Defiant Martial God

Chapter 24: Winning Over Qin Yu

A spirit and a remnant soul were two very different things. A spirit could easily swallow a remnant soul, however, swallowing a spirit would be very difficult. Although Qin Yu had many attack skills, his current strength was still insufficient for swallowing a spirit. Only when he reached the “Refining Soul” stage of the《Secrets to Eternal Life》would he be able to accomplish that.

Plus, the soul hadn’t actually been swallowed by him. Instead, it was the Earth Spirit Pearl that swallowed the remnant soul and gave Qin Yu the excess energy that it was unable to use.

Qin Yu was almost certain that it was the spirit of the Yin Demon’s qi that had manifested and engulfed the ancestor of the Mu Family’s remnant soul. That was how the Yin Demon most likely obtained the power to command the godly soldiers. In the end, this ability was transferred to Qin Yu through the Earth Spirit Pearl, which was why Qin Yu currently possessed such an ability.

As he mulled over it, Qin Yu decided it was fine as long as he knew. He was also too lazy to give a detailed explanation to Mu Rongyue and ended up curiously asking, “Maybe this is heaven’s will. But I don’t understand, why did your ancestor choose to place the godly soldiers in the forbidden area of the Yin Demon?”

Speaking of Mu Rongyue’s ancestor, he was such a very ruthless man. A hundred thousand people had followed him to his grave here.

“When my family’s ancestor originally chose to arrange his soldiers here, there was no Yin Demon’s qi. It’s strange how the Yin Demon’s qi is only restricted to this area in the cave which hides the godly soldiers. It’s already been several hundred years, yet no one knows why.”

A trace of helplessness and distress appeared on Mu Rongyue’s beautiful face.

“Due to the appearance of the Yin Demon’s qi, hundred thousand godly soldiers were deeply concealed and unable to be used. This led to the deterioration of the Qiongxi Empire five hundred years ago.”

When she spoke up to here, Mu Rongyue’s face became aggrieved.

“If the Qiongxi Empire was destroyed, then what about the current Qiongxi Country?” Qin Yu revealed a look of confusion. Although he had once been Xie Di who moved unhindered throughout the continent, the western area of the Ancient Continent of Wu wasn’t very strong in terms of martial arts. So naturally, he didn’t pay any attention toward this area’s history. He really hadn’t expected that such a remote area had actually managed to produce a Martial God a thousand years ago.

Mu Rongyue’s smile was bitter as she said, “The current Qiongxi Country is nothing but a remnant of its former glory.”

“There are approximately a hundred small towns, however, our strength is merely 1/10000th of what we used to have. Now, we don’t even have the qualifications to be called an empire and can only act as a vassal to another country. The name of ‘Wang’ [1. “王” (Wang) means “King.”] is struggling while at death’s door.”

Mu Rongyue’s mood became more sentimental.

“However, the ridiculous thing is that even though we’re at this stage, the Mu Family still doesn’t know how to sincerely unite and work together for the country’s prosperity. All they would think about is competing for power and gain profits. Each one tries to outwit the other and the internal strife is endless. It’s truly lamentable ah!”

Mu Rongyue drowned in her sorrows. Although she appeared to be speaking to Qin Yu, she was basically rambling to herself while ranting about her resentment toward the Mu Family.

A trace of admiration toward Mu Rongyue sprouted in Qin Yu’s heart. She was only a young girl yet she already had such knowledge and concern in regards to the state of her country. It was truly remarkable. He had once heard a phrase: “The songstress knows not the sorrows of the perished empire.” [1. “The songstress knows not the sorrows of the perished empire” is a verse from a poem written during the Tang Dynasty called, “Anchoring on Qinghui River” by Du Mu. Here is the link to the fully translated poem for anyone who is interested: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/291 (Please note that the translation of the verse in DMG is my own.] However, it was clear that Mu Rongyue was not the so-called “songstress.”

“How could a nation like this not be defeated? Even if we had the hundred thousand soldiers earlier, we still wouldn’t have been able to escape Qiongxi Country’s fate of being defeated.” Mu Rongyue’s voice was filled with grief as she heaved a long sigh.

