# 1842
Chapter 1835: Black Goat Retreats
Between the writhing血肉 clouds, murmuring sounds rang out once more.
These sounds resembled no language, possessed no grammar or规律, yet when Lin Qiye heard them, he could vaguely grasp their meaning.
—Now that these ants cannot withstand our assault, why should we retreat?
Currently, Great Xia faced the encirclement of six Cthulhu Faction gods. Places guarded by human deities were manageable, but the remaining two passes could not hold against Human Apex fighters for long. As long as they dragged on a bit longer, the gods would inevitably gain absolute advantage.
【Black Goat】 did not understand why they should retreat at such a time.
"Idiot." An Qingyu's cold voice cut through the air. "Nicholas, if you want to court death yourself, I won't stop you... but my people, I must take with me."
With a flick of An Qingyu's hand, the Cthulhu Faction gods stationed at various strategic passes of Great Xia simultaneously abandoned their battles and retreated into the mist.
These Cthulhu Faction gods were the ones An Qingyu had rescued four years ago during the Moon War. For four years, they had remained under his command. Now that An Qingyu ordered their retreat, they did so without hesitation.
Seeing An Qingyu withdraw everyone directly, 【Black Goat】's body began to churn violently. Countless scarlet eyes opened within the clouds, glaring furiously at An Qingyu as sharp, piercing roars rang out.
It was clear that 【Black Goat】 was extremely dissatisfied with An Qingyu's actions.
But An Qingyu simply ignored this, turning to walk into the mist. Several figures swiftly vanished into nothingness.
Just as 【Black Goat】 hesitated in place, a voice mixed within sword intent suddenly drifted across the boundless space, reaching the ears of An Qingyu, who was rapidly retreating into the mist:
"Where... are you taking Lin Qiye?"
At the instant he heard this voice, An Qingyu's pupils slightly contracted.
The next moment, a familiar locking sensation flooded his heart. Even without emotions, without knowledge of what fear was, his body beneath that sword intent was uncontrollably sweating... as if this was an instinct carved into his bones.
It wasn't just him. Beside him, Yu'er and Yusi also trembled violently, straining to fly forward even faster!
With Lin Qiye present, Zhou Ping would not easily unleash his sword at this location. Even though they knew this to be true, facing sword intent that seemed already pressed against their throats, they dared not take any chances.
Inside the Sword Pavilion.
Zhou Ping's brow furrowed tightly as he gazed at the direction An Qingyu and the others had fled, his eyes filled with fury and killing intent.
He raised his sword fingers, then lowered them. He wanted to simply slash down and kill this villain, but feared harming Lin Qiye in the process. At this distance, amplifying destructive force was easy, but precisely controlling the sword's trajectory was far more difficult.
After a moment, his gaze full of rage slowly settled upon 【Black Goat】 nearby.
An Qingyu had taken Lin Qiye, making it difficult to strike, but 【Black Goat】 was a different story...
Another member of the Three Pillars, one brimming with malice toward Great Xia, with a criminal record to boot. Striking at Him would not only remove a major threat to Great Xia but also serve as a warning to An Qingyu—killing two birds with one stone.
An Qingyu knew to use Lin Qiye as a protective talisman and flee at full speed, yet here you are, 【Black Goat】? Stubbornly staying put to court death?
Finding a perfect outlet for his wrath, Zhou Ping's powerful sword intent began gathering at his fingertips.
In that instant, the world changed color!
At that moment, 【Black Goat】 at the border of Great Xia seemed to sense something. All its scarlet eyeballs suddenly turned toward a certain location in Great Xia. The tiny worms writhing deep within the pupils frantically retreated into its body!
It could feel that an incredibly terrifying attack was incoming, and unlike the earlier warning sliver of sword intent, this strike... was serious.
One of its eyes gazed fixedly at Great Xia while another eye sprouted from the other side of its body, glancing toward the direction An Qingyu had fled. After a brief hesitation, its massive form began to move, swiftly disappearing into the mist.
【Black Goat】 retreated.
But this did nothing to quell Zhou Ping's fury. Even if it had fled into the mist, even if it had fled to the ends of the earth, this sword would find it!
As 【Black Goat】 retreated, the sword intent scattered through the air grew increasingly dense. The sword laws of heaven and earth began converging toward this sea region. Even tiny droplets of water were silently being sliced in two...
The worms and tentacles on 【Black Goat】's body seemed to sense this too, writhing uneasily with increasing speed. But no matter how fast it moved, its massive form was right there. No matter how swift, it could never match An Qingyu and the others, who had long since fled far away.
Suddenly, all the sword intent drifting through heaven and earth came to an abrupt halt, then swiftly faded and vanished.
The 【Black Goat】 that had been cornered by the sword now flickering with confusion in its eyeballs, but its speed did not decrease in the slightest as its form rapidly vanished into the depths of the mist.
...
Great Xia, Sword Pavilion.
With sweat dripping down his face, Fate Monk watched as Zhou Ping slowly lowered his sword fingers, finally letting out a long breath.
"Thank you for understanding, Crimson Dust Sword Immortal..."
"It's nothing." Zhou Ping glanced toward the direction An Qingyu and the others had fled and said,
"I wanted to slash at 【Black Goat】 to serve as a warning, to remind An Qingyu not to do anything excessive to Lin Qiye... If you had told me earlier that this was part of Lin Qiye's plan, I wouldn't have drawn my sword."
"We didn't anticipate either that An Qingyu's target was Erhai. Time was too tight; it was a last-minute decision on our part."
Zhou Ping nodded, pondering for a moment before speaking again:
"I still think this was rather reckless of him."
"Reckless or not, we have no choice." Fate Monk shook his head. "One of the dilemmas we currently face is that we don't know where the Cthulhu Faction gods' lair is located. Although our earlier displays of force forced them out of the shadows and into the open, now that An Qingyu has fled, he will inevitably bring all the Cthulhu Faction gods back into concealment, waiting for their opportunity.
While this is a dangerous move, it is the only chance we have to access the Cthulhu Faction's most core secrets... and besides Lin Qiye, no one else can accomplish this."
"But we can't guarantee that they won't harm him once they bring Lin Qiye back."
"That's why I said besides Lin Qiye no one else can do it... After all, there is almost nothing more precious in this world than a Hongmeng Lingtai." Fate Monk spoke slowly,
"I know An Qingyu. Setting aside whether he still cares about sentiment or not, with just those four words 'Hongmeng Lingtai,' he will never allow anyone to harm Lin Qiye. Until he fully understands the principles behind the Hongmeng Lingtai, Lin Qiye will be safe."
"Fair enough..."
Just as Zhou Ping was about to say more, a figure pushed open the door and entered.
Seraph Lin Qiye stepped into the Sword Pavilion. His gaze fell upon Fate Monk beside him, and he gave a slight nod:
"The plan proceeded smoothly."