At first, Xu Qing didn’t feel inclined to answer Sir Dust-Sun’s question. But then he noticed the look on Plumdark’s face, and he thought about everything this ‘president’ had done. He also noted the expressions on the faces of the other Sea-Sealing County cultivators present.

Voice cool, he said, “A Dawning Sun.”

Every person present in that hall in the Governor’s Mansion reacted with open shock. Sir Bloodsmelter. Plumdark. All the Sea-Sealing County cultivators. Numerous gasps and expressions of disbelief appeared.

“Dawning Sun?”

“Th-that… that….”

There was a minor uproar. And yet, the ear-piercing exclamation of Sir Dust-Sun drowned them all out.

“DAWNING SUN?? Y-y-you…” A tremor passed through Sir Dust-Sun. At first, he didn’t believe it. But then he thought about that destructive blast, and what he had witnessed in the final moments, including that terrifying heat. And in the end, he couldn’t fool himself.

Then he thought about the fact that he had been located in Seventh Prince’s imperial capital…. He thought about the nearly 1,000,000 loyal subordinates Seventh Prince had gathered there, along with sects from throughout the region who had sought asylum with him. He thought about Seventh Prince’s personal staff, and all the countless ways he had prepared over the years….

Sir Dust-Sun shivered uncontrollably from head to toe, and goosebumps broke out all over him as his heart raced. It was easy to imagine the detonation of a Dawning Sun affecting the entire imperial capital. The deaths and other casualties had to have been terrifyingly severe.

And though Sea-Sealing County was responsible, the fact was that his own blood-red vortex had been a major factor. Actually… if people started naming him as an accomplice, claiming that his ‘surrender’ had really been part of a complex plan to humiliate Seventh Prince, then it would be completely believable.

There was no question that Sir Dust-Sun would be in a very tenuous position going forward. King Heaventide’s wrath would be vented on him without question. Most importantly, what if Seventh Prince perished…?

“How could you dare do such a thing?” Sir Dust-Sun shrieked. “And how did you get a Dawning Sun??”

He had completely lost his composure, and was looking at Xu Qing with disbelief, all while mountain-toppling, sea-draining terror battered him from inside. Blood sprayed out of his mouth and he staggered backward, his heart full of overwhelming bitterness. He felt humiliated, wronged, and worst of all, helpless. All of his own plans had worked out very smoothly. But in the end, the unthinkable happened.

“I was just testing you out! But you… y-you actually unleashed a Dawning Sun?” More blood sprayed out of Sir Dust-Sun’s mouth.

There was something else in his heart that he wanted to say, but couldn’t. Xu Qing, if you wanted to use a Dawning Sun on me, that’s one thing. But how could you possibly use one on Seventh Prince? Now that you have, do you really think you can avoid trouble? Why…?

His thoughts led him only into further bitterness. Thanks to his true form crumbling, his cultivation base was in severe decline. He had dropped from third-stage Void Returning down into the second stage, and even that second stage was unstable. His aura was in such chaos that he was actually in between the first and the second stage. What was more, he wasn’t going to be able to sustain himself in that position for very long.

Therefore, it was without the slightest hesitation that he turned to flee. It didn’t matter that he could technically start fighting right now if he wanted to. His cultivation base declined, and Xu Qing’s ruthlessness filled him with fear. It was a fear that came from his bones and his soul. He was worried about a second Dawning Sun. And he was worried… about Qingqin in the sky, as well as Sea-Sealing County’s taboo treasure. After seeing how much his cultivation base had dropped, he knew that this day was the biggest crisis he had ever faced.

The moment he turned to flee, Sir Bloodsmelter lunged forward, joined by Plumdark. Qingqin let loose a loud caw from the sky, and sent down a fearsome energy that locked down on Sir Dust-Sun and his surroundings. Qingqin was descending.

An instant later, Qingqin appeared over the hall, sending pressure down in all directions. He let loose another powerful caw.

Considering that, Sir Dust-Sun had no choice but to suppress his terror.

Expression flickering, he said, “Xu Qing, don’t you know that I’m the one who set free those 10,000 Sea-Sealing County cultivators? I marked all of them with a special soul-sealing symbol. If I die, they’ll all be killed in body and soul! Maybe you can negate those symbols, but it’ll take time. And if you try to capture me, I’ll self-detonate my soul! And when that happens, they’ll die with me! But let me go, and you’ll still have plenty of time to remove the symbols. Letting one person live can save the lives of 10,000 Sea-Sealing warriors. That’s a fair price!”

Sir Dust-Sun was a cautious person, and was skilled at schemes and plans. Even at a moment like this, he still had moves to make. Upon hearing his words, Sir Bloodsmelter and everyone else stopped in place.

Even Qingqin was hesitant to kill Sir Dust-Sun at that point. He was just a bird, and wasn’t exactly proficient in dealing with sealing symbols.

The situation seemed to have evolved into a deadlock. However, Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as he ignored the pleading of Sir Dust-Sun and looked up into the sky.

