Chapter 111: Obsessive Ning Tao, Battle Royale (Please subscribe and monthly tickets)

Chapter 111: Paranoid Ning Tao, the Great Escape (Please Subscribe and Vote for Monthly Tickets!)

When Qi Yuan spoke, all eyes fell upon that mass of blood.

"Palace Master of the Heavenly Heart Palace, what explanation do you have now? How is he not a Blood Demon?"

The seven Sovereigns looked at Qi Yuan, sensing no terrifying aura from him.

They also knew that the Blood Demon had not yet taken shape and was of little consequence.

Ning Tao turned around, gazing at Qi Yuan behind her, a look of resentment in her eyes: "You finally deigned to come see me."

Qi Yuan looked at the wounds on Ning Tao's body, his emotions tangled.

"You could have abandoned me."

After all, this mass of blood was not Qi Yuan's true body.

Even if it were damaged, it would not affect him in the slightest.

Ning Tao lifted her chin, her eyes stubborn: "I'm not like some people, who vanish for decades or centuries at a time."

She turned again, facing the seven Sovereigns around her:

"I said no one can harm you, and so no one shall!"

The aura of the Origin radiated from Ning Tao, as if she had merged with the world itself.

Seeing this, the seven Sovereigns all wore stern expressions and likewise merged into the world.

Qi Yuan observed this and said calmly, "You will... die. Why must it be this way?

We are merely chance acquaintances, having exchanged but a few words."

Qi Yuan could not quite grasp Ning Tao's thoughts.

To him, she seemed like a stubborn child.

"Hmph." Ning Tao snorted coldly.

She couldn't be bothered to explain to him.

What did he know of her thoughts, her feelings?

Just a wretched man!

"Who would have thought that the esteemed Palace Master of the Heavenly Heart Palace could be seduced by a Blood Demon, falling into the snare of love!" laughed one Sovereign.

"Ha ha... enchantress... love's snare..." another female Sovereign's face twisted with even greater mockery.

Everyone knew that enchantresses were cursed by heaven and earth; all who looked upon them felt disgust, seeing them as the ugliest beings in the world.

That an enchantress could know love—this was the most absurd joke in the world.

After all, who in this world could ever love an enchantress?

"Have you laughed enough?" Ning Tao's face turned cold. "Either get out of my way, or... die!"

It was the first time Qi Yuan had seen such an icy side of Ning Tao.

Like a stray cat, wary of everything in the world, facing others with her most aggressive demeanor.

"It seems, Palace Master of the Heavenly Heart Palace, that today you will die here alongside this Blood Demon," the woman said without anger, her smile blooming like a flower.

At that moment, Ning Tao's voice transmitted into Qi Yuan's ear: "I have good news for you. When the battle begins, I will release your restraints. Run as far as you can."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan replied, "Actually, I left long ago."

This mass of blood was not Qi Yuan's body—merely flesh he had once inhabited.

Ning Tao was silent for a moment, then said, "Actually... I know."

Qi Yuan smiled.

"Surrounded by seven Sovereigns, even with my Heavenly Dao foundation, I am no match."

Ning Tao was not surprised.

In her eyes, Qi Yuan was merely an ordinary Sovereign.

Especially one from beyond the realm, bound by the world's rules, unable to fully unleash a Sovereign's power.

Otherwise, she would not have trapped him so easily.

"You just need to leave and not hold me back," Ning Tao said, her voice full of disdain.

"I cannot leave," Qi Yuan said seriously. "These seven have framed me as a Blood Demon and want me dead. Auntie might endure it, but Uncle cannot!"

"What do you mean?" Ning Tao was puzzled.

"I want to use your hands to kill them."

"Tch, you, an outsider, think you understand the Origin better than we Sovereigns of the Flowing Wind Realm?"

Every world's Origin is different.

The Purple Mansion of the Canglan Realm also masters the Origin.

But if they came to the Flowing Wind Realm, they would only count as half a Sovereign.

Because the Origins are not the same.

"You underestimate me!" Qi Yuan said proudly. "I know this realm's Origin better than anyone!"

