Chapter 311.1: The World of Death Qi
Blood mist drifted down in flurries, soaking Han Xianyun's forehead. When he brought his hand to his brow, it came away smeared with gore. Only then did he stare seriously at Qi Yuan, his expression dazed. "My wife?"
Qi Yuan said casually, "Your wife, yeah. Haa, I went a bit too hard. She couldn't take it. What a shame. You should keep something to remember her by."
The blood mist swirled everywhere, yet not a single drop fell on him. The blood-red long sword had vanished, and he stood within the fractured space like a fallen immortal. Though, whatever this exiled immortal was saying made very little sense.
Yu Xiu struggled painstakingly to his feet, gazing reverently at Qi Yuan. "You have my utmost gratitude for saving my life, my lord!"
His head was still ringing from the shock of it all.
Qi Yuan's gaze settled on Yu Xiu. "Could you tell me about this hidden map?"
"I..." Yu Xiu's brow furrowed in confusion. This man, who rivals a god, doesn't know...?
Still, sensing he was about to be pulled back, he swiftly said, "My lord, my name is Yu Xiu. This matter is too complicated to explain in a moment. When the curse ends, this space will shatter. Once I am back, I will seek you out and tell you everything."
In the next moment, he turned translucent, then vanished entirely. The whole space collapsed with him. The environment around Qi Yuan and Han Xianyun reverted back to the narrow alleyway it had been before.
Han Xianyun clutched his head. He was dizzy and disoriented, as though he'd been struck by something enormous. It felt, he realized, exactly like a dream.
He stared at Qi Yuan. "Just now, did we enter some kind of special space? Was that all in my head?"
He genuinely wondered if he'd had some kind of episode. His current state didn’t help, his head feeling heavy as if stuffed with cotton. Though of course, Qi Yuan was responsible for that, having blasted him awake with a shout.
Qi Yuan smiled lightly. "Your wife's remnants are still on your forehead. How is that your imagination? What, are you trying to be a deadbeat? Refusing to take responsibility?"
***
The sky was heavy and overcast, with gales howling.
Within an ancient, crumbling fortress, dense clusters of cramped buildings pressed against each other. Strange creatures were carved into every surface of the fortress walls: a terrifying six-winged great fish, a majestic, humanoid being with a lion's face.
In the open space at the center of the fortress, a ripple of spatial disturbance shuddered through the air, and Yu Xiu fell from above.
Soon, four others had gathered in that clearing.
The two men and two women all stared at Yu Xiu with surprise.
"Yu Xiu? Didn’t you go to the mortal world for a break? Why are you back so soon? Did you break your curse?"
Only the tall young woman with two thick braids was genuinely worried. "Those wounds... What happened to you? Did Executioner Amos do that?"
Yu Xiu didn’t want to tell the whole story. "Something unexpected came up when I was breaking the curse."
A broad-shouldered man's eyes clouded with complicated worry. "Haa. How could you be hurt again? We’re about to be dispatched on a mission. What are we supposed to do about the next assignment?"
The others felt the same. As a small team, having one of their core combat members injured severely hindered their work.
Then, a lean young man chimed in, "Don't even talk about the mission. At this rate, this fortress will be finished before the mission even starts."
Everyone’s expressions shifted.
The fortress was their shelter, keeping them safe from the corrosion of the outside world. Their group had been completing fewer and fewer missions lately. As a result, the blood array received less and less energy, and the fortress gradually grew weaker.
Before long, the terrifying monsters lurking in the darkness of night would likely break through the blood array. The people living here would suffer catastrophic casualties, and the team themselves would be forced to become wanderers with no stable foothold, living day to day hoping to survive.
The thick-braided girl's face was equally clouded. "That thing is at the Martial Ying tier, stronger than the Executioner Amos. There’s no way a small fortress like ours could withstand it!"
Someone muttered, "Who knows what the higher-ups are even planning..."
Yu Xiu pressed a hand to his wound. "Nana and I are going back to recover. We'll talk later."
