Chapter 197

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Chapter 197: I Am the Reinforcements

Below the crumbling city walls.

Qiao Mu’s body lay in a pool of blood, still and lifeless, staining the yellow sand with fresh blood.

The little kitten nestled quietly in his arms, until his heart stopped beating, leaving only warmth in his lifeless body.

Storyteller Clairvoyance occasionally glanced at the sudden appearance of the cat from the corner of his eye, with a flicker in his forehead.

As one of the pillars of the Tide Listening Building Fantastic Faction, Clairvoyance had heard countless stories, so he pondered on the origin of this strange cat.

While he was carefully watching, he saw the cat suddenly tremble and then swiftly crawl out from Qiao Mu’s lifeless body.

"When someone dies, do they prepare to leave?" Clairvoyance frowned and pondered.

"Appearing by the side of the deceased and leaving after death, I have heard of such creatures vague before. It is said that there used to be a kind of demon that fed on death energy, called the Underworld Messenger…"

As he was contemplating, he noticed the demonic cat’s pupils dilating slightly. The small body started to tremble on the sandy ground, eventually lying down weakly. Even its tongue hung out to the side, displaying a powerless and limp appearance.

"What’s happening now? Would a demon that feeds on death energy show such behavior? Or am I thinking too much?" Clairvoyance silently nodded.

"Seeing it with my own eyes is better than hearing about it a hundred times. So, creatures that temporarily weaken after consuming death energy… then…"

Just as he was about to finish that thought, all three of his eyes twitched slightly as he suddenly looked in one direction.

A light breeze swept by, lifting the dust from the ground.

In front of him appeared an elderly man with long white hair reaching his waist.

The cat lay still on the ground, sticking out its tongue, and looked weakly at the standing Qiao Mu, then glanced at the lying down Qiao Mu.

Ordinary people rely on vision to recognize characters, while cats and dogs rely more on smell. But for the Impermanent Demon Cat, it recognizes characters with invisible death energy using its eyes.

It doesn’t understand now.

Because it’s just a little kitty.

But as the strong death energy entered its body, its little belly started to swell.

Even though it didn’t understand, it felt so good…. The cat stopped thinking and continued to lie still on the ground.

"You are…." Storyteller Clairvoyance was uncertain.

The old man appeared suddenly, with his white hair scattered on his shoulders, almost reaching his waist in length.

He looked very old, with a face that vaguely resembled the Qiao Shuangsen lying on the ground.

Of course, Qiao Shuangsen’s body was right there, dead for everyone to see. No one would connect the old man in front of them with the clearly dead Qiao Shuangsen.

So Lu Yanbei was stunned, only guessing that this old man might be related to Qiao Shuangsen based on his appearance.

Storyteller Clairvoyance had a passing guess in her mind.

The people in this lonely city had no idea about the famous hidden Qiao family outside, and Lu Yanbei, who had been in the lonely city for a year, didn’t know either.

But he did know.

"Is this another centenarian of the Qiao family?" he guessed.

The hidden Qiao family followed an ancient blood revenge principle, with family members not supporting each other in their daily lives. They seemed like ordinary people with no family ties.

But once a descendant of the Qiao family died wrongly, the next elder of the Qiao family would come one after another and seek revenge for the deceased Qiao family member.

However, Clairvoyance didn’t expect this.

In other places it might be fine, but this lonely city in the desert is covered by the mysterious illusions of the Immortal Gate. Can all the elders of the Qiao family come in?

Thinking of this, he felt a little hope in his heart.

"I am Qiao Ruosen (ruo, fourth tone), Qiao Shuangsen is my son," Qiao Mu turned to look at Clairvoyance:

"Although our bloodline is connected to the Qiao’s family, I am still a step too late. In my old age, I still have to collect the body of my own son…"

Qiao Mu sighed softly, looking into the distance.

The lonely city is shrouded in a grand illusion, so we cannot see the scenery of the Jiu Province, including the existence of the Anxi Pass.

But Qiao Mu can still sense it.

After stepping into spiritual refining, the intuition is no longer intermittent, but constantly guided by the "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique", sensing the presence of Madame Bai in Anxi Pass.

"Li Changge’s "Spiritual Technique" can sense the existence of Madame Bai from a distance, even through the large formation of the Immortal Gate. But because of the existence of the mysterious formation, they cannot meet in person."

"The people in the city say that Li Changge died twenty years ago, which happens to be the year Anxi Pass was established and when Madame Bai guarded the pass. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence."

Let’s talk about Li Changge’s situation another time.

Since both Spiritual Technique and Martial Saint Spiritual Technique can ignore illusions, their intuition can be relied upon.

