Volume 1: Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 123: Mastery of Strategy

"I am simply different from them!"

The Fourth Prince’s true energy churned, and his victim let out a shrill scream. The man’s essence and blood were drained dry, instantly absorbed into the Prince’s innate martial energy. The surrounding blood mist grew thicker and more intense.

The Fourth Prince killed the man without a second thought, as if crushing an ant. His innate martial energy frictioned against itself, igniting fierce flames that vanished back into his body.

"Such evil arts are abhorred by heaven and earth. I seek to ascend further, yet I can no longer ascend so easily."

Only after the Prince had truly departed did the soul of Xu Qing manifest. Channeling his techniques, he gathered the lingering blood mist into his grasp.

"A demonic art? There are not many demonic cultivation methods suitable for my use."

In Pucheng, Xu Qing quickly found a secluded spot to practice. The blood mist swirled around his body, and amidst its motion, blood-red phantoms emerged, wailing like ghosts and wolves. Demonic sounds assailed his mind, disrupting his primordial spirit and scattering his consciousness. From all directions, the blood shadows lunged at him, burrowing into his flesh. Simultaneously, strands of the world's primordial energy slowly seeped into his body.

This was a terrifying demonic art—one capable of seizing another’s cultivation, magical power, essence, blood, and spirit. It was an incredibly domineering technique.

Xu Qing’s figure flickered; he was a demonic titan whose physical form and primordial spirit existed in a state between the ethereal and the solid. After layers of transformation, he finally regained a human form, indistinguishable from an ordinary man.

On the grasslands, a different scene unfolded. A barbarian woman held high the severed head of a Han man, blood still dripping from her curved blade. Her crude leather armor had been largely incinerated by flames, barely covering her body. Through the charred fabric, patches of snowy skin were exposed, revealing a perfect, breathtaking figure with full, rounded curves at her chest. Fine beads of sweat shimmered on her pale, delicate waist. Her long skirt, scorched by the fire, clung to her, leaving her long, beautiful legs half-hidden.

Blood splashed onto the furs. Qi Hao rode past at a gallop, not even sparing her a glance. He left the woman to collapse on her own. He had found other experts, but Wang Chuan was nowhere to be seen.

Since the fall of the Xia and Tang Kingdoms, the Jin Empire had begun deploying its forces to strike at the Wei Kingdom. Their iron cavalry trampled westward. It was also unclear when it had begun, but dark clouds had blanketed the sun. Often, even in broad daylight, the sun seemed to hide in the deepest layers of the clouds, not a single ray of light leaking down to the earth. This weather persisted for many days, and many plants began to wither, losing their vitality.

Rumors spread from the Imperial Observatory: the former Observatory officials who had wandered among the people after the fall of the Xia and Tang Kingdoms proclaimed that when the world welcomed light once more, a Saint would emerge! At that time, all the people of the world would find salvation.

Xu Qing wiped the drool from his mouth, opened his eyes, and stared lecherously ahead. A charming, seductive woman was reclining on the bed, looking at him with a smile.

"You say you are a steward for the Yuan family of the Xia Kingdom? Why are you so young?"

The woman’s raven hair was coiled into a cloud bun, and she was dressed in full finery. At her exquisite collar, a glimpse of snow-white skin was revealed.

"I am diligent in my cultivation, especially in techniques for preserving youth and nourishing one's vitality," Xu Qing replied.

"The Yuan family hid a batch of grain. Do you know where it is?" the woman asked, gently flicking the fan in her hand. Her garment was meticulously tailored from vermillion silk, with a wide collar that flared like the petals of a lily, embroidered with cloud-like patterns. She looked noble, magnificent, and graceful.

"Indeed, I was the one who handled the matter, but then the chaos of war broke out, and even the Yuan family could not manage it," Xu Qing said to her. "As everyone knows, after the Jin army invaded Shizhou, there was not a single grain of rice left in the granaries!"

"The Yuan family’s grain trade extended far beyond these two provinces. Even if some ledgers were burned, it is impossible for outsiders to know the truth," Xu Qing said with conviction. "Even in a capital city like Luncheng, when the enemy first arrived, the soldiers were short on supplies—they had to borrow from the wealthy families in the city!"

"The Yuan family was bold enough to touch the grain stores in the capital region, let alone elsewhere."

The woman held a peony to her nose with slender fingers, sniffing it distractedly. "And how much was there?"

"Five hundred thousand shi," Xu Qing stated.