Xu Qing went to the next cage and opened it. He looked at the familiar faces, and then the mangled corpses at the bottom of the cage, and the grief in his heart grew more intense. He had seen the misery and bitterness that existed in the world. Yet not even he could remain unaffected by this hellish scene.

Two months ago, Xu Qing had seen how guileless and kind-hearted these wonderful people were. On a dark, cold night, they offered to share some of their own warmth with a shivering fellow human.

But now….

Xu Qing closed his eyes. The killing intent in his heart had not been reduced at all because of the slaughter from moments ago. Instead, it had grown stronger, building up more and more until the perverse energy within him was so strong he struggled to breathe steadily.

The reason for that was… he had just spotted half of a face in the bloody sludge at the bottom of the cage. It was Shi Pangui’s wife, who had been so skilled at making delicious pastries…. Her body had mostly been crushed into a pulp.

Xu Qing walked away quietly to open the next cage. As the people tumbled out, he spotted something at the bottom of the cage off in the corner.

It was the edge of a book.

When he saw it, he started trembling uncontrollably. He waved his hand, dispersing all of the blood and gore, to reveal a girl. Her clothing was mashed with blood and gore. Only about half of her tiny body was intact. Her arms were clasped tightly around a medicinal codex. She had clearly been holding it with all of her strength. It was as if it represented her strongest desire, and her deepest hope. She lay on the bottom of the cage, and because there wasn’t any blood on her face, she almost looked like she was sleeping.

Xu Qing felt profound pain building his chest. He struggled to take in a breath, but couldn’t stop shaking. In his mind, he thought back to the scene from two months ago.

A scrawny figure appeared, timidly, holding a sweet potato, heart full of questions about plants and vegetation. Next, she came with a little plant that she asked about. He could see her eyes, shining with the thirst for knowledge. It left such a deep impression on him that he gave her his own medicinal codex and accepted her as his first apprentice in the dao of medicine.

“Teacher, will I ever see you again?”

That was the last thing Shi Panyan ever said to him.

It was almost as if the girl laying there in front of him had looked up and asked him that question.

“As long as we don’t die, we’ll meet again,” he murmured. It was a wonderful saying, except… it also meant that if you died, you wouldn’t meet again.

He stood there for a very long time. Eventually, he was roused by the sound of Ling’er’s weeping and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior’s fury. Clearing his thoughts, he returned to reality.

“Ling’er…” he said hoarsely, turning to look at her.

She ran over and wrapped trembling arms around him. She had little experience witnessing death on this scale, and it was difficult for her to handle.

Slowly but surely, the captives began to regain their senses. The sounds of rage and sorrow began to grow. Eventually, a figure staggered over and dropped to his knees in front of Xu Qing.

“Senior…?” It was Shi Pangui. He was weak, his eyes bloodshot and his cheeks stained with tears. His expression was twisted on the verge of madness as he looked at Xu Qing. He knew that his wife and sister were dead. And his eyes also seemed dead, although he had forced himself to endure to this point. He knew that he had to tell Xu Qing where the chancellor had been taken. “Senior, please, you have to save the chancellor…. He was taken to Holy City by the royal preceptor of the two-species alliance. I heard them say they’d refine his blood into a material to repair their mirror treasure.”

Xu Qing looked at Shi Pangui, and then turned to look at Shi Panyan.

Shi Pangui followed his gaze and then started trembling even more violently. He clenched his hands tightly into fists until the grief in his heart grew so intense that he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then he laughed bitterly.

Xu Qing quietly walked back to Shi Panyan’s corpse. Kneeling down, he gently closed her eyes.

“Pangui, your sister is sleeping. Please don’t disturb her. All of you… wait here for me. I’m going to go get your chancellor and bring him back.” He stood. “Ling’er, can you keep everyone safe while I’m gone?”

“Yes!” she said, wiping the tears from her face.

Xu Qing said nothing else. He had the shadow stay to help, and even summoned the stone lion and the head from D-132 to do the same. Finally he covered the entire perimeter with taboo poison, effectively sealing the area. Having done all that, Xu Qing took a deep breath, then reached out and clasped Shi Pangui’s shoulder.

“Wait until I return, Pangui.” With that, he looked in the direction of Holy City. It was as if he was looking at a land of the dead. His heart did not pound. He was just filled with an increasingly strong will of death that eventually spread out around him. Without a word, he took a few steps forward, then flew up into the air where he summoned his spirit cruiser.

