Chapter 29: Taking Action

“Brother Su, what happened to me just now?”

“What was that terror, that feeling of my body and soul being filled with murderous intent?”

Chen Ping’an’s face was deathly pale as he followed Su Ling around like a curious child, asking question after question. What had happened moments ago had been far too horrifying for him to simply let go.

“It’s nothing. Just a minor trial. By the way, after what happened, has your state of mind improved?”

Chen Ping’an froze for a moment, then quickly understood.

His somewhat shaken gaze turned toward the God of Slaughter in the distance, who was wreathed in terrifying murderous intent. After swallowing hard, he focused his attention inward.

Chen Ping’an discovered that his state of mind had not collapsed beneath the murderous aura that no ordinary person could possibly endure. Instead, it had become even more resilient.

He was utterly bewildered. He could barely spare a thought for the terrifying God of Slaughter who was about to arrive.

With his eyes widened in astonishment, he looked toward Su Ling, completely unable to understand.

“Heh. This is your opportunity. Accept it.”

The opportunity Su Ling referred to existed solely because he was present.

Otherwise, Song Changjing’s surging battlefield killing intent, which he had made no effort to conceal, would have completely shattered Chen Ping’an’s state of mind, leaving it beyond repair.

As for Song Jixin, who had fallen to the ground in dejection, he had somehow vanished without a trace at some point. Where he had gone remained unknown, which was rather strange.

“Oh…”

Chen Ping’an only half understood, but he also knew that this was not the time to discuss it.

Because Song Changjing—who had already fallen into a demonic state of bloodlust and whose strength had risen dramatically—was almost there.

Su Ling was not surprised in the slightest by what he saw. Song Changjing’s life had been nothing short of extraordinary. He had fought his way across the world and remained undefeated, never encountering a battle that forced him into a life-or-death struggle.

Yet before Su Ling, this could not even be called a battle. It had been no more than Su Ling swatting away a mosquito.

Song Changjing, who held himself in the highest regard, simply could not accept—nor could he possibly accept—the fact that he had been defeated as easily as if it were a child’s game.

Su Ling’s single blow had originally knocked Song Changjing unconscious. By all rights, he should have had no chance to fight again.

Yet relying on his astonishing willpower, Song Changjing rose once more. His eyes burned with killing intent, his consciousness entirely gone, as he rushed toward Su Ling at tremendous speed.

Song Changjing had been trapped at the summit realm for a long time. Now, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of the splendor of the Higher Five Realms.

Though he had fallen into a state of murderous frenzy, his instincts still drove him toward a higher peak, urging him to behold the scenery atop that lofty mountain.

With this near-instinctive force behind him, Song Changjing seemed blessed by the heavens. His murderous intent surged like mountains and seas, pouring forth without end in terrifying waves.

On Su Ling’s side, seeing this, he had no intention of meeting Song Changjing’s overwhelming killing intent head-on. He merely stopped where he stood.

“Br… Brother Su, that God of Slaughter is coming.”

Though Chen Ping’an had been so horrified by the scene before him that he could scarcely remain composed, he still forced himself to stand upright beside Su Ling beneath that terrifying aura, an aura powerful enough to shatter an ordinary person’s mind.

One could only say that Chen Ping’an truly lived up to his name. His willpower was absolutely unyielding.

To cultivators from the outside world, such willpower would have been a supreme gift—something they could admire from afar but never hope to attain.

If nothing unexpected happened, Chen Ping’an would find the path of cultivation entirely unobstructed. With nothing more than that pure and innocent heart of his, he would leave his peers far behind.

Just as Chen Ping’an prepared himself for battle, a clear yet familiar voice suddenly rang out across the heavens above.

At the sound of it, Su Ling gazed with interest toward the tall scholar in Confucian robes hovering not far ahead, his back turned toward him.

Unlike Su Ling, who looked as though he were watching a play, Chen Ping’an broke into a delighted smile. His fist, slick with cold sweat, clenched tightly as he said with some excitement:

“Mr. Qi!”

“Ah!”

A gentle voice that struck directly at the soul echoed through the hearts of every resident in the town. Qi Jingchun appeared to have something to say.

“I bear responsibility for this matter. My supervision was inadequate.”

There seemed to be a trace of helplessness in Qi Jingchun’s voice. Su Ling even noticed his gaze flick briefly toward him.

It was no illusion. After all, the incident had begun with that terrifying battle of Su Ling’s, a confrontation that had skirted the very edge of what was permitted.

Qi Jingchun had already warned him beforehand, advising him not to fight with all his strength in this place. Naturally, Su Ling had not ignored that warning, nor could he afford to do so.

He had merely found another way to avoid the consequences Qi Jingchun would have to deal with afterward.

He had not acted with murderous intent, and he had used less than a tenth of his strength to send Song Changjing flying with a single punch after the man repeatedly provoked him, even attacking him outright with killing intent filling his heart.

By reason or by emotion, no fault could be found with Su Ling. After all, Song Changjing had been the one to start the conflict. Su Ling had done nothing more than trade words with him.

Who could have imagined that Song Changjing, the Great Li’s God of War, would possess so little restraint and such reckless courage? Completely disregarding the town’s rules, he had launched a lethal attack against Su Ling.

Su Ling had been left with no choice but to counterattack. On that point, Qi Jingchun naturally had no grounds to punish him further.

“Killing prodigies, battling gods and immortals, building monuments from the dead…”

Muttered phrases filled with boundless killing intent continued to spill from Song Changjing’s lips.

Though Song Changjing’s consciousness had vanished and he acted only on instinct, it was clear that his arrogant and overbearing nature had seeped into his very bones and could never be eradicated.

At those words, Qi Jingchun slightly furrowed his brows. He seemed displeased by the battlefield martial artist before him, whose entire body was steeped in killing intent.

Qi Jingchun’s thin lips parted slightly.

A series of wondrous ripples invisible to the naked eye spread rapidly outward from him, extending across a hundred miles in every direction like lightning.

These miraculous ripples seemed to contain the supreme principles of heaven and earth, as well as immense power. Even the laws governing time under the heavens themselves froze before them.

Under this supreme technique, powerful enough to halt time, only those whom Qi Jingchun had specifically chosen to protect—or beings of equal supernatural ability—could move freely.

Everyone else could only end up like Song Changjing, who hovered motionless in midair not far away, as though frozen in place.

Even the tangible murderous aura coiling around his body seemed to have been sealed in ice. It drifted around him like snowflakes, making him appear at once immortal and demonic.

“Mr. Qi!”

Chen Ping’an looked around at the absolute silence enveloping the area, filled with curiosity like a country girl visiting the city for the first time.

He quickly gathered himself, however, and turned his respectful gaze toward Qi Jingchun, who stood not far ahead.

“Mm.”

Qi Jingchun turned around. His appreciative gaze settled on Chen Ping’an’s faintly trembling body.

Then, with an expression of calm composure, he turned toward the respectful Su Ling at his side. After pondering for a moment, he spoke gently.

“Su Ling, this must not happen again.”

Though Qi Jingchun’s words seemed to mean that such an incident must not occur three times, Su Ling clearly understood the true meaning behind them.

There might be a limit of three, but it was obvious that this was the only time he would be allowed to exploit a loophole through cleverness.

If it happened again, there was no guarantee that Qi Jingchun would not strike him down himself as a warning to others.