I've Become a Poisonous Strategist?

I've become a poisonous strategist?

Once you got famous, it really wasn't all good news!

Chen Qing instantly understood why the man had come.

Beside him, Xu Zhaoying changed her sword art. The Flowing Water Sword bloomed with emerald light, streaking across the sky like a rainbow piercing the sun and driving back the ghostly shadows!

"This man can conjure ghostly shadows in broad daylight. He's reached the Mysterious Unity realm!" she urgently sent him. "But he must be an unregistered cultivator who infiltrated the Immortal Dynasty! The Central Continent's barrier suppresses cultivators like him, so his cultivation can't exceed the third realm! I have a treasure bestowed by the Princess that can trap him briefly. Find an opening to drive him back and create some space. Only then can we escape!"

Before her voice had faded, Xu Zhaoying formed a seal. A green jade seal shot into the sky, growing with the wind until it spanned ten zhang, casting down streams of clear light!

"The Qingqiu Seal of Mountain Suppression?! How could such a supreme treasure be in the hands of this nameless woman?"

As the green jade seal pressed down from above, the man in animal hide's expression changed dramatically, and the black aura around him immediately weakened.

"He must have only just entered the Unity realm. His Yin Spirit isn't stable!"

A glint flashed in Chen Qing's eyes. Recalling a few words his master had once said, he formed a plan.

But Xu Zhaoying seemed worried that the title of third-realm cultivator would frighten Chen Qing. She immediately warned him, "He has no phantom of a protective robe on him, and he's wielding spells through his Yin Spirit rather than projecting it out of his body. That means he's only just entered the third, Unity realm! If a cultivator like him fights in broad daylight and his Yin Spirit is suppressed, his physical body is no stronger than a second-realm cultivator's! We still have a chance to strike and force him back!"

"I see!"

With Xu Zhaoying's reminder, Chen Qing felt much more at ease. Remembering his master's methods, he knew that if the man's Yin Spirit was suppressed, he'd indeed have one or two chances to strike!

In that case...

Whoosh!

He suddenly leaped out of the sword light!

"You think a mere second-realm cultivator can fight me just because my Yin Spirit is suppressed? Arrogant!" The man in animal hide sneered. He swept his bone staff, and black aura formed a hundred-zhang python that lunged with its jaws wide!

Boom!

A surging pressure erupted. The green jade seal shook, and Xu Zhaoying's face went deathly pale!

"As expected of the third realm. The gulf between major realms truly is a chasm, even with a magical treasure suppressing him..."

But Chen Qing neither dodged nor retreated. He formed a seal with both hands, and the mountain-and-sea conception within him erupted!

"Mountains Crumble, Seas Roar!"

Chen Qing pressed his palms together. The spiritual power of the Great Mountain Heavenly Art and the Vast Scripture forcibly merged in his meridians. Supreme Harmony Qi surged like an enraged dragon, and thunderous explosions rang out at every acupoint it passed!

"Crack!"

Several meridians in his right arm ruptured. Blood seeped from his sleeve, but in exchange, he unleashed a world-shaking force!

His punch struck out. A mountain shadow solidified, towering like a great peak, while a roaring tide surged as if real. The two crashed head-on into the hundred-zhang black python!

"Boom!"

The shockwaves burst into clouds dozens of zhang wide, and the forest below bent as if every tree had snapped at the waist!

Xu Zhaoying had been startled when Chen Qing leaped out of the sword light and was about to tell him to retreat. At the sight of this, her eyes flew wide open!

"How can a second-realm cultivator wield such power?" The man in animal hide staggered, surprise on his face.

Chen Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his fighting spirit blazing!

Though the strike had injured his meridians, it had let him truly experience the level of power wielded by a third-realm cultivator!

"Again!"

He let out a long cry and shot forward like lightning. Mountain-and-sea phantoms wheeled around his fists and feet, and instead of retreating, he pressed the attack!

