“He’s… careful!” At that moment, Li Che, who had been staring intently at the spell cultivator, suddenly shouted. A burst of light flared from the cultivator’s hand as he straightened up, spreading his fingers wide, conjuring a pale green light net that shot toward Meng Qi’s arm with incredible speed.
This happened in an instant, and although it happened under many eyes, most of the people were too far away. Sikong Xing and Qiao Ran had just looked away, their guard at its lowest. The light net moved too quickly, but they could still see that it was made of fine, extremely thin threads that glinted with sharp light. Such threads could slice through the body of even the strongest cultivator.
Meng Qi was still half-kneeling, wholly focused on her patient and seemingly unaware of the lethal light net approaching her. Moreover, being a medical cultivator, even if she noticed it, she might not be able to dodge it.
At that moment, a sword flew from behind Meng Qi with a resonant sound, faster than even Qiao Ran’s sword. The pale green light net was fast, but the sword was faster. Its tip rapidly struck the light net multiple times, each touch producing a dull sound as if the sharp blade were hitting something fragile.
Qiao Ran seemed to return to his senses, his eyes brighter than the sword light. “Seventeen strikes!” he exclaimed, noting that in the blink of an eye, the sword had struck seventeen times.
But it wasn’t over. At the seventeenth strike, the sword’s glow surged, its light bursting forth as if it was turning into the most brilliant star. Then, with an overwhelming momentum, the star made its rapid descent, falling and slashing at the light net.
With a sharp, tearing sound, the pale green net was ripped in two, completely torn away. But the sword’s momentum did not stop—its light soaring into the sky once again, this time attacking the natal weapon in the palm of the spell cultivator.
The surrounding people were completely stunned. They were all outstanding young disciples from the top sects of the Three Thousand World, none of them were mediocre or weaklings. Many were also from sword sects, yet none dared to claim they could match the sword’s owner.
“Ah——” Along with a long, agonized scream, the spell cultivator’s natal weapon shattered in his hand. One strike from the sword had effortlessly destroyed a natal weapon, likely of the same level—such an awe-inspiring strike could belong to only one person.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the direction from which the sword had just attacked. A young man in white slowly walked up behind Meng Qi. The sword, which had shone so brilliantly and struck so mercilessly just now, flew back to its owner, the hilt lowering slightly as it affectionately brushed against his shoulder before hovering motionlessly in mid-air.
“Brother Pei!” Sikong Xing’s eyes lit up as she greeted the newcomer.
“It’s him!”
“Of course, it’s him.”
“I knew it, such an attack could only come from him.”
The onlookers, all cultivators, whispered among themselves as they watched the white-robed newcomer, Pei Mufeng, who was renowned as the number one sword cultivator of the Eastern Realm of their generation. Several among them, who also recognized Qiao Ran, glanced back and forth between him and Pei Mufeng, wondering who truly was the number one young sword cultivator in the Three Thousand Worlds.
Finally, Meng Qi let out a slow breath and stood up. The light from the pigeon egg-sized stardust stone had dimmed considerably, and she returned it to her storage pouch.
“You came,” Meng Qi turned and smiled at the white-robed man, and Sikong Xing also put away her black water shield as Pei Mufeng walked over to them.
“Yes. I saw Senior Ling heading toward that canyon, so I followed to take a look.”
“What did you find?” Meng Qi’s expression turned serious.
“I was blocked,” Pei Mufeng replied. “A strange force kept me out of the canyon, and I couldn’t see what was happening inside. I waited there for an hour, but since Senior Ling hadn’t come out, I came here to check on you first.”
“Meng Qiqi,” Li Che, who had hurried over to the fallen spell cultivator, suddenly interjected, “come and look at this man.”
The spell cultivator lay weakly on the ground, his back arched, with bloodstains on his face and chest, looking as miserable as a cooked shrimp. This person had just received treatment for his initial injuries when he was slashed by Qiao Ran’s sword. Now, he was in an even worse state after Pei Mufeng had destroyed his natal weapon with that astonishing sword strike. The two halves of his broken natal weapon lay beside him, now devoid of any light, just as dim as its owner.
