The contest ended, and Li Cheng颐 smiled as he stepped down.

He lost, but no one dared to underestimate him. After all, in pure swordplay, he was able to exchange blows with his Eldest Brother for so many moves.

It wasn't until the contest of cultivation that he voluntarily conceded. This meant that Bai Lu's (Li Cheng颐's alias) skill in the Faceless Swordplay was not much weaker than his Eldest Brother's.

After coming down, Yuan Qi of the Years Gate gave him a thumbs up with a face full of admiration.

"The snow lotus flowers I lost to you, I'll have someone send them over later. How many do you want?"

"The more, the better," Li Cheng颐 said with a smile.

"Go to hell, you really think snow lotus flowers are that easy to find," Yuan Qi said with a laugh and a curse. "Even in our Years Gate, they are absolute treasures."

"I don't require any specific age, as long as they are in bloom," Li Cheng颐 added.

"Really?" Yuan Qi thought Bai Lu was just being polite, but when he emphasized it again, he became serious.

"Really."

"Then, is a hundred flowers okay?"

"Okay!"

They quickly discussed contact information, and Li Cheng颐 would send the Holy Infant Volcano brothers to the Years Gate to pick up the goods.

The two finalized the time and place.

On the other side, Zhao Yuan bit her lip, looking at the empty dueling stage, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions.

She knew the gap between herself and Bai Lu was huge, but she didn't expect it to be this big.

Even Eldest Brother couldn't overwhelm him in pure swordsmanship, which was simply...

"Look, look." Qiu Chen came again, her baby-fat face wearing a hateful smile.

"Who can't accept reality here~~ Who is it!~~ Seeing that even Eldest Brother has acknowledged Senior Brother Bai Lu's strength, you're not feeling good, are you? Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

"I've said it before, how could a superficial woman like you, who only knows how to grow a pretty face, understand Senior Brother Bai Lu's strength and excellence?" Qiu Chen covered her mouth and made a strange laugh.

"What are you saying, you ugly woman?! Who won in the end!? If Bai Lu was capable, why didn't he continue the fight? Why did he voluntarily concede!? Losing is losing, what excuses are you making?!" Zhao Yuan exploded and immediately spewed out a bunch of words, refusing to admit defeat.

"Bullshit! If Senior Brother Bai Lu had been born three years earlier, he definitely wouldn't be worse than Eldest Brother! What do you know?!" Qiu Chen also got angry, how dare she insult her idol like that.

"I don't understand, I only know that Eldest Brother is the strongest! What? You're not convinced? If you're not convinced, then let your Senior Brother Bai Lu win against Eldest Brother!" Zhao Yuan sneered.

The two immediately started tearing at each other again.

A few minutes later, the two women were fighting for real, drawing their swords and about to duel. Bai He hurriedly tried to dissuade them in the middle, pulling one and persuading the other, sweating profusely before finally pulling the two women apart and calming them down.

Huo Qingkong didn't have time to pay attention to these trivial matters and had already accompanied several elders to visit other places.

The higher-ups had also left, leaving only some disciples who wanted to watch the beauties tear each other apart, surrounding the area from a distance.

Li Cheng颐 didn't even look at Zhao Yuan and turned to return to his residence.

With a few flashes, he returned to the Kui Ling Pavilion and entered the bedroom where he rested.

He casually hung the Ding Yuan Sword on the wall, picked up a crystal jar on the table filled with yellow heart-shaped gemstones, and gently shook it.

The jar made a crisp collision sound, extremely pleasant to the ear, and also calmed his somewhat worried heart.

Sitting at the desk, Li Cheng颐 replayed the exchange just now.

'In pure sword moves, it's difficult to say who would win between us, but in terms of cultivation, he far surpasses me. And that speed and ease... it's a bit exaggerated.'

'With my current strength, even going all out, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to secure a victory. Even if I reveal my true form and use the Flowery Words Flowery Scale Armor, it would be difficult... As long as Eldest Brother possesses a trace of the Faceless Scholar's characteristics, it will be very tricky.'

After thinking for a moment, Li Cheng颐 decided to find an opportunity to talk to Eldest Brother properly.

