Chapter 170: Quest (Part 3)
"I need to hurry!"
Xie Qing frowned. Immediately, his steps quickened, and he began to destroy the souls trying to reach him as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Gu-gu-gu...
A sinister laugh echoed as a crowd of evil spirits appeared before Xie Qing! They were filled with Negative Karma and looked malicious. The young man gritted his teeth and shouted:
"Get lost!"
Swoosh!
The Nameless Sword flew out of its scabbard and then shot forward.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
"Giii!"
Loud shrieks resounded. The evil spirits began to disperse. However, before they could escape, the Nameless Sword caught up to them and destroyed them!
Although Xie Qing was slightly surprised, he still ran forward, grabbing the sword mid-air.
Beep!
[Original Technique Comprehension...]
Beep!
[Technique Card Display]
Beep!
[Blade of Infinite Apathy] | [Rank: Elite] | [Description: Your blade will kill anyone who tries to hinder your path to your goal. Each attack, as long as the enemy is not stronger than you by a stage, will hit a vital point] | [Original Technique]
***
Boom!
Li Yuilan fell down and hit her head against the wall. Her eyes opened slightly, her lips were pressed together, and a stream of blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.
Her appearance was extremely pitiful. Her clothes were tattered, and countless wounds covered her body. Her elegant demeanor was long gone. Of course, the girl was not concerned about this at all.
"I... am I going to die?" she suddenly thought and bit her lower lip: "How is this possible... am I going to die here? Haha... aha... sigh..."
In such a desperate moment, she couldn't do anything but mock herself.
"And why did I come here alone? I even convinced the Master that everything would be fine. Just look at my state – worse than a stray dog thrown in the street!" Li Yuilan desperately muttered. She could hardly speak: "What a pitiful life... I can't even see my own death... ha...ha...haha..."
Her Qi was already exhausted, so she couldn't use her ability to see the surrounding space.
And the monster standing in front of her looked carefree as if enjoying her desperate state and negative emotions. It even became stronger because of this!
When the monster realized that waiting was futile, it approached Li Yuilan and touched her head.
Li Yuilan sighed. She felt how foreign Qi tried to break through to her mind and devour her soul... this was the end.
And when she had already lost hope... suddenly, a faint breeze with a pleasant scent appeared, a scent she was familiar with.
"This is..."
Swoosh!
The sudden gentle breeze turned into a terrifying whirlwind. The monster roared.
"Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir!"
Li Yuilan couldn't see, but she felt a terrifying presence appear at the entrance. The monster, which wanted to kill her, was distracted and turned away from her.
***
Xie Qing burst into one of the rooms in this dungeon. From there, he finally sensed Li Yuilan's aura! His face was agitated.
"I hope you're alive!" he prayed in his mind and then rushed into the room.
The young man immediately saw a semi-transparent black human figure floating above Li Yuilan's head, without any distinct facial features. Like a shadow.
He frowned. His Soul Integration Qi burst out of his body.
"I'll kill you!"
How could he not be enraged? If Xie Qing had been a little late, Li Yuilan would have died!
"Lord of the Nine Realms and Heavens – Blade of Infinite Apathy!"
Swoosh!
The Nameless Sword flew out of his hand and then, without hesitation, like an arrow, pierced the Evil Spirit's most vulnerable spot.
"Giii!"
The blade struck right in the center of its forehead. Immediately after, the spirit let out a malicious cry mixed with pain and suffering. Nevertheless, Xie Qing didn't even hesitate.
"Sword Aura!" he commanded, and a high-quality Sword Aura flowed from his hand.
All this, combined with the Blade of Infinite Apathy technique, weakened the spirit. And then, unable to resist, the spirit was destroyed!
Shu-u-u...
Of course, the stench of shit didn't disappear immediately. So, when the spirit was destroyed, Negative Karma flowed from its body, trying to devour Xie Qing, but failed.
The Negative Karma was destroyed by the Sword Aura!
Having dealt with the danger, Xie Qing immediately went to Li Yuilan, who had lost consciousness from exhaustion. The young man took out a pill and crushed it near the girl's wounds.
Whoosh!
A weak wind blew from the pill. This wind was created from Yang Qi, which had healing properties. After a few minutes, most of the wounds, except for the extremely severe ones, were healed.
