Chapter 62: A Surprise for Lin Qiyou

Since that incident which made Qingmu start to cherish Nongli, half a month had already passed.

In these two weeks, Nongli was fortunately able to hunt down some food, barely keeping Qingmu from starving to death.

As the man and the fox thought it was time to leave and seek chances to survive elsewhere, they considered it a risk worth taking—far better than letting Qingmu starve in the mountain village.

Even though Qingmu had agreed to Nongli’s suggestion of “eating meat,” how many meals could a single fox really endure?

But just as Qingmu and Nongli made their decision, a group of cultivators arrived in the village.

By some stroke of luck—or misfortune—they found Qingmu and Nongli, who had already noticed them and were trying to avoid confrontation.

A battle began that Qingmu, even with his Qi Technique, could do nothing to aid, and only Nongli fought on, persisting in a battle doomed to fail.

Qingmu could do nothing but silently pray to heaven for mercy, hoping Nongli would survive, and that he himself could help Nongli grow seven more tails in their next life.

Unexpectedly, the Demon King Benji descended from the sky.

Whether it was the mercy of the system or the favor of heaven, Qingmu was immensely grateful.

Yet, amidst his gratitude, Qingmu inexplicably felt a strange familiarity toward this Demon King Benji.

The feeling itself was strange, as if he and Benji shared some indescribable spiritual connection.

Benji’s expression seemed subtle as well, as if he noticed it.

“Since you have no place to stay, come back with me to the Demon Realm first. To the east, just across the sea.”

What followed made Qingmu feel that Benji was no threat for now; rather, he could be a tremendous help.

Qingmu and Nongli did not know whether Demon King Benji was friend or foe, but when Benji casually asked Qingmu his first question, Qingmu immediately resolved to follow him to the Demon Realm.

Benji said:

“Do you have Qi?”

Qingmu immediately realized what he meant. The instant he nodded, Benji nodded as well.

Whether it was coincidence or not, during the first life’s simulation, Qingmu had heard his master say that the “Qi Technique” wasn’t just one book—the other was in the hands of the Demon King.

Could this Demon King be Benji?

But were the two simulated worlds really the same?

Qingmu found it hard to believe it was all just coincidence.

He wanted to confirm, but couldn’t.

After all, he was still just an ordinary mortal, barely able to glimpse the path of cultivation—his only gift was some talent in alchemy, nothing more.

In any case, since they mentioned Qi, it had to be related to the Qi Technique, right?

The system had said it would find Qi Techniques in other worlds.

So, the agreement was made just like that.

Nongli, confused but trusting Qingmu, followed him and Benji to leave.

Their vehicle was a celestial vessel, upon which Demon King Benji brought proper food for Qingmu and Nongli.

The man and the fox wolfed down the meal, then leaned against each other and fell asleep.

They had been very cautious when boarding the vessel, but exhaustion caused them to drop their guard.

Benji had no intention to harm them; he simply watched the odd pair, tightly clinging to each other, curious about what they had been through and what their relationship was.

After some unknown time, Qingmu awoke suddenly from his sleep.

The celestial vessel was still flying toward the Demon Realm.

He looked down at Nongli in his arms, fondly stroked the fox’s adorable face, and carefully got up.

Demon King Benji stood at the front of the vessel, hands behind his back, staring ahead like a stone statue.

“Just call me Benji, Qingmu.”

Hearing Qingmu awake and walking over, Benji said this casually.

“Benji, thank you.”

Benji’s easygoing manner surprised Qingmu slightly as he approached.

Though the vessel flew swiftly, strong winds were inevitable, but the artifact’s makers had naturally considered this and equipped wind protection.

So the deck was as comfortable as walking on solid ground—no wind sound at all.

“No need. You probably know why I’m doing this.”

Benji replied.

“Hmm… Qi Technique, right?”

Qingmu walked to the side of the deck, looking down from the vessel.

Because it was night, he could see nothing.

“We’re at sea. We’ll reach the Demon Realm before dawn.”

Benji said only this, confirming Qingmu’s guess.

“Where did you learn about the Qi Technique?” Qingmu asked.

“I found mine over two hundred years ago in an ancient tomb.”

Benji’s phrase “my Qi Technique” confirmed what both Qingmu’s master and the system had said was true.

There was more than one Qi Technique.

“And you?”

“That was given to me by my master.”

Qingmu answered.

“I see.”

Benji nodded without much reaction.

He swayed his upper body and came to Qingmu’s side, and immediately Qingmu felt the “Qi” grow even stronger.

“But the Qi Technique… disappeared. I still remember it in my mind.”

Qingmu thought for a moment—he really didn’t know where the Qi Technique had gone.

In the last simulation world, the Qi Technique had definitely been taken away by the Lin family’s head, along with the storage ring.

And that was the previous world…

For a moment, Qingmu felt dazed.

If it was just one world, then…

No, it was better if there were two worlds—how could a simulation be just one world?

“Qingmu?”

“Hm?”

“You were spacing out. Didn’t hear what I just said?”

“Ah, just a bit tired.”

Qingmu shook his head apologetically.

Benji understood Qingmu’s distraction and then began to ask:

“How much do you know about the Qi Technique, or what does your Qi Technique describe?”

This was exactly what Qingmu wanted to know—he was curious about what was written in Benji’s Qi Technique.

A book naturally couldn’t be summarized in a few sentences, so Qingmu gave a brief overview:

“Generally speaking, it’s like… awakening, awakening the body. You could say… stimulating potential? Strengthening?”

Qingmu felt he lacked a precise term to summarize it well.

After he finished, it was Benji’s turn.

“My Qi Technique’s content is existence.”

“Existence?”

Qingmu raised his brow, instantly intrigued by the profundity of the Qi Technique.

“Wait.”

Just as Qingmu was about to ask more, Benji suddenly raised a hand to stop him and turned toward the rear of the celestial vessel, as if needing some privacy.

Qingmu nodded and stared into the pitch-black sky.

A thick sea mist blurred the horizon.

He suddenly had a question: if the two simulated worlds were the same, what was Lin Qiyou doing now?

…

……

“Immortal Swordsman You? Ah, don’t worry about the fox demon. If you can’t find it, you can come directly to the Demon Realm. I have a surprise for you.”

At the rear of the celestial vessel, Demon King Benji said this to Lin Qiyou.