Li Che half-knelt and turned the spell cultivator over, “Look at his eyes.” He was furious that this man had coveted Meng Qi’s stardust stone and didn’t bother to be gentle when he opened his eyelids.
The spell cultivator twitched but was too weak to resist. Li Che, acting mostly on reflex, placed a rejuvenation pill in his mouth while explaining, “When he saw your stardust stone, his eyes lit up with blood-red light again.” He paused and stepped aside so Meng Qi and the others could see the spell cultivator’s eyes.
After a moment, Li Che looked up and met Meng Qi’s gaze. “If the blood-red light was triggered by the stardust stone, we all saw it. Why was he the only one whose eyes lit up again?” He immediately answered his own question, almost as if talking to himself, “Because he coveted your possession.”
Li Che paused again and repeated, “Because he coveted what belonged to others. He wanted to claim what was not his, and once again, he had desire.” He looked into Meng Qi’s eyes and said, “So, his eyes were once again filled with a blood-red light.”
“Just now…” Meng Qi’s tone was firm, “The Thousand Emperor Bell did not ring.”
“So…” Li Che followed her words, “the blood-red light was not caused by the Thousand Emperor Bell.”
The young man looked up at the distant sky. Meng Qi also stood with her hands behind her back, looking at the same sky. Greed, blood-red light, gradual loss of self-control, the resentment and desire deep within… These thoughts flashed quickly through her mind.
Luoxin tree, Luoxin… This substance could cause hallucinations and make people see what they most wanted to see, eventually turning them into mindless puppets. But that alone wasn’t enough. The blood-red light in the eyes, and the voice full of slaughter and hatred that had just echoed in her mind…
At this moment, several medical cultivators gathered around Meng Qi and Li Che. They had been helping for a while and probably understood what had happened here, and had also heard Meng Qi mention the Luoxin tree. While the medical cultivators were deep in thought, Sikong Xing and Qiao Ran exchanged glances. They were good at fighting, but in this situation, they felt completely useless.
Li Che, lost in thought, absentmindedly treated the wounds of the now unconscious spell cultivator. He did it purely by instinct as if he couldn’t control his own hands.
The spell cultivator still lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Qiao Ran, having learned his lesson, let his sword hover beside Meng Qi and took a step closer to her. At the slightest sign of trouble, his natal sword would spring to life and launch a strike. He promised himself that this time, his sword would not be slower than Pei Mufeng’s. He would not lose to him!
Qiao Ran glanced at Pei Mufeng. With eyes as clear as mountain springs and as bright as stars, the handsome young sword cultivator looked elegant in his white robe, an epitome of elegance and nobility. However, once he wielded his sword, he was one of the sharpest and strongest in Three Thousand Worlds, unrivaled in his brilliance.
Not only would his sword not lose to Pei Mufeng, but his appearance wouldn’t either—Qiao Ran added silently in his heart.
At that moment, Meng Qi lowered her head and her gaze unintentionally swept over Qiao Ran. Suddenly, her eyes flashed, and she almost jumped to his side.
“Fellow Daoist Qiao!” Meng Qi’s tone suddenly became extremely enthusiastic, “What were you thinking just now?” She even reached out and tightly grasped Qiao Ran’s wrist, her gaze more fervent than her tone!
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next>
Translator’s Note:
Hello, everyone! As I explained before, The Healer Demands Payment! is going to enter hiatus. After looking around for replacement and asking for suggestion, most of you suggest I take over abandoned titles, and it just happens that one of my favorite title has been abandoned for a few years now, so I feel comfortable taking it over. Here it is: Wake Up Male Lead, You Belong With The Female Lead!. What I love from this author’s novels are always the dynamics between the main couple and the twist incorporated into the seemingly typical cultivation world settings. Hope you can enjoy it as much as I did!
For this week only, there will be daily updates (5 updates), and then it will follow THDP’s update schedule: Tuesday and Thursday.
Enjoy~
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.