The Mystery of the Little Black Fish

Mu Qing clenched his fists and bit his lip, feeling deeply unwilling as he listened to Ke Fei's words.

With his Blood Qi at the sixth stage, he had stood his ground against Liu Tianyu, Wang Haixuan, and a multitude of North Campus students. How majestic he had been; the power of his Dual Blood Spirit allowed his strength to completely surpass that of ordinary people, making him invincible among his peers!

One might ask, within the Blood Qi realm where the limit of strength reached at most 1.9 tons, who else could withstand Mu Qing's two tons of force?

The combined power of two Blood Spirits was enough to place Mu Qing at the pinnacle of the Blood Qi realm.

Yet, he was now trapped in this graveyard, and even someone as strong as the old principal Ke Fei—a peak ninth-stage bloodline expert and a top-tier Martial Venerable—could not break free from it.

"Sigh, I was just like you before, full of confidence, but it took me over a decade of dedicated research to break through just one seal." Ke Fei seemed to have resigned himself to his fate.

He sat on the ground with no regard for the dignity of a powerhouse, picking his nose from time to time while his gaze rested on Mu Qing.

At this moment, Mu Qing remained unwilling to give up. With his injuries fully healed thanks to Ke Fei's help, he strode to the edge of the barrier and smashed his fist against it with all his might.

His fist was wreathed in terrifying lightning; the brilliant, incandescent white electricity flared as he unleashed all the power within his body.

It was a punch of immense momentum, with Mu Qing exerting his full strength. If his opponent had been someone at the seventh stage of Blood Qi, they might not have been able to withstand it head-on.

Four strands of incandescent lightning coiled around Mu Qing's fist as it struck the gray-black barrier, but the barrier shimmered with the light of ice and fire, and mysterious symbols began to tremble.

A mysterious force neutralized all of his power; the punch, which had appeared so formidable, did not cause even a ripple on the barrier.

A terrifying storm surged out from the barrier.

It was a storm formed by the convergence of ice and fire, over a dozen meters high, looming over him like a giant maw.

Under this terrifying power, Mu Qing felt as though he were a mere ant, possessing no ability to resist.

One must remember that when Mu Qing had merely touched the barrier before, he was sent flying, and even when Ke Fei touched it with his palm, it had triggered the barrier's power.

Mu Qing had suddenly unleashed his strongest power, and although it was insignificant before the barrier, it was still a provocation, causing the barrier to erupt with unprecedented force.

Even Ke Fei, who was standing nearby, could not react in time before Mu Qing was engulfed by the ice-fire storm, and a heart-wrenching scream rang out.

Mu Qing felt his entire body falling apart. He was severely wounded once again, his skin torn and flesh mangled, blood gushing from his wounds as his body flickered between turning into a block of ice and a charred husk.

This barrier was specifically used by Ke Fei's gentle personality to seal away his bloodthirsty personality; any slight disturbance within would trigger the descent of this terrifying power.

Ke Fei hurriedly took action, his terrifying Origin Force pouring out, brilliant as the starry sky, forming a giant hand that crushed the ice-fire storm.

His expression was somewhat tense. Although he was the new third personality, he leaned toward kindness, and as the old principal of West Lake High School, he naturally could not stand by and watch a student like Mu Qing come to harm.

More importantly, if Mu Qing accompanied him in the days to come within the barrier, he would at least have a companion to talk to and relieve his boredom; the previous decade had been nothing short of torture for Ke Fei.

Ke Fei even suspected that his bloodthirsty personality might have destroyed itself out of sheer loneliness and monotony.

In the end, what appeared before Ke Fei was a charred, pitch-black husk, still encased in thick, solid ice.

Ke Fei immediately employed the mental energy healing technique taught to him by an old friend, and a thick surge of mental energy poured into Mu Qing's body.

Fortunately, Mu Qing's cultivation realm was extremely low compared to his own, and before long, he finally managed to pull Mu Qing back from the gates of hell; a faint, weak heartbeat began to sound from Mu Qing's chest.

Ke Fei had consumed a significant amount of mental energy to finally rouse Mu Qing's life force, though it remained extremely fragile.

Following this, Ke Fei felt a sense of difficulty.

The solid ice covering Mu Qing contained the power of the barrier, with tiny, glowing symbols etched upon it, and the power of fire poison still lingered within Mu Qing's body.

This power originally belonged to Ke Fei; one head of his Two-Headed Dragon contained the power of fire, while the other contained the power of ice. When the gentle personality took control of the body, it had exhausted the potential of the Blood Spirit, draining both heads of their power to lay down this barrier.

Because the barrier was created by exhausting the Blood Spirit's potential, this power was difficult to dispel, and the tiny symbols on the ice were connected to the barrier by a mysterious force.

Ke Fei could easily wipe away the barrier's power from Mu Qing's body, but Mu Qing was only a student at the sixth stage of Blood Qi; how could he survive the residual force of such a violent expulsion?

They were now at a stalemate, and Ke Fei felt a sense of anxiety; even as a top-tier Martial Venerable, he did not know what to do at this moment.

"Eh?" Ke Fei suddenly noticed two auras emerging from within Mu Qing's body.

