Chapter 1028 – Do You Still Remember?
"It's you?"
Ye Qingyu looked at the person who guarded the fifth checkpoint in astonishment.
The fifth checkpoint was located in a relatively flat valley that was two meters wide. The rocks on both sides of the valley were at least one hundred meters tall and there were many oddly-shaped rocks that poked out as though it was a training ground for horses that was riddled with traps. This path was approximately one thousand meters long and a glimmer of light could be seen at the end of the one thousand meters. This meant that the path after this valley would be extremely flat and would lead right to the top of Capital Sky Peak.
The guardian of the fifth checkpoint had surprisingly turned out to be an old acquaintance.
He was Mo Jin, the round-faced Prince of the Demon Spider Race.
Such a long time had passed since he last saw this Prince of the Demon Spider Race that he had almost forgotten all about this character. The Prince of the Demon Spider Race used to be an influential figure throughout the Clear River Domain in the past but his cultivation was only of Immortal Step realm. Now that Ye Qingyu knew that he was invincible against those whose cultivation was below Quasi-emperor realm, he had naturally forgotten about those who used to pose a threat toward him. He had even forgotten all about the Demon Spider Race.
The round-faced Prince had grown shorter and fatter since the last time they met and his face was also chubbier. His long black robes were full of strange gold patterns and he stood quietly in the middle of the valley and looked at Ye Qingyu mischievously.
He had clearly taken great pleasure in Ye Qingyu's surprise.
"Wa ha ha, I bet you didn't think I would be the guardian of the fifth checkpoint," the round-faced Prince said with a smile and greeted him as though he was greeting an old friend instead of an opponent who he was about to engage in a life and death battle with.
Ye Qingyu nodded.
He hadn't expected it.
He hadn't expected it at all.
The round-faced Prince who he used to know was definitely not powerful enough to appear in such a place.
However, the round-faced Prince now…
Ye Qingyu sized him up seriously for a moment and immediately knew that the round-faced Prince was now definitely worthy of being the guardian of the fifth checkpoint.
He had become stronger.
He had become exceptionally strong.
A dark force that was as abundant as the thunderclouds in a deep abyss surged within his body. As he stood there loftily, his strength was extremely profound with no end in sight. Ye Qingyu felt that if the Prince unleashed a little bit of his strength, he would release an unstoppable force that would be like black clouds crushing down on an entire city.
"You must be very puzzled,” the round-faced Prince said with his trademark lazy smile. He stretched and continued, "Ha ha, in the past, I wouldn't have been able to stand here, so why have I suddenly become so strong? Have you already sensed the powerful dark force within me? I'm guessing that you've naturally come to the conclusion that I've been transformed by the dark forces just like the Greater One Sect and Yang Wanqu, right?"
Was I wrong?
Ye Qingyu carefully probed at the Prince's aura and discovered that there was a minor difference.
While it was true that the force within the round-faced Prince was a dark force, but it strangely lacked the cruel and violent tendencies that manifested in the dark forces of the Greater One Spiritual Master, Yang Wanqu and the others. Instead, this dark force was purer than any dark force he had come across and even more mysteriously, there was a trace of righteousness within this dark force, as though it was so dark that it had become the light.
"You mean to say that you’re not part of the same gang that the Greater One Spiritual Master and Yang Wanqu belonged to?" Ye Qingyu asked.
He recalled what happened during his last encounter with the round-faced Prince.
They had met after Ye Qingyu had stunned Clear River Domain with three sword moves. The round-faced Prince had specially made a trip down to Flowing Light City and met with him outside the city gates. It had been their first meeting but Mo Jin immediately spoke about Ye Qingyu's past and even knew about the White Deer Academy, Deer City, Light Palace, and so on. The Prince's knowledge about his past surprised him and immediately put him on his guard.
It was also during their first meeting when Mo Jin told Ye Qingyu that he didn't dare to attack him. He implied that there was a higher being who wanted to protect Ye Qingyu and according to what the Prince said the last time, this so-called higher being was extremely influential and exceedingly terrifying, someone who even the Demon Spider Race back then didn't dare to offend.
Ye Qingyu had mulled over these words later but he hadn't been able to solve this puzzle.
Back then, he definitely hadn't come into contact nor interacted with any extremely powerful figures, especially not anyone that the Demon Spider Race that held the Immortal God Emperor Sect and the Greater One Sect in contempt could be so afraid of. Ye Qingyu had racked his brains for an answer but failed to come up with a solution. He had ultimately treated it as a casual joke by this mischievous Prince.
Now that he thought about it…
"Of course we're not part of the same gang. Don't lump me together with those creatures," Mo Jin said contemptuously, his voice dripping with disdain for the Greater One Spiritual Master and Yang Wanqu.
"Yet, you've appeared in this place with the same kind of dark energy flowing within your body and blocking my path just as they did," Ye Qingyu said, deliberately fishing for more information.
However, the round-faced Prince Mo Jin didn't fly into a rage like the previous time. He merely laughed and said, "I clearly have my own reasons for doing so. Also, don't tell me with your current ability, you're unable to discern that the dark energy flowing within me comes from the true source. The difference between my power and their fake energy is… Forget it, let's battle first. If you win this battle, I'll let you pass. Ha ha ha, to be honest, I've wanted to beat you up for a long time. I won't have another chance to do so once I miss this opportunity."
Then, he opened his mouth and spat out a ray of black arrow light.
Ye Qingyu pinched his fingers and wielded them like a sword. He waved his hand and released a flash of sword light.
