Xu Qing did not have the habit of listening to other people's last words, nor did he intend to take them as his slaves. After all, people's hearts were unpredictable. Instead of worrying about being devoured in the future, it was better to kill them directly.
When it came to enemies, he had always thought that … a dead enemy was the safest.
The faster he killed them, the safer he would be.
Especially now that he was in the unfamiliar Red Plains. Although he had been lurking for a month and observed very carefully, he knew that this place was too barren and the environment was terrible. Even the Departure Sect would only come here occasionally to recruit followers.
At the same time, the nearest scavenger camp was a hundred miles away. This caused the battle between Xu Qing and the Vajra Sect to be largely submerged in the wind and snow. There was a high chance that no one would have seen it.
Moreover, he had been using a talisman treasure to disguise himself throughout the whole process. His spiritual boat had been disguised in the sect, so the only person who had seen the real spiritual boat was Zhang San.
This was the limit of what Xu Qing could achieve in a short period of time. Although it was not perfect and had flaws, Xu Qing knew that the reason why his trip went so smoothly was because the Vajra Sect's patriarch had misjudged the time when he would attack.
He had also underestimated the speed of his growth.
More importantly, the patriarch would never have thought that he would possess a divinity attack that could seriously threaten a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
After all, divinity creatures were rare and shockingly valuable. In order to build this spiritual boat, Xu Qing had not only spent the divinity lizard molt but also tens of thousands of spirit stones.
How could such preparations fail?!
At this moment, the wind and snow whistled and swept across the land.
The divinity power from the spiritual boat gathered to the extreme in an instant. As Xu Qing lowered his right hand, the sharp thorns at the front of the spiritual boat shone with a dazzling golden light.
Looking up from the ground, one could see that although the snowflakes were like goose feathers falling from the sky like a curtain, they could not hide the sacredness contained in the golden light.
That sacredness seemed to be able to suppress souls and all living things. It caused the Vajra Sect's patriarch's heart to rumble. The fear in his eyes materialized and merged into his mind, turning into a haze that covered his entire body and mind.
Seeing that the divinity attack was about to explode, seeing that his body and soul were about to be destroyed and he would die in this world, seeing that Xu Qing was not giving him a chance to speak, the Vajra Sect's patriarch's eyes flashed with determination. He roared and did something that Xu Qing had never dreamed of.
He had actually … attacked himself in advance when Xu Qing's divinity was about to erupt!
In the next instant, the Vajra Sect's patriarch raised his right hand and struck his own forehead right in front of Xu Qing.
A boom could be heard as the power of his Foundation Establishment Cultivation base exploded out. Apparently worried that he wouldn't be able to kill Meng Hao, he pulled out a knife with his left hand and stabbed it into his heart.
He used all his strength to shatter the blade that had pierced his heart.
Countless sharp shards, along with his Foundation Establishment Dharmic powers, madly exploded within his body.
His forehead also shattered at this moment, directly collapsing. Everything above his neck was gone.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. In the next instant, the headless and half-broken corpse of the Vajra Sect's patriarch plummeted from the sky …
Xu Qing's eyes widened in shock.
"Alien race?
Playing dead? "
He looked at the corpse that had fallen to the ground and sensed that there was no aura on it and that it was broken. It was obvious that there was no sign of life.
Xu Qing had never seen a human feigning death after losing his head and having only half his body left.
Furthermore, he sensed that the other party wasn't from an alien race.
This made Xu Qing hesitate for the first time when he was about to kill someone. He didn't know if he should waste his limited and precious divinity to continue blasting that corpse …
Even though he had killed many people since he was young, this was the first time he had encountered such a maneuver in his life. At this moment, his spiritual boat's divinity attack was somewhat shaky and restrained by him.
Even so, he still waved his hand and raindrops appeared. They went straight for the Vajra Sect's patriarch's broken corpse and instantly pressed down on it to finish it off.
Amidst the boom, the Vajra Sect's patriarch's broken corpse was even more broken and scattered all over the ground.
