Stranger Danger

“The Kunlun Ruins…!”

Ye Qing’s eyes lit up when he put two and two together. Finally, he found a lead regarding the Kunlun Ruins.

Unfortunately, his eyebrows immediately knitted into a frown once more.

Although the murals confirmed that East Kunlun and West Kunlun originated from the Kunlun Ruins, there was no description on how someone might travel to the Kunlun Ruins. There were no relevant clues inside the Kunlun Tomb either.

Wait, no, there is a clue. That branch…

Suddenly, Ye Qing recalled the branch of the Radiant Tree on the altar. According to the murals, the ancestors of East Kunlun and West Kunlun had left the Kunlun Ruins and arrived at the world of mortals through the Radiant Tree. This meant that the Radiant Tree was also the bridge between this world and the Kunlun Ruins. If he could locate the Radiant Tree, then he could probably travel to the Kunlun Ruins.

And how might he find the Radiant Tree? The key was probably the Radiant Tree branch.

His mind made up, Ye Qing extended his arm and summoned the branch of the Radiant Tree into his hand.

The Radiant Tree branch felt warm to touch like the first sunlight of spring. It immediately made him feel warm and full of vitality.

Besides that, the branch of the Radiant Tree seemed to be imbued with some sort of mysterious energy.

Before he could inspect it further though, an angry shout erupted from the entrance of the Kunlun Tomb. “You dare lay your filthy hands on the sacred object of my West Kunlun, thief?! Put it down, now!”

The voice was low and raspy. As soon as it appeared, the space around Ye Qing suddenly twisted and shattered like glass. He also felt an invisible power attempting to shackle him and annihilate him where he stood.

He’s here, Ye Qing thought to himself. He was Elder Tomb Keeper, of course. Right now though, the threads sewing his mouth had split apart, and blood was dripping profusely from the ends. It was a horrifying appearance.

Ye Qing wasn’t surprised by Elder Tomb Keeper’s appearance as a matter of course. If anything, his dependents had outdone themselves by keeping Elder Tomb Keeper at bay for so long.

The one thing that surprised Ye Qing was the fact that Elder Tomb Keeper was able to use a Magia or a secret art inside the Kunlun Tomb. The shout earlier contained some sort of mysterious power that could shackle and kill its targets. Anyone weaker would probably have suffered serious damage from the shout.

Logically speaking, the entire Kunlun Tomb was created from Nether Bamboo Stone. It should be impossible for anyone to use any secret art or Magia within its compound. And yet, Elder Tomb Keeper had done the impossible.

Then again, Elder Tomb Keeper was the guardian of the Kunlun Tomb. It made sense that he would know a method or two that allowed him to work around the Nether Bamboo Stone’s insulating properties.

A clear glint flashed in Ye Qing’s eyes. Then, while letting out a disdainful scoff, he put away the branch of the Radiant Tree right in front of Elder Tomb Keeper.

Then, he kicked off the ground and ran toward the old man with thunderous footsteps.

“You are courting death!”

Elder Tomb Keeper snorted at Ye Qing’s charge as the threads binding his nostrils abruptly snapped free. It sounded like lightning had erupted inside the tomb, and the noise felt loud enough to crack stones or tear metal. Then, two wisps of qi—one black and one white—poured out of his nostrils.

The two wisps of qi were swirly like dragons or snakes. They were also overflowing with an aura of fear and inauspiciousness.

Suddenly, the black qi and white qi disappeared at the same time, and Ye Qing abruptly skidded to a stop. His eyes looked unfocused, and one of his eyeballs turned as black as the night, and the other as white as paper.

They looked just like the color of the black qi and the white qi.

“Hmph. What did I tell you?”

Elder Tomb Keeper scoffed imperiously when he saw that Ye Qing had lost his consciousness.

The cultivation art he practiced was called “Sealing The Five Sense Organs”. It was both a martial art and a Magia West Kunlun had specifically invented for the Tomb Keepers. It allowed them to ignore the insulating properties of the Nether Bamboo Stone and employ Magia within the Kunlun Tomb.

The five sense organs were the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and tongue. If all five sense organs were sealed, then the human could not see, could not hear, could not smell, could not open their mouths, and could not taste. In exchange, the human would gain the Five Sense Organs Magia. When they opened their eyes, they could plunge an entire domain into darkness. When they moved their ears, they could hear everywhere with perfect clarity. When they snorted, they could unleash a wisp of yin qi and a wisp of yang qi. When they opened their mouths, they could let out a deafening shout that shook mountains and threatened space. And finally, when they exposed their tongues, they could taste a hundred tastes and a thousand poisons.

