Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
One day, Tang Jie was flying atop Tutu when he spotted a mountain in the distance.
This mountain was covered with sharp spires that rose up from its sides, and down below was a dense forest with a babbling brook. It was a gorgeous place, but there was also a treasure aura present, so Tang Jie had the rabbit descend.
At this time, three others were flying in this direction, apparently also drawn over by the treasure aura. Tang Jie recognized one of them as that green-clothed maiden from before. She was also accompanied by two men, clearly two representatives of the Southern Heavenly King.
Tang Jie found it strange that he had run into her here. A woman of her status should have already reached the core region of the Treasure Paradise, so why was she still wandering about the middle region?
While he found it strange, he had no interest in fighting with her. Since she wanted the relic, she could have it. Thus, he stopped.
To his surprise, that green-clothed girl's eyes lit up when they spotted Tang Jie. She turned and spoke to the two behind her, and then one of them flew down to the forest while the other and the girl flew straight toward Tang Jie.
Tang Jie knew that he was in trouble.
Sure enough, as the girl flew closer, she said, "Young Sir, why do you leave the moment you see me? Am I that bad to be around?"
The moment the voice entered his ear, Tang Jie felt his soul tremble. It was clear that this woman's charming arts had fused with her body such that even her voice was incredibly seductive. Hardening his mind, he said, "You're right on the mark! You're too ugly, and I was so alarmed that I tried to leave as quickly as I could."
"You!" The green-clothed girl trembled in rage, and a sheet of frost covered her face. But a moment later, she warmly smiled as if a spring night's breeze had thawed all the frost. "Young Sir Tang, don't joke around. While Liu Qianyi does not dare to call herself a beauty, she is confident that her face is not so unsightly."
Tang Jie firmly replied, "I'm not joking. You're really ugly. Your face is like a wash basin, your nose is like a hook, and your mouth is a city gate. It's truly hard to look at."
Liu Qianyi almost exploded.
Her face was rather round, but it was also refined and delicate. How could it be called a wash basin? And while her nose was slightly curved, the arc wasn't so bad as to be called a hook.
As for her mouth, while it was rather large, that only made it more bewitching. How could it be a city gate?
These three parts of Liu Qianyi's body couldn't even be considered flaws, only enhancing her sexual appeal. But Tang Jie was making them out to be major issues.
No matter how Liu Qianyi tried to suppress her anger, she ultimately failed. Her eyes bulged and her slender brows rose as she retorted, "You're too much! I tried to be polite, but you repaid me with such rudeness!"
Tang Jie sneered. "Miss, I can't endure your kindness. The charming arts of the Southern Heavenly King are without peer. This one still knows a little about its ability to kill silently."
At this moment, Liu Qianyi's stern brows uncreased. "So it was to break through my charming art?"
Charming arts emphasized having no form and leaving no trace, ensnaring victims while they were unaware. When you looked at a woman, you would never know whether it was because you were actually in love or you were beguiled by her spell.
But it was precisely because charming arts had no form and were used without the slightest trace of expression that one using them could not be easily moved to rage. That wrathful expression on Liu Qianyi's face had essentially cut down the effectiveness of her art by half.
Only now did she realize why Tang Jie had been trying to anger her. Alarmed, she realized that she was still too young, to have been so easily provoked by a few words from Tang Jie. Clearly, she was sorely lacking in composure.
Her anger subsided somewhat once she understood, and her eyes became more cold and clear as they looked back at Tang Jie. An amused smile appeared on her face as she said, "Young Sir Tang is truly cautious, but Young Sir has misunderstood me. I did not come here to settle accounts with Young Sir."
"Oh?" Tang Jie didn't drop his guard because of this, ordering Tutu to fly back. "Then why have you come to find me?"
"Young Sir, is there a need to be such a stranger?" Liu Qianyi asked. "Qianyi has simply come to greet Young Sir. I didn't think that you would treat me like this, calling me a heartless hag. Such words wound the soul."
Her face darkened with sorrow, her large and watery eyes tearing up into a pitiful expression.
