The two sleeping dragons and young phoenixes stared at each other's masks in silence for a long time.
"Fine, fine, I'll answer your question," Xia Feng finally gave in first, glancing at the man's body. "The Illusion Evil is hidden inside his left chest."
Through the Evil Demon Heart, Xia Feng could clearly sense the presence of Evil Power around him. Previously, the man's presence had masked the Illusion Evil, preventing him from locating it.
Now that the man was dead, the aura of the Illusion Evil was suddenly exposed to his senses.
Mu Qingtong's long sword pierced into the heart of the corpse, easily extracting a colorful worm only half the size of a finger.
The worm's head bore fierce teeth, writhing silently and hissing on the tip of the sword.
And in the middle of its body, a blood-red vertical pupil, wide with fear, stared back at Mu Qingtong.
"One-eyed Evil, a rather rare Illusion Evil Species," Mu Qingtong passed the sword to him. "Do you want it? Its blood possesses water-type spiritual quality and could be used as a material for ascending to Second Order."
To advance each rank as a Spirit Master, one not only needed sufficient Spiritual Pressure but also had to collect corresponding spiritual materials.
For example, Xia Feng, with a water-type spiritual attribute, required materials for Second Order promotion such as Spiritual Grass, Illusion Evil Worm Blood, and Tail Serpent's Eye.
Among these, the Tail Serpent's Eye was the most difficult to obtain, as Tail Serpents were mostly Second-eye or Third-eye Evils.
Evil Beasts are classified from One-eye to Nine-eye, with one being the lowest and nine the highest. Follow current novels on N0velFire.ɴet
"No need for that; I don't require it." Xia Feng waved his hand. "I didn't exert much effort; you take the credit."
Mu Qingtong nodded, guessing that Xia Feng had already collected Illusion Evil Worm Blood. It appeared she had to speed up collecting her own spiritual materials.
While pondering, Mu Qingtong didn't immediately kill the Illusion Evil Worm but walked straight to the unconscious girl in a white dress.
She placed her palm on the girl's forehead, and the bracelet made of dim stones on her wrist emitted a faint red halo.
"Evil Power is 58Aoc, just 2Aoc short of becoming an Evil," she said, shaking her head as she got up.
Xia Feng was taken aback. "A pity?"
But before he could react, he saw Mu Qingtong draw her side-sword, seemingly about to swipe it across the girl's neck!
"!" Xia Feng was shocked, quickly grabbing her wrist, "Hey, hey, hey?!"
Mu Qingtong's eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Xia Feng blinked, "You want to kill this girl?"
"What else?" Mu Qingtong's voice was calm and light, as if discussing an animal ready for slaughter. "Although she hasn't turned Evil yet, just an Evil Disease patient, the quality's a bit poor but her soul is still excellent spiritual material."
Mu Qingtong's words made Xia Feng suddenly realize he didn't know her as well as he thought.
He should have understood that calling this woman the Destructive Witch in the later stages was not a name casually given by people.
Perhaps it was her upbringing, or her peerless talent; various factors contributed to her life's disregard... Thinking of this, Xia Feng inwardly cursed. Mu Qingtong's indiscriminate killing behavior was of great disadvantage compared to its benefits for his own interests.
He might not be the kindest person, nor was he a national soldier, but in this screwed-up world where a little sympathy for a stranger garners praise as a saint, he felt the need to play the saint himself this time.
Of course, there was a more crucial point: Mu Qingtong's future was destined to be extraordinary. Although he had no idea if she would truly become the Destructive Witch, whether she'd turn into a foolhardy world-destroying villain or a purposeful, ideologically driven one depended, perhaps...
Well, okay, primarily Xia Feng did not want his cohort to genuinely become an evil super-villain; it brought him no benefit and would just complicate matters.
So, he had to think of something!
Think of something...
Tch, but what could he possibly do to correct the 'normal' worldview of this Witch? Xia Feng sighed. After all... what was wrong with a world-destroying villain's disregard for life?
And imposing his own values on someone else felt a bit nosy.
