Chapter 769 - Blood Oath
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber had truly been frightened. Ever since he became a fatty, he had never suffered so much before. He was not capable of fighting back at all.
The enemy was clearly the White Hawk commander, but in the series of battles earlier, he had clearly used daemon qi despite his attempts at limiting it and hiding it. He was not a regular human-daemon hybrid either. His daemon qi was so pure that it rivalled Daemon Kings.
When he saw the pair of horns, his eyes suddenly became filled with great surprise—Northmoon!
One of the Ten Daemon Kings, the Dragon King of Ink Sea, had chased him for several tens of thousand kilometers until they reached the Mist province where he killed him. Although the south was still very far away, news about a major incident like that had spread far and wide among the upper echelons of the cultivation community. The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber had heard about it too, and the daemon who had been hunted down seemed to be called Northmoon.
“Fatty, you’ve heard about these two words before?” Li Qingshan immediately noticed it.
“I haven’t… I don’t even know what they mean!” the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber said. He refused to admit it no matter what. This was clearly a great secret. If Li Qingshan realised he knew, he would definitely have him silenced.
“If you tell another bare-faced lie, I’ll punch your face in!” Li Qingshan said.
“Yes, yes, yes. I think I heard about it somewhere.” The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber prostrated on the ground.
“Forget it. You said you’d serve me as your master. That’s definitely not lip service, is it?”
“I’m willing to swear an oath to serve the White Hawk commander Li Qingshan as my master from now onwards in absolute fealty even in the face of death. If I were to break the oath, may my organs rot and may I die a horrible death, enduring the never-ending cycle of rebirth forever,” the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber raised a hand and said seriously.
“Do you take me for a child? I’ll count to ten. You better think of a way that I can accept, or prepare to die!” Li Qingshan planted his foot on his huge head. There would be something wrong with his head if he would trust the oath of a demonic cultivator.
“There’s a Blood Oath Scroll in Savage mountain,” said Xiao An.
The Blood Oath Scroll was an extremely famous arcane treasure of the south. It did not have any offensive power and could only be used to record oaths, but its restrictive powers were extremely great. Once the oath was broken, they could suffer a backlash from the blood oath and die in the process. It was almost like a powerful curse. The Lair of Demons had been built on it, maintaining a basic level of trust among the cave masters.
Xiao An read through all the records of the Hawkwolf Guard before choosing Savage mountain as their first target mostly because of this Blood Oath Scroll. If everything panned out as she expected, this item would play a relatively important role during the time they spent in the Mist province.
“Definitely not! If the oaths on the Blood Oath Scroll are forcefully wiped clean, even I will die from the backlash!”
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber became alarmed. Originally, he was planning to make do with the situation and find another opportunity to escape. As long as he slipped away, he could always get his revenge. However, once he swore an oath in the Blood Oath Scroll, he would really be in trouble.
“You swore an oath of blood to fend off any invading enemies together. You’ve gone back on your word and defected to the enemy, yet you haven’t died from the backlash,” Xiao An said.
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber was left speechless. He definitely was not sincere about serving Li Qingshan as his master, nor did he actually commit any acts of betrayal. He was only stalling, so it obviously did not count as going back on the oath of blood. This formed a paradox. If he were truly loyal to Li Qingshan, then he would be breaking the blood oath, and he would die. If he only claimed fealty, then his loyalty would be meaningless and completely uninsured.
“If that’s the case, I’m not going to haggle with you anymore. I’ll give you a quick death!” Li Qingshan pressed down with his foot.
“No, there’s still another way. I can help you get through the formations. The first cave master is currently in secluded cultivation on the mountain. His strength surpa.s.ses mine. If he doesn’t come out, there’s nothing you can do about him.”
“So there’s another one on the mountain. He should have noticed this disturbance a long time ago! He still hasn’t come out now, so is he trembling away in his dwelling?” Li Qingshan asked.
“Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, are you really bold enough to help them get through the formation? Aren’t you afraid of the backlash from the blood oath?”
An icy-cold voice drifted over with the wind. Li Qingshan looked back and saw a man with white hair and a thin face filled with vigour standing with a sword. The hem of his clothes and his sleeves were in tatters, drifting about in the wind.
“Yu Wufeng, you’re sitting by and watching as I’m about to be killed, yet you refuse to help out. Aren’t you afraid of the backlash of the blood oath?” The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber roared furiously.
“Do you really think that I, Yu Wufeng, can be bound by a mere oath of blood? Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, you can just die for the sake of my Lair of Demons! As for you, Li Qingshan or Northmoon, I’ll forget about all of this if you follow my orders obediently. Otherwise, I’ll make this ident.i.ty of yours public. If the Dragon King of Ink Sea finds out his enemy is still alive, he definitely won’t be very happy!” Yu Wufeng said.
“Commander Li, I’ll remove the formations for you right now and a.s.sist you in killing this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yu Wufeng!”
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The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber roared madly. Suddenly, he rose up and swung his pudgy hands at Savage mountain. The formations began to operate, shining brightly with light, but under the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber’s control, it showed signs of dispersing.
At this moment, a b.l.o.o.d.y handprint suddenly appeared on the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber’s chest. He sprayed with blood from his mouth and flew backwards. Blood oozed out of every single pore on his, becoming covered in blood in the blink of an eye.
