第39章 收费剑气[为盟主燚龘amblowe加更四!]

The sword qi entered his body and suddenly became scorching hot, searing Jiang Chen's spiritual veins. It was even harder to endure than Flame Mountain during the day.

Jiang Chen had no choice but to forcibly resonate with it. Only then did he keep his spiritual veins unblocked and slowly guide the sword qi into his dantian.

In an instant!

The Demonic Aura within the Qi Sea Abyss was scorched by the sword qi until it could not raise its head.

The violent twisting pain deep in his lower abdomen, caused by the Demonic Aura intertwining with each other, vanished completely.

Jiang Chen suddenly felt strangely empty.

He hurriedly pulled the suppressed Demonic Aura, which could not raise its head and was nearly burned away, out of the Abyss.

Those were his treasures for advancing his cultivation. He could not let Li Lingzhou's sword qi ruin them.

The only thing left alone within the Abyss was scorching, surging sword qi.

It did not merely churn within his qi sea; it spread through all four limbs and every bone in his body.

Jiang Chen felt as if his constitution had been completely renewed. His speed and strength had doubled out of nowhere, as though he had activated Saiyan Mode.

At the same time, his cultivation had not changed at all.

No wonder Li Lingzhou had the confidence to say she could deal with Tian Mingye. Her sword qi was the natural bane of demons.

Pure Yang spiritual qi... Could Li Lingzhou have turned into such a tomboy because she cultivated this kind of sword qi?

This is sword qi cultivated by men!

Jiang Chen spent quite some time using the power of resonance to forcibly suppress the sword qi deep within the Abyss, preventing it from emerging so easily.

Then, he guided the Demonic Aura from the surface of his qi sea into the Abyss vortex and observed the sword qi's reaction.

This time, the sword qi deep within the Abyss behaved itself and no longer harmed the Demonic Aura.

The twisting pain caused by their intertwining returned.

Jiang Chen seized the chance to swallow more than three hundred spirit stones, then used the Demi-Immortal Art. After spending half the night, he raised his cultivation to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer once more...

Even on the third simulation, he could not waste the Demonic Aura for nothing. What if he accidentally achieved an even more perfect ending than in the second simulation?

By the time he finished cultivating, the eastern sky had begun to pale.

Jiang Chen was about to begin his adventure.

He was going to devour all of Li Lingzhou's sword qi!

If I die, I'll just pretend nothing happened.

With that thought, Jiang Chen opened his mouth wide and drew a huge circle around the sword qi, resembling a Taotie as he frantically devoured it.

For a moment, Jiang Chen felt as though his body were Supreme Lord Lao's pill furnace, while the sword qi boiling and rampaging inside him was Sun Wukong.

His face burned red and gave off a faint golden glow, no different from the dazzling golden light shooting out from the morning clouds on the horizon.

It was hot, but he felt pretty good.

His speed and strength rose by another level.

He even felt that if he faced an Early Foundation Establishment opponent again, he would not need any high-level skills. A mortal-level Eight-Step Mad Blade would be enough to kill the opponent instantly!

If he wished, he could swing his sword and unleash sword qi.

But this sword qi was entirely independent of his own Five-Element spiritual power, demonic power, devil power, and the related spirit control techniques.

If he forcibly sank the sword qi deep into the Abyss before using Five-Element Spirit Control or merging Demonic Aura, there would be no effect at all.

Dual SIM, dual standby—completely independent... Wonderful!

Stars gleamed in Jiang Chen's eyes, and a faint, ethereal sword light seemed to shine within them.

Despite being only at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and not yet having reached Foundation Establishment, he exuded the aura of an expert.

It was not just an aura. He also possessed an inexplicable confidence.

"This ending must be preserved."

Jiang Chen prepared to set off for Xiyang City, reunite with the Empress Dowager, and complete his hat trick.

Suddenly!

Something—or some force—was rapidly approaching, yet he could not sense any aura around him.

He detected a trace of spatial fluctuation.

He turned to leave.

The space in front of him was suddenly pierced like a thin membrane. A streak of sword qi shot out and stabbed through his lower abdomen into his dantian.

Yet it forcibly resonated with the Abyss sword qi of the same origin within him and was absorbed instead.

Jiang Chen spat blood. Sword light flashed across his face as he looked up.

Whoosh—

The space before him was actually split open by a single sword strike.

A woman wearing a blue-green robe emerged unsteadily from the spatial rift as though lifting a curtain. She held a green sword in her right hand and a small red diamond-patterned wine jar in her left. Her long black hair was tied into a single ponytail.

She had sword-like brows and starry eyes, her gaze calm and slightly drunk. Her flushed, moon-pale face carried the faint blush of intoxication. Her tall, graceful figure was outlined by her fitted blue-green robe, giving her an heroic silhouette. The wine haze in her eyes mixed with sword qi, creating a misty, dreamlike sight.

Li Lingzhou rubbed her sword-qi-misted eyes and stared blearily at Jiang Chen for a long while.

"Eh? My sword qi was broken, yet you brat are still alive..."

A Golden Core Realm cultivator could split open a spatial rift with one sword strike?

In Jiang Chen's impression, one needed at least cultivation at the seventh realm, the Myriad Phenomena Realm, to possibly master spatial arts...

