Luo Jianqing joined his fingers together and condensed a green sword aura, which directly wrapped around the blood-red whip.

“Mo Qiu, you’re injured and the situation with the Blood Spirit Fruit is unclear. Don’t be hasty!” Luo Jianqing said.

Mo Qiu didn’t hesitate and retracted his whip with a flick of his wrist. He propped himself up with one hand on the stone bed, and blood began to seep from the corners of his mouth. He sneered, “What else is there to say? Since you’ve formed a contract with the Blood Spirit Fruit, I won’t be able to obtain it in this lifetime unless I kill you!”

As soon as he finished speaking, another whip strike came at him.

This was the first time Luo Jianqing had faced Mo Qiu’s Formless Blood Shadow Whip head-on, and it was the first time he had used the black magic energy. The whip danced in the air like countless red blood snakes, constantly wriggling and forming dense blood shadows.

Luo Jianqing didn’t dare to be careless and took out his Shuang Fu Sword.

The silver narrow sword clashed with the blood-red whip in the cave. A sword aura passed, cutting the stone edge in half, and a whip shadow followed, sending shattered stones flying everywhere! After more than a dozen rounds, Mo Qiu’s blood whip gradually fell behind. Luo Jianqing launched a thunderous sword strike, and the cold long sword stabbed straight at Mo Qiu’s throat!

In response, Mo Qiu silently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sneered, “Do you believe that I have eighty-one ways to reduce you to pieces, never to be reincarnated?”

His voice was cold and icy, filled with the killing intent of crawling out of the abyss.

Luo Jianqing still held his sword and faced him. After a moment, he said, “Mo Qiu, when I woke up, the Blood Spirit Fruit was already inside me. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps it came to me on its own, and then…”

“Rubbish! If it wanted to get close to anyone, it would only be me! Do you even know what the Blood Spirit Fruit is?” Mo Qiu retorted.

Luo Jianqing asked, “What is the Blood Spirit Fruit?”

Initially, near the desert, no one recognized what the blood-red fruit was, whether it was Yan Su from the Broken Soul Sect, or Ming Hua Fairy from the Flying Flower Sect, or anyone from the other eight great families. Luo Jianqing had always thought that this blood-red fruit was a mutated form of the Flame Fruit. “Seeking Immortals” also never mentioned what it was, and Li Xiuchen always referred to it as the “Blood Fruit.”

At this moment, Mo Qiu’s face was ashen, and the spiritual power that he had just recovered was consumed again in the recent fight.

Mo Qiu coldly said, “You know I’m not a cultivator, right?”

After a moment of silence, Luo Jianqing said, “You’re a demonic cultivator.”

“Yes, I’m a demonic cultivator,” Mo Qiu admitted readily, “This Blood Spirit Fruit is a unique product of demonic cultivation. The path of demonic cultivation is the path of slaughter. Among all the demonic cultivators I’ve seen in my life, there are less than ten who don’t have blood on their hands. Looking across the whole world, demonic cultivators who kill innocent beings make up 99%, while those who kill enemies and the damned make up less than a hundred people.”

Luo Jianqing couldn’t help asking, “Mo Qiu, have you ever killed… cultivators?”

Mo Qiu raised his bewitching eyes and looked coldly at Luo Jianqing. The two stared at each other with the Shuang Fu Sword stained with blood between them. After a moment, Mo Qiu gently hooked his lips and said, “Mo Qiu has never killed cultivators.”

For some reason, Luo Jianqing suddenly felt relieved.

Mo Qiu continued, “The path of demonic cultivation is too bloody, so most demonic cultivators encounter bottlenecks in the Integration Stage and find it difficult to advance in this life. Therefore, demonic cultivation has a method of cultivation called the Blood Spirit Great Method. Demonic cultivators condense all their spiritual power into their blood and water a Blood Spirit Tree. The more powerful the demonic cultivator, the longer the cultivation time for the Blood Spirit Tree and the more suffering they endure. After the Blood Spirit Tree bears fruit, demonic cultivators eat the Blood Spirit Fruit to begin the Blood Spirit Great Method.”

Luo Jianqing was surprised and asked, “Just by eating it?”

Implying that it was unexpectedly easy. 

