Qin Ming realized that the situation was exceptionally grave. Only someone who knew him and had studied him could track him down.
Just as at the Luofu Immortal Mountain ruins, Wang Caiwei had recognized him through subtle details.
He frowned deeply. The Cui clan had thoroughly locked onto him, bent on getting rid of him once and for all.
Many spirit birds traversed the skies above the plateau carrying messages, and most were equipped with memory crystals.
The auspicious blood had drawn all factions to vie for it. Believing him extraordinary, the Cui clan had assumed he would come here as well, and based on dazzling battle records, they had swiftly narrowed down a small circle of suspects.
Among the Newborns, youths with truly breathtaking performances were few, making a handful stand out immediately.
*It seems I was careless. The Cui clan is filtering through my mannerisms, habitual movements, and the like...*
Back then, Wang Caiwei had been able to "thoroughly understand" him using the minute details provided by the Wang clan.
The Cui clan had servants who had tended to his daily life, and far more "kin and acquaintances," all capable of providing even richer "particulars."
Clearly, the concrete footage captured by the spirit birds' memory crystals had been meticulously cross-referenced by the Cui clan, making it child's play to single him out from that small group.
Altering his appearance could ward off strangers, but it could never fool attentive "kin."
On careful reflection, so long as he came to the plateau to fight and performed astonishingly, he was like an awl in a pouch; if those who knew him best looked closely, it would have been abnormal if they failed to discover him.
Yet why had the Cui clan suddenly become so "attentive" to him?
Qin Ming felt a chill in his heart. Certain "achievements" of his must have been exposed, making them unable to sit still once they sensed a glimmer of a threat.
In truth, that was precisely the case. The Cui clan had confirmed that he had slain several wondrous-blood old monsters in succession at the world's edge—an achievement that vastly exceeded all expectations.
*Moreover, do they suspect I've mastered the silk book method?* Qin Ming knew that this matter would come to light sooner or later.
The more extraordinarily he performed, the more suspicious the Cui clan would grow. After all, he had never had access to Tathagata force, Yuqing force, or the like before.
Only the silk book method had he practiced continuously since childhood.
With spirit birds carrying memory crystals, an attentive acquaintance could discern that his heavenly light force did not match any of the renowned varieties.
After all, Qingtian, Tathagata, the Six Imperials, and others were known to all under heaven.
Eliminating the world's most formidable forces left clear traces to follow.
By working backward from his heavenly light force, the Cui clan could uncover vital clues.
Qin Ming reflected that his journey of late had been far too smooth, leaving him somewhat careless.
In truth, caution would have been futile anyway. As long as his feats dazzled the plateau, anyone who was not a fool would notice something.
***
"It really is you!" Cui Changkong had a gaping hole burnt straight through his chest, and his voice was weak and short of breath.
Qin Ming made no effort to hide it; his words and actions said everything.
"Your grandson misses you."
Such a flat sentence shattered Cui Changkong's composure. Blue veins bulged on his forehead, and his body trembled faintly.
He suppressed the tumult in his heart; he did not want to die yet, wanting even more to avenge his grandson.
He took a deep breath to steady himself, hoping to stall for time.
"Going to Black-White Mountain certainly turned your fortune around—mastering the silk book method, and even obtaining an ethereal bamboo shoot." At this moment, Cui Changkong even resented Cui Qi.
Qin Ming was speechless. The Cui clan had actually bought into that.
They believed that his freedom from the limit of five Newbirths in a year was just as Meng Xinghai had claimed—the result of consuming an ethereal bamboo shoot.
Qin Ming smiled. Even if he told the man that he possessed extraordinary natural talent and none of the so-called hurdles of the Newborn path could hinder him, the man probably wouldn't believe it anyway.
Wasting no time, he closed in with his mutton-fat jade iron saber. "Time to send you on your way!"
Cui Changkong's face alternated between green and white. In normal circumstances, he should have been the one looking down upon a second-realm junior.
Yet now, a mere youth was treating him with contempt.
