The water flowed out of the stream, immersing the land nearby. Damp fog swirled around, obscuring the surroundings. The Power of Water surged in the air—it was alarmingly wet. At that moment, Meng Qi felt like he was deep under the sea!
This elf-like man seemed quite superior, as if he was a god looking at the world in pity—like he was an intelligent creature observing bugs. Meng Qi wanted so bad to punch him in the face.
Just as he was about to strike a blow, Meng Qi saw disdain and conceit in the Blue-blooded Man's eyes. He looked as if he had seen through Meng Qi's mind and was mocking his incompetence.
Meng Qi had a bad feeling. "He possesses such a weak breath, so why is he so confident? Does he have other secret skills or secret methods?"
Just then, Meng Qi felt his blood burning hot as if it was being boiled!
Meng Qi tried to suppress the heat, but it was in vain. His blood seemed to have betrayed him, acting on its own. If not for the Eight Nine Mysteries, Meng Qi would have been badly injured. If he was a man who had enlightened the Apertures but failed to pass the Hidden Latch of life and death, he would have died directly. There were no exceptions—no mortal could survive after their blood had been boiled!
"How about that? Feeling hot burning and out of control?" The Blue-blooded Man took pleasure in the torture, as if he was relishing the killing and controlling. At the same time, he formed a seal in his palm and pale blue ripples passed through him.
Meng Qi was astounded. "Is the Blue-blooded Man so capable that he can directly control the enemy's blood, sweat, or even brains?
"This surpasses the skills of the Exterior experts!"
Even the Matriarch of the West, whom he had met before, was really proficient at the Power of Metal; however, she still needed to reach the peak of the Exterior to control every bit of metal inside the enemy's body. Yet, judging from this breath, the Blue-blooded Man in front of him had only passed the first Celestial Ladder.
The Blue-blooded Man stepped forward. The seal in his palm transformed and spread out into the distance. Light blue ripples ran through the seal.
Meng Qi felt dizzy. He heard a drone in his head along with the sound of running water. He could not think straight, and he could only manage to carry on with the power of his Vital Spirit.
"Aren't you shocked?" The Blue-blooded Man grinned hideously.
As the Blue-blooded Man's seal changed again, Meng Qi's internal organs, skin, flesh, and blood all became rigid. The water in his body was out of control, now he could not form the Interior to trigger the force of nature. Moreover, he could not exert his physical power, and he even failed to walk normally.
"What Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky? What Big Bang Technique? What Fruits of Karma? What Yin-Yang Seal? I can't apply a single one of them under such circumstances!"
The Blue-blooded Man's body became translucent blue and glittering. He wore a snooty countenance.
"Worship me! This is the power of the gods!
"I've seen millions of mortals cry their hearts out in front of me, even tears and their running noses betrayed them. You didn't even pass the first Celestial Ladder, how could you ask me about ambushing you?
"No one can resist my control unless he's far superior to me!
"An insect like you... why should I bother ambushing you?"
He made every effort to be sarcastic, and then strolled slowly in front of Meng Qi, who did not even have the strength to support himself anymore. The Blue-blooded Man put his palms together, ready to release the water inside Meng Qi's body by triggering an explosion!
He smiled expectantly and suddenly drew his hands close. However, at that time, a ghost-like hand emerged out of nowhere and grabbed his wrist!
"What?"
The Blue-blooded Man gawked at Meng Qi, who had turned into a translucent ghost-like shape. He could not sense the water inside Meng Qi anymore.
"Why can't I sense the water inside him?" The Blue-blooded Man could not believe it!
Meng Qi's mouth twisted to the side, and he grabbed the Blue-blooded man's wrist with the other hand.
"Give up! I can turn into a ghost, and ghosts don't have water inside them!
"This is the so-called Eight Nine Mysteries! It has no time, place, or strength limits!
"If I hadn't trapped you to prevent you from escaping, I could've gotten rid of you from the beginning."
The Blue-blooded Man was startled as he was trying to escape. Suddenly, he felt Meng Qi's hands pulling him back. His Vital Spirit was dizzy and his watery body started to crumble. His body seemed to be drawn toward Meng Qi!
"A body-breaking and soul-crushing mysterious skill?" He realized that the man in front of him was once a Devil. He managed to gather his mental strength and practice his secret skills. Blue ripples spread through his body, trying to resist Meng Qi's force.
And at that time, Meng Qi's hands gently quivered.
Then, he felt full of peace and delight, as if a small volume of current was creeping into his body. The Blue-blooded Man could not help indulging in the feeling, almost losing control of the secret skill that he was practicing.
Extreme Bliss of Heaven and Demons!
However, the Blue-blooded Man only indulged in it for a second. He quickly regained his composure, angry and ashamed. He yelled,
"Go to hell!
"You have to die!"
The blue ripples inside him suddenly gathered and formed into the shape of a heart. Then, the heart blew up. A lifeless dark blue shadow was cast over the world.
The Power of Water could not only control water, but also was an energy-breeding force. The Blue-blooded Man struggled to use the forces that he was not in control of, trying to turn the energy-breeding force into a corrupting force! He was acting recklessly.
Even if you were a waterless ghost, as long as you continued to exist, you had energy inside you!
