Royal Capital, somewhere on the outskirts.
Hidden in a low thicket, Qin Mu restrained his aura and stared intently.
Beside him, Zixi Senior Sister had also changed into black clothes—white was too conspicuous in the night.
Not long ago, according to the calculation of that youth, Jing Kun was likely to appear here.
Holding a ‘might as well take a look’ attitude, Qin Mu had pulled Zixi Senior Sister along with him.
“Say, is that guy lying to me?”
Qin Mu had been waiting here for over ten minutes without the slightest movement.
He began to suspect the youth had just made up a location at random.
Liu Zixi, on the other hand, was calm as she took out a pastry.
“Junior Brother, want one?”
Qin Mu reached out, took it, and popped it into his mouth.
To his surprise, it tasted pretty good.
“Zixi Senior Sister, do you think we’ve been tricked?”
Liu Zixi took out another pastry and took a small bite.
“Wait a little longer. No rush.”
To be honest, Liu Zixi quite enjoyed this feeling of being together with her Junior Brother.
She didn’t know why, but whenever she saw him, a desire to protect would well up inside her, along with some strange feeling.
She had always been indifferent to men, yet she found herself wavering before Qin Mu, despite having never met him before.
Hearing Zixi Senior Sister say this, Qin Mu thought that if no one showed up soon, he’d just slip away.
Just as this thought arose, Qin Mu saw two figures sneaking through the darkness.
They’re here!
Qin Mu focused intently on the two shadows.
On the other side, at Jing Kun’s location.
“Is it here?”
Wan San looked at Jing Kun, who had stopped, and asked.
Jing Kun glanced around, compared it to a map, and nodded.
“This is the place.”
“Good!”
Wan San twisted his arms and stomped on the ground.
“Leave this to me. You wait over there.”
Jing Kun retreated some distance.
“Ha!”
Because they were in the Royal Capital, Wan San didn’t dare release too much true qi, relying solely on his physical strength and a bit of qi.
His fist struck down, smashing a huge pit into the ground.
Jing Kun’s eyes lit up at the sight of the box inside the pit.
“This is it!”
Jing Kun hurried over, about to grab the box.
“Hey! Take my palm!”
Qin Mu’s figure suddenly leaped out, locking onto the thin figure—no doubt Jing Kun.
As for the burly figure nearby, that was the one who’d injured him that night.
But from his observation, Qin Mu noticed the aura of this burly figure had weakened greatly.
Wan San’s weakened aura was entirely due to fleeing for his life.
To escape pursuit, he’d burned his cultivation several times, barely maintaining Foundation Establishment Stage now.
It showed just how desperately Wan San had fought to survive.
The sudden appearance made Jing Kun freeze for a moment, then he raised a palm to counter.
However—
“Ah!!”
Jing Kun screamed in pain.
A long sword had pierced through his palm.
Having succeeded in the sneak attack, Qin Mu immediately pulled back.
Jing Kun clutched his hand, teeth gritted, glaring at Qin Mu across from him.
“You have no martial virtue. We agreed on a palm.”
Qin Mu sneered.
“Seriously? You really believed me when I said ‘palm’? Then what if I said the one standing across from me is dog poop come to life—would you believe that too?”
Veins bulged on Jing Kun’s forehead.
“Tonight, I’ll take your life!”
With that, Jing Kun’s aura erupted as he charged at Qin Mu.
“Come!”
Qin Mu locked his gaze on Jing Kun, true qi surging as he thrust his sword.
This time, Jing Kun was prepared and dodged to the side.
Qin Mu immediately shifted from stabbing to slashing, aiming for Jing Kun’s throat.
Jing Kun ducked, then pulled out a red talisman with a sinister grin.
“Taste the Demon Clan’s Red Bloodthirst Talisman!”
The red talisman instantly transformed into a venomous snake, opening its jaws to bite at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu retreated rapidly, slicing the snake in half with his sword.
However, the two halves sprouted heads and tails, becoming two snakes.
What the heck!
Qin Mu was startled and quickly summoned a strand of Danfire left by Miss Mengyu.
“Go!”
At Qin Mu’s command, the Danfire shot towards the two snakes.
Sizzle—
Like ice meeting fire, both snakes were instantly destroyed.
“Damn it!”
Jing Kun’s face turned ashen as he roared.
“Wan San! Help me!”
“Don’t bother. He won’t help you.”
Qin Mu grinned, baring white teeth.
Jing Kun’s heart sank.
He turned, only to see that at some point, a black-clad figure had appeared, standing not far away and watching Wan San.
If Wan San made a move, the black-clad shadow would act instantly.
“Alright, now it’s just the two of us.”
“That night, your companion nearly forced me to start over from scratch.”
Qin Mu gripped his sword.
The night wind blew, fluttering his clothes—a true martial hero’s aura.
Jing Kun’s eyes were filled with gloom.
“Why do you interfere with me?!”
Qin Mu spread his hands.
“I don’t want to either, but I can’t just let you have your way.”
“If you succeed, I’m dead for sure.”
“How about this? You give up the mission, and I won’t go after you.”
Jing Kun burst out laughing.
“Easy for you to say.”
“Now that both the Righteous Path and Devil Path have turned their backs on me, and if I offend the Demon Clan too, I’ll have nowhere left to go in this world!”
“And all of this—everything—is because of you!”
Jing Kun pointed at Qin Mu, eyes bloodshot, his voice trembling.
“If it hadn’t been for that beautiful woman by your side saying my poetry was plagiarized, would I have ended up like this?!”
Jing Kun’s expression grew frenzied, his aura twisted and violent, one pupil turning blood red.
Demonic Transformation.
Unlike falling into the Devil Path, which only turned one into a Demonic Cultivator—still human in form—Demonic Transformation was a method used by the Demon Clan to expand their kind, transforming others into their own.
At this moment, Jing Kun’s body and aura both bore the marks of Demonic Transformation.
As the saying goes, purification weakens by three parts, blackening strengthens by ten.
With Demonic Transformation, Jing Kun’s power broke through to Foundation Establishment Stage.
“Die!”
Jing Kun roared, his hand morphing into a claw.
Qin Mu didn’t dare be careless, instantly blocking with his sword.
Clang—
Sparks flew.
A tremendous force traveled through the blade.
“Guh!”
Qin Mu gritted his teeth, using all his strength.
“Hah!”
With an explosive burst of qi, Qin Mu pushed Jing Kun back with his sword.
“Junior Brother!”
Not far away, Liu Zixi rushed forward, wanting to help.
Boom!
A figure crashed down, blocking her path.
Wan San’s muscles bulged, shirt tearing, aura surging.
“Heh. Little girl, let me spar with you!”
A cold light flashed in Liu Zixi’s beautiful eyes, her voice icy.
“Courting death!”
Bang!
The battle erupted on both sides.
Wan San was now holding off Liu Zixi, while Jing Kun, empowered by Demonic Transformation, had reached Foundation Establishment Stage.
Previously, Qin Mu’s plan had been for Zixi Senior Sister to intercept the burly figure while he dealt with Jing Kun.
But plans never keep up with change—events had already gone beyond Qin Mu’s expectations.
Sweat dripped down Qin Mu’s cheeks in large beads.
This situation was getting out of hand.