As Xu Qing's words resonated, the black storm roared and enveloped the area, accompanied by bolts of lightning coursing through it, creating numerous arcs of electric light that spread across the land.
His momentum was awe-inspiring, and the heavens and the earth changed in color.
The shadow shivered intensely from excitement.
It was touched.
At this moment, it felt that all its previous hardships and efforts were worth it. Its master had not given up on it. Even among these white-robed individuals who had imprisoned it, there were three at the Nascent Soul stage, and the leader was even a Dao Nurturing Spirit Repository expert.
However, Master still chose to save it.
Hence, it hurriedly transmitted its emotions, releasing all its gratitude, grievances, and pain. Its struggle became even more intense.
As for the blurry figure in the storm, it walked over step by step. As it got closer, the terrifying pressure became increasingly intense.
White appeared more often in the storms in the green sand desert, but the black color hadn't descended for hundreds of years.
However, at that moment, this black storm was clearly reflected in the eyes of this group of white-robed people. They couldn't help but be surprised.
This was especially so when they noticed that regardless of whether it was the dandelions or the sand, their colors instantly changed the moment they got close to the storm, becoming a part of it.
All of this was exactly the same as the legendary black wind.
Everyone was shocked and looked at the blurry figure in the storm. Some of them had already instinctively retreated.
Their race was different from the other races and had the mission to protect the desert. Most of the ferocious beasts in the green sand desert were their pets.
This was also the reason why they targeted the shadow.
In the past half a year, the shadow had continuously captured the ferocious beasts in the desert. This matter caused their race to be dissatisfied. However, because white wind didn't appear, they couldn't rashly go out due to the ancient alliance.
They had been paying attention to the shadow and confirmed the shadow's abilities through some ancient books. Hence, after the white wind appeared, this team that was prepared to deal with the shadow received a mission from the race. They held a holy artifact that had been bestowed and nailed the shadow to the ground.
Originally, at this point, their mission had been completed. They only needed to bring the shadow back for punishment.
However, the white-robed man who led the group didn't want to end it just like that. He could tell that the shadow had an owner, so he wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity where they were let out and capture the shadow and its owner.
However, the appearance of the black storm made all of them feel uneasy.
They had lived in the desert for generations and had the innate talent to ignore the invasion of the white wind. Their understanding of this desert far surpassed that of outsiders.
They understood very well what the black storm represented.
At that moment, the white-robed man in the lead stared fixedly at the blurry figure in the storm. In his eyes, the other party's cultivation fluctuations weren't very high but that black storm made him wary.
Hence, he didn't act rashly. Instead, he made a gesture that only his clansmen could understand and spoke in a low voice.
"Over the past six months, you have been making your malevolent spirit slaughter our race's pets, disrupting the desert's environment, and stealing our sustenance."
"Such actions are unforgivable for our race, so I have been ordered to capture this malevolent spirit. At the same time, on behalf of our race's ancestor and others, I must ask you one question: What do you intend to do?"
"My race has no enmity with you. You have to give my race an explanation for this!"
The blurry figure in the storm stopped in his tracks.
Xu Qing was a reasonable person. The other party's words seemed to make sense. Hence, he thought about it and calmly spoke.
"Alright, what compensation do you want?"
The white-robed man narrowed his eyes in surprise. He didn't expect the other party to really agree. Hence, after some thought, he spoke.
"First of all, there are a total of 531 pets of my race that you snatched away. Each of them is worth 100,000 spirit stones!"
"Secondly, we will take this evil spirit away."
Upon hearing this, the shadow was suddenly startled, and it emanated a sense of fear. However, in the next moment, it seemed to have detected something, swiftly surveying its surroundings. It then pretended not to have noticed and continued to display fear, continuing its wailing.
The blurry figure in the storm fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"I can't afford it. Can you reduce it?"
The white-robed man glanced at the storm and then at Xu Qing.
"If you give us the method to form this storm, we can reduce the spirit stones compensation by 30%. However, we have to have this evil spirit."
Xu Qing remained silent. He couldn't afford this either.
It wasn't that he was unreasonable but that the other party was unreasonable.
Since they were unreasonable, there was no need for him to compensate.
Xu Qing's heart was calm as he took a step forward.
However, the instant he took this step, the white-robed man suddenly leaped up. The dozen or so companions beside him performed hand seals at the same time. Immediately, the white sandstorm in the surroundings skyrocketed and gathered from all directions, blasting toward the black storm.
"It's been a long time since we went out. Are the cultivators outside so stupid these days? They actually gave us a chance to set up a formation."
The white-robed man sneered inwardly as he attacked together with his fellow race members, forming an astonishing white storm. It actually vaguely formed the phantom of a huge worm in the air and roared as it devoured the black storm and the figure inside.
A rumbling sound echoed.
However, these white-robed people, whose attention was all on the black storm, didn't notice the abnormal changes in the shadow.
