Xu Qing didn’t have the habit of listening to others’ last words, nor did he have any thoughts of accepting a slave. After all, the human heart was unpredictable. Rather than worrying about backlash in the future, it was better to directly kill the enemy.

Towards enemies, his only thought from the start was… that a dead enemy was the safest.

The faster he killed them, the safer he would be.

This was more so when he was in the unfamiliar Red Plains. He had been lying low for over a month and had observed extremely carefully; he knew that because this place was too barren and the environment was harsh, even the Litu Sect would only come here occasionally to spread its teachings.

At the same time, the nearest scavenger campsite in the vicinity was also 50 kilometers away. This caused the battle between Xu Qing and the Diamond Sect to be drowned in the snowstorm. There was a high chance that no one would notice it.

Moreover, he had changed his appearance with a talisman, and his magic boat had been in a disguised form the entire time in the sect. The only person who had seen the real appearance of his magic boat was Zhang San.

To be able to do all of this was already the limit that Xu Qing could reach in a short period. Although it wasn’t perfect and there were still flaws, Xu Qing was clear that the reason why his trip could go smoothly was because the Diamond Sect’s ancestor had misjudged the time he would arrive.

The latter had also underestimated the speed of his growth.

More importantly, the other party would never have thought that he possessed a divine attack that could seriously threaten Foundation Building cultivators!

After all, divine creatures were rare to begin with and their value was astonishing. In order to build this magic boat, Xu Qing not only used the divine lizard skin but also spent ten thousand spirit stones.

How could such preparation be lacking!

The snowstorm roared, sweeping through every direction.

The divine power from the magic boat gathered to the extreme. As Xu Qing lowered his right hand, the sharp spike at the front of the magic boat instantly shone with a piercing light that was suffused with golden light.

Although the heavy snowflakes were like a curtain falling from the sky, they couldn’t hide the holiness contained in the golden light.

That holiness that seemed to be able to suppress souls and all living beings caused the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s heart to beat rapidly. The fear in his eyes materialized and covered his thoughts, controlling his body and mind.

Seeing that Xu Qing didn’t give him the slightest chance to speak and the divine attack was about to destroy his body and soul, determination appeared in the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s eyes. He suddenly roared and did something that Xu Qing never thought of even in his dreams.

He actually… attacked himself just when Xu Qing’s divine attack was about to erupt!

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor quickly slapped his forehead with his right hand in front of Xu Qing.

He seemed to be afraid that he wouldn’t be killed by a single palm strike, so he took out a saber with his left hand and stabbed it into his heart.

He struck with such strength that the blade shattered as it pierced his heart.

Countless sharp fragments carried his Foundation Building magic power and erupted crazily in his body.

His forehead also shattered. Everything above his neck was gone.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, the headless and half-broken corpse of the Diamond Sect’s ancestor fell from the sky…

Xu Qing’s eyes widened at this ridiculous scene.

“Nonhuman? Playing dead?”

He looked at the corpse that had landed on the ground and felt that the aura on it was completely gone, as well as its dilapidated appearance. It clearly didn’t have any life force.

Xu Qing had never seen a situation where a human could still pretend to be dead after losing their head and having only half their body left.

Moreover, the feeling he got from the other party wasn’t that of a nonhuman race.

This was the first time Xu Qing hesitated in a battle. He didn’t know if he should waste the limited and precious divinity on the corpse…

Even though he had killed many people since he was young, this was the first time he had encountered such a thing. As a result, he restrained the divine attack that was already prepared.

Even so, he still waved his hand and water droplets appeared, heading straight for the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s fragmented corpse and instantly squeezing it to make sure it was completely dead.

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s broken corpse shattered even more and scattered all over the ground.

An illusory soul shadow crawled out of the corpse that had landed on the ground. This soul shadow wasn’t very clear and was a little shaky, as though it could dissipate at any moment.

Upon closer inspection, even though it was very blurry, it still vaguely revealed the appearance of the Diamond Sect’s ancestor. However, this soul shadow didn’t look like it was dying. Instead, it had a hint of spiritedness.

This was very contradictory. It was clearly blurry but it gave off a feeling of life in Xu Qing’s perception.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. The instant the killing intent in his eyes rose again, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s soul shadow suddenly headed straight for… the black iron stick that had landed on the ground not far away.

In that instant, it was as though it had shuttled through the void as it directly appeared beside the iron stick. Its expression was filled with anxiety, as though it was in a race against life. It was afraid that it would be killed by Xu Qing before it could get close to the iron stick.

In the blink of an eye, the soul shadow completely fused into the iron stick. The black iron stick shook intensely. The black light on it became even denser and an even more intense chill erupted from it.

In fact, there were even faint streaks of light flowing in all directions, as though an ordinary item had turned into a treasure!!

This was the second time Xu Qing was stunned since the battle started.

After he entered the Seven Blood Eyes, he no longer had a partial understanding of cultivation like he did back then. At this moment, when he looked at his black iron stick, his breathing became slightly hurried. He could tell at a glance what the change in his iron stick was.

“It gained an artifact spirit?”

In this world, there were many differences between ordinary treasures and magic treasures. One of the differences was that… ordinary treasures didn’t have spirits, and magic treasures had spirits.

Of course, it didn’t mean that an ordinary treasure with a spirit was a magic treasure. However, once it had an artifact spirit, it had the possibility of becoming a magic treasure!

Xu Qing grabbed at the air. Immediately, the black iron stick whistled over to his hand. He stared at it coldly for a long time. His right hand sometimes exerted force and sometimes let go. After a few times, he fell even more silent.

