Chapter 151: Old Man Chen Qiu! Finally, He's Out of Prison!

Chapter 151: Old Man Chen Qiu! Finally, He's Out of Prison!

Chen Qiu understood the concept of possessing a treasure and being guilty of it.

In the past ten days, the scholar's injuries had healed rapidly under the care of the Starlight Sect Leader. He was now as energetic as a dragon, able to jump around, and there were no lingering Golden Core injuries.

"Not bad."

Chen Qiu looked at the scholar and smiled, "Your Sword Dao realm is now even higher than Ji Taiping's. Even if you went outside, I doubt many Heaven's Pride could surpass you."

"I have you to thank for that, Brother Chen Qiu."

The scholar scratched his head shyly, "If it weren't for you suppressing Ji Taiping's Golden Core and divine sense with your aura, I wouldn't have had the chance to clash sword intents with him. The divine sense attack of a Fifth Layer Golden Core is beyond what I can withstand right now."

"It's fine."

Chen Qiu patted the scholar's shoulder and smiled, "Since everything is ready, let's set off."

He couldn't wait to depart immediately.

These ten days had felt like an eternity, and now that everything was prepared, they were just waiting for the scholar to recover before they could leave.

During this time, Chen Qiu hadn't been idle. He had gone to the Endless Snow Mountain and the Boundless Sea, where he picked two mature Demon Lotuses and placed them above the Mock Heaven Sect. One of the spirit flowers emitted a chilling aura, while the other carried a damp, oceanic essence.

Adding to the two spirit flames he had collected earlier.

The atmosphere of the Mock Heaven Sect became even more peculiar.

It was filled with demonic energy, resentment, coldness, and oceanic essence.

It didn't even look like a place where humans could live.

However, it wasn't too cold; instead, there was a hint of warmth.

During this time, Chen Qiu had also visited the Endless Desert, where he extracted a bit of the underground fire sea and placed it in the Earth Fire Array, allowing it to flow beneath the Mock Heaven Sect to provide power support for the Alchemy Hall and the Armory Hall.

On his way through the Endless Desert, he overheard a Monster Clan genius boasting and asking for a beating, claiming he desired a defeat.

Since he had time to spare.

As he passed by, Chen Qiu casually slapped the Monster Clan genius, sending him flying into the desert. He was a helpful person by nature, and since someone had asked for a defeat, he naturally wouldn't deny such a small request.

Two hours later.

Chen Qiu arrived at the Endless Snow Mountain alone. The bone-chilling cold air rushed towards him, and after standing in the high sky for a long time, he finally raised his head to look at the mountain peak, which was hidden in the clouds and mist.

He had been here many times before.

But he had never defeated the Nascent Soul Puppet guarding the peak.

This time, with the accumulation of nine lifetimes, he had come to challenge it again!

As he ascended.

The surrounding air grew colder. After passing through the clouds and mist, he could see the snow-covered mountain peak. The extreme cold even slowed the flow of spirit qi in his body, but with the rotation of the Heavenly Dao Golden Core, a warm current surged through him, quickly dispelling the cold.

After ascending for an unknown duration.

The air around him became increasingly frigid. The might of heaven and earth here was so overwhelming that even a powerful cultivator at the Golden Core Peak Grand Completion stage couldn't set foot here. Even the surrounding heaven and earth's spirit qi was frozen, and he could only rely on the spirit qi stored within his body to continue ascending.

Finally—

He landed on a platform a few hundred zhang away from the summit. This was basically his limit; beyond this point, the pressure increased exponentially with each additional zhang.

Even the strongest Golden Core cultivator couldn't break through this barrier.

Standing on the platform, a Nascent Soul Puppet with a long sword on its back stood silently. Sensing the disturbance, its pupils flashed with light as it glanced at Chen Qiu. Without hesitation, it waved its right hand.

A powerful and vast surge of spirit qi slammed into Chen Qiu!

"Boom!!!"

