Chapter 569: Spare This Child!

As Xu Qing's words rang out, the black storm roared and enveloped the area, with streaks of lightning weaving through it, forming countless arc-shaped electric glimmers that spread across the land.

The momentum was like a rainbow, and the heavens and earth changed color.

Within the shadow, it was currently incredibly excited, trembling intensely.

It was filled with emotion.

At this moment, it felt that all its previous hardships and efforts were

worth it; its master had not abandoned it, even though among the white-robed figures trapping it were three Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivators, and the leader was even at the Spirit Repository Dao-Nurturing realm, yet its master still chose to come and save it.

Thus, it hurriedly transmitted emotional fluctuations, pouring out all its gratitude, grievances, and pain, while its struggle became even more violent.

Meanwhile, the blurry figure within the storm walked forward step by step; as it approached, the terrifying pressure grew increasingly intense. In the Green Sand Desert, white storms appeared frequently, but a black one had not descended for hundreds of years.

Yet at this moment, this black storm was clearly reflected in the eyes of these white-robed figures, and their minds could not help but be filled with shock and suspicion.

Especially when they noticed that whether it was dandelion seeds or sand grains, they were instantly changed in color the moment they neared the storm, becoming a part of it.

All of this was exactly the same as the legendary black wind.

The crowd was alarmed and all looked

toward the blurry figure inside the storm, instinctively retreating.

Their tribe was different from others; they possessed the mission of guarding the desert, and most of the fierce beasts in the Green Sand Desert were their pets.

This was also the reason for targeting the shadow.

Over the past half-year, the shadow had continuously captured fierce beasts within the desert, a matter that had caused dissatisfaction among their tribe, but because the white wind had not appeared,

they were hindered by an ancient covenant and could not easily venture out.

Therefore, they had always been watching the shadow from beneath the desert, and through some ancient texts, they had determined the shadow's abilities. Thus, after this white wind appeared, this squad specifically targeting the shadow received a mission from the tribe, and armed with a bestowed holy artifact, they nailed the shadow to the ground.

Originally, upon reaching this point, their mission was already complete; they only needed to bring the shadow back for punishment.

But the leading white-robed figure did not want to let it go at that. He saw that the shadow had a master, so he wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to be outside to capture the shadow along with its master.

However, the appearance of the black storm

caused

all of them to feel a sense of unease.

Having lived beneath the desert for generations, they possessed the innate talent to ignore the erosion of the white wind, and their understanding of this desert far exceeded that of outsiders.

They understood very well what the black storm represented.

At this moment, the leading white-robed figure stared fixedly at the blurry figure within the storm; the opponent's cultivation fluctuation in his

eyes was not very high, but that black storm made him somewhat wary.

Therefore, he did not act rashly, but instead performed a hand gesture that only his own tribesmen could understand, followed by a low-pitched voice.

"Your Excellency has been driving your own evil spirit for the past half-year, continuously preying on our tribe's pets, destroying the desert's environment, and stealing our food."

"Such behavior is heinous to our tribe, so we are ordered to capture this evil spirit, and at the same time, on behalf of our tribe's ancestors and others, I ask you: what exactly is your intention!"

"Our tribe has no grudge against you; you must give our tribe an explanation for this!"

The blurry figure within the storm paused upon hearing this.

Xu Qing was a reasonable person, and the other party's words seemed to hold some logic, so he thought for a moment and spoke indifferently.

"Very well, what price do you require?"

The white-robed figure narrowed his eyes, somewhat surprised. He had not expected the other party to actually agree, so after some thought, he immediately transmitted his words.

"First, all the pets of our tribe that you have plundered, totaling five hundred and thirty-one, are each valued at one hundred thousand spirit stones!"

"Second, we must take this evil spirit away."

Upon hearing this, the shadow was startled and emitted a sense of terror, but the next instant, it seemed to sense something. It quickly perceived its surroundings, then pretended not to notice, continuing to emit terror and wail.

The blurry figure within the storm was silent upon hearing this, then shook his head. "I cannot afford that; can it be less?"

The white-robed figure glanced at the storm, then swept his gaze over Xu Qing.

"If you tell us how you formed this storm, then the spirit stones for each pet can be reduced by thirty percent, but we must still have this evil spirit."

(Note: The source text for 【42】 and 【43】 was split across lines; this is the combined translation.)

Xu Qing was silent; he could not afford this compensation either.

In that case, it was not that he was being unreasonable, but that the other party was not being sensible.

Since they were not being sensible, then there was no need to compensate.

Xu Qing felt at ease in his heart, and the figure beneath the storm took a step forward.

But the moment he walked out, the white-robed figure leaped up abruptly, and his dozen or so companions simultaneously formed seals. Instantly, the white wind and sand all around surged, gathering from all directions and rushing straight toward the black storm.

"It has been a long time since we went out; are the cultivators outside now so foolish? They actually gave us the opportunity to set up an array." The white-robed figure sneered inwardly. At this moment, the white storm formed together with his tribesmen was astonishing, and in mid-air, it vaguely composed the shadow of a giant worm, hissing and devouring toward the black storm and the figure within.

The two sides collided, and a roar echoed.