He could sense that his black iron stick indeed had an artifact spirit, and this artifact spirit… was the Diamond Sect’s ancestor.

The other party had used some unknown method to take the initiative to kill himself and transform his soul into an artifact spirit, and then entered the iron stick…

“Get out here!” Xu Qing shouted in a slightly frustrated voice.

Immediately, the iron stick trembled and the illusory shadow of the Diamond Sect’s ancestor appeared. Looking at Xu Qing’s expression, his body trembled and he hurriedly smiled apologetically.

“Master, what’s the matter?”

His words were very proficient and his expression was filled with flattery. There was no hint of unfamiliarity at all, as though he had practiced for a long time. In reality, that was indeed the case… The Diamond Sect’s ancestor had been cautious all his life and did things steadily. He also liked to read ancient books. In the eyes of others, the thoughts he had were considered abnormal.

However, he didn’t think so. He was very clear that in this chaotic world, someone who couldn’t even activate his Mystic Brilliance Form wasn’t much. Moreover, his sect was too small, so it was very easy for him to become the first whetstone for those people with great luck.

As for such a whetstone, in the countless ancient books the Diamond Sect’s ancestor had read, all of them died miserably without exception. Not a single one of them survived. Hence, other than being horrified, he was also worried about his future.

However, he couldn’t bear to give up on everything and retire.

Hence, many years ago, although he felt that there was a high chance that he wouldn’t be so unlucky, in order to guard against the unexpected, he still made preparations. He secretly cultivated the incomplete technique he had obtained in a ruin when he was young.

Ordinary people wouldn’t cultivate this incomplete technique.

This was because it only had one use, and that was to sacrifice oneself to become an existence like an artifact spirit.

Moreover, the failure rate was extremely high. Once one failed, their soul would dissipate.

However, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor attached great importance to this incomplete technique. He felt that this would be the key to saving his life.

He never stopped cultivating it, and he seemed to have some talent in this aspect…

He felt that if there was a day in the future when he was really going to be killed, then it would probably be very difficult for him to convince the enemy by verbally promising to recognize them as his master or swearing a Dao oath.

However, this was not safe. It was likely that the enemy would use some life controlling talismans or treasures to control him and use him as a cannon fodder.

The safest thing was to become the artifact spirit of the other party’s weapon.

After all, the vast majority of cultivators still cared a lot about artifact spirits.

As he read more ancient books, this thought became increasingly firm…

Today, the Artifact Spirit Technique he had cultivated for his entire life was finally put to use. It allowed him to obtain a chance of survival from a situation where he couldn’t survive.

Facing his flattery, Xu Qing felt increasingly frustrated. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation and he was a little hesitant about killing it. Artifact spirits were truly precious…

“How did you become an artifact spirit?” Xu Qing asked coldly.

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor hurriedly said loudly with a fawning expression.

“I had a dream many years ago. In the dream, I saw my future self meeting the Lord of Fate. He would give this desolate and cruel world a gentle baptism. In the dream, I was touched and swore to follow him. Hence, I spent my money to buy an incomplete spell that could allow me to become an artifact spirit.”

“I was always prepared for this!”

“Speak in human language.” Xu Qing’s gaze turned cold and killing intent rose in his eyes. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor shivered and thought to himself that it was fortunate that he was smart and decisive. He quickly slapped himself to death before this vengeful kid could.

After that, he took advantage of the other party’s surprise and took the initiative to transform into an artifact spirit. Only then was he able to escape death.

He really had no choice. This little wolf cub in front of him had no intention of accepting a slave at all. He was really determined to destroy him. If he had hesitated a little, he would probably be dead now.

To be able to find such a path of survival in such a desperate situation, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor was truly mentally exhausted. He felt that it had really not been easy for him.

He hurriedly told the truth. After he finished speaking, he even cast a spell and split out a wisp of his life soul, handing it to Xu Qing. This was the sign of recognizing a master.

After Xu Qing heard this, he swept his gaze across the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s life soul and then looked at the black iron stick. The killing intent in his eyes sometimes rose and sometimes fell. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor felt his heart skip a beat as he hurriedly expressed his loyalty.

“Master, my life isn’t worth much. Right now, I’m an artifact spirit. Although I can help Master’s magic tools become sharper and possess unlimited growth, although I’m a Foundation Building artifact spirit and the ordinary treasure with me will become even sharper under my enhancement, although I still have many, many uses, Master can destroy me with just one word.”

“Master, there’s no need to be in a hurry to kill me. I still have a pill that’s about to take shape on my corpse. It’s a good thing. Master’s cultivation will increase by a lot after eating it.”

“Also, Master, there’s a treasure vault under my sect. There’s an array crossbow specially used on the Seventh Peak of the Seven Blood Eyes. I don’t have a magic boat and can’t use it. I originally planned to give it as a gift…”

“Also, Master, we have to leave quickly. A fellow Daoist I invited a few days ago will arrive tomorrow. Also, there will be an envoy from the Litu Sect coming soon.”

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor was very clear that since he had chosen to kneel, he had to kneel completely. Only then could he survive.

Xu Qing was expressionless. He waved his hand and kept the other party’s life soul. He then grabbed the air and took out the storage bag on the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s corpse. Just as he was about to destroy the corpse and erase all traces, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor hurriedly stopped him.

“Master, Master, um… this storage bag is a cover. It’s not real. I still have one on me that I hid with a talisman.”

Xu Qing cast a deep glance at the Diamond Sect’s ancestor.