Chapter 728: Is There a Way to Fulfill Both in This World?

The saber radiance, Sword Qi, shadows of spears, and fist seals fluttered in a circle above the river, causing the waters to form tall and turbulent waves. The roaring thunder ensued, making it look like a doomsday scene.

Upon hearing about Liu Yuntao’s death Wen Jing did not even have the time to bypass the front and come to Miao Cong’s aid before the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms made another announcement in his ears. He was so shocked that he nearly fell into the river.

Wen Jing knew very well just what Miao Cong was capable of. If Miao Cong fell into a crazed state and pushed his heaven-defying skill to its peak, not even Wen Jing would dare to confront him. Moreover, the current task was not a Death Task. How could the Samsara travelers of the Revolutionary Army kill Miao Cong in such a short amount of time?

Though those travelers possessed strange, formidable skills that allowed them to kill Lord of Shadows without anyone’s notice, their strength should not be limitless like this. Otherwise, the difference in strength between the two groups would make this a Death Task!

Wen Jing was so bewildered that his mind was a tangled mess of thoughts. He gave up the idea of heading to the West Hill with his teammates to aid Miao Cong and returned to the grand formation to continue attacking the camp of the Revolutionary Army.

“This is such a bizarre and unlucky task!”

Inside the camp, Jiang Zhiwei abruptly thrust her sheathed sword backward and blocked the killing strike in a moment of imminent peril.

Even until this moment, she could not detect the enemy at all. She felt as if everything was just a figment of her imagination.

“Clank!” Her sword emitted a sound like a Dragon’s Cry as it left its sheath. She relied solely on her “Cicada Feels the Arrival of Autumn Without Autumn Wind Moving” skill to counter this danger instinctively.

“Bang!”

The mixed sounds of clanking metals and animal cries reverberated. The body of the Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow blocked yet another attack!

Behind Jiang Zhiwei, Zhao Heng watched her act like a madwoman wielding her sword despite nothing out of the ordinary happening. With a jolt, he immediately triggered his “Yellow Emperor’s Black Robe”!

The gigantic golden dragon had just soared into the sky, dispersing black and yellow Qi, when a narrow, nearly transparent pointed end pierced the void behind Zhao Heng. It came without any warning and danger overflowed from it. It was as quick as lightning as it pierced the center of Zhao Heng’s back.

“Pfft!” Merit enveloped Zhao Heng’s body. Black and yellow Qi rippled as the robe blocked the incredibly penetrative explosive attack.

Ruan Yushu was alert the moment Jiang Zhiwei unsheathed her Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow. Her hands were on the strings of the Zither of Seven Deities that was floating in front of her, sending the sounds of yellow oriole, magpie, and the like reverberating in the air. The zither tunes stirred the air and sent out different sounds into different corners. It was like a symphony of bird cries worshipping the Phoenix.

The echoing of her tunes caused faint tremors through the void. The tremor was slightly different at the enemy’s location, alerting Jiang Zhiwei to his presence. She abruptly turned around and pierced the spot with her sword. Her pure sword light absorbed all the light in its surroundings, plunging the area into darkness. It made those on the opposite side feel that their time and line of thought had turned sluggish. The only thing in their vision was this impossibly beautiful shadow of a sword!

However, by the time she thrust her sword, the enemy had already retreated and escaped the range of her attack. He paused momentarily before disappearing into the camp.

Jiang Zhiwei immediately put herself in front of Ruan Yushu while Zhao Heng guarded their sides. Ruan Yushu continued playing without stopping, sending tinkling and jingling sounds reverberating through the air. The tunes were like clear spring water that flowed in all directions.

Xu Wei, who was standing in a corner, looked dazed as if he could not quite understand what had happened. He had detected no enemy. What he saw instead was a group of lunatics unfathomably attacking.

“Kaboom!”

The crucial point was not the collapse of the camp of the Revolutionary Army. Many soldiers were killed so brutally that the corpses were no more than piles of bloody mud with their spilled blood seeping into the ground. On the other hand, the Revolutionary Army’s counterattack sank one of the warships of the Imperial Army. The experts of the enlightenment period aboard the ship met an instant death, and their bodies sank into the river water. The attack dealt such severe injuries to two Exterior experts that they were unable to float in time. Half of their bodies fell beneath the seal.

The blood spurting out of their bodies quickly merged with the river water. The two Exterior experts never surfaced again as if torn apart by the monsters lurking in the river.