Mo Qiu sneered and laughed, “You don’t understand. When the Blood Spirit Fruit ripens, it is also the time when the demonic cultivator’s spiritual power and blood are exhausted. And if a demonic cultivator wants to practice the Blood Spirit Art, they must immediately eat it while their spiritual power and mind are still connected to the fruit. In other words, a demonic cultivator with no spiritual power and even blood left in their body must consume the Blood Spirit Fruit filled with their own spiritual power. Do you know what the result is?”

Luo Jianqing replied without hesitation, “They explode and die.”

Without any spiritual power and even losing blood, they were already just walking corpses, only stronger than ordinary people. However, they would die in this state, which was extremely dangerous.

Mo Qiu nodded and said, “Yes, so the chance of a demonic cultivator eating the Blood Spirit Fruit and gaining a new life is only one in a hundred. There are plenty of Blood Spirit Fruits in the world, it just depends on whether you can find them.” After pausing for a moment, a sorrowful and helpless look flashed in Mo Qiu’s eyes, and he sighed, “The path of demonic cultivation is extremely powerful in the early stages, but it becomes endlessly difficult in the later stages. The Blood Spirit Art sounds easy, but the strongest realm a cultivator can achieve by using it to break through is only the Combined Stage.”

Hearing this, Luo Jianqing fell silent.

One held a sword, the other hung their head, and both remained silent for a long time. In the end, it was Mo Qiu who couldn’t hold on any longer and suddenly collapsed. Luo Jianqing then realized that the other party was already at the end of their strength, but had been holding on and didn’t want to fall in front of him.

Mo Qiu leaned weakly against the stone couch, looking at Luo Jianqing with a strange and complex expression, still speaking incessantly, “Luo Jianqing, give me back my Blood Spirit Fruit.”

Luo Jianqing remained silent for a long time before saying, “As you said, if I don’t die, this Blood Spirit Fruit won’t return to your hands. And Daoist Mo, there’s no such thing as a treasure in the world that belongs to anyone, it goes to the one who is capable. Although I didn’t take this Blood Spirit Fruit willingly, I’m sorry, I can’t obey your request.”

Mo Qiu slowly closed his eyes, but a smile appeared on his lips.

Luo Jianqing stood in front of the stone couch, not moving.

A moment later, Mo Qiu hoarsely said, “Get out of here.

Luo Jianqing hesitated for a moment, then placed three small jade bottles beside Mo Qiu before turning around and leaving.

On the stone bed, Mo Qiu’s eyes gradually became moist, but he didn’t shed any tears. Just as Luo Jianqing walked to the entrance of the cave, Mo Qiu sternly shouted, “Luo Jianqing, never appear in front of me again in your life, or I will kill you! Cut you into a thousand pieces, and tear you apart!”

Luo Jianqing paused for a moment before finally walking out.

In the following days, Luo Jianqing found another cave in the valley to continue his cultivation.

In fact, the Blood Spirit Fruit didn’t belong to Mo Qiu at all, he had only snatched it. Luo Jianqing’s words were not wrong – in the world of cultivation, strength is everything. Even if the Blood Spirit Fruit was obtained through trickery, it was still deserved and no one had the right to criticize it.

“He said… he has many ways to kill me?”

Thinking of the red-clothed demonic cultivator lying motionless on the stone bed, Luo Jianqing let out a sigh and shook his head. “It seems like he was just enraged and had some delusions.”

As the days passed, Luo Jianqing had no idea about the situation on Mo Qiu’s side and had not heard any sound coming from the cave. On this morning, Luo Jianqing walked towards the Golden Flame River as usual, both to search for a way out and to enhance his strength.

When Luo Jianqing approached within ten meters of the Golden Flame River, the flames suddenly became ferocious.

The flames transformed into a golden eagle and flew down from the sky, pecking at Luo Jianqing’s eyes. Luo Jianqing raised his Shuang Fu Sword and cut it down with one stroke! When it was nine meters away, the flame transformed into a golden tiger and roared towards Luo Jianqing. Luo Jianqing drew thunder with his sword and smashed it to pieces!

As Luo Jianqing gritted his teeth and approached the Flame River within three meters, he saw the flame transform into a golden dragon!

