Chapter 33 - Meeting Yuan Shao Again

“Blood recognition? How does that work?” Long Qing blinked her big eyes and asked with curiosity.

“You’ve never heard of blood recognition? Hasn’t your flying sword recognized you as its master?” Leng Yan felt a bit exasperated; Long Qing was just too innocent.

“Nope! I just hold it, feeling like a heroine, so impressive!” Long Qing laughed as she twirled her sword.

“Long Qing, how old are you? And how have you come this far without encountering any trouble?” Leng Yan couldn’t quite believe it.

“I’m sixteen this year! Right after I came down from the mountain, I ran into those three bastards. I said I was heading to the tide sea, and they offered to take me. I thought they were good people, so I accepted. Who knew! Hmph! A bunch of bastards!” Long Qing stomped her foot in frustration.

Perhaps his expectations were too high. It was true that ordinary children at this age were carefree and innocent, unlike himself. At sixteen, he had already killed countless people and lived amidst the clashing of swords, where a slight misstep could lead to dying far from home.

“Just prick your finger and let a drop of blood fall on it. This way, you’ll be a bit safer, Long Qing,” Leng Yan smiled.

“But it’ll hurt!” Long Qing pouted and said reluctantly.

“Long Qing, since you’ve chosen the path of cultivating dao, you need to be brave and strong. I saved you this time, but what about next time? You need to learn to protect yourself and those you want to protect, okay?”

Listening to Leng Yan’s words, Long Qing seemed thoughtful for a moment, then nodded, “I understand, thank you!”

“Good!” Leng Yan watched as Long Qing closed her eyes, a bit scared, but still placed the sword on her fingertip, cutting a small wound. A drop of blood fell onto the moonlight ring, giving her a sense of comfort.

If I had a happy family, would I also have a little sister like this, clinging to me, wanting me to carry her around?

A wisp of spiritual energy entered Long Qing’s fingertip, and Leng Yan gently tended to it, and before long, the wound was healed.

Yuan Shao! Just in time. It seems the previous battle startled him, Leng Yan sensed Yuan Shao heading this way with several magical power realm water apes and thought to himself that Yuan Shao really walked into the trap.

“Long Qing, step back a bit. Some bad guys are coming. Once I finish them off, we’ll head back to the sect and hang out with the old man!” Leng Yan smiled.

“Okay! The old man said if I can get a middle-grade treasure tool from you, he’ll give me a high-grade one!” Long Qing chuckled, then quickly covered her mouth and whispered, “Oops, I said too much!”

“What did you say? You made a bet with Xuan Yi! And I treated you so well! I must be blind!” Leng Yan knew Long Qing was just having fun, but he had to scare her a bit to make sure she wouldn’t be careless around him in the future.

Sure enough, seeing Leng Yan angry, Long Qing’s tears flowed immediately. She walked over to Leng Yan, tugging at his sleeve, and sobbed, “I know I was wrong. Please don’t be mad! I’ll give you the ring back!”

“Alright! I forgive you! But you must never help others trick me again, okay?” Leng Yan couldn’t stand a girl’s tears, especially from such an adorable little girl, so his heart softened quickly.

“I got it! Leng-Ge is the best to me!” Long Qing wiped away her tears and smiled. You had to admire how easily she could cry and then stop.

As they were chatting and laughing, Yuan Shao arrived in front of them. Seeing Leng Yan, he was both surprised and delighted-surprised that Leng Yan had fallen into the forbidden realm of the sea tribe and survived, delighted because if Leng Yan was alive, he could capture him and force him to reveal his cultivation techniques. He pointed at Leng Yan and shouted, “Great! You’re still alive; that’s excellent. Seize him for me!”

Yuan Shao had eight magical power realm demonic beasts with him. In the past, Leng Yan would indeed have found it hard to escape, but that was in the past.

Now, Leng Yan was not what he used to be. As he saw the eight demonic beasts charging with their steel forks, Leng Yan walked forward calmly. “Fools! Mystic ice blade! Attack!”

Eight blades, resembling moon essence wheels, formed around Leng Yan, emitting a chilling glow. With his command “attack,” they shot out swiftly.

The eight demonic beasts quickly raised their steel forks in an attempt to block the attack! But their steel forks sliced through like tofu.

And just like that, the eight demonic beasts, full of shock, left this world!

“How… how did you become so powerful?” Yuan Shao’s eyes showed a hint of fear. Though he could also defeat eight demonic beasts at the magical power realm, he could certainly not do it so effortlessly.

“Now it’s just the two of us. Are you going to give me your unicorn horn willingly, or should I take it myself?” Leng Yan said with a faint smile.