Chen Qiu opened the Heavenly Clue Umbrella to block the attack, but his body was still uncontrollably knocked back dozens of zhang, and he felt a stinging pain throughout his body, with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Chen Qiu laughed, wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth before looking at the Nascent Soul Puppet, which hadn't launched another attack, "Long time no see, your strength has weakened significantly."

This Nascent Soul Puppet was the guardian of this forbidden ground! Whenever someone approached, it would casually strike, not intending to kill but only to severely injure and repel. The vast spirit qi it possessed was beyond the capabilities of a Golden Core cultivator, even if Chen Qiu's spirit qi far exceeded what a Golden Core Peak Grand Completion cultivator should have.

It was incomparable to this Nascent Soul Puppet.

Aside from lacking divine sense attacks, this Nascent Soul Puppet possessed around sixty to seventy percent of a Nascent Soul cultivator's combat strength, and it was immune to pain and fearless of death.

Chen Qiu had been defeated several times before.

But not this time.

The next moment—

Thick, dark clouds suddenly spread for hundreds of li, covering the entire sky. Violent storms and rain roared in, and within a faintly visible small ball, there were tens of thousands of lightning dragons. It slowly floated into Chen Qiu's palm.

His divine sense locked onto the puppet.

The small blue lightning ball instantly vanished into Chen Qiu's palm and, in the blink of an eye, shot towards the chest of the Nascent Soul Puppet.

Just as it was about to hit.

The Nascent Soul Puppet's fingers trembled slightly, and the long sword that had been slung behind its back suddenly shot forward, blocking its chest and splitting the small lightning ball in half.

The split thunderball instantly exploded with a deafening blast.

Countless thunder dragons shot out, enveloping the Nascent Soul Puppet, creating a shower of snow mist. When the mist cleared, the puppet remained almost unscathed, and the platform showed no signs of damage.

At this moment, Chen Qiu had fully recovered his spiritual energy. He unleashed his 'Skyfall Snow' technique, enveloping the puppet. Without hesitation, he retreated into his small world to recover his spiritual energy when he saw the puppet turn and point its sword towards him.

Just as he retreated, a sword beam carrying an intense and terrifying sword intent shot towards his direction!

This single attack was enough to instantly kill four or five Golden Core Peak Grand Completion stage cultivators! Chen Qiu was aware that this puppet was a Sword Cultivator puppet. Only when it drew the longsword from its back did it enter a true combat state. Even with his strength, enduring a single strike would be challenging.

The puppet's greatest strength was its mastery of various sword techniques. Regardless of the sword technique used, this puppet could always counter it with a suppressing move.

After hundreds of breaths, Chen Qiu reappeared, fully replenished with spiritual energy. Without hesitation, he unleashed another small thunderball, and his Twelve-Grade Golden Core shot straight towards the puppet's chest.

This time—

The thunderball was shattered again, and the Twelve-Grade Golden Core pierced a small hole in the puppet's body.

The countless thunder dragons also turned the puppet's surface black.

".

The puppet on the platform looked down at the small hole in its chest, then held its sword with one hand and performed a sword incantation. Numerous illusory and tangible sword beams appeared in the sky, shooting towards Chen Qiu.

Without hesitation, Chen Qiu retreated into his small world again.

He fully restored his spiritual energy in the small world and then stepped out.

In this manner—

Chen Qiu and the Nascent Soul puppet engaged in a fierce battle. Chen Qiu showed no desire to prolong the fight. His strategy was simple: he would deplete his spiritual energy, then retreat to his small world to recover, repeating this process.

For a full hour, the puppet was covered in wounds, and half of its leg was severed, leaving it half-kneeling on the platform.

Inside the small world, Chen Qiu was panting heavily. The puppet had predicted his exit point from the small world, and as soon as he appeared, a hundreds-of-zhang-long sword made of dense spiritual energy and sword intent smashed towards him.

