Knowledge is Power

Before Qin Yi could even explain to her why he had summoned the Taotie, Zuo Qingtian had already said, "With the Taotie in front of you, are you still going to protect this kid?"

Xi Yue then remembered that Qin Yi was wanted by the Witch God Sect, yet he had brazenly appeared right under Zuo Qingtian's nose, which was practically a slap in the face to him.

"You killed my sect's Qian Yuan first, and then ruined my sect's summoning plan." Zuo Qingtian turned to Qin Yi and slowly said, "Do you really think I've become a vegetarian and a Buddhist monk or something?"

His voice turned stern at the end.

When it came to the word "", Qin Yi's body was full of energy and blood, and he almost vomited blood, feeling shocked in his heart.

The gap was simply too large; Bangbang was no match for him at this moment. Even after Zuo Qingtian appeared, Liusu had already vanished, and the slightest trace she revealed could be detected by such a powerful being, making it impossible to escape.

Xi Yue once again unleashed a white light, protecting Qin Yi: "You killed Feng Bulie because you stole someone else's treasure, and you were killed because you were incompetent. Disrupting your evil spirit strategy is exactly what I want; if I don't protect him, who will I protect?"

Zuo Qingtian chuckled, "There's no point in saying that. Even if you were strong enough, and my affairs were ruined by you, I would just laugh it off and make plans to meet again. But if he wasn't strong enough, what's the point of talking about him dying at my hands? What grand principles are you trying to preach?"

Xi Yue: "..."

Zuo Qingtian has his own magnanimity, but that doesn't mean he's a nice guy. At this moment, he finally reveals the ferocity and domineering nature of the Demon Sect's leader.

If you're strong enough, I'll say a few words to you. If you're not strong enough, I'll kill you without any reason.

That's the logic—it's that straightforward.

A hint of malice flashed in his eyes. "Either you fight me, protect this kid, and let the Taotie run rampant. Or you fight the Taotie, and I'll take care of this kid. You can only choose one."

Xi Yue frowned, feeling a bit of a headache.

But then Qin Yi finally spoke, "I'll handle the Taotie."

"Hmm?" Zuo Qingtian and Xi Yue were both somewhat surprised.

Indeed, the ritual is currently incomplete. It won't reach the Formless level until the Taotie sacrifices itself to complete the ritual. At most, it can only be Pseudo No Form. It's not difficult for Xi Yue to deal with, but she certainly won't be able to spare the attention to deal with a powerful figure of the same level as Zuo Qingtian.

If Qin Yi were to handle it himself... wouldn't that be ridiculous?

Qin Yi said, "The reason I dared to summon it was not because I was prepared to have a powerful expert to resolve this matter. Before this, I didn't even know Yue..."

"Um?"

"Oh, I didn't know you were coming, senior. Of course, I wasn't planning to leave it to you to handle," Qin Yi said. "In fact, I was originally planning to handle it myself."

Zuo Qingtian frowned.

Could it be that he has other means to weaken Taotie?

It's unlikely... The Witch God Sect specializes in these kinds of things, and they don't even know about this method. How could Qin Yi possibly know it?

Qin Yi looked directly at him. "Sect Leader Zuo, how about we make a bet?"

Zuo Qingtian smiled with interest, "Go on."

"If I can handle the Taotie myself, this matter will be over. Senior, leave the Great Qian Dynasty and never return to the mortal world."

Zuo Qingtian found it amusing. He glanced at the girl's figure on the city wall and laughed, "You're protecting your disciple? You're barely able to protect yourself. If it weren't for Xi Yue protecting you, I would have already pinned you down. And yet, at a time like this, you're still trying to bargain with me to protect your disciple instead of asking me to drop the warrant for your arrest?"

Li Wuxian watched from afar from the city wall, her small hands clenched tightly.

She had no idea her master had arrived... she hadn't planned on the power of her master.

However, judging from this situation, it seems that the master is still the one who plays the key role.

Moreover, her original expectation that the Celestial Pivot Divine Palace would drive away the Witch God Sect and bring peace to the Great Qian Dynasty was merely wishful thinking and not necessarily reliable. Even if the Witch God Sect retreated this time, the Celestial Pivot Divine Palace could not protect a mortal kingdom like hers all the time. She could only hope that the Witch God Sect would choose to ignore the Great Qian Dynasty... Could they really ignore it? It was hard to say. They might have ignored it before, and it certainly wasn't considered an offense now, but the Demon Sect's thinking was unpredictable. Now that they were involved with her, it was hard to say what they would think. She could only leave it to fate.