“Don’t even think about it! The horn is the symbol of the true bloodline of our tribe and our pride. If you want my horn, you’ll have to kill me first!” Yuan Shao shouted angrily.

“You might as well just tell me to take it myself. Why so many words? In my eyes, it’s just refining material,” Leng Yan replied. As he finished, the Azure Sky Sword in his hand thrust towards Yuan Shao’s neck, aiming straight for a vital spot.

Leng Yan chose not to attack with a magical technique because he wanted to test the strength of his physical body. The water ape tribe, aside from mastering water element Divine Power, also possessed strong physical strength.

Yuan Shao swung his steel fork horizontally to deflect Leng Yan’s attack, but Leng Yan’s strikes were incredibly swift, with every move followed by another poised to strike.

His lightning-fast attacks overwhelmed Yuan Shao, forcing him to retreat continuously in a flurry of motion.

“Take this! The mountain-cleaving strike!” Leng Yan shouted, bringing down his Azure Sky Sword with immense force.

“Hah!”

Yuan Shao quickly lowered his stance, raising his steel fork above his head to block.

“Clang!”

The sound of clashing metal echoed as Leng Yan’s full-force strike hit Yuan Shao’s supreme-grade spiritual weapon, his steel fork. A chunk of the fork chipped away under the power of Leng Yan’s Azure Sky Sword, and a sharp pain tingled in Yuan Shao’s hand.

“Kneel before me!”

Leng Yan’s battle intent surged as he pressed his Azure Sky Sword against Yuan Shao’s steel fork, pouring his strength into his arms and pushing down fiercely.

“Never! Ah!” Yuan Shao gritted his teeth, exerting all his strength to resist Leng Yan’s force. But as Leng Yan’s strength increased, Yuan Shao’s legs began to bend, showing he was reaching his limit.

“Kneel! Kneel for me! Hah!” Leng Yan’s eyes shone with a fierce purple light, a dominating aura rising within him, one of supreme authority.

Faced with Leng Yan’s renewed assault, Yuan Shao finally could not hold on any longer. His knees buckled, and he knelt to the ground. The steel fork in his hands, unable to bear such weight any longer, snapped in half.

“Water Element Armor!”

Seeing his steel fork break and Leng Yan’s sword chopping down, Yuan Shao hastily cast a magical technique, forming armor around himself just in time to block Leng Yan’s strike, though the protective spell shattered immediately after.

Leng Yan hadn’t expected Yuan Shao to react so quickly, managing to conjure armor in such a short time to shield himself from the attack.

“Howl! Howl!”

Using the momentum from Leng Yan’s strike, Yuan Shao retreated some distance, tilting his head back and letting out a howl.

“Calling for help, are you? Initially, I wanted to use you to hone my skills, but now I cannot let you live! Perish!” Leng Yan exclaimed, summoning two water dragons with a wave of his hand.

Yuan Shao knew his magical techniques were futile against the approaching water dragons. His face went pale, and he turned to flee in a panic.

There was no way Leng Yan would let him escape. With a thought, the sea behind Yuan Shao instantly froze into mystical ice, blocking his path.

“Boom!”

Yuan Shao’s body was engulfed by the two water dragons, his blood turning the sea red, leaving only a unicorn horn falling into the water.

Collecting the unicorn horn signified a significant accomplishment. Leng Yan also sensed a powerful presence quickly approaching. He hurriedly said, “Long Qing, come here! We need to make a quick escape.”

“Okay, Leng-Ge! You’re amazing!” Long Qing ran up to Leng Yan, not missing a chance to praise him.

“Long Qing, get ready. I’ll take us on sword flight!” Leng Yan, about to attempt sword flight for the first time, felt a bit excited. He infused magical power into the Azure Sky Sword, which started glowing with azure light, expanding enough for both of them to stand on it.

With Long Qing beside him, Leng Yan focused his thoughts, and the Azure Sky Sword lifted them into the air. Feeling the rapid drain of his magical power, Leng Yan couldn’t help but marvel that typically those at the magical power realm refrained from using sword flight because of its high energy demand.

However, Leng Yan’s robust magical power allowed him to withstand the consumption.

“You think you can just run away after killing my son? I’ll make you pay with your lives!” Yuan Hong’s enraged roar echoed in their ears.

“Such speed! It’s a unification realm demonic beast-this is going to be trouble! Long Qing, hold on tight! We need to go faster!” Leng Yan exclaimed in surprise as Yuan Hong closed in rapidly.

“Okay! I’m holding on!” Long Qing replied, gripping Leng Yan’s clothing tightly.

“Sundering Water Technique, activate.”

Leng Yan pressed his palms together and then spread them apart. With the completion of his hand technique, the sea ahead parted to create a waterless passage, and the speed of their sword flight increased sharply as they soared towards the surface.