Chapter 75: Black Jiao's Source of Life

This kid was probably the one who got to the treasure blade first. I had truly misjudged him, having considered him a mere playboy all this time.

Sun Fuping’s gaze scoured the ruins. How could he find anyone in such a vast area? He Lingchuan must have only just departed.

He Lingchuan ran through the ruins, coincidentally passing an abandoned government office. A tall corner tower there had not been entirely destroyed by the war.

He still clutched the blade with the dragon-mouth hilt.

Indeed, just a short while ago, he had secretly slipped down the side of the city wall, bypassed the battlefield, and returned to the official residence specifically to retrieve the blade from Zhong Shengguang’s bedside.

In those days, when weapons were forged, the hilt rings of sabers and swords often featured Yazi, a mythical creature with the body of a jackal and the head of a dragon. Only about twenty to thirty percent would be carved into other various monstrous forms.

The hilt ring of the blade at Zhong Shengguang’s bedside was an angular dragon head. He Lingchuan had visited twice before and never paid it any attention, his focus entirely on other furnishings, especially the blue floral comb on the dressing table.

However, the black dragon had appeared after the official residence was destroyed, clearly indicating a special connection to the Zhong family home. Furthermore, when he looked at the black dragon’s massive head, its straight, unbranched, pointed horns were not just similar to the dragon head carved on the blade’s hilt—they were virtually identical!

He Lingchuan couldn’t help but admire his own formidable memory.

When he entered the battle-scarred official residence and saw the blade hanging safely on the ruined wall, completely unsullied, it further confirmed his suspicions.

This blade was certainly anomalous.

It should have been present in the official residence during peacetime, as Zhong Shengguang resided there.

Yet it should not have been in the post-war official residence, as Zhong Shengguang had long since moved into the grand manor. The blade’s presence here felt particularly incongruous.

Furthermore, it was smooth and new, completely untouched by the war, indicating that in the true historical timeline, it had not been hanging on this wall when the fire erupted.

Although He Lingchuan couldn’t hear Nian Songyu mention “the black dragon’s lifeblood” to Sun Fuping, he keenly perceived that this blade held unique value for the black dragon.

With the blade in hand, he would have an added layer of security when confronting the black dragon.

He drew his new prize for a look: it gleamed like autumn water, emitting a bone-chilling aura the moment it left its sheath, dropping the surrounding temperature by at least two degrees. The blade’s curve was perfect, its weight evenly distributed, and most importantly, it felt superb in his hand, like an extension of his forearm. There was no awkwardness of a new weapon; instead, it felt like reuniting with an old friend.

With a casual swing, a nearby pillar, thicker than his head, snapped silently.

Unfortunately, the blade bore a crack, extending from the spine toward the edge, becoming indiscernible about two-thirds of the way down.

He Lingchuan also detected an intensely potent aura of bloodlust, even though both the blade and its sheath were spotless, without a single speck of fresh blood.

He wondered how many necks it had ‘drunk’ from, spilling hot blood.

The young man flicked the blade. Could this item be carried out of the illusion?

After some thought, he audaciously strapped it to his waist.

Now, he needed to return quickly. He glanced at the demonic birds gathering increasingly overhead; they seemed to have discovered his presence. He wondered if they would descend to claim his prize.

However, He Lingchuan quickly realized the birds were a secondary concern, for his primary problem had just emerged from a dark alley, blocking his path:

Sun Fuping.

He Lingchuan stopped in surprise, letting out a dry laugh. “Grand Imperial Master Sun, what a coincidence!”

What to do? Where to escape? His mind raced.

Sun Fuping’s gaze was peculiar, a mix of ecstatic triumph and bitter resentment. He extended a hand toward He Lingchuan. “The blade?”

Upon discovering the treasure blade stolen, he had begun a frantic search. With the blade in hand, He couldn’t simply vanish into the ruins as he had last time; otherwise, finding the blade would be pointless.