The man in animal hide roared, "You poisonous strategist! If it weren't broad daylight, making it difficult for me to project my Yin Spirit, how could you have gotten the better of me? So be it!" He suddenly bit his tongue. "Yin Spirit, manifest!"

In an instant, seven feet of misty radiance surged from his crown. Sunlight struck it, setting it aglow like colored glass. The man grunted, then formed a seal. A life-rune appeared in the misty radiance—he intended to risk damaging his Yin Spirit just to kill Chen Qing!

"He's wrapped his life-rune in his Yin Spirit? He's going all in!"

Xu Zhaoying was startled. She glanced at Chen Qing, steeled herself, bit her tongue, and spat a stream of blood onto the green jade seal!

"Boom!"

The green jade seal suddenly trembled, joining with a will from beyond in the unseen void. Its weight increased in an instant!

"Suppress!"

Crack!

The misty Yin Spirit was pinned in place!

"Not good!"

The man in animal hide was horrified!

How could Chen Qing let such a perfect opportunity slip by? While the man's Yin Spirit was still away from his body, Chen Qing brought his palms together. The mountain-and-sea phantoms turned into a cosmic millstone, grinding the man and his staff together and sending him hurtling back a hundred zhang!

"You're courting death!"

The man in animal hide roared. His bone staff exploded, transforming into a storm of bone spikes that shot toward Chen Qing!

"Hum!"

The green jade seal blazed with clear light, dissolving every last bone spike.

"Mountain-and-Sea Unity Finger!"

Chen Qing darted after him like a swimming dragon and jabbed a finger into the acupoint at the center of the man's chest!

"Crack!"

As the man's breastbone shattered, he grunted, and the misty Yin Spirit dispersed at once!

"Boom!"

The green jade seal dropped, smashing the man down the cliff like a falling star. He passed out.

When Chen Qing landed, pain seared through his meridians, and his Supreme Harmony Qi was nearly spent. Yet the embryonic life-rune in his dantian had grown more solid than before the battle, its flowing lines mysterious and interwoven like mountains and seas.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at the unconscious man in animal hide, his fighting spirit still undiminished.

"If a third-realm cultivator in the early stages projects his Yin Spirit, I'm sure to lose! But if I strike before it manifests, I still have a sliver of a chance!"

Though he'd relied on the power of the Qingqiu Seal in this battle, he'd truly experienced the gulf between realms—and gained an insight in the space between life and death!

Worth it!

After calming his thoughts, Chen Qing turned around. Xu Zhaoying gave him a solemn salute. "Thank you for your help, Daoist. If the Qingqiu Seal hadn't suppressed his Yin Spirit, I would have been in grave danger today."

Xu Zhaoying put away the seal, still astonished. "You actually managed to drive back a third-realm cultivator!" Then her brows drew together. "But that was far too reckless! To face a third-realm cultivator head-on as a second-realm one—one wrong move, and your body and soul would have been destroyed! With your talent and insight, you should be making greater contributions to cultivation and the affairs of the world. How could you act so rashly?"

Chen Qing thought to himself that he was actually quite attached to life. It was just that outside the dream, in the real world, his goal was to survive; within the dream, his purpose was not to preserve his life, but to seek the truth!

As they spoke, Supreme Harmony Qi roiled like boiling water in Chen Qing's dantian, and the embryonic life-rune trembled without pause!

A sudden understanding dawned on him.

"Daoist Xu, please wait!"

Chen Qing immediately sat cross-legged. A jade-like radiance flowed around him as Supreme Harmony Qi poured like a hundred rivers into the sea, all of it converging on his dantian. Golden light flared three inches below his navel, and a phantom talisman rose from his qi sea—mountains and seas formed its patterns, clouds and mist its network!

"Is he about to condense his life-rune?" Xu Zhaoying's beautiful eyes widened. She quickly recovered, formed a seal, and laid down protective wards. Then she took out three green jade talismans and suspended them above Chen Qing, forming three layers of light to protect his body.

