novelraw Chapter 152: Reaping
Chapter 152: Reaping
A clamor of voices rang in his ears.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Feng’s consciousness slowly returned.
He slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a dazzling, blindingly white incandescent light.
He found himself lying prone on a cold, damp, silver floor. A bone-chilling cold seemed to spread instantly from the points of contact throughout his entire body.
His body felt heavy and weak, and he couldn’t help but shiver.
The sensation was extremely uncomfortable.
His gaze swept around, revealing a massive silver room. The surrounding walls were made of a special alloy that gleamed with a cold, hard luster.
However, some corners of the walls were covered in dark bloodstains, and a faint, bloody smell lingered in the air.
He wasn’t alone in the room. A quick glance revealed nearly a hundred other people.
Like him, they were sitting on the floor. Some were quiet, while others were shouting and cursing.
After listening for a moment, he realized that these people, like him, had all been captured by Zhu Xi. Among them, he could even see a few Black Blood Species.
’That stinking bitch! Just wait until I get out, I’ll kill you for sure!’
Thinking of the culprit who had reduced him to his current state,
Chen Feng’s expression turned grim, killing intent churning within him.
He made a silent vow: when he got out, he would slaughter that bitch Jiang Ning’s entire family.
At this thought, he concealed the cold glint in his eyes, pushed himself up, and leaned against a wall.
The only good news was that with the passage of time, the drug that had been injected into his body to suppress his power was slowly losing its effect, thanks to the powerful constitution of a Martial Arts Family member.
The feeling of weakness was gradually fading. It wouldn’t be long before he was fully recovered.
’As long as I can recover even a fraction of my power as a Martial Arts Family member...’
He was confident he could fight his way out of this place.
However, before his strength could return, he heard the heavy, sealed alloy door to one side being pushed open from the outside.
Instantly, everyone in the room looked over.
The next second,
a figure with a long saber on their back, golden hair, and red eyes strode in.
Then, the door slammed shut with a BANG.
"Fuck! You’re the one in charge here, right? Let me the hell out! Or you’ll regret it!"
"So what if I killed a few ordinary people? You dare capture me? Do you know who my father is?"
"I’m a disciple of the Black Bear Sect, and a member of Zhu Xi! You can’t do this to me!"
...
In an instant, gazes shot over from all directions.
Some shouted curses, while others flaunted their backgrounds.
Their identities varied, but to be captured and brought here, they must have all committed extremely heinous crimes.
Such situations were not uncommon.
In the past, Zhu Xi had focused its attention on the Black Blood Species, and its management of these Secret Martial Artists had been very lax.
Some people, after gaining power, became even more terrifying than the Black Blood Species.
At most, the Black Blood Species only ate people, but humans weren’t just limited to "eating people."
Hu Qi’s expression remained impassive as his gaze swept across the room.
Among them were Secret Martial Artists and Black Blood Species.
But due to the inhibitors injected into their bodies, they were currently no different from ordinary people.
"Damn it, I’m talking to you, are you deaf or... urk!"
Just then, a burly man, a full two meters tall, stood up from the ground. He looked down on Hu Qi with a savage expression and reached out to grab him.
However, his arm had barely extended halfway
when a red line flashed through the air before him.
Immediately after, the large man was sliced in two at the waist, his internal organs spilling onto the floor with a wet SLOSH.
"Ah! Y-You’re... you’re Helinta of the Shexin Sect!"
At that moment, a scrawny man in the crowd seemed to remember something, his eyes looking at Hu Qi as if he were staring at a devil!
A person’s reputation precedes them.
As the second disciple of the Shexin Sect, Helinta was a true lunatic who had killed countless people.
Most in the Secret Martial Artist circles had heard of her notorious name.
Now, looking at the blood-splattered floor and Hu Qi’s flat, expressionless face,
the crowd that had been clamoring just moments ago fell silent.
"Don’t kill me, I’m begging you..."
Some of the more cowardly ones even began to beg for their lives.
In response, Hu Qi’s expression was indifferent. He didn’t waste any words.
A brilliant flash of sword light suddenly erupted in the room.
After a short, intense burst of screams,
the entire room was filled with severed limbs and blood.
Not a single person survived.
Chen Feng was no exception.
Even as a member of a Martial Arts Family,
he couldn’t survive after his head was split into several pieces by the Sword Energy.
The one thing he didn’t understand before he died was
why their captors had gone to such great lengths to round them up and bring them here, only to cut them down without a single word. Logically, there should have been some other purpose.
Unfortunately, his question was destined to go unanswered.
...
Specks of translucent Spirit Light, invisible to the naked eye, instantly surged toward Hu Qi through the air.
After a short while,
all the Spirit Light had entered his body.
A series of memories flashed through Hu Qi’s mind.
’Crimson!’
Hu Qi thought silently.
Translucent, blood-red patterns materialized from the void.
They formed lines of crimson text before him.