If the Seven Righteous Thought Nascent Soul Method he comprehended could help Huo Qingkong, perhaps it could rewrite the future of this dead end.

Rewriting the ending where Kui Ling and everyone else are destined to die.

This trip has further established his reputation as a top genius, so in this way, the method he shares with Huo Qingkong should also receive more attention.

As soon as he thought of it, Li Cheng颐 immediately got up, put down the jar, and left the room.

In the afternoon.

The people from the Years Gate finally left.

The people of the Sword Sect returned to their respective places, resting or practicing their swords.

A team of vehicles transporting sword weapons and tribute minerals slowly entered the Sword Sect's gate. Huo Qingkong pointed out a few instructing deacons and disciples and with a flash, turned into a black line, flashing several times in succession.

He had already arrived inside the mountain of the entire Faceless Sword Sect.

The interior was a huge cavity.

There were no living creatures in the cavity. In the dark cave, there was only a trace of dark red smoke flowing and circling, faintly emitting some kind of eerie light.

This was tribulation energy (Jie Qi).

Only those who had reached the Ring Seal (Yin Huan) cultivation level or above could see its existence.

Anything and everything is associated with tribulation energy. When tribulation energy accumulates too much, it will form a tribulation (Jie Shu).

There is no escape from tribulation, it is unavoidable, so the best way is to dissolve the tribulation energy before it condenses, preventing it from condensing.

"You're here? Qingkong." At this moment, not far away in mid-air, the Holy Spirit Daoist, who didn't know when he had arrived, was also standing and floating in mid-air.

"The intensity of the tribulation energy is getting stronger and stronger, the Qi Eye (Qi Yan) over there..."

"This time, I'll dissolve it, Master," Huo Qingkong said seriously.

The Qi Eye is the strongest point of tribulation energy, and it had always been personally resolved by the Holy Spirit Daoist.

But now, the Holy Spirit Daoist was gradually becoming overwhelmed. After returning from dissolving it last time, he had been seriously ill for several days, and his injuries had not yet healed.

Now Huo Qingkong felt that his strength had increased again and decided to help his master take on this important task.

"If it's you, perhaps it's possible..." The Holy Spirit didn't know how strong his disciple was now. But it wouldn't hurt to let him try.

He pondered for a moment and suddenly stretched out his hand to guide him.

The tribulation energy in front of the two of them immediately split into a passage leading to the deepest part.

"Use the Wisdom Sword (Hui Jian) to cut through everything, don't stop! Go quickly and return quickly!" The Holy Spirit instructed.

"Yes!" Huo Qingkong pinched the sword technique, the sword nurturing pouch on his back was ready to release sword weapons at any time.

Flying into the passage, he quickly found the dark red vortex-shaped Qi Eye that his master had mentioned.

Immediately, the Wisdom Sword condensed into a beam of transparent light and blasted forward.

Chi!

The sword light pierced into the dark red vortex, immediately punching a hole in it. The hole quickly healed, but the overall size was somewhat smaller.

'It's effective!'

Huo Qingkong continued to release the Wisdom Sword with all his strength.

If he relaxed even slightly, the power of the Wisdom Sword would not be able to break through the Qi Eye, and there would even be traces of re-convergence and recovery.

This forced him to steady his mind and continuously maintain the launch of the Wisdom Sword.

It wasn't until half an hour later that the Qi Eye was completely shattered and dissipated that he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly returned.

At this time, the surrounding tribulation energy had also faded a lot.

The Holy Spirit Daoist was still waiting in the same place, and when he saw him successfully returning, a look of relief appeared on his face.

"After the tribulation energy is dispersed, it will re-accumulate after a year, so we must come here once a year to resolve the tribulation energy. Now that this has been resolved, it will be the turn of the other elders next time. You can go back and rest."

"Yes." Huo Qingkong saluted and stepped back.

After leaving the internal cavity, he breathed a slight sigh of relief, his brows furrowed. No wonder his teacher had not dared to leave the Sword Sect for so many years. Besides the Faceless God Temple, another factor should be the tribulation energy, right?

'Your teacher is lying to you.'

Just as he was about to return to rest, on the way back, a familiar voice that he didn't know how many times he had heard, sounded in his mind again.