At this moment, an illusory soul shadow suddenly emerged from the corpse that had fallen to the ground. This soul shadow wasn't very clear and was shivering in the wind and snow, as if it would dissipate at any time.
Upon closer inspection, even though it was very blurry, it vaguely revealed the appearance of the Vajra Sect's patriarch. However, this soul shadow didn't have any sense of death. Instead, it had a sense of life.
This was very contradictory. It was clearly blurry, but in Xu Qing's perception, it was very clear and lively.
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. The instant the murderous intent in his eyes rose again, the Vajra Sect's patriarch's soul shadow suddenly flashed. It was extremely fast and went straight for … the black metal skewer that had fallen to the ground not far away.
In an instant, it seemed as if he had traveled through the void and directly appeared beside the metal skewer. There was anxiety on his face, as if he was in a race with his life. He was afraid that he would be killed by Xu Qing before he could even get close to the metal skewer.
In the blink of an eye, his soul shadow had completely merged with the metal skewer. At this moment, the black metal skewer shook violently. The black glow on it became even more intense, and a chill more intense than before erupted from the metal skewer.
There were even faint streams of light that overflowed in all directions, as if something ordinary had turned into a treasure!
Xu Qing was stunned for the second time since the start of the battle.
After he entered the Seven Blood Pupils, he was no longer as ignorant of cultivation as before. Looking at his own black metal skewer, his breathing quickened slightly. He could tell at a glance what the changes on his metal skewer were.
"It has an artifact spirit?"
In this world, there were many differences between precious treasures and magical items. One of those differences was that … precious treasures didn't have spirits, but magical items did.
Of course, that didn't mean that precious treasures would become magical items once they gained spirits. However, once they gained an artifact spirit, they had the potential to become magical items!
Xu Qing was silent for a moment. Suddenly, his right hand made a grasping motion, and the black metal skewer whistled through the air toward him. He grabbed it and stared coldly at it for a long time. His right hand would occasionally tighten and loosen its grip. After doing this a few times, he grew even more silent.
He could sense that his black metal skewer really did have an artifact spirit. And that artifact spirit … was none other than the Vajra Sect's Patriarch.
Xu Qing didn't know what technique he had used to kill himself, but he had taken the initiative to turn his soul body into an artifact spirit. Then, he had chosen to enter the metal skewer ….
"Get the hell out here!" Xu Qing growled, a bit irritated.
The metal skewer trembled, and the illusory image of the Vajra Sect's Patriarch appeared. When he saw the expression on Xu Qing's face, he trembled and quickly put on an apologetic smile.
"Master, what business do you have with me?"
His words were well-practiced, and his expression was flattering. There wasn't a hint of awkwardness, as if he had practiced for a long time. In fact, that was indeed the case … The Vajra Sect's Patriarch had been cautious all his life, and he had always been reliable. He also liked to read ancient books, and the thoughts he had in his mind would seem like gibberish to others.
However, he didn't think so himself. He knew very well that in this chaotic world, he was nothing compared to someone who couldn't even activate the Profound Dazzling Form. Furthermore, his sect was too small, so it was very easy for him to become the first whetstone for those who were said to possess great fortune.
In the countless ancient books that the Vajra Sect's Patriarch had read, such whetstones had all died horrible deaths without exception. Not a single one of them had survived. Therefore, in addition to being terrified, he was also worried about his future.
However, he also couldn't bear to give up everything and live in seclusion.
Therefore, many years ago, even though he felt that there was a high chance that he wouldn't be so unlucky, he still made preparations just in case. He secretly cultivated an incomplete art that he had obtained in a ruin when he was young.
Ordinary people wouldn't cultivate this incomplete art.
Because it only had one use, and that was to sacrifice oneself to become an artifact spirit.
Moreover, the failure rate was extremely high, and once it failed, one's soul would scatter.
However, the Vajra Sect's Patriarch valued this incomplete art greatly. He believed that it would be another life for him.
