When Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior saw the shadow shaking its head, he got even more nervous. He began trembling, and his expression was one of complete despair. He looked at Xu Qing and wondered if he was really done for this time.

“Milord…”

“Are you alright?” Xu Qing asked quietly, even caringly.

To the patriarch, his tone of voice was like a spring breeze. His eyes widened, and he started breathing heavily. He could never have imagined that the Fiendish Xu would ask, not about the words he had spoken, but rather, about his wellbeing. Waves of emotions swept through him, and they were more intense because of how close he had come to death. His heart raced with joy and exultation, filling him with an indescribable feeling. All he knew was that his heart was racing because of Xu Qing.

Then he thought back to all of the novels he’d read throughout his life, especially scenes where things like this happened. Usually the person in his situation would say something akin to “together we something-or-other on the same year, month, and day” and “oh great god, something, yada yada,” and then would conclude with “I’ll accompany you loyally through life” or “let history bear witness that fate has changed your loyal servant’s life forever.”

Based on what usually happened in novels, Xu Qing must have been his lord and master in a previous life, which meant that it was actually foreordained that he would go through countless trials and tribulations with him.

That’s got to be it! the patriarch thought excitedly.

He had never felt this way before, not ever. Feeling overwhelmed with gratitude, he said, “Don’t worry, milord. Your humble servant is fine. I’m just very excited that time itself can bear witness as I once again wage war in your name. In this life, milord, I am devoted to your service!”

Xu Qing looked at the patriarch quizzically. The patriarch seemed to be acting a bit strangely, but given his history, Xu Qing just accepted the words and nodded.

Off to the side, the shadow was stunned. Looking deeply at the patriarch, it committed the words he had just spoken to memory so that it could use them one day.

“Your breakthrough wasn’t a complete success, I take it?” Xu Qing asked.

“Milord, though your humble servant didn’t completely succeed, I can tell that I’m different from before.” The patriarch lifted his right hand, and a tremor passed through him as a red lightning bolt appeared. It looked very weak, but on a substructural level, Xu Qing could tell that it was exactly the same as the tribulation lightning.

Looking at the somewhat pathetic lightning bolt, the patriarch felt a bit guilty, so he said, “It’s not much… but I’m mostly a soul automaton now. Once I’m back in the iron skewer, it’ll be beyond amazing!” Then he blurred into motion as he shot back toward the skewer to prove his point.

The moment he entered, the black skewer started shaking. Cracking sounds rang out from inside, and red magical symbols appeared on its surface. As the skewer transformed, it emanated a terrifying aura. Red sparks danced on its surface, causing its pitch-black color to change into something more violet.

When Xu Qing saw the skewer that had been at his side for so long transforming in such an extraordinary way, he looked more closely at it. However, that was when the patriarch screamed, while at the same time, three large cracks appeared on the surface of the skewer. The cracks were very deep, and it looked like if they grew any larger, the skewer would crumble to pieces.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered. Quickly grabbing the skewer, he scanned it with divine will, whereupon his expression became even more unsightly.

The patriarch then appeared. Choosing his words very carefully, he said, “Milord, upon trying to take possession of this treasure, I found that its level is actually too low…. It’s suitable for anything below Gold Core. But now that I’m seventy percent a soul automaton, I’ve gone past that limit. And the power of the red tribulation lightning is more than the skewer can bear.”

Xu Qing looked at the skewer in his hand for a long moment. He’d been using this item since he was a child. Whether it was before his time in the slums, or after. Whether it was in the scavenger basecamp or his early days in Seven Blood Eyes. He had always used this weapon to kill enemies. Whether it was day or night, he always had that skewer ready to use, even when he slept.

“If that’s the case,” he said, “there’s nothing we can do for now. Once we’re back in the sect, I’ll figure out a way to reforge the skewer and hopefully raise it to a higher level.” He put the skewer away and took out a magical treasure he’d acquired in a small nation while traveling. That would serve as the patriarch’s temporary abode.

With that done, he flicked his sleeve, sending both the patriarch and the shadow back into a state of concealment.

“Time to get out of here.”

With both the shadow and the patriarch at a higher level, his battle prowess had improved a bit. As for the changes he had personally experienced, he planned to contemplate them after he was back on his dharmaship. After all, this was a forbidden ground, not a place to leave one’s guard down. The tribulation he had provoked had been sizable, and it was entirely likely that it had attracted the attention of unknown entities.

With that, he started moving. Upon reaching the blocked entrance of the tunnel, he waved his hand, causing the opening to blast open.

Before he could leave, his expression flickered, and he turned to look in a different direction.

Some distance away in the jungle was a group of 30-meter-tall giants, howling as they ran along. All of them emanated powerful fluctuations, with a dozen or so who were in the Gold Core level. And there were two or three who gave Xu Qing the sensation that they had five or six heavenly palaces. His eyes narrowed.

What also caused him to inhale sharply was a thunderous rumbling off in the distance, a sound that could shake the mind, bringing with it incredible, terrifying pressure. Wild colors flashed in heaven and earth, winds screamed, and the earth quaked. It seemed like some immense entity was struggling to free itself in that distant location.

