"During the Six Imperials ancestral court's assessment at the edge of the world last time, several wondrous-blood fiends were slain, and all were suspected to be linked to him. This kind of performance completely exceeds the norm!"
The Cui clan had conducted an investigation recently, and some wore grave expressions.
One had to know that Cui Chongxuan had practiced the Six Imperial Scriptures ahead of time for years and was already a mutant, yet he could only flee when facing such aged fiends.
"Back then, he had only stepped onto the Newborn path for a few months. How could he possibly surpass Chongxuan, who cultivates Six Imperials force?"
Unless Qin Ming had already mastered legendary force techniques—yet he could not possibly have had access to Tathagata force, Yuqing force, or the like!
The only text he had studied thoroughly was the silk book, which he had practiced since childhood, and that was precisely the product of multiple ancestral masters' joint research.
"How could that be? Without someone to guide him, no one can master the silk book."
"Nothing is set in stone. What if his innate talent is truly that terrifying?"
Members of the Cui clan argued.
Then they remembered that Qin Ming had been a fast learner at everything since childhood.
Had someone not misled him, setting him on a dead-end road and leaving him engrossed in the silk book, his other accomplishments would likely have been astounding.
Looking back now, could their very interference have created a monster?
"Hopefully we guessed wrong."
"We really shouldn't have let him practice the silk book method back then!"
Evidently, some people regretted it.
In an antique study, a silver-haired elder with a ruddy complexion sighed softly. "Such a fine child, yet you pushed him away."
He set down his teacup and tapped the desk lightly. "Since there are suspicions, kill him as early as possible."
"Someone is protecting him," a middle-aged woman said.
The elder's expression remained indifferent. "If he were mediocre, keeping him suppressed at Black-White Mountain would suffice. But if he shows extraordinary talent and already stands in opposition to us, what point is there in keeping him around?"
Someone nodded. If not for Cui Old Seven's interference back then, Qin Ming would have died long ago, and none of this would have followed.
The silver-haired elder took a sip of tea. "He is merely a domestic-born servant. Slay him with a snap of the fingers. Better sooner than later."
"Kunling is hosting such a momentous event; who wouldn't want auspicious blood? If he is truly extraordinary, he ought to show up and vie for a share."
***
In the night, numerous exotic birds darted beneath the dark clouds—lightning sparrows, thunder falcons, and other swift fliers delivering vital messages.
In the territory of Kunling, everyone had arrived: aristocratic clans, academy disciples, great sects of various paths, and countless rogue cultivators.
Outside the Third Peril, battle cries echoed in all directions. The plateau under the night sky had already turned into complete chaos.
"Old geezers of the third realm, have some shame! Does harvesting little monsters of the first realm give you that much of a sense of achievement?" a Vajra parrot called out loudly as it flew across the sky.
A crowd of experts flew into a rage, looking up one after another. Had this bird swallowed a bear's heart and leopard's gall? They prepared to shoot it down.
The parrot radiated Vajra force, gleaming brilliantly against the night sky. It hastily yelled, "Everyone, those are the exact words of an ancestral master! I'm just his mouthpiece! He said that by snatching kills like this, not only will you earn no merit, but you'll also have points deducted from your record—and get no auspicious blood!"
Never mind a messenger of an ancestral master; even if it were a chicken at an ancestral master's doorstep, they would have to address it as a phoenix. Who would dare strike it now? All of them reined in their killing intent.
Across the plateau, banners of millennium clans fluttered in the wind, experts from the outer realm streaked across the sky in trails of conscious spiritual light, elites of the esoteric sects swept through the field, and countless rogue cultivators fought bloodily with soaring fervor.
Every faction vied to be first. Blood stained the plateau in every direction as all competed for battle merits.
"Everyone, it only counts if a memory crystal records the beheading! Don't dream of pooling spoils behind closed doors onto one person to exchange for auspicious blood!" someone shouted in reminder.
Frenzied slaughter raged everywhere.
