10: Chapter 10 Reversing the Array Core, Startling Sun Changming

Inside the room, Su Qinghan was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

She suddenly opened her eyes, killing intent flashing fiercely in her phoenix-like eyes.

"Get out!"

Clang!

Her long sword left its sheath, and a bone-chilling Sword Qi slashed through the night sky, heading straight for Sun Changming's throat.

"Yo, quite the temper you have!"

Sun Changming sneered, and the Spiritual Qi of the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer erupted fiercely.

Without drawing a weapon at all, his right hand formed a claw, covered in a thick layer of earthy-yellow spiritual light, and grabbed directly at the blade.

Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere.

Su Qinghan only felt an overwhelming and irresistible immense force transmit along the sword body; the webbing between her thumb and index finger instantly split open, and blood flowed freely.

Her injuries had not yet healed, and her cultivation at the Qi Condensation 5th Layer was utterly vulnerable in front of the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer.

"Little beauty, don't struggle anymore. Obediently submit to me, and from now on in this outer sect, I'll ensure you live in luxury!"

Sun Changming grinned hideously and closed in step by step, his powerful pressure firmly locking onto Su Qinghan.

Su Qinghan bit her silver teeth, her eyes filled with despair and determination.

She would rather sever her own Meridians than ever suffer such an unprecedented humiliation!

Just as she was about to reverse her Cultivation Technique and fight to the death.

Ten zhang deep underground.

Qi Yang sat cross-legged in the center of the secret room, his eyes snapping open as a trace of cruel cold light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"The time has come."

He did not rush out to fight head-on; instead, his hands quickly formed seals, and the Spiritual Qi of the 4th layer of Qi Condensation followed the underground Formation patterns, crazily injecting into the core of the Spirit-Gathering Array.

This Formation eye had already been secretly altered by him a few days ago.

Usually used to gather Spiritual Qi, once reversed, it would detonate the earth vein Spiritual Qi accumulated underground!

"Explode for me!"

Qi Yang let out a low shout.

Rumble!

The ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Outside the West Wing Room, Sun Changming was just about to pounce on Su Qinghan.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet split open abruptly, and a violently extreme earth vein Spiritual Qi transformed into an invisible shockwave, fiercely slamming into his chest!

This power was incomparably massive, not something he could contend with at all.

"Pfft!"

Caught off guard, Sun Changming violently spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, and his entire body was blasted flying over a dozen zhang away like a kite with a broken string, heavily smashing into the courtyard's fence and falling flat on his face.

"What is going on?!"

Terrified, Sun Changming crawled up from the ground. His chest hurt intensely, and at least three ribs were broken.

He stared fixedly at the West Wing Room, his eyes full of shock.

That violent power just now was definitely not something Su Qinghan could unleash!

This power was simply terrifying to the extreme!

"Could it be... that immortal old bastard of a Sect Master of the Luoxia Sect left some terrifying defensive trump card on Su Qinghan?!"

This thought flashed through Sun Changming's mind, scaring him into a cold sweat and sobering up a large part of his alcohol buzz.

Although arrogant, he was not stupid.

If the Luoxia Sect really had left a backup plan, if he forced his way in today, he would definitely die here!

What was even more terrifying was that he suddenly discovered that the circulation of Spiritual Qi in his body had become sluggish, and it felt as if countless small knives were cutting through his Meridians, hurting deep into his bone marrow!

"Poison?! When..."

Sun Changming's face turned ashen white. He recalled the burning knife wine he drank tonight, and the Spirit Medicine that Qi Yang had handed over.

But he had no time to think carefully; fear had completely occupied his brain.

"It's a misunderstanding! Fairy Su, this is all a misunderstanding! This Deacon drank too much and took the wrong door!"

Clutching his chest, Sun Changming scrambled and fled out of the herb garden, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Inside the West Wing Room, Su Qinghan gripped her long sword, staring blankly at the huge crater blasted open in the courtyard.

She knew very well that she had no life-saving trump card at all. Since the Luoxia Sect treated her as an abandoned chess piece, how could they possibly leave her with this level of defensive means?

Then what on earth happened just now?

In the underground secret room, Qi Yang withdrew his hands and let out a long breath of turbid air.

