Meng Qi forced a breath of Qi in preparation to battle to the death. He was weak, but An Guoxie was probably not much better considering he had been following him without rest or giving his wounds a chance to heal.
But as soon as he tried to cultivate his Qi, he felt a sharp pain in his Dantian. He was weak and had no spirit or will whatsoever. Seeing An Guoxie approaching, he waved his left hand and sealed all of his major pressure points.
After using the “Sacrifice Formula” and soaking in icy cold water, he found that the aftermath was more severe than he had imagined!
Meng Qi hadn’t given up hope just yet because he realized that An Guoxie had not killed him straight away, which meant that he was still useful. As long as he was still alive, there was hope!
Ahem, Ahem, Ahem, An Guoxie started coughing heavily and laughed. “You’re probably the lowest level opponent I’ve met in the past five years. Yet you’ve given me the most trouble. To catch you, I’ve neglected my wounds and in turn, it hurts my source of pith. Fortunately, you have nowhere to run now hahaha!”
Those opponents who are easily killed can not throw out any challenge.
Though he still held about 60% to 70% of his strength, he was quite badly hurt. After harmonizing his Qi-circulation for a short period, he’d rushed right over here, hence hurting his Source of Pith.
However, as long as his Source of Pith did not get hurt again, he could make a full recovery with the help of elixir and some conditioning. That was why he couldn’t let the opportunity of breaking through the Hidden Latch of the primal acupore during the Qi-cultivation Stage pass him by!
“Tell me the method for how to open up the Primal Aperture at Mid-brows and perhaps I’ll let you live.” An Guoxie took a few breaths and demanded directly.
It suddenly occurred to Meng Qi. So this was why he had been chasing him so urgently!
If he’d known earlier, he would have chosen differently.
The biggest mistake he’d made this time was the misjudgment of his desire to catch him. Normally speaking, he was doing the Crying Elder’s bidding. Even if he did fail, he would not have risked hurting his Source of Pith. But the method of easily opening the Primal Acupore would help him greatly in reaching the Half-step Exterior Scenery. It was well worth risking!
Meng Qi had misjudged because he knew the truth about the “Transformation Strategy”, meaning that it was not that miraculous. This was why he subconsciously underestimated its value to other people. Otherwise An Guoxie would still be healing right now, and he could go anywhere he wanted after harmonizing his Qi-circulation for a while, and not be in this predicament.
Feelings of regret and annoyance appeared in Meng Qi’s head but were quickly suppressed. There’s nothing I can do now, and it is no use thinking about what could have been. I’d better clear my head and think of ways to escape!
“Why should I believe you?” Meng Qi asked calmly.
To be honest, he couldn’t give the “Transformation Strategy” to An Guoxie, because he had already given it to the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms. If he gave it to anyone else, he would be obliterated.
An Guoxie laughed with crooked lips, “Bald little brat, you’ve already landed in my hands. You’re basically at my disposal, like a pig ready for slaughter. I’m not gonna make Soul-pledging Oaths, and I don’t care whether you believe me or not, because you have no choice.”
“If you have needs then you have weaknesses. If you don’t make the pledge, I’d die before telling you about it.” Meng Qi was testing An Guoxie’s bottom line as he actually had no idea what the Soul-pledging Oath was.
An Guoxie stopped smiling and looked at Meng Qi coldly. “I’m not gonna let you die that easily, I’ll constantly torture you, so you beg me to kill you. Alas, I don’t have my torturing equipment with me, so it’s better if I take you back to Hahler. Haha, you’ll be more than glad to tell me the method then, and beg for a quick death.”
He looked at the sun and mumbled to himself, “I’ve been chasing him for 2 whole days. Don’t know how the Ancestor is doing, but I should get out of punishment considering I’ve caught the bald little brat.”
He grabbed Meng Qi by the back of his sleeveless shirt and hurried back to Quicksand Town.
There were very few people on the streets of Quicksand Town. The poplar trees were still erect with many different poses, but they had been covered with a thick layer of sand, making them look dark and gloomy.
The little hill in the distance had collapsed, turning into countless stones and burying the surrounding area.
A battle at the grandmaster level was indeed frightening!
An Guoxie had sealed off Meng Qi’s aphonic acupoint and his upper-body acupoints. He was holding the rope that bound Meng Qi and headed towards the Immensity Sea Hotel.
He was confident in the Ancestor, believing that even if grandmaster Xuan Bei could come out of the battle alive, there was no way he could have won and be waiting for him at the inn.
If that were the case, then I would have long been discovered outside the community based on the Great Master’s acute senses!
Upon entering the Inn, the people that were left eating had all looked at him, but continued eating their food after seeing An Guoxie’s trademark—white hair and young face. But the noises and chatter had stopped.
The trio of horse bandits were in the crowd. After witnessing the battle a few days ago, they were fortunate not to have messed with Xuan Bei and his disciple. If they had tried to rob Xuan Bei’s crew, they’d either be dead or “persuaded” into Buddhism, which was in some ways worse than death.
Seeing Meng Qi captured, they saw traits of the Crying Elder’s lineage. It was obvious that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Aunt Jiu, did our ancestor finish that monk off?” An Guoxie asked Qu Jiuniang, who looked as though someone owed her 30,000 ounces of silver.