Even Tang Jie was somewhat shaken, thinking that he might have been a little too callous by saying such things. But a moment later, he realized that something was wrong. That woman had come rushing over with a companion the moment she spotted him, clearly harboring impure motives. Moreover, he had exposed her in the past, essentially offending her, so it was quite normal for her to want revenge, but now she was acting all innocent. And he was usually a stone-hearted man, so how could his heart soften just from a teary face?
His mind trembled, and entirely out of instinct, he activated the Chaoswind Step.
As he disappeared, a blast of sword energy shot through the air, passing through and obliterating his afterimage. The one who had attacked was none other than the man who had come with Liu Qianyi, though it was hard to say when exactly he had appeared next to Tang Jie.
This was the power of charming arts. When Tang Jie had been speaking with Liu Qianyi, he had been unwittingly entranced such that all his attention was on Liu Qianyi and no one else. In these circumstances, the sneak attack from that man became all the more difficult to detect.
Fortunately, Tang Jie had a strong resolve and also the help of the Mindsoothe Bracelet, so he had quickly regained his senses. Another person would have fallen for the trap and been either slain or heavily injured.
"He ran?" Liu Qianyi was startled, blurting out, "Where?"
The man realized something and turned his head to shout, "Watch out!"
Liu Qianyi knew that she was in trouble, but just when she was about to respond, an immense energy came roaring out from behind her and engulfed her.
Liu Qianyi was aghast. Realizing that Tang Jie had moved right behind her, she hastily cast a spell and tried to escape, but a blood-colored cloud engulfed her and held her fast.
What was this power?
Liu Qianyi was shocked.
It had to be understood that, as the Southern Heavenly King's disciple, she was no mediocre cultivator, yet she had been restrained barely moments after the battle had begun. In her shock, she prepared to counterattack, but then she heard a voice behind her. "Don't move, or else I'll have to destroy a flower."
A sword pressed up against the back of her neck.
Liu Qianyi stopped moving. The distant ambusher wanted to attack, but with a casual wave of his hand, Tang Jie sent a wave of sword light to block him. He then chuckled. "It's no wonder people say that those who use the charming arts aren't scariest when they're seething with murderous intent, but when they're all smiles. This is because their every smile and frown is brimming with boundless charm that can disorder the mind. I only saw your tearful face and almost fell for your trap. Formidable!"
Liu Qianyi squeezed out a smile. "Young Sir Tang, what do you mean? This must be a misunderstanding…"
As she spoke, she focused her power on a jade amulet she wore on her front.
The jade amulet glowed, creating a white barrier that enclosed Liu Qianyi. But Tang Jie simply snorted and thrust out a finger brushing past Liu Qianyi's cheek, right at the part of the barrier that was still forming.
This protective barrier was at its weakest when still forming, but usually, it was difficult to find this part. Yet as Tang Jie thrust out the finger, there was a crack, and then the barrier shattered like glass, dissolving into light.
As Tang Jie shattered the barrier, Liu Qianyi let out a sharp cry, and her body struggled out of Tang Jie's grip and flew out.
Tang Jie let out a gasp of surprise. While he had managed to immediately restrain Liu Qianyi, this was because he had used the Flesh Millstone. Normally, a person would be immobile under the power of the Flesh Millstone, but this woman had managed to force her way out, meaning that she was truly capable. But he had also not been using his full power.
Despite his surprise, he reacted quickly. As Liu Qianyi flew out, Tang Jie thrust his sword at her back.
He did not plan on killing anyone, so his sword was more fast than powerful. But at this moment, a rainbow belt flew up from Liu Qianyi's body, dancing like a phoenix and blocking Tang Jie's sword energy. As the sword energy struck the belt, there was a burst of beautiful light that somewhat blinded Tang Jie. Knowing that this was the result of a charming art, he hastily focused his mind.
At the same time, her companion flew forward, thrusting his own sword at Tang Jie. The two of them worked together so well that it was clear that they had trained together for some time.
