Chapter 565: The First Mission
Chapter 565: The First Mission
Translator: Radiant Editor: Radiant
Da Er Hao had just witnessed the Abyss Sovereign awkwardly leave after saying 'Tavern Master, I see you have come on a mission'. His knowledge might not be as encompassing as some of the other Great Demonic God, but he could still determine that crimson-robed man, an expert able to force His Majesty to awkwardly depart, likely has the combat power of a powerful existence. This, combined with the title of 'Tavern Master' and the mention of a 'mission', allowed Da Er Hao to fit the pieces and guess at the man's identity. 'A Tavern Master ranked assassin from the Bloodshed Tavern?'
'How could this be? Someone sent out a Tavern Master just to deal with me?' Terror gripped his heart. The Tavern Masters was second only to the Chief Tavern Master himself, who was none other than the top assassin of Deity world and Dark Abyss, the Bloodshed God Emperor himself!
'It might be unbelievable, but only someone like a Tavern Master could force His Majesty to leave like that.'
'Just who was the person who ordered a mission for my assassination, and even mobilized a Bloodshed Tavern Master in the process?' Da Er Hao felt despondent and unwilling. With how large the gap in combat power between the two was, what else could he feel but despair?
Looking at him, Xue Ying slowly began, "Da Er Hao."
"Tavern Master, Tavern Master," Da Er Hao knelt down, replying respectfully and even adding even some flattering words.
"Tens of thousands of years ago, you have captured the soul of a Transcendent called Chi Qiu Bai, am I correct?" Xue Ying continued. "You should also have the soul of his wife. Tell me, where are they now?"
The reason Xue Ying even bothered to ask was that he could not detect Eternal Wind's soul in the surrounding territory, despite having already spread his world domain to cover the whole area. As a result, he could only let Da Er Hao live a while longer.
Da Er Hao was startled. "Chi Qiu Bai?"
"Have you already forgotten?" Xue Ying coldly asked.
Da Er Hao looked at the Bloodshed Tavern Master. This crimson-robed expert had a cold demeanour as he simply stood there, with a mask covering his face and two spiral horns protruding from his forehead. He was even emitting a ruthless and dark aura of destruction. Under ordinary circumstances, nobody could imitate another living being's aura, and Da Er Hao was not aware that the robe of a Bloodshed Tavern Master could achieve this very feat.
Having arrived at a certain conclusion inwardly, Da Er Hao asked, "Tavern Master, was Dong Bo Xue Ying the one who sent you here?"
Xue Ying frowned. "I am the one asking questions here."
This person who emitted a dark aura of destruction was a powerful existence from the Dark Abyss—of this, Da Er Hao was certain! He also confirmed his identity as a Bloodshed Tavern Master. The way he saw it, the Xue Ying he knew might have high innate talent, but the news he heard only mentioned him having the power of a stage four World Deity despite being a stage three World Deity. Naturally, this level was not sufficient for Xue Ying to take up the position as a Bloodshed Tavern Master, much less to imitate another living being's aura.
Even then, he considered that with the incredible potential Xue Ying showed, in addition to his status as a personal disciple of the Bloodshed God Emperor, he would likely succeed in sending out a Bloodshed Tavern Master.
"Tavern Master, for someone of your caliber, killing me would be no more difficult than pinching a little insect to death." Da Er Hao chuckled. "The way I've heard it, Dong Bo puts a lot of emphasis on his relationships, and no matter how I think of it, he is the only enemy I've made who could afford to send out a Tavern Master! If I were to just tell you all I know, Tavern Master, you would likely just kill me with a flip of your hand afterward."
"Oh?" Xue Ying let out a low growl accompanied by clear killing intent.
"Hehehe, don't try to scare me, Tavern Master." Da Er Hao took the initiative to stand up. "If you wish to kill me, you can go ahead and do so, but if you want to find out Chi Qiu Bai's location, you must first pledge an oath with the Will of the Abyss itself as a witness!"
The Will of the Abyss was the most threatening force for any lifeform of the Dark Abyss.
Even experts from the Deity world or the material realm would not dare to easily pledge an oath with Will of the Abyss as a witness. It was well-known that the moment one broke one such oath, the Will of the Abyss would retaliate with terrifying might!
"Refuse to pledge the oath, and you won't get the information even if you kill me…" The corners of Da Er Hao's lips twitched upwards.
Peng!
That was when, without warning, Xue Ying's sent out a slap using his right hand. This strike swept across Da Er Hao's Great Demonic God body like a terrifying tsunami. Quickly afterward, Xue Ying's luminous sun force permeated through his body, blocking his True Deity Heart from fleeing and sealing it within moments.
Da Er Hao's body was thus destroyed.
Xue Ying's grabbed the miniature Da Er Hao—the demon's true deity heart.
