Chapter 10: A Temporary Job
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Move aside if the two of you are not traveling. Don't block the people behind." The guard impatiently waved at the two of them to go away as he continued to signal to the people at the back. The next person in line took out a handful of translucent pearls and passed them over, then walked towards the patterns.
"Master…" Yi Qing was filled with guilt. After the battle with Rui Mi, it was already a miracle to have kept himself alive; he had truly forgotten about losing the storage bag. "It's all my fault. If I had not rushed to deliver the Soul Devouring Banner, I would not have caused Master to not bring any spirit stones."
"Uh…" No, I really don't have any money.
"Why not Master shop around in the city first. 50 spiritual pearls is not a lot. I can find a temporary job here, and I will be able to earn enough for the transportation fees before the sun rises," he suggested solemnly.
"Forget it, let's go together!" Shen Ying nodded. "Two people can earn them faster." Before he could respond, she dragged him away from the public square.
Yi Qing seemed to have a lot of experience in this matter. After asking around in the city for a while, he brought her towards the tallest building in the city. He cupped his fists before the steward and said, "Fellow Daoist, I heard that this place needs some protection."
The steward was courteous and he returned the gesture. After looking at them for a moment, he said, "That's right, my Treasure Pavilion is having a treasure evaluation event which requires a few strong cultivators as guards. Fellow Daoist is…?"
"I am a Sword Cultivator. Golden Core stage."
"Golden Core Sword Cultivator!" The steward was elated and excited as he bowed again. "So you are a Dao Lord."
"I wonder if I meet the criteria."
"Of course, of course you fit the criteria!" The steward was grinning from ear to ear. The items to be auctioned today were considered to be very special. He had originally thought that it would be good enough if he could find a Foundation Establishment cultivator but to his surprise, a Golden Core cultivator fell into his lap. There were barely any Golden Core cultivators throughout the entirety of Shunyu City, much less a Sword Cultivator. "Dao Lord, you will only need to protect the people who have bidded for treasures to return safely after the event. The remuneration for each trip will be two pieces of low-grade spirit stones, what do you think?"
Yi Qing contemplated it for a moment, and then asked, "There are two of us, so how about two pieces each?"
"Two of you?" The steward paused and then looked left and right about four or five times before he noticed Shen Ying at the side. Huh? When was this person even here, how could he have not noticed her? Upon taking a closer look, it was evident that she did not have any Spirit Qi, and even seemed to be a mortal at that. But the partner accompanying her was a Golden Core cultivator so that did not seem plausible. He asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you also here to be a guard? Pardon me, but may I know what your cultivation level is?"
"I don't know either."
"…" Don't know? Then what kind of guard do you intend to be! The steward twitched his mouth, but he could not offend a Golden Core Dao Lord. "Then… the two of you will share three pieces of low-grade spirit stones, how about that?"
"Alright." Shen Ying nodded. It was a package price. Before this, she had come to understand that a piece of low-grade spirit stone was equivalent to 100 spiritual pearls which was sufficient for the travel fees.
An explanation had been on the tip of Yi Qing's tongue but he swallowed it down. Yes, Master must want to maintain a low profile.
"The two of you may follow me." The steward brought them to the second floor—that was when they realized this place was filled with people as the faint sounds of shouting for bids could be heard. It looked like a mini auction sale.
The steward got them to wait in a small partitioned space. Yi Qing took the initiative to explain the nature of this temporary job. This was a commercial business, and it was usually only when they received an extremely rare Dharma treasure, artifact or elixirs that they would hold an auction sale. At times like this, the shop owner would hire some cultivators just for a short period to escort the bidders home; this was also considered as an after-sales service. It was just that these guards were usually Foundation Establishment cultivators and they were all itinerant.
"When I was in the Foundation Establishment stage, I had often picked up jobs like these. Master, you can rest assured. This city is small and the district is not wide, so the trips will usually not be too long and can be finished before sunrise. It will not waste too much time."
"Oh." Shen Ying nodded. In conclusion, this was a short job that would save time and energy but… what did 'Zhu Ji' [2. Zhu Ji is a homophone to Foundation Establishment. This becomes a joke as she does not understand what her disciple is talking about as she has no prior knowledge of the different cultivation realms.]mean?