The black arrow light was immediately torn into two.
This was when he noticed that it wasn't an arrow but a black spider web that was as thick as the hair of a human but it was extremely supple and contained the purest form of the dark force. It might have been torn apart by Ye Qingyu's sword palm but the Divine Emperor sword will contained within his sword light had also been shattered.
They were evenly matched.
Ye Qingyu was extremely stunned after their initial exchange.
He had already sensed that Mo Jin's strength had surged significantly but he was astonished to discover just how much Mo Jin had improved.
"Ha ha ha, you must be very shocked, right?" Mo Jin barked out an arrogant laugh. Then, he moved and countess black arrows shot out from his palm and ceaselessly ripped into both sides of the valley at an incredible speed. Instantly, the entire valley was filled with thin, black spider webs that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. He had set up a spider web that was meant for hunting and sealed off all points of escape. He then quickly drew closer to Ye Qingyu and said, "Quick, stick out your head and let me give you a good beating. I've been wanting to beat you up for some time."
Ye Qingyu's face was grim.
Mo Jin had clearly come prepared and laid out his [Demon Spider Hunting Web] in the middle of the valley. The spider silk covered the entire area and was as thin as a sliver of light, so it almost couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but it was extremely destructive and was like sharp knives that contained hidden dangers. If an average peak Saint expert walked into it in a moment of carelessness, he would have been torn into shreds by the invisible spider silk.
[Spider Silk Killing Formation].
This was one of the innate remarkable talents of the Demon Spider Race.
The blood of the Demon Spider Race flowed within Mo Jin's body and he had this special ability unique to his race so his speed was unaffected by the Quasi-emperor's force field. Instead, he took to this environment like a duck took to water and used the spider silk to continually change locations. His figure flashed and continually appeared like a black shadow while his movements were extremely mysterious.
"Ha ha, careful there," He suddenly appeared behind Ye Qingyu and opened up his palms. Two claw-like spikes immediately formed from his black spider silk and shot toward the back of Ye Qingyu's head.
The claw-like spikes were short and sharp. These almost invisible weapons were best suited for such an environment.
Ye Qingyu didn't even move but sword will formed automatically at the back of his head and sword qi was unleashed. In a flash of bright light, the sword qi shredded Mo Jin's figure into pieces but it turned out to be only an illusory figure. At the same time, Mo Jin reappeared in front of Ye Qingyu and the claw-like spikes were silently about to pierce his eyes.
"You'll never be able to hit my face if you employ such methods," Ye Qingyu said as he waved his hands.
A ray of sword light slashed across the Void.
Mo Jin's figure was once again hacked into pieces.
After battling the three master swordsmen at the fourth checkpoint, Ye Qingyu had comprehended a new true essence of swordsmanship. His current strength meant that he was as skilled as the three master swordsmen in terms of his ability to adapt his sword movements. He would be able to accurately see through the secrets of all sword techniques and he could produce the highest form of sword technique with any thought that flashed past his mind. He could turn the simplest move into a complicated one and likewise, would be able to simplify a complicated move. He could control all these mentally.
This was known as using one sword to overcome ten thousand techniques.
Ye Qingyu was now so powerful that he would be able to generate legendary and remarkable powers with a casual attack.
Since he was such a remarkable swordsman, Mo Jin's [Spider Silk Killing Formation] was completely unable to pin him down. Even if Ye Qingyu didn't move from his spot, he would still be able to display sharp swordsmanship skills within his tiny space to remain undefeated. The dark spider silk that Mo Jin was so proud of was also unable to block Ye Qingyu's sword light.
This was the remarkable advantage of swordsmanship.
Unless his opponent was a Quasi-emperor who would then be able to draw on his incredibly powerful strength to shatter Ye Qingyu's sword.
Quasi-emperors could use their power to overcome techniques.
Otherwise, very few people would be able to defeat Ye Qingyu with their battle skills.
"Aye, what a pity that I still can't hit your face," Mo Jin made several hundred attempts but each attempt had ended in failure. His face fell and he looked extremely upset as he quickly retreated and put some distance between them. Then, his fingers tapped on the Void as though he was playing a piano to produce an illusory handprint. "Retract," he cried out and the spider silk that covered the entire valley was summoned back to his palm.
"Go ahead."
A look of frustration appeared on his round face as he moved to let Ye Qingyu pass.
"Is this it?" Ye Qingyu took a few steps forward and asked, "Why do I have a feeling that you're handling this very sloppily? Aren't you afraid that the Four Stars Sect would come after you?"
"Since I can't defeat you, what else do you expect me to do?" Mo Jin recalled his spider silk and said calmly, "I don't want to put my life on the line to battle you, so the only thing I can do is to allow you to pass."
Ye Qingyu wanted to ask what he meant by his earlier sentence but when he noticed how depressed the round-faced Prince was, he decided that he wouldn't be able to get much out of the Prince either. His priority was to get to the peak so he nodded and continued his path up the mountain without saying anything else.
He had passed the fifth checkpoint.
The peak of the mountain was just up ahead.
I'm going to witness the battle of the Quasi-emperors.
Ye Qingyu felt a little nervous and uneasy.
He walked past the round-faced Prince.
All of a sudden, a mischievous look appeared the round-faced Prince's face. He didn't look back at Ye Qingyu but said with his back facing him, "Hey, someone wanted me to ask you. Do you still remember little Loli from the White Deer Academy?"
"What?" Ye Qingyu's body swayed and his expression was extremely astonished as he turned to Mo Jin, "What… did you say?"
