Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable-Chapter 35: Reluctantly Taking You as a Nominal Disciple
Ye Tianling’s face darkened. "Fine, I admit it. Happy now? By the way, fatty, what should I call you?"
The fat, dark-faced Daoist suppressed his urge to flip out. "Who are you calling fatty? This Daoist Lord’s name is Que Xinyan. People in the know respectfully call me Lord Que."
Ye Tianling’s expression became quite colorful. "A name that truly fits the man. Lord ’Simple-Minded,’ my utmost respects."
Que Xinyan naturally caught Ye Tianling’s meaning but didn’t seem to mind. "It’s all my fault for being so clueless as a kid. My scoundrel of a Master gave me a name that sounds like ’simple-minded,’ and now it’s branded onto my very Soul. Can’t change it. So I just roll with it. But when people mention the name ’Lord Que’... hehe."
Que Xinyan puffed up his chest, looking arrogant and smug.
"Never heard of you."
Ye Tianling’s simple, honest words sent his pride plunging into an abyss.
"AHEM, you’re just a minor character, of course you wouldn’t know. Once you’ve reached a higher level, you’ll understand how formidable this Daoist Lord is."
Que Xinyan chuckled.
Ye Tianling had more or less figured out Que Xinyan’s attitude. The man held no malice toward him, but he definitely had some ulterior motives.
"Why are you following me?"
Ye Tianling asked bluntly.
"Your bloodline isn’t the Fiery Sun Sword Body, is it? Did your mother have an affair behind your father’s back?"
Que Xinyan asked, his curiosity piqued.
His dark, gossipy face leaned in again. Ye Tianling had a strong urge to smash it flat with his fist—it was so damn punchable.
"Your mother is the one who slept around behind your father’s back!"
Ye Tianling shot back.
"It’s the truth. The Gold-devouring Rat clan doesn’t care about that sort of thing; plenty of us sleep around. Only you humans are so particular about it. Besides, I have no idea where my parents kicked the bucket. I’ve never seen them in my life."
Que Xinyan pursed his lips, unconcerned.
Ye Tianling had to hand it to him; this rat was truly shameless.
"I can’t help but feel a natural reverence for the bloodline within you. Your blood is extraordinary; otherwise, I wouldn’t give a damn if you lived or died! This bloodline of yours must contain the legacy of an Ancient Beast Soul... How about this? This Daoist Lord will deign to accept you as a nominal disciple. That way, your Bloodline Talent can mature and transform more smoothly."
Que Xinyan had finally revealed his true purpose.
He wanted to take on a disciple, and he had set his sights on Ye Tianling’s Bloodline Talent.
"You?"
’In Ye Tianling’s heart, only Dugu Qiubai, the Sword Demon Grandmaster who could break the Void with a sword, was his Master. Who else was worthy?’
"What, you look down on this Daoist Lord’s power?"
Que Xinyan was displeased.
...
A rainbow of bloody light descended from the void, coalescing into a blood-red silhouette.
Within the silhouette, Jin Zhifu was now wearing a dark chiffon dress.
However, the lower half of the dress was still soaked in blood, a rather conspicuous sight.
Beside the bloody light stood a withered old man, his face grim as a terrifying crimson glow radiated from his body.
"Old Fu the Hairy, the True Disciple you had your eye on has fallen. I’ve brought his body back."
The old man radiating the bloody aura was none other than Jin Xietian.
He tossed the corpse he was carrying onto the ground and called out toward a magnificent and treacherous mountain peak in the distance.
"Jin Xietian, my disciple wouldn’t fall even if your daughter did. Are you just jealous that I have a genius disciple who awakened his Sword Body on his own?"
A booming voice immediately echoed from the distance.
Moments later, a black-robed elder appeared, striding through the air to arrive in an instant.
He was Ye Tianfan’s Master, Fu Jiuxin, an Inner Elder of the Celestial Sword Sect. But he was an Inner Elder with a shocking background, one who could stand on equal footing with the Core Elders.
"Old Hairy, I’m in no mood to joke with you. Take your disciple’s corpse and go. If I hadn’t used my Sword Soul to protect Zhifu, her condition would be far worse."
Jin Xietian’s expression was incredibly grim.
