Chapter 265: A Fated Encounter Sent, Not to be Refused

“Alright, let’s not waste any more time. We’ll leave immediately.” After Elder Yu made his decision, he looked at Qin Haoxuan and asked in a questioning tone, “Qin Haoxuan, if you have no other important matters, shall we leave at once?”

The moment he said this, the other elders looked at him, dumbfounded, as if he were a monster. Although Elder Yu was not an elder of the Elder’s Council, he was one of the most promising candidates to enter it.

With his prestige and status in the Taichu Sect, and with Qin Haoxuan being just a mere weak seed, he could have simply ordered him to go. Never mind Qin Haoxuan; even the Unsurpassed Purple Seed, Li Jing, would not have dared to object. Yet he was showing him considerable respect, asking for his opinion.

In the eyes of the other elders, although Qin Haoxuan was a relatively outstanding weak seed, and his cultivation speed, combat strength, and his recognition of the array that opened the passage to the Netherworld made them not dare to underestimate him, he was still not worthy of such politeness from Elder Yu.

He was an elder who had walked out of the Netherworld Demon Abyss, had been bestowed a flying sword by the sect, and had the hope of entering the Elder’s Council. Even Ximen Sheng, as a Deputy Hall Master, did not dare to put on airs in front of him.

Even the Sect Master spoke to him politely. Although he had been assigned to oversee the registration office, his status was definitely the highest among the elders present. As for why he was in charge of the registration office, it was because he had volunteered. Otherwise, not even Ximen Sheng would have dared to order him to do such work.

For such a powerful and high-status elder to ask for his opinion in such a questioning tone, if Qin Haoxuan were smart, he would surely say he had no other business and could leave immediately.

But after respectfully bowing to Elder Yu and the other elders, Qin Haoxuan said, “Please give this disciple a moment. I have a small personal matter to entrust to Senior Brother Ye Yiming.”

Several of the elders were dumbfounded, their expressions displeased. They thought, Don’t you know how important and urgent this matter is? And what is Elder Yu’s status and strength? Even the few of us defer to him.

But Elder Yu did not mind in the slightest. He returned the remaining nine thousand low third-grade spirit stones of his security deposit to Qin Haoxuan and said with a faint smile, “Good. Go quickly and come back quickly.”

Ximen Sheng even instructed, “This matter must not be spoken of outside! Remember this, remember this!”

Elder Yu dispersed the spiritual energy barrier. The faint sounds of shouting and killing from a distance, and the clamor from nearby, all rushed into their ears at once.

Qin Haoxuan walked out of the registration office and ran right into Li Jing.

Today, Li Jing’s luck had been good. He had killed three rogue cultivators in a row, the strongest of whom was at the Twenty-First-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm.

If not for hearing the news of Qin Haoxuan’s return, he would not have come back so early. Seeing him come out of the registration office, Li Jing smiled faintly and called out from a distance, “Junior Brother Qin, long time no see.”

If it had been before, he would have certainly walked over to chat. But now, he just called out from a distance. Although his expression showed a desire to talk, he was waiting for Qin Haoxuan to walk over to him.

At this moment, he no longer coveted his Qi-Circulating Pills, because he also had the equally effective Reverse Blood Pills. And having cultivated the Tyrannical True Dragon Art, a divine art from the Aqueous Manor, he believed that surpassing Qin Haoxuan was only a matter of time, and not a long time at that. Since Qin Haoxuan was of no use to him, why would he still put on a friendly act?

Standing where he was, Li Jing thought to himself, If you’re smart and come over to chat with me, showing some enthusiasm, maybe I’ll support you a little in the future. If you’re not smart, then when Zhang Kuang comes to deal with you, I might just add insult to injury.

Qin Haoxuan, who had already had a bad impression of him, returned a smile and then went back to his own tent without turning his head.

Li Jing stood in place, a towering rage in his heart, but his face remained as calm as still water. He sneered and thought to himself, Qin Haoxuan, with the face of an Unsurpassed Purple Seed, I gave you the chance to come and chat, and you refused. Do you really think you’re some kind of peerless genius? You’d better not fall into my hands. Sooner or later, I’ll play you to death.

