Xie Qing opened his eyes and the first person he saw was Xu Mei smiling at him.


    "Master," he nodded and smiled, "I did it."


    "Well done!"


    Xu Meiughed loudly with a bright smile - she did not doubt for a moment that he would be able to form a soul seed, so she was not worried at all.


    But the two women who were worried about his physical condition were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.


    "Well done, my boy," praised Xie Meiling with a rare smile on her face.


    "You are truly talented, young master," said Yu Yang with her usual strictness, but with a hint of approval in her eyes behind her sses.


    Xie Qing crookedly smiled and nodded, epting their congrattions. He looked at his body and although there were no external changes, he felt that his six senses had sharpened to such an extent that he could even feel the exact direction of the wind and hear the pping of a fly''s wings.


    And although this was a bit unsettling, as he was not used to such acute hearing, sight, and the like, it gave him another bonus - an even stronger perception of Qi.


    "I can feel something dense and powerful floating in the air... is this Qi?" thought the young man.


    Although cultivators could feel Qi, it was more like something illusory, but now Xie Qing felt and sensed Qi as if it were real.


    ***


    For the next month, Xie Qing tried to achieve a breakthrough, but could not do it, as if something was blocking his way.


    No matter how hard he tried, there seemed to be a wall in front of him that would not let him go any further.


    Although Xie Qing had the thought of breaking through this wall, he could not do anything.


    So he turned to Xu Mei for advice.


    "What should I do?" he asked, looking at Xu Mei in her underwear, who had thrown her leg over the young man''s thigh. Stroking her slender legs, he asked, "I seem to have hit a wall and can''t go any further."


    His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed - he was angry, then disappointed. Xu Mei, noticing the spectrum of his emotions, shook her head.


    "This state happens to everyone, don''t worry. You will have to be stuck at this level for a while, at least until a variable appears," exined Xu Mei, approvingly moaning when Xie Qing''s hands touched her bud: "So... aah... just keep meditating or fighting on the battlefield to improve your skills."


    "Hm?" Xie Qing raised an eyebrow, sending Qi to his index finger.


    "Aah...!"


    Xu Mei moaned loudly and her back arched, her hands clinging to the sheets. Her younger sister flowed with love juice - she had finished from the pleasure brought by Xie Qing''s hands.


    The young man, on the other hand, wiped his hands andy back casually, continuing to stroke his master''s slender legs. He looked out the window, lost in thought.


    So the days passed.


    In the end, one day he decided to leave the sect, as sitting in one ce for too long had made him toozy.


    This time he was not alone - Xie Meiling was with him.


    "Are you sure you want toe with me?" asked Xie Qing, buying a few pills. He threw a puzzled look at his mother and added, "For your information, I am heading to the Western Continent, it will take a month to get there, taking into ount the formations."


    "No problem," Meiling replied expressionlessly, brushing her hair behind her ear: "In fact, when I was your age, I traveled carefree to all the continents and knew the locations by heart. So don''t worry."


    "As you say, traveler," added Xie Qing with a smile.


    "Hmph."


    Xie Meiling just snorted when she heard her son''s teasing and muttered something discontentedly.


    The young man did not pay attention to this and counted that he had taken enough things and after some walking, he left the city.


    In advance, he said goodbye to Xu Mei, Yu Yang, and Lian Xin. Although he did not want to leave them, time was pressing.


    Just two months, more or less. Reach the Soul Nascent level - now Xie Qing''s main goal.


    Just imagine - a family leader at such a level would be quite apetition. Moreover, this leader is a member of the Heavenly Sword Sect.


    "As soon as I break through to the Soul Nascent level, I will shake things up in the sect," thought Xie Qing.


    Few people knew of his existence at the moment. The outer court and a little of the inner court.


    From the main court, no more than ten people knew about him, most of whom were Fang Lan''s girlfriends.


    Reputation. He needed a reputation!


    ***


    Day one.


    "We are approaching the trading town of Jiafei, it is not very developed, rather in decline. But the taxes are sky-high," Meiling suddenly said, pinching her nose to block out the pungent smell of manure.


    "Hm..." Xie Qing surveyed the town and then said with a serious expression as if his life depended on it: "It smells like horse, bull, and human shit here. I''m going to die from this smell."


    "..."


    Xie Meiling rolled her eyes.


    The town was half-ruined, more like a poor vige. The cracked road and gloomy houses made of stone and sand.


    There were no more than ten people - Xie Qing saw no more, although he could feel the gazes directed at them from the windows.


    "Hm... a strange ce," muttered Xie Qing, furrowing his brow: "Even if it''s a damn poor town, the Dynasty wouldn''t have allowed such degradation. What the hell happened in the end?"


    They stood in front of the gates... or rather, what was left of the gates. The broken gatesy quietly, broken in two.


    The break mark was not from a sword and not even from a fist, as if time was to me.


    "Strange. Very strange," muttered Xie Qing, frowning, his sixth sense telling him something. But he could not understand what.


    "The gates are made of spiritual stone," Meiling suddenly said, poking her foot at the broken gates: "And they willst more than ten thousand years without being affected by time."


    "Hooo? What a wonderful material... maybe I could chip off a little?" muttered Xie Qing.


    "Useless, this special feature has already run its course, so the gates are broken forever," Meiling sharply dashed Xie Qing''s hopes, the woman smiled and rubbed the stone: "All that remains is to bitterly sigh at the loss of such a valuable resource.


    "Oh well..."


    Xie Qing shook his head. Then he also touched the gates and raised an eyebrow.


    "Hm? What kind of smell is this? It''s like the smell of blood and sewer stench..."


    The young man wrinkled his nose. The smell was disgusting and appeared only when he touched the gates, which made him wary.


