Chapter 109: The Visitor (Part III)

Ning Zining quickly regained his composure, without a moment’s hesitation. “The descendants of the Blood Clan cannot defy the will of the one who gave them the Source Blood. It is not a matter of power, but a natural law. If you were truly Embraced…” His tone was almost cold, “then the Qian Ye I know would no longer exist.”

Qian Ye flashed a smile, as clear and pure as crystal, “That’s why I trust you.” Ning Zining, taken aback by his reaction, realized this was Qian Ye’s answer to his question.

After a moment, Qian Ye added, “I am somewhat skilled in sniper assassination. If you have any errands that need doing, you can also come to me.”

Ning Zining was a bit surprised, “I thought you didn’t like these dirty and vile deeds.”

Qian Ye shook his head, “It’s not about liking or disliking. I did some of these things in the Red Scorpion, just to complete missions.” Qian Ye was not good with words, so he paused and then continued, “One must not lose sight of their true self, nor forget the initial goal. The means are not as important.”

Ning Zining suddenly raised his voice, “I like that. Wei Po Tian, that fool, should listen to this! All he knows is to charge blindly, what’s the difference between him and a wild boar?”

The tense atmosphere that had filled the room dissipated instantly. Qian Ye couldn’t help but rub his forehead again, following Ning Zining’s gaze to the door.

A sudden cold laugh came from the courtyard, followed by someone saying, “What’s wrong with being a wild boar? It’s better than some lustful and incompetent scoundrel! With Seventh-Level Origin Power, how could you not break through my Thousand Mountain Formation? Weren’t you running around like a stray dog, fleeing everywhere?”

Ning Zining’s face darkened, staring at Wei Po Tian as he strode in, and said coldly, “Why are you here in the middle of the night? Shouldn’t you be hiding in a cave, practicing your tortoise shell technique?”

Wei Po Tian snorted, “When I come is none of your business. In the quiet of the night, I’m just making sure some cowardly and lustful scoundrels don’t run around, doing unspeakable things. Xiao Ye might not be afraid, but it would be a nuisance to him.”

Ning Zining’s eyes were sharp as knives, “Appreciating beautiful women is a man’s nature, something a wild boar wouldn’t understand. I don’t know who the coward is, but who was the one lying on the ground, gasping for breath during the Spring Hunt?”

Wei Po Tian laughed, “Was I beaten? I was simply tired, and you have the nerve to pat yourself on the back! Whatever you give me, I’ll return tenfold.”

Ning Zining said softly, “Maybe beating you up again would be a good idea. No need to wait for later.”

Wei Po Tian narrowed his eyes, “I think so too! Let me tell you, a real man does not fear in battle, and becomes stronger when faced with a stronger opponent. Even if I can’t win, I won’t cower. As for you, be lustful if you want, but don’t call it appreciation, pah!”

Qian Ye couldn’t stand it anymore, “Both of you, stop shouting at each other every time you meet! We should handle the main matters first, right?”

Wei Po Tian grinned, “What main matters? I’m just here to see you.”

Ning Zining stood up, “Me too. Since there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now.”

The two of them stepped out into the courtyard, immediately huddling together.

“I saw a small alley nearby, looks like no one’s around.”

“Exactly what I was thinking!”

Muttering, they went off together.

Qian Ye watched their retreating backs, shaking his head in resignation. The room grew quiet after the commotion. He couldn’t decide what to do next, and his gaze fell on the open book box and jade slips on the table.

Qian Ye picked up the book box, only to find it unexpectedly heavy, much heavier than an equivalent-sized composite metal. He was startled, and upon closer inspection, discovered that the material was wood, though he couldn’t identify the type. The wood grain was natural, without artificial carvings, but it seemed to form some kind of array, blocking all Origin Power, making it impossible to peer inside. Just from this box, it was likely a genuine ancient artifact from before the Fate Wars.

Qian Ye then picked up the jade slip that Ning Zining had taken out. It was palm-sized, with a slightly yellowish hue, exuding an ancient and simple aura. He infused a bit of Origin Power, and four ancient characters slowly appeared on the topmost slip, “Song Clan Ancient Scroll.”

The name was, um, quite unique. Qian Ye suddenly noticed a smaller character in the corner below the “Song Clan Ancient Scroll” text, and upon closer inspection, it was “Shang.” A surreal and absurd feeling welled up in him, and he promptly opened the other two scrolls, which indeed read “Zhong” and “Xia.”

The three jade slips together formed the “Song Clan Ancient Scroll” Shang Zhong Xia.

To say that Qian Ye’s understanding of secret techniques was shaken would be an understatement. The secret techniques he had seen before, from “Thousand Mountain Formation,” “Water Moon Cloud Decree,” to “Flowing Silver Sword Finger,” “Clarity Breaking Sky Fist,” and so on, all had profound and meaningful names, reflecting their essence.

Qian Ye steadied himself and turned to the second page of the upper scroll. As his Origin Power sensed it, lines of text appeared. It was indeed a cultivation method, but written in ancient human language, extremely obscure.

For the scions of imperial families, ancient script was a foundational knowledge, and many imperial edicts still used it to show respect. But for Qian Ye, he was merely at the stage of recognizing characters. The meaning of these three ancient scrolls was the most difficult he had ever encountered. Even if he recognized most of the characters, putting them together made it hard to understand the meaning.

Qian Ye smiled wryly and flipped a few more pages, surprisingly finding a cultivation method that was completely different from his usual understanding. It was clearly describing how to absorb dark Origin Power! Even with his poor foundation in ancient script, Qian Ye couldn’t mistake the method for absorbing dark Origin Power.

