Page 497

Chapter 497: Chapter 487: Interesting Person...

Whoom!

Sword energy surged towards the heavens, as a hurricane compressed around Chen Qing, forming a unique boosting force that combined with his sword energy, piercing straight through the sky!

The originally gloomy space began to distort under the surge of sword energy.

At this moment, she knew that Chen Qing had not lied. His strike truly had the power to shatter the void!

She no longer had time to wonder how a second-version demon could comprehend such a secret technique, nor to ponder... why did Chen Qing also know it?

All she knew was that if she didn’t let go of the sword in her hand now, she would be turned to ash by Chen Qing’s strike!

But it was quite difficult to simply throw away this sword...

The Spine Sword was not just a mere name; it was truly connected to her own spine. Forcibly breaking and throwing it away was no different from extracting her spine. Yet she dared not hesitate and immediately, without any hesitation, pulled out the sword in her hand!

The intense pain nearly made her faint on the spot.

She could not remember the last time she had suffered such agony in many years!

The pain of removing a spine reminded her of the torment of a spinal tap from her previous life. Coming to this world... was to avoid experiencing such pain again, and she had managed to do so...

But now... someone had made her endure such pain once more!

"Chen Qing!!!!!"

The shrill scream, like nails scraping on glass, was unbearable to hear, and the Serpent Mother’s bitter gaze fixed on Chen Qing like that of a real venomous snake.

"You will regret this! I will catch you, catch the people you care about, the myriads of ghosts consuming you, never to be reincarnated!"

"Heh... really that powerful?" Chen Qing’s sword slashed straight through: "Then if you’re so formidable, don’t run!"

Boom!

The entire mirror shattered, and the awkward figure of the Serpent Mother constantly dashed through the fragments, not daring to look back at Chen Qing even once, choking on her resentment, allowing it to accumulate as venom, waiting for the opportunity to strike back viciously at that bastard’s body!

"Not going to chase?"

Ao Zhen threw away the sword in her hand and frowned as she looked back at Chen Qing.

Having her spinal bone removed, even with strong regenerative capabilities, the Serpent Mother was now severely weakened. It had been hundreds of thousands of years since Ao Zhen had such a good opportunity!

"Can’t chase..." Chen Qing shook his head: "Just now, King Xiang’s consciousness controlled the Ghost Temple to prevent her from using the power of the ghost mirror. That’s how we could so easily succeed.

But if we chase further, we’ll have to destroy other mirrors.

Do you think King Xiang’s will would allow us to destroy more mirrors?

These have all been amassed over many years. "

Ao Zhen: "....."

"She is the most cunning person I’ve ever met. If you miss this opportunity, I’m afraid it’ll be even harder to find another one this good."

"That’s because she has never encountered me before..." Chen Qing immediately laughed: "The cunning her you mentioned has already tripped up in my hands, hasn’t she? If she can fall once, she can fall again. Don’t worry..."

Ao Zhen stared blankly at him for a long while before finally smiling: "You sure are confident..."

"I’ve always been like this in my actions. You’ll get used to it."

"When did you come back?"

"I returned during the hour of Shen..." Chen Qing replied.

"During the hour of Shen?" Ao Zhen looked back at Chen Qing: "At that time, Ah Da, Ah Er, and Shen Qi... hadn’t gone to their deaths yet, had they?"

"No..." Chen Qing shook his head.

"Why didn’t you stop them?"

"If I had stopped them, we all would have died here..." Chen Qing said calmly: "Only if they believed that I truly wasn’t here and that the Jiangnan Delegation posed no threat would the Serpent Mother go to exploit Ali, and only then would I have the chance to save you!"

"So it was on purpose?" Ao Zhen frowned: "You intentionally let them go to their death, you intentionally let the Fox Demon undergo torture?"

"Yes!"

For what he had done, Chen Qing had no intention of making excuses!

"Then it seems you’re not much different from her."

"I never said I wasn’t that kind of person..." Chen Qing spoke indifferently, "This world devours the weak, how can sheep ever hope to fight against the wolves of wealth?"

"Makes sense..." Ao Zhen nodded, saying nothing more. In truth, she hadn’t expected Chen Qing to be an extraordinary person. In this era, could those who rise to the top be any different?

"Your Highness!"

