Chapter 739 Something Odd, Strange Turn of Events
Ye Qingyu received his animal bone knife back and left the camp of the Black Armor Race after thanking the experts.
The scout team from the Black Demon Race did not pay extra attention to him.
After all, Ye Qingyu was covered in wounds and physically battered. He looked no different from a beggar, and seemed so frail that it was as if a sudden gust of wind could lift him off his feet; the experts from the Black Demon Race thought he was as harmless as a stray dog looking for sc.r.a.ps in the wild.
Deep in the Black Demon Pool, there would always be the sudden appearance of martial arts pract.i.tioners with very low skill. They placed little value in their own lives and were willing to take the risk. If they were unlucky, no one would even notice their decomposing corpses, but if they were lucky, they could obtain some rare herbs or medicine and earn a new shot at life.
Over numerous years, countless of such "stray dogs" had perished in the various major districts of the Black Demon Pool.
The scout team had obviously treated Ye Qingyu as one of these scavengers.
Kilometers away.
Ye Qingyu halted.
He turned his head around.
He gazed back at the camp of the Black Armor Race in the distance, still somewhat in shock. What sort of person could have ma.s.sacred an entire tribe for any kind of reason? he thought.
The Black Armor Race were related by blood to the Black Demon Race and had been protected by the latter for generations. Those that killed any member of the Black Armor Race would be hunted down by the Black Demon Race, and it was for this reason that the former had rarely been troubled after existing in the 16th district of the Black Demon Pool, even if it did not possess great strength.
Furthermore, it was a primitive tribe, and its people relied on hire from foreign employers and gathering of medicinal herbs for a living. Aside from these two activities, it rarely interacted with the outside world and could be considered to have not made enemies with any other people. As such, few outsiders would seek trouble with them.
How could the entire Black Armor Race be exterminated within a matter of days? he thought.
Ye Qingyu had a vague sense that something was not quite right.
"What should I do? Now that the Black Armor Race has been exterminated, where should I go to find whereabouts of the [Black Demon Herb]... when one"s unlucky, one bad thing follows after another. My current task is not going too smoothly."
Ye Qingyu continued advancing toward the 17th district.
About an hour later.
He stopped temporarily upon reaching a black rock formation a distance away from the 17th district.
The only solution now is to try my luck at the 17th and 18th districts of the Black Demon Pool or find some merchants dealing in medicinal herbs and purchase the [Black Demon Herb]from them at a cut-throat price, he thought.
He set up a defensive warning formation around the rock formation and sat cross-legged amongst the rocks, before beginning to consider his options and to arrange his thoughts.
Just at this moment -
"Oh no... this power... it"s coming again."
Ye Qingyu"s expression changed.
He had to shut his eyes and concentrate his thoughts at the next moment. He entered a meditative state, channeling the nameless breathing technique and shutting his mind from other thoughts in the process.
The cause of his sudden reaction was the abrupt flaring up of the green, purple and silver powers within his body.
It was probably when Ye Qingyu completely recovered from his semi-conscious and alive state in the [Cloud Top Cauldron] when he realized that he was beginning to lose control over the various powers in his body.
It meant that the inner yuan in his body was once again being suppressed.
During that time, when he was completely aware of his surroundings, he could innately sense that his pool of vitality had seemed to freeze up, to his surprise. Now, it was once again in the same state; it was undergoing new changes.
There had only been one power at level one hurricane strength within his body originally, but now there were three, and each one was stronger than the previous one. Furthermore, the Yuan Qi True Self Doppelganger was already at level three, and it seemed to have grown more concentrated and unclouded now, as if having grown livelier.
It was the sign of the third step of the Immortal Step realm.
Ye Qingyu did not think that he would have escaped from the ordeal with his life. His tough body had been nearly beaten into pulp, and just as he was about to die, somehow he managed to advance from the first step to the third step of the Immortal Step realm by accident.
Of course, it was an extremely wonderful thing.
When he realized this fact, he had nearly leaped up in joy.
The problem was that his vitality had condensed into a block in his body after being suppressed by a mysterious form of energy. Even the vitality in his meridians was idling, and even though he had achieved the third step of the Immortal Step realm, he could not make use of his newfound power.
The strange energy had originated from the Chaotic Thunder Liquid, Green Wind Power and [Supreme Ice Flame].
These three powers had originally resided peacefully within Ye Qingyu"s body, and he could channel and control the [Supreme Ice Flame] and Chaotic Thunder Liquid.
Later, he had obtained the Wind Dao foundation from the extremely chilly lake beneath Sunrise City and been enlightened when he arrived before the Wall of Storm, thereby gaining a fundamental mastery of the power of wind. Even after that, the three powers were still within his control.
Now, however, Ye Qingyu did not understand if it was because of his experience in the [Cloud Top Cauldron] or due to the stimulation from his previous fight that they seemed to have gain a mind of their own and started to slip out of his control.