The longer one sealed their five sense organs, the stronger the Five Sense Organs Magia became.

How long had Elder Tomb Keeper nurtured his Five Sense Organs Magia? Twenty years.

Just now at the foot of the mountain, he had untied the threads binding his mouth and shouted. That was how he killed all of his enemies in an instant.

The black qi and white qi were the Magia of the Nose.

Each Magia possessed their own abilities. If the Magia of the Mouth excelled at killing the physical body and force, then the Magia of the Nose excelled at killing the spirit.

The two qi were named “Yin Yang Annihilation”. He had harvested the yin qi and yang qi of the world during sunrise and sunset and stored them inside his nose. When he snorted, his victim would lose their spirit, and their heart and soul would plummet. Its power was supposedly unparalleled.

Yin Yang Magia was a top-tier killing Magia even compared to all the Magias out there. Assuming that he had the advantage of surprise, he could instantly destroy even the spirit and mind of a fellow Half Sage.

Inside the Kunlun Tomb, Yin Yang Annihilation was practically unstoppable. After all, it was impossible to use any Magia, secret art, Strange Artifact, and other items related to spirit or force within the Kunlun Tomb. Therefore, it was impossible to shield oneself from the Magia.

Even a Sage would have to dodge his Yin Yang Annihilation inside the Kunlun Tomb, much less anyone weaker.

Elder Tomb Keeper growled furiously as he strode toward Ye Qing. “I must know who gave you the gall to trespass into our sanctuary and blaspheme against our sacred object!”

Elder Tomb Keeper had not slain Ye Qing’s mind immediately. Instead, he simply shackled it.

After all, he couldn’t find out the truth if Ye Qing’s mind was destroyed. He needed to know why he had invaded the Kunlun Tomb, and if there was a mastermind behind him.

With Yin Yang Annihilation, he was absolutely confident that there was nothing Ye Qing could do.

After reaching Ye Qing, Elder Tomb Keeper examined Ye Qing for a moment before exclaiming in astonishment, “What an impressive physique. A Great Grandmaster? No wonder you dared to enter the Kunlun Tomb.”

“This is great. Considering how powerful your physique is, you should be able to withstand my many, many torture techniques. Allow me to enlighten you as to the skinning, bone breaking, tendon stripping, and blood refining techniques I personally invented, keke…”

A cruel, savage smile crossed Elder Tomb Keeper’s face. It was a horrifying look to say the least.

The reason Elder Tomb Keeper hated Ye Qing so much was simple. One, Ye Qing managed to play him like a fiddle and even barged into the Kunlun Tomb. Two, he had ruined two whole decades of hard work.

“Sealing the Five Sense Organs” was powerful, but it also came with a huge flaw. It was the fact that each Magia could only be used three times. Not only that, each activation was weaker than the last. Once he had used a specific Magia three times, he would have to nurture it from the very beginning.

Just now, he had used the Magia of the Mouth and the Magia of the Nose. It was a huge price to say the least.

Naturally, he loathed Ye Qing to his bones.

While cackling, Elder Tomb Keeper extended his right hand and sent countless red threads into Ye Qing’s head.

The red threads were neither a Strange Artifact nor a martial art. It was a Disaster-class Stranger called the Crimson Blood.

Born from dirty blood, Crimson Blood looked like strings or threads but was really formless and intangible. It fed on human blood and flesh and left behind a trail of empty skins wherever it went. Humans, animals, any flesh-and-blood being could be a source of nourishment.

Besides that, Crimson Blood was an intelligent-type Stranger, meaning that it could feed on a person’s brain to know their mind and memories. It was worse than having one’s mind and soul searched.

Elder Tomb Keeper was a Strangerkin with Crimson Blood bloodline from the beginning. Later, he got lucky and obtained a Crimson Blood. He refined it into its servant using a secret art and wiped out its intelligence. Now, he and his Crimson Blood shared a symbiotic relationship.

This method allowed him to control Crimson Blood and use its power.

However, his personality was also affected by the Crimson Blood’s nature to a certain extent. He became cruel and bloodthirsty, and he grew a taste for flesh and blood.

Long story short, he simply needed to command the Crimson Blood to consume Ye Qing’s brain to know what he wished to know.

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