The war had dealt serious blows to both sides. Seeing that it was nearly impossible to break the formation and that the areas that they had destroyed were reviving, the Imperial Army knew their plan would not succeed. They had no choice but to beat the gong to recall their troops and retreat amidst the smoke above the river, leaving only the roaring of waves. There was no hint of the light and shadow, blood and flesh earlier.

It was only now that Jiang Zhiwei was able to heave a small sigh of relief. With the top-tier masters now free to come to their aid, she was sure that the assassin would not dare to strike again.

“The assassin earlier was either a grandmaster or a master who possess a killing strike or a secret technique that can elevate his realm to the level of a grandmaster for a short time,” she said, telepathically relaying her voice to Ruan Yushu and Zhao Heng.

Whenever Jiang Zhiwei used her ultimate Dharmakaya skill, her strength would be on par with a grandmaster. If she wielded her sword of exquisite quality as well, she would be able to match an expert in the Peak of the Exterior realm using an ordinary move. Thus, she could not say for certain if the assassin was a grandmaster.

If that was the case, the assassin was most probably a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army!

Ruan Yushu’s right hand was still on the zither that she carried. “The way the assassin attacked through the void resembles the way of the Luo Denomination.”

The only one of the Luo Denomination who cultivated the Advent of Ajati Matriarch in its entirety was each generation’s Goddess. The rest, including Dharma King, were limited to cultivating a portion of the skill. In actual fact, they majored in the likes of the Scroll of the Divine Realm and were particularly skilled in using the force of the Void. Even if they were not as strong as a grandmaster, they could hide in the void or escape through it. It was incredibly troublesome to deal with, making it perfect for assassinations.

“Perhaps it’s someone of a blood lineage with similar effects. It could be a Samsara traveler who exchanged for a Luo Denomination skill,” Zhao Heng said, with fear still lingering in his heart. Had he not acted at just the right time and without hesitation, even the Yellow Emperor’s Black Robe would not have saved him from being assassinated!

The deaths of Liu Yuntao and Miao Cong clued them in on the fact that Samsara travelers were responsible for this wave of attacks on the Revolutionary Army. They could not discount the possibility that there was a traveler who was also a member of the Luo Denomination trying to take advantage of this in order to kill them.

Meng Qi opened all the Aperture acupoints in his body, taking in and sending out Vital Qi at a frantic pace to replenish all that he had expended and heal the injuries he had sustained.

By the time Miao Cong made his final strike, Meng Qi had already lost all strength to use his Kunlun Taoist Robe. He could only rely on his uniquely sturdy physical body to endure the attack. Thus, he sustained rather severe injuries.

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He glanced at Qi Zhengyan who was walking toward him and put on a pained expression. “If I hadn’t been able to finish him any earlier, I would have had to ask for your help, Senior Brother Qi.”

Qi Zhengyan had managed to kill Liu Yuntao several minutes faster than Meng Qi killed Miao Cong. “It is normal to make a mistake the first time but if you continuously make the wrong countermeasures, it means that you have something else planned,” he said calmly.

“Therefore, I decided to watch and see.”

Meng Qi laughed dryly. He could feel his muscles aching all over. “This is my first time getting beaten up by someone whose actual realm is lower than mine.”

“His skill truly defied heaven but his flaw was equally great,” Qi Zhengyan said, summing up Miao Cong’s ability concisely.

Naturally, an old monster like Devil Lord would have seen all sorts of skills. His experience and knowledge was certainly Qi Zhengyan’s greatest gain!

Over on the river, the sinking of a warship had prompted the retreat of the Imperial Army. More importantly, there had been no announcements of their teammates’ deaths. Meng Qi could finally relax a little. Though he had wanted to rush over to their aid, the activation of the grand formation of the camp would have barred him from entering. Had he gone there, the masters of the Imperial Army would have found him an easy target instead.

Meng Qi stretched to loosen his muscles before walking over to Miao Cong’s body. He took Miao Cong’s copper stick and removed the latter’s Space Ring as well. He triggered his spiritual force and quietly used his Heavenly Golden Scripture to eliminate Miao Cong’s mark on the ring before it self-destructed.

It was fairly empty inside the Space Ring, without any skills, secret scrolls, or jade bamboo scripts that Meng Qi had been looking forward to finding. The only thing inside was a small jade bottle that contained a variety of elixirs.

“This guy had been spending all his Karma points on immortality elixirs…” Meng Qi sighed. These elixirs were not of the common variety. Each of them had their own uses—for example, one could provide instantaneous replenishment. He was certain the elixirs were worth quite a bit and that Miao Cong had already consumed all the common elixirs.

“He would never have become a grandmaster even if he had all the elixirs in the world.” Qi Zhengyan commented. He then explained the true consequences of cultivating that skill.