Mu Qingtong, of course, noticed the displeasure in Xia Feng's tone, seemingly disagreeing with her thoughts and actions.
But she did not feel there was anything wrong with that.
She stood on the mountaintop, looking down at the crowd, those men, women, the elderly, and children, dense as ants, indistinct in her eyes.
However, at that moment, Xia Feng stood on another mountaintop of the world, challenging her, "What do you want with the souls of those afflicted by Evil Disease?"
"Experiments," she replied indifferently.
"To become stronger."
Hearing these two simple words, Xia Feng's dark pupils narrowed slightly, and a flash of Spiritual Light sparked a brilliant idea, the corners of his lips slightly curving as he said softly,
"I must say, Mu Qingtong, I look down on you."
Mu Qingtong was taken aback, "What?"
"I said," Xia Feng let go of the mask on his face, starting his act! His expression contemptuous, "Mu Qingtong, I, look, down, on, you!"
With Xia Feng's words, the rooftop fell into dead silence.
The surrounding dozen people had blank gazes still trapped in an Illusion Realm, with two cloaked figures standing in the midst of corpses and unconscious girls, their robes billowing in the wind.
No one had ever dared to scorn her ! Mu Qingtong fell silent for a moment, also removing her mask, her golden eyes calmly fixating on the man before her, "Reason?"
"Reason? You really don't understand, do you, Mu Qingtong?" A sneer curled the corner of Xia Feng's mouth, "You have the talent of a strong person but lack the mindset of one, how laughable."
"It seems I truly misjudged someone."
Xia Feng shook his head, disappointment saturating his tone, "You are not some exceptional genius, you're merely a mediocre person with decent reincarnation skills."
The mindset of a strong person? I am... a mediocre person? Hearing the thick contempt in Xia Feng's tone, Mu Qingtong's breathing hitched, irritation and restlessness arising in her heart for no apparent reason.
Had it been anyone else mocking her , she wouldn't have given them a second thought, but Xia Feng was different.
She was willing to listen to his thoughts.
But that didn't mean she had to agree with them, and she even found them somewhat laughable, Mu Qingtong's tone was mild, "You call me a mediocre person, does killing a weakling make one mediocre?"
"Cowards draw their swords on the innocent, and the weak swing their swords at the weaker."
And indeed, Xia Feng himself almost believed his words; he was utterly committed to his role, his sneering tone diminishing, he spake calmly, "Mu Qingtong, only a cowardly and mediocre person like you would resort to any means necessary to become stronger, going to extremes to bully those defenseless innocents. It's truly, truly disappointing..."
As Xia Feng's disappointed tone lingered, Mu Qingtong's pale golden pupils slowly dilated.
She did not believe that such things could define who was strong and who was weak.
It's truly, truly disappointing... Those last calm, indifferent six words echoed over and over in her ears, Mu Qingtong could tell that Xia Feng was utterly sincere in that statement; this was not an act or anything else, he was genuinely disappointed in her.
Did he feel extreme disappointment that she used to be weak? She stared intently at the man before her.
Xia Feng had a listless, indifferent gaze, expressionless as they locked eyes.
There were many ways to collect souls afflicted by Evil, her choice to take the soul of the girl in the white dress was naturally because it was convenient and the girl was easy to bully.
But did that really mean she lacked the mindset of a strong person? She did not think so.
Glancing at Xia Feng, she nonchalantly pulled the knife away from the girl's neck,
"Mr. Xia, you have a strange empathy that I lack; perhaps this is precisely why, though we are of the same kind, there is such a significant difference between us," she said softly, smoothly sheathing her knife.
Of the same kind? Xia Feng was taken aback for a moment, what same kind? Although he did not quite understand Mu Qingtong's meaning, seeing her sparing the girl, Xia Feng quietly heaved a sigh of relief.
He was actually quite panicked, having had no real intention of changing Mu Qingtong's code of conduct, but now that he could get her to back off, even temporarily, it was a great success.
Only fitting for me! But... deep down, Xia Feng felt an inkling that perhaps Mu Qingtong's future of reigning supreme, as the Destructive Witch, was already destined...