What the self-conscious Li Jing didn’t know was that although his face as an Unsurpassed Purple Seed was great, could the face of an Unsurpassed Purple Seed who had not yet matured be greater than Elder Yu’s? Just now, Qin Haoxuan had even rejected Elder Yu’s request to leave immediately.

Of course, his saying that he was going to find his senior brother was just an excuse. His real purpose was to go and warn Xing. This creature was, after all, a demon from the Netherworld. With him around, he didn’t dare to act recklessly. But once he was gone, he would be completely unbridled. With his gluttonous nature, it was very possible that he would eat a cultivator or two. At that point, after he had satisfied his craving, he would be the one in deep trouble.

Qin Haoxuan had also thought of having him transform into soft armor and go with him to the Taichu Sect, but this time, he wasn’t going back to the Spirit Field Valley. He would surely be seeing the Sect Master and other high-level members of the sect.

Their strength was unfathomably deep. If they were to see that Xing was a demon, with the cultivators’ hatred for demons, he would surely die, and he would certainly have to be buried with him, and it might even implicate the Nature Hall. After thinking it over and over, his only option was to leave him in the army camp.

Returning to the camp, Qin Haoxuan’s expression was very grave as he stared fixedly at Xing.

Being stared at like that made him very uncomfortable. He said warily, “You… you want me to do something bad again? Can you not look at me like that?”

“I don’t want you to do anything bad. I’m afraid you’ll do something bad…” Qin Haoxuan shook his head and sighed. “I have to go to the sect with an elder to report. But I’m very worried about you, and I can’t take you with me.”

Hearing that he was going back to the sect and that it was inconvenient to take him, a sharp glint, gone in an instant, flashed in Xing’s eyes. He said with an innocent expression, “Is it really inconvenient to take me?

We two brothers have been together since the Aqueous Manor and have never been separated. To be separated this time, I’m really reluctant.” As he spoke, he even squeezed his eyes, but unfortunately, he couldn’t squeeze out any tears.

Qin Haoxuan draped an arm over his shoulder and said, “I’ll be back in a few days… You must stay obediently in the tent these few days. Do not go out.”

Xing looked reluctant but repeatedly nodded. “No problem.”

Qin Haoxuan continued to instruct, “Especially, do not eat people! You absolutely must not eat people… even the enemy… If you are discovered eating people… I really won’t be able to save you. Even if you eat the enemy’s rogue cultivators… if the Taichu Sect finds out, they will kill you first…”

A mist seemed to well up in Xing’s eyes, and his eyelids blinked repeatedly. He could feel that when Qin Haoxuan told him not to eat people, he was concerned for him, not just because he disliked the act itself. He waved his hand impatiently. “I know, I know. You just go… If I really wanted to eat people, the last time you went home… I just wouldn’t have gone with you.”

In their time together, Qin Haoxuan also knew that for Xing, to be in a group of people and not eat them was actually very difficult. It was a discomfort that came from the very marrow of his bones, just like tying up a normal man and throwing him into a pile of beautiful, naked women… or rather… a hundred times more uncomfortable than that.

Xing had been able to endure it until today. In the Taichu Sect, it was out of fear of death. Here, it was because… Qin Haoxuan knew… it was because of him. Otherwise, he could have secretly eaten people and run away, leaving the main camp of the Taichu Sect. That would have been safer for him. But he hadn’t left…

“Lan Yan, keep an eye on him… absolutely do not let him eat…”

“Get lost! Are you done yet?” Xing kicked him out of the tent, a look of displeasure on his face. “Do you think I’m an unweaned child?”

The moment he had left, Xing looked at Lan Yan and said, “You don’t have to watch me either. I can still hold back from eating people.”

During this period, Lan Yan and Xing had gotten to know each other very well. Although she had no good feelings for demons, Xing was an exception, perhaps because he had such a sweet mouth.

Lan Yan very honestly gave him a sidelong glance and said, “If you eat the people here, you will surely be found out by the few old fellows stationed here. At that time, even if you run away, Qin Haoxuan certainly won’t be able to, and he will die a very miserable death.”

