Chapter 85: Is your true qi inexhaustible?

Shen Qing and the two others held their weapons and walked slowly into the hall.

Peng Guang's face was ferocious; he did not know Shen Qing, nor Cao Shen, but he recognized Qin Chuan.

He gritted his teeth: "Qin Chuan! We were once colleagues—why are you making trouble for me?"

Qin Chuan's face was stern, a killing aura spreading over his body: "Peng Guang......"

Qin Chuan had just finished saying a name.

A low shout and the sound of thunder rang out beside him.

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

Shen Qing launched straight into the final killing move of the Lightning Nine Blades; as the blade struck, a rumbling sound rose, and a faint thunder dragon surged straight toward Peng Guang.

In the blink of an eye it reached Peng Guang.

Peng Guang was caught off guard, raised a hand to block the Ninefold Thunder Blade with a palm, and was flung backward, smashing through several walls.

Qin Chuan beside him remained relatively calm, after all he was accustomed to Shen Qing's zero-frame opening.

Cao Shen was different; he had heard that Shen Qing disliked trouble and liked to do things simply.

But isn't this too simple? We've only said a few words!

This Peng Guang, having once reached the Grand Master Realm, has a defense stronger than that of Liu Zhong by a few degrees.

After taking a strike of the Lightning Nine Blades, his arm was merely cut in half, and he wasn't shattered.

Peng Guang rose, shook off the dust and gravel on his body, and glared angrily at Shen Qing.

"Aren't you an Investigator? How can you act like this! Attacking at the slightest disagreement—what's the difference from a sneak attack?"

Shen Qing's eyes full of contempt: "Your neck is still cute, topped with a pig's brain."

"How can someone who's lived three hundred years say such things? When you were acting like a beast you didn't talk about righteousness, but now that I've beaten you, you want to talk about righteousness with me?"

Peng Guang gritted his teeth: "What a sharp-tongued junior! I only regret my old age and frailty; if I were younger, would you still dare to speak to me like this?"

Shen Qing's next sentence again left Peng Guang so angry he could not speak.

"A young heifer showing off its hips in the wind—nothing but hot air!"

"Do old people just talk nonsense?"

"Damn it! Take a strike of my Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

A fierce thunder dragon surged straight at Peng Guang; he gritted his teeth: "Good, good, good! Let's see the real skill."

Peng Guang's aura erupted, blowing dust into the sky and whipping up wild winds; his remaining hand frenziedly gathered blood-colored true qi, and a black bear faintly appeared.

This was Peng Guang's secret technique, the Ferocious Bear Black Palm.

Although he is now old and frail, having once reached the Grand Master Realm, even if he has fallen, holding his breath can temporarily grant him the attack power of the Grand Master Realm.

Although he will be weak afterward, he doesn't care about that now.

A huge black bear faced the thunder dragon; the violent true qi collided, erupting in a massive shockwave.

Peng Guang staggered back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his palm trembling, his face twitching, his legs going weak, pain piercing his heart, but he managed to hold on.

Peng Guang snorted coldly: "You keep releasing the Ninefold Thunder Blade? Don't forget you're only at the second level of the Grand Master Realm—how many strikes can you manage?"

"You can't use it many times, can you? My true qi is far greater than yours—surely yours will run out eventually?"

Reversing the Heavenly Poles.

The three-hundred-year-old Peng Guang actually tried to use an "old man's ploy" against the twenty-year-old Shen Qing.

Shen Qing stood there, unable to stop laughing: "You want to know? Then let me show you."

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

As the words fell, a thunder dragon surged straight at Peng Guang; he gritted his teeth, forced out several mouthfuls of essence blood, and with a desperate effort caught another of Shen Qing's strikes.

Peng Guang's mouth corner lifted, revealing a gum full of blood: "Three strikes? You must be at your limit..."

Before his words finished, Shen Qing's fierce shout rang out again.

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

Peng Guang froze, not yet reacting, his whole body already flung into the sky, eyes full of bewilderment.

"Is this right? This isn't right, is it?"

"The Ninefold Thunder Blade consumes an extraordinary amount of true qi—normally a second-level Grand Master can unleash only one strike and that's already excellent. He had greatly overestimated Shen Qing, thinking he could manage three strikes, but what's with this fourth one?"

Before he could even land, Shen Qing's low shout sounded again.

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!"

"Ninefold Thunder Blade!!!"

