Chapter 558

Chapter 558

I Can See Through Everything

“Roar!”

Lu Qing's words were more than just a taunt—they carried a spiritual shockwave.

The Nascent Soul Realm Wind Beast, though not highly intelligent, understood the provocation.

It instantly flew into a rage.

A mere ant dared to challenge it?

As the undisputed king of this plain, the massive Wind Beast could not tolerate such insolence.

With an ear-splitting roar, it violently shook its body and broke free from the suppressive force holding it down.

Its newly regenerated claw came crashing down on Lu Qing with the force of a collapsing mountain.

At the same time, it issued a mental command.

The three Golden Core-level Wind Beasts beneath it howled, their bodies transforming into streaks of flowing sand.

They darted off in pursuit of Old Qiao and the others.

The Nascent Soul Wind Beast clearly had no intention of letting them go—it was sending its subordinates to kill them.

However, due to Lu Qing’s suppression of the surrounding space with a spiritual artifact, the howling wind had vanished.

As a result, the three Wind Beasts couldn’t vanish into the wind and sand. They could only become flowing sand and chase manually.

“Hmph!”

But before they could get far, a cold snort rang out.

A surge of yellow light swept out, pinning the flowing sand in place, locking it completely.

In the next instant, sword qi appeared out of thin air and slashed at the three sand forms.

In a blink, all three masses of flowing sand quivered violently, their auras dissipating as they collapsed into the ground like water.

The wind pearls within them had been utterly destroyed—they could no longer hold their form.

Only now did the mountain-sized claw of the Nascent Soul Wind Beast, trailing a whirlwind, reach Lu Qing.

Faced with a claw as vast as a collapsing peak, Lu Qing neither dodged nor flinched.

Gripping the longsword in his hand, he unleashed a peerless arc of sword qi in the next breath.

With the might to split the heavens and earth, the blade met the beast’s claw head-on.

Boom!

The clash between sword qi and claw erupted with devastating force.

The destructive energies from Lu Qing and the Wind Beast collided, sending waves of energy ripping through the air, twisting and warping space itself.

The terrifying blast overwhelmed even the spatial suppression of Lu Qing’s domain.

A gale surged outward, dragging with it a storm of sand that spread in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, it swept within several li of the armored man and the others.

“Not good! Run!”

Seeing this, the armored man and Old Qiao's group turned pale.

They no longer dared to spectate the battle—they spun around and fled at full speed.

They could feel it clearly—if they were caught in that shockwave, they might survive as Golden Core cultivators, but the rest within their formation would not be so lucky.

The shockwave from Lu Qing’s battle with the Wind Beast caught up to them within moments.

Fortunately, even while watching, the group had continued moving, already putting over ten li behind them.

Moreover, the suppression from Lu Qing’s domain continued to dampen the shockwave's force.

In the end, the terrifying blast only managed to knock the group to the ground without causing serious harm.

Still, the close call left them shaken.

Even from this distance, they could feel terrifying waves of energy erupting behind them.

It was obvious—the battle between that senior and the Nascent Soul Wind Beast was still raging at full intensity.

Sadly, the renewed sandstorm made it impossible to see what was happening behind them.

They could only sense two immense auras clashing violently, sending fear into their hearts.

“Commander, we must keep moving. If that senior and the Wind Beast start moving again, we could still get caught in the crossfire.”

Old Qiao spoke up.

“Of course I know that,” the armored man nodded.

After reorganizing their formation, they pressed onward.

This time, they encountered no further obstacles. After some time, they suddenly noticed that their vision had cleared.

The wind and sand that had been swirling around them had completely vanished.

A massive valley entrance loomed before them.

“We made it out?”

Everyone blinked, stunned. Then, joy burst across their faces.

“We’re finally out of that cursed place!”

“Heavens, I really thought we were going to die in there.”

“That was a real brush with death. I’ve made up my mind—once I get back, I’m done with trading caravans!”

“If that senior hadn’t stepped in, we’d all be dead right now!”

…

As the group cried tears of relief and cheered, the armored man led them into the valley. After confirming their safety, he turned to glance back toward the Gale Plain.

