Stranger Danger

Chapter 749: Cooperation

“We must admit that we are tempted, miss,” Cui Qiuyuan clasped his fists together in salute and said, “but how can we know that you’re not lying to us? Please forgive me for saying this, but what if you went back on your promises as soon as we freed you? It would be all for naught, and we would have put ourselves in unnecessary danger, don’t you agree?”

“I cannot give you a guarantee, for such a thing does not exist in this world. Potent oaths do not function in this realm either.” Murong Xianxian replied simply, “You must simply choose to believe or disbelieve me.”

Eyebrows furrowed, the three Grandmasters fell into an extended silence after hearing this.

Murong Xianxian looked as calm as ever. She didn’t seem worried in the slightest that the three Grandmasters would turn down her offer. While wearing a smile that did not reach the eye, she added, “Besides, I’ve been sealed away for over eight hundred years. Even if I was free, my strength is less a hollow shadow of what it used to be. You outnumber me drastically, and there are even three Truemen and one Grandmaster among you. Are you truly afraid that I would go back on my own words? If you really are such cowards, then you wouldn’t have journeyed into this realm in the first place, would you?

As she said this, Murong Xianxian’s eyes curled into crescents. She was staring straight at Ye Qing.

At first, the three Grandmasters did not understand what she was saying. Then, realization struck them, and they nearly jumped on their feet. Murong Xianxian was saying that there was a fourth Grandmaster in this hall, and not a single one of them had noticed anything! Then, they noticed Murong Xianxian’s gaze, followed it, and found Ye Qing.

Ye Qing was astonished. His “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” was extraordinary in terms of concealing and altering one’s aura, and as far as he could tell, his concealment was perfect. This was proven by the fact that none of the three Grandmasters noticed his presence despite standing mere meters away from him. So, how did Murong Xianxian find him out?

“You’re right, Miss Murong.” Knowing that the game was up, Ye Qing stopped pretending and leaked a hint of his aura. He saluted Murong Xianxian first before glancing at Cui Qiuyuan, Qu Langhuan and Blood Rakshasa. ”Well met, Brother Cui, Mistress Qu, Miss Blood.”

Luckily for him, he had the foresight to alter his appearance and his energies when he saw the Grandmasters earlier. It was why neither of his nemeses noticed that he was the bastard who kicked their asses before. Otherwise, this would have been a very volatile meeting.

Cui Qiuyuan stared at Ye Qing. For some reason, he felt a whiff of familiarity from the young man.

“How could I not? All three of you are famous Grandmasters, and I’ve looked up to you for a long time.”

Ye Qing clasped his fist and introduced himself, “I am Ye Yipin[1]. Nice to meet you all.”

It was perfectly normal for a jianghu warrior to have a fake name or ten, right?

“Ye Yipin?” The Grandmasters exchanged a glance with each other. No one had ever heard of such a person in the jianghu. “May we know which sect or faction you belong to, Brother Ye?”

“I have none. I am just a nobody,” Ye Qing replied smilingly.

Murong Xianxian suddenly spoke up, “You are too humble, warrior. Truemen are common, and Grandmasters are rare. But a Grandmaster who isn’t even thirty years old? You would’ve been a one-of-a-kind genius even eight hundred years ago. You could not possibly be a nobody.”

“You flatter me, Murong Xianxian. I dare not receive such a compliment from you!” Ye Qing shook his head.

The reason Murong Xianxian spoke of Trueman and Grandmaster as if they were two different things was because they were considered different back in the olden days. Trueman referred to warriors who cultivated qi, whereas Grandmaster referred to warriors who tempered the body. Qi practitioners walked the orthodox way of cultivation and focused on refining essence into qi, qi into spirit, and spirit into god. Once they had cultivated a yang god, they were collectively referred to as Trueman.

On a related note, those who successfully forged the physical body, the true qi, and the yang god into one and combined their Way with the world was considered a Sage.

As for body-tempering warriors, they generally neglected the mind and spirit and focused on honing strength and body. If their body reached the level of a Sky Dragon[2], then they were considered a Grandmaster.

If they successfully combined their body with the world and proved their Way through strength, then they were known as a God-On-Earth[3].

