Chapter 252: I'll Strike First

Xu Qing, who had walked into the ruins, did not know about the events happening on the Wanggu Continent.

But he vaguely felt that the afternoon sky seemed to have a little more faint red.

Besides this, there was no other abnormality.

And this extra red was very light, making it difficult for people to have any associations.

So he just raised his head to glance and withdrew his gaze, continuing to check the broken walls and ruins within the ruins.

This ruined city was not quite the same in style as the city Xu Qing had visited. The roof structure here was mainly based on the 'well' character, large and small, high and low. While looking very neat, it also contained a certain sense of rules.

At the same time, although the entire city had experienced the erosion of time, one could still see luxury and exquisiteness.

Every floor tile had patterns, every house had spirit stones, every long street was paved with white jade, and every river channel was pasted with gold foil.

Only now, these luxurious items had lost their brilliance in the erosion of heterogeneity, were severely weathered, and had lost their value. Only when later generations swept their gaze over them could they imagine the former glory and wealth of this city.

But after the imagination ended, what entered the eyes were various bird and beast feces on the ground, large amounts of silt, as well as long worms occasionally crawling through the muddy ground and countless serrated weeds growing.

All of this made the decay of this city reflected very thoroughly in every detail, especially since Xu Qing also saw the two characters 'Ziqing' on a broken tablet.

"According to the map description in the Washing Immortal Pool, this is the Crown Prince's Mansion of the Ziqing Upper Kingdom, the place where the Crown Prince lived."

Xu Qing walked on the street, stepping on the silt, looking at the messy footprints on the ground. He raised his head and scanned the surroundings, noticing that in some buildings, figures of cultivators flashed by.

There were not many cultivators here, but it seemed that there were people here all year round.

Through the partial information about this ruin checked in the sect, Xu Qing knew that there had always been cultivators here.

They came from all over the Nanhuang Continent.

Some were cultivators from sects, some were rogue cultivators. Because the Huang Forbidden Zone was large and rich in resources, even though it was dangerous, it had become a place for many cultivators to obtain resources.

After all, living in a chaotic world, everything must be fought for, especially those small sects and rogue cultivators, even more so.

Every improvement in their cultivation base, every increase in combat power, was mostly through bloody battles and escaping death time and time again.

This kind of bitterness was the same for major sect cultivators, only the level was different, and the danger was relatively higher.

And these ruins had existed for many years, so it could be seen that they were still considered safe, so they became a place for cultivators coming to the Huang Forbidden Zone to obtain resources to sit and rest.

Xu Qing's arrival attracted the attention of many people, but they all just glanced and quickly withdrew. Most of the people here were cautious and especially vigilant against others.

Xu Qing's personality was the same.

At this moment, while moving forward, his gaze swept across both sides, vigilant against the danger and malice that might come. His own speed did not decrease, becoming faster and faster, galloping towards the center of the ruined city.

Not long after, a familiar-looking temple appeared within his sight.

Unlike other buildings in the ruined city, the top of the Tai Cang Dao Temple was circular.

If viewed from high altitude, one could see that in this entire ruin, only this one circular building existed, and its position belonged to the very center.

With such an arrangement, one could imagine that when this place was prosperous back then, the status of this temple must have been extremely noble.

Xu Qing gazed silently and raised his footsteps to approach.

From afar, he saw dozens of cultivators of different attire sitting scattered outside the temple, men and women.

These people were in groups of two or three, some were alone, and their locations were all in directions where they could see the temple gate. Although they were all sitting cross-legged, they occasionally raised their heads to look into the temple.

As for their cultivation base, most were at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, occasionally there were Foundation Establishment cultivators who did not possess Life Fire, and only two old men with white hair and wrinkled faces had cultivation bases that reached the level of one fire.

These two one-fire Foundation Establishment old men, as well as the three or five Foundation Establishment cultivators in the crowd who hadn't opened their Life Fire, were still reasonable here. After all, it wasn't impossible for them to perceive successfully. Once they successfully perceived the Tai Cang Single Blade, for them, it was equivalent to stepping into the sky in one step.

But the existence of other Great Perfection of Qi Condensation cultivators here made people feel somewhat strange at first glance.

But after Xu Qing swept over, he vaguely had the answer in his heart.

Because the moment he walked over, he felt strands of greedy malice from the crowd, and then, after noticing his aura, they were like frightened birds, quickly withdrawing.

At the same time, in the grass around, there were some rotten dry bones that no one paid attention to.

Here, it was the Tai Cang Dao Temple, the place to perceive the Tai Cang Single Blade.

But here, it was also a place of the law of the jungle, extremely fierce and evil for cultivators in the Huang Forbidden Zone.

Relying on the fame of the Tai Cang Dao Temple, cultivators came here from time to time. If they were strong, they would naturally be fine, but if their cultivation base was not enough, they would definitely die miserably here and lose everything.

The dozens of people outside this temple, in Xu Qing's judgment, even if they deliberately formed groups of three or two, could not change the fact that they were a gang.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qing was thoughtful and walked over step by step.

The dozens of people outside the Dao Temple exchanged obscure glances, but in the end, they didn't dare to attack Xu Qing.

They could exist here, so they naturally possessed discernment, vaguely seeing that Xu Qing was not someone to be trifled with.

And at this moment, as Xu Qing approached this temple, he saw the statue inside the temple that was familiar yet somewhat strange, and also saw Sheng Yunzi sitting cross-legged under the divine statue.

The dazzling light emitted by that golden robe was very eye-catching, and the flowing light of the canopy above his head flowed in all directions like water, very conspicuous.

Now his eyes were closed, and his whole body emitted coldness, as if all emotional fluctuations were superfluous here.

Xu Qing's footsteps paused, and vigilance rose in his heart. He hadn't paid much attention to Sheng Yunzi in the sect, and didn't expect the other party to actually come here to perceive.

