Plotting to Kill Xie An, the Unkillable Cockroach

"This is a story I read in a storybook. Senior Brother Jin, just take it as a joke," Qin Chuan said without breaking stride.

"Go ahead, Junior Brother Qin. I'm all ears." Jin Pang kept walking too, falling only one step behind Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan gathered his thoughts briefly, then began. "Once there was an emperor who had a white moonlight..."

"What's a white moonlight?" Jin Pang asked.

"The person he loved." Qin Chuan explained it as simply as he could, then told Jin Pang the story of the emperor with a white moonlight.

"If he was already an emperor with supreme power, why didn't he just marry the woman he loved?"

"And why did he have to kill his other capable sons with his own hands just to put his beloved's son on the throne? Shouldn't a dynasty choose the better heir to ensure its continuation? Was there something wrong with this emperor's head?"

"And the empress's family commanded three hundred thousand elite soldiers. Why didn't they just seize the throne themselves?" Jin Pang, a normal person, fired off three deadly questions in a row.

"I don't get it either. What normal person could understand? Maybe love was all that man had in his heart." As Qin Chuan said the word "love," he wondered whether he could use the logic that romance was the most important thing in women's fiction to deal with the male and female leads.

Jin Pang didn't answer Qin Chuan. Having finished his complaints, he kept turning the story over in his mind.

If he put the Xiao Family head in the emperor's place, it really was much like the plot of the story. The only difference was that his maternal family wasn't nearly as powerful. To the Xiao Family, the Yang Clan was an insignificant little family.

No, that wasn't right. Jin Pang's expression changed drastically. The Yang Clan had once flourished too, and had produced a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. That cultivator had left the Yang Clan a pill formula, one that could allow a person to cultivate to Late Tribulation Transcendence.

But no one knew about it except the Yang Clan head. Jin Pang knew only because his maternal grandfather had told him and his cousin before he died.

If the Xiao Family knew that secret, then the Yang Clan would count as the useful family of the original wife in the story. If that were the case...

The Xiao Family...

Jin Pang made up his mind. Once this was over, he would discuss it with his cousin and make sure to tell him to keep the pill formula safe.

Each occupied with his own thoughts, the two men didn't slow their pursuit of the Twin Insects. They even chatted and laughed along the way.

"Junior Brother Qin, if we fail to kill Xie An this time, you must be careful the next time you make a move. A Xiao Family protector has always been at Xie An's side. That's why I haven't managed to kill him all this time," Jin Pang warned Qin Chuan.

"How strong is his protector? Is he in the Pure Void Sect now too?" Alarm bells immediately rang in Qin Chuan's mind. Given how that bastard Heavenly Dao operated, he felt certain that Xie An's protector would intervene.

"Peak Soul Transformation. But don't worry, Junior Brother Qin. Before I came in, I already told my martial uncle Zhao Lin to keep watch outside the secret realm. With him there, there's absolutely no way Xie An's protector can force his way in. Besides, someone at Peak Soul Transformation couldn't possibly sense what's happening inside the secret realm."

Jin Pang's reassurance only made Qin Chuan more worried. He thought to himself that they had to fight fast and finish fast, and solemnly urged Jin Pang, "Senior Brother Jin, we have to fight fast and finish fast. We must cut Xie An down as quickly as possible."

"All right." Jin Pang didn't understand why Qin Chuan was acting this way, but he had no objection to killing Xie An quickly.

The mood between them instantly grew silent and tense. Neither spoke again for the rest of the journey.

A quarter of an hour later, Jin Pang quietly warned Qin Chuan, "Junior Brother Qin, the Twin Insects have stopped not far ahead. They should have found Xie An. He'll definitely be on guard when he sees them, so we can't go any farther."

Qin Chuan looked around. His bad luck should have been exhausted when he killed Gu Xiran, and now his good luck had arrived. He spotted a suitable place to set up a formation at a glance and pointed to a hollow not far away.

"Senior Brother Jin, I'll set up a formation over there. It'll be ready within a quarter of an hour. As long as Xie An enters the hollow, he won't be able to use a token to teleport out."

"All right. Leave luring Xie An to me. In half an hour, I'll bring him here." Jin Pang exchanged a glance with Qin Chuan, then they parted to carry out their respective tasks.

Qin Chuan went to the hollow and began setting up the formation. He finished the Grand Air-Sealing Formation in only half a quarter of an hour. Thinking that the bastard Heavenly Dao protected the female lead and might well protect the male supporting character too, he quickly added another two Grand Air-Sealing Formations over it.

"Heavenly Dao has to act reasonably too. I'll be damned if I believe there are any Golden Core or False Nascent Soul demonic beasts left in this secret realm."

