Mu Qing clenched his fists and bit his lip. Hearing Ke Fei's words, he felt deeply unwilling to accept it.
At Blood Qi Sixth Rank, he had faced Liu Tianyu, Wang Haixuan, and countless North Campus students head-on. What a display of might! The power of his Dual Blood Spirits had made him far stronger than ordinary people, invincible among those of the same rank!
Just think: in the Blood Qi realm, where the maximum strength was only 1.9 tons, who could withstand Mu Qing's two tons of force?
The strength granted by two Blood Spirits was enough to put Mu Qing at the very peak of the Blood Qi realm.
And yet, now he was trapped in this graveyard. Even someone as powerful as the old principal Ke Fei—a top-tier Martial Venerable at the peak of ninth-rank bloodline—couldn't escape.
"Sigh. I was just as confident as you before, but it took me more than ten years of painstaking study to break one seal." Ke Fei seemed to have resigned himself to his fate.
He sat on the ground with none of a powerful expert's dignity, occasionally picking his nose as he looked at Mu Qing.
Even now, Mu Qing still refused to give up. With Ke Fei's help, all his wounds had healed. He strode to the Barrier and slammed his fist into it.
Terrifying lightning coiled around his fist. Blazing White Lightning shone dazzlingly as all the power in his body erupted at once.
Mu Qing put all his strength into that earth-shaking punch. If he'd been facing someone at Blood Qi Seventh Rank, even they might not have been able to withstand it.
Four streaks of Blazing White Lightning coiled around Mu Qing's fist as it crashed into the ashen-gray Barrier. Ice and fire flashed across its surface, and mysterious symbols trembled.
A mysterious force canceled out all his strength. The punch seemed to shake the heavens, yet it didn't stir the slightest ripple in the Barrier.
A terrifying Storm surged out from the Barrier.
It was a Storm of ice and fire, more than ten meters tall, like a gaping maw bearing down on him.
Under this fearsome power, Mu Qing felt like an ant, utterly unable to resist.
After all, Mu Qing had been sent flying by a light touch against the Barrier, and Ke Fei had triggered its power just by laying a hand on it.
Mu Qing had unleashed his full strength all at once. Though he was weak before the Barrier, it was still a provocation, and the Barrier unleashed power like never before.
Even Ke Fei, standing nearby, had no time to react. Mu Qing was swallowed by the Ice-Fire Storm, and a bloodcurdling scream rang out.
Mu Qing felt as if his whole body had come apart. He was gravely injured again, his skin split and flesh torn as blood gushed from his wounds. One moment his body turned to ice; the next, it was charred black.
Ke Fei's Gentle Personality had created this Barrier specifically to seal away his Bloodthirsty Personality. Any disturbance within it would bring down a terrifying force.
Ke Fei hurriedly acted. Terrifying Origin Force poured out of him, brilliant as a starry sky, and formed a giant hand that crushed the Ice-Fire Storm.
His expression was tense. Though he was a newly formed third personality who leaned toward kindness, as the old principal of West Lake High School, he couldn't just stand by while Mu Qing, a student at his school, came to harm.
More importantly, with Mu Qing by his side, at least he'd have some company during the years ahead in the Barrier. They could talk and relieve the boredom. The previous decade had been pure torment for Ke Fei.
Ke Fei even suspected that his Bloodthirsty Personality might have destroyed itself from loneliness and monotony.
At last, what appeared before Ke Fei was a pitch-black lump of charcoal, wrapped in a thick layer of solid ice.
Ke Fei quickly used the Mental Power Healing Method his old friend had taught him. A surge of powerful Mental Power flowed into Mu Qing's body.
Fortunately, Mu Qing's cultivation was extremely low compared to his. After a while, Ke Fei finally managed to drag him back from the gates of death. A faint heartbeat sounded from Mu Qing's chest.
Ke Fei had expended a great deal of Mental Power, but at last he managed to revive Mu Qing's life force, however faintly.
Now, though, Ke Fei found himself in a bit of a bind.
The ice covering Mu Qing contained the Barrier's power. Tiny symbols gleamed across its surface, and a force of fire poison still remained in Mu Qing's body.
This power had originally belonged to Ke Fei. One of the Two-Headed Dragon's heads contained the power of fire, the other the power of ice. When the Gentle Personality had taken control of the body, it had exhausted the Blood Spirit's potential. The power of both heads had been completely drained to set up this Barrier.
A Barrier created by exhausting a Blood Spirit's potential was extremely difficult to dispel. The tiny symbols on the ice were linked to the Barrier by a mysterious force.
Ke Fei could easily erase the Barrier's power from Mu Qing by force, but Mu Qing was only a Blood Qi Sixth Rank student. How could he survive the backlash from forcibly removing it?
Ke Fei was stuck in a bind and growing anxious. Even a top-tier Martial Venerable like him had no idea what to do.
"Hm?" Ke Fei suddenly noticed two auras surging out of Mu Qing's body.
One was a single segment of bamboo wrapped in purple mist, crystalline and clear, with light circling around it.
