He must have the power of a Xiuzhenist and the determination of a loner.
Since his father and brothers cannot venture into the unknown and wander about with him, will Qin Yu be able to leave his father and brothers?
“Remember, just do whatever you think is right. The Qin clan’s sons flinch from nothing, not even death!”
Those words said by his father resound in Qin Yu’s ears again. He suddenly laughs: “Alright, living in the world, why do I have to be afraid of something? Moreover, I’ve been living the wrong way. I mustn’t live for other people. That kind of life has tired both me and father out. I must live for myself. Father, big brother, 2nd brother, I’ll pursue my own life!”
Qin Yu’s eyes glitter.
“Xiao Hei, after father has overcome his tribulation, I’m going to pursue my own life. Do you want to follow me?” says Qin Yu while stroking Xiao Hei’s head. Xiao Hei immediately spreads its wings and gently pats Qin Yu’s back with them while continuously nodding.
Qin Yu laughs as soon as he sees this.
It does not matter what is going to happen, at least Xiao Hei will always be his companion.
“Xiao Hei, let’s go. It’s a waste of time to live a boring life. Let’s go to see if the Heavenly Net has any challenging missions.” Qin Yu gets on Xiao Hei’s back at once with a jump. Xiao Hei immediately flaps its wings then disappears like a beam of light.
******
Qin De sits down. He is in the chair. 3 other people consisting of the blue-clad old man, Manager Ge Min and Fengyuzi also sit down one by one.
“The place has been selected. Everything is almost ready. We only need to wait 37 more days,” says Qin De indifferently. The closer it gets to the tribulation, the more clearly he feels its time of arrival. And he is going to undergo the tribulation in 37 days.
The blue-clad old man says with a nod: “There are a lot of demonic beasts in the Wilderness. Quite a few of them have even reached the Jindan stage. Even if Wu Xing and Wu De discover the appearance of the heavenly tribulation in the Wilderness, they will surely think that it is a demonic beast undergoing its tribulation. So, if Your Highness can overcome the tribulation, the Xiang clan instead won’t expect that we’ll even have such an expert as Your Highness on our side.”
“The location selected by Your Highness is really extremely ingenious,” says Manager Ge Min in agreement.
Qin De shakes his head and says with a laugh: “Let’s wait to see if I can go through the heavenly tribulation alive before saying something. All right, brother Feng and Manager Ge Min, the 2 of you please leave first. I and Blue-clad have to discuss some matters.”
“I take my leave, Your Highness.” Manager Ge Min bows and says. Fengyuzi, however, only folds his hands in salute. The 2 of them then leave.
The blue-clad old man and the gray-clad old man are the 2 general managers of the Heavenly Net. Generally, Qin De only calls these 2 old men by their code names Blue-clad and Gray-clad. In fact, he has never called them by their real names. This time, Qin De has decided that the blue-clad old man is going to follow him when he leaves for a location in the Wilderness to undergo the tribulation whereas the gray-clad old man is going to continue to manage the Heavenly Net’s operation.
“Blue-clad, this time pick out 5 late phase Xiantian experts from the Secret Arrow, which was originally managed by Uncle Lian, and let Manager Ge lead them. At your Heavenly Net, find some late phase Xiantian experts in the 2 Nets. At the same time … invite assassin Liu Xing to come as well.” There is a faint smile on the corners of Qin De’s mouth.
The blue-clad old man also gives a smile.
The Heavenly Net is divided into the Inner Net and the Outer Net. However, it cannot directly control the members of the Outer Net and can only invite them. As for this assassin Liu Xing, Qin De, being the leader of the Heavenly Net, has been paying close attention to him for some time.
“That assassin Liu Xing is extremely powerful. According to my subordinates’ reports, he has been undertaking 9 successive missions recently and accomplished them with ease. There were even late phase Xiantian experts among the targets but, when facing this assassin Liu Xing, they had no choice but to get killed. His power should have reached the peak of the Xiantian level.” The blue-clad old man states his opinion.
