Soul Emperor Martial God

Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Don’t Force Me to Kill

”Ow,” Xiao Yi winced as a severe pain in his arm made him hesitate for a fraction of a second.

That split-second pause was all it took for another Desert Crocodile to swing its tail from behind, aiming at Qianmo.

”Ah.”

”Don’t be afraid.”

Xiao Yi reacted with lightning speed, enduring the pain in his arm, spun around and drew his Purple Cloud Iron Sword to intercept.

With a clang, the Purple Cloud Iron Sword was directly knocked away, the massive impact flinging Xiao Yi along with it.

”Ugh.” Xiao Yi violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

”Yi Xiao, are you okay?” Qianmo asked anxiously.

”If you don’t want me to die, shut your mouth,” Xiao Yi said, enduring the pain and leaped up once again.

If it had been just Xiao Yi alone, these Desert Crocodiles would not even dream of hurting him.

Thankfully, Qianmo did not make any more noise afterward, but instead, lay quietly on Xiao Yi’s back and used her Longevity Vine Martial Soul to heal his arm, stealing glances at him from time to time.

In her eyes, the boy with the bloodied face and resolute expression made her not want to look away.

She didn’t even realize that her gaze had softened.

Soon, Uncle Tie Da had slain all the Desert Crocodiles, and Xiao Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

”Yi Xiao,” Uncle Tie Da along with Lin Fei and Huang Yuan, seeing Xiao Yi covered in blood, rushed over to check on him.

It had to be said that Qianmo’s Longevity Vine Martial Soul was truly formidable. Although the wound on Xiao Yi’s arm was quite severe, it was now almost completely healed.

Xiao Yi himself was surprised, but it confirmed his previous guess that the Longevity Vine was no ordinary Martial Soul.

Suddenly, Uncle Tie Da spoke sternly, ”Qianmo, do you realize that you almost got Brother Yi Xiao killed?”

”I...” Qianmo hung her head, feeling aggrieved and sad.

”What do you mean ’I’?” Uncle Tie Da reprimanded. ”Being a Demon Hunter is an extremely dangerous profession, not the thrilling adventure and play you imagine it to be. A moment’s carelessness could result in death.”

”Luckily, it was the arm. If it had been your head, could your Longevity Vine Martial Soul have reattached it?”

Qianmo was scolded to the brink of tears.

”Forget it, Uncle Tie Da,” Xiao Yi gestured with his arm, saying, ”I’m fine now, after all, and Qianmo is just a young girl without much experience.”

Throughout their time together, Xiao Yi had realized that Qianmo was a naive young girl with no sense of guardedness and absolutely no worldly experience.

”Naive young girl? Brother Yi Xiao, you’re only a few years older than her yourself,” Uncle Tie Da said sternly. ”Ah, well, since Brother Yi Xiao you don’t blame her, I won’t say any more.”

”Yi Xiao, I’m sorry,” Qianmo said, her face full of guilt and sorrow.

Xiao Yi smiled, ”It’s okay. When I first started out, I was an inexperienced rookie myself, often making mistakes and crying out. Over time, you’ll mature.”

”Ha.” Qianmo suddenly smiled and said, ”And ’back in your day,’ wasn’t you a novice Alchemist too? Speaking like an old-timer.”

Xiao Yi laughed saying, ”Just remember for next time, if there’s danger, just hide behind me. If I’m carrying you on my back, of course, I won’t let you get hurt.”

Xiao Yi didn’t want Qianmo causing anymore trouble; this time it was just an arm injury, next time they might not be so lucky.

”Mhm, got it,” Qianmo said in a low voice.

”Hey.” At that moment, Du Xin suddenly exclaimed.

After slaying all the Desert Crocodiles, he had been feeling around the room, looking for any treasures.

”Wow, I found a book of Yellow Rank Peak Martial Technique,” Huang Yuan’s excited voice came from the other side.

”This... this is the Wind-controlling Spirit Bow that’s been lost in Mystic Breakthrough City for many years,” Lin Fei also cried out in surprise.