This was more than just shocking. Since humans had awakened Origin Power, the Dawn side of the Origin Force sequence had shone brightly. Centuries of history had proven that humans were inherently Dawn creatures. Although they could fall into Evernight through various means, those in the Evernight camp had never reached the pinnacle of power, indicating that dark Origin Power was not suitable for humans.

In fact, some non-public studies by the Empire showed that those who could easily switch to dark Origin Power often had mixed blood with dark races, while pure humans needed drastic transformations, like the Blood Clan’s Embrace, to allow dark Origin Power to completely devour their naturally awakened Dawn Origin Power.

Seeing this, Qian Ye finally understood why the Song Clan had never practiced these three ancient scrolls, and even stopped studying them.

Before Qian Ye could put down the ancient scrolls, Ning Zining and Wei Po Tian returned, one after the other. However, they were in a rather pitiful state.

Ning Zining was still relatively decent, with only a few wrinkles on the hem of his clothes. If it weren’t for the large bruise around his right eye, he looked no different from usual.

Wei Po Tian was much worse, one eye swollen to a slit, a large cut on his lip, his clothes in tatters, looking like a beggar, with obvious shoe prints and large bruises on the exposed skin.

Qian Ye felt the veins on his temples throbbing, his head starting to ache, “You two… did you go and fight?”

Wei Po Tian chuckled, “No, we wouldn’t fight. We just sparred, just sparring! That back alley was perfect, we sparred for a long time without anyone coming. We really got our muscles moving. It was a great workout!”

Ning Zining, back to his calm and composed self, said, “It was indeed a great workout, though my feet are a bit sore.”

Wei Po Tian laughed, “Men, a little setback is no big deal. As for that lustful scoundrel, he’s not always right either! This punch was really satisfying! For that punch, I wouldn’t mind being trampled a few more times, it’s nothing!”

“Alright, alright, you two really…” Qian Ye sighed, taking out a medicine kit from the cabinet and spreading it on the table. One was a scion of a noble family, the other a heir to one of the Four Clans, and they had brawled in a dark alley like street thugs, getting black and blue. After seeing the “Song Clan Ancient Scroll,” Qian Ye felt his understanding challenged once again.

Wei Po Tian waved his hand magnanimously, “I’ve already taken medicine, these minor injuries will heal in no time!”

Ning Zining, in a neither cold nor warm tone, said, “Our Song Clan’s medicine is the best among the Four Clans. It’s a bit of a waste to use it on a wild boar.”

Wei Po Tian suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the medicine box Qian Ye held out, “What is this? It looks familiar.”

It was a three-finger wide crystal box, with a delicate blood-colored petal flower engraved on its surface, and inside was a vial half-filled with a blue misty substance. It was the medicine Zhao Junhong had given Qian Ye, the only good internal injury medicine he had.

“Manjushage, isn’t this Zhao Ruoxi’s?” Wei Po Tian scratched his head, clearly not connecting the dots.

“Zhao… Zhao Ruoxi?” Qian Ye mused, “This is indeed the medicine the Second Young Master of the Zhao Clan gave me.”

Wei Po Tian carelessly handed the box back to Qian Ye, “Zhao Ruoxi is Zhao Junhong’s sister. This medicine is pretty good, keep it.”

A strange feeling welled up in Qian Ye’s heart, and he turned to see Ning Zining deep in thought, staring at him.

Before Qian Ye could ponder further, Wei Po Tian spotted the book box and the open jade slips on the table. The activated text hadn’t faded yet, and he curiously asked, “What is this? It looks like something from the Song Clan.”

Ning Zining’s expression turned proud, “You have some discernment; it’s the ancient scroll I found in the Song Clan’s library and gave to Qian Ye.”

Wei Po Tian’s surprise turned to disdain as he casually picked up the jade slip. The characters on the cover had faded, but were still recognizable. He was stunned, “This thing… is called the Song Clan Ancient Scroll? And ‘Shang’? Is there also ‘Zhong’ and ‘Xia’? Haha, hahaha! Ning Zining, if you want to fool Qian Ye, at least try a bit harder. The Song Clan Ancient Scroll, is there anything more obviously fake? Ahahaha!”

Ning Zining angrily retorted, “You idiot, open your eyes and look at the material of the ancient scroll! If you can find something similar, I’ll buy it at any price!”

Wei Po Tian, unconvinced, flipped back to the previous jade slip, pointing at a section, “Still say it’s not fake! This part is about cultivating dark Origin Power, show me how you cultivate dark Origin Power! If you don’t blow up a few Origin Nodes, I’ll write my surname backward!”

This was also Qian Ye’s doubt, and he turned to Ning Zining.

Seeing Qian Ye’s questioning look, Ning Zining glared at Wei Po Tian and said solemnly, “Qian Ye, the Song Clan Ancient Scroll can only be cultivated by those who have awakened the Dawn Awakening Power. I once asked a master to calculate, and among the ancient scrolls in the inner library of the Song Clan, these three are connected to you. The master’s skill is no less than the Great Derivation Heaven’s Secret Art.”

Qian Ye was stunned, was this the reason? He knew what his so-called Dawn Awakening Power was, and so did Ning Zining. Could he really think that a fake Dawn Awakening Power could cultivate the ancient scroll? This joke was going too far.

Wei Po Tian interjected with a cold laugh, “Stop playing games here. A master not inferior to the Great Derivation Heaven’s Secret Art, hmm, if it were that simple, how could Lin Xitan and General Boqian be known as the Twin Pillars of the Empire? According to you, you might as well add that master, and call them the Three Heroes.”

Ning Zining flew into a rage, “Wei Po Tian, you are disrespecting the master!”

Wei Po Tian jumped up, “Disrespect? Are you afraid I won’t?”

As the situation was about to escalate, Qian Ye suddenly turned towards the door, his face instantly hardening, a cold murderous intent in his eyes.