Chapter 179

Chapter 179: What Do You Even Care About? (4000 words, combined edition)

“ROAR!!!”

Xu Ming’s mount, the Evil Dragon, let out a cry of agony.

In its mind, killing this opponent would be as simple as flicking a fly away.

It had already killed countless Heroic Soul Realm martial artists and even more Cavern Realm cultivators.

Now, it was merely facing someone who was both Heroic Soul Realm and Cavern Realm.

Even though the opponent practiced both physical arts and magical techniques, the gap in realms was undeniable.

And even if he set up an array to ambush me, so what?

Against absolute power, everything else is just talk. Everything else is futile.

But Yuan Yellow Sand Dragon Lord never expected Xu Ming to be THIS strong!

His physique was robust, his strength immense, his spiritual energy vast, and his Sword Qi sharp—Yellow Sand True Lord had never encountered such an opponent.

This guy’s realm feels… fake.

Or could it be that my early Golden Core Realm is as flimsy as paper?

Yellow Sand Dragon Lord deeply regretted ever agreeing to this deal.

He should have focused on growing stronger, swimming down rivers, into the sea, waiting to transform into a Chi Dragon before causing trouble.

But now, there were no “ifs.”

“Spare my life! I’ll do anything you ask, just spare me!”

Yellow Sand Dragon Lord lay prostrate on the ground, barely alive, unable to move after having his dragon sinews extracted.

Even if Xu Ming spared him, with these injuries, he would likely remain stuck at the Golden Core Realm for the rest of his life, unable to progress further.

For a cultivator, being unable to advance in cultivation was despair—but to Yellow Sand Dragon Lord, staying at the Golden Core Realm forever was still better than death.

At least he could dominate some small river or stream and lord over others.

Xu Ming stared directly into Yellow Sand Dragon Lord’s eyes: “When you devoured those innocent children and slaughtered people, did you ever consider sparing their lives?

When they begged for mercy, did you ever show them any?”

From this dragon, Xu Ming sensed a very murky demonic aura.

A clear demonic aura meant that the demon didn’t indiscriminately kill innocents; if it did kill, it mostly targeted cultivators, and usually for justified reasons.

But a murky demonic aura indicated that this demon often killed ordinary people.

The clarity or murkiness of a demon’s aura wouldn’t affect its cultivation.

However!

Many righteous sects specializing in subduing demons would not hesitate to eliminate demons with such murky auras!

And judging by how murky this Evil Dragon’s demonic aura was, the number of innocent mortals who’d died at its hands must’ve been in the hundreds!

Yellow Sand Dragon Lord continued pleading: “Immortal Sir, I will never dare again! I won’t harm innocents anymore!

Don’t the monks say something good? ‘Drop the butcher’s knife, and instantly become a Buddha.’

Please, spare my life! I’m willing to be your mount! And I will surely do many good deeds from now on!”

Xu Ming chuckled: “You don’t regret your actions—you regret knowing you’re about to die.”

“I… I…” Yellow Sand True Lord was left speechless.

“And let me ask you, why must you consume the young boys and girls from Stone Family Village? And why one pair every year?”

Xu Ming asked the question that had been troubling him most.

“If you answer well, I might give you a chance.”

Although Xu Ming said this, offering him a chance, it was just that—a chance. He never promised to spare him.

He was destined to die beneath my sword anyway.

“I… I…” Yellow Sand Dragon Lord’s eyes darted around nervously, even breaking out in cold sweat.

“You’re not going to tell me?” Xu Ming brandished his longsword, ready to strike.

“It’s not that I won’t say, Immortal Sir, but I can’t say! I… I…” Yellow Sand Dragon Lord’s gaze shifted uneasily, clearly conflicted. “If I speak, you’ll kill me, but even if I tell you, I’ll die anyway.”

Xu Ming: “If that’s the case, then die.”

“Immortal Sir, I really can’t say, but I can tell you this—I didn’t eat those children. I didn’t dare touch the children from Stone Family Village. Those children are all…” Yellow Sand Dragon Lord’s eyes suddenly widened in shock!

“Oh no!”

Xu Ming felt something was amiss and quickly distanced himself.

Just as Xu Ming stepped back, Yellow Sand True Lord’s head exploded into a mist of blood.

Looking at the headless corpse on the ground, Xu Ming frowned deeply.

Clearly, this Evil Dragon had been cursed with a spell—if he revealed the truth, the curse would activate, leading to instant death.