His body rapidly shifted, turning in an instant into a burly moon-gazing rhinoceros.
He walked the mutation path, capable of transforming into a fiend.
Qin Ming paused in surprise, then understood. With only half a heart left, the old fellow's strength was severely diminished; he had adopted a defensive posture to stall for reinforcements.
Cui Changkong eyed the jade-white precious saber in the youth's hands with immense dread, terrified of being decapitated with a single stroke. In his massive, thick-hided form, he could easily endure a few slashes.
"Since you wish to suffer, I'll grant your desire." Qin Ming moved like an illusory god traveling through the night mist, vanishing with each step at terrifying speed.
He circled Cui Changkong with his strikes. The pure white blade, as though carved from exquisite jade, shimmered with iridescent mist, splashing a blossom of blood with every slash.
Cui Changkong was naturally not taking the cuts passively. Diverse runes flickered across his coarse hide, and the horn on his head fired beams of light, desperate to kill his foe in an instant.
Alas, with half his heart missing, mobilizing power overloaded his body each time, far beyond what it could endure.
And each time he exerted force, blood spurted wildly from the charred hole in his chest.
Sensing that death was inescapable, Cui Changkong shouted, "Qin Ming, you ungrateful junior! Without my Cui clan, could you ever have become what you are today?!"
Qin Ming's face darkened instantly. He sorely wanted to retort: *I thank your ancestors for eight generations!*
He struck like lightning, his speed surging again. In an instant, circling the moon-gazing rhinoceros, he delivered twenty-eight consecutive slashes, fast as a specter.
Every cut drew blood. In the blink of an eye, massive gashes ripped across the thick-hided giant beast, blood pouring continuously.
The pain was unbearable for Cui Changkong; it was practically death by a thousand cuts.
Vanishing with every step, Qin Ming unleashed a torrent of strikes. In moments, the moon-gazing rhinoceros seemed to be stripped of its flesh, pale bones laid bare like Cook Ding carving an ox.
Cui Changkong wailed shrilly in agony. He regretted his choice; a swift death would have been far better than enduring this living torture!
With a metallic clang, his horn was sheared off, and the cultivation of his entire life was almost entirely ruined.
Standing upon the beast's back, Qin Ming raised the mutton-fat jade iron saber, bright blade light soaring toward the heavens.
Then he swung downward. With a wet squelch, an enormous head fell to the earth amid geysers of blood, and Cui Changkong perished in agonizing pain.
This was Qin Ming's first time slaying a third-realm expert who had entered the fight in his prime. For him, the significance was extraordinary.
Regardless of the means employed, the bitter losses he had suffered in the past and the shadows lingering in his heart were gradually dissipating.
Beneath the night sky, an iron arrow pierced the air, and another spirit bird exploded, raining blood that dyed drifting feathers crimson.
Qin Ming eliminated all the nearby "witnesses."
After briskly clearing the battlefield, he departed without looking back.
Among the people he had killed, Cui Chongsheng was the most prominent in status—the direct grandson of Fifth Uncle Cui.
"Old fellow, you bullied me when I was young back then. Today, I'll give you something to grieve over!"
Qin Ming could well imagine how dark that old face would turn when Fifth Uncle Cui received the news.
In fact, several months ago, Fifth Uncle Cui had sought to move against him again, only to be stopped by Li Qingyun.
Having settled matters, he brushed his sleeves and left, feeling he had finally vented a breath of pent-up malice.
***
The small circle of experts including Cui Changming and Cui Cheng received urgent intelligence.
Cui Changkong's group had charged over first. Going by the timing, both sides should have clashed by now, and results would be known soon.
At the same time, they were already aware that at least three groups had rushed there, all of them hardliners.
"Why do I feel somewhat uneasy? Nothing went wrong, did it?" Cui Cheng frowned, sensing something amiss.
"Something might have happened. Several spirit birds were shot down, and the rest didn't dare approach that area!"
"Hurry and find out!"
The faces of Cui Changming, Cui Cheng, and the others all changed.
Sure enough, dreadful news arrived!
