Book 10: Chapter 9 – One Spear Kill
Back in White River Town, the Dong Yu Restaurant was bustling with activity as guests came to and fro.
Xue Ying returned from the outside and entered the restaurant.
“Owner, back from another painting trip?”
“Boss Dong Bo really is an interesting person..”
Some of the regulars greeted Xue Ying, to which he replied with a smile and a few words. Xue Ying quickly reached his special spot upstairs and then asked the waiter to bring him two portions of appetizers and a pot of wine. He ate and drank alone for a moment before he was joined by Jing Qiu, who was dressed in dark blue robes. She kept a spell always active to conceal her appearance, so people only saw her as an average beauty..
Upon becoming a Transcendent, her appearance was further enhanced, and she was hailed as the most beautiful woman in the entire Xia Clan. Without that concealment, there was no way for any ordinary mortal woman to match her appearance. If she were to expose her real appearance, there would be an endless stream of people disturbing them.
“Xue Ying.” Sitting opposite to Xue Ying, Jing Qiu’s eyes held a hint of anxiousness. “How did your meeting with the group from the Temple of the Earth God go?”
Xue Ying showed a helpless smile. “What else could it have been? They didn’t have me in their eyes at all.”
“Didn’t have you in their eyes? Since they asked you to go over, it means they were ready to take you along. How can it be that they didn’t hold you in their eyes?” Jing Qiu anxiously asked.
“From start to finish, they didn’t care about me.” Xue Ying drank a glass of wine and continued, “They already knew I can’t use Transcendent Qi, so I’m unable to wield Deity artifacts. They had no expectations of my strength. When I first arrived, they gave me a test which I passed without issue, but in the end, it was all for naught. They were only after Deity-grade scrolls.”
“Deity-grade scrolls?” Jing Qiu startled.
“Right. They weren’t that kind-hearted. What they really sought was for us to give them Deity-grade scrolls. They first demanded ten, and later lowered the amount to five and not one fewer. They can keep dreaming!” Xue Ying let out a cold laugh.
Having lived together with Xue Ying for many years, Jing Qiu understood his temperament. She knew that he could never have asked someone to hand those scrolls over for him. To him, doing that would have been worse than death.
He could make an exception when it came to some things, but in certain matters, he refused to back down!
“What will we do then?” Jing Qiu asked.
“Here, eat some of this salad.” With an ‘aah’ sound, Xue Ying smiled and fed Jing Qiu a piece of meat.
“I’m really worried, you really….” Jing Qiu helplessly opened her mouth.
“There’s nothing to be worried about. The path is clear, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I just need to enter alone. In the past, Ancestor Black Wind had been able to return alive. I think that, like him, I can keep my life and return,” Xue Ying confidently said.
Palace Head Chen suddenly sent over a transmission. He was concerned about Xue Ying’s situation. Xue Ying held nothing back and revealed everything regarding the situation to him, even specifically saying, “Palace Head Chen, you can’t give the outsiders those scrolls! You know how I am; if you hand them over…”
“Xue Ying, you’re really… Rest assured, even if I wanted to hand them over, a matter as big as dishing out five Deity-grade scrolls is not something I can decide alone. I would need an unanimous vote from the Elders’ Gathering,” Palace Head Chen transmitted back.
With the threat of the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God looming over them, this time was critical for the Xia Clan. Even the Ancestors were monitoring their native place. To bring out five Deity-grade scrolls at a time like this, he not only needed approval from the Elders’ Gathering, he even had to report it to the Ancestors.
“That’s good then.” Xue Ying laughed.
Xue Ying spent his day leisurely at the White River Town. Entering the Crimson Rock Mountain in a group would have been preferable, but he had no issue with going alone either.
As he waited, Palace Head Chen informed him that there were already three groups of outsiders which arrived in the Xia Clan World. One was from the Temple of the Earth God, one from the Bloodshed Tavern, and the last one was a group which included the Meishan Clan Master who had already entered the Xia Clan World a long time ago.
“Spearmanship requires a firm, proper foundation. Without it, one will not improve properly.”
In the northern courtyard, behind the restaurant, Xue Ying was wielding an ordinary spear. He displayed several spear motions in front of his students. All of them, young or old, and especially those who had been there that day and witnessed his might, earnestly followed his movements. Despite him ordering them to not spread information about that incident from that day to others, they all looked towards Xue Ying with enthusiasm. In truth, Xue Ying didn’t mind even if that matter were to spread, since he and Jing Qiu were going to leave the restaurant shortly after either way. That was also why he was giving pointers. Before his departure, Xue Ying wanted to teach this group of students some more.
Hu. Each of his moves were simple but in harmony with nature. They touched the fundamental power of the material world. They even held some of Xue Ying’s understanding towards spearmanship.
“Mn?” Xue Ying frowned slightly.
At a distance of 4000 kilometers from Xue Ying’s restaurant, there was a ravine containing a large, flourishing village with more than a thousand households. This village was filled with children running around, women doing laundry or cooking, and men foraging or farming to make a living.
“Children, it’s time to go home. It’ll be dinner time soon.”
“I’ll spank you if you don’t want to go home.”
The men were laughing while the children quickly ran away.
At that moment…
“Mn?”
A person with the appearance of an ordinary peddler with his goods on his shoulder arrived at the entrance of the village. He coldly glanced over it. This village is decently sized, and has more than 6000 villagers. Since it’s not too far, but not too close to the nearest village either, I can probably stay here for around half a year without being detected by the Xia Clan Transcendents. I’ll eat my fill during this time.
The real identity of this peddler was that of a demon. After all but one of their generals were killed, the ordinary demons could only rely on themselves to survive.
“Father, father, there’s someone selling food. Quickly, let’s take a look. Quickly!” a child happily yelled as he saw the peddler nearing.
“Such tenderness.” The peddler’s eyes turned red as its body swelled and transformed into a three meters tall green, ugly demon with a snake-like body, its mucus-covered tongue occasionally sticking out of its mouth. The kid who previously wore a happy expression was shocked into silence.
“Give it to me!” the demon said. A strand of berserk dark magic emerged from its body as this green-scaled demon tried to fervently swallow every soul in the village as fast as it could.
Suddenly…
Xue Ying demonstrated his spearmanship in front of his group of students. “The spear can be used for defense, or offense, with limitless possibilities.” He accurately performed several thrusting and sweeping motions.
At the exact moment the huge, ugly, green demon exposed itself and the dark magic began converging…
Hu!
A spear appeared out of nothingness and, with a straight thrust, pierced the green demon right in the middle of his eyebrows. The demon was stunned as its body, including its hard bones, its storage space and all of its other items began crumbling so fast it was invisible to the naked eye. The onlookers could only see as its shattered pieces soon disappeared into thin air.
The spear that pierced the demon also vanished.
Back in the northern courtyard behind the Dong Yu Restaurant, Xue Ying retracted his spear and inwardly shook his head. These demons lurk around within our Xia Clan World and come out whenever they please. Xue Ying shouted to his students, “All of you need to practice more.”
Xue Ying sat down on a small tool beside the practice field, cold sweat covering his face. The hexing poison was flaring up again. It was at that time that Palace Head Chen suddenly transmitted over, “Xue Ying, Xue Ying, I have good news! Good news, perhaps heaven-sent news! The group from the Bloodshed tavern is willing to take you along to the Crimson Rock Mountain!”