Qi Yuan had once fought nearly three thousand old men in the Earth's Abyss.

Those old men all wielded the Origin of the Flowing Wind Realm.

Various Origins of the Flowing Wind Realm had wounded him, and he remembered them most clearly.

"Kill!" The seven Sovereigns' assault came at that moment.

With a single move, they unleashed legendary Origin techniques.

Seven Origin techniques converged on Ning Tao.

Even as powerful as Ning Tao, facing seven Origin techniques, she seemed frail and helpless.

She could not block all seven at once; she would have to endure one or two.

Just then, Qi Yuan's voice rang out: "Gather the power of the human demon in the dantian, disperse the energy through the palm, wander through the void..."

Qi Yuan spoke rapidly, the words reaching Ning Tao's ears.

Ning Tao was momentarily confused, but instinctively followed his instructions.

Like a carp in the vast ocean, she rolled and dodged the Origin techniques striking from different directions and levels.

All seven Origin techniques—she completely evaded them!

Ning Tao's face showed astonishment: "How did you do that?"

The seven Sovereigns were even more shocked than Ning Tao.

The way Ning Tao had just dodged their Origin techniques revealed an extreme understanding of their very essence.

It was as if each of them, facing their own Origin technique, had been confronted by themselves.

This was utterly impossible.

For how could they ever reveal their most closely guarded secrets directly to others?

“What kind of technique is that? How did you do it?”

“Hmph, how would I know? Why should I tell you?”

Qi Yuan’s assistance brought joy to Ning Tao’s heart, but the danger was not yet fully dispelled, and she could not let her guard down.

She concealed herself within the canopy of the sky, her long whip lashing out, and between heaven and earth, it seemed as if thunder roared.

The seven Sovereigns’ faces darkened with gravity: “We must kill her!”

Their innate divine abilities had been seen through by one person; if this were to leak out, the seven of them would henceforth be the weakest when facing peers of the same rank.

“While she is heavily wounded, finish her!” the female Sovereign said in a low voice.

The seven Sovereigns held nothing back, continuing their assault with innate divine abilities.

Qi Yuan stood behind her, speaking rapidly, constantly transmitting messages to Ning Tao.

It was precisely Qi Yuan’s transmissions that allowed Ning Tao to truly contend with the seven Sovereigns at once.

Otherwise, how could Ning Tao, already grievously injured, have been a match for these seven Sovereigns?

Half a day later, in the midst of a desert.

Ning Tao fell from the sky like a broken kite, her small face pale, her black dress stained red with blood.

“Cough… we escaped…”

With the danger gone, Ning Tao seemed to grow more carefree in temperament.

“My husband truly does care for me, after all. Who would have thought you would know so much about their innate divine abilities?”

Ning Tao’s voice was somewhat low, sounding weak and weary.

“What happened? Why do they call me the Blood Demon?” Qi Yuan asked.

He had only been gone for a little over a decade.

Ning Tao had imprisoned the blood sphere in an underground palace; in theory, no one but Ning Tao knew of its existence.

A cold expression crossed Ning Tao’s exquisite face: “Nine years ago, for some reason, news suddenly spread in the North that the Blood Demon was in my Celestial Heart Palace.

Later, several Sovereigns came to my Celestial Heart Palace as guests and suddenly attacked me.

After that… you were exposed.

I was hunted by over a dozen Sovereigns one after another, fleeing constantly.”

Ning Tao spoke with helplessness.

She was certain she had never revealed Qi Yuan’s existence.

Even the few Sovereigns of Celestial Heart Palace did not know of Qi Yuan.

Yet the news of the Blood Demon in Celestial Heart Palace appeared out of nowhere.

It was as if someone was targeting Ning Tao, deliberately spreading false rumors, only to discover that the false rumor was true.

“You should have let me go,” Qi Yuan said.

Because of the Blood Demon, Ning Tao had been hunted by over a dozen Sovereigns for nearly ten years, suffering severe injuries.

If she had let Qi Yuan go, none of this would have happened.