A lightning sparrow flew near that territory and spotted bloodstains everywhere, with the headless corpse of a moon-gazing rhinoceros sprawled across the ground.
"They... are all dead?"
"Changkong was beheaded, and Fifth Brother's own grandson Chongsheng is dead as well. Members of our Cui clan didn't fall to fiends, yet died at his hands?!" Cui Changming clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pale.
They knew Fifth Uncle Cui would certainly explode with rage. Cui Chongsheng was a direct grandson he deeply favored; he would likely leave the clan in person to settle scores.
"How old is he? Has it even been ten months since he embarked on the Newborn path? He couldn't possibly achieve this on his own! There must be someone protecting him!"
They refused to believe this was something Qin Ming could have accomplished.
Cui Changkong alone was an insurmountable "fortress" for him!
They were certain a supreme expert was accompanying Qin Ming.
"Can we contact the other groups? Stop them immediately, don't let them go near him!" Cui Changming barked, then glared fiercely at Cui Cheng.
"It's too late. Calculating the time, another group should have closed in on him already."
Cui Cheng felt apprehensive, already regretting his choices.
Elders like Cui Changming felt sharp heartache. For members of the Cui clan to bleed on the plateau in such a manner was something that never should have happened; under no circumstances could any more be allowed to die.
In reality, the more one fears something, the more certain it is to happen.
At that very moment, deep in the great grasslands, several corpses lay beneath Qin Ming's feet. His pure white jade iron saber was dripping with blood. Four youths were already sprawled dead, their heads separated from their bodies.
One middle-aged man remained alive, but his breath was faint as a thread, stripped of all combat strength. A gaping hole scarred his chest and abdomen, ringed with scorch marks.
Without question, Qin Ming had repeated his previous tactic, briefly fusing Starfire Essence into his heavenly light to inflict catastrophic wounds upon the man.
The middle-aged man, Cui Qing, had long, pale-green hair. Having stepped into the third realm—the Spirit Field—around age forty, he was undeniably extraordinary.
Upon meeting, he had immediately reached out a hand to seize Qin Ming, convinced that even if the youth before him had mastered the silk book method, even if he were a reincarnated deity, he could never withstand a single blow.
Yet reality was brutal. The hand he had extended was gone, and his torso was pierced through from front to back.
Qin Ming recognized these people, and was even somewhat familiar with a few. But since they stood on opposing sides, he had to strike without mercy.
Had it not been for the unusual color of Cui Qing's hair, he too would have been beheaded already.
Looking at the green hair, Qin Ming knew what scripture the man cultivated.
Immediately, his gaze turned burning hot as he attempted to extract the genuine scripture.
"Little whelp, you actually dare covet the *World-Abiding Scripture*? Keep dreaming!" Cui Qing was utterly uncooperative.
The *World-Abiding Scripture* was renowned in the night mist world. It was the scripture that followed the *Yimu Scripture*, transcending the category of rare arts to stand as a secret scripture.
The chief reason it shook the world, beyond the marvelous arts recorded within, was that mastering it could extend one's lifespan by "half a lifetime"!
Even though it was exceptionally difficult to learn, even ancient forebears studied it.
Among them, the Cui clan's Old Ancestor had secluded himself for a full two hundred years precisely because he deeply studied the *World-Abiding Scripture*, yet had still emerged alive.
Qin Ming slapped the flat of his blade across Cui Qing's face, instantly mangling it and knocking several teeth loose.
In an instant, Cui Qing erupted in fury, his emotions churning violently.
"It's not as if I've never practiced it," Qin Ming said, seizing the opportunity to "guide" him as he recited the *World-Abiding Scripture* on his own initiative.
Back in Chixia City, he had won six or seven pages of the scripture from Cui He and Cui Shuning.
In the distance, a thunder falcon was reporting: "Disaster! The second team encountered that youth, and after a brief clash, that area went silent again."
All at once, Cui Cheng, Cui Changming, and the other Cuis—middle-aged and elderly alike—guessed what had happened, and felt unbearable heartache.
Chapter 237