This woman's cultivation was indeed a mystery. Could it be the kind someone had simply filled in by hand? Was her true identity perhaps some Mahayana Realm powerhouse?

Jiang Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said with some resentment,

"This proves that you cannot guarantee my safety."

Li Lingzhou looked down at Jiang Chen's lower body... and suddenly froze.

"You dismantled my Sword Domain yourself, and you still have the nerve to say that?

Didn't I come to save you? That sword qi just now was meant to help you take revenge, yet you actually withstood it?

That makes no sense... Could it be that I lost all my sword qi?"

As she spoke, Li Lingzhou turned sideways and slashed at the vast desert with her sword.

Whoosh—

An instant later, a chasm one foot wide, ten zhang deep, and stretching for a hundred li split open in the sea of sand.

The fine sand on both sides stood like sheer walls, trembling as it maintained its perfectly straight split. Not a single grain dared fall into the sword trench.

The power was still there.

When she looked back at Jiang Chen, Li Lingzhou's gaze had changed completely. It became exceptionally serious, yet concealed immense excitement.

"Your unusual qi-nourishing method and pure spiritual power alone could never have absorbed my sword qi!

"Wait, you even advanced your cultivation...

"Could you be the reincarnation of an immortal?"

No, no. My advancement and devouring your sword qi are two separate matters.

It seemed that although the woman was astonished by his abilities, she had no intention of investigating as deeply as Thousand-Faced Fox had. That meant Li Lingzhou's true strength was far greater than Thousand-Faced Fox's.

Of course, she might simply be dull-witted and unable to see the deeper meaning behind his constitution.

Jiang Chen said calmly,

"So what if I am?

"Your sword qi has already saved my life once.

"Logically speaking, that should have ended the trial ahead of schedule, and you should have come here personally. But what happened instead?

"If I went with you to the Prison Suppression Bureau, I would definitely become your tool for slaying demons and exterminating devils. I'd work myself to death while you might be off enjoying yourself at the gambling house, right?"

Li Lingzhou instinctively took a sip of wine. Her face reddened as she argued her case,

"I already lost all my money. How could I possibly gamble?

"Besides, wasn't I on my way here?

"Even if I wasn't here in person, as long as the Sword-Qi Domain remained, it could keep you safe and sound.

"Who knew you would eat my sword qi?

"Come to think of it, you're the only person on Ascending Dragon Continent who has done that and survived.

"You're quite impressive. Come to the Prison Suppression Bureau with me and make a fortune!"

Jiang Chen did not believe her and said firmly,

"Stop dreaming... I'm not going."

Li Lingzhou thought about it. With Jiang Chen's current cultivation, the application process alone would take at least a year and a half. She could ignore him for now, then abduct him to the Prison Suppression Bureau after the application was approved.

With that thought, she draped herself over Jiang Chen's shoulder, her breath rich with wine as she said meaningfully,

"Young man, don't tell me you thought my sword qi was free?

"Look at that sword trench in the sand sea. Is there any sword qi left?

"My total amount of sword qi is fixed, but it does not dissipate. After I release it, it returns to me.

"If you truly don't want to join the Prison Suppression Bureau, that's fine. Just pay the sword qi usage fee, and you can choose not to go."

Jiang Chen instinctively glanced at the sword trench. It really was as she said.

The sword qi was already gone.

Yet the sand seemed like someone bitten by a snake once, forever fearful of rope. It still maintained the habit of standing like walls, not daring to move.

It was as though Li Lingzhou's sword qi had given the sand the fear possessed only by living beings.

This woman's identity was definitely extraordinary!

Jiang Chen could not defeat her, yet he craved her Pure Yang Sword Aura. He could only toss out a brocade storage pouch.

"Five hundred spirit stones. Not one more."

Li Lingzhou glanced at the resolve in Jiang Chen's eyes. For a small Qi Refining cultivator, five hundred spirit stones was surely an enormous sum. If he had not followed behind her, he would never have earned so much.

"Eh, aren't there two Merfolk Women here? Sell them. They're worth quite a bit."

Jiang Chen hurriedly used his strength to lift the water tank and said with a stern face,

"I'm keeping these two as wives. Go away."

Li Lingzhou froze. She had not expected this brat's tastes to be even wilder than hers. He would not even spare half-demons who had not fully transformed. She draped herself over his shoulder again, pretending to be intimate.

"Do you remember how you teased my little snake-demon wife at Spirit Spring Inn last time?

"What kind of relationship do we have?

"When we get closer in the future, won't your wives be my wives, and my wives be your wives?

"As long as you have money, why would a true man worry about having no wife?"

Jiang Chen flung off her arm, lifted the water tank, turned, and flew on his sword straight toward Xiyang City.

He looked back, but Li Lingzhou was nowhere to be seen...

Yet when he arrived in Xiyang City, he sensed Li Lingzhou's location through the resonating sword qi of the same origin—

Thousand-Gold Gambling House.

Jiang Chen shook his head.

It was noon. He hurriedly bought a carriage, drove straight to Peaceful Palace, and had a thoroughly satisfying cultivation session with the Empress Dowager.

Five chapters, fourteen thousand words—finished!