The thick-braided girl didn't argue. She simply hauled Yu Xiu up onto her shoulder, and the two of them headed off toward the cramped room inside the fortress.
Once he'd confirmed they were alone, Yu Xiu exhaled slowly.
An Liang Na's face was full of urgency. "Yu Xiu, what exactly happened? Those wounds... Did Executioner Amos really do that to you?"
A myriad of questions filled her mind. Since they were so close, she knew his combat strength better than anyone, and had some idea of what cards he held. Moreover, someone condemned to punishment wouldn’t have been able to come back this easily.
Yu Xiu thought about what he'd witnessed in the execution space. "Nana, do you think anyone in the mortal world could kill Amos?"
An Liang Na brushed him off. "No way! Amos is at the Martial Ying tier! Even in a large-scale mission, that thing would qualify as a great boss. The mortal world is filled with nothing but ordinary people."
Yu Xiu was silent for a moment. "Well, someone from the mortal world killed Amos in one strike."
He told her everything that had happened, starting from when he tried to read Qi Yuan’s fortune.
When he was finished, her eyes were wide with shock. "How is that possible?!"
After all, bloodline concentration had a ceiling in the mortal world. Blood martial artists simply couldn't exist there. Without blood martial artists, how could anyone possibly contend with Amos?
She shook her head, completely at a loss. "And from your description, there was no death qi around him, which means he isn’t one of us."
Something occurred to Yu Xiu, who said slowly, "I've heard that something major changed in the mortal world recently. It might be connected to all of this."
"Something major?" An Liang Na was quiet for a moment, then continued, "even if the mortal world has grown stronger, what difference does it make? This place is..."
Yu Xiu fell silent. She was right. No matter what happened in the mortal world, it had nothing to do with them. They only had each other here. Only their teammates mattered.
***
In a hotel room in Longtai, Qi Yuan sat before a large screen.
On it, Zero-One smiled as it ran through its daily report.
「Today, 3 videos were filmed. Yesterday's earnings... purchased wedding candy... The cat shed 573 strands of fur...」
Qi Yuan nodded along. "How about the investigation on the Mad Dragon Martial God and the Blood Compass?"
That was what concerned him most right now. After all, it was directly tied to the advancement path of the Spirit Martial God and the breakthrough beyond the martial peak.
「No information was found on the Mad Dragon Martial God or the Blood Compass. However, through broader searches, I located information on Bloodluo Island. The island lies deep in the Zhongya Ocean. 1700 years ago, an earthquake struck the Zhongya Ocean, sinking Bloodluo Island beneath the waves, never to be heard from again.」
"Can you pinpoint its exact location?"
If they could, he'd just dive and take a look.
「There is insufficient data. Exact location cannot be determined.」
Zero-One's expression conveyed distress, as though failing to solve Qi Yuan’s problems was a source of genuine pain.
「However, I’ve conducted extensive archival searches regarding the person you mentioned, Yu Xiu, as well as the portrait you provided. Through the worldwide network of surveillance backups, I was able to uncover some information. Yu Xiu was a native of An County in the Qin Yuan Kingdom. He died in a traffic accident 34 years ago. Based on his age, he would be 50 years old today.」
Qi Yuan was taken aback. "He died?"
Suddenly, he recalled the word Yu Xiu had used, “death qi.” Could it be that the place Yu Xiu lives in can only be entered by the dead? Does that mean I'd have to kill myself to complete the Spirit Martial God mission?
He thought about it, then shook his head quickly. Despite having a psychiatric certificate, he wasn't actually mentally ill. Suicide was not on the table.
Looking, he'd only entered that hidden space by using Han Xianyun's bloodline as a bridge. In other words, if his own bloodline concentration reached the necessary threshold, he would probably be able to enter on his own.
"Looks like I still have to be a diver and go hunt mutated sea monsters."
The blood essence from the Wu Cult was a mixed bag of various bloodlines. Although it did boost his Martial Dao cultivation and aptitude, but taken in excess, it would muddy the waters and create more problems than it solved.
"Time to change clothes. I've got some sightseeing to do."
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