Sensing the aura of Sun Changming escaping, he smiled mockingly.

"Run, run as hard as you can. The poison of the drunken immortal grass has already flared up. The more you urge your Spiritual Qi, the faster your Meridians will snap. In less than three days, you will become a useless person with all your Spiritual Qi lost."

Qi Yang did not chase out to finish him off; he wanted to let Sun Changming rot to death bit by bit in a muddy ditch amidst despair and fear.

This was the consequence of offending him, Qi Yang.

Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots; never leave any future troubles.

The crisis was resolved, and the herb garden returned to peace. Only that charred huge crater was still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

Su Qinghan put away her long sword and walked out of the West Wing Room.

She carefully inspected the residual Spiritual Qi around the crater, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

This violent earth vein Spiritual Qi was obviously caused by the Formation being forcibly detonated.

A scene flashed abruptly in her mind.

A few days ago, Qi Yang had moved a few bluestones in this exact spot, and even timidly muttered something about it being some haphazardly figured-out farming trick.

Coincidence?

Su Qinghan absolutely did not believe this was a coincidence.

She turned her head to look at the tightly closed wooden door of the thatched cottage, her gaze becoming complicated.

After a moment, she walked up to the door and knocked gently.

"Qi Yang, are you alright?"

Su Qinghan's voice was no longer as icy as before, instead carrying a hint of probing.

After a long while, a fit of violent coughing came from inside the door, accompanied by the commotion of things tipping over.

The wooden door creaked open a crack, and Qi Yang poked out half his body with a mess of messy white hair and a pale face.

In his hand, he tightly clutched an abandoned Talisman with charred edges and completely devoid of Spiritual Qi, trembling all over like a sieve.

"Fai... Fairy... Has that wicked person left?"

Qi Yang asked stammeringly, his eyes full of lingering fear.

Su Qinghan looked at the useless Talisman in his hand, her gaze narrowing: "What is this?"

Qi Yang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, smiling bitterly as he handed the useless Talisman over.

"This is an earth-sinking talisman that this old man picked up in the mountains in my early years. With this old man's low cultivation, I've always kept it hidden as a life-saving trump card."

"Just now when that Deacon Sun went crazy, this old man was afraid he would harm the Fairy and also afraid he would implicate this old man. In my haste, I threw this Talisman out into the courtyard through the window..."

Qi Yang sighed, his face full of heartache: "What a pity, this is this old man's only life-saving thing."

Su Qinghan took the useless Talisman and carefully perceived it.

There was indeed a trace of violent earth-attribute Spiritual Qi fluctuation remaining on it, which matched the aura of the huge crater in the courtyard very well.

earth-sinking talisman, a first-grade superior Talisman, detonating earth vein Spiritual Qi to injure the enemy—this also explained why the power was so great.

Su Qinghan looked at the old face of Qi Yang, which was full of weathered lines and heartache, and the doubts in her heart were finally largely dispelled.

So he wasn't some unfathomable expert hiding his capabilities, but just a good old man willing to use his life-saving trump card.

Thinking of how Qi Yang had just handed over his coffin money to pay off debts during the day, and then used up his only trump card to save her at night, Su Qinghan's icy heartstrings were slightly touched.

In this cannibalistic Cultivation World where even her biological father could treat her as an abandoned chess piece and send her away, this hundred-year-old geezer she met by chance and regarded as trash had protected her twice at life-or-death moments.

"Qi Yang... thank you."

Su Qinghan slightly bowed, her tone carrying a trace of sincerity and respect.

Qi Yang waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no! Fairy, you flatter this old man too much! Everyone is making a living in this herb garden, and this old man was just doing it to protect himself."

Su Qinghan didn't say anything more, turning around and walking back into the courtyard.

But this time she did not return to her room; instead, she picked up a spare hoe from the corner, walked to the edge of the spirit field, and began silently helping to fill in the huge crater that had been blasted out.

Qi Yang stood behind the door, watching Su Qinghan's back as she worked under the moonlight, a flash of shrewd light passing through the depths of his eyes.

A perfect excuse.

That useless Talisman was a prop he had prepared long ago.

The Law of Prudence: always prepare a reasonable explanation for one's abnormal actions.