So if Qiao’s family all practice Martial Saint Spiritual Technique, they can sense each other’s presence, or maybe they have some even more advanced means to enter the formation, which makes sense, right?

"Elder Lao.." Lu Yanbei stuttered, unsure of what to say.

He understood the feelings of someone bidding farewell to another with a heavy heart.

Even though the "black-haired person" is older than him, it must feel uncomfortable for an elder to personally bid farewell to a younger person.

Qiao Ruosen appeared calm and composed on the surface, but it seems like he is deeply concealing his sadness inside…

In his eyes, Qiao Ruosen stood facing away from him, with his hands trembling slightly behind his back, as if he was desperately trying to control his inner emotions.

And Qiao Mu’s heart was really filled with mixed emotions.

"Wow, after thirty-two years of hard training, I’ve become stronger again. I really want to show off. I can hardly control my unicorn arm. But first, I have to hold back and ask a few questions."

Just before stepping onto the battlefield, he couldn’t help but glance at Clairvoyance and said lightly,

"Are you the storyteller of Tide Listening Building? Your eyes seem different from ordinary people."

"There are only Taoist soldiers in front of me, no inhuman creatures on the battlefield. Tell me, besides the enemies in front of you, what else do you see?"

Qiao Mu keenly noticed that both the cat and Clairvoyance had obvious movements when he arrived, indicating they sensed his presence.

The former was not surprising, as for Impermanent Demon Cat, Qiao Mu was like a human-shaped catnip to her.

Clairvoyance’s response was actually faster than Lu Yanbei, who was a Spirit Refining martial artist with sharp intuition. This was very unusual.

By using magic to control bean soldiers that are considered inhuman, even though they are not physically present on this battlefield, it can be inferred that they shouldn’t be too far away, right?

……………………

On the sandy battlefield.

Captain Hai led a group of three hundred old soldiers, charging forward and engaging in fierce combat with the remaining dozen or so bean soldiers.

Captain Hai regarded this battle as the final one in his life, so he fought with all his strength and embraced the determination to die.

Dao Shun looked out at this battlefield from a small hill in the distance, but his mood was not very pleasant.

He was in pain.

Cultivation emphasizes the use of wealth, with wealth taking the priority. Whether it’s pills, spells, or the spirit beans used to make bean soldiers, they all need to be purchased with spirit stones.

"Only in the Hundred-mile Desert, where people are fearless of death, can such a large number emerge."

"Once you leave this desert, it’s difficult to find forces of similar strength, and high-quality souls outside of the Jiu Province." Dao Shun sighed.

The desert says no grass grows, which is an exaggeration, but it is true that there is a lack of water and food, making it a place where no living beings can survive.

Martial artists cannot train their muscles and internal strength properly without proper food. It is especially difficult to develop a strong internal strength.

Moreover, the tougher the environment, the better it is for developing one’s willpower and character.

Therefore, the martial arts skills of this lone army don’t match their achievements in spiritual refining.

"Unfortunately, I have lost too many soldiers, and it’s difficult to harvest all three hundred old soldiers… Continuing to fight would be a losing proposition."

"Ah, if only I were like Senior Sister Dao Xu, with influential elders like Elder Qingyi to protect me and plenty of wealth…"

"It’s also thanks to that Martial Saint in the mortal world. If he hadn’t killed a mid-level Foundation Building disciple from Xuantian Sect, once I reached the mid-level, I could have become a deacon in the mortal world’s Taoist temple…"

Dao Shun’s face suddenly changed color while he was speaking to himself.

He quickly shook the storage pouch around his waist, and two spirit beans fell onto the sandy ground, instantly transforming into two towering bean generals over three meters tall, guarding in front of him.

But the bean general on the left has just appeared and straightened its body suddenly.

A large hand, much bigger than a normal person’s, grabbed the bean general’s head tightly.

With a surge of internal strength, the three-meter-tall bean general shattered into pieces.

Qiao Mu stood there and glanced at his right hand.

At this moment, his right hand seemed to swell up in a big circle, with the skin turning red, hot, and hard. A bright white aura emitted from his palm.

The Flesh Changing Skill, or rather, the Shape Changing Skill in Qiao Mu’s hand, was a mysterious technique of Wu Qizheng’s.

After achieving spiritual refining, one could manipulate the human body’s flesh and blood through powerful "spirits" and make certain changes according to one’s desires.

And just now, he was manipulating his blood and qi, similar to how he controlled the internal strength within the meridians, trying to adjust his right hand to a more suitable state for exerting strength.

"Where did this mortal come from?" a rebuking voice sounded in his ear.

Dao Shun shook his storage bag around his waist, and many magic beans were scattered on the sandy ground. Then, more than ten bean soldiers, each two meters tall, rushed out.

