Chapter 1: If I Call You Father, Do You Dare to Answer

Since Jiang Ziya conferred the gods and the deities returned to their positions, eight hundred years have passed in the Heavenly Realm.

A day in heaven is a year on earth; in the mortal world, twenty-nine thousand years have passed.

At this time, all things are flourishing, and the handle of the Dipper points to the Yin month. In most regions of the Four Great Continents, grass sprouts are green everywhere and peach blossoms reflect the red of the mountains, with the vitality and vigor of deep spring visible to the naked eye.

Alas, this is the Flowing Sand Domain.

Eight hundred miles of flowing sand, three thousand deep in weak water. Not even a goose feather can float, and reed catkins sink to the bottom.

A great river stretches for eight hundred miles, with ten thousand miles of distance above and below.

Not only is it vast and mighty, resembling a boundless ocean, but the water in the river is weak water, unsuitable for the survival of the vast majority of normal animals and plants.

Weak water is "light in quality," easily rising into high waves with the wind.

The tides frequently wash over ten to even a hundred miles of the shore, creating large stretches of desert land along the riverbanks.

"You dog-fucking Sand Barbarian, you harmed my nine brothers and shot my beloved horse, go to hell~~~~"

Ge Qing, a squad leader of the Iron Cavalry Battalion of the Western Shu Kingdom's Luye Imperial Guard, let out a roar of extreme anger and hatred.

Before his thousand-mile steed collapsed with a mournful cry, he leaped, his nine-foot-tall muscular frame suddenly rushing out of the saddle as if shedding gravity, his dark cloak snapping in the air behind him like an egret spreading its wings to soar, his movements swift, elegant, and agile.

In the space of a breath, he crossed a distance of seven or eight zhang.

Like a grey heron hunting lake fish, in the next instant, he was about to grab the little Sand Barbarian wearing a tiger-skin skirt below.

The saber Ge Qing slashed down was about to land on that tiny back of the head, and a triumphant, ferocious grin appeared on his rugged, bearded face as his great revenge was about to be fulfilled.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the little Sand Barbarian seemed to have her legs tripped, her body rolling forward while simultaneously tossing a grey, dusty object backward, which accurately collided with the blade, exploding into a cloud of grey-white smoke.

Ge Qing instinctively raised his hand to protect his face, but a layer of "ash" still stained his face, and an immediate, stinging, burning pain attacked his eye corners, nostrils, and mouth.

It felt as if he had been scorched by a great fire.

"Cough, cough, this is... quicklime?!"

Ge Qing had only coughed a few times when he keenly sensed his internal "Xuanwu True Qi" beginning to boil uncontrollably, his internal organs almost suffering internal injuries from the rampaging qi.

In fact, as he coughed, wisps of blood were already seeping from the corners of his mouth, nostrils, and eyes.

"How could the Xuanwu True Qi go out of control... No, the 'Xuanwu True Essence' is a secret profound art of the Great Qin Meng family, the most upright and balanced; it would never—"

Ge Qing was filled with shock and anger, thoughts racing through his mind as he simultaneously tried to regain control of the true qi within his body.

The next instant, he realized with a start, "You little beast, not only did you scatter quicklime, but you also hid poison in the quicklime—"

Before his angry shout ended, a point of cold light pierced through the dust mist and reached his Adam's apple.

A seven-inch-long curved dagger, its blade a strange, eerie purple-red.

"You insidious dog barbarian, this dagger must be smeared with poison again."

Ge Qing cursed inwardly, his expression instead becoming calm and waveless.

In that split second, he even carefully observed every subtle expression and movement of the dagger's owner.

"To think it's a little girl, and so young..."

Ge Qing was extremely surprised; previously, while chasing on horseback, he could only see her back. Seeing her thin, agile figure, her vicious and seasoned killing techniques, and the short hair that barely covered her ears... he had assumed she was a deformed, experienced Sand Barbarian assassin.

"Even if it's a little girl, I must kill her; I must let my brothers rest in peace!"

The flash of these thoughts took only an instant; all emotion in Ge Qing's eyes was washed away by a crimson killing intent.

The ten-man cavalry squad he commanded now had only him left; they were the Shu King's Imperial Guards!

Those brothers were not only his comrades-in-arms but also his fellow townsmen, friends he had grown up playing with in the same town. Upon returning, he would have to face their elderly parents and weeping wives and children.

"Get lost!" Ge Qing opened his mouth and softly spat out a single word.

An invisible force of qi erupted from within his body, and two contradictory feelings of weakness and power appeared in his heart simultaneously.

Power, because of the absolute safety and immense strength brought by the protective qi.

Weakness, because erupting the protective qi consumed a massive amount, and the true essence in his dantian would be exhausted in a few breaths.

"Bang!" Xiao Yu, holding the dagger, felt as if she had collided with Pain's Shinra Tensei.

"Ding~~~ Swoosh!"

The dagger landed on a "steel plate," then was flicked away by an immense force, shooting past her ear like a meteor toward a spot several hundred meters away, taking with it a few strands of her sweat-dampened hair.

