Chapter 91: Chapter 90: A Shocking Secret
Qin Hengtian’s body slowly descended.
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. As an incredibly experienced Celestial Level Martial Artist, Qin Hengtian understood this principle even better. His words were vicious, but he didn’t underestimate Qin Li because of them. Could someone who had evaded two Celestial Level Martial Artists for an entire day be a simple character?
"Get the hell out here! You coward! You little bastard! You little scoundrel! You little animal!"
Qin Hengtian had entered the Celestial Level a hundred years ago, and his current strength had reached the sixth tier of the Celestial Level—a true powerhouse. But his temper had never changed. His century of seclusion hadn’t mellowed him in the slightest; on the contrary, he had only grown more stubborn with age!
Qin Hengtian’s voice echoed throughout the pitch-black, silent Forest. He had been in pursuit for an entire day, covering nearly a thousand li. The temperature here was much higher than in Yellow Sand City, and even the Forest was filled with a hot, humid air that made the bald Qin Hengtian feel uncomfortable.
’How is this possible? How?’ Qin Hengtian’s mind was full of questions. ’How could this Low Level Martial Artist with such a weak Primordial Power fluctuation suddenly vanish right under my nose?’
As he pondered, Qin Hengtian stood his ground and released his powerful Divine Sense. Within a radius of several hundred meters, not even the stirring of an ant could escape his Spiritual Sense, yet he couldn’t detect the slightest sign of a human presence.
This suddenly sent a chill down Qin Hengtian’s spine. It wasn’t fear—an old monster like him who had lived for over two hundred years wasn’t pathetic enough to fear a Martial Artist so much weaker than himself. But for a living person to vanish into thin air like that... it was just too bizarre!
It was like a stone thrown into a swamp, swallowed up without even making a bubble.
The sword he hadn’t drawn in who knows how many years was finally, slowly, unsheathed from his back.
The night was as dark as water. The Treasure Sword glinted coldly, just like Qin Hengtian’s gaze—furious and icy!
He suddenly felt like a pitiful clown, being led around in circles by some brat who probably wasn’t even a fraction of his age, and now he was standing foolishly in the middle of this forest that he found so irritating.
His body’s Primordial Power surged into the sword, and he swept it horizontally!
A fiery red light, over ten feet long, instantly shot out from Qin Hengtian’s sword. As he spun his body, he completed a full circle!
In the dead silent night, a deafening CRASH suddenly echoed through the damp Forest. The Ancient Trees, some hundreds of years old... collapsed in an instant!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As Qin Hengtian truly unleashed his full power, the might of a Celestial Level Martial Artist was on full display. A moment later, the area within a hundred-meter radius was a complete wreck!
Even the ground was blasted with deep craters!
"Come out! Get out here!" Qin Hengtian roared again and again, each roar accompanied by a vicious Sword Technique.
Qin Li finally saw with his own eyes how vastly different a High Level combat skill was in the hands of a Celestial Level expert compared to a Profound Level Martial Artist!
’It’s... absolutely earth-shattering!’
Right now, Qin Li was less than five hundred meters from Qin Hengtian! He was sitting on a massive, leafy tree, using the Turtle Breath Technique to seal every meridian in his body. If Qin Li hadn’t wanted to watch Qin Hengtian’s movements, he could have even stopped his heart completely. As it was, his heart only beat once every few hours. Unless it was an expert at the Celestial Shattering Realm, it would be impossible for anyone to find a trace of him!
Qin Li had been forced to use this move. The Turtle Breath Technique had been taught to him by the old Daoist in his previous life. Using this technique, Qin Li had brushed with the Death God several times. This was the first time he had used it in this life, and his opponent was an ultra-powerful Celestial Level Martial Artist!
Facing Qin Hengtian head-on, Qin Li felt he didn’t have the slightest chance of winning. If it had been an Earth Level Martial Artist, Qin Li would have probably leaped out long ago and let his Blood-Drinking Sword truly drink some blood.
Qin Hengtian meticulously searched the area he had just ravaged for a long time but still found no trace of Qin Li. He couldn’t help but grow agitated. With his Divine Sense, it was impossible for Qin Li to have run far. That meant he must still be hiding somewhere nearby!
’Since you’re so good at hiding, I’ll just have to lure you out. When it comes to telling stories, your Grandpa Qin is second to none! I refuse to believe you won’t have the slightest emotional ripple after hearing my story!’
"Heh, kid, let me tell you a story. Do you know what your Grandpa Qin’s family used to do back in the day?" Qin Hengtian cackled strangely as he searched around.
"The ancestor of the Qin Family back then, my father, was just a simple butcher who ran a small tavern in Huangsha Town, serving the Hunters who came and went. One time, a very powerful Hunter, at the Celestial Level, entered one of the four great perilous zones, the Execution Ground. He survived a brush with death and brought back several Ancient Combat Skills and Primordial Power Heart Methods. But he also suffered extremely severe internal injuries. When he returned, he stayed at my Qin Family’s place. My father, that simple-looking butcher, used a bag of extra-strength Enchanting Medicine and a Bone-Cutting Saber to skin him alive."
