Chapter 88: The Celestial Dominion Sect, Qin Jueqiong

Ye Jiuyao watched that figure step upward without pause. The female disciples of the Jade Heaven Sect rose at once, ready to resist.

“You all stand down.”

“This...”

The women hesitated. Though they knew full well they were no match for him, there was not the slightest trace of fear in their eyes.

“Stand down.”

At last, it was only when Luo Qingyu spoke that the disciples withdrew to the side, clearing the path.

“You are strong.”

“A little stronger than you, perhaps,” Ye Jiuyao answered without the least courtesy, looking straight at the figure approaching from below.

Everyone immediately felt that there must be something wrong with Ye Jiuyao’s head. The other man had merely spoken casually, and yet he actually took it as true.

But the man ascending the steps laughed aloud.

“I hope you can keep being this arrogant.”

“The last one who spoke to me like that has already gone to report to his ancestors. But that is not allowed here, so I’ll have to beat you until you call me grandfather.”

Ye Jiuyao’s reply was just as impolite. A faint smile remained on his face, and that confidence of his was somehow almost pleasant to see.

“Only quick tongue, nothing more.”

This time Ye Jiuyao did not answer. Instead, his body rose slowly, looking down upon the crimson figure ascending the steps.

“Sky Dominion Sect, Qin Jueqiong!”

When Qin Jueqiong reached the steps, he looked toward Zhu Qing and said in a clear voice, without the slightest hint of arrogance.

“Heh... Qin, my young friend, please.”

Zhu Qing suddenly gave a light chuckle, and for once used the word “please.”

“The Saint Son of Sky Dominion Sect?”

“The Qin Jueqiong who was taken in as Qin Yu’s adopted son a year ago?”

“If there is no other Qin Jueqiong in Sky Dominion Sect, then it must be him. And just as rumored, he favors a robe of red, like a winter sun blazing coldly...”

“...”

The murmurs of the crowd reached Ye Jiuyao’s ears. At once, a glint of coldness flashed in his eyes. So this man was the adopted son of that old immortal Qin Yu. Then no one would be able to save him today.

Qin Jueqiong remained unaware that Ye Jiuyao had already sentenced him to death, and still strolled upward as leisurely as if on a spring outing.

“Are you a woman, moving so slowly?”

Seeing Qin Jueqiong still dawdling while everyone’s gaze was fixed on him, Ye Jiuyao could not help but grin and roar at him.

“If you’re in such a hurry to make me the Jade Heaven Sect saintess’s dao companion, there’s no need to rush so much.”

Qin Jueqiong answered, yet his speed suddenly erupted. In an instant he rushed into the void and charged toward Ye Jiuyao.

“Shut up!”

That remark truly irritated Ye Jiuyao. If this fellow actually became his dao companion, would that not mean he had been cuckolded?

Thus, when provoked, even a man could not bear it, let alone a mere uncle.

Ye Jiuyao immediately lifted his sword and struck. The long blade in his hand burst with power and slashed down toward Qin Jueqiong in a flash.

“If I trained for a few more years, perhaps I really would not be your match. But now... get lost!”

Qin Jueqiong turned all his displeasure into a single word: “Get lost.” A long spear appeared in his hand. Like a dragon, it stabbed toward Ye Jiuyao.

Ye Jiuyao’s gaze sharpened. The vital energy in his dantian roared like a mountain torrent, and a brilliance rose behind him, as if an immortal had descended. Sword in hand, he seemed ready to cleave the azure heavens.

“Severing Souls!”

In an instant, ghosts and phantoms ran wild between heaven and earth. Wraiths laughed, evil shades bewitching the spirit. Qin Jueqiong felt as though he had fallen into the eighteenth layer of hell.

In that instant, the sword blazed brilliantly, as if it meant to cut down the stars of the nine heavens and destroy all the Dao beneath the skies.

“Hidden Dragon!”

Qin Jueqiong was not an arrogant man either. Seeing Ye Jiuyao unleash his martial art, he did not hesitate in the least and immediately unleashed his own.

