Chapter Seventy-Three: Nothing More Than This

Qi Ming, who should have died long ago, was now wracking his brains, unable to fathom where he might have slipped up. In manner, speech, and conduct, he bore not the slightest trace of his old self. That day, after being beaten half to death by Xu Zhe, and on the verge of being finished off by other cultivators, someone in the crowd seized the opportunity amidst the chaos, silently extracted his soul consciousness, and rushed him north through the night. With the permission of a certain lord, his soul was implanted into Mo Tianchou’s body, usurping it for a second life.

At that time, Mo Tianchou was already a captive, his spirit battered and feeble. The takeover required no effort, and Qi Ming devoured Mo Tianchou’s memories whole. Thus, reborn through possession, he became Qi Ming with Mo Tianchou’s memories. Everything about him—his gestures, his habits—were modeled precisely after Mo Tianchou. Even upon returning to the Celestial Mechanism Sect, not even Mo Tianchou’s old friends, who had known him for years, noticed anything amiss.

But now, incredulously, Qi Ming found his new identity unraveled by Xu Zhe after only a brief encounter.

“How did you discover who I am?” Qi Ming stared hard at Xu Zhe, his voice cold.

“Oh, I was just taking a shot in the dark—didn’t expect it really was you, Qi Ming,” Xu Zhe replied, his face and tone both remarkably calm.

“???”

Qi Ming was momentarily stunned. A shot in the dark? Are you kidding me…?

“Relax, I was just teasing you. You really have no sense of humor left, Qi Ming.” Xu Zhe finally smiled, pulling out a red bracelet from his storage ring and waving it before Qi Ming. “Your bracelet told me. Back before we entered the secret realm, when I saw you with Li Xunhuang, I knew you were Qi Ming. You didn’t die in Tianhe City.”

Qi Ming frowned slightly.

The storage ring and the red bracelet in Xu Zhe’s hand were both his former possessions. The red bracelet especially was unique: housing a Forbidden Spirit Falcon—a beast bred to seal spiritual energy and block meridian flow. Small, swift, and raised with one’s own flesh and blood.

But what did any of this matter? How could these items prove his survival? How could Xu Zhe know he hadn’t died just from these things?

“Soul sense? You possess soul sense?” The thought struck Qi Ming suddenly, his expression changing.

“That’s right,” Xu Zhe replied with a smile. “Both your ring and bracelet retain traces of your soul sense. I’d considered erasing them, but I’m soft-hearted and let them be. I didn’t expect you to show up before we entered the secret realm, but when you did, I sensed a faint resonance between you and your old possessions.”

“Impossible! You’re only at the Foundation Establishment stage—how could you possibly have soul sense?” Qi Ming cried out. If Xu Zhe’s words were true, and he had sensed the resonance, why hadn’t Qi Ming felt it too? Unless Xu Zhe’s soul sense was even stronger than his own. But how could that be?

“Why not? Qi Ming, you’ve become crueler, more vicious, but your innate insecurity remains unchanged. The truth is before you, yet you refuse to face it, hiding behind your denials. I’m disappointed in you.” Xu Zhe shook his head with a sigh. “But what disappoints me more is this: I wanted to let you go, but your treacherous heart hasn’t died. You still scheme against me. Why? Is our old friendship really so fragile?”

“Friendship? Hahaha! Xu Zhe, don’t be naïve. Do you know what my last hundred years have been like? Since awakening, everything I have, I clawed for myself. Did anyone ever speak to me of friendship then?” Qi Ming laughed bitterly, his face twisted with fury and hatred. “You know nothing. You never truly considered me a friend. Guarding Tianhe City was my chance at greatness, and you betrayed me. You only gave up ten years, but I lost my chance to command a hundred thousand troops!”

“You’re hopeless—beyond saving,” Xu Zhe said flatly, taking slow steps toward him.

“Ha! Here to kill me again, are you? I know I’m no match for you. Do it, then! You’ve killed me once already, you heartless bastard—go ahead, do it again!” Qi Ming roared, veins bulging on his neck, wild with emotion.

“Very well,” Xu Zhe replied as he approached, his face calm as still water.

With a sudden crash, Qi Ming dropped to his knees, his fierce expression melting into the tears of a caged beast.

“Squad leader, I was wrong. Please, let me go. I swear I won’t harm you again. I’ll follow you from now on—work like a beast or a dog, whatever you command.” Qi Ming knelt, sobbing for mercy.

Xu Zhe was slightly surprised, but he didn’t stop. He walked right up to Qi Ming, his hand clenched into a fist.

“No, don’t kill me, squad leader!” Qi Ming suddenly hugged Xu Zhe’s leg, wailing for forgiveness. Yet a sly grin crept onto his face as his soul sense locked onto the red bracelet.

