Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 877 - 877 0534 Taking as a Slave_2

Chapter 877: Chapter 0534 Taking as a Slave_2 Chapter 877: Chapter 0534 Taking as a Slave_2 Qi Tian shifted his attention to the flying sword whizzing back and forth in the air. The quality of the flying sword was ordinary, not worth a glance to Qi Tian, but it was still a flying sword, and would sell for a fair amount of money.

Qi Tian did not wait long before the flying sword drew closer and closer to him. With a swift motion, he pulled out the Red Hoop Stick and, taking aim at the flying sword, struck it with a powerful swing.

The flying sword was not in combat mode, and it was hit by the Red Hoop Stick, falling to the ground with a mournful cry, like a snake that had been struck in its vital parts, and lay there motionless.

Xia Xiaoming had cultivated this flying sword as his life-bound magic weapon. Since the flying sword was connected to his mind, when it was severely damaged, he felt the pain too. A sharp pain in his chest caused him to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Xia Xiaoming, no longer hiding, looked at Qi Tian with a face filled with sorrow and anger. “Sir, you are truly ruthless.”

Qi Tian did not bother with idle talk with Xia Xiaoming. Pointing the Red Hoop Stick at Xia Xiaoming, he said, “Do you choose to surrender, or will you resist stubbornly to the end?”

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Xia Xiaoming said, “Of course, I’ll take… your life.”

Before the words had even finished, Xia Xiaoming threw a blood-streaked jade talisman towards Qi Tian.

The blood-stained jade talisman gave Qi Tian a sense of trepidation. If his guess was correct, this talisman could unleash extreme destructive power, enough to pose a significant threat to him.

Qi Tian was not about to go down without a fight. With a wave of his hand, two Transporting Whirlwinds flew from his palm toward the bloodied jade talisman. However, the talisman detonated too quickly; before the Transporting Whirlwinds could wrap around it, the talisman had already exploded.

With a thunderous boom, the talisman transformed instantly into a blood-red spear, locking onto Qi Tian and piercing towards him with a force that seemed to rip through the heavens.

Qi Tian instantly assessed the power of the blood-red spear; it was comparable to the full-force strike of a cultivator at the Gold Core Stage 4th Level. It was too late for him to dodge, so he had to meet it head-on.

At that moment, Qi Tian accelerated the Transporting Whirlwinds he had released earlier, entangling the blood-red spear before it could strike. The function of the Transporting Whirlwinds was no longer to pull the blood-red spear into the Heavenly Dao Engine’s storage chamber but to slow down its speed.

At the same time, Qi Tian pushed the Heavenly Dao Engine to its limit. He roared, wielding the Red Hoop Stick and, facing the blood-red spear, swung it fiercely.

With a resounding crash, the Red Hoop Stick collided with the blood-red spear. Under the infusion of Qi Tian’s True Essence, the Red Hoop Stick remained intact, while the spear slowly crumbled to pieces.

Despite thwarting the attack, Qi Tian did not come out unscathed. His arms were somewhat numb, and his legs trembled – a result of overexertion. Thankfully, it was just this and no more discomfort.

Qi Tian looked up at Xia Xiaoming and noticed he was stunned. That jade talisman was something Xia Xiaoming had obtained at a great cost, his life-saving trump card, his opportunity to turn defeat into victory. Could he have imagined that despite the high price he paid, the formidable power unleashed from the talisman would be blocked by Qi Tian? How could one go on living after such a turn of events?

Xia Xiaoming was only stunned for a brief moment before he snapped to his senses. He knew better than to linger here and turned to run, but his flying sword was almost wrecked by Qi Tian’s stick, leaving him without a suitable method of transportation. Unable to fly away quickly, escape was nothing but wishful thinking.

Though Qi Tian felt slightly unwell, flying was still within his capabilities. Stepping onto his flying sword, it didn’t take him much time to catch up with Xia Xiaoming. Pointing his Red Hoop Stick at Xia Xiaoming, he said, “I’ll give you one last chance, submit or die?”