Qin Yu was confused. “If that’s the case, then why did you still come looking for the hundred thousand godly soldiers?”

Mu Rongyue heaved a sigh as she said, “The Mu Family has never given up on searching for the godly soldiers. For the past several hundred years, we’ve always been looking for a way to withstand the Yin Demon’s qi. Finally, we discovered the Soul Protecting Pill. Unfortunately, even though it enabled us to enter the forbidden area, we still couldn’t find the remnant soul our ancestor left for us that year until today.”

“The godly soldiers have always been our Mu Family’s last hope. As long as the Mu Family still exists, we will never give up. Furthermore, the godly soldiers are now tied to my life, as well as the fate of being Qiongxi Country’s last source of strength. I need these hundred thousand godly soldiers so I hope that you will help me.”

Mu Rongyue’s limpid eyes rippled with tears as she stared at Qin Yu with sincerity and beseechment. The hope in her eyes couldn’t be more clear.

Qin Yu understood what she meant. Right now, only he could command the hundred thousand godly soldiers. If he agreed to help Mu Rongyue, it would be equivalent to Mu Rongyue having a hundred thousand godly soldiers at her command.

“These past few years, Imperial Father’s body has been deteriorating, so he rarely handles politics anymore. My imperial brother and I are both too young, so the government affairs have gradually been monopolized by my Third Imperial Uncle Mu Tianqi. After his influence grew, he gradually exposed his ambitions of wanting to seize the throne. Once my Imperial Father passes away, he will definitely usurp the throne. At that time, the first thing he will do is to purge the clan, starting with me and my imperial brother. However, we’re still family so I really don’t want to see them wield a sword and fight to the death amongst themselves. Sadly, I have no choice.”

A trace of pain and helplessness appeared on the young lady’s face. Her eyes were unexpectedly brimming with tears.

In fact, these were her own family affairs. She shouldn’t have told an outsider, but in order to win over Qin Yu, she could only tell him everything to express her sincerity.

Qin Yu sighed in his heart. It must’ve been difficult for a young girl like Mu Rongyue to shoulder such a burden. Thence, he could tell that Mu Rongyue was not a simple woman.

Now that she had finished speaking, Qin Yu truly found it hard to reject her sincerity.

“Alright then, Miss Mu, I’ll agree to help you. These godly soldiers were originally your ancestor’s in the first place. If you ever need help, just say the word.”

Upon hearing Qin Yu’s reply, Mu Rongyue was ecstatic. It was as if a big pie had fallen from the heavens and landed on her. [1. Like a golden opportunity just fell from the sky and was given to her.]

In her excitement, she charged forward and grabbed Qin Yu’s hand. Her voice trembled with excitement as she said, “Qin Xiong—no! Qin Da Ge, [2. “大哥” (Da Ge) means “big brother.” It is a friendly term used to refer to older men.] thank you! I really don’t know how to thank you. From now on, you’re my Da Ge! Is calling me Xiao Yue [3. Mu Rongyue refers to herself in the third person as “Xiao Yue” meaning “Little Yue” since she is younger than him. Adding “Xiao” can also be a form of endearment.] fine with you?”

What did being Mu Rongyue’s Da Ge signify? It meant that he was now the Princess’s elder brother! It was also equivalent to being her imperial brother! In Qiongxi Country, his status would be venerated, as a result.

Mu Rongyue was doing everything in her power to win over Qin Yu.

Qin Yu didn’t act pretentiously and frankly answered, “Alright then, Xiao Yue.” In any case, there weren’t any losses in being a Princess’s Da Ge.

“Da Ge, this is a golden token. With this token, you may enter and leave the Imperial Palace as you wish.” A golden token appeared in Mu Rongyue’s hands and she passed it over to Qin Yu.

“Alright, I’ll accept it,” said Qin Yu as he happily accepted the golden token.

“I also know that Da Ge has always wanted a space ring, so I’ll gift this to you.” After saying this, Mu Rongyue directly slid the space ring off her finger and placed it on Qin Yu’s hands. “Da Ge, all you need to do is drip a drop of your blood on the ring and it will officially become yours.”

“Eh?” Qin Yu really didn’t expect that Mu Rongyue would be willing to part with such an expensive treasure just to win him over.