They waited for nearly three hours. The sky had already turned dark, and the bidding voices gradually subsided as people began to leave. The steward then brought them before a cultivator.
Yi Qing took a look at this person, and realized that despite only being a young, ninth-stage cultivator, he was wearing third-stage Dharma clothing which meant that he had to be a young master from a family of Immortal Cultivators. In his hand was a black box, most probably a Dharma artifact that he had just bidded for.
"Dao Lord, Fellow Daoist Lu is the customer that you need to escort back today. You just need to bring him to the west side of the Lu residence."
Yi Qing nodded as he brought the young man out. The man was rather polite; perhaps due to the surprise of being escorted by a Golden Core cultivator, he seemed really excited the entire journey. He continued to talk about how he had managed to bid for the treasure in his hand as they walked towards the west of the city.
The Lu family was considered a reputable family clan in the area, but it was a distance away from Shunyu City. In addition to leaving the city, they needed to pass through a thick bamboo forest which was dense with miasma, making it unsuitable to travel through by sword-riding. The item he had bidded for was a rare fourth-stage Dharma artifact which was why the Treasure Pavilion had to arrange for the best escort it could to protect such an important customer in case somebody tried to kill him and steal the artifact.
Shen Ying had nothing to say about such simple manual labour, but… why did the auction have to drag on so late into the night before they started their walking journey? How sleepy!
"Dao Lord, we will reach the Lu residence once we get out of the forest." Lu pointed ahead. "Thank you for your protection on this journey, Dao Lord."
"It is my responsibility. You are welcome." Yi Qing looked at the surrounding and said, "I am afraid this deep forest might be looming with danger."
"Dao Lord, fret not." Cultivator Lu paid no attention to his words and voiced out, "Shunyu City may be a secluded little city, but it has always been peaceful. Nothing much is going to happen."
"It is still better to be safe than sorry."
"Dao Lord must be kidding. Although it is not possible to traverse this forest by sword-riding, I travel this route often. There shouldn't be any problem." Cultivator Lu still felt carefree as he said, "It's all because the Treasure Pavilion's steward is too worrisome, insisting that someone must escort me back. While fourth-stage Dharma artifacts are rare over here, they are actually pretty common outside. It can't be that someone would really jump out…"
He had not completed his sentence when all of a sudden, a white glow emerged from beneath him—an array formation took form and the ground shook as a large patch of thistles and thorns grew out and targeted Cultivator Lu.
Cultivator Lu was taken aback. He lost his grip and dropped the box in his hands right into the crazy thistles as they coiled back into the ground.
"My Dharma artifact…"
"Be careful!" Yi Qing grabbed and hurled him backwards, summoned his spirit sword and swung it down forwards; his Sword Qi shot towards the thistles with a flash of swift and fierce light, sweeping across them and severing a huge section. But in the next moment, more thistles grew out from the ground attacking them.
Yi Qing shoved Cultivator Lu further back out of the danger zone, and instructed, "Stay behind me, do not leave my master's side."
Surprised and confused, Cultivator Lu thought: Master? What Master? He subconsciously turned around to look and only then did he see a girl in gray robes, the sight of her giving him a scare.
When… when was this person here? Wasn't it just him and Dao Lord on the journey? When was there one more person?
(⊙ o ⊙)
Recalling Yi Qing's instructions, he immediately stayed by the girl's side. For a Golden Core Dao Lord to call her Master, she had to be someone who could ensure his safety.
"Thank you Fellow Daoist," he politely said. The girl, however, merely stood there straight with her head pointed down, giving no response at all. He thought the other party was angry at his negligence, hence he subconsciously took a step closer. "Pardon my negligence, it must have been tiring this journey. I do hope that Fellow Daoist will not be mad. Fellow Daoist, Fellow Daoist? Fellow Daoist, you…"
The next moment, he heard a faint snore.
She… was… asleep…
Σ(°△°|||)
"…" Sleeping in this situation, are you freaking kidding me?!
Chapter 11: The Ghost King is Born
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Hahaha, this Fiend's Bell is finally mine." Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a person standing on the thistles in the center of the array formation. The man appeared to be about forty to fifty years old and was dressed in full black with even his face covered in black stripes. He excitedly held onto the box that the young cultivator had dropped.