She let out a muffled groan, clutching her right wrist, her legs slightly bent, retreating in a strange, "Z"-shaped serpentine posture, kicking up clouds of dust on the sandy ground.

Her wrist was fractured, but fortunately, the bone wasn't broken.

Her chest felt muffled and painful; two ribs were likely cracked.

Her nose felt like it had collided with a stone wall while running at high speed; it was numb, feeling no pain, only the sensation of moisture flowing silently.

What was that thing?

She was shocked and suspicious in her heart.

The "qi wall" that erupted from the cavalry squad leader was harder and firmer than most stone walls; could it be the legendary "immortal means"?

At the very least, he was a martial arts expert.

"What kind of move is this?"

Xiao Yu clutched her right wrist, letting the nosebleed flow over her bloodless lips, her bright eyes filled with obvious pain and despair.

In front of her, the grey, toxic quicklime dust mist still occupied a ten-square-meter area on the sandy beach; one could see a transparent oval sphere within the toxic dust, protecting the Great Shu cavalry squad leader in the center, with all the dust unable to touch his skin.

"You rustic barbarian, how could you understand the immortal martial arts of the Central Kingdom!"

Ge Qing was expressionless, holding his gold-ringed saber in his right hand, walking step by step out of the toxic quicklime dust amidst the swirling protective qi.

"Sigh, in this world, the method of cultivation is the primary productive force! How hateful, why did I have to be reincarnated into a barbarian tribe of the Liushahe that doesn't even have writing! If only I could also access secret manuals of divine arts..."

Xiao Yu endured the pain, rubbing her right wrist to restore the dislocated bone to its original position, her heart filled with countless emotions.

"You little barbarian dog, go to hell!"

Ge Qing could see she was injured and seemed to have lost her combat ability, but his will to kill did not waver in the slightest, and his movements did not slow down at all.

A layer of hazy, transparent airflow wrapped around the blade; even from six or seven steps away, Xiao Yu felt a sharp, piercing pain on her face.

There was no need for any doubt; as long as this saber slashed down, let alone her small frame, even if her body were replaced with an iron pillar or a bronze statue, it would be split in half, one corpse into two pieces.

"Father, don't kill me!" Xiao Yu retreated two steps, kneeling on the ground and wailing.

"What?" Even Ge Qing, with his resolve to kill as firm as it was, couldn't help but stumble.

Was she calling him father?

It was inexplicable, nonsensical... but since she was calling him "father" rather than "grandson," why shouldn't he happily accept it?

"Don't kill me, I, I surrender, I... um, I am lonely and helpless, drifting for half a life, now fortunately meeting a wise lord, I wish to worship you as my foster father~~ Father, oh father!"

Xiao Yu's small face and large eyes were filled with fear and panic, perfectly fitting her image of having no integrity, like someone who had lost their mind and was crying for mercy.

Meanwhile, her left hand had already gripped another poison-quenched dagger tied to her lower leg.

"Utterly shameless, kneeling and calling me father the moment she can't win; truly a barbarian tribe uneducated in civilization! Even the street thugs of my Great Shu Kingdom are more decent than you."

Ge Qing despised her in his heart, but he also saw her every move, unable to help but feel both angry and amused, saying: "Good child, such little tricks can't fool your father."

"Hehe, in a world where gods and Buddhas manifest, you actually dare to answer when I call you father for no reason!"

Although Xiao Yu was cautious and didn't say her inner thoughts, a bright and triumphant cunning smile appeared on her face involuntarily.

It was as if the despair and fear that had appeared on her face and in her eyes earlier were all illusions... in fact, the previous expressions were indeed the performance of a master actress.

Before calling him father, the protective qi in her eyes had been like an eggshell, perfectly protecting Ge Qing's body within, with no flaws... at least to Xiao Yu, who didn't understand martial arts, she couldn't see any flaws at all.

Hmm, in the barbarian tribes on the west bank of the Liushahe, let alone cultivation techniques, there wasn't even a single complete book.

Having lived for eleven years, Xiao Yu had never seen a "Great Being who has refined protective qi" before, and she knew nothing about Ge Qing's "qi explosion." Let alone finding flaws, she didn't even know it was "protective qi."

Now she had called him "father," and he had answered... in fact, before he opened his mouth, she already knew he didn't resist in his heart; not resisting meant accepting.

She had a golden finger called "Great Father Destroyer." She didn't understand its essence yet, only that Great Father Destroyer had two activation modes: one was formally worshipping a foster father, and the other was when she couldn't win a fight and called "father" on the spot.

As long as someone became her "foster father," she could "see" the method to kill them.

At this moment, "Great Father Destroyer" was activated in the second way.

Similar to Taishang Laojun's Purple Gold Red Gourd, whether you are "Monkey King" or "Sun the Monkey" or "Sixth Brother Sun," as long as you dare to answer, the gourd can put you inside.

The activation threshold for "Great Father Destroyer" was even lower than the Bai Zijin Red Gourd.

Answering with the mouth was effective, and not saying it but accepting it in the heart—even if holding the thought of taking advantage, without firmly resisting, it was still effective.