But they were already far from the battlefield between Lu Qing and the Nascent Soul Wind Beast.

The endless sandstorm blocked any spiritual sense—they could no longer feel the combatants’ presence at all.

“Commander, are you worried about that senior?” a few Golden Core cultivators approached and asked.

“That’s right. He said he could only hold off that Nascent Soul Wind Beast for a quarter-hour, and that’s long passed. Why haven’t we seen him emerge?”

The armored man’s face showed concern.

“Don’t worry,” Old Qiao reassured him. “With the divine power and might he displayed, even if he couldn’t win, I doubt he’d be unable to escape.”

The armored man considered it, then nodded.

Indeed, Nascent Soul cultivators—unless vastly outmatched—were hard to kill even in defeat.

And judging from how Lu Qing fought earlier, he showed no signs of being overwhelmed.

That thought calmed him somewhat.

He turned and asked, “Old Qiao, you’ve traveled with him for a while—do you know anything about this senior’s background?”

“How could an old man like me know?” Old Qiao gave a wry smile. “This senior clearly doesn’t want to reveal his identity.

He barely spoke the whole time we traveled together.

I don’t even know his name.”

The nearby middle-aged man nodded in agreement.

Among the five Golden Core cultivators on the same carriage, he’d exchanged the fewest words with Lu Qing.

The man had been reserved, silent, and never introduced himself.

No one knew much about him.

Only that scrawny young man had occasionally mocked Lu Qing.

Thinking of that, the middle-aged man suddenly realized just how good-tempered Lu Qing really was.

If it had been him, and he were a Nascent Soul cultivator mocked by a Golden Core brat, he wouldn’t have let it slide.

At the same time, he felt lucky—he’d never offended Lu Qing.

Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to face that senior now.

“So it’s like that... Seems this senior must be one of those powerful reclusive experts who prefer to wander the world in secret.

Who knows—he might hail from a top-tier sect or a great aristocratic clan.”

The armored man couldn’t help but sigh.

As for whether Lu Qing might be someone from the demonic path, the thought never even crossed his mind.

If he were, why would he risk his life fighting a Nascent Soul Wind Beast to save them?

While Old Qiao and the others speculated about Lu Qing’s identity…

Back on the Gale Plain, Lu Qing’s battle with the Nascent Soul Wind Beast raged on.

Boom!

With a mighty Minor Heaven-Shattering Sword Qi, Lu Qing once again severed the Wind Beast’s arm.

Lu Qing frowned.

By now, he’d realized something else.

This Nascent Soul Realm Wind Beast truly had very low intelligence.

Its attacks were repetitive and instinct-driven.

Not only were its moves crude and clumsy, even its innate power to manipulate wind and sand was wielded with childish inexperience.

In terms of technique and spellcasting, any late-stage Golden Core cultivator could likely outclass it with ease.

In short, while the Wind Beast possessed Nascent Soul-level strength…

Its use of that power was utterly crude and unrefined—it couldn’t bring out even a fraction of its full potential.

And yet, Lu Qing still couldn’t kill it.

The wind-and-sand-forged body of this Nascent Soul Wind Beast was simply too resilient.

Even when he unleashed his strongest Minor Heaven-Shattering Sword Qi, he could only break off parts of its body.

To destroy it in one blow was all but impossible.

As for shattering its wind pearl—that was out of the question.

He had even attempted to use the [Soul Illusion] divine ability, hoping to strike at its mind and crush its will.

But he discovered that while the beast’s thoughts were simple, all of its spirit and intent were concealed within the wind pearl.

Protected by the Laws of Wind, even [Soul Illusion] could only daze it momentarily.

Controlling its soul was out of the question.

“To think… even a newly-born, barely intelligent Nascent Soul beast would be this hard to deal with.”

Once more, he severed one of the beast’s claws.

Watching it quickly regenerate, Lu Qing sighed in resignation.

He understood—there was no point continuing this fight.

If [Soul Illusion] was ineffective, none of his other tricks would work either.

Given the Wind Beast’s undying body so long as the wind pearl remained intact, it didn’t matter how many times he hacked off its limbs—they would always grow back.

