Wait for me. What are you doing?
Wei Qing was confused by the other party's words for a moment.
But the other party didn't care whether he understood. With a wave of his hand, a streak of light plunged into Wei Qing's brow.
"You're still here. Thank goodness."
What?
At that, Wei Qing grew even more confused.
"Go. We... Those bastards are back again!"
Before he could finish, a portal of light suddenly appeared behind him. With a furious roar, his figure plunged into it and vanished.
The next moment.
Wei Qing's consciousness returned.
The old man's voice rang out immediately.
"Fallen stars may stain the dust but cannot change its gray; a dragon trapped in shallow waters loses none of its scales; only raging tribulation fires reveal true gold; only a thousand trials can forge the seed of the Dao. Central Hall."
After Wei Qing's figure disappeared.
"At last, I've waited for someone who meets the conditions. I hope there's still time."
The old man's voice continued drifting through the air, but his figure had already quietly faded into nothingness.
Inside the Central Hall.
Wei Qing stood in the middle of the empty great hall. All around him were only mottled ancient murals and eight stone pillars coiled with dragons.
"Where's the inheritance I was promised?"
He muttered under his breath, his voice echoing through the empty hall.
Suddenly.
The star chart on the great hall's domed ceiling abruptly lit up!
A mass of blazing white light exploded in the center of the hall, forcing Wei Qing to raise a hand to shield his eyes.
A figure nearly two meters tall hovered in midair.
The man wore blue robes, and his face was sharply defined, as though carved by a knife and ax.
"Young man, what year is it now?"
The man's voice wasn't loud, yet it shook the entire hall until it trembled.
Wei Qing forcibly suppressed his shock, clasped his fists, and saluted. "Reporting to Senior, it is currently the 211th year of the New Tianyuan Calendar."
"Two hundred and eleven years." The blue-robed man repeated it quietly. "Two hundred years have already passed."
He slowly descended to the ground, his long robe moving without any wind.
As he moved, the entire hall seemed to "come alive."
The ancient murals on the walls began to flow, and the eight stone dragons atop the coiled-dragon pillars opened their eyes.
"Hm." The blue-robed man suddenly closed in, nearly pressing face-to-face with Wei Qing. "You actually carry Lord Liuli's aura. What is your relationship with Lord Liuli?"
Wei Qing took a step back and asked in confusion, "Senior, I don't know who this Lord Liuli you speak of is."
"Could it be that even Lord Liuli..."
The blue-robed man's unfinished sentence hung in the air. A trace of scrutiny entered his gaze as he looked at Wei Qing. "Since you don't know him, forget it."
"Since you've appeared here, it means that in the War between Humans and Demons, our human race ultimately achieved the final victory."
"That's right."
"Hahaha." The blue-robed man suddenly burst into laughter. The sound shook loose flakes from the star chart overhead. "Good... Good..."
Then the man pressed on. "What is the world outside like now? Was the demon race completely annihilated?"
"Although the demon race suffered heavy losses, some remnants are still hiding."
"Nowadays, disaster from demons and monsters is churning beneath the surface. I'm afraid another storm of blood and death will rise before long." Wei Qing answered truthfully.
"Alas." The blue-robed man sighed and raised his head to look beyond the great hall. "Who knows when such a chaotic age will finally end?"
"Boy, I need you to do something for me."
Wei Qing hurriedly clasped his fists at that. "May I ask what Senior wishes me to do? This junior will certainly do everything in his power to complete it."
"It's very simple."
Wei Qing asked in confusion, "Very simple?"
The next moment.
The blue-robed man abruptly drew close to Wei Qing, a sinister smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "Lend me your body for a while."
A cold flash streaked past.
Wei Qing stamped his right foot down, and his figure abruptly retreated.
"Heh heh heh, it's too late to run now." The blue-robed man let out a grotesque laugh and advanced again like a ghost. His withered left hand formed into a claw and reached straight for Wei Qing's throat.
Seeing this.
True essence surged within Wei Qing's body.
Secret Art—Divine Movement!
Activated.
His speed tripled, and his entire body vanished from where he stood.
"Interesting. A mere seventh-grade cultivator actually comprehended a secret art. I'm very satisfied with this body."
Before his voice had even faded, the man's figure suddenly disappeared.
The instant Wei Qing reached the Central Hall's entrance, the man's figure exploded into view, and his right palm slammed toward Wei Qing's shoulder.
With a "crack," Wei Qing's entire body flew more than ten meters away like a kite with a severed string.
Only after smashing through two coiled-dragon pillars in succession did he finally stop.
Wei Qing crashed heavily to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. A piercing pain shot through his right shoulder, and his entire arm had already gone numb.
He gritted his teeth and pushed against the ground, rising onto one knee. With his left hand, he gripped his blade to support himself.
The blue-robed man slowly approached. "Boy, you can't escape. Obediently submit to this old man!"
"Old bastard, keep dreaming."
Wei Qing sneered. A flash of gold flickered in his eyes, and an invisible mental attack crossed space and pierced precisely into the blue-robed man's brow.
The blue-robed man instantly seemed to have been frozen by a restraining spell. His eyes grew hazy, and he stood there in a daze.
Wei Qing's attack did not stop.
He turned the blade in his left hand. The remaining true essence in his body surged madly into the Soul Reaper Blade, and a faint blood-colored edge condensed along the blade.
"Lotus Bloom!"
He suddenly sprang up. A blood-colored lotus rose into the air, and nine blade flashes unfolded like lotus petals, carving perfect blood-colored trails through the void as they stabbed straight toward the blue-robed man's chest.
Unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred.
The blue-robed man caught the Soul Reaper Blade between two fingers like iron pincers, preventing it from advancing even an inch!
The daze in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, mocking amusement. "A mental attack? What a pity. This old man's soul is not something your paltry cultivation can shake."
Wei Qing's pupils contracted sharply, and alarm surged in his heart. But before he could withdraw his blade and retreat—
"Crack!"
The blue-robed man pointed at Wei Qing's left shoulder. His bones shattered at once, his entire left arm drooped limply, and the Soul Reaper Blade fell to the ground.
"Two secret arts and a mental attack. You truly haven't disappointed this old man." The man's figure transformed into a streak of light and plunged directly into Wei Qing's brow. His excited voice rang out above Wei Qing's sea of consciousness. "Boy, obediently surrender your body to this old man."
"Old bastard, even if I have to self-destruct, I will never let you benefit from it."
Faced with the blue-robed man's overwhelming strength, Wei Qing had only one path left: self-destruction!
He would never allow a demon to possess him and harm the human race.
"Boom—"
Wei Qing's soul suddenly erupted with blinding blood-red light, and his entire sea of consciousness shook violently as though it had been boiled.
"Boy!" The blue-robed man's expression changed slightly. He had never expected his opponent to be so unyielding. "Do you know that if you self-destruct your soul, you will never be reincarnated?"
"So what? Even if I die, I will never let a demon like you benefit." Blood seeped from Wei Qing's seven orifices, yet he laughed with unrestrained abandon. He spread both arms wide. "In this life, I, Wei, have no regrets!"
"If you want to self-destruct, ask whether this old man agrees first."
The blue-robed man slowly raised his right hand. But when it had only halfway risen, he discovered in terror that his body could no longer move.
"What a disgrace. The dignified ruler of the Eastern Domain was actually controlled by a tiny Earth Demon."