Even with his quick reaction to dodge, the intense and violent sword intent, like a torrential rain of pear blossom needles, pierced through his protective spiritual energy, leaving countless tiny wounds on his body. The injuries weren't severe, but they were frightening, and his body was drenched in blood without a single intact patch of skin.

"Not bad," Chen Qiu smiled. After fully recovering his spiritual energy, he stepped out of the small world to continue the fierce battle.

Mental attacks were useless; the puppet had no sea of consciousness.

It had to be a direct confrontation.

But Chen Qiu had his small world, and as long as he persisted, he was sure to win. However, the puppet's defense was incredibly strong. Even with the power of his 'Lightning Summoning Technique' enhanced by numerous entries, at the Golden Core Peak Grand Completion stage, it could only barely break through the puppet's defense.

If his cultivation were slightly weaker or the power of the 'Lightning Summoning Technique' slightly less, he wouldn't have been able to breach its defense at all.

Not a moment too soon, half an hour later, Chen Qiu, drenched in blood, stood on the platform, his forehead covered in sweat, barely catching his breath. He leaned on the Heavenly Clue Umbrella to keep himself from collapsing, gazing down at the puppet lying motionless on the platform, its spiritual energy completely depleted. A faint smile appeared on Chen Qiu's face.

"Exhausted," he said.

Without hesitation, he released the Scholar from the small world. The Scholar's cultivation was such that as soon as he appeared, his body was enveloped in cold, freezing him in place, his eyes gradually losing focus.

Seeing this, Chen Qiu casually blasted out a stream of spiritual energy to disperse the cold from the Scholar's body. Then, with a weak wave of his hand, he said, "Do you see the red bead in the puppet's chest?"

"Use your sword intent to pierce it."

The SkyMock Sect was filled with Sword Cultivator fanatics, and their puppets were also Sword Cultivator puppets. Even the restrictions protecting the puppet's core hub could only be broken by powerful sword intent.

"Huff!"

The Scholar took a deep breath, knowing this wasn't the time for idle chat. He held his breath, his eyes sharpening as he channeled his sword intent into the longsword, transforming it into a stream of emerald-green liquid that slowly flowed over the blade's surface.

With all his might, he thrust the sword forward!

"Shlaaak!"

As the sword intent penetrated, the restriction protecting the puppet's core hub slowly shattered.

Chen Qiu's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he stood by, not interrupting. He patiently waited, knowing this wasn't something he could intervene in. After an incense stick's worth of time, the Scholar's body began to tremble, his face turning pale as he was on the verge of fainting.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the restriction shattered, and the puppet's core hub instantly crumbled under the sword tip! At that very moment—

"Boom!"

A deafening sound reverberated through the heavens and earth. Chen Qiu looked up; they were still hundreds of zhang away from the summit. The pressure increased exponentially with every zhang ascended, but now, this pressure suddenly vanished along with the booming sound.

But this respite only lasted for a moment, and the pressure gradually intensified once more. In just ten breaths, it would return to its previous strength.

The core hub of the puppet on the platform was slowly repairing itself, and even the damaged body was gradually regenerating.

Obviously!

This breach would only last for ten breaths, and then it would be sealed once more.

Chen Qiu immediately retrieved the scholar into his small world, his eyes flashing with determination and excitement. Spirit Qi surged out, and he used all his energy to rush towards the mountain peak at the fastest speed he had ever achieved!

He had waited a thousand years for this day!

A thousand years, and finally, he had his chance.

Damn it! Chen Qiu finally got out of prison!

Chen Qiu rushed towards the snowy mountain peak at his fastest speed. This was a place he had never set foot in before. Standing here, one could see the most beautiful scenery in the world, but at this moment, he had no desire to appreciate the view.

As he reached the peak of the snowy mountain!

He saw a white vortex teleportation portal, one he had seen many times before. But this time, it gave Chen Qiu an extraordinary feeling.