In truth, the fiends were also counterattacking—fearless of death and exceedingly ferocious—putting immense pressure on all sides and inflicting heavy casualties across the battlefield.
Yet cultivators of every path remained brimming with confidence. After all, the ancestral masters had already eliminated the auspicious beast and the top-tier fiend forebears. Could the remnants overturn the heavens?
The major organizations as well as the rogue cultivators all possessed a psychological advantage, knowing their side would ultimately prevail.
Thus, many factions fought in a state of wild excitement, blood drenching the plateau.
"How nostalgic! This reminds this old man of those storied years during the last Great Reclamation, when we expanded our territory, drove out the dark clan invading our borders, and pierced through tens of thousands of li. That was truly exhilarating!"
Along the periphery of the plateau stood several ancient figures, all wearing reminiscent expressions.
Back then, every clan had competed, scrambling to perform meritorious deeds deep within the night mist world. Fierce figures leading just a small squad had dared to plunge deep behind enemy lines, charging without restraint.
Many great clans had carved their way forward like that, seizing vast territories, achieving great merits, and reaping lavish rewards.
With every Great Reclamation, new major powers emerged, and peerless prodigies of later generations rose to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with ancestral masters.
Now, witnessing the great battle on the plateau, many people eagerly anticipated another Great Reclamation.
Some elders hoped their clans would soar, while certain powerful figures harbored wild ambitions, wanting to find serendipity in the depths of the night mist and become ancestral-master-level figures themselves.
One could say that in the current night mist world, everyone from top to bottom desired a Great Reclamation; a unified momentum was rapidly forming.
Therefore, even though the present scene was merely a prelude, it already stirred up excitement in many hearts.
After the Vajra parrot called out for the old fellows to have some shame, the battlefield had clearly separated into distinct tiers. Everyone sought out fitting opponents, leaving plenty of opportunities for the youth.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu also entered the battlefield. Once the older generation stopped snatching fiends, their harvest began to surge.
By now, the two had separated, like a pair of flood dragons parting the sea, cleaving through the wind and waves as they charged forward, slaying fiends in rapid succession.
Far behind them, a golden ram, sturdier than oxen or horses, hauled an iron-clad chariot, responsible for collecting and storing their spoils.
This was Jin Xiang, a graduate of Shanhe Academy who usually pulled carts in Kunling City for a living solely to temper his heart in the mortal world.
Today, Qin Ming and Xiao Wu had hired it at a high price to haul fiend heads and occasionally help record their deeds with a memory crystal.
In the night sky, several elders stood atop various superior exotic birds, looking down at the bloodstained plateau.
A man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties chuckled. "Your Newborn path really doesn't cut it. In everything you do, you're just along for the ride. I doubt you'll get more than a few portions of auspicious blood this time."
"Not necessarily!" Yu Gensheng countered.
He and Zhao Ziyuan were both present. Although they were experts of the same level, the others radiated vigorous vitality and possessed skilled methods of retaining youth, whereas the two of them were excessively aged.
This was the harsh reality of reaching the end of the Newborn path: it relied entirely on grinding through the years, making them far older than their peers at the same cultivation level, hardly belonging to the same generation.
"Is that so? Aside from a few lineages like Rulai, Six Imperials, and Qingtian, the Newborn path is essentially severed as far as I can see. Not a single academy in Kunling has produced a standout Newborn."
"We can't control other places, but regarding the academies in Kunling, we might as well discuss it. Rather than wasting auspicious blood on a hopeless path, it would be better to pool it and nurture a few heaven-sent geniuses with tremendous potential."
Clearly, someone was dissatisfied with the performance of the Newborn path.
***
Though Qin Ming kept a low profile, he was hardly subdued. While he did not summon the five-colored light ring to shield himself, he unleashed killer moves in rapid succession, carving a bloody path straight through.
"A crisis has erupted fifteen li ahead! Several second-realm experts have fallen there!" an exotic bird reported from the night sky.