Meanwhile, Qiao Mu stood frozen in place, as if he couldn’t move, staring at Dao Shun, who was being guarded by these bean soldiers led by a bean general.

Seeing that Qiao Mu seemed scared, Dao Shun furrowed his brow and calmly said,

"You’ve damaged one of my bean soldiers…you’ve caused trouble. Leave now, and I may forgive your offense. Otherwise, you will face eternal doom—"

Before he could finish speaking, the surprised expression on the elderly mortal’s face disappeared, replaced by a sigh.

"So, this is all there is? Just a few people?" he sighed.

At that moment, Dao Shun saw the elderly mortal gently tap his foot on the ground, and his figure transformed into a swift shadow, rushing towards Dao Xu.

The speed of the mortal elderly man’s figure wasn’t astonishingly fast.

However, he skillfully dodged the knives and spears about to strike from the bean soldiers’ hands, moving like a dancer twirling on the tip of a knife, advancing step by step through the forest of weapons.

"Spiritual refining is a complete version of sensing your opponent’s moves ahead of time, just like breathing, it has become a natural instinct of the body."

Even Qiao Mu occasionally had some carefree thoughts in his mind, but he followed his intuition and instincts, casually dodging and moving around in the midst of the attack.

He didn’t have any weapons in his hands, just fists clenched tight.

"A stack of waves."

His entire body was filled with strong and heavy white internal strength, surging and bursting out with the force of his punch.

"Double Wave."

"Triple Wave."

The internal strength surged with waves upon waves, gradually resembling the roaring and raging of the sea, a powerful gust of wind blew away the dust and sand, and with a heavy punch, it struck the body of the bean general three meters in front of him.

A loud booming sound resonated.

"Four-fold —-"

Qiao Mu suddenly froze, unclenched his fists, and stood still.

As the intense internal strength surged like a raging tide, it slightly stagnated.

In front of him, the only remaining bean general had been shattered and collapsed, while the rest of the bean soldiers had fallen behind him, leaving only Dao Shun in front.

"So that’s it." The old man suddenly realized with a faint surprise.

"Controlling the bean soldiers that can crush three hundred old soldiers in the city has already reached your limit?"

"That’s the extent of my skills."

He pointed forward with his finger.

A burst of invisible force shot out from his fingertip like a sharp arrow, piercing through Dao Shun’s forehead in an instant.

"Craze—" Dao Shun’s face slightly changed, as he just took out a talisman, but his body shook and the power of the Fragmented Virtual Finger pierced through his forehead, shattering it.

He slumped to the ground.

Qiao Mu turned his head to look behind him, the remaining bean soldiers had stopped moving. He then lowered his head to look at Dao Shun’s body, lost in thought.

"If inhuman bodies were as formidable as martial artists, then what’s the point of training in martial arts?"

He thought for a moment, took a few steps forward, and lifted Dao Shun’s body.

……………………

On the sandy battlefield in front of the deserted city.

Captain Hai was leading three hundred old soldiers, fighting bravely and covered in blood.

Their inner strength was not as strong as Qiao Mu’s. Even though they were determined to die, they could not recklessly squander their inner strength like Qiao Mu.

Therefore, they were having a difficult time in this battle. Even with high spirits, it was hard to make up for the gap between them and the powerful bean soldier and bean general.

In the midst of the fierce fight.

The remaining bean soldiers suddenly froze in place, motionless.

Captain Hai didn’t understand, but took this opportunity to swing his sword into the chest of the bean soldier, using all his strength to cut the bean soldier’s body in half, and then panting heavily while leaning on his sword.

The other soldiers did the same, taking down the remaining bean soldiers and standing together, keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

The inhuman’s methods were always unpredictable, and they knew it could be another trick, so they remained vigilant and didn’t let their guard down.

But when they looked around, they saw an old man walking slowly towards them, getting closer and closer.

"Who are you?" Captain Hai asked cautiously, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

There haven’t been many outsiders in this desert for years, and they had just been fighting the inhuman’s bean soldiers, so they didn’t dare to approach a stranger.

The old man had many wrinkles and looked very old. He had long, silver-white hair that reached his waist and swayed in the wind.

This person’s face was somewhat similar to Qiao Shuangsen’s.

But what amazed them even more than this person’s appearance was the object he held in his hand.

It was a young daoist dressed in the robe of the Great Dao Sect, whom he held in his hand as if he were holding a dead dog.

"Immortal Slaying Army, Qiao Ruosen," the old man squinted his eyes and threw the body of Dao Shun, which he held in his hand, onto the sandy ground.

"You all have fought hard and died for the people of this city," he said respectfully, clasping his fists.

"I am the reinforcements."

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