Chen Qiu's eyes reddened slightly, and he accelerated once more. As the Heaven's Qi on the snowy peak returned to normal, he dove into the white vortex teleportation portal and disappeared from sight!

The next moment, the Heaven's Qi on the Endless Snow Mountain's peak returned to normal, and the Nascent Soul puppet on the platform had finished repairing itself. It stood on the platform once more, waiting day after day for the next challenger.

Perhaps he would never see a second challenger.

Or perhaps, the next challenger would arrive soon.

On the Xuantian Continent, a small town nestled beneath a mountain range was covered in snow.

At this moment, in a tavern...

Several robust men clad in animal skins were drinking heartily, loudly discussing the latest news.

"There was another avalanche, and I heard several hunters died."

"Hey, don't mention it. Lately, there's been a strange pattern of frequent avalanches on the Endless Snow Mountain. I say it's best to avoid the mountain for now; it's too dangerous."

"Who would want to go up there if they had a choice? But the Snow Rabbits only appear during this time, and catching one is worth 20 low-grade Spirit Stones, enough to last a long time."

"Hey, did you hear about the Changbai Mountain Team? They found a man who was knocked unconscious by an avalanche yesterday. Has he recovered yet?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about it. They said the man was wearing thin clothing, and with such little protection, his blood would have frozen in his body. And he didn't even have any cultivation; he was just an ordinary person. These days, even ordinary people dare to venture onto the Endless Snow Mountain; they're either brave or foolish."

"Poor guy, probably from a struggling family. He couldn't even afford the initial awakening potion, so he took a gamble on the Endless Snow Mountain."

". . ."

In a stone house in the small town, Chen Qiu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze slightly dazed as he looked up at the stone ceiling. His body ached all over, and his Dantian contained less than one-tenth of his Spirit Qi.

With so little Spirit Qi, he would have little strength to retaliate if attacked.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious.

All he knew was that after passing through the white vortex teleportation portal, he was hit by an overwhelming and unstoppable force of Heaven's Qi. He couldn't resist and immediately lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he found himself here.

He looked at the remaining one-tenth of his Spirit Qi in his Dantian, and his mind gradually cleared from its initial haze. Before entering the white vortex, he had exhausted all his Spirit Qi.

His Heavenly Dao Golden Core automatically recovered about one-tenth of his Spirit Qi each day.

So, it had probably been about a day since then.

Had he been unconscious for a day?

Where was he?

Chen Qiu endured the pain and sat up, leaning against the bed. He planned to return to his small world to restore his Spirit Qi to its maximum, as he didn't feel secure with it so low. Then he would ask the Starlight Sect Leader to provide some corresponding healing pills to recover from his injuries.

Fortunately, he could sense that his Golden Core and Divine Sense were intact; it was just some superficial damage.

He would recover soon.

Just then, the stone door opened, and a bearded man in animal skins strode in. Seeing Chen Qiu sitting on the bed, he set down the water bag he was carrying and grinned.

"Hey, you're one lucky guy! An ordinary person getting caught in an avalanche, who knows how long you were under there."

"When I found you, your body was stiff, and your face was pale. I didn't think you'd make it."

"I never expected you to pull through, kid."

Action: "Your life force is strong, and you're destined for great fortune. I got you some hot water to warm up. I initially wanted to get you some chicken soup, but my wife scolded me for being wasteful."

The bearded man mumbled sheepishly, "I guess it's fine. I often have these random urges to do good deeds. Chicken soup is a rare commodity here, so just warming up with hot water will do."

"A mortal?"

Chen Qiu was taken aback and looked up at the twelfth-grade Golden Core floating above his dantian. How did he become a mortal?

He immediately scanned the man with his divine sense and understood the situation.

The man's cultivation was incredibly low, only at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. With his spiritual energy concealed, Chen Qiu couldn't sense the man's cultivation at all, naturally assuming he was an ordinary mortal.

Moreover, he couldn't even detect the man's divine sense fluctuations.

