own preferences. If he wanted to attack, he would attack. If he wanted to kill, he would kill. In his heart, the human race of the Nanhuang Continent wasn’t worth mentioning.
As for this Xu Qing in front of him, he originally didn’t know him. Even though he had paid attention to him because the other party had suppressed Sima Ling, he hadn’t seen his appearance. He only planned to nurture him to become nutrients.
It was only during this period of time when he was comprehending here that he heard about Xu Qing from the disciples of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. He also saw Xu Qing’s image.
Earlier, he had casually attacked but the other party was actually unscathed. This caused a strange glint to appear in his eyes and he had the thought of devouring Xu Qing right away.
However, after some thought, he felt that if he devoured the latter now, the taste would not be satisfactory. Hence, he calmly spoke.
“You’re the one who took advantage of my absence to capture my junior brother?”
“After you return, release him with three kowtows immediately. Xu Qing, remember this. If he loses a strand of hair, I’ll break one of your fingers without exception.”
Saintly Star calmly spoke as though he was giving instructions. After he finished speaking, he ignored Xu Qing and closed his eyes to meditate.
Everyone outside the Dao Temple held their breaths with different expressions. Their gazes sized up Xu Qing and Saintly Star.
During this period of time, they had already checked Saintly Star’s identity and experienced his domineeringness. At this moment, they could see how powerful his attacks were.
At the same time, through his words, they knew Xu Qing’s identity too.
“Seven Blood Eyes’ Xu Qing?”
“This is a heaven’s chosen of the Seven Blood Eyes…”
“So what? Facing the people of the Wanggu Continent, he still has to lower his head.”
Xu Qing stood before the temple entrance. His gaze swept past Saintly Star’s neck and then looked at the life lantern canopy above his head. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as his killing intent surged.
The Diamond Sect’s ancestor in the black iron stick gasped repeatedly when he saw this scene. He didn’t dare to rashly show himself, afraid that he would be discovered by another true dragon. However, he sighed intensely in his mind.
‘In the books I read, the plots are usually the enemy bullying the protagonist. After that, the protagonist is forced into a corner and starts to counterattack. It’s satisfying but I’m a little tired of reading such plots.’
‘However, Demon Xu is different. With his personality, once the enemy reveals some killing intent, it will make him feel that his life is threatened. He will be filled with killing intent even without the enemy taking action.’
Xu Qing didn’t know what the Diamond Sect’s ancestor was thinking, but he knew that there was a difference in combat strength between him and Saintly Star. As such, he didn’t act rashly at this moment. Instead, he turned around and found a place with good wind. He then began to release poison silently.
He wanted to kill this Saintly Star.
This was because when he suppressed the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect’s disciple at Night Dove’s headquarters, the latter didn’t just lose his hair, his bones were shattered in many areas.
According to Saintly Star, a strand of hair was a finger. Since so many bones had been broken, he would definitely decide to kill Xu Qing.
‘Then I’ll kill you first!’ Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and hid his killing intent, not revealing the slightest hint of it in his eyes. As he continued to release poison, he also observed his surroundings, searching for the other party’s Dao Protectors.
Seeing this scene, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor thought to himself.
‘Demon Xu is releasing poison. He’s going to make the first move! This is a battle between two scripts. This is a battle between true dragons!!’