Fu Jiuxin’s gaze fell upon Ye Tianfan’s body.
Fu Jiuxin took in Ye Tianfan’s ghastly state. He carefully examined all of the young man’s injuries, mentally reconstructing the final moments of the battle before his death.
"The one who did this is very strong? Strong enough to ignore the constraints of a Profound Tier Upper Grade Barrier Talisman?"
Fu Jiuxin asked, his tone unreadable.
There was no anger or killing intent on his face, but the sound of his voice made Jin Zhifu shudder involuntarily.
"The one who did this was the son of Ye Fengyang, of the Fiery Sun Sword Body. The same boy you’ve been paying close attention to."
Jin Xietian said slowly, each word deliberate.
"It was him? What’s his condition?"
As Fu Jiuxin spoke, his eyes widened like saucers and locked onto Jin Zhifu.
A chill shot through Jin Zhifu. Even with her father standing beside her, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
Jin Xietian subtly released his Sword Soul aura, dissipating the pressure from Fu Jiuxin’s presence. "Old Hairy, my daughter was dragged into this mess. Stop trying to intimidate her. She will tell you everything as it happened."
As he spoke, Jin Xietian gave Jin Zhifu a meaningful glance.
Fu Jiuxin reined in some of his ferocious aura, giving Jin Xietian some face.
Jin Zhifu recalled the earlier scene, remembering her humiliation at Ye Tianling’s hands. Any ’strange and improper thoughts’ she might have harbored about him had vanished without a trace.
She was a proud, superior young woman who had been spoiled rotten by her father. To be so "violated" and tormented by Ye Tianling, to the point of nearly being beheaded and killed, had filled her heart with absolute hatred.
She hated him for ignoring her beauty, hated him for violating her dignity in such a humiliating way, and hated him even more for trying to kill her so mercilessly.
’Since I can’t wrap this genius boy around my finger and make him my devoted servant, then I’ll just have to destroy him!’
"Elder Fu, Father, according to the information Tianfan received earlier, this is what happened..."
Jin Zhifu relayed all the information that had come from Ye Wannian and the others, placing heavy emphasis on how Ye Tianling was supposedly burning his Talent.
Both Jin Xietian and Fu Jiuxin listened in silence, not interrupting.
"But as we pursued him into Forbidden Moon Mountain and he hit us with three powerful Sword Intent attacks, I started to feel that something wasn’t right. At the time, though, Tianfan had checked the Heaven-Testing Stone again, and his blood was indeed like fire, confirming that his Talent was in a state of combustion...
"Because of that, we made a fatal misjudgment, which led to the terrible consequences that followed..."
As she continued her story, Jin Zhifu deliberately exaggerated Ye Tianling’s Talent. "I have never seen such terrifying Talent. He’s at the Sword Qi Third Heaven, yet he can condense a Sword Intent powerful enough to crush my Sword Heart Clarity Ability! He was even able to gather my own Attack and Kill Power and reflect it back at me!
"He used this special Talent to turn my own ultimate killing move against me. I was completely powerless to resist!
"He used the same method to grievously injure Tianfan, and then used a Barrier Talisman to separate us..."
Jin Zhifu’s intentions were insidious. While sticking to a story that was ninety percent true, she embellished it with descriptions of how heaven-defying Ye Tianling’s Battle Power was, how immense his strength was, and how helpless she and Ye Tianfan had been.
She painted a picture of a Sword Qi Third Heaven Ye Tianling who was like a peerless Sword Dao genius with Sword Heart Clarity.
When Jin Zhifu finished speaking, she fell silent, a deep look of fear lingering in her eyes.
This fear was genuine, born from Ye Tianling’s final, merciless, vicious, and decisive sword strike. If not for the secret protection of her father Jin Xietian’s Sword Soul, she really would be dead.
"What are your thoughts?"
Fu Jiuxin asked, his expression grave.
Jin Xietian clasped his hands behind his back, paced for a moment, then said, "I used my Sword Soul of the Killing Dao to protect my daughter. When she was in mortal danger, that Sword Soul naturally struck! Hehe, and can you guess what happened to that little bastard?"
Fu Jiuxin replied, "No matter how strong that little bastard is, surely he couldn’t have withstood a killing blow from your Guardian Sword Soul, right?"
