Chapter 78: Ink Martial City

  The exit of the cave was sealed off by a mysterious power, and the dark river water surged in, filling the cave. The dark river water flowed down through the gaps between the stone slabs, soaking Rain Lin's corpse inside.

  This thing erodes the yin spirit, but has a nourishing effect on corpses. If it weren't for the Yin River water losing this property when it reaches the Yang realm, many Qi-refining masters would come to collect it, and no matter how vast the river is, they would drain it dry.

  The two returned along the original path, and Zihong took six more elixirs to replenish his energy. They finally arrived at the end of the Yin River, where the space was chaotic and the Yin River converged with an underground river. The water of the Yin River flowed into the mortal world, and except for being abnormally cold, there was nothing special about this place. Zihong let out a sigh of relief, as using the Sword Escape technique in the Yin River was extremely dangerous. If the sword escape was broken, the water of the Yin River could corrode the two people's yin spirits, destroying their Dao cultivation.

  Along the underground river, Bai Qi changed his horse to a water-avoiding one and the two of them went downstream. On the way, they encountered a narrow place, where Bai Qi cut through with one sword, and it suddenly opened up. No matter how complex the underground was, this river would eventually have an end. Before half a day had passed, Bai Qi and Zi Hong saw light, which was sunlight shining down on a pool of water above.

  Bai Qi suddenly leapt into the air, flying out of the water's surface. However, he saw that at the edge of the pond, dozens of cultivators were attacking one person.

  Bai Qi and Zi Hong appeared at once, immediately attracting the attention of those besiegers.

  A huge golden seal flew over, and those people asked no questions, directly wanting to kill Bai Qi and Zi Hong.

  Bai Qi didn't get angry, bumping into this kind of thing was just his bad luck, but since they wanted to kill him, he still had to make them pay a price. A black long spear flew out from in front of Bai Qi, with a clear and crisp collision sound, the golden seal was pierced by the long spear and shattered into pieces.

  The cultivator who attacked Bai Qi spat out blood, his golden seal was a magic weapon, but it was pierced by Bai Qi's long spear, instantly injuring his yin spirit. Zi Hong saw these people attacking directly and didn't show any courtesy, the Qing Si sword transformed into countless rays of light, enveloping them, with this one strike, more than 20 people fell down, leaving only 12 cultivators, all of whom had blood on their bodies.

  This sword shook the scene, a blue-robed Taoist with a stern face said: "Who are you? The Night Emperor's door is handling affairs, quickly retreat!"

  Bai Qi burst out laughing and said: "If you weren't from the Night Emperor's sect, I might have just left."

  As they spoke, his Moon Wheel Sword also emerged, working together with the Qing Si Sword to behead the remaining Alchemists one by one. These Alchemists were at most at the early stages of the Nascent Soul stage, and that person's Dark Spirit had already been injured by Bai Qi, so the rest didn't even require Zi Hong to use his full strength. Seeing Bai Qi's killing intent, Zi Hong struck again with another sword, resulting in over thirty Alchemists being annihilated.

  The besieged man was somewhat exhausted, with one hand supporting his own large knife and one leg kneeling on the ground, panting heavily.

  Bai Qi didn't want to get entangled with this person either. He killed those Night Emperor's Gate people just to vent his anger at being hunted down himself. He never thought of repaying kindness or seeking revenge.

  "Stop right there." The man who was surrounded raised his head, revealing a weathered face with white temples and obvious scars at the corners of his eyes, which were nearly ten years old.

  This isn't a Qi Refiner, but a Martial Artist. A single Martial Artist being surrounded by dozens of Qi Refiners and still managing to hold on for so long? Bai Qi's figure flashed, landing in front of this person.

  "What is your innate talent?" Bai Qi asked as soon as he opened his mouth.

  "Congenital second-class citizen."

  "Born with two products, how can they not be the opponents of those waste materials?" Bai Qi clearly remembered that his father was a first-class product at the time, and he slaughtered those who were just practicing qigong and butchering dogs. The fighting power of the second product is not much different from that of the first product. These practitioners in front of him are not considered strong either.

  The warrior used his hand to pull open the collar of his chest, revealing his chest. On the position of his heart, a purple-red tumor was constantly squirming, as if there was something terrifying inside, drilling into his heart.

  "Overpowered by others, unable to exert his strength." The warrior's expression was only slightly despondent, without any fear.

  "What are you asking me to do? Although I'm a Qi Refiner, I'm not good at treating illnesses." Bai Qi remained unmoved. There were many unfortunate people in this world; one more wouldn't make a difference.

  The warrior coughed, one hand clutching his chest, and with a surge of strength, pinched the tumor hard. He himself was in so much pain that sweat broke out on his forehead, and from within the tumor came a faint cry.

  "This thing has absorbed my vital energy, even if it doesn't pierce my heart, I won't live for much longer. I know that Qi Refiners also have a price, I'm willing to hire you, to kill someone for me, to avenge the destruction of my family."

  Bai Qi looked down from his high vantage point at the aged warrior and said after a long pause: "As long as you can afford the price."

  "That martial artist said: 'I am a person from the ancient family of He Ling County, and for generations we have been opening up jade stones in the blood spring gate of He Ling. Last month, my son discovered a huge piece of jade in the mine tunnel, wanting to present it, but the news leaked out and was known by the people of Ye Di Men...'"

  "I don't want to hear the details, you tell me, what price can you offer?" Bai Qi interrupted the warrior's words.

  That samurai seemed to have not heard Bai Qi's words and continued: "My Gu family, as well as the upper and lower levels of the Blood Spring Gate, were all killed by the Night Emperor Gate. If you can avenge me by killing the people of the Night Emperor Gate, I will tell you about the jade stone mine."

  Bai Qi burst out laughing and turned around to leave.