Tang Jie coldly chuckled. This sword had been a feint, for the moment he thrust out his sword, he rushed at Liu Qianyi, his body erupting with a crimson light. Liu Qianyi was once more in the range of the Flesh Millstone.
After catching Liu Qianyi again, Tang Jie held nothing back, exerting the full might of the millstone to suppress her.
The Flesh Millstone was strong enough to be considered one of Tang Jie's avatar's strongest trump cards. After absorbing the blood gems from the Blood River Lord's Heart Demon avatar, it had grown even stronger and covered an even greater range. Even a powerful cultivator like Na Shan might not have been able to break free, let alone someone who wasn't skilled in direct combat like Liu Qianyi.
As the millstone grinded, Liu Qianyi let out a cry of pain.
The Flesh Millstone was an area spell art, so while holding down Liu Qianyi, it also blocked the sword attacks from that man. The bloody light then turned into a giant hand and dragged that man in as well.
The moment the two of them entered the range of the Flesh Millstone, they felt like a mountain was pressing on their bodies. All around them was a bloody-colored fog, with each wisp of blood energy seeking to crush the air out of their lungs.
Liu Qianyi paled and shouted, "Young Sir Tang, stop! I concede!"
"It's not like we're in the arena!" Tang Jie snorted. "I don't care if you concede. What I care about is that you want to settle accounts."
"'Settle accounts'? What 'accounts'?" Liu Qianyi put on a pitiful look.
But Tang Jie was her bane, and all of her wiles were useless.
Tang Jie ignored all of her charms and said, "Naturally, I'm speaking of compensation…"
Before he could finish, he realized something was wrong and dodged. A beam of sword energy shot through the place he had just been standing, originating from that man who had gone to retrieve the treasure. It seemed he had returned.
While Tang Jie had dodged the attack, he also ended up freeing Liu Qianyi and her companion from the shackles of the Flesh Millstone.
The two of them didn't give chase, instead backing away while taking out protective art relics. It was clear that Tang Jie's Flesh Millstone had given them a bad fright.
Nobody had expected him to have a powerful ability like this.
Liu Qianyi stared at Tang Jie in shock.
Although she had long known that Tang Jie's formidable resolve made him a direct counter to the charming arts, resolve had nothing to do with strength. The charming art used by the Southern Heavenly King was only looking for who could resist her disciple's charms, but it didn't say anything about their strength.
In Liu Qianyi's view, Tang Jie was just a Spirit Ring cultivator. No matter how much resolve he had, that said nothing about his other aspects, and besides, she had the advantage in numbers.
Thus, she was stunned by the major defeat she had suffered.
As Tang Jie scoffed and was about to attack again, Liu Qianyi shouted, "Hey, hey, wait! No more fighting!"
Tang Jie grunted, "You think the fight stops just because you say so?"
The Flesh Millstone expanded and turned as Tang Jie charged at the trio.
Liu Qianyi was ready this time, throwing out a handkerchief.
The handkerchief expanded in the air to block the blood cloud, yet the Flesh Millstone was too powerful, instantly crushing the handkerchief.
Alarmed, Liu Qianyi clenched her teeth and pulled out a phoenix hairpin. As the hairpin flew into the air, it turned into a green bird that spat out flames.
But as the blood cloud churned, all the flames disappeared, and it surged toward the bird. A thread of blood energy coiled around the green bird and almost pulled it into the cloud. Even though the bird escaped, it lost so many feathers that it shrieked in pain and flew high up into the sky, circling around and not daring to come back down.
A stunned Liu Qianyi stomped her feet and shouted, "You two idiots!"
The man who had ambushed Tang Jie first now stabbed his sword at Tang Jie, and ten thousand energy swords appeared and attacked him. The man who had gone to get the treasure and returned swung his sword at Tang Jie, his sword energy turning into a dragon that soared through the skies.
The countless energy swords and the sword dragon exuded powerful auras as they converged on Tang Jie.
Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and that blood cloud expanded once more, and out of the expanding cloud emerged countless heavenly blades.