Xing shrugged and said, “So, I won’t eat people. You can rest assured about that. I’m just afraid of you staring at me every day. That would be too boring…”

Lan Yan gave him another sidelong glance and said with great loyalty, “By the way, are you stupid? I only said I would watch you and not let you eat the people of Taichu. But if you run out and eat those rogue cultivators, how would I know? How would I see? I’m not leaving this main camp…”

Xing looked at her in astonishment, suspecting that there was a problem with his ears. This little brat actually didn’t care if he ate people? Weren’t all humans very concerned about whether demons ate people or not?

“You’re… testing me, right?” Xing took a step back, his face full of righteousness. “I won’t fall for it!”

“You are a demon, not a human. If I like little chickens, do I have to kill all the foxes? Or do I have to make all the foxes become vegetarian?” she said with an indifferent expression. “All things in the world are mutually generated and mutually restrained.

Humans eat so many living things, so what? You just eat different food. Qin Haoxuan can’t see this point, so his cultivation is slow. Everything in the world… is the same. Of course… if you eat me, or my family, I will still have to fight you.”

Xing sized her up, feeling more and more that this girl was not simple. Although to others, her words might sound heretical, if one were not human, upon hearing them, one would feel that they were absolutely right.

“In any case, I feel that while you can’t eat the Taichu Sect’s cultivators, you can go and eat the enemy’s rogue cultivators,” she said leisurely, crossing her legs and eating melon seeds. “I really don’t believe that those elders of the Taichu Sect would go and investigate how the enemy’s rogue cultivators died.”

“You… you’re really not sent by Old Qin to test me?” Xing remained sufficiently vigilant.

Lan Yan waved her hand magnanimously. “Is this enough? In a little while, I’ll go out with you! We’ll find a remote corner and trap a few rogue cultivators, and let you eat them secretly.”

Xing began to suspect whether she was really human, to actually take him out to eat people…

“We’ve known each other for so long. Don’t I know you by now? Although you’re a demon, and you probably weren’t a good person before, you’ve really treated me and Qin Haoxuan as friends,” she praised him, and then her eyes rolled. “I know that whether you eat spirit stones or cultivators, it’s just to recover from your injuries and return to your peak state, right?”

“My supreme True Demon… there’s actually such a little brat… how come I never met one before?” Xing sighed repeatedly and shook his head. “It’s really hard to believe that you can understand me.”

Lan Yan pouted and said with a very unconcerned expression, “I said it before. A demon eating a cultivator is like a tiger eating a person. No one would think a tiger eating a person is wrong.

On the contrary, a tiger’s skin, bones, and other parts are all medicinal materials for humans. And the bones and flesh of you demons can also be used by cultivators to refine artifacts and pills. So, there is no right or wrong on either side.

A demon eating a person is not wrong, just as no one thinks it’s wrong to use a demon’s flesh and bones to refine pills and artifacts. No one can condemn the other. It all depends on whose fist is bigger, whose strength is stronger.

Of course, one must be true to one’s conscience and loyal to one’s friends. Besides, these rogue cultivators’ actions are too bottomless. There’s no need to talk about a bottom line with them.”

Hearing her words, Xing’s face was filled with excitement, like a child who had just received an adult’s approval. He patted her shoulder. “I know the stakes. I’ve been with Qin Haoxuan for so long, and under his pedantic influence, I no longer just see humans as food. I can be good friends with him and with you. Rest assured, I won’t do anything to harm you. I am the most loyal genius demon in the Netherworld; my demonic integrity is rock solid!”

Lan Yan looked at his excited appearance and covered her mouth with a smile. It seemed that being with Qin Haoxuan, under his domineering pressure, this genius demon from the Netherworld had been living a very stifled life.

She had only spoken a few words on his behalf, and he already considered her a bosom friend. However, she also truly considered him a friend.

Although this fellow was a demon from the Netherworld, he was not a low-level demon who only knew how to eat people. She also patted his excited shoulder and said, “Since cultivators can use your bones and flesh to refine pills and artifacts, of course you can also eat cultivators.

Let’s go, this big sister will take you to eat a few rogue cultivators. It will also be good for Qin Haoxuan if you recover some of your strength. Although his cultivation is not slow, he is, after all, a weak seed, and the people he has provoked are one more formidable than the last. Who knows, he might have to rely on you to protect him in the future.”

Xing pouted and muttered softly, “When have I not been protecting him?”

The more the two of them chatted, the more they felt they had met too late, and for a moment, their emotions grew more and more agitated…