This Evil Dragon hadn’t intended to reveal everything, only hinting at something to save his life, but unexpectedly triggered the curse.

“Didn’t dare to eat?”

Xu Ming recalled the words this dragon had spoken earlier.

What does “didn’t dare” mean?

Could those children have some special qualities?

After the Evil Dragon’s death, the other spirits turned pale, gaining a clear understanding of this man’s strength.

The remaining spirits tried to beg for mercy.

But Xu Ming, seeing the murky demonic auras emanating from their bodies, killed them all with a single punch, leaving none alive.

“Master Yuan, could you help me collect the demon cores of these spirits, and cut off any usable parts of their bodies? As for their storage bags, leave them alone.” Xu Ming said to Yuan Rain.

Yuan Rain smiled and bowed politely: “Master speaks too much. It’s just a small favor.”

Yuan Rain took a small knife and began processing the demon corpses.

These spirit cores and certain body parts of the demons were all valuable items that could fetch a lot of money.

Unfortunately, quite a few demons had been obliterated into bloody mists by Master Xu, leaving nothing behind.

As Yuan Rain handled the demon corpses, Xu Ming looked at Mo Zhu’er standing nearby.

Noticing Xu Ming’s gaze, Mo Zhu’er raised her hand high and extended it forward, walking obediently in front of Xu Ming, appearing completely resigned to capture.

It seemed she hadn’t even considered escaping.

Xu Ming laughed and stared into Mo Zhu’er’s eyes: “You don’t plan to run?”

Mo Zhu’er blinked innocently: “Run? Where could I possibly go? Can you release the array and let me leave?”

“That’s impossible,” Xu Ming replied.

“So~ Since I can’t escape and I can’t defeat you, naturally, I’ll beg for mercy~” Mo Zhu’er’s eyes curved into a smile.

Xu Ming chuckled a few times, already harboring murderous intentions.

Xu Ming wasn’t the type to refrain from killing someone just because they were pretty.

Since she wanted to kill him, she would pay the same price.

Yet, looking at her calm demeanor, Xu Ming felt she still had some hidden cards.

“Will you spare me just because I beg? Who do you think you are?” Xu Ming tested her.

“Of course, I’m the Holy Maiden of the Black Lotus Sect!” Mo Zhu’er said matter-of-factly.

Xu Ming: “So what? Do you think I won’t dare kill you?”

“How wouldn’t I dare?” Mo Zhu’er smiled. “Of course, I would dare! If I want to kill you, and you want to kill me, it’s only natural. But I have a reason you can’t kill me.”

Xu Ming furrowed his brows.

“Do you not want to know why the Black Lotus Sect wants to kill you?” Mo Zhu’er spoke directly. “What good would it do to kill me? Someone else will come to kill you then. Instead, why not keep me around? We can play cat and mouse. I chase you, you run from me—it could be quite interesting. I swear I won’t try to harm you.”

“Hmph.” Xu Ming gave a cold laugh. “Can I trust the oath of a wicked woman?”

Xu Ming gripped his longsword tightly, with Sword Qi swirling violently around him, filled with murderous intent.

Mo Zhu’er had no doubt that Xu Ming would slash her throat in the next moment!

“Clang!” A flash of sword light passed through Mo Zhu’er’s eyes.

“Isn’t the Martial True Qi and Spiritual Energy within you quite chaotic right now? You probably can’t hold out much longer.”

Xu Ming’s sword was already touching Mo Zhu’er’s delicate white neck. Blood trickled from the broken skin, sliding down Xu Ming’s sword continuously.

Xu Ming glared coldly at Mo Zhu’er, while Mo Zhu’er continued to smile at him.

“Don’t suppress it anymore. I can see it,” Mo Zhu’er placed her soft, white hand lightly on Xu Ming’s shoulder. “Men shouldn’t try to be too strong-headed~”

Right after Mo Zhu’er finished speaking,

Blood flowed from Xu Ming’s mouth, eyes, and ears.

“Master! Are you alright?”

Yuan Rain, who had been carefully monitoring Master Xu’s condition, rushed over upon noticing something was wrong.

“No problem.” Xu Ming waved his hand dismissively.

Mo Zhu’er continued: “I have a way to solve it, and in this world, only I can solve it. If you don’t believe me, feel free to kill me now. But later, Master will have to choose between pursuing the path of martial arts or the path of a Qi practitioner.”

“Yuan Rain.” Xu Ming called out the name of the golden-bodied toad.

“Master.” Yuan Rain responded.

