The Harbinger of Death and a Peculiar Companion

This palm strike, though said to possess twenty years of cultivation, wasn’t something perfected over two decades of practice. Instead, it was a strike that, once unleashed, expelled all the ‘toxins’ accumulated from twenty years of cultivation. With a single blow, all who touched it would perish, and all who were stained by it would rot!

“The Earth Fiend Poison Palm is a sinister technique rooted in absorbing subterranean fiend-poison. It’s typically a demonic cultivation method, often requiring individuals lacking the Earth element in their fate as a catalyst. Though considered a minor path, its destructive power is considerable when wielded without regard for consequences.” Xu Qingzhu’s gaze sharpened.

He was still merely at the perfected Qi Condensation stage, not yet in the Foundation Establishment realm. Facing a desperate strike from an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he too had to brace himself.

He then declared:

“A Blood Frenzy Secret Art? I actually possess one.”

His words immediately drew the attention of both individuals.

1. The elderly man, who had already unleashed his poisoned palm, suddenly felt a premonition of disaster.

Yet, to retract his hand now meant the fiend-poison would have nowhere to discharge, inevitably backfiring upon him.

Veins bulged on his forehead as the elderly man, a wild grin splitting his lips, roared:

“Don’t even dream of tricking me, you brat! Die!!”

“Foolish audacity.” Xu Qingzhu, setting Su Mo down, chuckled casually.

With a swift, decisive motion, he slashed his own wrist, and blood erupted from his artery.

His other hand moved in a mystical dance, somehow drawing the gushing blood into a swirling vortex around his arm, refusing to fall.

Watching from behind, Su Mo felt as if a blood-red dragon was dancing around him, radiating an astonishingly malevolent aura.

“Harbinger of Death.” Xu Qingzhu’s face was ashen, as if the two words themselves carried a taboo, and he uttered them with great difficulty.

The entire sequence of movements unfolded in an instant, fluid and seamless, as if the Blood Frenzy Secret Art was a common technique he had employed countless times.

He transformed two fingers into a sword-hand gesture, raising his longsword before him.

His sword-fingers traced a path from the hilt of the blade upwards, finally gliding over its tip.

“Buzz!” Countless frenzied ancient characters materialized, imprinting themselves onto the longsword. Su Mo caught a fleeting glimpse, feeling an immediate dizziness, as if her head had been struck by a heavy hammer.

“What?!” The elderly man disregarded the fiend-poison’s backlash, his sole thought to halt his momentum, withdraw his hand, and flee immediately.

But it was already too late; everyone present felt their breath catch in their throats.

Their vision suddenly dimmed, and the white mist of the forest vanished from their perception.

In her panic, Su Mo instinctively clutched at his sleeve, yet a wave of chilling cold surged through her body.

‘Die! Why aren’t you dead yet?! Die for me!…’ Countless frantic thoughts assailed her, and in her terror, Su Mo released her grip, collapsing weakly to the ground.

In that very instant, she witnessed a crimson fissure tear open in her vision, cleaving from one side of the forest to the other.

It was as if an invisible pair of hands had ripped reality itself apart, continually widening the chasm before it finally faded powerlessly away.

“Boom! Boom!” Vast swathes of trees toppled, rocks shattered, and the continuous roar of collapse echoed for several seconds.

Sitting dumbfounded on the ground, Su Mo gazed at the dozens of meters long fissure, feeling it was entirely unlike an attack from the Qi Condensation stage.

‘You call *this* the Qi Condensation stage?!’ Su Mo cursed internally.

With a single strike, the elderly man was severed into two, his purplish-red blood and organs splattering in a grotesque line. Before his death, he had even ‘grown taller’ by several meters!

Cautiously observing Xu Qingzhu, who stood tall before her, Su Mo swallowed hard.

‘If he were to know I am Su Mo, would he cleave me in two with a single sword strike, given the vengeance for his father? Even though I was framed, he doesn’t know that…’ As she pondered this, the tall figure toppled, landing directly in Su Mo’s embrace.

“Ugh.” Had Su Mo not possessed such ample bosom, she truly wouldn’t have been able to cushion his head.

“…” Gazing silently at his pale cheek, Su Mo wished to shift her position. After all, being used as a pillow was quite uncomfortable.

‘He won’t lose too much blood, will he?’ Su Mo poked his cheek, then placed her fingers near his nose to check for breath.

Good heavens, he was barely exhaling, taking in much more air than he released!

‘Is he dying?!’

‘Was there really a need to go to such extremes?’ Su Mo fumbled to examine him, grasping his wrist, only to discover that the wound had already healed.