At the moment, Qin De is in need of experts, absolute experts.
That day he told Qin Yu that peak Xiantian experts cannot put up any resistance against Xiuzhenists. What he said can be considered correct, but not totally correct. In a one-on-one, it is certainly correct. However, if 5 or 6 peak Xiantian experts join forces and use middle-grade holy weapons at the same time, then whether it is true will be quite another matter.
Peak Xiantian experts are all extremely fast, like lightning. If 5 or 6 peak Xiantian experts attack together, a Jindan stage Xiuzhenist will find it difficult to cope with them. If his body gets destroyed, the Xiuzhenist will be done for. Even though a Jindan stage Xiuzhenist’s elemental energy is profound, his body’s structure is almost no different from that of ordinary people’s bodies. So, once his internal organs are shattered into pieces, he will also die.
Qin De currently needs peak Xiantian experts, or late phase Xiantian experts at the minimum.
However, peak Xiantian experts are too hard to come by. Currently, according to Qin De’s judgment, this assassin Liu Xing is a peak Xiantian expert. Moreover, judging from the missions that assassin Liu Xing has undertaken, he is also trustworthy.
“Blue-clad, you are to invite him personally. If necessary, you can threaten him a bit by force. Of course, he must not be told about the location of the tribulation, and my identity as well. When the time comes, letting him follow us will be enough!” says Qin De.
He is not worried about the identity of this mysterious assassin Liu Xing. Even if Liu Xing is an enemy, will it make any difference? After all, Qin De cannot let him know anything.
“Yes, I’m going to invite him personally.” Blue-clad bows and says.
……
Qin Yu has found it very strange that the last time he took a mission the executive of that Heavenly Net branch told him the supreme elder of the Heavenly Net requested a discussion with him. As a top-class assassin of the Heavenly Net, he also knows it has 2 grand elders. He wonders why this grand elder invites himself to meet him today.
Following their agreement, Qin Yu goes to a teahouse. At the moment, there are no guests in the teahouse. He slightly frowns.
“You’ve arrived, Mister Liu Xing. Why don’t you come up here?” A series of laughs of a man comes to him from the 2nd floor.
Qin Yu’s feet make a movement. His entire body disappears into thin air at once then appears on where the staircase and the 2nd floor meet. His speed was extremely fast and simply reached a shocking level.
“So fast yet caused no wind sounds!” The blue-clad elder is startled in his heart. He knows even he himself cannot reach that speed. He looks toward the top landing of the staircase and sees a man standing there, who is about 1.75 m tall and looks very cold from head to toe.
The blue-clad elder, however, has an indescribable feeling that the man in front of him seems very familiar.
As soon as Qin Yu sees the man before him, his eyes pop out of his head because he unexpectedly recognizes this so-called Heavenly Net grand elder as the mysterious blue-clad elder who occasionally appears beside his father. The usual movements of the blue-clad elder and the gray-clad elder are extremely secret, only that these 2 elders appear in the princely mansion sometimes. In the entire mansion, only a few people such as Qin Yu know about the existence of this blue-clad elder and the gray-clad elder.
“Heavenly Net grand elder?” says Qin Yu while looking at the blue-clad elder. An unfathomable faint smile appears on the corners of his mouth.
Chapter 16: The source of danger (1)
“So the Heavenly Net’s leader is …” An idea springs to Qin Yu’s mind and he gives a smile. He then comes up to the blu
e-clad elder’s face and sits down directly without ceremony.
The blue-clad elder laughs then slowly says: “Mister Liu Xing is so mysterious, just like a hidden dragon. In 3 consecutive months, you accomplished perfectly all of the 9 gold card missions you took. When I first knew about this, I was indescribably amazed. Only afterwards did I know that it turned out the Outer Net of my Heavenly Net still had such an expert as Mister Liu Xing.”