The giants nearby were chasing… the Captain.

All it took was a single glance to realize that the Captain must have done something to anger them.

They were all running right in Xu Qing’s direction. Sighing, he turned and fled.

The Captain spotted Xu Qing and was delighted.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” the Captain shouted. “Did you find some treasure or something? Lemme see! Don’t worry, that big fellow isn’t going to have an easy time getting free. Maybe he’s awake, but the place where he was sleeping is a quagmire, and only half of his head was visible. Also there were warding spells from all sorts of species there.”

Off in the distance, a boom rang out, and then crevices snaked out through the ground. A violent aura raged out into the open, along with a gale force wind. From the look of it, some of the warding spells had shattered.

The wild wind slowed down both Xu Qing and the Captain, but actually helped the giants to speed up.

As a result, the distance between the two parties closed.

“Shoot, don’t tell me they’re actually going to catch up.” The Captain accelerated rapidly as he tried to catch up to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn’t even look over his shoulder, but he did wave his hand behind him to help the Captain.

The Captain felt himself pulled forward until he was right behind Xu Qing.

However, the wind was really causing problems. It wasn’t long before Xu Qing could actually smell the breath of the giants behind him. Feeling annoyed, he asked, “What exactly did you do, Captain?”

“Nothing! I was following you earlier to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble. Then I smelled something good, and went to take a look. Want to guess what I found? I saw a bunch of these oafs worshiping some kind of fruit. I simply couldn’t let them continue to do something so idiotic and uncivilized, so I took the fruit.”

“Then what?” Xu Qing asked.

“Nothing at all!” the Captain said, looking as though he couldn’t understand at all why people would get so angry at him for simply taking some fruit.

Xu Qing didn’t believe him, and took a moment to look at the Captain’s mouth.

The Captain blinked a few times. Lowering his voice as he ran, he said, “I’m serious. Nothing happened. It’s just that when I was leaving… I saw their chieftain’s head sticking out of that quagmire, and he happened to have a wooden sword stuck in his head. It looked good, so I took a bite. It was disgusting. Disgusting!”

The Captain cleared his throat.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

“Aiya, fine,” the Captain said guiltily. “Two bites. I took two bites, that’s all!” As he ran madly, perhaps it was his speed or perhaps the fact that he’d eaten too much, but either way, he let loose a big burp.

Xu Qing sighed. He got the feeling the Captain never took just one or two bites of anything, but wasn’t inclined to press him. Tapping into his cultivation base, he kept moving forward. Unfortunately, the giants were still closing in.

The Captain’s eyes glittered with cold light as he performed an incantation gesture and shoved his hand behind him. Blue light shot out, creating a huge sea that spread out and froze everything solid. Xu Qing released some poison from his heavenly palace, which drifted behind them and started melting everything. Instantly, screams of agony rang out. Some of the giants had been frozen in place, and others had been poisoned. As a result, they had no choice but to slow down in their pursuit.

All of a sudden, a roar of rage echoed out in the distance, and the shockwaves of struggle grew more intense. A dense mist rolled out, almost like someone breathing, and it was heading straight toward Xu Qing and the Captain. When it slammed into them, Xu Qing’s Violet-Heaven Supreme-Limitless Crown glittered brightly, yet he still coughed up blood like mad, and his bones made cracking sounds. Blood also sprayed out of the Captain’s mouth, and his body became riddled with wounds. Both looked shocked as they accelerated as dramatically as possible.

Thankfully, they weren’t close to the center of Forbidden by the Sword, but rather, just past the periphery. After moving at top speed for about six hours, they finally burst out of the forbidden ground.

They didn’t dare to slow down for a moment. Moving as fast as their cultivation bases would allow, they continued to flee. Meanwhile, behind them in the depths of Forbidden by the Sword, a roar echoed into the sky as a huge figure slowly rose up. It was so gargantuan that, despite being so far away, they could still see it. Its head seemed to touch the sky, and it emanated an absolutely terrifying aura. It was just barely possible to see the figure’s nose… which was so badly damaged it might as well not have a nose.

As the giant roared, it took a step in the direction of the Captain and Xu Qing.

Their faces fell.

However, that was when numerous streams of light appeared, thrumming with a dao resonance. They created a sealing mark that landed on the giant, locking it in place so that it could do nothing but roar.

Despite how far away Xu Qing and the Captain were, that roaring still caused blood to spray from their mouths, and cracks to spread out on their skin. Charging away from Forbidden by the Sword, they reached the dharmaship. Once on board, Xu Qing panted for breath as he looked at the distant giant’s nose. Then he turned and looked deeply at the Captain.

The Captain cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Well, shoot. He really did get free. He must have been one of the subordinates of Emperor Sword. What a tough fellow.”

Meanwhile, Yanyan looked on, her eyes wide and her mind blank. She really just couldn’t understand how Xu Qing and the Captain could have caused such a huge ruckus on their short trip into Forbidden by the Sword.