In a flash, a streak of red light shot out from the bracelet.

But it was instantly snatched by a large hand, crushed with a strange, muffled snap.

Qi Ming felt a stabbing pain in his soul—the Forbidden Spirit Falcon, his treasured beast, severed from his senses.

“Qi Ming, is that the best you can do?” Xu Zhe’s voice was calm as he let go. The dead falcon, now a lump of flesh, fell before Qi Ming’s eyes.

Qi Ming stared, dumbfounded. The creature he’d nurtured for years, destroyed in an instant? Xu Zhe hadn’t even used spiritual energy—just raw physical strength. Was he really that powerful?

Qi Ming swallowed hard, raising his head to look at Xu Zhe. For the first time, unease and fear crept into his heart. He realized, perhaps too late, what a fool he’d been.

“Squad… squad leader…” He tried to speak, but suddenly his vision blurred and his throat tightened—he was lifted off the ground.

“Don’t call me squad leader. I haven’t been that in years.” Xu Zhe gripped Qi Ming by the neck, holding him aloft, his expression blank.

“Don’t kill me, I won’t dare anymore, please believe me…” Qi Ming finally showed true fear, his whole body trembling.

“I believe you,” Xu Zhe said. “But I’m curious—what is it about this so-called lord of the Northern Continent that makes you so willing to grovel, even at death’s door still trying to win favor by killing me? Who is he?”

“That lord… is Bai Yefeng, head of the Bai family,” Qi Ming replied quietly. “The Bai family, like the Mo family of Western Kun Province, is an ancient house, but far more powerful—rulers of the Northern Continent, commanding fifty million Crow Soldiers. With a single order, all powers obey.”

“Bai Yefeng? Is he crazy by day and night both?” Xu Zhe quipped.

“No, it’s ‘maple’ as in ‘maple leaf’,” Qi Ming corrected.

“Ah.” Xu Zhe nodded. “Anything else you want to say?”

“Spare me. I’ll do anything. I’ll go back as a spy, feed you every scrap of intelligence. Whatever you want, I’ll do it.” Qi Ming’s eyes shone with desperate sincerity.

“Xu Zhe, I don’t know what fortuitous encounter you’ve had, but your strength is monstrous—your rise, unimaginable. But that only makes you more dangerous. Not just the lord of the Northern Continent, but many in the Four Continents won’t sit by and watch you ascend.” Qi Ming went on, “Do you know why Li Chungang and the others haven’t shown up? Because they’re all wary. The Four Continents are not as simple as we thought. Outwardly, it seems the prodigies hold all the power, and I once believed so too, but over this past century I’ve caught glimpses of deeper secrets. Even the lord of the Northern Continent answers to something greater.”

“And so?” Xu Zhe asked.

“Let me live, and I’ll betray no one again. I’ll act as your spy in the Northern Continent, bring you all the intelligence you need. For old times’ sake, give me one last chance, please?” Qi Ming pleaded earnestly.

“What did you say two sentences ago?” Xu Zhe asked.

Qi Ming hesitated. “Li Chungang and the others…”

“No, the one before that.”

“Can you please not kill—” Qi Ming started, but then realization dawned, his eyes widening in alarm.

“No.” Xu Zhe replied.

Qi Ming’s face twisted with rage. “I knew you’d say that!”

A surge of spiritual energy burst from Qi Ming’s palm.

“As you should,” Xu Zhe replied with a faint smile, and his hand clenched with sudden force.

There was a sharp crack—Qi Ming’s neck snapped. But he wasn’t dead yet: spiritual energy coalesced in his palm, forming a sharp spear that he drove at Xu Zhe’s heart.

A metallic clang rang out. The spear shattered on impact. Xu Zhe’s robe tore, but his chest was unscathed—a faint golden light flickered beneath the skin.

“This body…” Qi Ming gasped, his head hanging at a grotesque angle, disbelief etched across his face.

With a thunderous blow, Xu Zhe’s fist struck Qi Ming’s chest. The violent force blasted through Qi Ming, tearing open the cave behind him and shattering the array within.

The formation collapsed, leaving a gaping hole. Silence fell.

Qi Ming was dead.

Xu Zhe released his grip, watching impassively as the lifeless body crumpled to the ground, its spirit extinguished by the force of his blow.

“All the facets of life… amount to this,” Xu Zhe murmured, gazing at the corpse before turning his eyes to the cave, now brimming with rich wood-element spiritual energy.

...

[After driving all day back home for the New Year, I didn’t even have time for dinner before sitting down to write this chapter. Too tired today—just one chapter for now. I’ll try to write more tomorrow.]