Although Xu Qing's cultivation base was not bad now, he liked to use absolute strength to suppress things when doing things. Unless it was a last resort, he was unwilling to engage in extreme battles.

Thus, after Xu Qing pondered, although he was tempted by the other party's Life Lamp, there was no need to plunder and have conflicts for no reason. So he didn't step into the temple, but intended to find a place outside where he could see the divine statue to try to perceive.

But the tree wanted to be still, yet the wind would not cease.

Just at this moment, Sheng Yunzi in the temple seemed to have noticed, his slender eyes slowly opening. The cold gaze, not mixed with any emotion, fell directly on Xu Qing outside the temple like two sharp blades.

The moment he saw him, he didn't have any words, his right hand raised and waved outward.

Instantly, the void in front of him twisted, fluctuations appeared out of thin air from all directions, stirring up dust on the ground, gathering in an instant, actually forming a stone sword.

Once this sword appeared, the momentum was astonishing, emitting strands of sword Qi that fell on the ground, making a sizzling sound, and gullies appeared on the ground.

Outside the temple, the two one-fire Foundation Establishment old men, seeing this scene, had their expressions change greatly and retreated rapidly.

They knew in their hearts that with their own strength, facing this great sword formed casually, even if they were just grazed, they would definitely die.

The others were the same, retreating rapidly.

The moment they retreated, the sword tip in the temple turned, pointing at Xu Qing, suddenly rushing, whistling straight towards Xu Qing.

The speed was so fast that it stirred up the sound of breaking the air, inciting a series of ripple fluctuations, traversing the temple gate in an instant, arriving before Xu Qing, stabbing towards his brow.

Xu Qing's face sank, raising his right hand to flick on the arriving stone sword.

A loud bang.

The stone sword collapsed, falling apart. When it fell before Xu Qing, there was also a storm sweeping towards the surroundings. Wherever it passed, the weeds on the ground were broken at the roots, mud flew, like a dust storm.

Fortunately, the dozens of cultivators retreated quickly, otherwise, if they were involved, there would be no possibility of survival.

In the dust storm, Xu Qing's face was ugly, raising his head to look coldly at the temple, and his gaze met with Sheng Yunzi inside in mid-air.

"What is your intention?" Xu Qing spoke slowly.

Sheng Yunzi's expression was as usual. For him, doing things depended entirely on his own preferences. If he wanted to attack, he would attack; if he wanted to kill, he would kill. Especially in his heart, the human race of the Nanhuang Continent was not worth mentioning.

As for this Xu Qing before him, he didn't know him originally. Even if he was paid attention to by him because he suppressed Sima Ling, he hadn't seen his appearance, just intending to raise him up a bit as nourishment.

It was only during this period of time when he was perceiving here, listening to the training given to him by the Lingyun Sword Sect disciples, that he learned about Xu Qing's matter, and also saw Xu Qing's recording.

The attack just now was just done casually, but the other party was actually unscathed, which made a strange light appear in his eyes, raising the thought of swallowing Xu Qing right now.

However, after pondering, he still felt that swallowing him now would taste a bit worse, so he spoke indifferently.

"So it was you who took away my junior brother while I was away?"

"After returning, send him out with three bows immediately. Xu Qing, remember, if he loses a single hair, I will break one of your fingers, no exceptions."

Sheng Yunzi calmly transmitted words like an order. After speaking, he didn't pay attention to Xu Qing anymore and closed his eyes to meditate.

The crowd outside the Dao Temple held their breath one after another, with different expressions, looking at Xu Qing and Sheng Yunzi.

They had already investigated Sheng Yunzi's identity during this period of time, and had also experienced the other party's overbearingness. At this moment, they even saw the ferocity of his attack.

At the same time, through the words, they also learned Xu Qing's identity.

"Seven Blood Eyes Sequence Xu Qing?"

"This is a Heaven's Pride of the Seven Blood Eyes..."

"So what? Facing people from the Wanggu Continent, one still has to bow their head."

Xu Qing stood at the gate, his gaze sweeping over Sheng Yunzi's neck, and then looked at the Life Lamp canopy above his head. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and his killing intent was strong.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor inside the black iron slip, seeing this scene, gasped repeatedly. He didn't dare to reveal himself easily, worried about being noticed by the True Dragon of another storybook, but in his heart, he was strongly sighing.

"In the storybooks I read, it's often the enemy bullying the protagonist, then the protagonist is forced to have no choice, unable to bear it anymore, and can only counter-kill. It's refreshing, but after reading too much, it's a bit tiresome."

"But it's different with Demon Xu. With his personality, once the enemy reveals a little killing intent, making him feel that his life is threatened, he doesn't need the enemy to attack, he will be filled with killing intent."

Xu Qing didn't know the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's thoughts, but he knew that there was a gap in combat power between him and Sheng Yunzi, so he didn't act rashly at this moment, but turned around to find a downwind position to sit cross-legged, starting to release poison without revealing any traces.

He wanted to kill this Sheng Yunzi.

Because the Lingyun Sword Sect disciple he caught at the Night Dove headquarters, when he suppressed him at that time, it wasn't just a hair that was lost. The body bones of the other party were broken in many places from the smash he gave him on the ground.

According to Sheng Yunzi's statement, one hair was one finger, so breaking so many bones meant killing.

"Then I'll kill you first!" Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, hiding his killing intent, not revealing the slightest bit from his eyes. While continuing to release poison, he was also observing the surroundings, looking for the figure of the other party's protector.

Seeing this scene, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor secretly thought in his heart.

"Demon Xu is releasing poison, he is in the rhythm of striking first! This is a battle of two storybooks, this is a battle of True Dragons!" ===== CHAPTER 253 =====

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