A figure completely concealed and impervious to detection was crouching beside the shadow, observing the dagger stuck into the shadow, having been studying it for a while.
This person was none other than Xu Qing.
As for the existence in the storm, it was the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
Xu Qing knew that since they could trap the shadow, they were naturally not simple people. He guessed that there would be a trap. Hence, he had made the Diamond Sect's ancestor to appear in the storm in his place to attract attention.
As for himself, he hid and quietly arrived.
He originally wanted to silently save the shadow and leave, but the golden dagger was extraordinary. Not only could the aura spreading from it suppress the shadow, but even Xu Qing's heart was pounding.
He could sense that this dagger seemed to be driven by the power of bloodline. If he didn't have the corresponding bloodline, it would be difficult to move it. It had a subtle glint, as though it could sense the external world, and if the user didn't meet its requirements, it would instantly reject them.
Hence, he was studying how to pull it out.
"Not having the required bloodline means not only will you be unable to remove it upon contact, but it will also detect your presence and retaliate," he muttered.
"The flickering glint on the blade is its response to the user, switching between light and dark in an instant. Given my speed, it's not guaranteed that I can pull it out in that brief moment of opportunity."
"There's only one chance. In that case… I can only use the Time Statis!"
Xu Qing's eyes gleamed as a rumbling sound echoed in the distance. The black storm was torn apart by the white worm and the figure inside retreated, transforming into a fishbone that entered the desert and disappeared. The power of the sundial in Xu Qing's body erupted.
He locked onto the dagger and froze it.
In the next moment, during the flickering transition of the dagger's glint, there was a sudden pause. This pause was the instant when there was no glint on the dagger. Xu Qing swiftly raised his right hand and grabbed the dagger.
His cultivation erupted and his physical strength surged as he ruthlessly pulled upward.
In the blink of an eye, he pulled out the dagger. The shadow cheered and its entire body swayed. Immediately, all the dandelions on its body disappeared. It quickly returned to Xu Qing's feet and hid itself.
After doing this, Xu Qing immediately put the dagger into his storage bag. He didn't even turn his head as he turned and ran with all his might. His speed was astonishing and the Diamond Sect's ancestor also returned quickly.
As for the white-robed people in the distance, the instant the black storm was destroyed, they sensed the abnormality in the shadow and their expressions changed drastically.
"This is fake!"
As they let out furious shouts, these white-robed cultivators chased after Xu Qing. At this moment, the earth also fluctuated and terrifying fluctuations of the perfected Spirit Repository spread out from the desert.
The experts of this race had clearly sensed what was happening outside and were rushing over.
At this critical moment, the parrot swayed and wanted to escape first.
It didn't care about Xu Qing's life or death. Right now, it was feeling smug inwardly. It thought to itself that it had already completed the task of passing the message. Since Xu Qing dared to poison it, he couldn't expect it to save him. His death had nothing to do with it.
However, the instant it was about to teleport, Xu Qing grabbed it and calmly spoke.
"Teleport!"
The parrot felt the pain and cursed in its mind. Helpless, it could only hurriedly teleport with them, but it was a little slow.
Xu Qing frowned and squeezed hard. The parrot instantly let out a screech. After a feather turned to ashes, it erupted with the power of teleportation.
All the restrictions in the surroundings were ignored as it instantly disappeared with Xu Qing.
Only the ashes of the feather scattered with the wind.
At the next moment, this place rumbled and a huge vortex appeared on the desert. It emitted astonishing fluctuations that contained anger that swept in all directions.
It wasn't just this place. In other directions of the desert, similar vortexes also appeared and they probed with all their might.
As for the parrot's teleportation, it was clearly bragging before. Its range wasn't very large, and at this moment, it appeared hundreds of kilometers away.
However, it didn't matter. Xu Qing had long expected this. Almost at the instant it appeared, he ruthlessly squeezed it again.
The parrot screeched in agony, shedding more feathers, and teleported once more.
Just like that, under Xu Qing's request and actions, the parrot would shed its feathers every time it appeared. The teleportation also continued like this, bringing Xu Qing along as it sped toward the edge of the desert.
In the end, the parrot's wails didn't have much strength left and it began to curse.
"You are no better than a beast, a heartless lunatic!"
"You, you, you! You're not worth anything. You're like a shadow bitten by a dog, devoid of any human essence!"
"You've gone too far! You're a stone in a chicken coop, you scoundrel! I'm going to die. Dad, save me!"
After dozens of teleportations, the parrot, which had already arrived at the edge of the green sand desert, didn't have much breath left.
"Please, don't be like this. I'm just a child. I really can't take it anymore…"
Its body trembled violently, and the fear within had reached its peak. Its feathers were almost gone, leaving its body nearly bare.
In this moment, as it gazed at Xu Qing, its small eyes were filled with terror. It believed that the expressionless figure before it was the most monstrous creature on this earth, the most horrifying menace beneath the sky.
'Bastard!'
