Stranger Danger

Chapter 907: Sword Tomb

“Tsk tsk... Broke down already?” A sick, crazed grin spread across Chen Qishang’s face when he heard Chen Cang’s screams. “Useless!”

“I was going to send you away tomorrow thinking that you have finally improved a little, but now? Now, I think you’re still lacking a little... fire. If you can’t even withstand this bit of pain, then you’re just going to bring shame to our Swordsgrave again. There’s no helping it, I guess I’ll just have to educate you some more.”

“What do you think? Aren’t you happy and excited?”

“Ahhhh... ahhhhhhh...” The only response Chen Qishang got was Chen Cang’s full-throated screams.

“You’re so happy that you can cry? Good, good! This senior brother promises to show you his best methods if only to meet your expectations and passion!” Cheng Qishang chirped excitedly while walking circles around Chen Cang.

A dozen or so breaths later, Chen Cang’s screams slowly died down. Judging from his unfocused eyes, it was clear that he was on the verge of falling unconscious.

It was at this moment Cheng Qishang flicked a pill into Chen Cang’s mouth. A tremendous amount of vitality immediately spread throughout his body.

Chen Cang regained his consciousness and started screaming at the top of his lungs again.

“Tsk tsk... I gotta say, your screams are some of the most wonderful music I’ve heard, junior brother. I just can’t get enough of it!”

Intoxication and enjoyment adorned Cheng Qishang’s expression as he said, “Come on, louder, just a little louder... that’s it! That’s the stuff. Now keep going and don’t stop...”

Right now, neither man realized that someone had arrived at the outer edge of the Sword Tomb.

......

“An array? I thought this might be the place!” Ye Qing’s eyes flashed with triumph as he stared at the peach blossom forest in front of him.

He called it a peach blossom forest, but it wasn’t really accurate. The shape and size of the trees matched that of a peach blossom tree, but they were completely white in color because of the whale tomb. For now, he assumed that it was a peach blossom forest.

Of course, this wasn’t the main point. The main point was that the large majority of these peach blossom trees were planted to form an array of sorts.

It had to be where Chen Cang was hiding.

Ye Qing stepped into the forest without hesitation. Immediately, peach blossom flowers began falling from above, and the trees shifted and turned here and there. The entrance where he came from was gone, and thick fog was rolling in from every direction. It was a peach blossom miasma, and it was highly poisonous.

“Hup!”

Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath. Then, he exhaled.

Clouds formed when he inhaled, and wind emerged when he exhaled. A powerful gale instantly dispersed the peach blossom miasma and cleared out the entire space.

By the time the gale had subsided, the peach blossom miasma were all gone. Even the peach blossom trees were completely bald, the flowers lying dead and wilted on the ground.

More importantly, a dozen or so swordsmen wearing black robes and dumbfounded expressions on their faces were revealed. They were Swordsgrave disciples, and they were responsible for guarding the peach blossom forest and slaying anyone or anything who dared to enter this place.

Although the Sword Tomb was extremely well hidden, someone would somehow make it to this place every once in a long while. Their duty was to silence these people and ensure that the existence of the Sword Tomb remained hidden, not to mention dealing with the occasional Stranger threat.

The array they were garrisoning was called the Great Peach Blossom Array. It could trap enemies and kill them via its deadly peach blossom miasma.

Generally speaking, they would activate the Great Peach Blossom Array to trap their foes before unleashing the peach blossom miasma. The peach blossom miasma was extremely poisonous, capable of killing anyone below Spirit Purification stage and knocking out anyone below Trueman stage. Even a Trueman or a Grandmaster would find themselves dizzy and plagued by vigor circulation issues should they make contact with the miasma, becoming much weaker than before.

In the case of powerful enemies that the peach blossom miasma could not eliminate outright, they would enter the battlefield to ambush their quarry and slay them where they stood.

The battle plan hadn’t failed them so far. The scores of Truemen and Grandmasters they killed across the years was proof of the plan’s effectiveness.

They knew that Ye Qing was strong from the moment they set their sights on him. That was why they defaulted to their usual battle plan against strong foes and hid themselves. They were going to wait until the peach blossom miasma had weakened Ye Qing before ending his life in one fell swoop.

However, Ye Qing’s response was beyond anything they were expecting. Not only did the guy blow away the peach blossom miasma and break the Great Peach Blossom Array in one puff, he had exposed them as well.

This was the first time they encountered a situation like this after guarding the Sword Tomb for so long. They were unsure how to react to put it mildly.

“You’re Swordsgrave disciples?!” Ye Qing remarked after examining the stunned group and sensing the tremendous sword qi inside their body.

“Who are you? How dare you trespass into the Sword Tomb?”

Ye Qing’s remark snapped them out of their reverie. At the same time, someone tried to contact their elites in secret. They knew that there was no way they could handle Ye Qing on their own.

Unfortunately, they had barely moved when Ye Qing snapped his fingers. An invisible, anomalous energy rippled out, and their minds collapsed into chaos instantly.

A demonic lotus surface as Ye Qing’s eyes flickered anomalously.

“Swordsgrave? Seven Wounds Ultimate Sword? I see! This is one of Swordsgrave’s branch halls!” A smirk appeared on Ye Qing’s face as the demonic lotus rotated slowly. “Interesting.”

Just now, he had used the “Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent” to take control of the Swordsgrave disciple instantly. After that, he read their minds and found out everything he needed to know about this place.

Once he was done, Ye Qing waved his hand and caused the Swordsgrave disciples to move out of his way like puppets. Then, he walked straight ahead.

He hadn’t killed the Swordsgrave disciples not because he was feeling merciful, but because they were useful to him. Swordsgrave disciples were notoriously talented, strong and villainous, making them perfect fodders for his “Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent”.

Ye Qing saw a large tomb after he passed through the peach blossom forest. The tomb was huge, extravagantly-designed, and magnificently-built. A ten-meter tall white jade tablet ahead of him had the words “Sword Tomb” engraved on its surface.

“The people of Swordsgrave sure has unique tastes!” Ye Qing muttered under his breath. The tomb in front of him wasn’t an actual tomb, of course. It was the branch hall and where the disciples of Swordsgrave were practicing.

As soon as he appeared, countless Swordsgrave disciples appeared and attacked him from all sides.

However, they all lost their consciousness and stopped in their tracks before they could even get close to Ye Qing.

In a void where they couldn’t see, countless demonic lotuses were descending into their headspace and minds.

“Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent”

None of these Swordsgrave disciples were weaklings. They ranged from Astral Refiners to Half-Step Truemen. However, they might as well be ants before Ye Qing. He had converted them all into Heavenly Demon Dependents without any resistance whatsoever.

“Open the entrance,” Ye Qing commanded while looking at the white jade tablet.

A Swordsgrave disciple immediately stepped forward and injected a wisp of sword qi into the white jade tablet. A ripple washed out of the tablet and transformed into an entrance.

As soon as Ye Qing passed through the threshold, light and shadow overlapped, and a massive space appeared in front of Ye Qing. He was immediately greeted by the sight of bridges, streams, blue sky, buildings, carts, people, and more. It was like a hidden corner of paradise.

Countless people were practicing their cultivation or their sword Inside the Sword Tomb. Ye Qing’s entrance came as a surprise to all of them. Unfortunately, not a single one of them managed to react before their consciousness dimmed into darkness.