Chapter 2163, Qiong Qi

Inside the Flowing Time Temple, because the routes each person chose were different, the opportunities they encountered were also different.

However, at that moment, no matter where they were, everyone inexplicably felt a terrifying sensation, as if a pair of powerful eyes was spying on them from the darkness…

This caused everyone to feel a chill shoot up their spine.

Fortunately, this sensation came and went quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye, making everyone feel as if it was just their own imaginations.

Inside the vast, dark hall, the strange beast was still observing its surroundings and commenting from time to time. Many of the elite cultivators had been cast aside by it as trash, but when it turned its gaze to the Flowing Time Steps, it showed a rare look of surprise, “What’s with this little one… one, two, three, four, five! A mere First-Order Dao Source Realm brat actually brought five Emperor Artifacts with him? What kind of background does he have?”

This strange beast had been alive for tens of thousands of years and had seen many great storms, but at this moment, it still couldn’t help feeling shocked by Yang Kai’s heritage, because it discovered that Yang Kai alone had brought five Emperor Artifacts with him!

Even an average Emperor Realm Master wouldn’t have so many Emperor Artifacts.

These five were the Annihilation Thunder Bead, Sealed World Bead, Insect Enslavement Bracelet, Soul Splitting Saber, and Myriads Sword! In this Flowing Time Temple, nothing could escape this strange beast’s perception.

“Is he also a descendent of a Great Emperor?” The strange beast secretly guessed. What other explanation could there be? Or had Emperor Artifacts suddenly become far more abundant?

Even someone as noble in status as Lan Xun only had one Emperor Artifact on her, and that was a defensive Emperor Artifact given to her by Bright Moon Great Emperor to prevent her from encountering any accidents.

“Forget it, although his aptitude and temperament are amongst the best, he smells like trouble, it would be best not to have any contact with him.” The strange beast babbled for a while before turning away from Yang Kai and focusing on Zhang Ruo Xi.

“Huh? This little girl… how could she only be a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm!?” A suspicious light flashed across this beast’s eyes as he muttered, “How could she get here with such a low cultivation? After this Sir fell asleep, it seems many strange things have happened…”

Suddenly though, the beast’s eyes went wide as he stared fixedly at Zhang Ruo Xi and exclaimed, “No, this little girl… she couldn’t be…”

At that moment, it seemed as if the beast had discovered something, its originally arrogant tone giving way to one filled with panic. Even its two giant eyes flashed with fright, as if it was terrified of Zhang Ruo Xi.

From its massive head, beads of cold sweat began to leak…

Right then, Zhang Ruo Xi seemed to have reached her limit. The top of the Flowing Time Steps was not far ahead of her, but she was unable to lift her feet anymore. Stubbornly staring up, she tried to continue on, but the feeling of exhaustion was so great that she simply couldn’t move her legs.

The Flowing Time Force flooded out of the Flowing Time Steps suddenly and began invading Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, trying to swallow her vitality.

Behind her, Yang Kai, who had been chasing after Zhang Ruo Xi, was still more than a dozen steps away when he clearly saw her glossy black hair rapidly turn grey. Yang Kai was shocked and realized something was wrong. Pushing his Source Qi violently, he strove forward, desperate to shorten the distance between them.

But on these Flowing Time Steps, each step up was extremely difficult, and this short distance of a dozen or so steps was not a distance Yang Kai could cross with just willpower alone.

Immediately, Yang Kai became as anxious as an ant in a hot wok…

The strange beast in the dark hall, however, was even more anxious than Yang Kai. As the guardian of the Flowing Time Temple, the change in Zhang Ruo Xi’s status was naturally seen by it.

At first, it felt a burst of joy, thinking that Zhang Ruo Xi was bound to die, but after a moment of happiness, it realized how dire the situation truly was, because once Zhang Ruo Xi was driven to a dead-end, her slumbering Bloodline would surely manifest, and once it did, it would be a disaster for it.

Thinking so, the strange beast stood up, stretched out a giant paw and shattered the space in front of it. Crossing space, the massive paw reached out and grabbed Zhang Ruo Xi before immediately withdrawing.

As it did this, it muttered to itself, “Oh cruel fate… I hope this is the right choice!”

As soon as these words fell, it slowly opened its paws and placed the now blank-faced Zhang Ruo Xi in front of itself.

Zhang Ruo Xi obviously had no awareness of what just happened. A moment ago, she had felt like time was flashing before her eyes, as if several hundred years had gone by, causing her vitality to rapidly drain and death to approach.

She wanted to turn back and call out to Yang Kai, but she couldn’t even move her body.

And just when she thought that death was inescapable, a giant claw actually fell from the sky, pulled her back from the gates of death, and brought her to this dark hall.

Looking up, she saw a giant burning Monster Beast in front of her, staring at her with a pair of giant eyes.

When an ordinary person saw such a behemoth, they would instinctively feel frightened, possibly even screaming in terror as they turned to flee.

Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t think she was a particularly brave person. Her cultivation wasn’t high and her knowledge wasn’t very broad, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise even if she had fainted directly from terror.