He felt like a general with many well-trained troops in his hand that would not listen to his commands. The three forms of energy were struggling to overcome and suppress each other and were now treating Ye Qingyu"s body as their battleground, each fighting for supremacy over the other.
Luckily, their "fight" was still of a relatively calm nature and did not cause harm to Ye Qingyu"s body. Instead, they protected it carefully.
Otherwise, his body would have been ground to dust by now.
The three powers entangled and went after each other, continuously flowing across Ye Qingyu"s entire body and between his meridians, muscles and bones.
It was an extremely weird process.
He could feel that while the three powers were trying to best each other, they seemed to be fixing his battered body as well. The speed of the repair process, however, was a little slow and not as effective as him sacrificing a little of his blood qi to regenerate his broken limbs.
The end result was that, other than his regenerated arm, the other wounds on his body recovered extremely slowly. Ye Qingyu looked like a rag doll that had been chewed up by a dog at this moment - he was covered in wounds and many of them were those that had penetrated through his body. As a result, it gave him a wretched appearance.
About one hour later.
It was as though the three powers had grown tired of fighting with each other and had gradually calmed down.
Ye Qingyu heaved a sigh of relief before opening his eyes gradually.
As he tried to channel the energy in his body, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.
"Oh? What"s going on? Why am I able to control the three powers better after their "battle"?"
The Chaotic Thunder Liquid, [Supreme Ice Flame] and Power of Wind residing in his body could be channeled when he willed it, leading Ye Qingyu to feel that he had mastery over them. He even felt that he was much more adept at using them now.
He stretched out his arm gradually.
A strange flame made up of the purple-, silver- and green-colored powers danced and burned on his palm. It was not hot at all, but there was a destructive power contained within it.
The differently colored splendors separated and regrouped according to Ye Qingyu"s will, making up different formations and looking extremely mysterious.
"Indeed, they"re more susceptible to my command now. Their powers seemed to have increased as well, and I can also choose to channel each of them individually. Each of them has their own strength, and if I group all of them together, their combined might will be completely immeasurable. It"s scary just thinking about it."
Ye Qingyu did not have to test the power of his newly found skill to be able to sense their strength acutely.
"That said, currently they"re still not completely melded together. Erm... most likely something happened after I hid in the [Cloud Top Cauldron]. What could it be?" Ye Qingyu muttered to himself as he racked his brains. Unluckily, he was already one foot in his grave during his ordeal and could not recall anything.
Also, his yuan qi was still being suppressed and had completely froze up. No matter whether he tried to channel it from his meridian pathway, the pool in his dantian world, or even the Yuan Qi True Self Doppelganger, it was as if all of it in his body had coagulated and remained stationary.
He had so much yuan qi, but there was no way for him to make use of any of it.
This... why do I always encounter such weird problems during training? Ye Qingyu thought.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry at this moment.
This was not the first time that he had lost all the fruits of his training in yuan qi.
He was in a different situation currently, however. Previously, it was obvious that the cause of his loss of yuan qi was because his spirit had been sealed within the [Cloud Top Cauldron]. This time around, he could not figure out why there was such a change in it.
The good news was that the three powers that he had newly gained were shockingly powerful and even stronger than that of his yuan qi. On the surface, the amount of yuan qi Ye Qingyu could gather was not even on par with an expert at the Bitter Sea realm, but in reality, it was much different.
If I meet Jiang Xiaohan again, even if it"s within a trap like the [Fallen G.o.d Abyss], I am confident of finis.h.i.+ng her off within one hundred moves. Even if I encounter an expert at the upper tier Immortal Step realm, I"ll be able to hold my own, he thought.
A confident smile appeared on Ye Qingyu"s face as he watched the three splendors gradually dissipate into his palm until they were not visible.
At this rate, it"ll take more than ten days for all my wounds to be patched up. However, I can"t afford to wait for such a long time... I also don"t know the progress of Xing Er and the others in their a.s.sessment in the next city, he thought.
Ye Qingyu changed into a fresh set of clothes and left the black rock formation, advancing toward his intended destination.
...
An hour later.
On a stone platform on the way toward the 17th district.
The pentagonal token in Ye Qingyu"s hand gave off a golden glow suddenly.
When he had parted ways with Elder Shuang Wuyan, he had heard the elder mention that the token had such a reaction only when there were changes to the mission on it or the information pertaining to the task.
Could it be that there have been some changes to the a.s.sessment criteria? Ye Qingyu thought.
He turned around to find a more secluded spot behind a steep cliff before channeling a little of his yuan qi into the token.
The image that appeared shook him to the core.
The light curtain on his token which carried information displayed the two words "Ye Qingyu". Somehow, he was now number twenty on the list of wanted criminals within the Alliance of Domains.
"What exactly is going on?"
"Why am I now wanted by the Alliance of Domains?"
Ye Qingyu blinked hard, not daring to believe his eyes.