[Host: Hu Qi]
[Status: Abnormal (Mottled Soul) △]
[Age: 22]
[Bloodline: Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent (Incomplete 30%) △]
[Talent: Spirit Devouring: Twisted Light]
[Skill: Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Qi Vein Chapter, First Layer) △]
[Seven Evils Saber (Seventh Layer) △ Traits: Sheep Horn, Sharpness...]
...
[Modification Points: 123 (1%)]
The panel appeared before his eyes.
Previously, after killing Helinta,
he had wondered if devouring the life-force Spirit Light of Secret Martial Artists could also provide Modification Points.
However, given Helinta’s unique nature as a half-human, half-Black Blood Species, she wasn’t a normal Secret Martial Artist, so Hu Qi couldn’t be sure.
Fortunately, his experiments over the past few days had proven his hypothesis correct.
Although the amount was small—an ordinary Secret Martial Artist only provided a few tenths of a Modification Point—every little bit added up, and the total was still considerable.
Now, his Modification Points had finally broken through one hundred again.
The speed at which he gained Modification Points couldn’t compare to that one day when the gray fog descended,
but it was still much faster than before.
With the cover of Helinta’s identity,
he could freely mobilize the forces of Anshan City—or to be more precise, the entire Donglin Province—to collect Exotic Beasts and capture Secret Martial Artists and Black Blood Species for him.
Furthermore, during this time,
he had also built a prison specifically for holding Secret Martial Artists and Black Blood Species.
Although the Zhu Xi members under him didn’t understand why this order was suddenly issued,
due to the Shexin Sect’s prestige and a new system of doubled rewards and point redemptions,
they naturally had no objections.
If he simply exploited those under him,
some would inevitably become resentful and stir up trouble.
It wasn’t as if such incidents hadn’t happened before.
This was true in any industry.
Take overtime, for example.
And resolving this issue wasn’t difficult.
All he had to do was increase the bonuses.
After all, whether they were ordinary people or Secret Martial Artists,
as long as the benefits were great enough, you could drive anyone to do your bidding.
This was the simplest and most direct way to manage people.
Just look at
those emperors throughout history, hailed as True Dragon Emperors. In reality, how different were they from ordinary people?
They were even inferior in a real fight.
So why could a single word from them leave a million corpses in their wake?
This was the reason.
But some people in power are unwilling to part with their profits and only know how to exploit.
Even if their subordinates are willing at first, over time, they will inevitably harbor resentment. Once they find an opportunity,
they are very likely to cause immense losses for the one in power.
But to Hu Qi, these so-called benefits meant nothing.
As long as he could achieve his goal, that was all that mattered.
He then looked directly at the status column.
With a flicker of his thoughts,
he consumed ten Modification Points to restore his status to normal.
Feeling a faint coolness spread through his mind,
Hu Qi’s gaze fell back on the panel, moving downward.
A strange expression appeared on his face when he saw a particular skill.
’I can’t believe the Seven Evils Saber can be modified and upgraded further!’
Hu Qi looked at that one entry.
He was a little surprised.
One must understand that according to the original Seven Evils Saber,
the Seventh Layer should have been its absolute limit.
The modification panel could alter anything.
But it did so according to his will. For example, he could spend Modification Points
and, guided by his intent, either delete a Perfection Skill entirely or change a Fist Fighting Technique into a Leg Technique.
The former was simple enough.
The latter, however, was equivalent to changing the very foundation of the fighting technique. The more fundamental the changes, the more Modification Points were required.
This was all information he had gathered from exploring the Crimson modification panel over time.
For the Seven Evils Saber to show this,
as far as he knew, there was only one possibility.
The Seven Evils Saber must be connected to some other sword technique.
Or perhaps mastering the Seven Evils Saber was a prerequisite for cultivating a certain cultivation technique.
The two had formed a connection, a link.
Only then would the Crimson panel show something like this.
This wasn’t entirely Hu Qi’s speculation.
There were records about this in Helinta’s memories.
The Ghost Slaying Saber was originally passed down by the Shexin Sect’s Sect Leader, Jiang Zuo.
Before this, Helinta had also said that she wasn’t originally ranked second.
All the Direct Disciples ranked above her had died.
As for the cause of their deaths, she hadn’t said at the time.
But Hu Qi had found the answer in Helinta’s memories.
Although they had all died in different ways,
there was one thing in common: they had all practiced the Ghost Slaying Saber sword technique.
According to the results of Helinta’s later investigation,
the reason her respected master, Jiang Zuo, had passed down this sword technique
was that he wanted to use them to complete it.
One reason was that the complete Seven Evils Saber was incredibly powerful; another was that it was possibly linked to some powerful secret technique.
Something coveted even by a Qi Dao Grandmaster
was definitely not simple.
Thinking of this,
Hu Qi’s eyes flickered.
But in the end, he looked away from it.
His current Modification Points were limited.
And the rune after the Seven Evils Saber entry had only appeared after his Modification Points broke one hundred.
This also meant that to modify and complete it, he would need at least one hundred Modification Points.