Chen Qiu was about to stand up and decline the man's help, but he changed his mind and paused. It was a perfect opportunity to gather some basic information about the Xuantian Continent from this man.

This was the knowledge he currently lacked the most.

He glanced around the room and could tell that the man was quite poor. Although Chen Qiu didn't really need anyone's help, as he had only been knocked unconscious and could easily free himself even if buried under dozens of zhang of deep snow, he appreciated the man's kindness.

As a token of gratitude, he decided to leave some Spirit Stones before leaving.

"Thank you," Chen Qiu said, accepting the porcelain bowl of hot water from the man. His body felt sore, and after taking a sip, he managed to speak in a hoarse voice, "I... I've lost my memory."

Asking random questions out of the blue would be too abrupt.

It was better to just claim amnesia.

He only wanted to know some basic information, like who the strongest cultivator on the Xuantian Continent was, what territories it encompassed, and how it was divided into regions—basic common knowledge.

Just as he was about to ask where they were, the bearded man sat beside him with a serious expression, "Don't you remember your name is Xiaolong?"

". . ."

Chen Qiu remained expressionless for a long moment before nodding, "Yes, was my name Xiaolong?"

"Yes!"

The bearded man's face contorted into a pained and sorrowful expression, "You were an orphan with no parents. You came to me, wanting to join the Changbai Mountain Team and become a strong hunter like me."

"But you're just a mortal. You haven't even taken the initial elixir to awaken your first entry."

"I refused your request."

"In anger, you headed to the Endless Snow Mountain, hoping to catch a snow rabbit to prove yourself. Unfortunately, you encountered an avalanche. When I found you, you were buried under the snow. I rescued you."

"Now you've proven your courage, and I grant you permission to join the Changbai Mountain Team. You can become a powerful hunter like me."

"This is a contract. Shouldn't you press your handprint first?"

"From now on, you'll follow me. We'll go to the Endless Snow Mountain to hunt snow rabbits. I'll ensure you live a good life, and when you're older, I'll find you a plump wife."

". . ."

Chen Qiu's mouth twitched slightly, deciding to rephrase his questions. His original clothes were gone, and the long robe he was wearing was only worth two Spirit Stones. This man was going to take it from him!

He let out a long sigh and snapped his fingers lightly.

In the blink of an eye, both of them disappeared from their original spot.

Soon after, a slightly plump middle-aged woman, carrying a jar of chicken soup, entered the room and looked around, confused. The bed was empty, and only the porcelain bowl, still steaming, remained. She asked in bewilderment, "Where is he?"

"He's injured so badly, and he's still so energetic?"

"If we don't drink it soon, this chicken soup will get cold, and it'll be a waste!"

Snow Mountain.

Chen Qiu sat on a pile of snow, his body exuding the aura of a Golden Core cultivator, and said weakly, "From now on, I'll ask a question, and you'll answer. Understood?"

He had initially planned to pretend to have amnesia and ask questions.

But now, it seemed that pretending to have amnesia would only yield nonsensical information, and he wouldn't get any crucial details.

However, he didn't bring the man to his small world, as its secrets must remain hidden. Although the man had good intentions in saving him, he wasn't entirely trustworthy, and Chen Qiu wasn't cruel enough to kill his savior.

The simplest solution was to bring the man to the snow mountain and slowly interrogate him.

Chen Qiu had only revealed the cultivation level of the first layer of the Golden Core, and the bearded middle-aged man immediately knelt in the snow, burying his head in the snow and trembling like a sieve, his voice quivering with tears.

"Mercy, great immortal! Mercy!"

"I'm just a humble hunter from Death Sentence Town. I have many brothers who follow me to earn a living. I meant no offense, great immortal. This is the closest town to the Endless Snow Mountain, and most of the residents here are hunters."

"My name is..."

Before Chen Qiu could ask, the man blurted out everything he knew.

Indeed, this was a more efficient approach. Pretending to have amnesia was a fool's game.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end