Qin Yu truly wanted the space ring offered to him, but...

Qin Yu hesitated and rejected the gift. “Xiao Yue, this is too precious. Keep it for yourself.”

“No, Da Ge. I’m a princess, so I can find somebody to request another one. But it’s not as easy for you to obtain a space ring.” Mu Rongyue firmly gave the ring back to Qin Yu.

Since it was already like this, Qin Yu didn’t say any more superfluous words. After thanking her, he dripped a drop of blood on the ring before slipping it on. A trace of his consciousness entered the ring. Inside was his Blood Saber and many of Mu Rongyue’s possessions, including two Soul Protecting Pills.

“Xiao Yue, I’ll keep your things for now and return them to you when we leave.”

“It’s not important, Da Ge. I’m gifting them all to you. I only need one Soul Protecting Pill,” Mu Rongyue said generously. She already gifted him the space ring, so the other things inside weren’t even worth mentioning.

Qin Yu laughed bitterly in his heart. An idiom fit the current situation well: “There is no free lunch in the world; after the meal comes the reckoning.” Now that he received so many benefits from Mu Rongyue, it would be difficult to refuse her call for help in the future. In any case, he was going to help anyway so he might as well take it as payment for his future services.

Soul Protecting Pills were extremely precious to Mu Rongyue and Qin Yu had no use for them. Subsequently, Qin Yu returned both Soul Returning Pills to Mu Rongyue and unceremoniously accepted the rest of the things.

“Da Ge, let’s go back now. Wait for me to arrange a suitable place in King City so we can stealthily sneak the hundred thousand soldiers there. Is that alright?” Mu Rongyue didn’t dare to order Qin Yu and asked with a questioning tone.

“Yeah, you can make the necessary arrangements,” Qin Yu agreed. “But I still don’t want to leave yet. Would you be interested in exploring further and trying to find the source of the Yin Demon’s qi with me?”

“Eh? Of course, I want to, but...” How could she not she want to solve the mystery that had stumped the Mu Family for generations? However, how would they be able to find the source? Many powerful cultivators had tried to find the origin of the demonic qi but couldn’t, so how could two low-level cultivators like them accomplish such a feat?

Qin Yu laughed. “If you want to, then let’s go.”

As he said that, Qin Yu walked deeper into the cave. The Earth Spirit Pearl was extremely sensitive toward the Yin Demon’s qi that was under the ground so it guided Qin Yu.

Along the way, Qin Yu and Mu Rongyue were deeply shocked by the dignified and sturdy formation of the godly soldiers. A hundred thousand, beyond what the eye could see. Her ancestor was truly skillful!

“Da Ge, where are we going?” Following behind him, Mu Rongyue was both shocked and suspicious of how Qin Yu was walking forward with such certainty as if he wanted to go to a specific area.

“You’ll know when we get there,” Qin Yu replied dully and his footsteps suddenly sped up as if he sensed something. To be exact, it was the Earth Spirit Pearl which had sensed something.

Mu Rongyue didn’t question any further as she sped up her footsteps.

As the two went deeper and deeper inside the cave, they discovered that around the halfway point, the appearance of the soldiers changed. More specifically, their colors had changed.

The preceding godly soldiers were all a silvery gray color but the ones ahead were a shade of faint black. The deeper they went, the darker they became. When they were finally ? of the way in, the soldiers had turned completely black. The godly soldiers were just a dense mass of black as far as the eye could see without end.

“This...how could this be?” Mu Rongyue asked in astonishment.

Qin Yu looked at the pitch black soldiers and replied, “These soldiers were all eroded by the Yin Demon’s qi so their fighting strength is even stronger than the earlier ones.” Although his tone was flat, his brows were slightly creased and his footsteps slowed down. His eyes gleamed sharply as he swept a gaze across surroundings. The Earth Spirit Pearl gave him a message: Underground, there is something strange.

If it wasn’t for Qin Yu suppressing it, the Earth Spirit Pearl would’ve directly flown there by itself to investigate.

Mu Rongyue was somewhat astonished by Qin Yu’s knowledge. He was only slightly older than her, even had lower cultivation than her, yet he seemed to know everything.

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