Meanwhile, he was steadily burning through his own spiritual power.

Granted, his Perfect Golden Core made his reserves vastly superior to other cultivators of his realm…

But continuing to fight brought him no benefit.

Besides, his goal in this battle was already accomplished.

Any further struggle would be pointless.

With that, Lu Qing swung his sword twice more, unleashing twin torrents of sky-piercing sword qi that severed the Wind Beast’s claws just as they tried to trap him.

Then, with a twist of his body, he traced a profound arc through the air and slipped cleanly out of the Wind Beast’s reach.

“You damn beast—your hide really is thick. You sure can take a beating.”

Hovering several li away in midair, Lu Qing spoke calmly.

“Today, I’ll let you off for now. But one day, once my cultivation is complete, I’ll return to this Gale Plain and settle this.”

With that, his figure flickered—and vanished into the distance.

“ROAR!”

The Nascent Soul Wind Beast, seeing the tiny ant who had slaughtered its underlings and wounded it repeatedly now trying to escape, let out a thunderous, furious howl.

With a swipe of its claws, the wind and sand within dozens of li around it surged into a frenzy.

Countless tornadoes of sand whipped into existence, converging around Lu Qing in an attempt to tear him apart.

“You think that half-baked wind manipulation is enough to stop me?”

Lu Qing, staring at the apocalyptic scene around him, remained perfectly calm. He even chuckled.

Then his body moved like smoke, like a nimble spirit butterfly.

He slipped effortlessly through the cracks between the sand tornadoes.

The frenzied storm had no effect on his movement technique at all.

“ROAR!”

When the Wind Beast saw that Lu Qing had escaped its ambush, disappearing in a blink…

It let out an earth-shaking roar of pure fury.

The sandstorm surged even more wildly.

Its body disintegrated, merging into the wind and sand, and it began to pursue Lu Qing’s fleeing trail.

But it was all in vain.

Even after chasing all the way to the edge of the Gale Plain, it never caught sight of Lu Qing again.

Staring out beyond the plain at the distant, lush, unbroken mountain ranges…

The Wind Beast knew—the ant had escaped.

And so, howls of rage echoed once more across the Gale Plain.

“Looks like even a Nascent Soul Wind Beast can’t escape the bounds of this plain quickly enough.”

Hidden in the mountains, Lu Qing heard the howls and silently mused.

He now stood inside a secluded cave.

Beside him, a massive python was trembling uncontrollably, not daring to move a muscle.

Lu Qing ignored the creature.

After laying down an aura-concealing array at the cave entrance, he released Xiaoli and Wuxing from the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag.

“Ah Qing!” the gray-furred Xiaoli called out as soon as it emerged. “Did you beat that big brute?”

Back in the Gale Plain, Xiaoli had been nestled in Lu Qing’s arms.

Only when the Nascent Soul Wind Beast appeared had Lu Qing tucked it into the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag.

So it hadn’t witnessed the final showdown.

“No,” Lu Qing shook his head. “Nascent Soul power is no joke. That beast was stupid, but we were still at a stalemate.”

“Even you couldn’t beat that big guy?”

Xiaoli’s eyes widened in shock.

In its mind, Lu Qing had always been nearly unbeatable. Rarely had he failed to overcome a foe.

It had never imagined that such a slow, clumsy beast could hold its own against him.

“Yeah. A Nascent Soul expert is still a Nascent Soul expert. With my current strength, I’m still a ways off from defeating someone at that level.”

Lu Qing sighed.

He’d stepped in on the Gale Plain not just to save the caravan—

But also to use the Nascent Soul Wind Beast to test his limits.

And now the results were clear: even though he’d reached the fifth transformation of the Golden Core Realm…

He still wasn’t capable of truly fighting a Nascent Soul-level opponent.

That Wind Beast was dim-witted and clumsy, barely able to use its natural powers.

It was likely among the weakest of all Nascent Soul creatures.

And yet, Lu Qing still couldn’t defeat it—couldn’t even do real damage.

It was clear.

If he were to face a true Nascent Soul cultivator—someone who had trained for decades, mastering their techniques and divine abilities—

He wouldn’t stand a chance.