Chapter 24: Soul Devouring

"Brother Changsheng, is this your trump card? An escape technique that burns your longevity and vitality?"

The young man in the Taoist robe was stunned. He had anticipated that Qin Changsheng would be difficult to kill, and he was prepared for a desperate counterattack. What he never expected was for Qin Changsheng to choose flight, and to do so with such decisiveness.

"Ruoxi, the wind is picking up, time to bail!"

Qin Changsheng didn't forget Nangong Ruoxi while fleeing. She gritted her teeth in frustration; they had agreed to join forces, and she had been ready to fight by his side, yet he had simply run off. However, seeing the restless spirits controlled by the Taoist youth closing in, she realized there was no better time to leave. She immediately activated her own escape art and chased after him.

"Little husband, wait for me!"

The two figures vanished into the distance, one right after the other.

"..."

The Taoist youth’s mouth twitched. He had prepared for so long, laid so many traps, and devoured countless souls to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage—he was certain that consuming Qin Changsheng would grant him the power to achieve Divinity. Yet, Qin Changsheng had run away.

"Want to run? Do you think you can escape?"

"I have long guarded against this trick of yours, heh heh."

As he spoke, the Taoist youth drew a peach-wood sword and gathered a trace of vitality from his donkey—the lingering aura of Qin Changsheng. At the same time, he pulled five hundred spirit stones from his storage ring.

"Heaven is round and Earth is square, Yin and Yang in my grasp, the two breaths of life and death, condense!"

In an instant, those auras coalesced into a human silhouette! That silhouette was Qin Changsheng!

"Hiss, what kind of sorcery is this?"

Qin Changsheng, who had just used his blood-escape technique a mile away, felt as if he were being watched by some vile entity; he seemed to have formed a connection with something a mile back. At that moment, the Taoist youth raised his peach-wood sword and struck at the phantom.

"Myriad puppets, heed my command! Devour the soul!"

As the wooden sword fell, countless spirits rushed toward the silhouette.

A mile away, before Qin Changsheng could even resume his escape, he felt goosebumps rise all over his body. A grey aura descended directly upon his head. Simultaneously, the shadow of a peach-wood sword pierced through the void and struck at him!

"Damn it! How is he this strong?"

Qin Changsheng’s scalp tingled, and he was forced to brace himself for the impact. At the same time, countless vengeful spirits manifested out of thin air, gnashing their teeth as they lunged at him.

The Taoist youth in the distance sneered, "Brother Changsheng, what does it matter if you run to the ends of the earth? As long as I possess your aura, killing you is as easy as lifting a hand..."

Just as the peach-wood sword bore down on him, the Longevity Stele within Qin Changsheng’s body reacted automatically. A vast surge of vitality surged forth, and his Immortal Pupils, seemingly triggered, activated on their own.

*Whoosh!*

A beam of immortal light erupted! To everyone's shock, the sword shadow and the countless vengeful spirits were shattered instantly upon contact with the light.

Qin Changsheng was stunned, not expecting his Immortal Pupils to be this powerful. He blinked, then recovered. "So I really do have a cheat code? It even blocked an attack from a peak Nascent Soul cultivator? Impressive!"

Nangong Ruoxi arrived just then, staring at him in shock. That was an attack from a peak Nascent Soul master, and he had destroyed it with a single glance? If he was this strong, why the hell was he running? She felt utterly baffled. It seemed like this guy had a complete misunderstanding of his own strength.

"Don't just stand there, take me away!"

While she was still dazed, Qin Changsheng had already hopped onto her flying sword and wrapped his arms around her waist. Seeing she was still unresponsive, he gave her a sharp slap on the buttocks. "If we don't go now, it'll be too late!"

"Oh, right!"

Nangong Ruoxi snapped out of it, hurriedly spurred her flying sword, and turned into a streak of light to flee.

The Taoist youth, who had been certain of his victory, suffered a backlash when his sword was shattered by Qin Changsheng’s gaze. With the duck slipping out of his grasp, he could no longer remain calm.

"I underestimated you."

"When I catch up to you, I will make you wish for death but find no release..."

"You useless donkey, come!"

In the darkness, the Taoist youth mounted his donkey and transformed into a streak of light, pursuing them. But due to the delay and the backlash from the Immortal Pupils, he had already lost track of them.

***

After fleeing for several hundred miles in one breath, Qin Changsheng confirmed the youth wasn't following and slumped to the ground in relief. Beside him, Nangong Ruoxi was drenched in sweat and panting, the escape having clearly exhausted her.

"You guy, I’m the one who did the sword-flying and I’m not even complaining, yet you’re the one who’s tired?"

"Your body is tired, but my heart is exhausted," Qin Changsheng said with an awkward smile. Flying so high while hugging such a beautiful woman—her skin as soft and smooth as jade—how could he not be tired?

Nangong Ruoxi glared at him. "And another thing, don't you have your own flying sword? Why insist on using mine?"

Sword-flying was an energy-intensive task, and carrying Qin Changsheng along had made it much worse. Furthermore, she hadn't even settled the score for that slap on her rear, yet he had spent the entire flight shamelessly clutching her waist, claiming he was afraid of heights and falling. He could block attacks from Nascent Soul monsters, yet he was afraid of heights? No one would believe that.

"Is it possible that I just don't know how to fly?" Qin Changsheng rubbed his nose awkwardly. "I'm only at the Qi Refining stage, after all. I haven't had time to master sword-flying."

"Who are you trying to fool? You're this strong and still in the Qi Refining stage?" Nangong Ruoxi rolled her eyes, refusing to believe him. He was just being lazy and making up pathetic excuses.

"Why would I lie to you?" Qin Changsheng spread his hands helplessly.

Seeing he didn't seem to be lying, Nangong Ruoxi couldn't help but wonder. If he truly were at the Qi Refining stage—even if it were a thousand layers—it might be true that he couldn't fly. But was a thousand-layer Qi Refining stage even possible? Even a demon reincarnated wouldn't be this outrageous.

"By the way, what kind of path does that Taoist youth practice? It’s terrifying." Nangong Ruoxi still felt a lingering fear. "I felt like killing us would have been child's play for him..."

"The Path of Deception," Qin Changsheng said, glancing at her. "He grows by devouring the souls and vitality of others. That peach-wood sword is his life-bound artifact; it can consume and manipulate souls for his own use. I even suspect its grade is extremely high, perhaps no less than a divine artifact."

"That evil?" Nangong Ruoxi’s expression changed. "Then why are we running? We should have joined forces to kill him. People like that shouldn't exist."

"Your first question was good, but we can't beat him, so why go back and die?" Qin Changsheng looked at her. "Even if we were both at the Nascent Soul stage, we might not be his match. His techniques are bizarre; the more souls he devours, the stronger he gets, and he can turn those souls into puppets to fight for him."

"Most importantly, his heart is twisted. He will stop at nothing to get stronger. Do you really think we have a chance against him?"

Nangong Ruoxi smiled awkwardly. "Your Immortal Pupils destroyed his attack in one look—it was so cool. I thought you could at least trade a few blows with him."

"..."