346: Chapter 78 Watch the Mountains and Rivers for Me_2 346: Chapter 78 Watch the Mountains and Rivers for Me_2 Xie Xuanyi incinerated Qin Wanyang’s corpse and his vestment robe, and didn’t forget to draw the severed head into his palm.
Before its vitality completely ceased, he performed a Soul Search…
Sadly, although Xie Xuanyi acted quickly, the lethal nature of the beheading wound meant that the Soul Search only recovered a few scattered fragments.
After confirming that Yan Xie’s residual thoughts were utterly annihilated and all evidence was burnt away.
Xie Xuanyi tossed the head in his hand into the void enveloped by the Primordial Fire.
He transmitted his voice to Ao Ying, “Come up.”
Sword Qi slowly descended.
The Dragon Girl’s expression was peculiar as she looked at the young man in black.
Xie Xuanyi’s murder of Qin Wanyang and the Soul Search were both seen very clearly by her.
This man, although from Da Sui Sword Palace.
Truly did not “spare” his status, and even performed such forbidden arts as “Soul Search”!
If she hadn’t seen wrongly…
Because he had killed too swiftly earlier, the Soul Search yielded no results, and disappointment was evident in Xie Xuanyi’s eyes.
For such a person, it was reasonable to plant Gu Poison.
With this thought in mind, Ao Ying felt utterly disheartened.
Just then, her Heart Lake churned again as she cast her eyes downward at her chest.
At the location of her heart, there was a faint burning sensation.
“Xie Xuanyi…”
Ao Ying gritted her teeth and managed to say painfully, “If you plan to coerce me into going to Da Chu…
you might as well kill me now.”
Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised as he looked at the demoness.
The demoness closed her eyes, voicing tragically, “Ao Ying would rather die now than live a meager existence in the future, becoming a prisoner under the steps of Da Chu.”
Indeed…
If she were to be captured and taken to Da Chu.
Her fate would be utterly miserable.
As a Dragon Descendant and a Great Demon, who had fortuitously absorbed the True Dragon Holy Blood, Ao Ying’s lineage was about to experience an unprecedented ascension soon.
If she was thrown into the Great Chu Imperial City, the self-proclaimed “True Dragons” of the Imperial Family would employ every means to shatter Ao Ying’s spirit and tame her into the Imperial City’s spirit beast.
Jiang Huang had once been confined by the Nine Death Forbidden.
This restriction made her life worse than death, and even with a second Divine Soul emerging, she still could not escape the “confinement.”
“…”
The demoness braced herself, ready to be pierced through the heart by a sword.
But after waiting for a moment, there was no movement.
The dust stirred, and the sound of iron cavalry grew closer and closer.
Xie Xuanyi suddenly said, “What if I neither kill you nor send you to Da Chu?”
Ao Ying paused, slowly opening her eyes, somewhat dazed.
She looked warily at the man before her, “You…
what do you mean?”
“You can return to the Demon Country.”
Xie Xuanyi enunciated each word, “The Red Dragon Fortune, Feng Mou, all are yours.”
Ao Ying gave a self-mocking laugh, “Is there such a good thing in this world?”
“There is not.”
Xie Xuanyi spoke calmly, “Your life is in my hands.
The reason I am so ‘generous’ in letting you return to the Demon Country is because the ‘Sword Gu’ is already planted.
With just a thought of killing from me, even from thousands of miles away, you will die instantly.”
Ao Ying’s complexion turned pale.
“As I said before, you return to the Demon Country, you can visit Demon Venerable in Erosion Sun Swamp, and seek protection.”
Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, “You might want to see how many can cure your Gu Poison…
However, if I am not mistaken, your days in the Demon Country will not be easy either?
You have thoroughly offended Chi Ling City on this trip.
Both Prince Jiu and Peacock Venerable want to kill you, and none of the renowned Venerables are willing to help you.”
Ao Ying was merely a Loose Cultivator from the Demon Country, with no sect or powerful backing.
That is why she had taken the desperate risk of stealing treasures.
If she could return to the Demon Country.
Not to mention visiting Erosion Sun Swamp to seek a cure for the Gu, surviving itself would require utmost caution.
One misstep caught by enemies meant a death with no place for her body to lay!
“You…”
Ao Ying was momentarily at a loss for words.
“You can rest assured.
I will not trigger the ‘Gu Poison’ without reason.”
Xie Xuanyi tossed her a Lotus Token, saying, “With this token, you can feel my summoning of the Divine Soul.
You must comply with any demands I make.”
“You want me to be an insider for Da Sui Sword Palace?”
The moment she caught the token, Ao Ying fully understood Xie Xuanyi’s intentions.
Implant her with Gu.
Allow her freedom.
This Xie Xuanyi…
wished for her to become a “spy” under his command!
“Correct, you can consider it.”
Xie Xuanyi stood with his hands behind his back, slowly saying, “Compared to those Demon Country Venerables, my methods are the mildest.”