Xia Xiaoming’s own cultivation level wasn’t very high, around the Gold Core Realm Second Level, which was almost the lowest among the group of Gold Core Realm powerhouses that Lin Zhiyuan had brought in. He had hoped to make significant gains in the Imperial Family Secret Territory, but he had encountered the formidable Qi Tian instead.

At this point, Xia Xiaoming had no choice left; he could either submit to Qi Tian or be killed by him. Wisely, Xia Xiaoming chose to surrender to Qi Tian.

Xia Xiaoming verbally surrendered, but how could Qi Tian trust mere words? He demanded that Xia Xiaoming open his mind so that he could imprint the Slave Mark upon Xia Xiaoming’s heart and body.

Although extremely reluctant, Xia Xiaoming had no other option when push came to shove, so in a desperate bid to save his life, he opened his mind to Qi Tian and accepted the Slave Mark, becoming Qi Tian’s Immortal Slave.

This time, Qi Tian showed no kindness to Xia Xiaoming, making no time constraints in the servant pact, nor any promise to eventually remove the Slave Mark. In other words, as long as Qi Tian wished, he could keep the Slave Mark on Xia Xiaoming indefinitely. Xia Xiaoming would have to do whatever Qi Tian commanded, with no room for bargaining. This servant pact was much harsher than the ones with Zhao Haiying and Gao Jinmei.

After accepting Qi Tian’s Slave Mark, Xia Xiaoming stood obediently with drooping hands at Qi Tian’s side, ready to answer his inquiries.

After an intense interrogation, Qi Tian clarified many things. The reason Xia Xiaoming had been able to find this place was indeed by following Qi Tian. He hadn’t purposely chased him down after knowing Qi Tian’s landing spot, but like Qi Tian, he had lost contact with Lin Zhiyuan and the others when passing through the Teleportation Gate. He wandered aimlessly, much like a headless fly, until he spotted Qi Tian’s Message Paper Crane.

For some reason, the Message Paper Crane was flying slower than usual. Xia Xiaoming, sensing something was off, pursued it, eventually catching it. After opening it, he learned that it was Qi Tian summoning Zhao Haiying and others, which led Xia Xiaoming to trace the path from which the Message Paper Crane had come.

A Message Paper Crane usually flies in a straight line without turning, and it has a limited flight range. If one needs to send a message over a long distance, a Thousand Miles Messaging Paper Crane is necessary, which is different from the ordinary kind and easy to distinguish.

With the Message Paper Crane as a clue, Xia Xiaoming easily found the oasis, and then at the pond, he discovered Qi Tian’s footprints, further confirming Qi Tian was on the oasis. He resolved to find Qi Tian, not simply for the company but with the ulterior motive of subduing Qi Tian as an Immortal Slave — to have Qi Tian accompany him and, when critical moments arose, to risk his life for Xia Xiaoming.

Qi Tian shook his head. It truly was a case of trouble coming from the skies while sitting at home. If he hadn’t had some tricks up his sleeve, he might have really fallen for Xia Xiaoming’s scheme.

Qi Tian continued to interrogate Xia Xiaoming, focusing this time on why he had come to the Imperial Family Secret Territory.

Xia Xiaoming told Qi Tian that he had been lured to the Imperial Family Secret Territory entirely by Lin Zhiyuan’s instigation. Lin Zhiyuan had bid a high price for a treasure map at an auction in Wanjie City that pointed directly to the Imperial Family Secret Territory. Fearing he couldn’t bear the potential casualties the treasure hunt might incur alone, he discreetly spread the word to recruit help in Wanjie City.

Lin Zhiyuan wasn’t offering spirit stones to the cultivators joining the treasure hunt. Instead, he was collecting a substantial fee in spirit stones from the Gold Core Realm powerhouses as entrance fees for joining the expedition to the Imperial Family Secret Territory. To seize this opportunity, Xia Xiaoming paid Lin Zhiyuan ten thousand Middle-grade spirit stones, a sum not much less than the fee charged by the Eight Pill Alliance.

All the Gold Core Realm powerhouses that Lin Zhiyuan brought were like Xia Xiaoming, having paid the related fees.