“I won’t return until the Witch God is defeated!”
Ye Qiu’s words rang out with conviction.
His stance was resolute.
Tang Fei, deeply concerned, said, “If the Witch God’s strength has been restored, none of us here is his match.”
“I’ll deal with the Witch God,” Ye Qiu said.
Tang Fei glanced at Ye Qiu and asked, “Are you confident?”
“No confidence, but I can try,” Ye Qiu replied.
Tang Fei still felt the risk was too great and said, “How about this, we retreat from Miaojiang first, then I’ll consult the War God and request a large force to support us.”
Qilin agreed with Tang Fei, saying, “This is the safest approach, Ye Qiu, let’s retreat from Miaojiang, and you can summon ten thousand Dragon Gate disciples to back us up.”
“I don’t believe the Witch God alone can withstand an army.”
“Ye Qiu, let’s retreat!”
“We can’t retreat,” Ye Qiu said, “Don’t forget, we haven’t found the Nine Thousand Years’ body yet.”
“If his body falls into the hands of the Witch God Sect, what do you think will happen?”
Qilin’s face stiffened.
The Witch God Sect and the Dragon Gate were sworn enemies, if the Nine Thousand Years’ body fell into their hands, it would surely be desecrated.
“Also, Han Long and Zhao Hu came to Miaojiang as well, and we don’t know where they are or what situation they’re in, retreating now would mean abandoning them.”
“If they die in Miaojiang, how will I explain it to the Dragon Gate disciples? How will I honor the Nine Thousand Years’ trust?”
Qilin fell silent.
“Moreover, with the Nine Thousand Years’ death, the Dragon Gate’s morale is already low, if we retreat now and the Witch God Sect learns of our movements, they’ll surely press their advantage, striking us while we’re down, they might even seize the chance to launch a full-scale attack.”
“At that point, the Dragon Gate will face a catastrophic disaster.”
Ye Qiu said, “So, there’s only one path before us now, to charge forward, never retreating, even in death.”
“As for the Witch God, you don’t need to worry too much, I’ve killed God List masters before.”
“Just a few days ago, I took down the third-ranked on the God List, the Great Eastern Martial Saint, Miyamoto Musashi.”
What!
Ye Qiu had killed the third-ranked master on the God List?
Tang Fei and the others were stunned, mouths agape.
Ye Qiu didn’t tell them that killing Miyamoto Musashi relied heavily on the Sword Talisman, he said this to prevent Tang Fei and the others from backing down out of fear of the Witch God.
“Ye Qiu, be honest with me, just how strong is your cultivation now?” Tang Fei asked curiously.
Ye Qiu replied, “I’m not entirely sure, but I should rank in the top five on the God List!”
Hiss—
Everyone gasped.
Ye Qiu said, “The Witch God went astray in his cultivation years ago, even if he’s restored his strength now, there’s nothing to fear.”
“If it was indeed the Witch God who killed the Nine Thousand Years, then with the Nine Thousand Years’ strength, he must have wounded the Witch God.”
“Against the Witch God, I have a fighting chance.”
Qilin chimed in, “Ye Qiu’s right, we can’t retreat, only by crushing the Witch God Sect can we restore the Dragon Gate’s morale.”
Tang Fei thought for a moment and said to Ye Qiu, “Before we came, the War God instructed that once in Miaojiang, we follow your command.”
“Since you agree to press forward, I can only follow you.”
“But I brought too few people, and besides the Witch God, the sect likely has other skilled fighters and numerous disciples, for caution’s sake, we need reinforcements.”
“Long Ye, take a few men immediately, find a place with a signal, and call the War God, ask him to send a large force to assist us.”
“Yes!” Long Ye accepted the order and quickly left with a few warriors.
After Long Ye departed, Ye Qiu asked Qilin, “How long will it take to reach the Witch God Sect’s headquarters from here?”
Qilin said, “At most forty minutes.”
Ye Qiu said, “No time to waste, we move out now.”
The team pressed forward.
Fifteen minutes later.
Ye Qiu’s expression grew heavy.
The closer they got to the Witch God Sect’s headquarters, the stronger the smell of blood became, and the further they went, the more bodies they saw.
In the end, the forest was littered with corpses.
There were at least a thousand.
These bodies were all victims of battle, some from the Dragon Gate, others from the Witch God Sect.
Large patches of earth were stained red with blood.
It was a harrowing sight.
Clearly, this battle had been brutal.
When they were ten minutes away from the Witch God Sect’s headquarters, they began encountering open and hidden sentries, all swiftly dealt with by Ye Qiu’s thunderous strikes.
Just as they were about to exit the forest, a cluster of buildings appeared in Ye Qiu’s line of sight.
Looking ahead, two hundred meters away stood a cliff.
On the cliff, densely packed wooden stilt houses were built.
Hundreds of stilt houses rose and fell with the terrain, layered and orderly, a magnificent sight.
At the base of the stilt houses was a large plaza, capable of holding over a thousand people.
At that moment, several hundred people stood in the plaza, forming a circle, as if holding some important event.
They were all disciples of the Witch God Sect.
Each held a long blade, looking fierce and menacing.
Ye Qiu looked closely and saw a figure lying on the ground in the center of the plaza.
Dressed in green robes, strikingly conspicuous.
The Nine Thousand Years!
Ye Qiu’s heart trembled, and he quickly signaled the team to “halt.”
The team stopped instantly.
Tang Fei looked through binoculars and exclaimed, “This is bad, Cao Yuan’s body is in the hands of the Witch God Sect.”
Qilin’s face changed, he snatched the binoculars from Tang Fei and looked toward the plaza, fury flashing in his eyes.
“We absolutely cannot let the Nine Thousand Years fall into the Witch God Sect’s hands, I’ll go retrieve him.”
Qilin was about to move.
“Stop!” Ye Qiu called out to Qilin, saying, “Stay calm.”
Qilin said, “The Nine Thousand Years is in their hands, how can I stay calm? I must take him back.”
“Don’t act rashly, rest assured, I won’t let them harm the Nine Thousand Years’ body.”
Just as Ye Qiu spoke, a Witch God Sect disciple walked to Cao Yuan’s body and shouted, “Brothers, the body lying before you is the leader of the Dragon Gate, Cao Yuan!”
“He’s been our enemy for years, killing so many of our brothers, brothers, what should we do?”
As the man finished, the Witch God Sect disciples shouted over each other, “Burn Cao Yuan to ashes!”
“Cut him into pieces!”
“…”
All sorts of suggestions were made.
The man raised his hand, silencing the crowd, and continued, “Your suggestions are all good, but I think punishing Cao Yuan this way isn’t enough.”
“I propose we leave Cao Yuan’s body here to rot for three days, then chop it up and make meat buns to feed the pigs, what do you think, brothers?”
The crowd shouted in unison, “Good!”
Hearing these words, Ye Qiu’s eyes blazed with killing intent, and he said to Tang Fei and the others, “Stay here and don’t move.”
With that.
Ye Qiu leaped forward, swiftly arriving at the plaza, striding toward the hundreds of Witch God Sect disciples, saying as he walked, “A bunch of scum, daring to desecrate the Nine Thousand Years’ body, you’re courting death!”
Clang—
The Emperor’s Sword was drawn!
