Urban Martial Saint

In the dark cave, Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu stood in front of the stone bed, carefully observing the three Devouring Demon Flowers on top of it.

After such a long observation, the two of them still had some findings. Although the petals of the Devouring Demon Flowers were completely closed, making it impossible to see inside, when a light source was directed at the petals, faint black human shadows could be seen in all three flowers. This meant that there were indeed people inside the three Devouring Demon Flowers. This also confirmed Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu’s earlier suspicions—Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi were indeed here. And as for the Corpse Ghost Dragon, it was also hidden within these three Devouring Demon Flowers!

By shining the light directly, they could see shadows of people inside, but it was impossible to discern the specific situation inside, let alone the identities of the three individuals. Thus, Ye Qing was very hesitant, unsure of what to do next. Once the flower sealing the Corpse Ghost Dragon was cut open, the consequences could be disastrous. Not only would all the Devouring Demon Flowers here be activated, but most crucially, once the Corpse Ghost Dragon was freed, there would be no one in all of Huaxia who could subdue him, leading to a great catastrophe for Huaxia!

”Why don’t we...” Huangfu Ziyu looked at the three Devouring Demon Flowers and whispered, ”try to push the petals of the Demon Flower open a bit to see what’s inside?”

”That’s not possible.” Ye Qing shook his head, saying, ”The petals of the Devouring Demon Flower are extremely tough, and once they close together, they can never be opened, not by any external force. As I see it, we can only take a gamble now!”

”Take a gamble?” Huangfu Ziyu’s expression changed slightly, and she whispered, ”What if we accidentally release the Corpse Ghost Dragon?”

”The Corpse Ghost Dragon has been sealed in these Devouring Demon Flowers for thirty years; it’s in a state of suspended animation. I reckon even if we release him, he might not awaken that quickly!” Ye Qing took the scabbard of the Ancestor of Miao Dao from his backpack, saying solemnly, ”Before he wakes up, we might have a chance to kill him and eliminate future troubles!”

Huangfu Ziyu looked at the scabbard and whispered, ”The Corpse Ghost Dragon, it’s likely not that easy to kill!”

”No matter what, we have to try; we have no other choice left!”

Ye Qing turned to look at Huangfu Ziyu. After a long silence, she slowly nodded and said, ”Since you want to do it this way, I’ll follow your lead. If we really release the Corpse Ghost Dragon, I’ll let him taste the power of the Sun Shooting Bow!”

”Alright!” Ye Qing nodded, turned around, and placed the famed instruments he brought with him properly, taking out the most powerful one, the New Pavilion Marquis.

”Place this knife nearby; if we really release the Corpse Ghost Dragon in a while, then use this New Pavilion Marquis to slash him!” Ye Qing said, and then took a longsword from the pile of famed instruments, handing it to Huangfu Ziyu, ”This famed instrument is also not lacking in power; let’s use it to cut open one Devouring Demon Flower first!”

”Alright!” Huangfu Ziyu took the longsword, placed it on the Sun Shooting Bow, drew a full bow, and slowly aimed at the three Devouring Demon Flowers.

”Which one should we shoot first?” Huangfu Ziyu asked.

Ye Qing took a deep breath, pointed to the one on the far left, and said solemnly, ”That one!”

Without another word, Huangfu Ziyu released the bowstring. The tremendous force propelled the longsword forward like an unchained dragon, tearing through the air, producing a sharp and piercing noise that rang in their ears. Most astonishingly, as the sword’s tip tore through the air, it began to glow red, eventually igniting in flames, and the tip of the sword began to dissipate, as if melting away, demonstrating the incredible speed at which it traveled.

Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu watched in awe. Since acquiring the Sun Shooting Bow, Huangfu Ziyu had only ever shot air arrows, never real ones. Using the longsword as an arrow this time, they both finally witnessed the power of the Sun Shooting Bow. Even famed instruments suffered wear and tear when shot from the Sun Shooting Bow, let alone anything else. The Sun Shooting Bow is an object for which arrows simply cannot be paired; what material in this world could withstand the wear induced by such velocity?

The longsword, tearing through the air, reached the petals of the Devouring Demon Flower on the far left in an instant. Despite its formidable power, the sword slowed upon contact with the petal. It failed to penetrate the petal, merely leaving a long mark on its surface!

Seeing this, both Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu were astonished. They had clearly witnessed the power of that longsword just now. By their reasoning, the sword should have been able to pierce through half a meter of steel, yet it failed to penetrate these petals, only leaving a sword mark, showcasing just how tough the petals of the Devouring Demon Flower truly are!