On the other side, a Little Black Fish, half the size of a palm, swam out, its tail swishing back and forth. As its ink-black body moved, the space around it seemed to turn into water, rippling in waves.
"Those are this kid's two Blood Spirits!" Ke Fei's eyes widened in surprise.
Earlier, he'd only seen the Little Black Fish with his Mental Power. He'd never seen the Purple Lightning Bamboo, though a secret technique had let him faintly sense that a second Blood Spirit existed in Mu Qing's mind.
Ke Fei's expression turned strange. He couldn't understand why Mu Qing's two Blood Spirits had suddenly appeared when Mu Qing was unconscious.
The Purple Lightning Bamboo stayed quiet amid the purple mist, as if the whole thing had nothing to do with it. It showed no reaction at all.
The Little Black Fish, however, swam through the air and rubbed against the ice encasing Mu Qing. Its black eyes suddenly flared with light.
As Ke Fei stared in astonishment, it opened its mouth wide, revealing rows upon rows of tiny sharp teeth, and bit into the ice.
Crack, crack.
The Little Black Fish seemed to be snacking. In the blink of an eye, it had gnawed out a huge hole. Its tail swished, and it sped up, turning into a streak of black light as it coiled around the ice and chomped away until it had eaten most of it.
The Little Black Fish burped, apparently full. It swished its tail, then drifted unsteadily into Mu Qing's dantian. The Purple Lightning Bamboo quietly faded away too.
Only Ke Fei remained, standing there dumbfounded.
He hurried over to check on Mu Qing. His expression shifted again and again, and at last, shock appeared in his eyes.
Even a terrifying expert at Bloodline Ninth Rank like him couldn't help but feel shaken.
The ice encasing Mu Qing was now riddled with holes, all of them gnawed by the Little Black Fish.
The symbols on the ice had completely disappeared. Without those mysterious symbols, the ice had turned into ordinary ice. It slowly melted, soon becoming a puddle of water.
Ke Fei lifted Mu Qing out and then discovered that the fire poison in his body had disappeared too, leaving only burns.
Using the Mental Power Healing Method, Ke Fei treated Mu Qing again. Without the Barrier's power interfering, the treatment worked far better, and Mu Qing's wounds healed at a visible pace.
When Mu Qing woke up, he opened his eyes and was surprised to find that all his wounds had vanished. His body felt strong and vigorous, as if he'd never been injured at all.
He frowned, then noticed the disheveled Ke Fei sleeping soundly beside him. He immediately understood that Ke Fei had saved him.
Mu Qing thought to himself, I really was too reckless. If Ke Fei hadn't stepped in to help, I'd probably be dead.
The power within the Barrier had far exceeded Mu Qing's imagination. In the blink of an eye, it had brought him to the brink of death.
"Hm? You're awake?" Ke Fei seemed to sense Mu Qing's movements. He sprang to his feet, his eyes shining with a startling brightness.
"What is it?" Mu Qing took a few steps back, unnerved by his stare.
Ke Fei was extremely excited. He pulled Mu Qing over to the Barrier and said, "Try again. See if you can break through it."
"What?" Mu Qing's eyelid twitched. He hurriedly shook his head. "I nearly died just now. No! Absolutely not!"
"Just give it another try." Ke Fei sounded almost eager.
Mu Qing shook his head. "Senior, I already tried. I don't want to try again."
"Kid! I'm telling you to try!"
"No!"
"Brat, are you going to do it or not?"
"No!"
Ke Fei's face darkened. He roared, "Damn it, you little bastard! Get over there and try!"
"You old geezer, I'm not going!" Mu Qing was furious. All the gratitude he'd felt toward Ke Fei was gone.
He thought, So the reason Ke Fei saved me was because he wanted me to test the Barrier again.
As if! He'd nearly died the first time. If he touched it again, he might really die.
Ke Fei was so anxious he jumped up and down, scratching his head and cheeks until his face flushed red.
Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and a crafty smile appeared on his face.
"Old man, what are you planning?" Mu Qing felt a chill when he saw that smile.
"Heh heh. Don't forget, I'm a top-tier Martial Venerable." Ke Fei grinned craftily.
His laughter grew louder and more unrestrained. A withered hand suddenly seized Mu Qing, but Mu Qing couldn't move; terrifying Mental Power had restrained his entire body.
Mu Qing's face changed with alarm. "Ke Fei, what are you doing? Strictly speaking, I'm your student!"
He thought Ke Fei's Bloodthirsty Personality had awakened and that he was about to murder him in cold blood.
"Kid, don't worry. If you're really in danger, I'll step in." Ke Fei gave a cackling laugh and grabbed Mu Qing's arm, pressing it against the Barrier.
"Quickly, circulate the Origin Force from that Little Black Fish of yours!" At this critical moment, Ke Fei's expression was still grave. He was worried something might happen to Mu Qing too.
Mu Qing looked doubtful. Though he didn't understand why, he still did as Ke Fei said.
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