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Chapter 67: Chapter 67 One Sword
"Half-demon?"
Li Qian, with his exceptional hearing and spiritual perception cloaking the area, naturally caught the startled exclamation from Chu Ping, the thousand-household official of Xuanjian Bureau.
At this moment, an unexpected event occurred.
The hideous humanoid creature suddenly turned and fled, its speed astonishingly fast.
"Huh?"
Li Qian’s face showed surprise.
What’s happening?
Judging by the ferocity it showed earlier, it seemed as if it was about to wreak havoc everywhere.
Why did it suddenly run away?
Li Qian hastily drew his sword and used his qinggong to give chase.
He couldn’t let this half-demon escape.
Otherwise, how would he complete his task?
As the humanoid creature fled, everyone at the scene let out a sigh of relief.
"Master Yan, quickly stop Li Qian from chasing it; that’s a half-demon..."
Chu Ping, the thousand-household official, said anxiously.
He knew from the Xuanjian Bureau headquarters’ archives just how strong a half-demon was.
To eliminate such a creature, it would probably require the Divine Sword Sect to dispatch a true grandmaster-level expert.
"Senior Brother Li and that monster are too fast; he has already caught up..."
Yan Song said helplessly as both the person and the monster were already out of sight.
"This is troublesome; how could a half-demon appear here?"
Chu Ping from the Xuanjian Bureau said with a grave expression.
"Chu Ping, what exactly is this half-demon?"
Yan Song asked, puzzled. He recalled the monster’s ugly and fierce appearance, its aura terrifying beyond measure.
He, being in the Innate Ninth Layer, didn’t even have the courage to look it directly in the eye.
Thankfully, during the time spent chasing, they hadn’t encountered it; otherwise, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
"I’m not entirely sure myself, I’ve only learned a bit from the Xuanjian Bureau headquarters before. It’s said that at least a grandmaster-level expert is needed to deal with one..."
Chu Ping said.
"Grandmaster-level expert?" 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑝𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Upon hearing this, Yan Song inhaled sharply.
Because within the Divine Sword Sect, a grandmaster-level expert is considered an elder-level master.
Generally speaking, those who’ve grasped Illusion Level Martial Intent and whose cultivation has reached the True Essence Realm, can be called a grandmaster.
And those whose cultivation has reached the True Pill Realm are considered great grandmasters.
If it really takes a grandmaster-level expert to deal with that half-demon... doesn’t that mean Li Qian is in danger?
Even if Li Qian has high talent, he’s at best the strength of an ordinary innate expert, which is undoubtedly still a considerable distance from a grandmaster-level...
No wonder Chu Ping urged him to stop Li Qian from pursuing...
But now it’s too late.
The person and monster had disappeared long ago.
"Senior Brother Yan, Senior Brother Li won’t be in trouble, right?"
Junior Sister Fan couldn’t help but express her concern.
"Immediately dispatch someone to send a message to our sect with a carrier eagle."
Yan Song took a deep breath and immediately gave the order.
At this time, they could only ask the sect for help again.
Unfortunately, help from afar can’t quench the fire at hand.
By the time the sect receives the message and sends an elder-level master, it would take at least three to four days.
...
"Such incredible speed."
Li Qian watched the humanoid creature sprinting ahead at high speed, shocked in his heart.
However, he was in no hurry to intercept.
He didn’t believe that the creature could maintain this half-demon state indefinitely.
Therefore, he just followed along, ensuring that the creature didn’t leave his line of sight.
They were now in a desolate range, having left Sanhe Town far behind.
Because it was night, there was no moonlight; however, under Li Qian’s spiritual perception, it was as clear as day.
Moreover, places where the humanoid creature passed left traces of faint demon energy aura.
This pointed him in the right direction.
So he was not at all worried about losing track of the humanoid monster.
After a good two or three quarters of an hour, suddenly the humanoid monster came to a stop.
"Why must you, an Innate expert from Divine Sword Sect, be so aggressive? Do you really want both the fish and the net to perish?"
The humanoid monster uttered with a hoarse voice, gasping for breath.
"The fish may die, but the net might not break."
Li Qian replied with a light laugh.
Realizing it couldn’t escape, the humanoid monster roared furiously and, with speed like lightning, suddenly pounced towards Li Qian. Its furry, large hands, like wolf’s claws, viciously tore at Li Qian.
Li Qian’s figure flickered, his sword light swallowing and spitting, like a startled swan piercing the sun.
Pfft!
A large bloody hole exploded in the back of the humanoid monster.
A spurt of black blood shot out.
Although the humanoid monster’s body seemed to be healing... the destructive Sword Qi was completely destroying its vitality.
The humanoid monster fell to its knees with a thud, only able to prop up its body with its two furry, thick arms.
Black blood surged from its mouth, as it looked down at the gaping wound in its chest...
"Impossible... How can you be so strong?"
It had felt a terrible threat after undergoing half-demonization, which is why it had chosen to flee immediately.
But it had still underestimated the opponent’s strength.
It hadn’t even had the chance to resist.
Li Qian did not approach, merely watching as the life force of the humanoid monster rapidly drained away.
Even its heart had been shattered by his sword.
The fact that this humanoid monster did not die instantly showed its strong vitality.
Suddenly, the humanoid monster’s body gradually transformed, shrinking... until it turned back into a normal human being, struggling to lift its head to look at Li Qian, it uttered a few words from its mouth: "The Sect Hierarch will not let you off..."
The next moment, its head drooped, and it was completely lifeless.
Li Qian showed no mercy, not questioning why it had killed so many people or what it was looking for.
These were of no concern to him.
He was just here to complete a mission.
As for other troubles... he couldn’t care less about them.
The sooner the mission was completed, the sooner he could return to Divine Sword Sect, the sooner he could ring the bell to cultivate...
After confirming the person was completely lifeless, Li Qian then walked over, fiddled with the corpse using his sword and picked up a cloth bag stained with black blood.
Li Qian looked at the cloth bag and with a stroke of his sword, he neatly sliced a slit in it.
A piece of leather paper-like material was revealed.
He used his sword to lift out the leather paper.
Quite quickly, the folded leather paper unfolded.
"Eh?"
Li Qian suddenly found it a bit familiar.
He squatted down to pick up the leather paper, three pieces in total, made of cowhide.
This material...
And the map on the cowhide paper, Li Qian immediately was reminded of the so-called opportunity treasure map that Elder Song had given him.
He pieced together the three pieces of cowhide paper roughly, and it was clear that a piece was missing.
After Li Qian watched for a moment, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and recalled the contents of the treasury map.
Despite so many years having passed, he still remembered it clearly.
His memory was very good in his previous life, and after transmigrating, his memory was even more astonishing, almost photographic.
"Good grief, together with that treasure map, this is a complete map."
Li Qian opened his eyes, his expression contemplative.
But he remembered that Elder Song had said in the letter that he had found the place of treasure but couldn’t enter due to lack of strength...
If Elder Song’s map was sufficient to find the treasure, wouldn’t these three maps be redundant?
"There must be a reason, the things involved with this treasure map are probably not simple."
Li Qian pondered in his heart.
The creator of the treasure map isn’t likely to be so idle.
And... this person who could transform into a half-demon was clearly collecting treasure maps; perhaps the one in his possession is their ultimate target.
The current problem is how to deal with these three maps?
The words spoken by that person just before death signaled that there was a powerful force behind him, representing a potential hidden danger for him.
.....