Like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss, like a flood dragon surging from the sea, the space around the two was instantly filled with raging waves. Yet Ye Jiuyao’s procession of a hundred ghosts was even more terrifying.

The scene was like a towering inferno, yet also like a dragon palace beneath the deep sea. It was fearsome beyond measure.

Crash, crash, crash...

Successive collisions burst forth. Behind both men, light blazed fiercely. As the clashes multiplied, the void itself began to shatter.

The ferocious, overwhelming force suddenly thundered and exploded. Bolts of lightning came crashing down, as though bearing the power to destroy heaven and earth.

“Slash!”

“Break!”

Both men roared at once. Their auras did not weaken in the slightest; instead, they became even more terrifying, stirring the prodigies below into ever greater restlessness.

Boom!

A streak of lightning fell, instantly shaking the void with a heaven-shattering cry, ripping apart nothingness like ten thousand phenomena galloping past.

Puh...

Ye Jiuyao’s sword soul, like a ghost among ghosts, seized the moment when Qin Jueqiong was not paying attention and drilled into his body, wreaking havoc within.

Qin Jueqiong’s originally composed expression changed drastically. A mouthful of blood spurted out at once, and his aura weakened by a third.

“Strike when the enemy is sick; take his life.” That had always been Ye Jiuyao’s style. He narrowed his eyes, and the long sword in his hand suddenly swept sideways, carrying with it countless sword lights, like a sword formation descending.

Bang!!

Qin Jueqiong’s body was instantly blasted away by Ye Jiuyao’s sword force. Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth as if it were worthless, and his face turned deathly pale.

“Hm? He didn’t die?”

Ye Jiuyao looked at Qin Jueqiong flying backward, genuinely surprised. Under that sword of his, the man had not died, which struck him as inconceivable.

“Quick, save him!”

At once, a great figure from Sky Dominion Sect rushed out, shouting in panic. Zhu Qing’s expression turned odd.

Ye Jiuyao had actually tried to kill Qin Jueqiong. It was their first meeting; surely they could not have become enemies after only a few exchanged words? Then what had gone wrong?

“Hm?” Zhu Qing’s gaze fell on Luo Qingyu, and she murmured, “Could it be because of Qingyu?”

“Zhu Qing, if anything happens to the Saint Son, Jade Heaven Sect can prepare for war, and Quicksand Sect will come as well!”

That great figure from Sky Dominion Sect panted as he glared at Zhu Qing and shouted furiously. He picked up the unconscious Qin Jueqiong and flew away at once.

“So he was wearing a spirit artifact armor. No wonder he wasn’t beaten to death...”

Seeing that Sky Dominion Sect figure carry Qin Jueqiong away, revealing the inner armor beneath his robes, Ye Jiuyao suddenly understood and spoke.

“If any among you still wish to challenge, please come!”

Watching Sky Dominion Sect depart, Zhu Qing’s face was full of concern, yet she said nothing more and instead looked down below.

“I will.”

The crowd was not much affected by the incident with Sky Dominion Sect. On the contrary, their enthusiasm had only risen severalfold.

The gazes of all the prodigies fell upon Ye Jiuyao, their fighting spirit burning fiercely. In that place, everyone present wanted to fight him.

“Qingyu, you go up. Avoid... hurting anyone.”

Zhu Qing looked at Luo Qingyu and said. She truly feared that Ye Jiuyao might strike too heavily again. Though she was very satisfied with his performance, this was not his personal stage.

It was a selection for Luo Qingyu’s dao companion, and it concerned the future of the Jade Heaven Sect. There could be no carelessness.

So Ye Jiuyao could not be allowed to ruin it. After all, there were still many sixth-rank sects here, and behind them all stood one great sect or another.

Those great sects were at least fourth-rank sects, no weaker than Quicksand Sect. By then, Jade Heaven Sect would also count as having a backer.

The battles that followed were like a light drizzle; everyone’s mind remained fixed on the clash that had come before.

Until... the Jade Heaven Hall opened.