It happened so quickly that even Li Qingshan could not respond in time—the Blood Oath Scroll had come into effect!
However, the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber rolled over next and sat up. He wiped away the blood on his face and continued with taking down the formations, except he had become much skinnier yet again, almost resembling a normal fatty.
“You actually also…” Yu Wufeng paled in surprise.
“Yu Wufeng, why can’t I do something you’ve done? You want me to die? Let’s see who dies first!” The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber smiled viciously, his lips covered in blood.
“Oi, your blood oath doesn’t seem to be particularly effective!” Li Qingshan scratched his head.
As it turned out, while the Blood Oath Scroll did possess great restrictive power, the Blood Oath Scroll in Savage mountain was masterless. All of the cave masters were worried that someone might refine the arcane treasure, so they sealed it in the centre of the mountain. If a new cave master wanted to join them, they required the permission of at least half of the cave masters. Then they would need to work together to remove the seal.
The Blood Oath Scroll had never been a representation of fairness. Instead. It was a tool specially forged by ancient demonic cultivators to control their enemies. Although it could still retain a great restraining force when stored within the depths of Savage mountain that was rich with spiritual qi, it was possible to slowly wear down the curse as long as he had the time and patience given Yu Wufeng’s cultivation. Although the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber’s cultivation was a little weaker, he could still dilute the power of the curse to the point where he could endure it.
If it had been refined and was in someone’s possession, they would never get an opportunity like that. He would be immediately punished for what he did earlier. The power that a masterless arcane treasure could unleash was limited at the end of the day.
The glow from the formations faded very quickly. As the second cave master of the Lair of Demons, the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber was all too familiar with these formations. He also possessed the authority to control them, so breaking through them was as simple as fishing out a key to the door of his own home.
Originally in an untouchable position, Yu Wufeng’s face darkened. He desperately tried to maintain the operation of the formations. The formations pulsated with light as two different powers collided together.
Li Qingshan flapped his wings and turned into a streak of light, rising up into the air. He dove head-first into the depths of the valley. The numerous formations tried to obstruct him, but when they came into contact with the glow he gave off, they all shattered and collapsed.
Even if Yu Wufeng could keep the door shut after quite some effort, Li Qingshan could still kick down an unlocked door with a single foot. He threw a punch towards Yu Wufeng standing at the top of the mountain.
“You’re called Yu Wufeng, right?”
“That’s correct!”
Yu Wufeng said proudly. The sword on his back exited its sheathe with a thrum.
In that moment, hazy, white light filled the surroundings, crammed full with sword qi. It was everywhere.
The fogbow pierced through the sun!
Arcane treasure!
Li Qingshan’s eyes narrowed. He really is the first cave master of the Lair of Demons after all. So he’s a sword cultivator, and his cultivation already touches on the third heavenly layer. His path of the sword surpa.s.ses mine, and he also possesses an arcane treasure sword. If I fought against him alone, stopping him from running really would be difficult!
He formed a seal with his hand and drew them through the air smoothly. The figure of a dragon burst out, pa.s.sing through the hazy white light and colliding with the fogbow.
In a split second, the swords clashed countless times. The dragon figure was forced back, while the fogbow dimmed slightly.
A fist pierced through the air, filling Yu Wufeng’s eyes. The weight it contained made it seem like a falling mountain.
Yu Wufeng was stern. He had already been amazed when he observed their battles from the side earlier, but only when he personally clashed with him did he feel he was truly, absurdly strong. His swordsmanship was not bad, but to him, that was all it was. His fists were the lethal weapons that were actually terrifying, which made him feel like he could not confront them head-on.
No, I can’t become caught up in this battle, or my life will really be in danger today!
Boom!
Rubble exploded and dust filled the air. A crater appeared on the top of the mountain.
A white streak of light rushed out of the dust. Yu Wufeng had become one with his sword before escaping into the distance with lightning speed. He actually chose to flee without the slightest hesitation.
“Commander Li, you cannot let him escape, or we’ll face endless trouble in the future!”
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber clenched his fists and called out loudly. He was delighted. From the corner of his eyes, he quickly glanced at Xiao An. He clearly was not as excited as he seemed on the surface. His main objective was still using Yu Wufeng as bait to lure away the two of them. Then he would take advantage of the opportunity to escape.
“Don’t escape,” Xiao An said without even looking back. Her voice was as placid as water. It was neither a threat, nor was it exactly an order. It did not even seem like she was talking to the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, merely like she was just mentioning something.
“I’ve already sworn an oath. I definitely won’t go back on my word!”
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber jiggled. He immediately dismissed his idea of fleeing. This was the first time he had ever seen such great beauty in his life, but it did not incite any of his desires. Instead, it struck indescribable fear into his heart.
The white streak of light that Yu Wufeng had transformed into only travelled five kilometers away before he was forced to come to a stop.
Huge skeletons rose up from the surroundings, cackling away as if they had been waiting there the entire time. They revolved about and a.s.sembled into the Skeleton Demon Formation, trapping Yu Wufeng inside.
“Since when!?” Yu Wufeng looked back in shock, meeting a pair of calm, unperturbed eyes in the valley.
The fierce flames rushed over, and the fist filled the surroundings. This time, Yu Wufeng could not dodge anymore!
“Spare me, fellow! I admit defeat!”