”The Devouring Demon Flower truly lives up to its name!” Huangfu Ziyu took a deep breath and turned to look at the longsword that had fallen nearby. The longsword had failed to pierce the petals of the Devouring Demon Flower and fell directly beneath the stone bed. Now, it had shortened by about one-third, transforming from a longsword into a short sword. The missing one-third of the sword body was worn away when the longsword broke through the air and grazed the petals.

”This longsword is basically ruined!” Ye Qing picked up the remaining half of the longsword and tried to scrape it on the nearby floor but couldn’t make a single mark. Once an incredibly sharp famed instrument, it had now turned into a blunt object, completely losing its previous ability to cut gold and jade!

”The petals of the Devouring Demon Flower are really too tough!” Huangfu Ziyu furrowed her brows, glanced at the remaining famed instruments beside her, and whispered, ”At this rate, how many famed instruments will it take to cut through a single flower?”

”Luckily, now we’ve confirmed they’re inside these three Devouring Demon Flowers, so we don’t have to try one by one!” Ye Qing looked at Huangfu Ziyu and whispered, ”Moreover, this Devouring Demon Flower has been triggered but hasn’t activated the other Devouring Demon Flowers. Clearly, this flower is not the main flower that controls all the Demon Flowers, nor is it the one where the Corpse Ghost Dragon is hiding. Inside here, it’s either Ding Lianshun or Yin Fairy, which means we chose correctly. Let’s continue!”

Huangfu Ziyu nodded. Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back. Since they’ve already begun, they must continue. She picked up another longsword, and just like before, she shot it out using the Sun Shooting Bow, but this time she aimed at the mark left by the previous sword.

This time the situation was exactly the same as before; the longsword still couldn’t break open the petals of the Devouring Demon Flower, and this famed instrument was also ruined. However, this time, the mark on the petal was slightly deeper. As long as they keep at it, cutting along this position, they will eventually be able to break open the petals.

Before Ye Qing could speak, Huangfu Ziyu picked up the third famed instrument and shot it out once more. This time, she chose a rather powerful famed instrument and actually managed to slash open the petals!

Ye Qing had been watching from the side. Seeing the petals get slashed open, he quickly rushed over and along the gap, he forcefully pried the petals apart. Inside the massive petals sat a person cross-legged — it was the Red Snake Yin Fairy.

She looked somewhat haggard, her figure noticeably thinner, as she had been trapped inside the Devouring Demon Flower for nearly ten days. However, she was able to sit cross-legged, indicating she was still alive, which greatly relieved Ye Qing.

”Yin Fairy! Yin Fairy!” Ye Qing called softly twice but couldn’t wake her, which made him feel worried. He quickly jumped into the Devouring Demon Flower, picked up the Yin Fairy, and placed her on the stone bed nearby.

”How is she?” Huangfu Ziyu came over to ask. She casually picked up the famed instrument nearby, which was similarly ruined.

Three famed instruments were needed to break open one Devouring Demon Flower, demonstrating the toughness of these flowers. Moreover, fortunately, they had the Sun Shooting Bow to enhance the power of these three famed instruments. Otherwise, not to mention three famed instruments, even if they used thirty or three hundred famed instruments, they might not leave the slightest mark on this Devouring Demon Flower.

Ye Qing checked Yin Fairy’s pulse and said in a low voice, ”It’s alright, she still has a pulse, only it’s beating very slowly. It seems they have entered a tortoise breathing state, a sleep state, to reduce their consumption, thereby allowing themselves to hold on a bit longer!”

”Tortoise breathing state?” Huangfu Ziyu was slightly surprised and said, ”But always sleeping like this isn’t a solution, is it? Can we wake her up, so we can ask which flower Ding Lianshun entered!”

”I’ll try!” Ye Qing took a deep breath and circulated his inner strength to slowly converge on the fingers of his right hand. Suddenly, he extended his finger straight to point at Yin Fairy’s back, and then quickly followed by pointing at thirty-six acupoints on Yin Fairy’s body. The whole process went without any pause, Ye Qing almost pointed in one go. Acupoint seeking with precise pulse recognition, without any deviation; this was the result of Ye Qing’s deep familiarity with acupoint seeking technique.

After pointing at Yin Fairy’s thirty-six major acupoints in one breath, Ye Qing finally stopped, stepped back, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, ”Done!”

Huangfu Ziyu focused on Yin Fairy. Her appearance showed no changes, but there was some slight noise from her body, as if bones out of place were being adjusted. As the sound spread throughout her body, it gradually sat upright, slowly exhaled a breath, and finally opened her eyes.

Seeing Yin Fairy open her eyes, the nearby Ye Qing was also very excited, joyfully saying, ”Awake! Awake!”

Yin Fairy gradually regained her senses. She looked at Ye Qing before her, slowly opened her mouth, and in a very weak voice said, ”Ye Qing, you really came back to save us!”