The dragon had five claws, scales that were lifelike, an ancient and majestic breath, and hovered out of the Flame River. Its huge dragon head hung slightly low, looking at Luo Jianqing. At this moment, the dragon suddenly spoke in human language: “You are a human cultivator!”

Luo Jianqing’s pupils contracted, immediately raising his sword and drawing thunder.

“Who are you!”

The golden dragon spewed a hot breath of fire, melting the thunder drawn by Luo Jianqing.

“Jianxiu, this lord hates sword cultivators among you Dao cultivators the most. Especially that… that sword cultivator from some mountain, really annoying. Since you are here, this lord will just kill you to avoid feeling annoyed.”

As soon as the words fell, a mouthful of scorching hot dragon breath came towards him! The temperature was so hot that the cliffs around the valley began to melt, and the air became so hot that it gradually began to roll. Waves of heat surged outwards, touching many ordinary plants and quickly burning them to ashes.

Without hesitation, Luo Jianqing recited a spell and the Shuang Fu Sword flew up into the air.

“One sword transforms into nine lotuses!”

A nine-sword green lotus shot towards the dragon’s breath, colliding and producing a dazzling white light!

“This flower! It’s this damn flower! You are the descendant of that person! Ahhhhh! I will kill you!”

The even hotter dragon fire rushed towards Luo Jianqing. The flames had turned golden and the visible high temperature pierced towards him. Without hesitation, Luo Jianqing stepped back and retreated three zhang away. In an instant, the golden fire disappeared, and the temperature in the air slowly lowered. The body of the golden dragon also gradually disappeared.

Before it disappeared, the golden flames roared angrily, “That day is coming soon! You will die! You will die! I don’t accept this, I will kill the descendant of that person, I will kill the descendant of that person…”

The flames returned to the golden flame river, and Luo Jianqing leaned on the Shuang Fu Sword, panting heavily.

This fire river was just too dangerous. If he couldn’t avoid the attack by retreating a certain distance, Luo Jianqing had no doubt that he would be killed by that dragon!

“The dragon race is born at the seventh level, so this dragon must have at least reached the Nascent Soul stage in cultivation.”

“That person? If he also used the sword moves in the Nine Lotus Heart Scripture, could he be one of my Yu Xiao Peak’s ancestors?”

“And…what day was that?”

All the puzzles could not be solved.

The first two questions were beyond Luo Jianqing’s current cultivation level, but when the day suddenly arrived, Luo Jianqing’s whole body stood on end, and he looked in terror at the two cave openings where the flames flowed in and out of the valley, with alarm bells ringing in his heart.

The next moment! Countless fierce gusts of wind swept out from the small mountain pass!

Covering the sky and earth! The black night shrouded everything!

To avoid the fear of the flames flooding, Luo Jianqing had long dug a tunnel beside the cliff and set up a large formation using countless profound-ranked magic treasures and a ground-ranked magic treasure. Now he planned to quickly enter and take cover, but just as he was about to enter the tunnel, he suddenly looked up at the other cave. Hesitatingly gripping the Shuang Fu Sword, Luo Jianqing gritted his teeth and suddenly pointed his toe, leaping into that cave.

“Luo Jianqing!”

Mo Qiu’s angry voice rang out.

Luo Jianqing didn’t give him a chance to speak and lifted him up by the waist, carrying him on his shoulder and rushing out of the cave.

At this moment, the gusts of wind had already swept into the valley!

As soon as he stepped out of the cave, a gust of wind came towards him. Luo Jianqing’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately moved to the side to avoid it.

Boom!

The cave behind him was destroyed.

Suddenly, Mo Qiu’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, “The talent of the Heavenly-ranked demonic beast, the Wind-splitting Eagle-beaked Beast’s gust of wind!”

Luo Jianqing couldn’t hear Mo Qiu’s words at all. He was carrying Mo Qiu’s powerless body, and Mo Qiu’s head was hanging behind him. Luo Jianqing took out the Shuang Fu Sword and cut open various rocks and boulders along the way, creating a path straight towards the tunnel.

Bang!

Everything in the valley was blown into powder by this terrifying gust of wind!

Ten zhang!

Five zhang!