There were numerous spirit birds on this battlefield acting as messengers, continually relaying information.
Upon receiving the message, Qin Ming immediately accelerated. The surrounding vegetation shook violently as surging Yimu essence bore him forward, carrying him soaring across great distances with every bound.
Whenever fiends blocked his path along the way, he swiftly cut them down.
Under the night sky, battle cries echoed everywhere across the plateau. In the dim, shadowy darkness, fiends and humans clashed relentlessly, staining the flora red.
"An underground palace?" Qin Ming was surprised.
A nest of fiends resided here. Their ancestors had once produced formidable great demons, but they had long since declined. Now, only one aged fiend among them had barely reached the third realm, yet he was decrepit, his body decaying and his vitality severely depleted.
Even so, he remained terrifying, having slain several people who had barged in rashly.
"The old monster can't hold out much longer! Let's join forces and kill him!" several youths shouted, their blood boiling as they fancied themselves capable of slaying a third-realm fiend.
Qin Ming also agreed with their assessment. The old fiend was on the verge of rot and could barely hold on.
In fact, he felt that going up alone would probably be enough.
Soon, a bloody battle erupted. Blood was drawn from the youths from time to time, and some even fell. Failing to break through for so long triggered a wave of panic.
Qin Ming stepped forward, striking from amid the crowd. A single saber slash nearly severed the old fiend's shoulder, leaving the entire arm dangling limply as blood gushed like a fountain.
"I've eaten plenty of humans in my life. Even if I die now, it won't be a loss!" The old fiend gave a sinister grin. With a mane of white hair and glowing green pupils, he lunged forward.
Pfft!
He failed to wound Qin Ming; instead, he took another saber slash that nearly severed his other arm as well.
"Great! Let's kill him together!" the other youths shouted excitedly.
Amid the crowd, Qin Ming swung his saber once more. The old fiend, already at the end of his strength, could not hold out at all; a head flew through the air, decapitated by a flash of snow-white blade light.
Someone shouted in excitement, "The old monster is dead! It's completely settled! This is a cave abode where a great demon once lived—search carefully, everyone, there might be rare treasures!"
Someone said, "Brother, you contributed the most. The old monster's head belongs to you."
In reality, they hadn't realized the newcomer's true strength, assuming he was merely fresh reinforcement and that the old fiend had been too spent to resist, allowing him to deliver the killing blow.
Qin Ming naturally intended to take this head.
However, someone blocked him and said, "Many experts from our Li clan are here and contributed greatly. It wasn't your place to claim his head."
Someone had come to contest the merit.
Many people's expressions changed. Could it be that Li clan among the quasi-millennium aristocratic families?
"There are only four of you, and you merely joined the siege without any special contribution, didn't you?" Qin Ming asked as he severed the old fiend's head.
"Who said there are only four of us? Many more are responsible for sealing the underground palace's vital passages and exits." Another five people walked over.
Qin Ming sneered and ignored them. Anyone with discerning eyes could see they were trying to steal credit. Earlier, terrified of the third-realm old fiend, they hadn't dared approach, yet now they acted overbearing.
"Put down the old monster's head!" someone from the Li clan demanded.
"I have a memory crystal here. Don't go looking for trouble," Qin Ming said coolly.
At the same time, a saber beam flared with brilliant colors. The heavenly light force shone so intensely that their eyes stung with severe pain and their conscious spiritual light felt as though it were catching fire.
Terrified, they hastily retreated, not daring to obstruct him.
Qin Ming paid them no further attention. Moving like a ghost or god, he searched through the vast underground palace.
The underground palace was immense, carved out from natural grottoes with numerous stone chambers chiseled into the rock.
However, too many people had entered. After clearing out this nest of fiends, everyone was rummaging around, so few good things were likely left.
Moreover, this fiend clan had indeed long since declined, leaving little behind to begin with.
Qin Ming rushed into the clan's treasury alongside a crowd of people, only to find it completely empty, pitifully barren.