  The warrior was shocked, but then heard Bai Qi say: "Your jade mine has already been occupied by the Night Emperor's people. You think you can exchange a worthless piece of information for the life of the king?"

  That samurai suddenly spat out fresh blood, and in the blood, there were several ugly cyan worms wriggling. But Bai Qi had already flown away with Zi Hong, and he didn't even have the intention of listening to his explanation.

  Flying in mid-air, Bai Qi suddenly said: "I forgot to ask that person, what is this place!"

  Zi Hong also lost his smile, the two of them digging back and forth underground, breaking through countless layers of space, fault zones, and escaping from the Yin River, probably already thousands of miles away from the Chu River. Bai Qi had just walked away with a swagger, but forgot to ask for directions.

  "Why didn't you help him get revenge?" Zi Hong asked casually.

  "Sister, under the Night Emperor's throne, there are three saints and eight kings. I'm not sure what kind of power they have, but the sword slaves under the Sword King are all top-notch Transcendent beings. If we want to kill the Human King, even if we combine our strength, it wouldn't be enough for them to even notice. This person wants me to risk my life for just a vein of jade stone that's not even in his possession? Does he think I'm an idiot?"

  "Then why didn't you kill him?" Zi Hong spoke up, although she had been very considerate of Bai Qi before, but without the experience of going through life and death together, her personality was that of a lazy talker.

  Bai Qi couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Kill him? Who's paying?"

  "We cultivators don't ask for rewards. If you like it, go do it; if not, give the Heavenly Court to me and I won't do it either." Zi Hong said proudly, her black hair flying about, shining brightly. At this moment, Bai Qi thought of Xiao Yu. How was Xiao Yu doing in Kunlun?

  Zi Hong saw Bai Qi's distracted expression, she was used to it. Her junior brother's personality was like that, only focusing on cultivation and battle, at other times, he might wander off somewhere, without regard for the occasion.

  Flying in the sky is somewhat dangerous after all, Bai Qi didn't know where this was, what if it's the lair of the Night Emperor Sect, being intercepted by the people of the Night Emperor Sect would be troublesome. The two arrived at a wide road, dropped down from the light, stuck paper talismans on their legs and started running quickly.

  This paper talisman is of low grade, generally used by Qi Refining cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage. The speed isn't slow, but the control ability is extremely poor. In battle, using this would be like seeking death.

  The Great Jin Dynasty collapsed, and the cultivators of the entire world emerged from hiding, acting recklessly. Although there were not many cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage, they were also not few, and even low-level cultivators who had not entered the Nascent Soul stage could control flying swords. On this official road that was once bustling with carriages and horses, using flying swords to travel had become a common sight. With Bai Qi and Zi Hong traveling in such a way, no one would pay attention to them.

  The Night Emperor's Gate only monitors cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage, and absolutely won't even bother to investigate an ant. Flying in the sky represents having achieved Nascent Soul stage cultivation.

  It was only a moment's time before they saw the city. The magical power of Jia Ma had already been exhausted, and the two walked slowly forward, seeing three ancient seals on the city gate - Mo Wu City.

  In ancient times, there were a hundred great surnames, and the Mo surname was among them. This Mo Wu City is where the ancestral temple of the Mo surname is located. During the Great Jin Dynasty, the Mo surname did not enter officialdom, indicating that they did not forget the previous dynasty. The Li imperial family of the Great Jin also had no choice but to tolerate this. Among the Mo surname, there were also practitioners of internal alchemy, but most of the Mo surname still held a warrior identity.

  Mo Wu City is located south of the White Robe River and north of the Chu River, in a slightly eastern direction, not far from the sea. The Qin River flows through it, where prosperity lies, but the local customs are simple and honest. However, towards the sea, the Qin River turns northward, making a big bend, and to the east is Qu Mountain, with numerous Qu Mountain Gate sects standing, so the Mo family's development cannot extend eastward.

  Here is still a thousand miles away from Chu Jiang, which is not far for a cultivator like Bai Qi. Seeing the city of Mo Wu, he let out a sigh of relief. This place is not within the control range of the Night Emperor's Gate, and even if there are sects that have defected to the Night Emperor's Gate, it is not worth worrying about.

  "Junior brother, go and find out." Zi Hong pointed to the Ink Martial City, Bai Qi nodded. The sect's mission was unknown, but the Night Emperor Sect had mobilized many strong practitioners, including those true transmission disciples, as well as Lou Hongyu and others. He didn't know if there would be any danger. Even if he was anxious to return to the sect to report back, he still needed to find out what the outcome was first.

  Arriving at the city's outskirts, the imperial court has collapsed, yet this city's defenses show no signs of relaxation. Now that there are many demonic creatures, the Mohist School has quietly become the guardian of this region, and the various sects in Qu Mountain do not dare to intervene.

  The main gate of Mowu City was not open, only a small side door was open, and there were warriors checking the passing pedestrians in front of the city gate. On the city tower above, there was a faint aura of Alchemists. Bai Qi frowned, what's making the Mo family so tense?

  The Mo family's Qi refining masters are few in number, but top-notch ones are not scarce. There are over a dozen Golden Elixir strong practitioners, and among the martial artists, there exist First-Rank Heaven Chosen. If such people were to equip themselves with weapons refined by Qi refining masters, their killing power against Golden Elixir and below Qi refining masters would be enormous.

  The gatekeeper warrior saw two Taoists approaching and cautiously stepped forward to investigate: "Two Taoist priests, where are you from?"

  The warrior spoke politely, but his hand was on the hilt of his sword.

  "Yun Meng Zong Lian Qi Shi, Qing Ying Zi." Bai Qi replied calmly.

  "You..." The warrior's eyes were strange, he loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword and stepped aside, saying: "The Taoist priest may pass."