One was a bamboo stalk wreathed in purple mist; it was only one segment long, yet it was crystal clear and surrounded by light.

On the other side, a small, ink-black fish the size of half a palm swam out, its tail flicking continuously. As its ink-like body swayed, the surrounding space seemed to turn into water, rippling outward.

"It's this kid's two Blood Spirits!" Ke Fei's eyes widened in shock.

He had only seen the Little Black Fish with his mental energy before, and he had never seen the Purple Lightning Bamboo; he had only vaguely sensed the existence of this second Blood Spirit in Mu Qing's mind through a secret technique.

Ke Fei's expression was strange; he could not understand why, even though Mu Qing had lost consciousness, his two Blood Spirits had suddenly appeared.

The Purple Lightning Bamboo remained silent within the purple mist, seemingly unconcerned and showing no reaction.

The Little Black Fish, however, swam through the air, nudging the ice encasing Mu Qing, its black eyes suddenly erupting with a bright light.

Under Ke Fei's stunned gaze, it opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of tiny, dense, sharp teeth, and took a bite out of the solid ice.

Crunch, crunch.

The Little Black Fish seemed to be eating a snack; in the blink of an eye, it had gnawed out a large hole. Its tail flicked, its speed becoming incredibly fast as it turned into a black streak, coiling around the ice and devouring most of it in a few quick bites.

The Little Black Fish let out a satisfied burp, seemingly full. It flicked its tail and drifted back into Mu Qing's dantian, while the Purple Lightning Bamboo also faded away.

Left in its place was a stunned Ke Fei.

He hurriedly stepped forward to check the situation, his expression shifting constantly, and finally, a trace of shock appeared in his eyes.

Even for a terrifying powerhouse like him at the ninth stage of the bloodline, he could not help but feel horrified.

The ice encasing Mu Qing was now riddled with holes, all of them traces left by the Little Black Fish as it gnawed away.

The symbols on the ice had vanished completely; stripped of those mystical markings, the ice turned into ordinary frozen water, slowly melting until it soon became a puddle.

Ke Fei carried Mu Qing out and discovered that the fire poison within his body had also disappeared, leaving behind only the burn wounds on his physique.

Employing a mental healing technique, Ke Fei began treating Mu Qing once more. Without the interference of the barrier's power, his treatment was significantly more effective, and the injuries on Mu Qing's body began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When Mu Qing finally regained consciousness, he opened his eyes and was surprised to find that all his injuries had vanished, leaving his body feeling strong and vigorous, as if he had never been hurt at all.

He furrowed his brows, then spotted the disheveled Ke Fei fast asleep beside him, and immediately realized that it was the man who had saved him.

Mu Qing thought to himself that he had been far too reckless; if not for Ke Fei's intervention, he would likely be dead by now.

The power contained within that barrier had completely exceeded Mu Qing's imagination, bringing him to the brink of death in the blink of an eye.

"Hm? You're awake?" Ke Fei seemed to sense Mu Qing's movement and stood up abruptly, his eyes shining with a startling intensity.

"What is it?" Mu Qing couldn't help but take a few steps back, feeling unnerved by his gaze.

Ke Fei's expression was extremely agitated as he pulled him to the edge of the barrier and said, "Try it again, see if you can break this barrier."

"What?" Mu Qing's eyelids twitched, and he shook his head frantically: "I nearly died just a moment ago, no! Absolutely not!"

"Just try it again." Ke Fei was somewhat insistent.

Mu Qing shook his head and said, "Senior, I've already tried; I don't want to try again."

"Kid! You get over there and try it for me!"

"I'm not going!"

"You brat, are you going or not!"

"I'm not!"

Ke Fei's face darkened, and he roared: "Damn it, you little bastard, get over there and try!"

"You old geezer, I'm just not going!" Mu Qing was furious; the gratitude he had felt toward Ke Fei had completely vanished.

He thought to himself that this Ke Fei had only saved him because he wanted him to test the power of the barrier again.

He was joking; he had nearly died before, and if he touched it again, he might actually end up dead.

Ke Fei was jumping up and down in a frenzy, scratching his head and ears, his face turning bright red.

Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and a cunning smile appeared on his face.

"Old man, what are you planning?" Mu Qing felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of that smile.

"Hehe, don't forget, I am a dignified top-tier Martial Venerable." Ke Fei laughed deviously.

His laughter grew louder and more unbridled. A withered palm suddenly grabbed Mu Qing, who found himself unable to move, as his entire body had been restrained by a terrifying mental force.

Mu Qing's face turned pale with shock, and he hurriedly said: "Ke Fei, what are you doing! Strictly speaking, I am your student!"

He feared that Ke Fei's bloodthirsty personality had awakened and that he was about to be cruelly murdered.

"Kid, don't worry, if there is any real danger, I will intervene." Ke Fei let out a cackling laugh as he grabbed Mu Qing's arm and pressed it against the barrier.

"Quickly circulate the Origin Force of that little black fish!" At this critical moment, Ke Fei's expression turned grave; he was also worried that something might happen to Mu Qing.

Mu Qing looked suspicious, but although he didn't understand why, he did as Ke Fei instructed.