“Husband, are you feeling sorry for me?” Ning Tao looked at Qi Yuan, a triumphant smile in her eyes. “I told you, I would never abandon my husband.”

Qi Yuan gazed at the half of Ning Tao’s face that was revealed, stunningly beautiful, and asked inexplicably, “I am curious about the ‘Demoness.’ May I see the other half of your face?”

In the Nine Coil Mountains, he had never heard that a face carved with the character ‘Demoness’ marked one as a demoness.

And the Great Demon, who was also the Buddha, had loved a demoness whose face bore no such carving.

What did ‘Demoness’ truly mean?

Why were they loathed by heaven and despised by men?

He wished to behold the true face of the mountain.

“No!” Ning Tao’s reaction was intense; she stared fixedly at Qi Yuan. “I will not let my husband see it.”

Qi Yuan heard this and did not insist.

“Heal your wounds first.” Qi Yuan fell silent, his emotions toward Ning Tao inexplicable.

In ancient times, there was Zhao Zilong carrying Liu Chan through seven battles and seven escapes, riding a thousand li alone.

Now there was Ning Tao carrying him through a great escape in the Northern Lands.

Ning Tao said nothing more and began to heal her wounds in earnest.

Night fell, and Qi Yuan did not leave the blood sphere to go to No Return City.

He remained by Ning Tao’s side.

At that moment, Ning Tao’s eyes were closed; too severely wounded, she had fallen into a coma, though her healing technique still cycled, slowly mending her delicate form.

She frowned, sleeping curled on her side, her skirt revealing feet like slender jade bamboo shoots, five tender toes curled inward. Even as a Sovereign, one could see her profound lack of security.

Qi Yuan looked at Ning Tao’s face, his expression unreadable, lost in thought.

After an unknown time, a voice tinged with tears broke the silence.

“Am I very ugly now? Why haven’t you come to see me?”

The speaker was Ning Tao; her eyes brimmed with moisture, like small pearls about to spill at any moment. Her body curled like her toes, her face bearing a look of helplessness.

And her eyes opened as the words fell; she stared at Qi Yuan, somewhat surprised: “You didn’t leave?”

“You were talking in your sleep again.” This was the third time Qi Yuan had heard Ning Tao speak in her sleep. “I never expected a Sovereign to talk in her sleep.”

The content of the sleep talk was the same as the previous two times.

“I did not!” Ning Tao, thinking of something, blushed on half her face, making her peach-blossom-like features even more alluring. “Even if I did talk in my sleep, it has nothing to do with you!”

“I didn’t say it had anything to do with me,” Qi Yuan said calmly.

“Hmph!” Ning Tao turned her head away, unwilling to look at Qi Yuan anymore.

Yet the chain binding Qi Yuan was clenched tightly in her hand.

“Are you truly the Blood Demon? Otherwise, how could you see through the flaws in their innate divine abilities?” After a long silence, Ning Tao’s voice came, somewhat cool and distant. “Is that why everyone seeks to slay the Blood Demon?”

Ning Tao had her suspicions.

She had never believed in the tale of the Blood Demon bringing calamity to the world.

After all, the ‘Demoness’ was a symbol of disaster.

“I am no such Blood Demon!” Qi Yuan refused to think of himself as the Blood Demon.

Even in the Nine Coil Mountains, he was called the Blood Lord.

The canary called him Blood Bead—what connection did that have with the Blood Demon?

“But everyone in the world will believe you are the Blood Demon, and so you can only be the Blood Demon,” Ning Tao said, a flicker of worry passing through her eyes before she laughed. “A demoness paired with a Blood Demon—husband and I are truly fated.”

“If I say I am not the Blood Demon, would you believe me?”

Ning Tao was silent, and only after a few breaths did she slowly reply: “Your servant believes.”

The second half remained unspoken—your servant’s belief is useless; it is the world’s belief that matters.

“That blasted Venerable One insists on calling me some Blood Fiend; if I ever meet him, I’ll give him a thorough beating.”

“Your servant will join her husband in the beating.” Ning Tao smiled with a charming grace.