"It's you!" Just as Cultivator Lu was about to wake the girl up, he looked up and saw that person.
"You know him?" Yi Qing asked.
"He… he was just at the Treasure Pavilion bidding against me for my Dharma artifact." Cultivator Lu glanced at the man whose face was covered in black stripes, shrunk back and said, "Never did I expect him to be a Fiendish Cultivator."
"Hmph, you punk!" The Fiendish Cultivator took out a bell-shaped Dharma artifact from the box and glared at the young cultivator. "This Fiend's Bell should be a fiendish cultivation Dharma artifact. How dare a puny punk like you snatch it from me."
"Nonsense. A Dharma artifact is not a spirit item, it does not need to recognize its owner. It was obviously bought by me."
"You lived long enough to buy it, but let's see if you can live to use it!" With a wave of his hand, a mass of thistles and thorns erupted from the ground again, thrashing towards them.
Yi Qing immediately rushed towards the field of thistles with his sword. The sword shone as it weaved through the thistles as if it were alive. Within a moment, the thick forest of thistles was sliced into small bits and fell to the ground.
"You're a Golden Core cultivator!" The Fiendish Cultivator's brows furrowed together, his face filled with dread, and then he stared at Cultivator Lu who was standing nearby. "You punk, never did I expect you to get a Golden Core cultivator to escort you. But too bad…" He waved his hand to remove the seal and sneered, "Since all of you met me, you are destined to die here."
The next moment, the array formation on the ground turned red, and those thistles and vines that had been chopped down suddenly disintegrated into copious amounts of black smoke. In the blink of an eye, the whole forest was engulfed in the smoke and the surroundings became extremely chilly.
"It's Yin Qi!" Yi Qing held onto his sword tightly as he turned back to give a warning. "Stand back. Shut your five senses to prevent the Yin Qi from entering your body."
Cultivator Lu hurriedly did as he was told. While setting up a simple defense array formation, he warned the girl beside him, "Fellow Daoist, get into the array formation quickly. Yin Qi can cause a great deal of harm."
However… he was only met with snores.
"…"
Still… Still… Still asleep. How exactly did she walk all the way till here!
(╯°Д°)╯(┴┴
Engulfed in Yin Qi, the surroundings had become much darker. Even more thistles emerged from the center of the Fiendish Cultivator's array formation. With the black smoke being used as a shield, the opponent's attacks became more aggressive. Yi Qing cut down a few thistles, but he realized that the opponent was aiming for the two people at the back.
It seemed like the Fiendish Cultivator not only wanted to steal the treasure but was also eager to kill Cultivator Lu. Yi Qing furrowed his brows and then with no hesitation, he mustered all the Spirit Qi in his body. With Sword Qi being manifested, ten swords formed out of Sword Qi appeared all around him in an instant. The swords flashed with a glaring light as they cut through the array along with the forest of thistles and the black smoke.
The array formation below the Fiendish Cultivator's feet cracked open all of a sudden, and he spat out a mouthful of blood as he stared at Yi Qing in disbelief. "How is this possible? My array formation of Yin! You… you are a Sword Cultivator!" The other party's cultivation was clearly above his. With this array formation, there was no way the other could have beaten him unless the opponent was a Sword Cultivator—only Sword Cultivators would be capable of challenging him regardless of cultivation level.
Sword cultivation was about the cultivation of Sword Dao. The focus was on the sharp sword in hand; heart and sword as one. Without relying on any spells or alchemy, this path of cultivation was focused on the cultivator himself. Hence, they were always more powerful than cultivators of the same level. Other cultivators would thus find it difficult to measure up to Sword Cultivators of the same level. They were very rare to come across, so little did he expect to meet one, and one that was a Golden Core Sword Cultivator at that.
"Sword Cultivator, Yi Qing," Yi Qing said.
"Yi Qing!" The other party was shocked, seemingly recalling something as his face turned white as a sheet. "You, you… you are the one who killed Rui Mi!" His expression changed and without caring for a response, he made a move with all his strength; he summoned forth a skull-shaped cloud of black smoke to attack as he turned to run away.