”Hm?” Xiao Yi and Qianmo stood up.

They had been preoccupied with fighting and warding off the Desert Crocodiles and only now did they notice that the room was filled with all sorts of antique boxes.

Lin Fei and others had already rummaged through the boxes.

Inside the boxes were Elixir Elixirs, weapons, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and Martial Techniques.

Xiao Yi glanced at the contents, largely uninterested.

The Elixir Elixirs and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were all below Second Grade, the most impressive of the Martial Technique books were no more than Yellow Rank Peak, and the weapons were just ordinary weapons.

The best thing in here was probably the Wind-controlling Spirit Bow found by Lin Fei.

The Wind-controlling Spirit Bow, rumored to have once been the weapon of a famous Arrow Martial Soul Martial Artist from Mystic Breakthrough City, was not as powerful as a Spiritual Artifact but was nonetheless formidable.

Xiao Yi looked curiously at Qianmo, noticing she had little interest as well, just standing dumbly by his side, occasionally giggling.

”What are you laughing at? There’s plenty of treasure here, go pick some,” Xiao Yi said.

”Uh...” Qianmo came to her senses and whispered, ”No need, let the Captain and the rest have those treasures, I’ll stay here with you.”

Her voice trailed off toward the end.

Xiao Yi didn’t catch it clearly but didn’t bother to ask.

Before long, Uncle Tie Da came over with a pile of boxes.

”Brother Yi Xiao, you’re an Alchemist and these boxes are full of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, so they’re yours,” Uncle Tie Da said.

”All for me?” Xiao Yi was taken aback, to be honest, he wasn’t interested in these low-grade materials, ”Better to give them to others.”

”That’s right.” At that moment, Du Xin came over with his own pile of boxes, dissatisfied, ”With all these Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, why should they all go to Yi Xiao?”

Lin Fei and Huang Yuan also returned, saying, ”We have no use for these Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, it would be better for Brother Yi Xiao. The Elixir Elixirs he provided us along the way are worth more than all the treasures here.”

”Oh, just take it.” Uncle Tie Da put the boxes in a Qiankun Bag and gave them all to Xiao Yi, even gifting the Qiankun Bag too.

”This...” Xiao Yi was about to refuse.

Uncle Tie Da said, ”Don’t refuse, we’ve all got good stuff. Look, I got a big knife—it’s a top-notch weapon—and I got a martial technique too, which is worth a lot more than your materials.”

Xiao Yi smiled and said, ”Alright, then.”

”Hmph.” Du Xin complained resentfully from the side.

After a while, when everyone had turned the room upside down and found no other treasures, they finally stopped searching.

Then they collected the carcass of the Desert Crocodile.

”Captain, how come there are so many Desert Crocodiles here, and why are they so strong?” Lin Fei asked as he gathered the demon beast corpses.

Xiao Yi, with sharp eyes, suddenly said, ”Look, these Desert Crocodiles are indeed strange. They have sharp horns on their heads, unlike those outside.”

Uncle Tie Da pondered for a moment and slowly said, ”Every powerful person’s cave mansion must have demon beasts guarding it.”

”If I’m not wrong, these Desert Crocodiles were probably imprisoned here by the Bloodthirsty Profound Monarch back then to guard his cave mansion.”

”Over the years, being trapped here, these Desert Crocodiles might have mutated.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

On the other side of the room was a door, opposite the one they had entered through.

Uncle Tie Da said, ”That door should lead to deeper areas.”

Du Xin said excitedly, ”We’ve already found so much treasure just after entering the palace. If we go deeper, maybe we’ll find better treasures. Xuan Rank Martial Techniques, Earth Rank Martial Techniques, maybe even Spiritual Artifacts.”

Such treasures were something they usually dared not even dream about, but now, it seemed within reach.

Lin Fei suddenly said, ”I didn’t expect the palace to contain a room. Moreover, other Demon Hunting Teams have entered this palace, but they didn’t come through the same door and ended up in different rooms.”