    Moreover, there was something like Qi inside the gates, but much darker and more sinister. That''s what Xie Qing felt.


    Since he was not sure what he was dealing with, he asked Meiling about it, who immediately changed her expression.


    "Devilish cultivators! You felt devilish Qi!" Meiling whispered in shock, frowning and looking around.


    She immediately analyzed the town with her Qi and widened her eyes.


    "How could I not notice? There are traces of devilish Qi here..."


    "Oh..."


    Xie Qing sighed and pped himself on the forehead. Why was the first ce he visited after starting his journey a ce where there were traces of a bunch of annoying people?


    However, since the situation was serious, they had to stop for a while and search the entire vige. More than ten vital buildings were found that had "aged" and special spiritual stones with formation engravings.


    All of this was an important part of the city''s defense. And if they were not restored, the city''s residents could be in danger.


    "Although, who cares about the residents, the main thing is that the trail of devilish cultivators was noticed beyond the Southern Continent," the young man mused, furrowing his brow and muttering to himself: "The trail is not very fresh, by a rough estimate - two months or even more."


    "That''s right. And that means that the devilish cultivators were able to bypass the sight of Xu Mei and the others by using an unfamiliar method," said Meiling, rubbing her brows: "There are no more clues here. First, tell Xu Mei about this."


    "Understood."


    Xie Qing sighed, not wanting to get bogged down in this mess called "devilish cultivators". Everything rted to these guys was covered in ayer of horse and stinking shit.


    However, Xu Mei was considered one of the most responsible people, so he wanted to warn her.


    Moving aside and erecting a thin barrier of Qi that prevented the dialogue from being overheard, Xie Qing directed his Qi into themunication token.


    After five seconds, the call was picked up.


    "Xie Qing?" came Xu Mei''s happy voice.


    "Master, a small problem has arisen," said Xie Qing, even abandoning his usual flirtation: "We found traces of some unpleasant guys. These are devilish cultivators."


    "Hm?"


    Xu Mei, who was lyingzily on the bed and enjoying herzy state, suddenly sat up.


    "More details," she demanded in a strict tone.


    "All right."


    Xie Qing was a little surprised by Xu Mei''s serious and strict tone, but the matter required attention. He briefly told her what had happened.


    Xu Mei listened to all this in silence and when the young man finished his story, she began to swear with obvious irritation.


    "Bitches! Fucking assholes! Fucking Feng Gu, you bitch, what are you doing? I knew I couldn''t trust this musclehead!"


    Xie Qing smiled when he heard Xu Mei return to her natural character and shook his head.


    Allowing her to continue insulting the leader of the Resting Eagle, he carefully observed the residents, who at some point had disappeared from the streets and gathered in one ce.


    He turned his gaze to Xie Meiling and saw that she was also watching the residents.


    And while Xu Mei was cursing Feng Gu...


    Rumble! Rumble!


    "Hm?"


    Xie Qing furrowed his brow, feeling the ground give way beneath his feet. He quickly jumped to the side.


    "Gra-a-a-a-a!"


    A shrill roar sounded as changes appeared where Xie Qing was standing.


    A sharp, glowing-tipped spike burst from the ground, and then the road the young man was standing on began to crumble.


    Brushing off stones, earth, and the like from himself, a boss... or rather, a monster resembling a scorpion appeared from under the ground.


    "Oh fuck..." swore Xie Qing and said to Xu Mei: "Master, a fucking scorpion has appeared here! I''ll call you back!"


    Without listening to Xu Mei''s speech, the young man hung up and drew his Nameless Sword. He furrowed his brow and, jumping away from the endless blows of the scorpion''s stinger, ran back to Xie Meiling.


    "Mom, I''ll distract him and deal damage, and you use Qi techniques," said Xie Qing, getting into a stance.


    "All right!"


    Xie Meiling ran back and stretched her hands forward, gathering Qi. Her main style was Qi style, so she used ranged attacks.


    Meanwhile, Xie Qing narrowed his eyes and when he noticed the movement of the scorpion''s tail, he drew his sword from its scabbard at the moment when the stinger was one meter away from him.


    Then, urately calcting the location of the strike, he parried the scorpion''s stinger.


    "Oh... you''re so strong, bug!" he shouted in surprise, feeling a tremor run down his arm, and then puzzledly tilted his head: "No, wait, you''re more like a big arachnid? Uh, never mind..."


    Shaking his head, Xie Qing prepared to deliver a counterattack.


    Pouring all his strength into his hands, he sessfully pushed the stinger away from him and, using this moment when the scorpion was "unarmed," Xie Qing enveloped his de in Sword Aura.


    Then, dodging the w attacks that split the earth, the man made his way and, swinging his sword, struck the scorpion''s eyes.


    ng!


    "Fuck!"


    However, he was met with an unexpected obstacle - the tail, which managed to block the attack.


    And when the scorpion was already preparing to attack Xie Qing, suddenly the whole body of the scorpion was covered with semi-transparent chains.


    "Faster!"


    Meiling shouted at him. It was thanks to her help that the scorpion was immobilized.


    Xie Qing nodded and activated his Sword Aura to the fullest, and then plunged into the scorpion''s eyes.


    "And now... let''s pour in a little Qi!" he thought with a smile.


    The scorpion made an iprehensible sound - whether it was screaming or something else, it was too quiet and unclear.


    However, Xie Qing did not stop the flow of Qi for a second, and in the end, he caused a battle of three energies to rage inside the scorpion''s body.


    Moving aside, he heroically stood with his back to the swelling body of the scorpion, which finally exploded.


    ...of course, it was not safe, so Xie Qing and Xie Meiling activated protective items received even before setting off on their journey.


    But it was heroic!