Xue Ying stared coldly at the miniature version of his opponent. "Fool! You actually dared challenge me? I know full well that Chi Qiu Bai is no more than a Transcendent; he's not even a Deity! Taking him out of the river of time and reincarnating him is simplicity itself to someone like me. For you to challenge me and threaten me to set an oath… do you even know what the price of offending me is?"
Sitting immobile within Xue Ying's palm, Da Er Hao was so frightened his heart began to tremble. Even so, he could not help but blurt out, "You'll guide Chi Qiu Bai out of the river of time to reincarnate? You wouldn't even recognize him! You couldn't tell him apart from the others!"
"So what if I can't tell him apart myself? I can always ask His Highness Dong Bo to send a World Deity avatar here. Problem solved!" Xue Ying replied. "At most, I'll have to trouble myself slightly more. Speak; where is Chi Qiu Bai's soul? If you don't tell me, I must let you know that there are many things more frightening than even death itself."
Da Er Hao was naturally aware of this! After all, the Dark Abyss itself had too many techniques for torturing souls.
"You have a breath's worth of time. Any answer that is given afterward will be considered void," Xue Ying indifferently said.
A certain feeling began brewing in Da Er Hao's heart; it was a mixture of despair, unwillingness, and pure terror.
In any case, as a demon native to the Dark Abyss, he was well aware that he would not escape this situation alive.
"I'll speak, I'll speak." Da Er Hao lowered his head. "I only hope that Tavern Master will grant me a clean death."
"Speak, then," Xue Ying coldly replied.
Da Er Hao lowered his head to his palms. "Chi Qiu Bai's willpower was very formidable; he was able to hold on for so long… but thirty thousand years ago, the Howling Devil Cult Leader announced that he was seeking souls with extremely powerful willpower. The stronger, the better. I was one of the people who sent him a batch of souls in exchange for certain benefits, and amongst these souls was Chi Qiu Bai's as well. As for what happened to it afterward, I have no idea."
"The Howling Devil Cult Leader?" Xue Ying mumbled. "What of his wife's soul?"
"Her willpower was more ordinary, and she ended up dying under my torture," Da Er Hao calmly explained. "I have said all that I had to say. I now ask Tavern Master to proceed as promised."
"Naturally," Xue Ying said.
"I feel obligated to let you know… that you are wrong about my identity," Xue Ying's voice passed into Da Er Hao's true deity heart directly, who was stunned by this reveal. Had his guess been wrong? Xue Ying had not been the one who invited the Tavern Master? Who else could it have even been? Yet he could think of nobody other than Xue Ying who would be able to send out such a grand existence and even ask him to search Chi Qiu Bai's and his wife's soul.
How had he been wrong? Unless… unless…
Da Er Hao could think of a single possibility.
"Peng." This was when Xue Ying squeezed his hand, destroying the Da Er Hao's True Deity Heart in the process.
Whether Da Er Hao had arrived at the correct conclusion or not, Xue Ying did not care. After all, Da Er Hao's True Deity Heart had already been sealed, leaving him unable to send messages out. Xue Ying had only left him with such thoughts because of the fury he felt: for the sake of Big Brother Eternal Wind and various others, for the sake of the many Transcendents of the Xia Clan who died because of the Demonic Faction, as well as the countless mortals whom they slaughtered!
The faith of the Demonic Faction in a Great Demonic God from the Dark Abyss meant they were unscrupulous in their behavior. Countless Transcendents and Deities throughout the history of the Xia clan sought to extinguish the Demonic Faction, yet it was only after Xue Ying became the Realm Lord that he Xue Ying finally got rid of the Demonic Faction in the Xia Clan world for good.
'Howling Devil Cult Leader?' Xue Ying looked toward a distant location, and then took a step single step followed by his disappearance. From that day onward, the demon named Da Er Hao no longer existed.
Meanwhile, Xue Ying used the internal communication system of the Bloodshed Tavern to announce his success in the mission of killing Da Er Hao, and then immediately issued another mission! He issued the mission, and he would be the one to complete it! He chose this method as to make sure things were handled cleanly, with a start, and a finish! As for the chance that he might reveal his identity, he wasn't worried one bit. The operating laws of the Bloodshed Tavern's would never ask the identity of anyone who came to issue a mission! As for the assassins who took up the missions, it was only natural that their identities would remain anonymous as well.
Many assassins of the Bloodshed Tavern concealed their real identity, so they could only communicate through simple code names. Naturally, if someone were to take the initiative to reveal their identity, their fate would then fall into their own hands.
There had once been an assassin who deliberately made up eighteen code names, just to make sure his identity was well-hidden.
Since this was the first time Xue Ying acted as an assassin, he had been forced to come up with a code name for himself as well. He chose 'Flying Blade'.