Qu Jiuniang lifted her head and slammed her delicate hand on the table, “Who gave you the right to call me Aunt Jiu?”
An Guoxie snorted, “I don’t care who is afraid of you, but I’m not, so answer my question. Honestly!”
Qu Jiuniang’s eyes looked as though she was brewing up a sandstorm, “Get the hell outta here!! You hear me?”
Of course An Guoxie was ticked off, but seeing the cold stare from Qu Jiuniang, he settled down. The only person who could manage Aunt Jiu’s anger was the ancestor. If he angered her and she decided to discipline him, the ancestor would not be on his side unless it was a matter of life and death. After all, he had many things to worry about. And Qu Jiuniang’s background was mysterious. No one knew what would happen or who would come to her aid if she was bothered.
A wise man knows when to shut up. An Guoxie lowered his head and requested politely, “Tavernkeeper, could you please tell me the details of the battle?”
Qu Jiuniang’s pink lips quivered and her face was full of disdain. She spat out the words,
“Get out!”
An Guoxie took a deep breath and pulled Meng Qi to the hall and asked loudly, “Who could tell me the result of the battle between the ancestor and the monk?”
The head of the trio of horse bandits, the desert tramp carrying the hip knife replied politely, “An Guo Boss, the ancestor battled with the monk all the way to the Immensity Sea, we don’t know what happened after that.”
An Guoxie’s eyelid twitched. How could that monk be so damn strong?
At this point, the errand boy came to send food. He smiled and said, “I heard the boss say that it was difficult to see who had the upper-hand. They fought all the way to the Immensity Sea and neither has returned yet.”
An Guoxie pondered for a bit and decided that he and his prisoner should get away from Quicksand Town quickly and return to Hahler. Just in case the monk defeated the Ancestor and came for him.
He planned to interrogate Meng Qi for the training method on the road, and kill him as soon as he divulged.
He paused for a bit and asked again, “What about the other little monk?”
Had his own trio of Junior Brothers completed their task?
The waiter thought for a bit and replied, “The little monk ran out of the inn shortly after the two masters began their battle, saying something about finding his Senior Brother and Master. After that, he seemed to have disappeared into the Immensity Sea too.”
Zhen Hui went to find me? Meng Qi suddenly felt warm. But Zhen Hui still hadn’t successfully cultivated his Qi reserve and the Immensity Sea was dangerous. Could he have gotten lost?
The concern for Zhen Hui quickly disappeared because Meng Qi thought about himself and realized he was in more strife. He’d better think of a way to escape from the hands of the “White-headed Vulture”!
An Guoxie cursed under his breath, “Three useless fools can’t even catch a little monk who hasn’t reached the primary level of Qi-cultivation yet! They will be severely punished by the Ancestor!”
He reckoned that it was the Mo-Ke Exorcism Punch, which delves the secrets of life and death, that had scared the three fools, forcing them to hide faraway.
After asking about the battle, An Guoxie grabbed the back of Meng Qi’s sleeveless shirt and headed for the Immensity Sea.
Qu Jiuniang lifted her head and stared in the direction to which they had disappeared. No one knew what she was thinking.
She then grabbed a blank piece of paper and started writing,
The Crying Elder fought with Xuan Bei from Shaolin to a stand-still and went deep into the Immensity Sea. There’s a strong possibility that Xuan Bei is hurt, and The Crying Elder has escaped after the loss. The reason for his loss is that he underestimated the opponents’ ability and in turn did not have the will to fight to death. By contrast, Xuan Bei’s hatred had seeped into his bones.
Xuan Bei had two disciples, one is lost, and the other has been captured by An Guoxie. He might plot something later to lure Xuan Bei into a death trap.
There’s a possibility to draw them over to our side.
She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, looking very evil. Then she took a breath and sighed,
“It has always been hard to figure out heaven’s will…”
She didn’t leave a name at the bottom of the letter. She just rolled it up and put it in her pocket.
An Guoxie did not want to linger in the Immensity Sea. He just wanted to get back to Hahler quickly, so he grabbed Meng Qi and kept travelling.
But he had hurt his Source of Pith and only recovered 50%-60% of his injury. He couldn’t handle non-stop travelling. By nightfall, he had to rest, so he found a few wind-corroded rocks, made a fire and cooked some meat, then started harmonizing his Qi-circulation.
After having some antelope meat and water, the exhaustion Meng Qi was feeling had eased quite a bit. But his head was still hot and he still felt dizzy, like he was seriously sick.
But to his surprise, his recovery speed had increased quite a lot after having practiced the Bone Conditioning Chapter of the Yijin Scripture. His body potential, bones and meridians had all improved, and in addition, his liver was functioning better after reaching Enlightenment. The sealed acupoints started loosening up, so he felt a thin stream of Qi energy starting to form.
He started conducting the Qi slowly and carefully, trying to break through the sealed Aperture acupoints. He knew the method of the acupoints sealing, disacupin, and Dharma Access from practicing the Golden Bell Shield because it was a part of the training, but it was just a small part. Still, it was better than nothing.
During this process, Meng Qi was observing An Guoxie’s every movement. He noticed that after he took the elixir, he was focusing only on recovery and nothing else.
His Aperture acupoints had already been sealed for half a day, and they were loosening up themselves. So Under Meng Qi’s impact, they had come undone.