“Back in the White Hollow Secret Realm, didn’t you have a rope that could bind someone and seal their powers?” Xu Ming asked.

“Yes, Master.” Yuan Rain nodded. “Any cultivator below the Golden Core Realm who is bound by this rope will be reduced to the level of an ordinary person.”

Xu Ming nodded: “Bind her.”

“Yes!”

Without hesitation, Yuan Rain summoned a golden chain rope, which automatically wrapped around Mo Zhu’er.

Mo Zhu’er didn’t resist at all.

Xu Ming then took out a pill and shot it directly down Mo Zhu’er’s throat: “This pill is a treasure contributed by the Ten Thousand Poison Sect of Wu Kingdom to His Majesty. After taking it, the body will feel extremely hot, with surging blood and qi. Every day, an antidote must be taken; otherwise, the person will dissolve into a pool of pus!”

After swallowing the pill, Mo Zhu’er indeed felt a burning sensation in her body, with her blood boiling uncontrollably, exactly matching the symptoms Xu Ming described earlier.

“Master is truly kind-hearted,” Mo Zhu’er coldly remarked, losing her previous composure.

“Not worthy enough to compare to the Holy Maiden of the Black Lotus Sect,” Xu Ming ignored Mo Zhu’er’s sarcasm.

“Growl growl…”

In the distance came the childish cries of a little girl.

Shen Shengsheng waddled over to Xu Ming on her short legs.

“Growl.” Shen Shengsheng tugged at Xu Ming’s pants, lifting her little head, and looked at Xu Ming with concern.

“I’m fine.” Xu Ming patted Shen Shengsheng’s head and handed her the small Bag of Many Worlds from his waist. “Go ahead, we’ve gained a lot of spoils. They’re yours to handle.”

“Growl!” Shen Shengsheng happily cried out, grabbing Xu Ming’s Bag of Many Worlds and cheerfully went off to inspect its contents.

Mo Zhu’er watched Xu Ming’s gentle manner and contrasted it with his previous berserk-like killing frenzy, finding this man somewhat contradictory.

Soon, hearing no commotion from the temple fair, villagers gradually gathered to check the situation.

Seeing the headless dragon lying on the ground, many villagers couldn’t help but burst into tears.

It wasn’t sorrow for Yellow Sand Dragon King’s death.

Instead, they were finally free from being threatened and controlled by Yellow Sand Dragon King.

That day, Stone Family Village held a real temple fair, celebrating the death of Yellow Sand Dragon King.

Xu Ming collected the heartblood of this evil dragon and let Yuan Rain pick what he wanted.

Yuan Rain declined several times, saying he hadn’t done anything, merely setting up a few arrays.

But under Xu Ming’s insistence, Yuan Rain reluctantly chose the dragon’s gallbladder.

Xu Ming directly tossed the dragon’s gallbladder to Yuan Rain.

Yuan Rain separated the dragon meat, dragon blood, dragon scales, etc., handing them over to Xu Ming, making it convenient for Xu Ming to sell or use later.

Later, Xu Ming even had Mo Zhu’er lead him to the dragon palace, thoroughly looting Yellow Sand True Lord’s treasury.

“Haven’t you noticed? Some villagers seem to resent you,” Mo Zhu’er, still bound in the room, smiled at Xu Ming. “You killed Yellow Sand True Lord, ruining their favorable weather conditions. To them, offering a pair of young boys and girls each year meant living comfortably.”

“Hmph.”

Xu Ming gave a cold laugh.

“A mere little dragon, what qualifications does it have to control the weather? At best, it can sense the weather in the near future. That evil dragon appeared during the rainy season, claiming it could bring rain, but it was actually going to rain anyway.

The subsequent twenty years without water shortages for Stone Family Village were purely due to luck—they hadn’t encountered a drought in twenty years.

In comparison, that evil dragon did nothing, enjoying offerings, demanding a pair of young boys and girls each year, occasionally plundering Stone Family Village, and using the villagers as slaves.”

Mo Zhu’er: “You know these things, but the villagers don’t.”

Xu Ming: “I told the village chief.”

Mo Zhu’er: “But many villagers don’t believe it.”

“Normal. Many people only believe what they originally believed.” Xu Ming turned around and looked at Mo Zhu’er. “I don’t care.”

“Then what do you care about?” The trapped Mo Zhu’er smiled and walked closer, sitting beside Xu Ming, her breath fragrant like orchids.

“Don’t bother with useless talk.” Xu Ming said coldly. “Tell me, how can you help me balance my true energy and spiritual energy?”