Splitting the Heave

As the Mutated Rain Swallow was extremely vigilant, Qing Que used all the cover he could find to slowly approach it. While he inched closer, he tried to recall everything he knew about the Mutated Rain Swallow.

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Ordinarily, Mutated Rain Swallows moved together in a giant flock.

Now, a single Mutated Rain Swallow was sitting alone. It had to be left behind by its group, unless…

Qing Que was starting to suspect that something was wrong when the Mutated Rain Swallow flapped its wings and jumped around the branch. His heart leapt into his throat and he stopped moving entirely.

However, he soon discovered that the little creature didn’t fly away. Instead, it started falling towards the ground in an unsightly manner. Flapping its wings desperately, it managed to drag itself over to another tree nearby.

“Ha! Just as I thought! It’s injured! No wonder it was left behind.” Excitement filled Qing Que’s heart. “Humph! The moment I get my hands on this Mutated Rain Swallow, I’ll be able to obtain the pure bloodline of our race! When that happens, they’ll bestow me a new name! In the future, They can call me Yan Qing!” 

He didn’t realize that he was getting further and further away as he tracked the Mutated Rain Swallow.

…

Shang Xia coldly watched on as Ling Que, the strongest of the three, slowly approached the entrance.

Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief after noticing that Qing Que hadn’t returned. A trace of joy filled his heart after noticing that the Lightning Bird and Yan Ni’er understood his meaning earlier.

Now, the only problem was how long Yan Ni’er could stall for!

No… I have to end this as quickly as possible. It’s good enough that the little bird managed to draw them out. I can’t expect too much from them!

Shang Xia used the cover in the hidden valley to slowly approach Huang Que.

Oblivious to the danger approaching, Huang Xua sauntered around the hidden valley slowly. When Ling Que was still there, he held himself back. Now that his senior brother was gone, he finished the alcohol with a few large gulps.

Walking towards one of the Embroidered Cloud Carriages, he dragged out a barrel of wine before refilling his pouch. When it was full, he didn’t forget to take a large swig from the barrel itself. Smiling in satisfaction, he kept his pouch securely.

The aroma of wine filled the air once again. The wine was made with a herb called the Hundred Grass, and the effects were slightly different to Shang Xia’s Hundred Flower Wine. The Hundred Grass Wine could help cultivators recover from inner injuries, but Shang Xia’s wine could replenish a cultivator’s inner qi!

By the time Huang Que kept his pouch, Shang Xia had nearly descended the cliff. As the amount of cover grew lesser, many disciples had discovered his presence.

Traces of anticipation and hope filled their hearts.

Luckily for Shang Xia, the disciples were smart enough to remain silent. They couldn’t let the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World discover his presence. They quickly turned away to avoid looking at him.

Even so, Huang Que noticed the change in their eyes. He growled angrily at them, “Humph, do you think that you will find a chance to escape because I’m the only one left?” 

As they lowered their heads, Huang Que revealed a contented look. A sinister smile soon formed on his face. “Let’s play a game. I’ll give all of you a chance. You can go ahead and run. Before I finish my wine, I won’t chase you down. How’s that?” 

“Begin!” 

Huang Que popped open the cork on his pouch again and took a huge swig of wine.

“Don’t listen to him! All he wants is a chance to beat us up!” Huang Zihua. 

“Humph! Brat, how dare you slander me?” Huang Que glared at the person who spoke. When Huang Zihua saw the look in Huang Que’s eyes, he flinched.

However, he caught a glimpse of Shang Xia closing in on Huang Que and the look in his eyes hardened. He raised his head to glare at Huang Que and yelled, “You’re a despicable bastard! Our seniors will soon discover this place! When that happens, you’ll…” 

“Brat, there’s no need to wait for them to find me. I’ll help you loosen your bones right now!” Huang Que grabbed Huang Zihua by the collar and dragged him around.

Noticing the figure behind Huang Que, a cold smile appeared on Huang Zihua’s face. “Too bad you won’t have the chance any more.” 

Staring at Huang Zihua in shock, Huang Que seemed to have thought of something and he whipped his head around violently.

The last thing he saw was a pair of vaguely familiar knives!

“Aren’t those the young lady’s weapons?” With doubt filling his heart, his vision went black.

“Senior Brother Shang!” Huang Zihua couldn’t care less about the blood that sprayed onto his face and he cried out happily.

“Shhh…” Shang Xia placed his finger to his lips and he nodded at the rest of the captives. Handing one of the knives over to Huang Zihua and the other to Jiao Haitang, he got them to cut the rest loose. He stealthily moved over to the entrance of the hidden valley.

Only then did the rest of the disciples realize that they weren’t out of the woods. There were still two other cultivators from the Azure Spiritual World around!

“Huh? He actually gave us low-grade weapons!” Huang Zihua examined the knife in his hand and a light flashed in his eyes.

“Hurry up! One of the carriages contains Cloud Piercing Crossbows. We haven’t broken through to the Martial Realm, but we can use them to help Senior Brother Shang!” Jiao Haitang.yelled.

She went over to free the others as soon as she cut off her restraints.

Huang Zihua didn’t remain idle and soon, everyone was free.

Huang Zihua turned to look at Huang Que’s corpse and he sighed, “I wonder how Chief Shang did it… This guy seems to be at the large completion stage of the Martial Realm. However, Chief Shang killed him before he could react!” 

A bundle of arrows for the Cloud Piercing crossbows flew into his arms, and he grabbed it hastily.

“Senior Brother Shang might have already broken through!” Jiao Haitang’s voice came from inside the carriage. “Of course, your stupid move to draw the guy’s attention away probably helped.” 

Huang ZIhua chuckled haughtily in response. “Of course I had something to do with it!”

As soon as the words left his lips, a massive blast rang through the valley.

When they saw flashes coming from outside and heard the curses flying over, they yelled, “Let’s go!” 

The disciples of the Tongyou Institution ran out quickly.

…

“... A Mutated Rain Swallow?! Do you really think you can catch it yourself?! If it’s that easy, why would we bring so many people over and kick up such a huge fuss?! Do you think the others are completely useless?!” Ling Que refused to believe Qing Que’s explanation as he yelled at him for leaving the hidden valley.

“It’s true! I definitely found an injured Mutated Rain Swallow. It couldn’t even fly properly! I thought it was a good opportunity and I…” Qing Que tried his hardest to explain.

“Even if it is true, are you sure you can capture it alive?!” Ling Que snapped at him angrily. After all, capturing a live Mutated Rain Swallow was easier said than done.

Too stunned to speak, Qing Que could only follow behind Ling Que. He forgot about the fact that the Mutated Rain Swallow would kill itself the moment it was captured.

A sense of superiority filled Ling Que’s heart as he led Qing Que back. He continued to lecture Qing Que on their way back. Helpless, Qing Que could only shake his head and listen to his senior brother.

When they entered the hidden valley, Ling Que was still droning on while Qing Que looked into the distance to soothe his feelings from the criticism he was receiving.

When he casually raised his head, he felt his soul leaving the body.

Ling Que noticed the problem too, and when he followed Qing Que’s gaze, a curtain of red light enveloped his vision.

“Ah!”

Raising his hand in a desperate attempt to defend himself, a bolt of lightning struck him, turning his arm into charcoal.

The rest of the lightning sank into his body, turning half his face into a mixture of coal and mush. He smashed into the ground with a massive thud.