He would surely return to the South City Gate with this crucial leverage. All Sun Fuping had to do was intercept him.

Since both the official residence and the government office were by the lake, He Lingchuan had few viable escape routes. Sun Fuping had finally cut him off.

He Lingchuan’s hand rested on the waist saber, conveniently covering the hilt ring. His face feigned astonishment. “What blade? What are you talking about, Imperial Master?”

Sun Fuping scoffed, wasting no more words. With a flick of his wrist, he cast out a set of entangling silk ropes.

This treasured item typically wrapped around his hand, disguised as a simple red cord. When flung, it expanded in the wind, automatically pursuing its target. It then enveloped the enemy like a fishing net, a net so strong that even an elephant couldn’t break free—provided its master could maintain their grip.

Furthermore, the net’s mesh could attach barbed hooks, inflicting additional damage and preventing escape.

He Lingchuan had barely taken a few steps when the large net descended from above, instantly ensnaring him. Sun Fuping gave a powerful tug, and the net’s barbed hooks splayed wide. Had He Lingchuan not raised his hands to protect his face in time, his eyes might have been gouged out.

Even so, his exposed skin was raked with bloody gashes, and some of the barbs tore directly into his flesh, making him grimace in agony.

Sun Fuping flipped his palm, and three streams of true fire spread along the main lines of the entangling silk ropes. With a whoosh, as if doused with oil, the entire net erupted in blazing flames.

The flames, even within their golden-red hue, held a hint of stark pallor, their temperature unnaturally high. In an instant, melting bones would be a trivial matter.

Sun Fuping’s true intentions for this journey to the Coiling Dragon Desert were now fully revealed. He no longer needed He Lingchuan as a sacrifice, and at this moment, an boundless killing intent surged within him.

To Sun Fuping’s surprise, He Lingchuan let out a loud “Ow!”—a cry only of pain from the hooks, yet he remained perfectly unharmed within the fierce flames.

Concurrently, a blue halo erupted from his body.

Sun Fuping instantly knew the boy possessed a fire-warding artifact that automatically triggered in high temperatures. However, his own true fire was potent enough to melt most such artifacts, yet He Lingchuan’s hair hadn’t even singed, revealing the extraordinary nature of his treasure.

In the midst of the chaos, He Lingchuan glanced down and realized the source of the light was none other than the divine bone necklace!

It had finally proven useful; otherwise, he would have been reduced to a charred corpse within moments.

Sun Fuping personally drew his sword, intending to advance and cut him down with a single stroke.

Unexpectedly, the view before him darkened as a massive demonic bird descended from the sky, its two talons striking directly at his face.

This creature was formidable. Its sharp talons could easily disembowel someone, and furthermore, its seemingly wrinkled and loose hide was actually exceptionally tough; a small knife could scratch at it for ages without making a mark.

Sun Fuping was forced to defend, but not without launching two volleys of hidden darts at He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan let out a loud cry, failing to notice several black insects that had slipped off the darts. These creatures, with suckers on their heads and maggot-like bodies, immediately burrowed into He Lingchuan’s wounds.

These creatures were war trophies Sun Fuping had obtained after killing a Gu master while campaigning to suppress a rebellion in the South. That Gu master’s lethal technique, called “Flying Head Gu,” was reputed to be invisible and intangible, capable of taking lives from a hundred paces away. In truth, it involved using these Gu worms to burrow into a person, puncture their heart and brain, and extract their essence.

Sun Fuping disdained the methods of Gu manipulation, but he was immensely intrigued by the Gu worms’ efficacy.

After these Gu worms had fully engorged themselves on human or demon vital fluids, they would curl into a ball and take two months to digest. This was a process of refining away impurities and preserving the essence. After repeating this three or four times, the Gu worms could no longer absorb more vital fluids; they themselves would then transform into a potent tonic that could be ingested, remarkably swift in restoring vital energy and blood, virtually surpassing any known medicine.