THDP Ch 123 Part 3 – One Heart (III)
Yun Qingyan touched his forehead lightly, “Are you still going to continue?”
The sudden words brought Sikong Zhan back to reality, and he watched in horror as the man in the white robe pointed at the subordinates behind him.
The clanging of weapons falling to the ground grew even more frequent. These elite soldiers were not afraid of death, but the overwhelming pressure emanating from Yun Qingyan implied his real identity. Furthermore, the difference in strength was too massive. In the blink of an eye, Yun Qingyan had wiped out an entire team of one hundred, including a captain in the Spirit Severing stage. This level of a terrifying gap in power was simply impossible to cross, leaving the remaining soldiers powerless to resist and completely devoid of their will to fight.
The most cowardly among the soldiers were on the verge of collapse. Their weapons dropped to the ground, and their primordial spirits, representation of their hearts, retreated into their spiritual seas, revealing their timidity. Not to mention — even their commander had been made totally powerless.
Still too weak to get up, Sikong Zhan remained lying on the ground, paled-faced, as he stared blankly at Yun Qingyan. The white robe on the latter rustled in the wind as he loomed over him, radiating an aura of coldness. Was this the true embodiment of power in the demon realm? Siskong Zhan couldn’t help feeling a sense of fear. Even though the person had barely moved since his arrival, he had already rendered the entire Red Star Army completely powerless.
The Red Star Army — that was one of the seven elite armies of the Second Heaven!
“Since we’re not going to fight anymore…” Yun Qingyan lazily scanned around, “All of you, give him your spirit stones.” He pointed at Sikong Zhan.
Nobody knew what he was up to, but this order was not at all difficult, let alone humiliating, so the soldiers only hesitated for a moment before springing into action. Each member of the hundred-man team collected their spirit stones and handed them together to their captain.
The remaining twenty-nine captains dispatched someone among them to collect the spirit stones, put them all into one bag, and carefully hold it in front of the still-incapacitated Sikong Zhan.
“How many?” Yun Qingyan asked again.
“R-replying to Your Excellency…” The dispatched captain, a strong cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Severing stage, was as timid as someone who had barely entered the Foundation Establishment stage. “We have in total 4,300 profound-grade spirit stones.” He answered tremblingly.
“Give it to him.” Yun Qingyan frowned, but eventually nodded.
“As you command.” The captain hurriedly held the bag before Sikong Zhan, “General, please accept these spirit stones.” Without waiting for Sikong Zhan to answer, he forced the whole thing into the latter’s hands.
Yun Qingyan said again: “Stay here for another month.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” The captain hurriedly knelt down, not daring to lift his head, and respectfully replied, “We will stay obediently on the island and won’t go anywhere.”
Yun Qingyan chuckled: “I’m not interested in massacres, and likewise, I’m not interested in commanding the Red Star Army.” He flicked his fingers, and upon his command, forty-nine profound-grade spirit stones flew in all directions of the small island. With a slight tremor, the light of a spiritual aura shot up into the sky, completely sealing off the entire island.
“As for you…” Yun Qingyan finally turned his eyes to Sikong Zhan, “Who is Sikong Xing to you?”
With a tremble, Sikong Zhan struggled to look up at Yun Qingyan, and after some hesitation, he finally said in a hoarse voice, “My clan sister.”
“Is it true that you left your family in a fit of anger as a youth because your elder brother, instead of you, who obtained the engagement to marry that clan sister?” Yun Qingyan inquired again.
Sikong Zhan was taken aback. He had never imagined that such a powerful man would be aware of gossip about a nobody like himself. Memories of the red-clothed girl’s radiant smile and that of his elder brother, who acted with impunity and indulged in debauchery by relying on a powerful maternal clan, instantly flooded his mind. The sudden whirl of emotion caused Sikong Zhan to thrust his hand into the soil with sudden strength, sinking deep into the mud.
He was now seriously injured, and though he wasn’t dead yet, it was only because his opponent showed him mercy and spared his life. But he was aware that his spiritual sea had been severely shattered. Even with the power of Starlight, such damages were difficult to repair. From now onward, he wasn’t sure if he could maintain his current cultivation, let alone progress to the next level.
The ambition of the past now seemed to be laughing at him. Thinking that one day, he would be stronger than his half-brother, strong enough to break the engagement and save the clan sister from falling into the hands of his brother… this wish might never be realized in this lifetime.
“Your character is upright, and you are a rare genius in the red fox clan. I will give you a chance,” said Yun Qingyan as he flicked his sleeve once again.
In the sky, the black frost claw, still restrained by Yun Qingyan’s seal, suddenly shook violently. At the same time, a roar that seemed to be emanating from ancient times reverberated throughout the space. But Yun Qingyan didn’t pay any attention to it. After giving the claw a disinterested glance, he turned around and casually walked towards the wider sky.
“Where’s the general?” Once Yun Qingyan’s figure completely faded from sight, the demon soldiers on the island finally sighed in relief. They relaxed a bit and looked at one another, until someone noticed that their badly-wounded general had disappeared at some point.
“W-was he thrown into the Starfallen Sea?” someone murmured.
“Seems so…” Another person looked at the place where Sikong Zhan had been lying powerlessly until a moment ago. A pool of blood, mixed with mud, remained there, along with the marks left by Sikong Zhan’s hand.