Yi Qing switched to another sword technique and used it to cut right through the black smoke, and then the spiritual swords surrounding him charged toward the direction that the Fiendish Cultivator had gone. Now surrounded by a sword array, the Fiendish Cultivator was trapped in the middle.
The Fiendish Cultivator panicked. He struggled to try to break the sword array but to no avail, his face so pale that there was no sign of blood on it. Panic-stricken at the sight of Yi Qing flying nearer to him, he quickly threw the Dharma artifact over. "Here… here you go! I don't want it. Since all of you are alright, how about you let me go? I was only momentarily blinded by greed so it won't happen again. Please, I am begging you!"
"You are a Fiendish Cultivator." Yi Qing stepped closer without a change in expression. "It must not be your first time committing such acts of murder and stealing treasures. If I were to let you go, wouldn't I be helping you do evil? This time I must not let you off!"
He raised his sword at the end of his words, and as the brilliant gleam of his blade consumed the surroundings, a massive amount of Sword Qi was directed towards the array.
"No, no!" The Fiendish Cultivator was seized with terror as he screamed. Just as the Sword Qi was about to pierce him, a ringing sound was heard—the bell-like Dharma artifact that he had thrown out flew above and headed straight for Yi Qing.
"Dao Lord, be careful!" Cultivator Lu cried out.
Yi Qing's sword paused and his basic reflex was to retreat and avoid the Dharma artifact. But all of a sudden, the Fiendish Cultivator broke apart the sword array and threw a sharp palm attack at Yi Qing's chest. Although he missed, he seemed to have grabbed something away.
Not good!
"The Soul Devouring Banner!"
"Hahaha…" The Fiendish Cultivator held the Soul Devouring Gonfalon as his black smoke grew in abundance and broke free of the sword array. "It was really a piece of cake getting this."
His laughter grew wilder, his face filled with excitement. "I had originally just wanted to snatch a small Dharma artifact, but never did I expect to come across such a Banner. You were even stupid enough to bring it along with you! You really thought that this sword array could hold me down!"
He had purposely acted as if trapped by the sword array so as to throw the fiendish bell at him in a sneak attack. His target was actually the Soul Devouring Banner on Yi Qing!
Yi Qing furrowed his brows; he had been too careless. Although the Banner was already sealed, its Ghost Qi would seep out and dissipate into the surrounding. He had thought that his Spirit Qi could contain the Ghost Qi in the Banner which was why he brought it along with him so that it would not cause harm to others. However, he had forgotten that even the tiniest amount of Ghost Qi could be easily spotted by a Fiendish Cultivator even if a normal cultivator could not sense anything.
"Let go of the Soul Devouring Banner!"
"Let go?" the Fiendish Cultivator sneered. "Do you think I am like that fool Rui Mi?! With such a treasure in hand, how could I lose to you! So what if you are a Sword Cultivator. Today I will sacrifice you to the Banner!" He then mustered a stream of Yin Qi, tapping directly on the seal of the gonfalon.
"Stop it!" Yi Qing flew forward in an attempt to stop him, but it was too late. The seal that he had placed on the gonfalon shattered—the golden Dharmic amulet broke into thousands of pieces, and the temperature fell rapidly as dense Ghost Qi spewed out.
"Hahaha, the Soul Devouring Banner is mine!" The Fiendish Cultivator's eyes widened in excitement along with his growing laughter. He excitedly looked at the eerie Ghost Qi surrounding him. "From now on, no one below Soul Formation stage can stand up against me. Millions of ghosts are at my beck and call, and I… pfft!" But before he could finish what he was saying, he spat out a mouthful of blood and the situation suddenly took a turn.
Out of nowhere, a claw appeared above his chest. The claw did not have a solid form; it was formed out of black smoke yet it had directly punctured his chest and gripped within the palm of the claw was a heart that was still pumping.
Shocked, the Fiendish Cultivator looked down at the fresh and still-beating heart, and he seemed unable to react. The next moment, the claw tightened its grip causing the bloody heart to burst.
"Ghost… King!" Speaking his last words, the Fiendish Cultivator's eyes were still wide as he fell straight from the sky, utterly void of breath.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
3 Power
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