Master of Strange Dao

Ao Qing wore a smile on his face, munching on a Spirit Fruit just like Yu Ziqing, deliberately making loud chewing noises.

"Have you ever thought, if I could take you out, what would you want to become?"

"As long as it's not a Dragon Clan member, anything is fine. A worm, a starfish in the sea, a bird in the sky, anything will do."

"No, no, no, I know you don't want to be part of the Dragon Clan anymore. I'm letting you choose what you like, have any thoughts?" Yu Ziqing couldn't help but reach out, placing a hand on Ao Qing's head, asking him with a serious expression.

"Uh..." Ao Qing gazed blankly at Yu Ziqing, unsure of how to respond at the moment.

He simply didn't want to be part of the Dragon Clan anymore but had never thought of anything else.

"Take your time, no rush, or if you can't think of anything right now, it's okay. You can ponder slowly later. Living creatures always need a bit of hope, a bit of a dream. Whether it comes true or not often doesn't matter."

"Oh, then I'll think about it slowly." Ao Qing nodded.

He knew about hope, but as for dreams, he had never thought about them.

Time passed, and the month's deadline was approaching. Yu Ziqing once again stepped into the third layer of the Inner Mausoleum.

He knew he truly couldn't save the twenty-year-old Ao Qing—the gap was too vast. He wanted to rely on his abilities, but up till now, he didn't even understand what kind of curse was in Ao Qing's True Spirit Bloodline.

Even Ao Qing only knew that the curse would ruin his True Dragon bloodline, that it would grow stronger with him, tainting his spirituality. The more powerful he became, the more serious the taint, the more severe the destruction, leading eventually only to death.

Yu Ziqing wanted to kill that big monster, but it would rely solely on raw power.

Yu Ziqing consumed the Devil Pill. After becoming Devilic, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging straight toward the volcano's mouth.

The volcano's mouth became smaller and smaller, to the point where even one hand of the big monster couldn't reach out. That was the doing of twenty-year-old Ao Qing, who wanted to bury himself along with the monster formed from the curse.

He continuously buried himself, leaving behind spirituality, but at the same time, he would bury part of the curse's power.

As Ao Qing grew older, the curse got stronger.

Yu Ziqing charged toward the crater, ignoring the small monsters around him and the furious big monster inside the volcano, shouting loudly.

"Ao Qing, there's no time left. I can't save you, but I'll try to take the ten-year-old you and the one-year-old you out. Do you have anything else to say?"

Inside the volcano, twenty-year-old Ao Qing, bound to the inner wall, had already lost nearly half the skin on his face.

This indicated he was actively accelerating the burial of himself along with the curse.

Upon hearing Yu Ziqing's words, he laughed crazily toward the sky.

"What in life is joy, what in death is sorrow; as long as a thread of spirituality remains and the curse is completely buried, then I've won!"

"Well said."

"Brother, please don't hand over my spirituality to the Dragon Clan. Even if you transfer my spirituality into a stinking bug, just don't let me be part of the Dragon Clan again."

"Rest assured, the ten-year-old you feels the same way. I'll respect your wishes."

"Brother, may I have your name?"

"Qing Ziyu of Jinlan Mountain, remember it well."

"Okay, I've got it." Young Ao Qing closed his eyes. After a moment of brewing, he opened his mouth and spat out a bit of radiance that broke through the obstruction of the Magma Giant, flew out of the crater, and floated slowly in front of Yu Ziqing.

"I have nothing to my name, and I know you're helping me, Brother Qing, not for anything in return. This is a gift to you. Whenever you're free, treat it as a leisure book or as a way to broaden your horizons. Please don't despise it."

Before young Ao Qing finished speaking, the giant monster punched him, interrupting his words.

With that punch, more skin fell from young Ao Qing's face, and the crater became even smaller.

Yu Ziqing caught the bit of radiance, which transformed into an imprint on his right hand.

With just a slight sensing, Yu Ziqing was struck with great surprise.

The so-called leisure book was Ao Qing's entire life, his life's learning and legacy.

He had given everything about himself to Yu Ziqing.

In an instant, Yu Ziqing noticed that the rust on the rusty sword had begun to come off.

Yu Ziqing's expression grew somewhat complex.

He didn't even examine the imprint closely and had already made a judgment.

This signified that Ao Qing had willingly given it to him, even placing his life in Yu Ziqing's hands.

At this point, he truly had no ulterior motives.

He merely held a hint of pity for the ten-year-old Ao Qing.

For the twenty-year-old Ao Qing, there was more respect. He truly was a resolute soul, refusing to yield to the curse even unto death.

Mindfully sensing the imprint, Yu Ziqing silently crushed one small monster after another.

After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly.

"Ao Qing, I wonder if, say, I have a method to gain instant power, but the first target needs to be you, or include you, and then there might be a slight chance I could try to kill that creature together with him. Would you be willing?"

"But..."

"Of course, I'm willing."

Before Yu Ziqing finished speaking, Ao Qing nodded.

"But in your current state, you might not withstand the first strike, and you would die, and your current spirituality would also be completely annihilated.

And I don't have absolute confidence to kill this creature after your death. It will be extremely risky."