“Consider…”
These two words sounded somewhat ironic to Ao Ying.
Where did she have any room to consider?
Either accept the token and become a pawn of Xie Xuanyi,
or die here and fall.
However, Xie Xuanyi was not wrong about one thing, compared to those Demon Country Venerables, his methods were the mildest, and she still had a glimmer of hope.
“If you have made up your mind, then establish a ‘Soul Oath’.”
Xie Xuanyi casually tossed out a bamboo slip, saying calmly, “Don’t worry, the terms of the Soul Oath will not be too harsh.
Just recite it as outlined in this slip immediately.”
“…Soul Oath?”
Ao Ying’s expression slightly changed.
Xie Xuanyi was indeed “cautious” enough; not only had he left a sword Gu, but he also required her to establish a Soul Oath!
However, after taking over the bamboo slip,
her expression relaxed considerably.
The contents of this bamboo slip required her to conceal nothing, tell no lies, and many other detailed demands, but it did not forcibly touch the baseline of Ao Ying’s Dao…
Ao Ying had been very worried that the contents of the Soul Oath would be too excessive, and reciting it would amount to acknowledging Xie Xuanyi as her master, in which case she might as well crash into a sword and die!
But now, this bamboo slip was much more “lenient” than she had imagined.
It even did not affect her Dao-heart.
All that she did was for the day when she could verify the Dao.
“What…
exactly are you scheming?”
Ao Ying stared at Xie Xuanyi; she was increasingly unable to see through the man before her.
To say he was cruel, he indeed was truly cruel.
He killed the young prince of the Qin Family without even blinking an eye.
To say he was merciful, he indeed was truly merciful.
At least, he gave her a choice with the Jade Scroll, not forcing her to only “die.”
“Although the Sword Gu is formidable, relying on it to coerce is the lowest tactic.
If one day you truly do not wish to live, and do not care about being killed by the Gu Poison…
it would actually be unfavorable for me,”
Xie Xuanyi said indifferently, “I want to give you a way to live, but you also need to provide the value for your survival.”
“That’s it?”
Ao Ying smiled and said, “Why do I feel like you are not telling the truth?”
“You want to hear the truth?”
Xie Xuanyi also smiled and said, “The Demon Country constantly thinks of moving south; the peaceful years are coming to an end, the Human Race must be wary.
It is not easy to leave an eye in the Demon Country.
After you take this Soul Oath, you will be working for me, keeping an eye on the mountains and rivers of the Demon Country.”
It sounded noble and high-minded, but basically, he just wanted her to be a spy…
But this statement, Ao Ying still did not believe.
True or false, at this moment, it no longer mattered.
“What mountains and rivers are there to watch in the Demon Country?”
The demoness self-mockingly laughed.
Satisfied with the content of the Jade Scroll, she decided without further hesitation to read it entirely.
Divine Thought settled.
A thread of an invisible lifeline slowly descended into the palm of Xie Xuanyi’s hand.
Xie Xuanyi grasped it.
In her Heart Lake, Ao Ying felt an unprecedented strange sensation; she felt a thread of her life being dispersed and held in the palm of the young man dressed in black before her.
Destiny was elusive, the lifeline dissolved after taking the oath, intangible and invisible…
but Ao Ying sensed a binding force from the unknown depth within.
She could no longer lie to Xie Xuanyi.
Xie Xuanyi cautioned, “Keep this ‘Lotus Token’ safe.
If you encounter any trouble, you can also contact me through this token.”
“What, I am in the Demon Country, and you are in Da Chu; if I really encounter a deadly trouble, can you actually cross the Northern Border Great Wall and come to the Demon Country to help me?”
Knowing full well it was just a polite remark, but Ao Ying, having just taken the Soul Oath and being guided by her Heart Lake, instinctively responded.
Xie Xuanyi was silent for several breaths.
After the Soul Oath was established, Ao Ying could no longer keep secrets from him; thus, her response was an expression of her true nature.
Xie Xuanyi sighed and said, “I’ll try my best.”
Ao Ying sneered, “You can’t help from there.”
Xie Xuanyi sighed again, rubbing his temple, and asked, “So, how many enemies do you have in the Demon Country?”
Ao Ying candidly confessed, “Everywhere I look, I see enemies.
Too many to count.”
The demoness, now devoid of secrets, seemed like a different person.
Xie Xuanyi looked at her face, seeing it for the first time so clearly.
It figures…
this was a woman ruthless enough to steal the Secret Treasure of Chi Ling City, offending even the Peacock Venerable for her cultivation, sparing no expense.
How could such a person not have enemies?
“Once you return to the Demon Country, try to survive well.
With the [Feng Mou] and the True Dragon Holy Blood, it won’t be long before you break through and become a Demon Venerable.”
Xie Xuanyi said meaningfully, “But if you become merely a Demon Venerable, it still won’t be enough…
If one day you can ascend to the position of Great Venerate, even if the whole world were your enemy, what would it matter?”