The combination of the Flesh Millstone and Nine Heavens Calamity Blades unleashed boundless power. The Heavenly Cloud Blades clashed against those energy swords and shattered all of them. Meanwhile, the blood cloud wrapped around the sword dragon and ground it down to nothing.
The three were dumbfounded. In their eyes, Tang Jie's Flesh Millstone had become a most terrifying existence.
As the blood cloud swept toward them, Liu Qianyi shouted, "I concede! Because I was the one who incited this, I am willing to compensate Young Sir with one upper-grade art relic!"
"I think it's better if I just take it myself," Tang Jie coldly said.
"Young Sir, don't force my hand!" Liu Qianyi quickly pulled out a talisman, which Tang Jie recognized to be a Void Teleportation talisman.
This talisman was similar to Tang Jie's Free Roaming Talisman. While it couldn't teleport as far as the Free Roaming Talisman, it had greater accuracy, making them of equivalent value. With this talisman, there was no stopping her escape unless he had a Space-type Divine Connection.
Capturing or killing her was now impossible. As for the two men, while they had shock and fear in their eyes, there was no despair. It was clear that they still had their own hidden cards to play.
Tang Jie knew that representatives weren't people to be messed with, and he didn't want to force them to take desperate measures, so he said, "One upper-grade art relic per person, and also that treasure you just picked up."
Liu Qianyi grimaced. "Young Sir, there's no need for this."
"If you don't like it, then use that teleportation talisman," Tang Jie coldly said.
It wasn't easy to make such a talisman, and Liu Qianyi had only this one. Reluctant to use it, she could only agree. As for those two men, their trump cards were even more valuable than the talisman, so they naturally weren't willing to take them out just to fight with Tang Jie.
With four treasures in hand, Tang Jie said, "Let's end the matter here. Bye."
He prepared to leave.
Liu Qianyi's eyes darted around, and then she suddenly shouted, "Young Sir Tang, please wait a moment."
"What?" Tang Jie turned around. "Still not satisfied?"
Liu Qianyi smiled. "Not at all. Qianyi was still holding a grudge from the Celestial Flame Pagoda, so she thought to attack after seeing Young Sir, but in the end, it was Young Sir who taught me a lesson. I hope Young Sir will forgive me for this."
Tang Jie shook his head. "As I said, that matter has ended."
"Since that's the case, can Qianyi make a trade with Young Sir?" Liu Qianyi looked at Tang Jie and sweetly smiled.
"Another trade?" Tang Jie was confused. "What sort of trade?"
"A trade of information!" Liu Qianyi replied. "I have some information on my hand that I wonder if Young Sir is interested in?"
"That depends on the value of the information."
"Hm…" Liu Qianyi cocked her head and thought it over. "It's hard to say. The value of information depends on the individual. But this information is somewhat related to Young Sir, so I think Young Sir should be interested. As for the price, I trust that Young Sir won't treat me poorly once you confirm its value."
"Then tell me."
"It's like this. A few days ago, while Qianyi was looking for treasure, she came across a Heart Demon Tier Hemos cultivator."
"What about it?" Tang Jie nonchalantly replied.
Liu Qianyi replied, "I've never seen him before."
Tang Jie froze.
All the representatives had seen each other at the Celestial Flame Pagoda before entering the Treasure Paradise, though they knew little of each other's power levels. How was there someone Liu Qianyi had not met before?
He didn't think that this was because Liu Qianyi had a bad memory. Since she had mentioned it in particular, she must have been sure that she knew everyone's faces.
Tang Jie stared at Liu Qianyi. "You're saying…"
"That Hemos wasn't a representative!" Liu Qianyi confidently said.
Tang Jie frowned. "How could there be a non-representative in the Treasure Paradise? Is it a native of the Treasure Paradise? Someone who went in and didn't come out? Or was another person let in?"
"It was someone who was let in later," Liu Qianyi replied.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he mentioned you by name." Liu Qianyi stared at Tang Jie and very slowly and firmly declared:
"He was looking for you!"
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