At this moment on the battlefield, halfway through the life-and-death struggle, she called "father," and based on the subconscious thought of not being a fool if there's an advantage to be taken, Ge Qing instinctively "answered" in his heart, and "Great Father Destroyer" was activated.

After activating "Great Father Destroyer," Xiao Yu stared at Ge Qing wrapped in protective qi again, and in the mysterious purple space in her mind, a small figure was quickly outlined with dashed lines.

Inside the abdomen of the 3D dashed figure was a mass of "fire," and the "fire" of the dantian pulled out hazy "fire lines" that wandered within Ge Qing's body.

Xiao Yu guessed it might be the path of his "true qi" explosion.

It was too blurry; she couldn't see clearly, let alone understand.

The golden finger only had one function: "stab the foster father to death and be a great filial child"; it wouldn't help her analyze the "foster father's" internal energy cultivation method out of thin air.

The "fire" of the dantian and the "fire lines" wandering in Ge Qing's body were not the focus of "Father Destroyer."

They were just auxiliary to help her understand the flaws in the protective qi.

The external protective qi produced by the internal "fire" was no longer as smooth and perfect as an eggshell.

It was like a cocoon wrapped in silk threads; the threads had defects, and the cocoon had holes.

Cutting along those defective silk threads could break the cocoon.

Xiao Yu activated the only "strange technique" she had mastered—the Chicken Blood Breathing Method—using a specific breathing frequency to activate the qi and blood within her body.

It was like being injected with adrenaline.

Her face, neck... every inch of skin exposed was flushed red, and the left arm holding the dagger and the crouching legs had tiny blue veins bulging on the surface.

"Swoosh!"

The moment the saber slashed down, Ge Qing's eyes blurred, and he lost sight of Xiao Yu.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

Without even the time to turn his head to look for her, her speed was as fast as lightning, and a series of sparks erupted from the protective qi shield on Ge Qing's left shoulder.

It was Xiao Yu's dagger.

She had already reached his side, using the dagger to slash rapidly outside his protective qi.

It looked like random slashing, but in reality, every blade mark landed precisely on the "vital points" of the qi shield.

"Clang, clang, clang!" Her movements were too fast; the blade cut the "qi lines" of the protective qi, bringing out a series of sparks.

The protective qi was too hard, like solid stone. The blade slashed against the "hard stone," causing wear and tear.

Although the saber slash missed, thirty years of cultivation still allowed Ge Qing to keep his footing stable and his figure agile, without stumbling even once.

But in the instant he turned his head, that dagger had already followed a chaotic and disordered route—Ge Qing felt it was messy and had no pattern—slashing seven or eight times on the surface of the protective qi.

"You rustic barbarian, not even having sprouted internal qi, and you want to—"

Before the cavalry squad leader's mockery could finish, the contemptuous smile on his face stiffened.

"Crash!"

He seemed to hear the sound of a large porcelain vase shattering.

The protective qi that perfectly covered his body actually shattered into more than a dozen pieces, then instantly turned into clusters of "qi wind," whistling and scattering violently in all directions.

"Pfft!" With the protective qi broken, the "Xuanwu True Qi" within Ge Qing's body immediately went out of control; his internal organs and meridians throughout his body suffered unknown amounts of damage, and his face immediately turned as pale as gold paper as he spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision becoming hazy and blurry.

"Swoosh!"

The next instant, his throat felt cold, and his life and vitality flowed away rapidly.

"No, I have already cultivated the indestructible, unbreakable True Martial Protective Qi; at the end of the year, I was going to cross the Liushahe to participate in the selection for the Great Qin Yumen Guard, I... I am not reconciled!"

Even with his protective qi broken and true qi rampaging, Ge Qing did not lose his consciousness.

On the contrary, after his throat was pierced, his mind was clearer than ever before; he thought of many things: his parents in his hometown, his gentle wife, his mischievous son, Marquis Lieyang, the Meng family Yumen Guard...

"Shh, shh~~ Good, don't shake, let the blood flow faster; once your consciousness blurs, it won't hurt anymore~~"

Xiao Yu used her right elbow to suppress Ge Qing's head, her left hand holding the dagger, slashing back and forth, creating deep and large wounds on his throat.

Like slaughtering a year-end pig, streams of black-red foam surged from the holes, staining her tiger-skin skirt a large area red.

The vitality of the "protective qi expert" was unexpectedly tenacious.

Previously, Xiao Yu had successively finished off nine fully armed iron-clad cavalrymen.

Toxic smoke, poison arrows, poison darts, poison nets, poison-quenched animal traps... not to mention hitting the mark, sealing the throat with blood, or dying immediately, they at least didn't have the chance to pass messages to others, dying very quickly, which allowed her to kite them and finish them off one by one.

Like Ge Qing, with his vital points pierced and suffering from "Yu-style" poison, he was still shouting and struggling with strength; this was the first time in her life she had encountered such a thing...

"I'm afraid I will keep encountering them, and each one stronger than the last."

A layer of gloom clouded Xiao Yu's heart. ===== CHAPTER 2 =====