Schemes

Xu Changqing quietly watched everything around him. Then he took a small bite of the food, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

Slowly raising his head, he found that everyone around him was staring at him.

"Big brother, what's wrong? Is the food not good?" A young girl blinked her innocent eyes and asked Xu Changqing innocently.

"We slaughtered the hen we've raised for years. We can only eat it once a year, so how could it not be good?" A pimple-faced youth puzzledly picked up the chicken soup in his bowl and drank it in one gulp.

There was nothing wrong with it.

He looked at Xu Changqing strangely.

Xu Changqing smiled, stood up, walked over to the three children, gently patted their heads, and said, "How could that be? The food you made is delicious."

At that moment, some kind of change appeared within his body. In an unseen place, black threads coiled around him.

Bang!

Suddenly, Xu Changqing exerted force with his hand and directly crushed a little girl's head. White and red matter splattered across the table, while a pillar of blood shot upward and drenched the entire room.

Something like poison spread through his body, making him feel certain there was a problem with the food.

Yet it did not seem to affect him much.

Everyone froze, their eyes wide. Their trembling fingers pointed at Xu Changqing, mouths open as though they wanted to say something, but no sound came out, as if something were lodged in their throats.

"Y-you... you..."

The middle-aged woman pointed at Xu Changqing, her entire body trembling.

Several children were still held by Xu Changqing by the head, but then explosions rang out one after another. The once-warm room instantly became incomparably bloody, its choking stench of blood spreading through the air and assaulting their senses.

"Stop pretending." Xu Changqing sneered and waved his hand. The entire house immediately exploded.

Only now did he realize that from the moment he sat down, something had been wrong with the entire world. He simply had not thought much of it at the time.

It was as if the whole town had been arranged specifically for him, meant to interfere with his heart—or rather, destroy his state of mind.

How could there be such a coincidence?

Although there were life-bearing Ancient Stars on the Emperor's Road, there were not many mortals or weaklings. More or less, there would always be some powerful cultivators.

Yet this town was filled almost entirely with mortals without cultivation. Even Dao Palace cultivators were the strongest here.

Moreover, eating the food would harm one's body, causing black threads to appear within. Those threads could obstruct his meridians, making the circulation of his Divine Power and cultivation techniques sluggish.

But it was not a major problem.

"What am I pretending?!!"

The next moment, the middle-aged woman saw the blood and scattered brains filling the room. Terrified, she collapsed to the ground and broke down in tears, clutching a headless corpse as she wailed.

Such adorable children—they were only a few years old. How could he bring himself to do such a thing?

"I'll kill you!"

The old man was not paralyzed by fear. Instead, he grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen and slashed it directly at Xu Changqing.

Tear tracks covered his face, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a vicious ghost crawling out of Purgatory.

Clang!

However, when the kitchen knife struck Xu Changqing, it merely made the sound of metal colliding. Not even a spark flew, and it left no mark at all.

Xu Changqing's gaze was icy. He turned slightly, extended his right hand, pressed his thumb and index finger together, and flicked them at the old man's head.

With a bang, the head exploded instantly like a watermelon dropped from a rooftop.

The next one was the middle-aged woman who had been pulling him. Her head was blown apart as well.

This left Xu Changqing puzzled. They were genuine mortals, so how could they possibly have drugged him without him even noticing?

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a terrifying sword beam appeared in the void. It was incomparably dazzling, illuminating the entire night sky. Everyone in the town was stunned, then saw the house explode and send a massive blood rain flying.

Pfft!

The sword beam was incredibly fast—so fast that Xu Changqing did not even have time to react before it pierced his shoulder, sending blood spraying.

Then light pierced through his entire shoulder. His arm fell off, and blood gushed out.

After that strike, the sword beam appeared again, this time aimed at Xu Changqing's neck.

But he had already been prepared. He picked up his severed arm and pressed it against his shoulder, circulating a healing Secret Technique to restore the wound.

His cold gaze was like that of a hawk in the night, fixed tightly upon the void, yet he could not sense any aura at all.

Even after activating his physique's abilities, he detected no emotions nearby, nor any fluctuations of the Great Dao Laws.

It seemed his opponent was an expert exceptionally skilled in concealment. The moment he attacked, it was a killing blow. He revealed neither flaw nor aura, and had restrained his emotions to the extreme.

In an instant, Xu Changqing had analyzed his opponent's strengths.

Looking at the mess of blood on the ground and the corpses beside him that were still spraying blood, his eyes held no emotion. If he had killed the wrong people, then so be it.

Boom!

He suddenly leaped into the sky and stood beneath the moonlight, his white hair fluttering as he coldly looked down at the pedestrians below. Amid the dazzling Mortal World, countless mortals raised their heads and gazed at him.

Fear showed in their eyes, along with even more reverence.

"Wow, big brother can fly!"

"So amazing! When I grow up, I want to fly too!"

Several children playing with mud saw the white-haired man beneath the moon and immediately stared with shining eyes, crying out in amazement.

Swoosh!

But in the next moment, an incomparably majestic saber radiance covered the entire town.

"No, don't!"

"We didn't do anything! Why are you killing us?!"

Countless screams rang out. The millions of living beings in the town turned into Blood Mist, while the surrounding houses, vegetation, and everything else turned to ash.

Boom!

Dense blades appeared from the void. With a swoosh, they attacked the void indiscriminately, covering the entire area. Heaven and earth trembled, and a blood moon Vision appeared in the sky.

