Chapter 722: Ye Xiu’s New Skill

Upon hearing Yue Jinchuan’s words, Qin Qing and the others rushed over. Dizang, with a rare show of anger, demanded, "You killed him?" That man was his subordinate.

"So, he was one of your people after all, hahahaha..." Yue Jinchuan burst out laughing. The fear in his face and eyes was gone, replaced by the confidence of someone holding a trump card. "I have a nickname: Keep One Hand. It means that no matter what I do, I always leave myself a way out. When I captured that man, Ning Wei, I guessed he was one of yours. I was worried the Abandoned City might be dangerous, so I spared his life as an insurance policy. As it turns out, I made the right move."

These words were enough to make Qin Qing and Dizang burn with fury. Ye Xiu’s eyes glinted coldly as he asked, "Keep One Hand?"

"That’s right!" Yue Jinchuan said proudly. "Catchy nickname, isn’t it?"

With a wave of his hand, Ye Xiu summoned the Tiancong Cloud Sword from Leng Yue’s grasp. The sword flashed, and Yue Jinchuan’s left hand dropped to the ground.

"You’re the one who told me to leave a hand. Wish granted!" Ye Xiu sneered, slowly wiping the blood from the Tiancong Cloud Sword on Yue Jinchuan’s clothes.

Yue Jinchuan stared at the hand on the ground, the piercing pain making him roar at Ye Xiu in fury, "I said my nickname was Keep One Hand, not for you to chop off one of my hands!"

"If you don’t tell me where Ning Wei is, I’ll take your other hand too," Ye Xiu said, toying with the Tiancong Cloud Sword. "Of course, before I take your right hand, I’ll slice your left arm into 108 pieces, cut by cut. I should be able to get that many cuts in from the wrist to the shoulder, don’t you think?"

Yue Jinchuan’s scalp went numb with fear. He stumbled back, stammering, "You... you’re not human! You’re a devil! You’re too cruel, you’re a freak..."

"Speak!" Ye Xiu ordered, his voice booming as he pointed his sword at Yue Jinchuan.

Yue Jinchuan shuddered violently. "I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I locked him in Warehouse No. 3 at the Biluo Island docks."

Just as Ye Xiu was about to send Dizang to find Ning Wei, he received a text message from Mo Luo: "Young Master, a mysterious person has taken Kristina and Ming Yue. They were incredibly fast, likely stronger than me."

Oh? Ye Xiu narrowed his eyes as he read the message. So Yue Jinchuan didn’t come to Biluo Island alone. He’s trying to trick me into walking into a trap at Warehouse No. 3.

SLAP!

Ye Xiu knocked Yue Jinchuan unconscious with a single blow. After stopping the bleeding, he absorbed the Water System Totem from Yue Jinchuan’s body and crippled his Martial Prowess.

"Dizang, take him back to Qingqing’s Home for now," he ordered.

"Aren’t we going to Warehouse No. 3 to rescue him?" Dizang asked.

"No rush. Let me write a letter for the three major Judicator Families and have Yue Jinchuan deliver it," Ye Xiu said.

"Alright," Dizang nodded.

The group returned to the villa where Qin Qing and Leng Yue were staying. Ye Xiu’s gaze immediately fell upon the stone in the courtyard, which was covered by a red cloth and carved with the character ’Sword’.

He asked, "Is the ’Sword’ character from Sword Burial Peak under that red cloth?"

"Yes," Qin Qing nodded. "Until now, aside from me, anyone who has seen the ’Sword’ character has been gravely injured." Her expression turned serious as she added, "Ye Xiu, I know you’re powerful, but I advise you not to risk it."

Leng Yue chimed in, "Young Master, I only glanced at the ’Sword’ character once. If it weren’t for my Life Totem, I would have died on the spot. It seems that the stronger the person, the greater the harm they suffer from seeing it. You really shouldn’t look."