It was the Demon Emperor!

'What do you mean?' Huo Qingkong's eyes turned cold.

'What do I mean? Do you really think that the tribulation energy Qi Eye is such an easy thing to solve?' The Demon Emperor laughed, 'My demon race also has similar objects, but every time we disperse the tribulation energy, we need to pay the lives of at least three Ring Seal experts to resolve it. You just did it so easily, exerting your strength as if you were taking a stroll in the park, and you were able to defeat the tribulation energy? Too naive.'

'Reason?' Huo Qingkong had now learned to ignore the large amount of nonsense and invalid content mixed in with the Demon Emperor's words and only take the key points.

'The reason, of course, is that the Holy Spirit Daoist only allocated a little bit of tribulation energy to you, to let you adapt and experience the difficulty,' the Demon Emperor said.

'...' Huo Qingkong was silent.

'Actually, do you want to completely and permanently solve the tribulation energy?' The Demon Emperor started again.

His words were sometimes true and sometimes false, but most of the time they were still useful.

'Do you have a way?' Huo Qingkong said expressionlessly.

'I can help you find the real tribulation energy Qi Eye. My race's research on tribulation energy is much deeper than yours. I can tell you clearly that to completely solve the tribulation energy, dispersing the Qi Eye is only a temporary solution.'

'You're willing to tell me the real solution?' Huo Qingkong frowned.

'Why not?' The Demon Emperor laughed, 'By now, you should have guessed something, right? For example, the relationship between me and you...'

'There is no relationship between us,' Huo Qingkong said lightly.

'Heh, the great tribulation is approaching, do you really think that the Faceless Sword Sect is just having bad luck, and you can just pick up a Taoist child with such terrifying talent as you while wandering around outside??' The Demon Emperor laughed. 'The coincidences in this world are not just coincidences. The great tribulation is not just the great tribulation of your Faceless Sword Sect. Do you remember my background?'

'...' Huo Qingkong had actually guessed that the Demon Emperor's consciousness was always attached to him. No matter where he went, he could always communicate with him without delay.

He was becoming increasingly clear about what this meant.

But precisely because he was clear, he understood that his current strength was not enough to allow the future to move forward according to his will.

'I can lead you to the source of the Qi Eye, but you must first achieve the integration of good and evil. Otherwise, your strength will not be able to defeat the source,' the Demon Emperor continued.

'Is it necessary to ignite the true fire?' Huo Qingkong asked in a deep voice.

'To transcend, that is the minimum requirement. And it can't be a weak true fire like your master's. You must become stronger, even stronger! Strong enough that no one in this world can contend with you. Strong enough that all living beings die while you do not! Only then can you see the final glimmer of hope,' the Demon Emperor said. There was a hint of almost imperceptible bewitchment in his voice.

'Integration of good and evil...' Huo Qingkong murmured, looking up at the sky, silent for a moment. A faint, strange aura rose and appeared on his body, then quickly disappeared.

In the distance, in mid-air.

Li Cheng颐 was flying towards here, and was just about to greet and salute from afar when suddenly his mind trembled. The spiritual power that had been stabilized by the snow lotus flower suddenly became chaotic at this moment, as if it was being pulled by some inexplicable force.

He clearly saw the strange aura that flashed across Huo Qingkong's body.

At the moment the aura appeared, a huge sense of threat, like a tsunami, flooded into his mind.

'Danger, danger, danger, danger!!'

Li Cheng颐's body stopped, and he did not continue forward. Instead, he pondered for a moment, kept his expression unchanged, and quietly left.

'As expected... as expected, it's not just the reason for the backlash of the cultivation technique! This is really troublesome...' Li Cheng颐 also had cultivation technique backlash himself, and he could clearly recognize that the strange aura just now was not brought about by the backlash.

But it was a completely unfamiliar and unique aura that he had never seen before.

No... it wasn't that he had never seen it before.

Suddenly, in the depths of his memory, the horror of when he first saw the Faceless Scholar emerged.

At that time, the Faceless Scholar seemed to have this kind of aura on his body...

But it seemed that the aura on the Faceless Scholar's body was not strong... At least it wasn't as strong as what he had just felt from Huo Qingkong.

(End of chapter)