“With that frail frame of yours, you’d best focus on healing. If you’re hunted again, even with me here, it’ll be hard to survive.” Qi Yuan spoke the truth.

He had helped her greatly, but he could not change Ning Tao’s current predicament.

So many Supremes in the Northlands, and undamaged ones at that, not like the old men in the Earth Abyss.

The only way for Ning Tao to change her situation was to abandon Qi Yuan.

“Your servant has grown accustomed to being hunted.” Ning Tao’s smile was like a spring mountain. “In the past, when hunted, your servant was always alone. Now… with her husband by her side, what is there to fear?”

…

Decades passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those decades, Ning Tao, with Qi Yuan in tow, endured endless sieges and pursuits. Among the Supremes alone, Qi Yuan saw over a hundred distinct ones.

With Qi Yuan’s guidance and aid, Ning Tao evaded many dangers time and again.

Yet inevitably, her injuries grew more severe.

Qi Yuan was not always by Ning Tao’s side; he often returned to Wugui City to slay demonic spawn, and his own strength steadily rose.

Qi Yuan’s power had also climbed to level 109, not far from level 120—the Supreme of this world.

The clear pool held no living creature. Ning Tao, clad in a black dress, her feet bare like tender white lotus roots, slowly stepped into the water.

The pool’s water instantly turned red, then the redness vanished in a flash.

“Back then, it was by this pool that I first heard your voice.” A look of recollection crossed Ning Tao’s face.

In those days, young as she was, she had been pursued by many.

It was here that she heard Qi Yuan’s voice.

Only then did her bleak life begin to change.

The icy water seeped into her skin, yet all she felt was weariness.

After decades of this great escape, she had still damaged her very essence.

Her life force flickered precariously, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.

Ning Tao gazed at Qi Yuan, her expression unreadable: “Husband, may I see what you look like? Your servant is truly curious.”

“I’m also curious about your other face. If you let me see it, I’ll let you see my real face.” Qi Yuan naturally would not let his true body appear beside Ning Tao. “No photo, no video—don’t try to trick me.”

That stubborn Ning Tao might just lock his true body away here.

“Forget it.” Her head half-submerged, Ning Tao blew gently on the water, rippling the pool’s surface. “Your servant had better not let her husband see it, or else her husband will be like those others, wanting to kill me.”

That half of her face—she would never let Qi Yuan see it.

She did not want the only person in this world she still cared about to loathe her as well.

Yet Ning Tao seemed unwilling to give up: “Husband, why cling so stubbornly to that half of my face? Since the night is deep, you can treat your servant as someone else. I can even wear the black stockings you like, and let you ride as you will.”

“I’m pure—don’t tempt me!” Qi Yuan refused.

Though the lust of the Sin Source had once influenced Qi Yuan, he did not wish to become a slave wholly ruled by desire.

When feelings run deep, things happen naturally.

Neither spoke; Ning Tao soaked quietly in the water.

After about a quarter of an hour, Qi Yuan suddenly asked: “Do you know the strength of the Venerable One and the White Emperor?”

He was now level 109, still a mere nobody in the conflict between North and South.

He wanted to understand the Venerable One and the White Emperor’s power to gauge the visible ceiling of this world’s combat strength.

“The Venerable One and the White Emperor…” Ning Tao’s eyes grew solemn. “If they wished, a single finger could slay me.”

“That strong?” Qi Yuan was somewhat surprised.

Ning Tao was no weakling among Supremes.

A single finger to kill.

Translated to the Canglan Realm, could that be a Yin God?

Thinking of the Yin God’s might, Qi Yuan felt immense pressure.

Even the incomplete Yin God of the Great Sun had given him such trouble, let alone this world with two complete Yin Gods.

“It seems I still need to keep a low profile and not expose myself too early to the big boss’s gaze,” Qi Yuan thought.

Some time ago, a handsome man came to Wugui City, claiming to be a disciple of the White Emperor.

That handsome man had even invited Qi Yuan to the White Emperor’s Palace.

To hell with that!