“Gold card missions? They weren’t challenging at all. I so wanted to find a match but couldn’t. This really …” says Qin Yu very haughtily.
He does so because he wants to keep his real identity from being discovered by other people and also to define assassin Liu Xing as a top-class expert who devotes himself to martial arts and cares about nothing but martial arts.
“Not challenging at all? Could it be Mister Liu Xing has already reached the peak of the Xiantian level?” asks the blue-clad elder. Qin Yu suddenly gives a ha-ha laugh and says: “Grand elder, you would know after testing a bit, right? It’s really hard to meet an expert of your caliber.”
As he finishes saying, he suddenly attacks with his right hand.
Since he was little, Qin Yu has trained his fingers’ strength and, at the same time, their flexibility repeatedly. After many breakthroughs, today the strength of his fingers has already reached an astonishing level. He extends his right hand’s forefinger, creating several tens illusions.
The blue-clad elder’s eyes brighten. He also extends his right hand’s forefinger, on which a dazzling light appears.
Bang!
Finger versus finger! The fingers crash head-on. They are unexpectedly equally matched.
Qin Yu slightly curves the corners of his mouth upward. A purple beam of light suddenly shoots out from his fingertip. The blue-clad elder only feels a sharp force penetrate into his body through his fingertip. He cannot help getting shocked. He immediately withdraws his finger and, at the same time, uses the liquified Xiantian energy in his dantian to eliminate this foreign stream of energy.
“Ha-ha, Mister Liu Xing is really formidable. This senile old man admires you. I really do!” The blue-clad elder laughs out loud and says at once. His eyes brighten.
Following Qin De’s order to invite Qin Yu this time, the 1st thing he must do is determine what level Qin Yu’s power has reached. Judging from the force of this one finger strike alone, the blue-clad elder can already confirm absolutely that assassin Liu Xing before him is not weaker than him.
“You didn’t use all your power, grand elder, so my win is worthless,” says Qin Yu indifferently.
He can see that this blue-clad elder did not use his entire power. However, Qin Yu did not use all his power either. He is certain that, if he had to deal with the blue-clad elder, using only the purple Xiantian energy he has thanks to practicing the 3rd Trans-Heaven diagram he would surely be able to destroy the blue-clad elder.
“Mister Liu Xing is at such a high level in power. It looks like you’re already qualified to undertake a special mission,” says the blue-clad elder mysteriously.
Qin Yu slightly narrows his eyes. He knows he is posing as assassin Liu Xing, a pursuer of martial arts and the human limits, so he says at once: “Oh? You only say I’m qualified to take this mission after testing me just now. It seems this mission is very awesome? Tell me about it.”
The blue-clad elder says mysteriously: “Awesome? Mister Liu Xing, quite a few experts who take part in this mission are on a par with you. However, joining this mission, you must forget about life and death.”
“Oh?”
Qin Yu’s heart skips a beat.
He knows that, with his current power, he has made the blue-clad elder think that assassin Liu Xing is a peak Xiantian expert. However, the elder just said quite a few experts who participate in this mission are on the same level as him. Does this not clearly mean that they are also peak Xiantian experts?
“What is this mission? Could it be ...” Qin Yu secretly has a hunch.
“Ha-ha … using several experts like me, is there such a difficult mission? Could it be to assassinate a Shangxian?” says Qin Yu laughingly.
The blue-clad elder says with a shake of his head: “It’s not to assassinate a Shangxian, but to be a bodyguard for about a month. If you’re willing to join, during this month, you’ll have to protect the client well.” The blue-clad old man stares at Qin Yu and carefully observes his reaction.
“Bodyguard? Humph, you’re asking me to become a bodyguard?” says Qin Yu coldly.
The blue-clad elder says confidently: “Don’t worry, Mister Liu Xing. Don’t you always dislike easy missions? This mission is absolutely difficult and, moreover, the power of the prospective enemies will satisfy you. The important thing is … if this mission is successful, we will give you a high Xian-grade weapon!”