But the one who truly remembered this and cleaned up the mess for her to prevent future troubles... was her master.

Qin Yi was saying to Zuo Qingtian, "She originally had nothing to do with the Witch God Sect. On the contrary, it's because you created the Taotie that you're likely going to eat her. Isn't it only natural for me to protect my innocent disciple?"

Li Wuxian: "..."

Zuo Qingtian almost burst out laughing, "Your disciple is innocent... fine, innocent."

Qin Yi said, "Anyway, this proposal won't do any harm to the sect leader. The sect leader has never paid attention to Daqian before, so of course it's not of much value to the sect leader... As for me, I have a grudge against your sect, so I don't expect your sect to be magnanimous. If you want to issue a warrant, then continue."

Zuo Qingtian laughed, "Not bad... The Great Qian is like a chicken rib to me. Whether they interfere or not is irrelevant, but they can't possibly let you go. You're quite clear-headed. But whether you can deal with Taotie or not is none of my business. What's the point of me betting with you on this?"

Qin Yi said, "Because if I resolve this, the interval between my next summons will be halved. Whether I can defeat them or not, you won't suffer a loss. If you are determined to kill me and have Senior Shenque stop Taotie, it might not be the best outcome."

Zuo Qingtian's smile deepened, "Interesting... What if you can't beat them?"

Qin Yi said calmly, "Then let him die in the mouth of the Taotie, which will save the Witch God Sect the trouble of wasting their energy on a manhunt, won't it?"

So, it's not a direct solution, but a fight? Xi Yue couldn't help but ask, "Hey, Qin Yi, are you really confident?"

Qin Yi smiled and said, "Even if we're not confident, we still have to do it."

Zuo Qingtian laughed heartily, "Interesting, Xi Yue, no wonder your disciple..."

Xi Yue angrily interrupted, "Hey, don't ruin Minghe's reputation! They have absolutely nothing to do with each other!"

Zuo Qingtian laughed and said, "All disciples of the Witch God, come out and let this... well, the one who plays the flute and paints, perform this Witch God's sacrifice for us."

The implication was that he accepted Qin Yi's bet.

It doesn't seem like they wanted to gamble, but rather wanted to see how Qin Yi would perform.

It has to be said that this sparked his curiosity.

Because this kind of thing is truly a specialty of the Witch God Sect, he didn't know how Qin Yi did what he was talking about.

Mangshan and the others frowned as they left the Red Door. They had tried for ages but couldn't stop the summoning ritual; it was almost complete. The Taotie statue was even moving...

Even if Zuo Qingtian didn't call them out, they would probably have to retreat on their own, otherwise the Taotie's rampage would be no joke.

Then, Qin Yi actually went in and took over the operation for them...

Even Zuo Qingtian was curious, let alone them.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qin Yi entered the Red Door and headed straight for the altar.

The gluttonous beast's ferocious eyes glared over, its gaze seemingly radiating divine light, its blood-red maw gaping open, and a torrent of abyssal demonic energy surging forth.

Qin Yi had no doubt that if it had arrived even a moment later, it would have completely transformed into a rampaging, malevolent spirit.

Ancient records obtained from the Profound Yin Sect:

Once activated, the seal on a malevolent spirit is irreversible, but the Taotie is an exception. The Taotie is the embodiment of greed; while its summoning cannot be stopped, it can be initiated prematurely. If you place something sufficiently tempting before it, it will break free of the seal early, determined to devour that thing even at the cost of its life. Because of this premature break, its energy will be far less than it should be, thus shortening the interval between reactivations of the seal.

Because this is actually just summoning a weaker version of the Taotie.

This so-called tempting thing is not something that anyone can just try with any good item. In fact, there are very specific special items, so the Witch God Sect was unaware of this.

But Qin Yi happens to have this kind of thing.

Other Shore Flower.

It can only be used as a lure; it must never be allowed to eat it.

What would happen otherwise is not mentioned in ancient records.

Qin Yi took out the Other Shore Flower and stood a foot in front of the Taotie.

"Roar!"

Xi Yue Zuo Qingtian watched as the Taotie head, still a half-finished sculpture, bounced up like a ball and bit into the Other Shore Flower.

It's like a starving dog seeing a bone.

Its energy... is at most only at the early stage of the Qian Yuan realm.

"Bang!" Qin Yi smashed a stick into its head.