One zhang!

One chi…

Boom boom boom!!!

A small gust of wind suddenly blew from the side of Luo Jianqing, straight towards Mo Qiu. Luo Jianqing gritted his teeth and turned around to block it. The Shuang Fu Sword emitted a startling sword chant, and even before the gust of wind got close, countless pressures had already approached, shredding the sleeves of Luo Jianqing’s clothes!

Fine wind blades grazed Luo Jianqing’s fingers and cheeks, leaving behind bloody wounds.

At the critical moment, Luo Jianqing sighed deeply and suddenly took out a green bamboo umbrella.

When the green bamboo umbrella collided with the violent gust of wind, the green umbrella ribs instantly disappeared, and the umbrella surface turned into powder. But Luo Jianqing didn’t even take another look. Seizing this short moment, he took Mo Qiu and immediately entered the underground tunnel, and immediately pinched the hand gestures to activate the large array inside the tunnel.

Suddenly, golden spell prints lit up in the dark tunnel.

Mo Qiu had already been thrown to the ground by Luo Jianqing when they first entered the tunnel. Now he suddenly saw this scene, his mouth wide open, and he didn’t know what to say. After a long time, he finally smiled lowly and said, “Luo Jianqing of Taihua Mountain, you used the methods of my demonic cultivation to create this Earth Tier Heavenly Demon Grand Array. It’s ridiculous, really ridiculous. If Xuan Lingzi knew that his only disciple had fallen into the demonic path, I don’t know what expression he would have…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a cold Shuang Fu Sword pressed against Mo Qiu’s neck.

The smile on Mo Qiu’s face slowly disappeared.

Luo Jianqing said expressionlessly, “You swear a heart demon oath, never to speak of today’s events.”

Mo Qiu sneered, “Why should I?”

Luo Jianqing moved his Shuang Fu sword and drew a blood mark on Mo Qiu’s neck, saying, “I can kill you now.”

Mo Qiu remained silent.

After a time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he spoke softly, “I swear that I will never reveal what I have seen today in my lifetime. If I break this oath, my inner demons will consume me, and I will never transcend again.”

Luo Jianqing put down his Shuang Fu sword contentedly, but Mo Qiu laughed, “Luo Jianqing, why did you save me? I said that if I saw you again, I would kill you. Even though I haven’t fully recovered my strength, I can still tear you into pieces in an instant.”

Listening to the other’s soft laughter, Luo Jianqing glanced at him and said, “So, have you killed me now?”

Mo Qiu was speechless.

The pitch-black underground passage was extremely narrow, and the two bodies were slightly leaning against each other. Cultivators had excellent eyesight, and Luo Jianqing could see all of Mo Qiu’s movements clearly, and could launch an attack before the other acted strangely. Outside the passage, the astral winds continued to blow, colliding with the Heavenly Demon Array on this level and causing it to tremble slightly.

Luo Jianqing slowly closed his eyes and restored the spiritual power he had consumed just now. At that moment, he heard a hoarse voice say, “Thank you…”

Luo Jianqing still kept his eyes closed, as if he had not heard anything.

But Mo Qiu did not say anything else.

The gusty winds had been blowing for three days and nights. After confirming that there was no movement outside the tunnel, Luo Jianqing finally poked his head out and looked around.

The valley had been ravaged by the wind, and everything, from the plants and flowers to the rocks, had been ground into dust. Only the smooth cliffs and the flowing river of flames remained calm and undisturbed, as if nothing had ever happened.

Luo Jianqing grabbed Mo Qiu by the back of his collar and pulled him out of the tunnel.

Once he dropped him on the ground, Luo Jianqing turned around and walked away without even looking at him. Unexpectedly, Mo Qiu shouted out, “Luo Jianqing, are you leaving already?”

Luo Jianqing ignored him and continued walking.

Mo Qiu chuckled softly, “If I told you I figured out where we are, would you still keep walking?”

Luo Jianqing suddenly stopped and turned around.

Mo Qiu’s smile gradually faded as he spoke seriously, “I think we are on the ninth floor of the Flowing Flame Valley.”

