194: Chapter 194 The Green Serpent Enters the Central Region
"I've underestimated the Empress."
Elder Li had never looked down on Xu Qing.
But she hadn't expected that this Green Snake could actually plot against her Clone.
She dispersed the surrounding Green Fire.
Her Dharma Idol dimmed as she activated her dharma eye and looked toward Xu Qing.
At this moment, two identical Xu Qings were standing ahead.
"A Clone!"
"He actually researched and developed a Cloning Technique on his own!?"
For the first time, Elder Li felt that Xu Qing's Heaven-Born Spiritual Root, measured during his Aptitude test, was real.
Although it was a knock-off.
But if Xu Qing could gather the strengths of many schools and research his own exclusive Cultivation Technique containing numerous Divine Abilities while only at the Golden Core Stage, how could his Aptitude be anything but extraordinary?
It was true that Xu Qing was narcissistic.
But his claim of being a Genius snake had always been the truth.
While Elder Li was underestimating the two Xu Qings.
The two Xu Qings split up, attacking Elder Li from the left and right.
"Fire Tornado!"
Both Xu Qings spat out Green Fire simultaneously and whipped their tails.
Two green Fire Tornadoes pincered Elder Li from both sides.
"Iron Tree."
Elder Li stopped holding back.
Her body vanished into an afterimage, moving so fast that even Xu Qing's vision couldn't track her.
"She finally used this move!"
Xu Qing had been guarding against this move all along.
Following this move was 'Lotus at Every Step,' a divine skill for traversing space.
As long as Elder Li used this, it would be impossible for him to escape.
Therefore...
Only when she used this move could he find an opportunity to break free.
"Four-Eyes!"
"Explode!"
The Self-Destruct maniac had naturally long since developed the Vengeful Spirit Self-Destruct Technique.
The Four-Eyed Dragon Lizard roared as it charged at Elder Li and Self-Destructed without hesitation.
Yin Fire and Heavenly Thunder exploded in an intertwined mess.
Xu Qing took the opportunity to split from his Clone, flying off in two different directions.
An Iron Tree condensed, slowly extending its branches and cutting the Yin Fire and Heavenly Thunder into pieces.
"Lotus at Every Step!"
The Iron Tree lowered its branches as green lotuses drifted down.
She tapped her toes lightly, stepping onto the first green lotus.
"Gemini, you two chase that side; I'll chase the other."
Elder Li gave the order without hesitation and chased after one of the green snakes, vanishing from sight.
Meanwhile, the twin swords flapped their wings and pursued the other Xu Qing.
"So strong."
"As expected of Elder Li."
The fleeing Xu Qing couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
He didn't want to fight Elder Li either, but right now, he couldn't quite control himself.
"They're catching up!"
Xu Qing looked back.
He saw the Gemini flitting their wings, rapidly approaching.
Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that it wasn't Elder Li herself chasing him; otherwise, he would have been completely finished today.
After all, the twin swords were being manifested by Elder Li's Clone and hadn't achieved full Transformation, so they couldn't exert the same power as they would in Elder Li's true body.
"Empress, stop!"
"Sister, fly slower, I can't keep up."
"The Empress definitely can't outfly us."
"My foolish little sister, just follow big sister and fly."
Xu Qing felt his abilities were being questioned.
He quickly spat out the Xiliang Sword, which turned into a sword light, leaving them in the dust.
Seeing this, the Gemini behind him stopped worrying about Sword Qi consumption and increased their speed, staying right on Xu Qing's tail.
"The Clone... has Self-Destructed!"
Xu Qing's heart skipped a beat, and in the next instant...
A green lotus bloomed before his eyes, and a figure appeared, stepping upon it.
A hundred miles in an instant.
Just a moment ago, his Clone had been a hundred miles away, stalling Elder Li before Self-Destructing.
The next moment, Elder Li was already blocking his path.
He couldn't hide that trump card anymore.