The Blue-blooded Man shot him a hateful look, as if he was trying to tear Meng Qi to shreds.
As he was scrambling to erode Meng Qi's energy, suddenly he saw Meng Qi twist and turn into a dark blue shape as well. Ripples ran through his body to resist the corruption and control.
"What!" The Blue-blooded Man widened his eyes, only to see Meng Qi's mocking smile!
"He can turn into one of my kind!
"He can also master the Power of Water!"
When they were of the same kind and had similar strength, it was truly hard to corrupt Meng Qi quickly!
Meng Qi originally did not harness much of the Kung Fu of Heaven and Demons. He had only dabbled in it by studying Old Zhong's Qi circulation route. No matter if it was Sky Devil's Four Erosions or the Extreme Bliss of Heaven and Demons, he could only imitate it a little by using the Eight Nine Mysteries. Never had he thought about winning by using those skills. It was purely because of the scarcity of skills in the form of a ghost, and Meng Qi had to use them to hide his intentions. He used the current that was transformed by his mental strength to "explore" the Blue-blooded Man's body and Vital Spirit, in order to learn the structure of his body. Finally, Meng Qi could resemble a blue-blooded person and gain the Power of the Water!
With another bout of trembling and another session of blissful feelings, the Blue-blooded Man slightly lost control of himself. At the same time, Meng Qi grew a pair of arms from his back and formed a seal above the Blue-blooded man's head, where the Vital Spirit had been.
Guided by the bliss, strike the heaven and earth!
The Blue-blooded Man's Vital Spirit crumbled and his heart had been greatly shaken. Memories rushed into his mind, with the first being the most impressive one.
Inside his memory, a wave rose up and smashed against a dark-blue metal tower.
The tower stood out because of its shape. It was a column, with wing-like, pale-blue decorations on it. It was fixed on a flat tray-like platform, appearing odd.
There was a statue of a god upon it. Just as Meng Qi was about to figure out who that god was, waves rapidly "poured" toward him.
"Splash!" The Blue-blooded Man's memories crumbled, the waves in his conscious sea started to rush and fall apart!
Meng Qi grabbed the Blue-blooded Man's skull with one hand. He retracted his hands, with one hand behind his back. His eyebrows furrowed when seeing the Blue-blooded Man's body shatter into the water and vaporize into nothing.
Finally, Meng Qi held a blue gem with mysterious patterns in his right palm. The water rippled through the inside of the gem.
"It can prevent any spying..." Meng Qi drew back his right arm, observing the blue gem.
After the "exploration" just now, he found the Blue-blooded Man's body different from that of the human or demonic clans. Their bodies did not contain Aperture acupoints or internal organs inside them, rather, their bodies were dotted with obscure, thin branch-like veins. Every branch had a seal-like pattern that could trigger the Power of Water, looking like a piece of delicate craftsmanship.
"A self-proclaimed god-like species? Just so-so..." Meng Qi snorted.
He pondered for a moment and became Master Fa Zheng again. He wore a yellow frock, a red cassock, and a serious face. He returned to Linhai, with the blue gem in his palm. He arrived directly in front of the manor of the Yuns and requested to see He Jiu.
Upon hearing the request, He Jiu suddenly sensed the Power of Water. His heart thumped and his expression slightly changed.
He gathered himself together and sent the servant to fetch Master Fa Zhen, lest anyone notice him.
As soon as Meng Qi stepped into the guest house, he saw the pond was empty, without a single drop of water. The well was also dry. He slightly nodded, realizing that the Eastsea Sword Village indeed knew of the Blue-blooded Man's existence.
He Jiu, Huang Taichong, and He Xiu were masters, after all. They all waited patiently. Not until Meng Qi walked in and the servant withdrew did they cast their gazes upon the blue gem in Meng Qi's palm.
"Did Master Fa Zheng really kill the Blue-blooded People?" asked He Jiu, who had regained his confidence now.
"Amitabha, I was about to leave Linhai to adventure into the wild world and to save people. Who'd have expected that I'd run into the blue-blooded donor? He wasn't a human, a spirit, or a demon, and he came directly at me. Fearing that he would hurt other creatures too, I had to use the Merciful Impunity Commandments to kill it in the name of ridding evil." Meng Qi recited the name of the Buddha while giving a one-handed salute.
Huang Taichong gazed at Meng Qi and exclaimed, "Master Fa Zheng is really phenomenal, I didn't take you seriously for nothing."
He exchanged glances with He Jiu and confessed, "The Blue-blooded Man was gifted and had a special body. If not in a higher realm, no human can confront him. Of course, if you're a grandmaster and your Dharma and Logos are joined with Dharma Forms, you can manage to defeat the gifted Blue-blooded Man in the same realm as you.
"From the looks of the heart water gem, the Blue-blooded Man who Master Fa Zheng killed had just passed the first Celestial Ladder of the Exterior. If you were not a grandmaster, you might have perished."
When Meng Qi came to them with the heart water gem, they knew that Meng Qi had met the real Blue-blooded Man and was indeed capable. In the name of intelligence sharing, in addition to them claiming themselves to be orthodox, they revealed a little about the information they had gathered.