There were nine levels in the Flowing Flame Valley, but Luo Jianqing had only ever made it to the eighth level in his past life. When he tried to enter the ninth level, he was stopped by an invisible flame barrier. Luo Jianqing spent over half a year trying to break through it, just to gain more Flame Fruits and make Xuanlingzi proud of him.

However, none of his efforts had worked.

A year later, he emerged from the Flowing Flame Valley, and his junior brother Li Xiuchen had actually obtained over a hundred Flame Fruits!

Everyone said, “This fellow Li is truly worthy of being the disciple of the Venerable Xuan Lingzi!”

At this thought, Luo Jianqing’s throat felt a little dry, and he said, “If this is the ninth level, then why are there no Flame Fruits here?”

Mo Qiu did not answer him, but instead said, “I am still recovering from my injuries, and this is the first time I have left the mountain cave. Luo Jianqing, everything is your fault. If you had taken me out earlier, would we still need to find out where we are now?”

Luo Jianqing drew his sword scabbard and slapped Mo Qiu’s face with it, saying, “Speak clearly.”

Mo Qiu widened his eyes in horror and couldn’t believe it as he covered his face, saying, “You dare to hit my face!”

Luo Jianqing retorted, “Mo Qiu, as cultivators and demon cultivators have been at odds since ancient times, not killing you is already because of our past relationship, showing mercy.”

“You!”

It took the time for an incense stick to burn awkwardly. Just as Luo Jianqing was about to raise his sword scabbard again, Mo Qiu angrily glared at him and said, “Do you see that river of flames over there? That’s not a river, and it’s not flames. It’s all blood. When that Fire Element Heavenly Tier Demon Venerable fell here, it turned into this Flowing Flame Valley. His heart’s blood remained on this ninth level and became this river of flames. The gust of wind just now was the innate skill of another Heavenly Tier Demon Venerable. People have always thought that this Fire Element Demon Venerable was killed by us cultivators, but in fact, as far as I know, it and the other demon fought each other and both eventually fell here.”

Luo Jianqing asked, “So according to what you’re saying, if the other demon could kill this Fire Element Demon Venerable, why isn’t there a Gale Valley formed here?”

Mo Qiu sneered and looked at Luo Jianqing. “Then you should ask your ancestors of the Yuxiao Peak in Taihua Mountain. They come here every thousand years to clean up everything, even the most powerful treasures are swept away by them. If it weren’t for this river of flames, they would have sucked it dry. People say that Taihua Mountain is the head of the righteous path, but that’s bullshit! People from your Yuxiao Peak are the most cunning and hypocritical, pretending to be virtuous… Ah! How dare you hit me!!!”

Luo Jianqing calmly sheathed his Shuang Fu Sword and said, “Nonsense. You’ve only been practicing for less than fifty years, how do you know these things? How dare you slander my ancestors. Mo Qiu, I spare your life today, but if I catch you talking nonsense again, I will hit you again!”

Mo Qiu gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, remember what you said, Luo Jianqing!”

Although Luo Jianqing said that, he ended up staying with Mo Qiu in a cave to practice together in the following days. Mo Qiu didn’t even use the elixir that Luo Jianqing had given him, so Luo Jianqing took it back directly.

Mo Qiu sneered, “Hypocritical people from Taihua Mountain.”

Luo Jianqing swept his sleeve and pulled Mo Qiu in front of him.

Mo Qiu’s spiritual power hadn’t fully recovered yet, so he tried to protect his face, but Luo Jianqing’s sword scabbard didn’t come down immediately. Mo Qiu was surprised to move his hand away and saw Luo Jianqing starting to heal himself with his spiritual power.

Luo Jianqing said coldly, “Daoist Mo, if you recover sooner, we can leave earlier.”

Mo Qiu chuckled lowly and thought to himself, “This is about right.”

Four months later, Mo Qiu’s injuries had healed, and the first thing he did was to fight Luo Jianqing. This time, Luo Jianqing couldn’t beat Mo Qiu anymore, but just as Mo Qiu was about to whip that beautiful face, he suddenly stopped.

Mo Qiu lightly chuckled and lifted Luo Jianqing’s face with the handle of his whip, saying, “Tsk tsk, I can’t bear to hit this pretty face of yours.”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Luo Jianqing drew his sheathed sword and struck again.