Xu Changqing's expression was utterly cold. He felt not the slightest guilt toward the mortals who died by his hand. That was the terror of cultivators.

But there was no other way. He would show no mercy. So long as he achieved his purpose, he would stop at nothing. Even sacrificing all living beings was not out of the question.

Besides, he would rather kill by mistake than let anyone go.

Clang, clang...

Under the moonlight, countless milky-white blades shot in all directions like rain, and sparks occasionally burst in the void.

Xu Changqing sensed the enemy's location. With his eyes closed, beneath the moonlight and in the depths of night, his white hair danced while white mist rose from his body. White ripples shook the surroundings, suppressing all power.

His Divine Sense spread across the entire area in search. Finally, he sensed a faint fluctuation of a Saint King in the void once more.

Without hesitation, he directly unleashed Heaven's Will Saber Art and locked onto the other party.

Swoosh!

The world stretched vast and boundless. Saber Intent surged like a vast ocean, monstrous waves overturning the heavens as a thousand layers of Saber Intent swept across heaven and earth, illuminating the entire night sky in an instant.

Pfft!

The next moment, the void somewhere split apart. Two drops of blood appeared, accompanied by a muffled sound, though the injury was not serious.

Under the moonlight, the town that had once been brightly lit with countless homes and the lush, beautiful forest had now become a boundless wasteland of scorched earth. Countless cracks covered the land, and magma surged into the sky.

A figure fell from Xu Changqing's southeast. His Nascent Soul covered the entire battlefield and instantly locked onto the figure. The Supreme Heartless Body exerted its suppressive force, suppressing the other party's Great Dao and forcing the other party's aura to remain exposed.

"I didn't expect you to force me out this way." The figure spoke in a hoarse voice.

No matter how he fled from that kind of attack, it was like a Heavenly Tribulation constantly locking onto him. There was simply no escaping it.

He had originally believed that Xu Changqing would not kill mortals, so he had acted within the city in order to make Xu Changqing hold back.

As for those mortals, they were genuine living beings. The reason the town had been so lively was because he had set up a grand formation to bewilder all the mortals and gather them together.

He had heard that Heavenly Demon Wuqing was heartless and devoid of humanity. He had no family, no friends, and no followers, always fighting and killing alone.

He had wanted to use the mortal world of ordinary people to influence Xu Changqing's state of mind, then strike directly while Xu Changqing was distracted by memories.

If he could kill him, he would kill him. If not, he would use some dirty tricks to make him the enemy of the entire world.

Unexpectedly, he had still miscalculated. Since he could not kill Wuqing, he could only proceed that way.

And he could not evade that strike at all. It seemed he would have to be more cautious.

Once he completed his objective, he had to leave immediately and absolutely could not linger in battle, because he was no match for Wuqing.

The figure thought this to himself.

Whoosh!

But in the next moment, Xu Changqing vanished and appeared directly beside the figure. He was simply too fast.

Yet the figure was clearly even faster. The instant Xu Changqing slashed from his right side, the man disappeared.

But in that instant, Xu Changqing saw the man's appearance.

He had blue hair and black demonic patterns on his face. He was a man with somewhat wickedly charming features and a thin-looking body. He was incredibly fast—so fast that even Xu Changqing could not catch up.

"Hahaha."

"Your actions are destined to be despised and scorned by everyone! Attacking mortals with the cultivation of a Saint will be the stain of your lifetime!"

Xu Changqing watched the blue-haired man laugh as he disappeared. It seemed he intended to flee.

Whoosh!

The next moment, Xu Changqing took out the Demonic Banner. He gripped the flagpole with both hands and swung it through the air. Beneath the moonlight, the dark-red banner danced, looking exceedingly eerie.

Various black shadows flew from the banner as well, and the world immediately filled with the wails of ghosts and howls of wolves.

"I knew you had this move prepared." The fleeing blue-haired man saw this scene, and his smile grew even wider. He held a square stone in his hand, seemingly recording this moment.

One of the strongest Heavenly Prides of his generation, someone who could make a Saint King bleed with a single strike, was hunting mortals and cultivating demonic arts, refining their souls into puppets.

If Xu Changqing were allowed to Become Emperor, would he slaughter all living beings for amusement?

At that moment, the blue-haired man had already achieved his goal. He would spread this scene and make the entire Starry Sky hunt Xu Changqing down.

Even if those people knew Xu Changqing had been set up, so what?

Gather every force possible and eliminate a great enemy on the road to becoming Emperor—who cared whether it was true or false?

In the end, Xu Changqing brought out many treasures to intercept the man, but the blue-haired youth still escaped.

Xu Changqing did not know what the blue-haired man possessed, but he was extremely fast. Even after all escape routes had been sealed, he still managed to flee.

"The Movement Secret Art?"

Xu Changqing was somewhat puzzled. If the man possessed the Movement Secret Art and could escape the range of his seal, that was not strange. After all, it was a Secret Technique known for possessing the greatest speed under heaven.

That man would not fight him. If he did, the Movement Secret Art would not be of much use.

No matter how confident Xu Changqing was, his self-created Secret Technique could not possibly rival the Movement Secret Art at its current level.

As for the stain the blue-haired man mentioned, Xu Changqing did not care in the slightest.

It was merely a stain. Once one was powerful enough, what did a stain matter? Would anyone dare discuss it?

And even if they did, so what? Could gossip kill him?

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