High Xian-grade weapons are the top weapons in the eyes of mortals on the Qian Long continent.
As for holy weapons, generally only Xiuzhenists can have them. Qin Yu found that chunk of In-rock Flaming iron, but if it had not been for Fengyuzi’s forging he would not have come into possession of his holy weapons. Therefore, how can mortals possibly obtain holy weapons? The mission’s reward of a high Xian-grade weapon as the blue-clad elder said is already extremely valuable.
Superb weapons hold an enormous attraction for martial artists so Qin Yu has to act as if his interest has been aroused.
“Oh…” A hint of excitement flashes in his eyes.
Seeing Qin Yu’s expression, the blue-clad elder knows he has a good chance of success. He says instantly: “Mister Liu Xing, it is extremely hard to come across a mission like this. If you want to join us, then wait for me in this teahouse 3 days later. When the time comes, I’m going to bring you along.”
“Who am I going to protect? And where are we going to go?” Qin Yu asks closely.
The blue-clad elder says with a shake of his head: “I can only tell you that the client is called Mister Ying. As for the other thing, there’s no need for you to ask. When the time comes, you’re going to follow us.” The blue-clad old man stares at Qin Yu, waiting for his answer.
“Mister Ying?” An idea springs to Qin Yu’s mind. His conjecture has been confirmed even more.
“All right, I’ll take this mission. See you 3 days later in this teahouse.” Qin Yu gives a ha-ha laugh. His body has already flown out of the 2nd floor directly through a window. He then disappears, leaving behind several afterimages. The blue-clad elder looks at the window and nods smilingly.
******
Late at night, in the imperial study,
“Your Majesty, this is Hidden Chessman’s secret letter.” A refined handsome middle-aged man hands over a letter. Xiang Guang, who is sitting, receives it and opens it to read the contents. He immediately frowns deeply: “What? Qin De is going to undergo the 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation and even in less than a month’s time?”
Xiang Guang’s expression changes nonstop.
Qin De has always been his worry. If he cannot eliminate Qin De, he wil never have a peaceful day, as if there is something hard stuck in his throat forever. Moreover, today he has learned that Qin De is going to undergo the 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation so he has become somewhat flustered. He hopes that Qin De will fail to overcome the tribulation but he also fears that Qin De will succeed and become a Jindan stage expert.
If the latter happens, the Qin clan will have 2 Shangxian and once it rebels it will be a much bigger threat.
Xiang Guang thinks for a long time then raises his head looking at the elegant middle-aged man before him and asks: “Mister Lan, in the beginning Wu Xing and Wu De made it clear that they only promised to protect us. It’s very difficult to make them get into action. Right, has Great Ancestor given any instructions yet, Mister Lan ……?”
With a smile, this Mister Lan takes out from his bosom a small jade bottle, puts it on the table before Xiang Guang and says: “Your Majesty, this is a Red Flourishing Pill. I believe Your Majesty
also knows what Great Ancestor means.”
Hearing the 3 words Red Flourishing Pill, Xiang Guang is shocked. Then a hint of savageness appears on his face: “Red Flourishing Pill, the last Red Flourishing Pill, how could Great Ancestor give it up? Right, don’t worry, Mister Lan. Please inform Great Ancestor that I definitely won’t let Great Ancestor down. Humph, Wu Xing and Wu De are really too greedy. However … Qin De must be destroyed; it can’t be helped.”
“I mustn’t let Qin De overcome the tribulation no matter what. Otherwise they’ll have 2 Jindan stage Xiuzhenists on their side, plus the troops of the 3 Eastern region counties, so, when war breaks out, even if their rebellion fails, the Xiang clan’s vitality will suffer greatly.” Xiang Guang clenches the jade bottle in his hand.
Stellar Transformations Page 41
