“But… You and that sword cultivator amaze me.” Yu Haotian swept a glance at Shen Ying, his demonic Qi increasing in intensity. “One is not affected by mental demons, while the other can break into the pagoda directly. Such levels of cultivation are rare, and both are good materials for my demonic practice!”

　　Just as he finished speaking, the black Qi in his whole body erupted again, and the surroundings suddenly turned dark, leaving only two red eyes floating in the air.

　　“Once I have your cultivation, I can transform from an immortal into a true member of the demon tribe!” His voice was full of excitement, and the whole pagoda shook violently in response. “When that happens, even an upper world immortal will not be my match.” His laughter became even more menacing, the red light in his eyes flashing. Then he launched his whole body, covered in a spine chilling aura, towards Shen Ying.

　　“Become part of this pagoda!” The blob of black Qi was just about to pounce on Shen Ying.

　　“I say…” Shen Ying narrowed her eyes. Suddenly she leaned forward, walked nonchalantly over to the blob of black Qi and reached her hand inside.

　　Huh?

　　“How can this be?” How could anyone be immune to a demonic Qi that can swallow up every living thing!

　　Before Yu Haotian could react, he felt something flash before his eyes and there was a loud bang as his head hit the ground.

　　Shen Ying didn’t stop there, but kept slamming his head down against the ground like smashing a watermelon. Bang! Bang! Bang! The whole pagoda shook with the force of each impact.

　　“I was merely asking for directions, why are you giving me all this bullshit!” scolded Shen Ying as she continued her bashing. “Don’t you know I haven’t eaten yet? This will teach you to waste my time, teach you to waste my time…”

　　Why were all baddies she met as long-winded as students doing their thesis!

　　Shen Ying had not had a good meal for two weeks, and her pent up frustration suddenly exploded. Every bash was heavier than the last, and with each bash a layer of black Qi on Yu’s body dissipated. In no time at all, light was restored to the pitch dark pagoda. Even Yu Haotian reverted to his original form; a skeletal figure clad in black robes who showed no signs of life after losing all his demonic aura.

　　A minute later, Yu Haotian kicked the bucket!

　　Without the support of demonic aura, the entire Immortal Ascension Pagoda returned to its original form. The snow white color of the pagoda faded and slowly turned black. Even the swirling Immortal Qi vanished, only a fog of dense Yin Qi remained.

　　Shen Ying had no time to bother about these changes. She looked around the pagoda but found no signs of anyone. However, after looking carefully, she saw, not far from where she stood, a black staircase which was not there before. The winding steps seemed to lead down to the level below.

　　She immediately walked down the stairs. She heard rumbling sounds ahead. Then she saw a beam of sorcerous light, from which she detected a familiar sword intent.

　　Chef!

　　Shen Ying spirits lifted immediately. Ignoring the stairs, she jumped straight down. She found herself in a room similar to the one above. A familiar figure stood stiffly erect in the center, his entire body seemingly covered with something.

　　“Hey…” She stepped forward and prepared to call him.

　　Yi Qing whipped around. With a wave of his sword, he turned his sword intent into a dragon which charged towards her with great ferocity.

　　Holy shit!

　　Shocked, Shen Ying quickly struck her fist out, redirecting the dragon’s trajectory upwards, causing it to crash through the ceiling, leaving the pagoda roofless.

　　“Master?” Yi Qing called out softly.

　　It was at that moment that Shen Ying saw that Yi Qing’s body covered in blood to the point where it trickled down the tip of the sword he held. The killing intent could still be see in his eyes.

　　“Chef, what’s wrong with you?” asked Shen Ying anxiously.

　　At first Yi Qing seemed stunned, then as if reassured, his mouth curved into a pitiful imitation of a smile. Looking as if he had used up his last reserves of energy, his tensed hands relaxed and he toppled forward.

　　“Chef!” cried out Shen Ying as she rushed over to him. Supporting him with her hands, she helped him sit up, “Hey, hey, hey… Don’t scare me, wake up, will you?”

　　She patted him on the face, trying to rouse him but to no avail. Looking around, she saw five lifeless men lying on the ground. Their faces looked familiar. Then she realized that they were the five immortals from the Yu Family. She suddenly understood how he came to be in this condition.

　　One against five! Impressive!

　　Just that in his condition… Can he still cook?

　　┑( ̄Д̄)┍

　　o()〈))o

　　————————

　　Yi Qing did not know how long he had been unconscious, but when he woke up, he had almost recovered from his injuries, his severed meridians were completely mended, and even his damaged primordial spirit was restored.

　　Recalling what happened before he fainted, his heart leapt with joy and his gaze immediately lit on a certain someone on the right who sat on a chair munching fruit.

　　“Master…” He was about to sit up when he felt a tearing pain in his body.

　　“Slowly, slowly!” Shen Ying hurriedly pushed him back down, saying, “Your injuries are not fully healed yet.”

　　Yi Qing lay back down, but his eyes kept looking at her. “I’m all right. Thank you, Master for nursing my injuries.”

　　“Er…” Shen Ying did not know what to say.

　　“The person who nursed you is here!” exclaimed Lonemoon, who sat on the edge of the bed taking Yi Qing’s pulse. He was obviously the one sitting closest to Yi Qing, yet Yi Qing’s gaze had uncannily locked on Shen Ying first.

　　Turning his head to look at Lonemoon, Yi Qing frowned and immediately turned back again, as if he had not heard anything, continuing to look at Shen Ying with a star-gazed expression in his eyes.

　　Did he just give me a disgusted look? I’m sure he did!

　　w(゚Д゚)w

　　“Master, it’s my fault I have caused you to worry.”

　　“… I was not really worried.” The grunt work was done by Father Niu; all she did was sit on the chair.

　　“I don’t know what you were thinking. You knew well that Shen Ying would come, so why did you go all out?” Lonemoon could not help nagging. “A little longer and it would not be as simple as being comatose for two weeks; you would have lost your entire cultivation.”

　　“I was unconscious for two weeks?”

　　“That’s right! Almost sixteen days.”

　　“It must be Master who brought me back?” asked Yi Qing.

　　“What makes you think it’s her?” said Lonemoon, annoyed. “She’s too lazy to even carry spirit stones with her when she goes out. I am obviously the one who carried…”

　　“Thank you, Master!” Without waiting for him to finish, Yi Qing turned to Shen Ying and said,

　　“You have saved my life once again and you even nursed me for so long?”

　　Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. “Hey, hey, hey, make sure you know who saved who! And besides, she has done nothing these few days except munch on fruit!”

　　“It’s good you woke up,” said Shen Ying. “I made an error in judgement this time. I came too late and caused you to suffer these injuries.”

　　Lonemoon called her bluff, “Error in judgement, my foot. You obviously lost your way.”

　　“No, my skills are not up to par hence my serious injuries.. It has nothing to do with Master.” Yi Qing said with a look of determination, “From now on I’ll work doubly hard on my practice so I won’t be a disgrace to Master.”

　　“You’ve already defeated five men at one go, what else do you want?” said Lonemoon. How could he say his skills were not up to par?

　　“Well, I believe in you, you can do it!” said Shen Ying giving him an encouraging thump on the shoulder. “Have a good rest so you will recover faster and resume your… practice!”

　　“That word you meant to say was ‘cooking’, right?” Lonemoon muttered from the side.

　　“Yes Master! No problem, Master!” Pulling back the covers, Yi Qing lay down obediently.

　　“Were you two even listening to what I said!”

　　“Father Niu, can you pass me that plate of fruit?”

　　“Get lost!”

　　To hell with this master disciple duo!