Chapter 71: Who’s Holding a Blade…

“No, how!? How did you do it!?”

The Black Slaying Demonic Warlord, Godang Sang, shouted in surprise.

The Black Slaying Demonic Palm's black hand was a symbol of fear and an ineradicable mark of the demonic.

Wasn't that the reason why Godang Sang wore gloves on his long sleeves?

He had considered it impossible and had only covered it up all this time.

The answer had appeared out of the blue.

Godang Sang shouted with deep longing, "How!?"

“Just 'cause? I did it, didn't I? What, you can't even do this? Ah. This is good. Gramps, what's this?"

“You don't even know what food is, you dumb bitch. Food is for eating.”

“What the hell is the name of the dish?”

“You should've asked like that then. You're like a halfwit who can't even ask a proper question. It's called Dimlama[^Turkic or more broadly Central Asian stew made with various combinations of meat, potatoes, onions, vegetables, and sometimes fruits.].”

Choi Leeong answered.

Even though he insults me, he's actually close to a foul-mouthed grandma.

In that sense, this grandpa, he's strangely kind for a Demonic Warlord.

But why? What do you see in me?

I really don't know what he's thinking.

It's not like I need to know the Demonic Warlord's situation anyway.

Qing scooped up a large portion of Dimlama and ate it.

It's sweet, with vegetables and meat all mixed together and boiled until tender.

It can't be bad.

That familiar taste, it's braised short ribs.

And there's fried rice with it!

I really like this region's food.

Where is this? I don't know, but...

Qing nodded her head vigorously.

Then she placed the dish in front of her.

Choi Leeong frowned.

“You're so eager to show off your lack of manners. Isn't that the kind of gluttony that only an animal would have? You're worse than a dog.”

“What the hell. If you want to eat, say you want to eat. Why the insults?”

Qing used her palm-sized spoon to scoop a large portion onto Choi Leeong's plate.

“Ha. Who said I wanted to eat?”

“You're the one who's so old that your teeth are probably failing, so you can't eat anything else anyway. It's so soft that you don't even need to chew, so just shut up and eat.”

“This girl has a rotten rag stuck in her trap. Tsk tsk.”

“Did you even contribute a single scrap of effort to this? Mind your own damn business.”

Godang Sang, who had been foolishly standing by the next table, shouted and glared at Qing.

Surprisingly, his gaze matched that of the people at the table who were sharing the dish with Qing.

“Are you ignoring me right now!?”

Qing picked her ear and replied, "I'm talking to the elder here. Mind your own business."

“What kind of conversation..., Senior. I apologize.”

Godang Sang, who was about to interrupt, immediately bowed his waist when he saw Choi Leeong.

To be precise, it was because of the purple threads of Purple Lightning Qi that were subtly rising from Choi Leeong's entire body.

Purple Lightning Qi was a type of Internal Energy that leaned heavily towards extreme Yang and was also an Internal Energy cultivation technique that dealt with the energy of death.

The hottest and most evil purple lightning in the world.

Purple Lightning Demonic Art dealt with Internal Energy that resembled lightning.

Because it faithfully reproduced the destructive power that humans could not handle, it was impossible to control the rampant Internal Energy.

Therefore, the owner of the Purple Lightning Demonic Art would have the Purple Lightning Qi rise automatically depending on their emotional state.

If they were in a bad mood, purple lightning would erupt and attack on its own, making it worthy of being included in the Ten Great Demonic Arts Under Heaven.

Moreover, Choi Leeong was a master of the Late Stage Unrestrained Realm.

If he got really pissed off, it wouldn't just be Purple Lightning Qi, but Purple Lightning Qi that would leap through space.

That was the nature of lightning, which could stretch a thousand miles in an instant.

And then, Godang Sang realized.

“How can a righteous hero act so uneducated and speak like a scoundrel?”

“What the hell. I'm well educated, you know? I just don't show it because there's no one worth showing manners to.”

“No one worth showing manners to? Is this old man not a person but a scarecrow?”

“You're not a person, you're a Demonic Warlord, gramps.”

“Haha. With that loose tongue, you'll end up burning alive. When that happens, I'll gladly add a few logs to the fire.”

Choi Leeong's Purple Lightning Qi was calm as he spoke.

Despite his harsh words, it meant that he wasn't offended at all.

And he soon realized why.

The Purple Lightning Demonic Warlord's daughter had died in his arms when she was around Qing's age.

He's gone senile again!

After that, he would occasionally become senile like this.

Choi Leeong's daughter had been ill-mannered.

The Purple Lightning Demonic Warlord had treated his ill-mannered daughter that way.

In the end, whenever he saw a girl of similar age who had lost her manners, he saw his own daughter in her.

Godang Sang was dying to know how she got rid of the black hand, but it wasn't enough to risk offending the senior who had gone senile again.

It was something he could ask about later.

Godang Sang quietly sat down at the table again.

Meanwhile, Qing retorted nonchalantly, "It looks like you'll be the one holding the funeral rites before me.”

“Well, a young girl should live longer than an old man. From what I see, with that bad attitude, you'll soon have your own funeral. Are you just ill-mannered? You're an uneducated girl with no manners.”

“What the hell. You're insulting me. I'm pretty well educated, you know? Grandpa, watch this.”

Qing showed off the table manners she had cultivated under nuclear bombardment.