Mo Qiu exclaimed, “You!”

Luo Jianqing replied, “Please restrain yourself, friend Mo.”

As they spoke, the vermilion birthmark between Luo Jianqing’s eyebrows flickered twice.

Six months later, a fierce gust of qi swept over them again. Neither of them expected to encounter the qi again, and they hurriedly sought shelter in an underground cave. This time, it was Mo Qiu who controlled the formation, and his skillful manipulation left Luo Jianqing dazzled.

In the tunnel, Mo Qiu said, “The gates of the Flowing Flame Valley opened several months ago, but we didn’t leave. The people of the Mo family probably thought I was dead. I wonder how the people on Mount Taihua are doing? Is anyone waiting for you? If you haven’t returned, they must be worried sick.”

Suddenly, a graceful figure in white floated into Luo Jianqing’s mind, and his heart twinged slightly as he lowered his gaze. After a moment, he said, “No one is waiting for me. But my Fate Lamp is placed in Mount Taihua, so they know I’m not dead.”

Mo Qiu looked at Luo Jianqing’s despondent expression and fell silent, pursing his lips.

In the mountain valley, there were no seasons or day and night.

In the valley, there is no spring, summer, autumn, or winter, nor is there a sun or moon to mark time. Every half year, a gust of Gang wind blows, and Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu are always prepared, hiding in their cave each time.

In the second year of being trapped in the valley, Luo Jianqing advanced to the later stage of the golden core with the majestic spiritual power of the Blood Spirit Fruit. Mo Qiu sarcastically congratulated him on his achievement. Ignoring the sarcasm, Luo Jianqing was delighted with his progress.

As time passed, Luo Jianqing approached the Flame River every day to challenge himself with its pressure. However, he could never defeat the golden fire dragon that guarded the river and had to return in defeat every time. Interestingly, when Mo Qiu had walked by the Flame River out of boredom, he was not attacked by any of the flame beasts.

Puzzled, Luo Jianqing asked Mo Qiu, “Why didn’t you get attacked?” Mo Qiu joked, “My realm is much higher than that stupid fire demon. I could have killed it with my realm alone when it was alive. It’s dead, but it still dares to challenge me?”

Luo Jianqing was speechless and asked, “Do you have to brag so much, Daoist Mo?” Mo Qiu sneered and did not answer.

In this valley, Luo Jianqing focused on cultivating the “Nine Seizing Heavenly Records.” Perhaps because he went to feel the realm and pressure in the Flame River every day, his cultivation progressed rapidly. His body was like a thirsty sponge, absorbing the spiritual power of the Blood Spirit Fruit crazily.”

In the third year, Luo Jianqing formed his Nascent soul!”

“This time to form the Nascent soul has already broken the record of Xuan Lingzi, but Luo Jianqing did not feel particularly happy. He silently watched the raging flames of the river until Mo Qiu chuckled and said, “Not bad, you formed your Nascent soul in less than forty years, and it’s such a perfect Nascent soul. Luo Jianqing, is my blood spirit fruit useful or not?”

Luo Jianqing whispered, “Mo Qiu, can we really not get out of here?”

Mo Qiu suddenly fell silent, and after a long time, he took out a small jade boat from his storage ring. The boat was exquisite and could only accommodate three people, but it exuded a cold and icy aura that caused the flames of the river to stop for a moment when it appeared in the valley, as if even they were afraid of it.

Mo Qiu said, “This object is called the Cold Jade Skyward Boat, a heavenly-ranked treasure. I found that every time the gale passes, the river will be calm for a quarter of an hour. If we can take advantage of this moment to leave the valley, perhaps we can escape.”

Luo Jianqing looked in astonishment at the small boat and after a long while, asked, “…can you already leave?”

Mo Qiu laughed and said, “What, do you think I can leave on my own?”

Luo Jianqing nodded heavily and said, “Yes. You’re not afraid of the flames of the river, and you have a heavenly-ranked treasure. You don’t even need to wait for that so-called quarter of an hour, as long as there’s no gale, you can leave whenever you want.”