In later times, martial arts became extremely popular, and the people discovered that qi practitioners could hone the body just as body-tempering warriors did not necessarily have to neglect the mind and spirit. That was why the line between Trueman and Grandmaster gradually blurred until they were treated the same as one another.

But of course, there were still some noble clans or powerful sects that maintained the distinction between Trueman and Grandmaster.

“A body-tempering Grandmaster?!” The three Grandmasters—or more accurately, Truemen— exclaimed in surprise and grew even more wary of Ye Qing. Despite this, they knew better than to press Ye Qing or even intimidate him via force at this point of time. They simply returned a nod and acknowledged his existence.

“So? Have you made up your minds?” Murong Xianxian looked at the trio. “The young warrior already has. What about you three?”

The three Truemen exchanged looks with each other before nodding. “We accept your proposal, miss. We only hope that you won’t go back on your words.”

“I never lie,” Murong Xianxian answered.

“So, how can we free you?” Cui Qiuyuan asked.

“It’s simple. You simply need to remove ‘Repentance’ from my forehead.” Murong Xianxian answered. “However, please remember ‘Repentance’ has absorbed nearly all of my willpower, soul, vigor, and vitality for the past eight hundred years. If you remove it now, then I will instantly perish and scatter into nothing.”

“Therefore, you must allow me to feed on these people’s vigor and soul first to restore what I’ve lost. Only then can you remove ‘Repentance’ by force.”

Ye Qing and the rest of the Truemen nodded in acknowledgement. No wonder Murong Xianxian had fed on the warriors’ blood earlier.

“I don’t mind you feeding on these people, miss, but can you let some of them go?” Qu Langhuan spoke up suddenly.

“Oh? Do you mean these four?” Murong Xianxian glanced at Zhang Lingyang, Chu Wangsun, Defeated and the Holy Son of Maitreya.

“That’s right!” Qu Langhuan nodded. “They are the promising geniuses of this jianghu, and all of them have prominent backgrounds. There will be unnecessary danger if you kill them.”

Neither Ye Qing nor the other Truemen wasn’t surprised by Qu Langhuan’s request. If Qu Langhuan was your ordinary heretic—or on the opposite spectrum, the batshit insane type—then she would have eliminated them at first notice. After all, these geniuses carried so much weight that their losses would surely deal a huge blow to the orthodoxy.

However, the Li Hentian Palace was different. Despite being one of the Nine Dark Ways, they weren’t the absolute evil kind of sect. In fact, they were experts who thrived in living between the crevasses, and they had friends on both sides of the jianghu. Naturally, it made sense for Qu Langhuan to plead for clemency on their behalf.

“Let me guess. The one who used the ‘Heavenly Master Nine Word Command’ probably hails from the Heavenly Master Mansion of Dragon Tiger Mountain.” Murong Xianxian looked at Zhang Lingyang and shot him a smile. “Am I right, child?”

“Hehehe! You’re both beautiful and wise, miss celestial! That’s right! This junior is Zhang Lingyang, a member of the Heavenly Master Mansion of Dragon Tiger Mountain!”

Zhang Lingyang abruptly snapped out of his stupor and saluted Murong Xianxian. Clearly, he had awakened a while ago.

“You have a silver tongue for sure.” Murong Xianxian chuckled.

“Thank you for the praise.” Zhang Lingyang beamed at her. “And thank you for pleading on my behalf, Mistress Qu. I won’t forget this favor!”

“You’re welcome, Little Heavenly Master.” Qu Langhuan gave him a nod. She wasn’t surprised that Zhang Lingyang was able to snap back to reality. He was the champion of the Human Champions Ranking after all. There was no way he wouldn’t have multiple trump cards under his sleeve.

Zhang Lingyang then looked at Chu Wangsun, Defeated and the Holy Son of Maitreya and waved, “Brother Chu, Brother Defeated, Holy Son, what are you waiting for? Come greet our miss celestial already!”

1. Yi Pin: You fucking bastard. ☜

2. If you guys remember, this is how they measure body-tempering warriors: Mad Python, Dragon Elephant, and Sky Dragon. ☜

3. OMFG I never realized god/celestial on earth was an actual title until now. Welp, now you guys know my shame. ☜

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