Qin Hengtian laughed triumphantly. "Hahaha, I was still very young then. My younger brother and I watched from the side, watching as our father, slice by slice, stripped the flesh from that expert’s body, just like butchering a pig. Hehe, I wondered back then, when Father butchered pigs, stripping the meat was easy. He’d be done in a flash. Why did it take so long to strip that Martial Artist? Now I understand. The body of a Celestial Level Martial Artist is extremely tough; ordinary blades can hardly harm it. But he still died. A great expert didn’t die in a perilous zone but in such a pathetic way, under a butcher’s blade. Hahahahaha!"
Qin Hengtian laughed maniacally, but there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face!
In that instant, his Divine Sense was pushed to its absolute limit. If his target showed the slightest emotional fluctuation, he would immediately detect it. However, his opponent’s patience was far greater than he had imagined.
Qin Hengtian continued, "Do you know why my father killed him? He was just an ordinary butcher; he had no idea how valuable things like Combat Skill Heart Methods were. And back then, Yellow Sand City was still very desolate, with not many households. When that Celestial Level expert came, he stayed at our home, but he mocked my father, calling him a moron. He ordered my father around like a slave! In the end, he died. Tell me, young man, wouldn’t you call that retribution? I swear, if you come out now and hand over the treasure you got from the Phoenix Lake ruins, I won’t make things difficult for you. In fact, I’ll even grant you a lifetime of immense wealth and fortune!"
Qin Hengtian stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and started walking in the direction of Qin Li’s hiding spot.
"If... you stubbornly persist, thinking you can evade my search, once I find you, hehe, that Celestial Level Martial Artist from before will be your example! I will strip the flesh from your body... piece by piece, bit by bit. Hmm, and don’t underestimate my skills, you know. I learned from my father for twenty years! Also, I’ve got salt with me. Hahaha!"
Hidden in the tree, Qin Li cursed furiously in his mind: ’Old pervert, old animal, old bastard!’
If Qin Li hadn’t been using the Turtle Breath Technique, Qin Hengtian’s words would have truly been enough to sicken him into revealing himself. What he said was just too disgusting. Any normal person who heard it would have some emotional fluctuation. To be able to flay a person alive and torture them to death just because of some resentment... the only ones who could remain completely unmoved were probably cold-blooded, psychopathic killers and dead people.
Qin Hengtian was getting tired from walking by now. He came to the base of the towering Ancient Tree where Qin Li was hiding, leaned against the trunk, took out a water skin, and GULP GULP GULP, drank a few mouthfuls. His eyes scanned his surroundings, hoping to spot something unusual.
But, to his disappointment, after all his ruckus, there wasn’t even an insect left nearby. The Forest was frighteningly quiet.
"Hehe, if you didn’t like that last story, how about I tell you a secret? I’m guessing you’re a scion from one of Yellow Sand City’s families, right? Although this old man has never seen you, you seem very familiar with Phoenix Lake. You shouldn’t be an outsider. Hmm, since that’s the case... this old man will tell you one. What should I talk about? Right, more than thirty years ago, when this old man happened to come out of seclusion, I discovered that my Qin Family had become extremely prosperous, with a vast family estate. If my father could see the state of the Qin Family today, he could rest in peace. However, this old man discovered that the Qin Family had many, many children. This old man was very happy! To have so many descendants is a good thing!"
Qin Hengtian’s voice was low and magnetic. As he said, he was indeed a master storyteller. And Qin Li, for his part, was content to listen to his nonsense from right above his head.
"But upon asking, I found out that most of those little brats were damn well kidnapped! That little bastard Qin Hongyuan really inherited my Qin Family’s fine traditions! Among them was a little girl, as adorable as a porcelain doll! She was just so lovely! This old man took a liking to her the moment I saw her. Hehe, don’t mind that this old man is over two hundred years old; in *that* department, I’m still very powerful!"
Qin Hengtian let out a few lewd chuckles while once again releasing his Divine Sense. If his opponent was from a Yellow Sand City family, it was impossible he wouldn’t be interested in something like this!
Still no movement... Qin Hengtian cursed silently in his heart and continued.
"This old man thought that when the girl grew into her twenties, she’d surely be an absolute beauty! So I asked him for her, saying the girl was to be left for this old man. Who would have known that little bastard would actually say she was to be sent to the emperor in the future? To help our Qin Family rise to prominence, he had searched for a long time to find a girl with such peerless natural talent. Damn it all! He finds such a prize and doesn’t know to save it for his ancestor, instead wanting to give her to the emperor to enjoy. This old man was furious, but since that little whelp was doing it for the Qin Family, I endured it."
But Qin Hengtian had no idea that this part of the story, which he had revealed unintentionally, had left Qin Li utterly dumbfounded. And hearing his shameless tone, a two-hundred-year-old monster lusting after his own mother, rage was already burning fiercely in Qin Li’s heart. He truly felt the impulse to break free from the Turtle Breath Technique and kill this old animal with a single strike.
Qin Hengtian said indignantly, "As it turns out, when this old man came out of seclusion this time, that little bastard Qin Hongyuan told me that the little slut eloped with someone and even gave birth to a little bastard child! And from the way he spoke, it sounded like he was trying to defend that little slut. How outrageous! Does he really think she’s his daughter or something? Ah! Damn it all, how outrageous! This is infuriating! If I had known, I should have enjoyed that little slut back then..."
"Enjoy my ass!"
An earth-shattering roar, and an unparalleled streak of Sword Qi, came cleaving straight down at Qin Hengtian’s head from above!