Just as Ao Zhen was preparing to leave first, a sudden familiar voice made her freeze and sharply turn around.

"This kid... still has some conscience..."

"Who let you out?" Chen Qing grabbed the other person, shoving them into an inexplicable space.

Ao Zhen glanced at Chen Qing and then at Ah Da, who had been pushed in: "A spirit body?"

"The underworld has the power to detain souls.

.." Chen Qing was stuffing Ah Da’s spirit body back into the Yin Yang Register while explaining calmly, "So as long as I’m nearby, I can reclaim the souls of my divine followers from the Jiangnan forces while those people are not paying attention, preventing them from being drawn into the Path of Yin and Yang. .."

"While people aren’t paying attention?" Ao Zhen looked at Chen Qing doubtfully, "That means you’d have to act shortly after someone dies, right? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?"

"Of course, I will only make a move with confidence," Chen Qing lowered his head.

Wang Ye watched on the side, almost wanting to laugh at the absurdity. He hadn’t realized the kid was so stubborn. With no real confidence, Chen Qing had been extremely cautious, already prepared for the worst-case scenario should he get caught.

"Is that so?" Ao Zhen nodded, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly without her realizing.

"Enough talk; there’s still work to be done. Follow Wang Ye to the Empress Dowager. I’ve made a new friend who can cure the poison in your body."

"Where are you going?" Ao Zhen asked, puzzled.

What was there to run off to at this time?

"To see that Fox Demon. That fellow is very valuable, we can’t really afford to have him wrecked!"

Dodging Ao Zhen’s inexplicable gaze, Chen Qing hastily decided to leave the Ghost Mirror Space first, feeling irked.

"You seem not ruthless enough..." Watching Chen Qing’s retreating figure, Ao Zhen said with a smile.

Chen Qing’s back stiffened, and he awkwardly responded, "I will improve!"

Saying this, he took the lead and leaped into Wang Ye’s Flying Star Seal without looking back.

Watching the disappearing figure of Chen Qing, Wang Ye finally couldn’t help but laugh: "Quite an interesting person, isn’t he?"

"Mm..." Ao Zhen also laughed: "He is slightly more interesting than the rest..."

--------------------------------------

"Chen Qing hurt you?"

Three hours later, the Emperor, who had hurried back to the Imperial Palace from the Martial Arts Field, listened to the Serpent Mother’s recount, his complexion darkening to the extreme: "Why didn’t you mention this earlier?"

He hadn’t been wrong; Chen Qing truly could have killed him then!

Upon hearing this, the Serpent Mother’s face turned cold, but she said nothing.

Under those circumstances, her spine had been extracted, her vital energy completely depleted, her combat strength not even one-tenth of the usual.

Of course, she feared that Chen Qing would take advantage of the victory to attack her, and she didn’t dare to leave the temple easily for fear of an ambush!

Only after confirming it was safe outside did she consider that notifying the Emperor was pointless. If Chen Qing had wanted to kill him, he would have done so already.

"He won’t kill you..." After a while, the Serpent Mother finally explained: "He has swayed King Xiang, but that doesn’t mean he wishes for King Xiang to awaken his consciousness. At this stage, it would be terrible if that happened, and I believe he knows that. If you die, my plan will fall through completely, and perhaps he will do everything in his power to release King Xiang. This would result in a lose-lose situation. He is a smart man; he won’t take that step. "

The Emperor took a deep breath, said nothing, but the yearning for power in his heart grew stronger.

This feeling of not having everything under his control, of not even being able to control his own life... was too uncomfortable!

"So what do we do next?" The Emperor asked impatiently after a deep breath to suppress his irritation.

"We can only take it slow..." The Serpent Mother glared fiercely in the direction of the Empress Dowager: "Chen Qing’s interference means controlling King Xiang will take longer, and now that the Earth Spirits are awakening, the chess pieces that other forces have left in this world are starting to make their moves. "

"We can only play it by ear!"

"Other forces..." The Emperor furrowed his brows: "I’ve never heard you mention them before. Do you know who exactly they are? At least, I should be aware so I can be prepared, right?"

"There’s nothing you can do about it..." The Serpent Mother shook her head. However, seeing the Emperor’s increasingly cold gaze, she finally said, "But... you do have the right to know some things now..."