Qin Chuan and Cao Shen, standing at the hall's entrance, were already stunned.

Watching Shen Qing inside the hall already flailing about, their faces were blank and dazed.

Qin Chuan, somewhat numb, spoke: "General Cao, how many times did Shen Qing just unleash the Ninefold Thunder Blade?"

"I don't know—maybe ten or so? Twenty or so??"

"Then why did we come up here?"

Cao Shen turned his head, eyes full of confusion: "You're asking me? I don't know either."

Meanwhile, Peng Guang, unable to come down from midair, was on the verge of collapse.

"Is your true qi inexhaustible? Are you even human?"

Shen Qing said nothing, just kept unleashing the Ninefold Thunder Blade.

Meanwhile, blood spattered in the air, and Peng Guang watched his body parts diminish one by one.

First his feet, then his lower legs, and immediately after his hands....

Until Shen Qing's final strike was swung, Peng Guang had completely lost his limbs and crashed heavily to the ground.

He looked at Shen Qing with vacant eyes: "Your... true qi really can't be exhausted, can it?"

Shen Qing couldn't be bothered to answer him.

However, one point Peng Guang made was correct: this Ninefold Thunder Blade really consumes a lot of true qi; if kept releasing continuously, I really couldn't hold up; Shen Qing roughly estimated that if he kept slashing three thousand times in a row, his true qi would be depleted.

At that moment, Qin Chuan and Cao Shen walked over, though the surprise in their eyes could not be concealed.

Qin Chuan looked at Shen Qing: "Shen Qing, tell me the truth—did you use your full strength this time?"

Shen Qing smiled: "Probably."

But Qin Chuan, Cao Shen, and Peng Guang, lying on the ground, looked at Shen Qing's smiling face and his unfluctuating aura, and their hearts skipped a beat.

He hasn't used his full strength yet!

Qin Chuan took a deep breath, turned his head to look at Peng Guang on the ground.

Peng Guang gave a bitter laugh: "Qin Chuan, if you still feel any old affection, just give me a quick death."

Qin Chuan recalled Shen Qing's methods, intending to imitate them, and crouched in front of Peng Guang.

"Peng Guang! Even now, are you still obstinate and unenlightened?"

"Look—your family has been dragged into hell by you; come listen, listen to the anguished cries of your descendants!"

Anguished cries kept coming from outside the door, but Peng Guang's eyes showed little expression.

Shen Qing patted Qin Chuan's shoulder: "Your way of speaking is wrong; you need to attack where it hurts."

"That old immortal kills his own descendants as easily as killing chickens; he long ago stopped treating his descendants as anything at all."

"Come, watch mine."

Saying this, Shen Qing walked toward the center of the blood pool; under the bombardment of his Ninefold Thunder Blade, the area had already become a ruin, but Shen Qing noticed he hadn't pressed down the yellow-flowered rosewood box, so the earth-origin lotus remained intact.

Shen Qing grabbed the earth-origin lotus and came to squat in front of Peng Guang.

"Yo! Isn't this earth-origin lotus? A fine treasure for longevity—rare even in the capital—if I eat it, I could probably gain decades of life."

"Peng Guang, if you ate this, you might truly be able to return to the Grand Master realm."

"Let me calculate: you killed dozens of direct descendants, gathered all that essence blood, added this earth-origin lotus, and giving you the time it takes to burn an incense stick would be enough."

"But unfortunately, there's no time left!"

Peng Guang stared dead at Shen Qing, his face trembling uncontrollably.

Shen Qing chuckled, facing Peng Guang directly, opened his wide mouth, and in a few quick bites stuffed the earth-origin lotus inside.

Crunch crunch crunch!

Immediately, the earth-origin lotus was quickly digested by Shen Qing, and his vitality rose by several notches.

"Is this what longevity feels like? Really not bad."

Saying this, Shen Qing looked at Peng Guang.

"Getting hold of this earth-origin lotus wasn't easy, was it?"

"The taste is really great!"

Peng Guang opened his mouth wide and let out a desperate wail.

"Ahhh!!!"

The next moment, the wail cut off abruptly; at the height of despair, Shen Qing flicked a finger and exploded his head.

Afterwards he rose, brushed off the dust on his body, turned and walked toward the outside of the main hall.

Meanwhile Qin Chuan and Cao Shen were stunned.

Is this too demonic?