After hesitating, she bit her fingertip and let a drop of her blood fall before Chen Qing.

"Mountains and seas as the foundation, Supreme Harmony as the guide..."

Chen Qing silently recited the instructions from the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, melding all the insights from the fierce battle into his life-rune. The mystery of the man in animal hide projecting his Yin Spirit, the force with which the green jade seal suppressed all directions, and even the outline of the Heaven and Earth as a Furnace chapter he'd heard earlier—all became nourishment, sustaining the talisman.

"Condense!"

With a soft cry, light blossomed from his dantian. A three-inch jade talisman took complete shape and floated above his qi sea! Mountains stood tall, waves surged, and Dao Rhyme formed naturally amid swirling cloud patterns!

"It's done!"

Chen Qing opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them. From then on, his magical power had undergone a qualitative change, and its might had multiplied!

Xu Zhaoying took down the wards, unable to hide her amazement. "You broke through in the middle of a battle..."

"This isn't the proper path," Chen Qing said, getting to his feet and stretching as he felt the surging magical power. "What's encouraged nowadays is to build up one's strength before releasing it, stay far from danger, and make a breakthrough in the safety of one's Cave Mansion while watching the winds and clouds shift."

As Chen Qing spoke, he naturally felt that his real-world self should focus on keeping a low profile. But his fictional incarnation in the dream didn't need to be so particular.

As he stretched, his body felt light as a feather, and his magical power flowed in perfect harmony. Then his gaze darkened as he fixed it on the unconscious man on the ground.

"This man knew exactly where to ambush us. Someone must have tipped him off."

Xu Zhaoying's expression changed.

"Our trip to Yujing may be fraught with complications," Chen Qing sighed. "We need to plan ahead. Can you contact the Princess and tell her what happened here?"

"Don't worry, she'll find out." Xu Zhaoying took out a small green jade bottle. "This is a Soul Locking Pill. It can temporarily seal his cultivation. Once he wakes, we can question him."

Before her voice had faded, the man in animal hide suddenly convulsed!

"Pfft!"

As black blood gushed out, a wisp of green smoke shot from his crown.

"Not good!"

Three talismans shot from Xu Zhaoying's sleeve, barely managing to trap the green smoke in their paper. They turned into three black, sinister Ghost Face Talismans.

But when they looked at the ground, the man had already stopped breathing.

"His soul has been destroyed!" Xu Zhaoying's expression turned grave. "Someone must have planted a soul curse on him! What a grand move—they actually used a Unity-realm cultivator as a disposable pawn!"

Chen Qing was equally shocked. "A third-realm cultivator can be killed just like that?"

Dusk deepened. Xu Zhaoying recalled the Flowing Water Sword and said urgently, "This place isn't safe. Let's go!" She took out a black talisman and handed it to Chen Qing. "This talisman contains a single strike from a Yin Spirit. Keep it for protection, and use it with care."

"Fine!"

The sword light rose again, cutting through the dusk.

Meanwhile...

Ninety li outside Yujing City, in Qingxi City.

A blue-cloth carriage rolled slowly over the flagstone road.

The curtain lifted slightly, revealing the sullen brows of a young man.

"We're here."

Inside the carriage, the young man spoke in a low voice, then looked at the pale girl beside him.

The girl looked about fifteen or sixteen. She was pretty, but her complexion was pallid with illness. At his words, she asked softly, "Fifth Brother, do you think... Second Brother will listen to us?"

The young man was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know, but this is the Chen Household's last chance."

Outside the carriage, a middle-aged man in brocade stood with his hands behind his back. Seeing that the two still hadn't gotten out, he frowned and stepped forward. "Young Master Chen Wu, Lady Chen Qi, the relay station has prepared rooms for you. Please get some rest soon. Tomorrow, when you enter the capital, Sixth Highness will meet with you in person. But before then, you'll need to write a letter by hand and send it to Young Master Chen Xu using your bloodline secret art."

There was a lot going on today, so I got home a little late...