"Huh?" Amid a pile of rust-covered weapons, he picked up a pitch-black stone.
It was the size of a washbasin and scorched black all over, looking as though it had been struck by lightning.
During his ninth rebirth, Qin Ming's eyes had mutated, matching and even surpassing spiritual pupils. Right now, his eyes burned hot as he gazed intently at the object before him.
Instantly, a sharp ache pierced his eyes.
Deep inside the pitch-black stone, he saw a dazzling cluster of flaming light.
"Starfire Essence?!" Qin Ming was astonished.
Had it been in the past, he certainly wouldn't have recognized it.
While acting out his role in the ancient immortal dao arena, he had seen it—and only in a single arena had he encountered this material. A tiny wisp alone was priceless.
And certain varieties of Starfire Essence were mutations of solar fire essence.
Qin Ming had conceived several models for his Outer Sage path. One of them was "a thought of day, a thought of night," which happened to require a cluster of solar fire essence.
However, in this world shrouded by night mist, finding such a thing was simply unrealistic; after all, even the sun had vanished.
Yet now, he found himself very close to realizing one of his concepts, having discovered the most crucial kind of foreign substance.
"The ancestors of this fiend nest truly were once wealthy and distinguished, exceptionally powerful back in their day!" Qin Ming marveled. Then, finding a secluded spot, he stashed the pitch-black stone into the space within the rag.
At this moment, his heart was filled with delight, a smile spreading uncontrollably across his face.
"Worth it!" Qin Ming thought. This was truly a pleasant surprise.
Even if he failed to obtain auspicious beast blood, it no longer mattered. In his eyes, this scorched stone was an invaluable divine treasure.
People were guarding the exit of the underground palace, blocking Qin Ming's way.
There were over a dozen people. The leader appeared to have just arrived from afar, wearing a bronze mask, burly in build, and holding a bronze staff.
"Halt!" someone from the Li clan barked.
Qin Ming swung his saber directly, blade formed from heavenly light force, slashing forward.
The tall, masked man made his move and actually blocked the light saber in Qin Ming's hand.
Both were surprised, not expecting the other to be so strong.
In an instant, the two traded blows in rapid succession, clashing continuously at lightning speed, leaving vast trails of afterimages across the area in a fierce struggle.
Only when the tall, masked figure was sent flying backward, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, did Qin Ming stride away, vanishing into the night.
The members of the Li clan were completely dumbfounded. Knowing their own person's true caliber, how could he lose?
Li Qingxu pushed himself up, his pride deeply wounded. A mere Newborn had defeated him!
Over this period of time, he had suffered nearly ten consecutive defeats!
He had accepted losing repeatedly in the immortal dao arenas—after all, those were ruthless figures, peerless prodigies of ancient times. Yet today, encountering a random Newborn here, he had been slashed until he coughed blood. The shock left him in a daze.
"Qingxu, don't take it to heart. After all, you temporarily used an exotic treasure to convert conscious spiritual light into heavenly light force, altering your physique and spiritual field. This isn't your true strength; it's merely an accident," someone consoled him.
"I'm fine. A few more defeats won't hurt." Li Qingxu sat on the ground, his gaze deep and inscrutable.
The Li clan members regretted their actions. They shouldn't have been greedy, nor should they have picked a fight out of petty pride, only to cause their clan's immortal seed to suffer yet another defeat.
They knew very well what Li Qingxu had been through recently.
If his Dao heart were damaged, none of them could bear the consequences.
***
Qin Ming felt this plateau was a treasure trove that demanded a thorough scouring.
Afterward, his performance grew ever more dazzling, stunning the entire battlefield.
"Among the Newborns, a few are rather suspicious and formidable. I wonder if he is among them." Someone from the Cui clan was paying close attention to this battlefield, tasked with gathering intelligence.
"If we confirm it's him, let's help make him famous. He's been far too low-profile. I imagine we won't even need to lift a finger—many people will take an interest in him, such as Cao Qianqiu."
Chapter 234