Others might be hamstrung, but Grandpa Ninth could resolve the situation as easily as turning over his hand. All Xu Qing needed to do was ask. But then, Xu Qing’s expression flickered slightly as he received a response from Ninth Sib. It was only words, but it still caused a very odd expression to appear on Xu Qing’s face.

Then he looked at Sir Dust-Sun, who was backing away from him hysterically, his hair completely disheveled. And Xu Qing decided to just listen to Ninth Sib.

“Slap him!” he said coolly.

Instantly, the sky changed colors, the wind picked up, and lightning crashed. The world blurred. A majestic force descended, causing the entire hall to tremble, and provoking looks of astonishment from the onlookers.

At the same time, Sir Dust-Sun trembled from head to toe, and his face fell. It seemed as if Xu Qing’s voice contained natural and magical laws, plus the will of heaven. When he gave orders, they had to be strictly enforced. And thus, the swell of force turned into an invisible hand which viciously slapped Sir Dust-Sun.

A boom rang out along with a miserable scream from Sir Dust-Sun, as the slap turned half of his face into a meat paste and sent him flying backward. It was a terrifying sight, and everyone could virtually feel the pain he was experiencing. He screamed instinctively, his mind going blank. He felt like he had been struck by an unimaginable force, something like an entire mountain. He couldn’t fight back or evade. Before he could react, and as he was still tumbling backward, Xu Qing spoke again.

“Slap him again!”

Natural law descended. Another boom rang out along with another howl of anguish from Sir Dust-Sun. This time, the other side of his face was struck, and it nearly ripped his head off his shoulders, making him hard to identify as human. The slap sent him flying from off in the distance back to Xu Qing. As blood poured out of his mouth and neck, a golden crow appeared around him, only to quickly crumble into nothing.

After struggling for a moment, he weakly said, “Using natural laws like that? W-w-what… what cultivation base do you have??”

His face was a mask of terror, and his head was about to fall off his shoulders. He was more astonished now than earlier when he had first heard about the Dawning Sun. And that was because he knew that when it came to natural laws, magical laws, and the will of heaven, they were things that could only be used in this way by Void Returning experts….

Xu Qing didn’t answer his question. He just calmly said, “Kneel.”

Sir Dust-Sun shrieked in agony as his legs shattered. However, they didn’t disappear, they just bent at awkward angles, forcing him to kneel.

“Smoldering God…” Sir Dust-Sun said, his mind crumbling. He looked at Xu Qing, then looked at Plumdark, his eyes pleading. “Junior Sister, for the sake of us being fellow disciples, and out of respect for our Master, let me off the hook, just this one time….”

Plumdark said nothing. She just shook her head.

Despair and madness filled Sir Dust-Sun’s eyes as he prepared to self-detonate and end things in mutual destruction.

“Strip it away!” Xu Qing said calmly.

Heaven and earth rumbled as another huge hand formed. It grabbed Sir Dust-Sun, who screamed as his body shattered, and spirit energy poured out of him. As of that moment, his cultivation base had been stripped away. Left behind was only a puddle of blood and gore. And a soul.

“Let the flesh be the candle. Let the soul burn.”

In response to Xu Qing’s words, Sir Dust-Sun’s flesh rippled, squished together, and then took the shape of a candle made of bloody flesh! The candle lit up, using the soul as the wick. Agonized screaming rang out from the burning flame of the candle.

Xu Qing picked it up, turned, and walked over to Plumdark. He held the candle out to her.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he said, “A gift for you.”

Plumdark looked at Xu Qing feeling slightly surprised. This wasn’t the way he usually did things. But that was fine. An unusual feeling rose up in her. She accepted the candle, her eyes shining brightly. Her plan was to place the candle above the outer door of her mansion grotto, to serve as a lamp that burned day and night.

The hall was completely silent save for the screaming coming from the candle.

Sir Bloodsmelter’s eyes gleamed with praise as he looked at his grand-apprentice. He was truly impressed with Xu Qing, who reminded him a lot of himself when he was young, and knew what ‘blood-red romance’ was all about.

As everyone looked on, Xu Qing turned to the sky and bowed.

Simultaneously, he heard the cold voice of Ninth Sib speaking into his mind.

“Some enemies need to be put to the sword. But when someone makes a move on your woman, killing them too quickly can be unsatisfying. Instead, torment them brutally, and ultimately, offer them as a gift. That’s the way to move a woman’s heart. I have experience in this. Back in the day, I helped quite a few people in this same way.”

An odd expression could be seen on Xu Qing’s face. He had never heard Grandpa Ninth talk so much, nor could he have guessed that the ice-cold Grandpa Ninth would have such experience.

All he could do was nod. But then he noticed the look in Plumdark’s eyes, and realized that Grandpa Ninth was clearly right. That said, he still felt the best thing to do was kill your enemy as quickly as possible, and not drag things out.

This’ll be the only time, Xu Qing thought.