"I want to learn how to inscribe ’Intent’ onto stone," Ye Xiu said, ignoring their advice. "All of you, go inside."

Left with no other choice, Leng Yue and the others reluctantly went into the house. Qin Qing, however, remained by Ye Xiu’s side, since the ’Sword’ character couldn’t harm her.

"Are you sure you want to see it?" Qin Qing asked.

"Take off the red cloth," Ye Xiu commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Qin Qing gave him a long look and sighed. "Alright then." With that, she pulled the red cloth away.

The instant Ye Xiu saw the ’Sword’ character, he felt an overwhelming Sword Qi surge toward him like a tsunami. He was forced back a step and a half before he managed to plant his feet.

"This isn’t Sword Intent, it’s Sword Dao," Ye Xiu remarked. "Impressive. Truly impressive. The person who wrote this character was no weaker than me."

Qin Qing stared at Ye Xiu, completely flabbergasted. This guy actually withstood the Sword Dao’s attack without a scratch.

She said, "Before I came to Biluo Island, my strength as a Martial Artist had just entered the Grandmaster realm. In only a few months, I’ve already crossed the ranks of Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and First Realm War God to reach Second Realm War God. Yet I still feel like this ’Sword’ character is as vast as the ocean, and I could never completely fathom the profound intent it contains."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Xiu clenched his fist. The stone stele bearing the ’Sword’ character shattered with a loud crack, unleashing a maelstrom of sharp Sword Qi. With a wave of his hand, Ye Xiu condensed the swirling energy into a sphere of light and thrust it directly into Qin Qing’s head.

"Hey, hey, hey, what... what are you doing?" Qin Qing’s face paled with fright.

"Don’t be nervous," Ye Xiu chuckled. "Your progress in comprehending the Sword Dao by studying the stele every day is too slow. I simply infused the Sword Dao from the ’Sword’ character directly into your body. This way, you can just digest it."

Qin Qing looked utterly dumbfounded. "You can do that?"

"Not only that, from now on, you’ll be like a hedgehog. Anyone who hits you will regret it," Ye Xiu laughed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You’ll find out," Ye Xiu said evasively, casually prying a palm-sized piece of plaster from the wall. With his finger, he wrote the character ’Saber’ on it.

Qin Qing watched with wide-eyed curiosity. "You’ve already learned how to carve ’Intent’ into stone?"

"It wasn’t hard to learn," Ye Xiu shrugged before heading into the villa.

Qin Qing pouted. "You’re a real master of showing off, you know that?" With that, she followed him inside.

Leng Yue and the others had seen everything from a window inside the house. When Ye Xiu entered, they all looked at him with profound admiration and worship. Then they watched as he found a plastic bag and wrapped the piece of plaster with the ’Saber’ character inside it.

He slapped Yue Jinchuan awake.

"You... you, you..." Yue Jinchuan woke with a start, his eyes wide with terror. Then, as if sensing something, he wailed in grief and rage, "You... you actually crippled my Martial Prowess and my Totem! You... Ye Xiu, you..."

"Say another word and I’ll crush you!" Ye Xiu glared.

Yue Jinchuan fell silent.

"Take this letter to the three major Judicator Families. Now, scram!" Ye Xiu commanded coldly, tossing the wrapped-up plastic bag to Yue Jinchuan.

Yue Jinchuan caught it and stumbled away. Watching him go, a playful smirk appeared on Ye Xiu’s lips. The trap is set. Now, let’s see if the person who took Kristina and Ming Yue will fall into it.

"Dizang..." Ye Xiu gave him a meaningful look.

Dizang nodded and hurried after Yue Jinchuan.

After Yue Jinchuan ran out of the Qingqing’s Home villa community, he suddenly realized something. Although Ye Xiu had crippled his Martial Prowess and his Totem, he hadn’t destroyed his Dantian. This meant he had only lost his power and could still cultivate it back. As he fled, he began absorbing Spiritual Energy, and his speed grew faster and faster.