He’d need to reach at least level 99,999 before he dared face the White Emperor.

Thinking of the Bright Palace in reality, which also had a suspected Yin God-level combatant, Qi Yuan frowned deeply.

“Ning Tao, do you think a powerful Overlord could ever kill the Venerable One?”

An Overlord was equivalent to a Foundation Establishment in the Canglan Realm.

Hearing this, Ning Tao couldn’t help but smile: “Husband, you’re far too fanciful.”

“If an Overlord can’t, what about a powerful Realm Guardian?” Qi Yuan pressed again.

In the real world, his realm was still below that of a Realm Guardian, which was a Yuan Dan.

Ning Tao continued to smile: “Even the strongest Realm Guardian wouldn’t do.”

A Realm Guardian—Ning Tao could kill one with a single breath.

“What if that Realm Guardian were as big as Ultraman?” Ning Tao was the strongest being Qi Yuan had met who could converse properly, a late-stage Supreme—he had to ask more.

Maybe it would give him some inspiration to deal with the Bright Palace.

To handle the Bright Palace, Qi Yuan needed Yin God-level combat power just to sleep soundly.

Otherwise, he’d be restless.

“I don’t know how big Ultraman is, but… if Ultraman were as vast as the Liufeng Realm, then perhaps that Realm Guardian really could slay the Venerable One.”

“A Realm Guardian as big as the Liufeng Realm?”

Qi Yuan was stunned, a flash of insight striking his mind.

What Ning Tao said made sense.

If… he formed a Golden Core as large as the Liufeng Realm, wouldn’t tossing that Golden Core directly collapse the Bright Palace?

Such a Golden Core—how majestic and domineering would that be?

See someone who doesn’t submit? Just smash them with the Golden Core.

This was far more powerful than the golden core he had once fantasized about, forged from the source of sin.

Qi Yuan grew more and more excited: "Ning Tao, you're truly clever—even a notch smarter than my own brilliant mind."

But then, after a moment's thought, Qi Yuan felt a deep helplessness.

A golden core this massive… where would he even get it?

Even if he were given an excavator and allowed to dig freely in the Windflow Realm, he could dig until the seas dried and the rocks crumbled, yet he could never hollow out the Windflow Realm to forge it into his own golden core.

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan was torn between hope and fear.

He stopped dwelling on matters of a celestial golden core—what was a celestial golden core compared to the thrill of refining an entire world into one?

Only such a golden core was worthy of a Heavenly Dao Foundation!

Ning Tao said nothing more, continuing to soak in the water.

Qi Yuan, meanwhile, put his clever mind to work, pondering the feasibility of refining the Windflow Realm—or some other world—into his own golden core.

The Great Sun was a true genius!

Qi Yuan felt that the Daydreaming Art suited him more and more.

Time passed, how long he did not know.

"Husband…" Ning Tao's voice turned soft and tender, just as it had been the first time Qi Yuan heard it.

Qi Yuan stopped his thoughts and looked over. The water's surface shimmered, and in Ning Tao's eyes there was a look of anticipation.

"If I were gone, could I see my husband's face once more?"

"Don't jinx yourself," Qi Yuan said, his voice laced with regret. "If you had cast me aside earlier, all would have been well. But now you've offended the entire Northlands—even if you threw me away again, it would be useless."

Ning Tao's strength was immense.

Over the decades, she had slain six Sovereigns.

It could be said that in the Northlands today, the most wanted criminal was the Blood Demon, and the second was Ning Tao.

"I said I would never abandon my husband, and I never will.

I am not like my husband, so heartless, casting me aside at every turn, leaving me alone and forlorn." Ning Tao's voice was soft and tender, almost tearful.

Qi Yuan did not take it entirely seriously.

Who knew how much truth lay in Ning Tao's words?

But her words stirred something in him.

He needed to level up quickly—reach level 120—to boost his strength.

He wanted to go back to Nine Coils Mountain.

Every time, he had left without a proper farewell.

He looked at Ning Tao: "Have I ever abandoned you?"

If they had never even met, could that count as abandonment?

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(End of chapter)