With graceful and elegant movements, she picked out only the meat from Choi Leeong's plate and chewed on it.

And so, for a while, Qing demonstrated the Ximen Surin-style 'Central Plains Beauty' meal etiquette.

A moment later, Qing frowned.

“Ugh, it doesn't feel like I'm eating. Rice needs to be chewed with gusto. Anyway, you saw it, right? What, why?”

Qing looked around with a frown.

It was because the Heavenly Demon Divine Cultists were staring blankly at Qing with a 'What did I just see?' look on their faces.

There was even a Heavenly Demon Divine Cultist rubbing his eyes despite having bloodshot eyes.

Even Ji Seungju's mouth was wide open.

Actually, it was a surprising sight.

Wasn't she the girl who used to crack people's skulls open and lay them down?

It was only natural to get goosebumps when she suddenly acted like a celestial maiden.

Choi Leeong clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“A bitch who doesn't do it is far worse than a cripple who can't. What's there to brag about? Tsk.”

Qing put down her chopsticks with a 'thud'.

“What the hell. It's so noisy I can't eat.”

Then she picked them up again and said, “Ah. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to eat.”

Godang Sang was curious about how she had erased the black hand.

He was really curious.

So curious!

But he couldn't find a chance to ask.

Because after that meal, Choi Leeong started teaching Qing the Purple Lightning Demonic Art.

What was the reason for making Qing learn the Black Slaying Demonic Palm?

It was a trick to make her unable to return to the Central Plains because of the black hand and eventually stay with the Divine Cult.

But he found out that it could be hidden.

Now he needed a different martial art.

It just so happened that Qing had a very bitchy personality.

And the Purple Lightning Demonic Warlord was right next to her.

That's it!

If it was the Purple Lightning Demonic Art that rampaged according to the owner's mood, it could replace the Black Slaying Demonic Palm.

There was no way a witch who shot lightning dozens of times a day could return to the Central Plains.

Ji Seungju thought so.

He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do for the world to attach the raging Purple Lightning Qi to that personality.

It just so happened that Choi Leeong had gone senile.

There was no need for Ji Seungju to persuade him otherwise.

'Purple Lightning Demonic Warlord, are you perhaps planning to... teach Ximen Qing your great art?'

'I understand.'

Agreement came before he could even finish his sentence.

In this way, Qing came to possess two of the Ten Great Demonic Arts Under Heaven, one plus one (plus a secret) equals two (three).

It was a great achievement unprecedented in the history of the martial arts world.

However, there was something that even Ji Seungju, with his brilliant mind, had not anticipated.

“They call it one of the Ten Great Demonic Arts Under Heaven, and it's gold again?”

Qing was disappointed.

Still, she liked the fact that it was an Internal Energy cultivation technique.

You could never have too much Internal Energy.

Wasn't that Ximen Surin's teaching?

Qing immediately reached one star in the Purple Lightning Demonic Art.

The violent Purple Lightning Qi of the Purple Lightning Demonic Art settled into its new owner's body.

Purple Lightning Qi was the embodiment of lightning that didn't know up from down.

It would rampage fiercely, breaking Qing's self-control and turning her temper violent... but.

The two Daoist Divine Arts that had settled in first had to be something special.

The Nourishing True Soul Sutra contained the image of the sacred flame that burned demons, created by the Yan Emperor Shennong for his daughter.

Even with the same fire, there was a hierarchy.

The Purple Lightning Qi, which was about to rampage, was severely beaten, burned, and faced the crisis of annihilation.

At that time, the balanced energy of the Yue Maiden Cultivation Technique, which had the power to embrace nine worlds, stepped forward.

It comforted the Purple Lightning Qi, soothed it, and breathed life back into it.

And then it gave it a place in the corner of the Dantian, the most remote, shabby, dirty, and drafty place.

The Nine Heavens Divine Maiden embraced nine worlds, but she was a strict deity when it came to hierarchy.

Even the worlds had a hierarchy, so where would a mere demonic art fit in?

In the end, before the Purple Lightning Qi could even rampage once, it knelt facing the wall in the corner of Qing's Dantian.

The process of the various energies clashing within the Dantian could be described in a way that even a child could understand, like this.

This all happened while Qing was drooling, feeling like her brain was being eaten.

-How is it? Doesn't your body feel tingly? Heh heh, the Purple Lightning Qi is running wild, so accept it as it is. But you'll have to suffer for a few days.”

“Suffer? What kind of suffering?”

-Aren't you trembling uncontrollably and suffering? Originally, the Purple Lightning Qi is violent and makes the body jump, so you just have to accept it as fate. It will be a rather painful fate, though.

Choi Leeong was speaking from outside the carriage.

Qing blinked.

My body is trembling and what? Where does it hurt?

Qing drew out only the newly entered purple Internal Energy and circulated it through her acupuncture points for a complete circulation.

Like a newlywed bride, the shy energy circulated through her acupuncture points and seeped into her dantian.

It kind of feels like it wants to stay in my acupuncture points and doesn't want to go back to my dantian?

“Uh. Is it supposed to hurt?”

-If the pain is too much to bear, tell me. I'll listen. Heh heh.

What pain?

Qing couldn't understand.

But the old man had such high expectations.

Qing decided to live up to them.

“Ah. It hurts. It hurts so much.”

-...?

“It hurts. Give me poppy. poppy is good.”