Du Xin hurriedly said, ”Quit wasting time talking; the other Demon Hunting Teams have surely found treasures in other rooms and might have already gone deeper. We should hurry too.”

Uncle Tie Da nodded; the thought of possibly encountering Earth Rank Martial Techniques, even Spiritual Artifacts, was a temptation no Martial Artist could resist.

Uncle Tie Da pushed the door open, but outside the door, there was a barrier.

Everyone passed through the barrier, and were immediately astonished.

For this place turned out to be a wide corridor.

Inside the corridor, there were at least a hundred Demon Hunters, along with countless Desert Crocodiles.

Fierce battles were ceaselessly occurring in the corridor.

On the ground, corpses were scattered everywhere, both of Human Martial Artists and Desert Crocodiles.

”More Desert Crocodiles, and they all have sharp horns on their heads. Damn it, those troublesome beasts again.” The group furrowed their brows.

Shoo, several Desert Crocodiles were already launching an attack on them.

”Retreat back,” Xiao Yi shouted.

However, when the group turned around, the door had disappeared.

Moreover, a force of void stubbornly blocked them.

”Damn, we can’t go back,” Uncle Tie Da gritted his teeth and cleaved a Desert Crocodile in two with his knife.

”We can only fight,” Xiao Yi shouted. With his sword, he blocked a Desert Crocodile that was preparing to strike.

”Stick to the wall and stay close behind me,” Uncle Tie Da ordered before drawing his sword once again.

The corridor was different from being inside the room.

Uncle Tie Da, being in front, could block most attacks from the Desert Crocodiles.

Only occasionally would one or two Desert Crocodiles manage to sneak an attack on Xiao Yi and the others.

The weapons that Lin Fei and the others had obtained in the room significantly increased their strength, and they were no longer afraid of the attacks from one or two Desert Crocodiles.

Lin Fei shot an arrow, and under the amplification of the Wind-controlling Spirit Bow, he wounded a Desert Crocodile.

Huang Yuan and Du Xin joined forces to kill it.

If everything went without incident, despite getting injured, the group could safely cross this corridor.

But just then, at the front of the corridor, a group of Demon Hunters suddenly turned around, each one holding a giant axe and looking fierce and vicious.

Among them, a middle-aged man leading them wielded an astonishingly powerful giant axe. With one swing, several Desert Crocodiles were smashed to pulp.

”Darn, it’s the Giant Axe Demon Hunting Team, damn it, why did we have to encounter them right now?” Uncle Tie Da’s expression grew grim.

”Tie Da, what a coincidence,” the middle-aged man approached with a sardonic tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten Demon Hunters quickly surrounded them.

”Giant Axe, what are you trying to do?” Uncle Tie Da asked coldly.

”What do you think, heh heh,” Giant Axe sneered. ”Those who aren’t involved better scram.”

Giant Axe glanced at Xiao Yi and the others with disdain.

”Yi Xiao, brother, and Lin Fei, you guys go first,” Uncle Tie Da spoke gravely.

”Alright, we...” Du Xin seemed immensely relieved and was about to say something when—

Lin Fei and Huang Yuan cut in, ”Captain, we came together, naturally, we will leave together.”

Xiao Yi smiled and said, ”Uncle Tie Da, without you, we wouldn’t be able to safely leave this corridor, so let’s stick together.”

”You guys... this is my grudge with Giant Axe, it’s none of your business,” Uncle Tie Da chided.

”A bunch of losers,” Giant Axe was growing impatient. ”If it weren’t for the fact that I was busy killing Desert Crocodiles, it wouldn’t even be your turn to talk. Those who want to live, get out now, or you’re asking for death.”

”Heh,” Xiao Yi scoffed contemptuously and stepped forward boldly, staring coldly at Giant Axe.

”Merely an Innate Fourth Layer, you are not worth my attention. I came here to slay demon beasts, not people.”