His explanation appeared to indicate that not even the Six Realms could make up for Miao Cong’s deficiency!

Meng Qi put away his spoils and then grabbed Miao Cong’s corpse. Then, he returned to the camp with Qi Zhengyan.

They did not have to fear angering Miao Hu seeing as his son’s death was the result of his lifespan depletion.

“Senior Brother Qi, you can keep Liu Yuntao’s Space Ring and Precious Weapon for yourself. If you leave the group in the future and have no one around to help you, you will definitely need a lot of Karma points.” Ever since they began this task, the difficulty and danger had only increased. They must tread carefully because the slightest mistake would result in the failure of the task and their obliteration. Meng Qi even had to use the Fruits of Karma, a killing move that would bring him grave consequences. Undoubtedly, his mind was strained. It was only now when it seemed like both sides were finally at an equilibrium that he had the mood to talk to Qi Zhengyan and use such an indirect way to bring up the topic.

Qi Zhengyan nodded silently, accepting the offer. These were the stepping stones for him to obtain his ambitious dream.

Seeing as Qi Zhengyan did not continue their conversation, Meng Qi had no choice but to stubbornly continue. “The opportunity to obtain skills does not necessarily go against aristocratic families and sects. Senior Brother Qi, you can start trying in a remote place and work your way up. For example, those of the appropriate age could begin studying martial arts at the same time. When they begin learning Apertures-enlightenment skills, you all can provide several of the best so they can build a solid foundation. If they want to learn more skills, then they must spare no effort in achieving their goals. Then, you all can hold strict examinations and test them solely on the nature of their martial arts instead of their so-called quality. This leaves no space for the aristocratic families. Through these examinations, you will be able to impart Exterior-level skills.

“While this cannot eliminate the advantage of those who have an ancestral heritage, at least you are guaranteed an opportunity to overtake them if you put in the effort.

“This way, you can consider yourselves a revamped sect. There will be a comparatively smaller contradiction with the great powers of the world.

“If you want to expand your sect, you will need immense power to control the aristocratic families and sects, as well as great powers like the imperial court. However, that is neither your nor my stance.”

Qi Zhengyan would nod in agreement now and then as he listened to Meng Qi’s words. In the end, he fell into a momentary silence before slowly saying, “Junior Brother Meng, you have always been talented. I am no match for you. The transformation of the doctrine of the School of Mo has brought me great enlightenment. The idea that you have given me requires great effort and hard work. It is indeed very suitable.”

His tone suddenly changed, as did his expression. “I don’t know if you are simply too kind or have simply not thought about it. You have always been rather naive and think that every family is good in their own way. You have always looked for ways to achieve win-win outcomes.

“It is true that your idea can reduce a lot of contradictions but it does, in fact, damage the advantages of the aristocratic families and sects. If everyone’s skills are equal and everyone is promised a way of elevating themselves as long as they work hard, people would stop relying on the aristocratic families and sects. Then, their survival and foundation would be shaken. They will do whatever it takes to warp the true intention behind ‘the study of martial arts.’ If they fail to do so, they will most certainly try and destroy it.

“However you put it, this will turn out to be an endless struggle for benefits. Perhaps there would be several disciples of aristocratic families and sects who would agree, but as a whole, this is an irreconcilable matter.”

Meng Qi listened in a daze. He had, in fact, thought about this. The “textbook” had stated this plainly, but he had subconsciously avoided any sort of cruelty.

“Is there a way to fulfill both in this world?”

Qi Zhengyan turned sideways to look at Meng Qi but said nothing else. There was suddenly silence between them.

The camp was now within sight. Meng Qi returned to his senses and asked, “How should we fool Miao Hu?”

“There is no need to fool him.” Qi Zhengyan spread his left hand, where a bloody seal steeped in nefarious seal sat. It was imbued with Miao Hu’s breath.

“This?” Meng Qi frowned in confusion.

Qi Zhengyan nodded calmly. “This is a life seal made out of Miao Hu’s Blood Essence. Once this is triggered, he will suffer a fate worse than death.”

“When you asked him for his Blood Essence, you had other plans besides seeking Miao Cong?” Suddenly, Meng Qi felt his scalp numbing in dread.

“I had other secret techniques to look for Miao Cong. I wanted his Blood Essence to control him. Moreover, it also tested how much he knew about Miao Cong’s matter. If he knew Miao Cong was not in any danger, he would not have handed it over,”Qi Zhengyan said in a low voice.

He once again glanced at Meng Qi.

“Remember this in the future: don’t hand your Blood Essence to an evil spirit.”