But all these white-robed figures, whose attention was

on the black storm, did not notice the abnormal change at the shadow's location at this moment.

A figure, completely concealed and impossible to be perceived, was crouching beside the shadow, looking at the dagger stuck in the shadow's body, having studied it for a while.

This person was none other than Xu Qing.

As for the existence within the storm, it was transformed by the Jin Gang Sect ancestor.

Xu Qing knew that anyone capable of trapping the shadow was certainly not a simple character, and he guessed there would be a trap, so he had long since let the Jin Gang Sect ancestor take his place in the storm to attract attention.

Meanwhile, he himself had arrived quietly while concealed.

He had intended to save and retrieve the shadow without a sound, but that golden dagger was very unusual; the aura permeating it could not only suppress the shadow, but even Xu Qing felt his heart jump with fear.

He could feel that this dagger seemed to be driven by bloodline power; if one did not possess the corresponding bloodline, it would be difficult to shake it, and there was a dark light flickering on it, which seemed to be able to

sense the outside world. If it did not meet the usage requirements, it would be

repelled in an instant.

Therefore, he

crouched there, studying how to pull it out.

"Without the bloodline, touching it will not only fail to pull it out, but I will also be detected and suffer a backlash."

"The dark light flickering on it,

sensing the user, alternates between light and dark in an instant. With my speed, I cannot guarantee a successful pull in the fleeting gap between these flashes."

"There is only one chance,

so I can only use the power of stasis!"

Xu Qing's eyes flashed with brilliance. In the distance, as the roar echoed and the black storm was torn apart by the white worm, and the figure within retreated and turned into fish bones to drill into the desert and disappear, the power of the sundial within Xu Qing erupted.

He locked onto the dagger and froze it.

The next instant, the dark light of the dagger suddenly paused in the gap between flickers. This gap was the moment when there was no dark light on the dagger. Xu Qing's right hand lifted abruptly and grabbed the dagger.

His cultivation erupted within his body, his physical strength surged, and he pulled upward fiercely.

In the blink of an eye, the dagger was pulled out by him. The shadow cheered and its whole body shook; instantly, all the dandelion seeds on its body disappeared, and it flew back to Xu Qing's feet, rapidly concealing itself.

After doing all this, Xu Qing immediately put the dagger into his storage bag, turned around without looking back, and ran with all his might. His speed was astonishing, and the Jin Gang Sect ancestor also returned rapidly.

As for those white-robed figures in the distance, the moment the black storm shattered, they noticed the abnormality at the shadow's location, and their expressions changed drastically one by one.

"This is a fake!"

Amidst low roars, these white-robed cultivators suddenly pursued Xu Qing, and the earth at this moment also fluctuated, with a terrifying Spirit Repository Great Perfection fluctuation spreading from beneath the desert.

The experts of this tribe had clearly noticed the events outside and were rushing over.

At this critical moment, the parrot shook abruptly, intending to flee first.

It did not care about Xu Qing's life or death. It was still feeling smug in its heart, secretly thinking that it had already completed the task of delivering the message. This Xu Qing dared to poison it, so don't even think about making it save him; if he wanted to die, it had nothing to do with it.

But just as it was about to teleport, Xu Qing lifted his hand and grabbed it, speaking calmly.

"Teleport!"

The parrot felt the pain and cursed inwardly. With no other choice, it had to hurriedly take the person and flicker away, but it was still a bit slow.

Xu Qing frowned and squeezed hard. The parrot let out a squawk, and after one of its feathers turned to ash, it erupted with teleportation power.

Ignoring everything in the surrounding environment, it disappeared with Xu Qing in an instant.

Only the ash of the feather drifted down and was blown away by the wind.

The next moment, a roar erupted here, and a huge vortex appeared on the desert, emitting astonishing fluctuations from within, containing anger, and sweeping toward the surroundings.

It was not just this place; similar vortexes appeared in other directions of the desert, searching with all their might.

And the parrot's teleportation was clearly something it had boasted about; its range was not very large, and it had to reappear hundreds of miles away.

But it did not matter; Xu Qing had anticipated this, and almost the moment they appeared, he squeezed it hard again.

The parrot screamed, lost a pile of feathers, and teleported again.

Just like this, under Xu Qing's demands and actions, every time the parrot appeared, it would wail and lose feathers, and the teleportation continued in this manner, carrying Xu Qing as they sped toward the edge of the desert.

In the end, the parrot's wails did not even have much strength left, and it began to curse.

"You are not a human! You are insane! You are more of a beast than I am!"

"You, you, you, you are not a thing; you are like a dog biting a shadow, not a shred of humanity!"

"This is too much! You are like a stone placed in a chicken coop, you bastard!"

"I am going to die! Daddy, help me!" After dozens of teleports, the parrot, having reached the edge of the Green Sand Desert, had little breath left.

"I beg you, don't do this."

"I am still just a child."

"I really can't take it anymore."

Its body trembled violently, the fear in its heart having reached its limit, and its feathers were nearly gone, leaving its body looking bare.

At this moment, looking at Xu Qing, its small eyes were filled with terror, feeling that this expressionless fellow before it was the greatest monster on this earth, the most terrifying source of nightmares under the sky.

"Bastard."