The young man waved his hands, and his Qi flowed out of his body, beginning to nourish Li Yuilan's Golden Core, preventing it from losing control and shattering due to the lack of energy.
For two hours, the young man helped her with her wounds, and for the remaining five hours, he watched to make sure no one came here.
"I lost track of the bastard at the Soul Integration stage... I'm afraid this place is too dangerous. We need to leave immediately!" he thought and turned his gaze to Li Yuilan: "Sigh! I need to somehow bring her out..."
Xie Qing still felt the presence of many Evil Spirits around them. Although he could handle them, he was afraid they might harm Li Yuilan. So he had to wait for the right moment.
Three hours later, the moment X finally arrived! Xie Qing picked up Li Yuilan and then, applying the talisman with the aura concealment technique on himself began to return along the same trajectory he had come from.
Along the way, they still encountered Evil Spirits, but most of them couldn't detect Xie Qing. There were also Evil Spirits at the Nascent Soul stage, but they only felt a fluctuation in the air for a moment, but due to their low intelligence, they couldn't react.
Over time, Xie Qing began to feel that something was wrong. Most of the passages and corridors he had passed through had disappeared!
"***!"
"Well, of course, it couldn't be easy, could it? My ass hasn't felt adventure in a long time!"
"Tch!"
Although he was displeased, the young man was helpless. Most likely, the dungeon's internal system had a formation that changed the corridors and passages to prevent information leaks.
Not the most complex formation, but the most annoying!
So Xie Qing had no choice but to try to find a new exit himself. And this was with limited time.
"The invisibility talisman will soon run out of Qi... and it's impossible to recharge it!" he thought and gritted his teeth: "***! I hate dungeons!"
***
An hour had passed, and Xie Qing still hadn't found a way out. Moreover, the invisibility talisman had long since shattered into pieces. So he also had to kill the Evil Spirits that attacked him.
If it weren't for the fact that his cultivation technique could quickly purify Qi, he would now be lying dead from exhaustion!
Swoosh!
Xie Qing tilted his head to the side. An arrow flew past his left ear, its tip poisoned. He darkened.
"Seriously... if it weren't for my reflexes, I wouldn't have noticed this arrow!" he thought in horror.
During his time in the dungeon, he encountered things that could easily take his life! Although Xie Qing understood that Soul Integration was just a step towards true power...
He didn't realize that even with such power, he would be like a chicken on a chopping block! They could easily kill him by infecting him with Negative Karma!
"Although, the devilish cultivators would have a field day here..." Xie Qing thought, rolling his eyes.
A place where there were Evil Spirits and Negative Karma... it was like putting a defenseless, fat, and delicious sheep in front of a tiger.
The young man wouldn't have been surprised if, after discovering this place, the average cultivation level of the devilish cultivators had risen to the Soul Integration stage!
***
Three hours had passed. Xie Qing found a safe place where they could hide for a while. After setting up concealment formations that could interfere with the weak Evil Spirits' ability to detect this place, he took a bed out of his spatial ring and placed Li Yuilan on it.
"Still unconscious... at least she's breathing. Her soul is intact... so I don't understand why she hasn't woken up yet" Xie Qing thought.
He wasn't a doctor, so he couldn't say what was wrong with her. Maybe it was due to fatigue? The young man scratched his head and sighed.
He was tired. Not physically, but morally. After all, this place was too dangerous, and besides protecting himself, he also had to protect another person. It wasn't easy.
Moreover, every second he was in tension. After all, he felt the presence of a powerful enemy. Just the Negative Karma alone could devour him and turn him into a pitiful ghost, deprived of the chance for reincarnation.
Although he tried to contact Xu Mei, he couldn't because of the distance and interference. The Soul Connection didn't help; the distance was too great.
"I have two choices – either wait for the moment when Zhang Mei comes for us or desperately fight to find a way out..."
Of course, it was easier said than done. Xie Qing sighed.
And at that moment...
"A living being... it's been so long since I've seen people here?"
A devilish whisper sounded next to Xie Qing's ear!
The young man, without thinking, released his Qi and then, grabbing Li Yuilan, tore through the distance. He looked in horror at the tall man with a muscular build, who had no face! Pure, smooth skin!
"Not a bad reaction. I must say, after so long, cultivators have really improved... or is it just you?" the man asked curiously.
"How can you even talk?" Xie Qing thought but remained silent. He didn't answer the man's question.