But Mo Qiu furrowed his brows and said, “Luo Jianqing of Mount Taihua, you’re overthinking it. What if I encounter something more terrifying than a gale right after leaving the valley? You’re at the Nascent soul stage now, and I’m only a fighter. Alright, in three days the gale will come again. Let’s be prepared, and as soon as the gale passes, we’ll leave the valley!”

Luo Jianqing looked at Mo Qiu with deep and enigmatic eyes, then suddenly took out a white jade plaque from his storage ring. He dripped a drop of his own blood onto it, then slapped it in front of Mo Qiu, saying, “Friend Mo, I thank you for guiding me out of the valley and for your waiting. This jade plaque is a treasure I obtained from a ruin before. I have just lifted the contract on it, and it is now ownerless. With this jade plaque, you can instantly teleport to a place thousands of miles away, which can help you escape.”

Mo Qiu took the jade plaque without hesitation. He smiled and examined it for a moment, then suddenly took out a small bell from his sleeve. The bell was blood-red in color, and when Mo Qiu shook it, it made no sound, despite being delicate and exquisite.

Mo Qiu said, “That’s a coincidence. This bell is called the Nine Aperture Demon Bell. I made it when I was bored. It has no other use except that if someone puts it into their heart when they are in mortal danger, as long as I am within thousands of miles, I can hear the bell ring. If I’m in a good mood, I can go and save their life.”

Saying this, Mo Qiu threw the Nine Aperture Demon Bell to Luo Jianqing.

Luo Jianqing looked at the beautiful blood-red bell with complex emotions and remained motionless for a long time.

Mo Qiu said, “Are you afraid I will harm you? It’s up to you. After all, I might not be in the mood to save you…”

Mo Qiu’s voice suddenly stopped, and he saw Luo Jianqing suddenly slap the bell into his own chest.

At the moment the bell entered his body, a vermilion mole between Luo Jianqing’s eyebrows flashed.

Mo Qiu’s eyes widened as he saw the elegant and refined figure of a man in green robes smile slightly. He was like the moon in the spring morning, and his voice was like celestial music. “Mo Qiu, you once said that even if you couldn’t move, you had many ways to torture me.”

“Did you really belive that?”

Luo Jianqing’s smile deepened at the corner of his lips, and his radiance competed with the sun and moon, making him so handsome that he seemed otherworldly. “Yes, I believe you. You have too many secrets. You know this is the ninth level of the Flowing Flame Valley, and you also know about the Wind and Fire Demon Sovereigns. Although you were born in the barren desert, you possess a Heavenly-grade magic treasure that I have never seen before, and you can condense demonic energy before reaching the Nascent soul stage.”

After a pause, Luo Jianqing continued with a smile, “Since you didn’t kill me in the past, I believe that you won’t kill me in the future. At least, you won’t use this Nine Aperture Devil Sound Bell to kill me. I think the three years of camaraderie we’ve shared in the ninth level of the Flowing Flame Valley are enough to make me trust you, enough to… make us life-and-death friends.”

Mo Qiu’s expression changed frequently, but in the end, he laughed and said, “You want to be life-and-death friends with me?”

Luo Jianqing nodded and replied, “Yes.”

Mo Qiu raised his eyebrows and said, “I’m a demonic cultivator.”

Luo Jianqing smiled and said, “I know.”

Mo Qiu asked, “Since you know, are you still willing to be life-and-death friends with me? Aren’t you afraid of being condemned by righteous cultivators?”

Luo Jianqing shook his head and said, “Who said that righteous cultivators are all kind-hearted people? Who said that the righteous path is correct and the demonic path is wrong? In the world, there is no absolute right or wrong. Even my master must have made mistakes in his lifetime. And the Demon Lord in the demonic palace must have done things that were not inconsistent with his true nature. I am Luo Jianqing, not the first disciple of Taihua Mountain, let alone a member of the so-called righteous path. Mo Qiu, I am just Luo Jianqing.”

Mo Qiu looked at him strangely, but suddenly laughed at his words. “Just for what you said earlier, I accept you as my life-and-death friend!”

The two laughed together.

Three days later, another blast of gale wind swept through.

The two took refuge in a tunnel and escaped the danger, then immediately ran to the side of the Flame River. Mo Qiu summoned his Heavenly-grade treasure ship, and the two looked at each other.

“Let’s go!