The limit of Elder Li's true body's Lotus at Every Step was seven steps, with each step covering one hundred and sixty miles.
This step by the Clone had crossed a hundred miles.
She must have reached the sixth step, hitting her limit; she couldn't manifest another green lotus.
Now, he could escape.
Instead of a Talisman, Xu Qing threw out a Spiritual Artifact and detonated it with a bang.
This was much more effective than a Talisman.
Using the gap created by the detonating Spiritual Artifact, Xu Qing summoned a mass of green clouds and leaped onto them.
This was exactly the Magic Treasure Xu Qing had initially refined using those green clouds.
The somersault cloud.
[somersault cloud] Spiritual Artifact. Initially refined from spiritual clouds containing immortal intent. It has zero weight, is as swift as the wind, and as hard as iron. Attached skills: Swiftness Lv6, Cloud Escape Lv6, Hardness Lv4, Void Piercing Lv5.
Because he lacked suitable Materials, Xu Qing had only performed preliminary refinement.
But it had already become Xu Qing's best flight Magic Treasure.
"somersault cloud, go!"
Xu Qing patted the somersault cloud.
The latter glowed with green light, carrying Xu Qing high into the sky, leaving only a green line in the air.
"Step on the Green Lotus!"
Elder Li stepped onto another green lotus.
But just as her toes touched the heart of the green lotus, it shattered into a sky full of petals and slowly dissipated.
"By my Decree, let this sword transform!"
She gritted her teeth, spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood, and formed a hand seal, condensing a Golden Seal.
She beckoned to the dissipating green lotus petals; they wrapped around the Golden Seal and, with a flash, appeared beside Xu Qing.
The petals vanished, and the Golden Seal was imprinted onto the Xiliang Sword.
"...I can't catch up."
"I still couldn't stop him."
Elder Li sighed.
With the escape speed shown by that somersault cloud, she, who could no longer use Lotus at Every Step, had no chance of catching up.
"I'll wait for the true body to arrive before discussing further."
"I can only hope the Green Snake can truly fight for that sliver of life he desires."
...
Riding the somersault cloud, Xu Qing headed west, his escape speed gradually slowing down.
After all, the somersault cloud was only half-refined and could only be considered half a Spiritual Artifact.
And the destination of his Escape Light...
...was precisely the chaotic Central Region.
A power located at the junction of the Xia Dynasty, the Bodhi Kingdom, and the Monster Beast Mountain Range.
Serving as a buffer zone between the three powers.
It was a paradise for Evil Yao and evil Cultivators.
Some Demonic Cultivation Sects operated here openly and as a matter of course.
Xu Qing intended to evolve into a Boundary Green Snake here.
...
"It should be just ahead."
Stopping his Escape Light, Xu Qing arrived before a city.
Black City.
The most chaotic city in the Central Region.
A place where evil Cultivators gathered.
Famous for its tall, pitch-Black City walls.
Of course, it was also an allusion to the people inside having hearts just as black.
It wasn't just humans inside.
There were also half-humans Half-Yao, transformed Great Yao, or yao that had partially transformed.
The Yao Race made up a small portion here; the vast majority were the Human Race and Half-Human Half-Yao beings.
The offspring born from the union of humans and yao.
They were often not recognized by the mainstream Righteous Path of the Human Race, even though those Righteous Path Cultivators might find a non-human ancestor if they traced back a few generations.
Half-Yao were not accepted by the Yao Race either.
Only in this Central Region were they treated no differently from the Human Race or the Yao Race.
Thus, a large number of Half-Human Half-Yao gathered here.
Naturally, they also practiced the Evil Path.
As mentioned before.
Ancient humans were a very weak race and often chose to mate with strong races to produce powerful offspring.
Therefore, among the people of this world who have lived until now, basically not a single one is pure-bred.
Simply put.
The people of this world are all bastards.
Unlike the Yao Race; although the Ancient Yao were also weak, they always maintained pure Bloodlines, improving and passing down their Bloodline through the generations.