Perhaps it was the excessive expenditure of spiritual energy, vital essence, and mental fortitude that had left him so weak.

But…

“We’ve only known each other for less than two days, Young Master Xu, and you’ve already spent most of it sleeping.” Su Mo giggled innocently. After confirming he was merely exhausted, she collapsed onto the ground in a state of utter depletion.

The man rested his head on the woman, and the woman rested hers on the earth, both sleeping under the vast heavens.

Idly stroking his head, Su Mo gazed at the tree shade cleaved open by the sword strike, watching the myriad shifting clouds drifting across the sky.

To be honest, while Young Master Xu was undeniably peculiar, when things got serious, he truly committed.

Still, what exactly had he come here for, anyway?

“Swish…” A rustling sound emanated from the distant bushes. Thinking it was a wild bird, Su Mo glanced over.

Instead, she saw several demonic cultivators, whose appearances resembled creatures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, fleeing as if their lives depended on it, lamenting only that their parents hadn’t given them two more legs.

“More experts?!” Startled, Su Mo let Xu Qingzhu tumble to the ground and instantly sprang to her feet.

But fumbling with her hands, she realized she didn’t even have a weapon.

‘Oh no, I’m going to be… violated!’ Su Mo panicked.

In the original work, whenever “Su Mo” was defeated, humiliation and assault invariably followed.

She was practically an ambassador of misfortune.

“What does ‘violated’ mean?” A voice drifted up from the ground. Looking down, she saw Young Master Xu standing up, rubbing his head, and asking indifferently.

In that exchange of glances, Su Mo understood: she had been played.

“I have no idea, never heard of it.” Su Mo chuckled evasively, as if casually picking up the longsword.

Still under his watchful gaze, she nonchalantly picked up the longsword, only to be dumbfounded.

“Crack!” The longsword inexplicably snapped in two. This was a high-grade magical artifact!

How could it have been shattered by someone not in the Golden Core realm?

Glancing back at the playful Young Master Xu, she felt a strong sense of unease.

‘It seems, perhaps, Xu Qingzhu has changed?’ No sooner had this suspicion arisen than the man began to lecture her.

He brushed off his clothes, a hint of displeasure in his demeanor:

“Your situational awareness is terrible. After defeating an enemy, you don’t even check your surroundings; you just relax immediately… And you don’t pick up the things others leave behind. Are you waiting for someone else to snatch them?”

As he spoke, he picked up the deceased’s belongings, tossing a storage ring into the air and catching it playfully.

Su Mo’s eyes lit up instantly at the sight of the glittering ring in the air.

Her large, sparkling eyes clearly conveyed:

“Give me some! Please!”

He dangled it before her for a moment, then retrieved it with a perfect arc, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed at the sky in contemplation.

Tapping her small nose, Su Mo modestly lowered her gaze, fidgeting delicately as she murmured softly:

“Young Master Xu, might you grant me a small portion? As the saying goes, ‘finders keepers, sharers we be’…

“You’re so clumsy, what could you possibly accomplish?”

“I’m very capable.” Su Mo began, but her throat suddenly seemed to catch, and she said no more.

To say more would have made the atmosphere awkward.

Yet, unable to suppress her indignation, she forced herself to endure the nausea, scanning the deceased’s body several times.

Finally, a jade pendant amidst the pooled blood caught her eye.

Though it was merely a mundane item, it still counted as a small gain.

She squatted down to pick it up, rubbed off the dirt with her fingers, and then admired the intricate patterns on the jade.

As for whether the jade pendant held any cultivation value? She didn’t care; she was merely trying to mask her embarrassment.

“It’s truly beautiful, just look at these patterns: a phoenix soaring towards the sun, carrying the nine heavens… The nine heavens? Ah?” Su Mo abruptly fell silent, then hurled the jade pendant to the ground.

She viciously stomped on it several times, pointing and cursing:

“What trash!”

Once Xu Qingzhu averted his gaze, she disdainfully picked it up again and stowed it in her own storage ring.

“How’s that jade pendant?” Xu Qingzhu casually asked on their way.

Suddenly nervous, Su Mo hastily replied:

“It’s just a common trinket; I have plenty in my storage ring.”

“Oh.”

Suppressing her inner glee, Su Mo recalled the difficult events again, finally managing to wipe the smile from her face.

‘This jade pendant, one of only nine in the original work, is now mine! My future is promising!’ Su Mo’s spirits soared, and she walked with such a light step that her two ample bosoms swayed, practically dizzying themselves.