Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 6

Volume 7 Chapter 6: The Rulers Set Out, Power Begins to Form (Part 3)

"My surname is Liu, and my name is Liu Ziqing. I will be working with you all in the future, so I hope you will take care of me."

On this day, Wang Yuxian, Dongfang Quan, and others were shocked by the appearance of Wang Zegang, Xu Qingfan’s decision, the existence of the "Disaster Cloud," and the refugees inside the "Disaster Cloud"…

But nothing compared to the self-introduction of the middle-aged scholar before them.

Years ago, during the battle of Black Emperor Cliff, Liu Ziqing stepped into the spotlight. Although he ultimately lost to Zhang Xusheng, he once had the upper hand in their fight for a time, which is an undeniable fact. Coupled with his special status, he has become quite famous among human cultivators over the years. In fact, the mere ability to gain an advantage, even for a short period, marks him as one of the few top experts among human cultivators.

Noticing the astonished and incredulous gazes directed at him, Liu Ziqing smiled gently and then sighed, saying, "Everyone, please do not think too much. I am being hunted and fleeing for my life, and out of desperation, I can only seek refuge with an old acquaintance from years ago, gaining a moment’s peace."

Since Liu Ziqing’s arrival, Wang Zegang’s expression had become very unnatural. After hearing Liu Ziqing’s words, Wang Zegang could not help but let out a cold snort of dissatisfaction.

Liu Ziqing was also one of his tasks during this outing, but compared to Dongfang Quan, whom he was familiar with, or Wang Yuxian, whom he admired, he felt only instinctive resistance and dissatisfaction towards Liu Ziqing. Perhaps this was related to Wang Zegang’s repeated setbacks in his encounters with Liu Ziqing on the road. Throughout the journey, under Liu Ziqing’s teasing questions, Wang Zegang found himself unknowingly revealing some of Xu Qingfan’s secrets to Liu Ziqing, only realizing it after the fact.

Years ago, to obtain the "Heavenly Paragon Sword," which could defeat Zhang Xusheng, Liu Ziqing ruthlessly schemed against Xuan. He found the descendants of Xuan’s adoptive parents from when he was young and used their lives to threaten him. Although Xuan was a sword fanatic, he was also a person who cherished loyalty. With his kindness repaid, he had no choice but to hand over the "Heavenly Paragon Sword" and promised to go into seclusion for a period of time.

However, Xuan was not someone to be easily provoked. After the deadline agreed upon ten years ago, Xuan broke his seclusion and began the hunt for Liu Ziqing across the entire Shenzhou Continent. Facing a master like Xuan, Liu Ziqing was truly in a dire situation. Neither his body’s immunity to ordinary attacks nor his extreme speed, nor his clever mind could withstand Xuan’s devastating attacks.

It can be said that among these top human cultivators, if we talk about the fierceness and sharpness of attacks, Xuan is definitely the best.

With no other choice, Liu Ziqing could only try to delay the battle time and, during the fight, release as much pressure as possible, hoping to catch the attention of the Shura Clan or the Human Alliance. This way, whenever Xuan was about to kill Liu Ziqing, a powerful being from the Shura Clan would appear to interrupt, allowing Liu Ziqing to escape.

However, the noise created by the battle between Liu Ziqing and Xuan not only attracted the Shura Clan and Human Alliance’s attention, but also caught the notice of Xu Qingfan, who was far away across the East Sea. After an especially intense fight between Xuan, Liu Ziqing, and the Shura Clan experts drawn in, Xu Qingfan realized that Liu Ziqing’s presence suddenly disappeared. Xuan, after searching for a long time without success, chased in another direction.

Based on Xu Qingfan’s judgment, that battle was much fiercer than before, and considering Liu Ziqing’s physical characteristics, he would have been seriously injured and could not escape far. He probably was hiding somewhere near when his presence vanished. So, he sent Wang Zegang, who was on his way to "Ronghua Mountain," to check that area for any signs of Liu Ziqing.

When Wang Zegang arrived at the location Xu Qingfan mentioned, he left "Disaster Cloud" and searched for a long time, but did not find any trace of Liu Ziqing. But just when he gave up and returned to "Disaster Cloud," he found that Liu Ziqing had somehow already entered "Disaster Cloud" and was waiting there with a smile. Before Wang Zegang could react, he was captured by Liu Ziqing and Zhang Yi’s teamwork.

At first, because of "Disaster Cloud," Liu Ziqing thought Wang Zegang was a member of the Human Alliance. But after Wang Zegang explained, he learned that "Disaster Cloud" was sent by Xu Qingfan specifically to find him. After hearing about Xu Qingfan’s invitation, Liu Ziqing was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and lifted Wang Zegang’s restraints, acting as if they were old friends, constantly patting Wang Zegang’s shoulder and mentioning how he would be taken care of by Xu Qingfan from now on.

However, Wang Zegang soon realized that although Liu Ziqing spoke beautifully, he lost the initiative and control over "Disaster Cloud" after that. Under Liu Ziqing’s unexpected dominance, Wang Zegang found that he needed to ask Liu Ziqing for permission to do anything.

Because of this, Wang Zegang instinctively felt repulsed by Liu Ziqing, as he thought that by finding Liu Ziqing, he had brought a wolf into his house. Liu Ziqing could not truly be loyal to Xu Qingfan.

However, even though Wang Zegang had some dislike for Liu Ziqing, he was not worried, as he knew that the current Xu Qingfan was not the same as the old Xu Qingfan. It was foolish for Liu Ziqing to think he could deal with him.

However, seeing Liu Ziqing act so familiar in front of Wang Yuxian, Dongfang Quan, and others, and thinking about how embarrassed he had been in front of Liu Ziqing all this time, he couldn’t help but snort coldly and glare at Liu Ziqing fiercely.

Liu Ziqing seemed to just realize Wang Zegang’s dissatisfaction and shrugged, saying, "I’m not the one who tore apart the ‘Disaster Cloud’, so why are you glaring at me? If you keep staring like that, your friends might just break the ‘Disaster Cloud’ themselves."

Hearing Liu Ziqing’s words, Wang Zegang paused for a moment, turned around, and saw Old Beggar and six other Alchemy Masters who had been ignoring the surroundings since entering the ‘Disaster Cloud’. They were gathered together, studying the structure of the ‘Disaster Cloud’, and had already started looking for ways to dismantle it while Liu Ziqing was speaking.

After some argument, Wang Zegang finally managed to convince Old Beggar and the others to give up their plan to take apart the ‘Disaster Cloud’ right away, feeling that at this moment, Old Beggar was even harder to deal with than Liu Ziqing.

After arranging everyone properly, Liu Ziqing walked under the gray orb, made a series of hand gestures, and saw a flash of light from the gray orb. The ‘Disaster Cloud’ slowly rose up, carrying Wang Zegang, Liu Ziqing, Zhang Yi, five rogue cultivators, twelve Jiuhua disciples, five Medicine Pill Masters, seven Alchemy Masters, and over a hundred disaster victims, a total of one hundred forty people, quickly flying towards the East Sea.

However, none of them noticed that someone was hiding among the dense forest nearby, quietly watching their arrival and departure.