Therefore, he never stopped cultivating it, and he also seemed to have some talent in this area …
He felt that if there came a day when he was really going to be killed, then it would be very difficult for him to win the trust of others even if he verbally acknowledged someone as his master and swore a Dao oath.
Even if he was implanted with something like a Life and Death Talisman, it still wouldn't be safe. It would be easy for him to be thrown away after being used as cannon fodder.
And the safest way was to become the artifact spirit of the other party's weapon.
After all, most cultivators still cared a lot about artifact spirits.
This idea became more and more firm as he read more ancient books …
Until today, the artifact spirit art that he had cultivated all his life finally had a place to be put to use. It allowed him to forcefully seize a chance of survival from a hopeless situation.
At this moment, Xu Qing was getting more and more irritated by his flattery. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He was a little hesitant about whether to kill him or not, but artifact spirits were too precious …
"How did you become an artifact spirit?" Xu Qing asked coldly.
The Vajra Sect's Patriarch hurriedly put on a fawning expression and spoke loudly.
"Many years ago, this humble one had a dream. In the dream, I saw my future self meeting a fated master. He would give this desolate and cruel world a gentle baptism. I was moved at that time and swore to follow him. Therefore, I spent a fortune to purchase an incomplete art and cultivated the Dao of an artifact spirit."
"For this, I am always ready!"
"Speak human language."
Xu Qing's gaze turned cold and murderous intent rose in his eyes. The Vajra Sect's Patriarch shuddered at the sight, secretly thanking himself for being smart and decisive enough to quickly slap himself to death before this vengeful child could.
Then, he took advantage of the other party's surprise to take the initiative to transform into an artifact spirit. Only then could he be considered to have escaped death.
In truth, he had no other choice. This little wolf cub before him had no intention of becoming a slave at all. It was truly determined to destroy him. If he had hesitated for even a moment, he would probably be dead by now.
To be able to find such a way out of such a hopeless situation, the Vajra Sect's Patriarch was exhausted and felt that it had not been easy for him.
At the thought of this, he hurriedly responded in a low voice and spoke the truth. After that, he even cast a spell and released a wisp of his life's spirit before Xu Qing. This was a sign of recognition.
After hearing this, Xu Qing glanced at the life's spirit of the Vajra Sect's Patriarch and then at the black metal lot. The murderous intent in his eyes rose and fell at times. The Vajra Sect's Patriarch watched with trepidation and hurriedly expressed his loyalty.
"Master, my little life is worthless. I am now an artifact spirit. Although I can help master's artifact become sharper and have unlimited growth, and although I am a Foundation Establishment artifact spirit, treasures will be rarer and more powerful under my support, and although I still have many, many uses for it in the future, master can destroy me at any time with a single word."
"Master, there is no hurry to destroy me. There is still an elixir pill on my corpse that is about to take shape. That is a good thing. Master's cultivation will improve a lot after eating it."
"Also, master, there is a treasure vault under my sect. There is an array crossbow in it that is specially used on the Seventh Peak's spiritual boat. I don't have a spiritual boat, so I can't use it. I originally planned to give it as a gift …"
"Also, master, we have to leave quickly. A fellow cultivator I invited a few days ago will be here by tomorrow. Also, there will be an emissary from the Departure Sect in the next few days."
The Vajra Sect's Patriarch knew very well that since he had chosen to kneel, he had to kneel thoroughly. Only then could he live.
Xu Qing was expressionless. With a wave of his hand, he put away the Vajra Sect's Patriarch's life's spirit. Then, he grabbed at the air and took out the storage bag from the Vajra Sect's Patriarch's corpse. Just as he was about to destroy the corpse and destroy the evidence, the Vajra Sect's Patriarch hurriedly stopped him.
"Master, Master, that … that storage bag is just a cover. It's not real. I have another one on me, but I used a talisman to cover it up."
Xu Qing took a deep look at the Vajra Sect's Patriarch.
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If I don't finish writing about the Vajra Sect's Patriarch, I won't be able to think clearly.
I guess all the other pretty boys and girls are the same.
Are you happy now?