An enormous old woman in a black cloak appeared in midair. Xu Qing stood on her head, while her face pulsed with death and killing intent. Then, they blurred off into the distance. Xu Qing looked down. As he sped along at top speed, he sent taboo poison spilling out of himself.

He didn’t scatter it, but rather, had it converge on him. More and more of it. Gradually, a black miasma built up around him. The miasma contained taboo poison, and caused strange colors to flash. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the miasma grew bigger and stronger. As he continued to converge poison, his taboo poison nascent soul augmented the effort, so that the poison he was producing grew increasingly formidable.

Xu Qing rarely unleashed all of the potential of his poison. But right now, the pressure and killing intent within him ensured that he wasn’t holding anything back.

Three days passed by in a flash.

About 500 kilometers away from Holy City, a sandstorm appeared that seemed to stretch a good 50 kilometers. It connected the sky and the land, and was filled with both endless lightning bolts and boundless mutagen. Within the boundless dark desert, the image of a huge old woman appeared, and atop her head… stood Xu Qing, his face completely expressionless.

During the past three days, he had attempted to summon the god’s finger from D-132. However, the finger didn’t respond to any of his calls. That said, Xu Qing knew īt wasn’t asleep. Since the finger wasn’t responding, Xu Qing didn’t continue his efforts. He didn’t even frown. He knew that he was heading into extreme danger. Given the level of his cultivation base, he couldn’t easily deal with Spirit Trove opponents.

There was little need to mention that the Twofold Alliance had six Spirit Trove experts. Of that group, two had finished their first secret trove. .𝒎

As far as Xu Qing was concerned, though, it didn’t matter how dangerous this situation was going to be. It was something he simply had to do. As long as he could deal with those six Spirit Trove enemies, then the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators shouldn’t be too difficult to wipe out.

The price to pay would be high.

My apprentice is dead. As her Master, I have to avenge her death. I ate so many of her sister-in-law’s pastries…. I have to do something. Also… I borrowed something from Duanmu Zang. Without him around, how can I return what I borrowed?

His eyes only got colder and colder. And the 50-kilometer sandstorm full of poison that surrounded him spun slowly as he neared Holy City.

***

500 kilometers away in Holy City, members of the Twofold Alliance were having a big celebration. Everyone had heard about the capture of the humans. What was more, quite a few lesser species had already been dragged back to Holy City. They were definitely going to meet the quota for the sacrificial offering this time. That meant that when the next day of sacrifice came, both species would be safe. The two species were very delighted, and the sounds of laughter and celebration filled the city.

The city had taken some damage during Heavenfire Skycrossing, but thankfully, their spell formations had mostly held tight. As a result, the city was already back to normal. One thing that added to the bustle was a scene playing out in an open square located between the Twofold Alliance’s royal palaces.

There was an assimilation event happening there, and it was almost over. The person doing the assimilating was the Mirrorling’s royal preceptor. The person being assimilated was Duanmu Zang. A lot of cultivators in the Twofold Alliance knew who Duanmu Zang was. Over the years, investigations indicated that many of their fellow species members who went missing had connections to him. Therefore, many members of the Twofold Alliance had been watching this assimilation process.

Duanmu Zang had been nailed onto a huge mirror that now floated above the square. White energy seeped out of his body and entered into the mirror. The mirror was the very same one that had been cracked not too long ago. The spirit automaton inside had been destroyed, and now they were making a new one.

Blood oozed down Duanmu Zang. The process of having one’s life force assimilated was painful, and he constantly twitched and writhed. If you looked closely, you would see that the bones throughout his body had been shattered, and his tendons had been ripped apart.

His nascent souls were locked down, and were currently being gnawed upon by hosts of gruish maggots. His collapsed secret trove pulsed with an aura of death, causing evil souls to converge to feast on it. He had obviously endured horrendous torture. Yet despite all of that pain, he didn’t howl or scream. Even at the end of the line, the courageous spirit of the humans still showed. He just grinned, all while refusing to betray any sign of weakness.

Glaring at the figure hovering cross-legged in front of him, he spoke in a raspy voice, “I can’t believe it’s taking you this long to assimilate me. You Mirrorlings really are useless pieces of trash.”

The person seated cross-legged in front of him was an old man made of stone. He was the royal preceptor of the Mirrorlings. Eyes cold, he glared at Duanmu Zang and said, “Just wait until you become our mirror spirit. Then I’ll have you personally devour your fellow humans. You’ll love the flavor.”

𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