But for some unknown reason, when her eyes met with those of this Monster Beast, she didn’t feel the slightest fear. On the contrary, she felt as if this beast was the one who should be afraid of her. This feeling was baseless and extremely absurd, but it seemed to come from the very depths of her soul. It felt as natural as breathing, which made it all the more unbelievable.

Pressing her red lips together, she continued to stare up at the huge Monster Beast, her tiny figure forming a sharp contrast with it.

When the four eyes met, it was the giant Monster Beast’s heart that clenched tightly as fear and panic consumed its thoughts.

“You… Why do you seem afraid of me?” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly asked.

As soon as she spoke, the giant Monster Beast couldn’t help stepping back two steps and staring at her in fear, a muffled voice then leaking from his wryly upturned maw, “Hehe… Yes, why should I be afraid of you?”

Zhang Ruo Xi did not try to get to the bottom of this question and instead just beckoned to the beast.

Seeing this, the Monster Beast actually obeyed, walking over to Zhang Ruo Xi and lowering its head down, its violent eyes becoming extremely docile at this moment, some faint fear and panic still apparent in its gaze.

“Did you save me?” Zhang Ruo Xi asked.

The Monster Beast thought for a moment before nodding, “Yes!”

“Thank you!” Zhang Ruo Xi smiled sweetly and stretched out her hand, as if she wanted to pet the Monster Beast’s head, but she hesitated for a while before asking, “I won’t hurt you, will I?”

She didn’t know why she would ask such a question, but something in her instincts was telling her that if she touched the Monster Beast in front of her, it would very likely cause some harm.

“The current you… probably won’t!” The Monster Beast replied.

Zhang Ruo Xi put her hand onto its forehead and touched it lightly.

The scorching flames burned around Zhang Ruo Xi’s bare hands, but did not cause her any harm for some reason. As for the Monster Beast itself, it made a purring noise, like a cat would when it was pet by its owner.

[So embarrassing… how could this Sir allow a little girl to touch him like this, simply shameful!] The Monster Beast thought to itself uncomfortably, unable to stop his body from responding honestly.

“What’s your name?” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly asked again.

“I am Qiong Qi!”

“What a strange name!” Zhang Ruo Xi smiled lightly, some confusion flashing across her beautiful eyes as she said, “I don’t know why, but although I’m sure this is the first time I’ve heard this name, it sounds familiar to me… do you know why?”

“I don’t!” Qiong Qi shook his head like a rattle, thinking to himself that it would be best if she never understood for the rest of her life. [How could this Sir take the initiative to explain? If he did, this Sir’s end would be that much closer!]

“En… okay!” Zhang Ruo Xi withdrew her hand as she nodded before sincerely saying, “Thank you for saving my life just now, but can you please send me back now? I suddenly disappeared, so Sir will be very worried.”

“Sir?” Qiong Qi heard this and asked suspiciously, “Do you mean the young man who was following you?”

“En, can you see him?” Zhang Ruo Xi nodded quickly.

Qiong Qi proudly said, “In this Temple, nothing can escape this S… My observation! I saw you in trouble just now, which was why I brought you here.”

After a pause, Qiong Qi shook his head again and said, “Unexpectedly, even someone as powerful as you must receive protection from others…”

Although he deliberately lowered the volume of his voice, his words were still heard by Zhang Ruo Xi clearly.

Zhang Ruo Xi hurriedly waved her hands and said in an apologetic tone, “What are you talking about! Sir is amazing, how could I possibly be as strong as Sir.”

She only thought Qiong Qi was talking nonsense to appease her.

“One day, you will be strong,” Qiong Qi declared solemnly.

“En, Ruo Xi will work hard,” Zhang Ruo Xi said, full of enthusiasm.

“Good, you and I meeting today can be considered a kind of fate, so I will give you a gift,” Qiong Qi suddenly thought of something and stretched out his paw again, grasping towards the void.

When he took back his hand, an exquisite thin pink dress that exuded a potent Emperor Aura appeared in his palm.

“Your strength is still quite low right now, so this Pink Clouds Phoenix Robe will be of great use to you. As long as you wear it, ordinary people won’t be able to harm you.” Qiong Qi was extremely powerful, so the ‘ordinary people’ he was referring to were likely cultivators below the Emperor Realm.

“How could I possibly accept such a gift?” Although Zhang Ruo Xi was quite taken with this beautiful dress, her humble upbringing and good education made it difficult for her to receive something so precious, so she quickly waved her hands and tried to refuse.

“Don’t have any qualms about wearing this, this is your opportunity. On a cultivators journey, opportunities are part of their strength!” Qiong Qi said aloud while in his heart he was thinking quite differently. [If this Sir wasn’t afraid some blind fool would try to hurt you and cause your Bloodline to awaken in advance, how could he do something so meddlesome? This Sir had best take some precautions and make some plans in advance. En. When this Sir gets out of here, he should go to Dragon Island to find those old lizards and blackmail them with this knowledge… In any case, this Sir isn’t alone in this problem, those old lizards won’t be able to just sit back and ignore this…]

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Silavin: Hmm… was originally contemplating the name of Qiong Qi… technically, I wanted to leave it’s race as Winged Tiger and it’s name as Qiong Qi…

But in Chinese folklore, Qiong Qi is a race of monsters.