"No, if there really is another False Nascent Soul demonic beast, that'll be trouble. While there's still time, I'll add a few killing formations."

"I'll need a few trapping formations too. If the female lead comes, I can just trap her. I'd better not touch her for now."

"I have a feeling that if I make another move against the female lead, that bastard Heavenly Dao will stop at nothing to kill me."

Qin Chuan did several things at once, setting up killing formations and trapping formations simultaneously and adding several defensive formations as well. He finished in less than half an hour.

Seeing that he still had a little time, he sat down to regulate his breathing and bring himself to his best condition. Then he quietly waited for Jin Pang to lure Xie An over.

Before long, he sensed someone entering the formations. He immediately rose, the Tianquan Sword already in his hand, ready to strike the moment the opportunity came.

Jin Pang charged into the hollow but didn't see Qin Chuan. Still, he didn't look around for him. Trusting that Qin Chuan wouldn't flee on the eve of battle, he gritted his teeth and continued charging into the hollow.

"Jin Pang, no matter how you run, it's no use. I'll kill you today!" Xie An followed close behind him.

Jin Pang had several wounds, and most of his hair had come loose. He ran in a sorry state, prompting Qin Chuan to exclaim, "Senior Brother Jin's acting is truly superb. I mustn't get complacent; I still have much to learn from him."

If Jin Pang, who was fleeing for his life, knew what Qin Chuan was thinking, he would have jumped up, spat at him twice, and said, "I really was injured! I'm not acting, not acting!!! I really am running for my life."

With his Early Golden Core Stage cultivation, Jin Pang had been forced to sacrifice his blood essence to use the Mystic Yellow Heavenly Fire against his enemy. A single day of healing hadn't been enough for him to fully recover. He could use only sixty percent of his strength now, so naturally he was no match for Xie An, who was also at the Early Golden Core Stage.

Jin Pang ran in front while Xie An chased him from behind. Xie An wanted to kill Jin Pang too. Gu Xiran followed behind Xie An, just as Qin Chuan had expected: one of the three fled while the others pursued.

Seeing this, Qin Chuan was glad he had made ample preparations and taken measures to deal with these possibilities long ago.

He was already gathering power for the strike he had used to kill the False Nascent Soul wolf demon. In fact, having gathered power for so long this time, it would be even stronger than that strike.

The moment Gu Xiran stepped into the trapping formation, Qin Chuan attacked Xie An without hesitation. "Heavenly Dipper Demon-Breaking Sword!!!"

The Tianquan Sword's sword qi had already locked onto Xie An and swept toward him from behind. Xie An had nowhere to dodge and could only take the blow head-on. Even if he had wanted to dodge, he wouldn't have had time to react.

Xie An was currently only an Early Golden Core Stage pill cultivator, not even as strong as Jin Pang. There was no way he could withstand the Heavenly Dipper Demon-Breaking Sword, which could kill a False Nascent Soul cultivator. A muffled grunt rang out, followed by the sound of the powerful sword qi splitting the ground.

"Second Senior Brother!!!" Gu Xiran screamed like a groundhog. She tried to run toward Xie An, but the trapping formation blocked her. She could only keep shouting at him, her voice shrill and grating.

Qin Chuan paid no attention to Gu Xiran the groundhog. After swallowing a pill to restore his spiritual energy, he struck out again with the Heavenly Dipper Demon-Breaking Sword at full strength, determined not to stop until Xie An was dead.

The two successive strikes exhausted all of Qin Chuan's spiritual energy, and he fell to the ground. As he swallowed pills to restore it, he hurriedly activated the killing formations to attack Xie An.

At the same time, Jin Pang made his move. He sacrificed ninety percent of his blood essence to the Mystic Yellow Heavenly Fire, and the small flame instantly blazed into a fist-sized fireball that flew at Xie An.

"Second Senior Brother!!!" Seeing attacks flashing incessantly where Xie An stood, Gu Xiran screamed louder and louder. She could have taken up the Lion's Roar technique.

Qin Chuan and Jin Pang were temporarily unable to fight. Both stared fixedly at the place where Xie An had just been standing.

When the smoke cleared, Xie An lay flat on the ground. His entire body had been burned black, and more than half of it had been chopped away. The half that remained was covered in wounds, and blood seeped from his charred flesh. Yet he was still breathing faintly.

Qin Chuan's two strikes could kill a False Nascent Soul cultivator. Add to them Jin Pang's pill fire, which could kill a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator, as well as several killing formations, and they still couldn't kill an Early Golden Core Stage pill cultivator. It was truly absurd!

What the fuck kind of male supporting character is this? He's a fucking cockroach! Qin Chuan cursed inwardly as he raised his sword, ready to send Xie An on his final journey.