Chapter 429 – The Controlled Girl

“What?”

At that moment, Li Qingqing was badly startled.

“That just now…!?”

Li Feng and Li Wu seemed to have noticed the commotion around Li Qingqing as well. Watching the person who had transformed into starlight and appeared behind Li Qingqing, their expressions instantly changed slightly.

Su Ming’s voice rang out right behind Li Qingqing.

“Do you really want to play with me?”

That voice was full of pity.

“It’s not you who wants to play with me, but that ghostly thing in your hand that devours hearts, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, Li Qingqing felt an inexplicable panic in her heart, while an even more intense madness surfaced in her eyes.

“It’s Qingqing who wants to play with you!”

Shouting like this, Li Qingqing abruptly turned around, raised the Great Sin Blade high in her hand, and with overwhelming force, mercilessly swung it down at the figure that had suddenly appeared behind her.

Wherever the Great Sin Blade passed, a deathly aura, like decay, spread.

Any living being that touched this deathly aura would instantly perish, without the slightest chance of survival.

Yet, Su Ming didn’t even glance at it.

“Slap!”

The next instant, another crisp sound rang out.

This time, however, it wasn’t a hand landing on Li Qingqing’s shoulder, but a hand gripping Li Qingqing’s sword-wielding hand, stopping the descending Great Sin Blade.

“Buzz buzz buzz…!”

The Great Sin Blade trembled violently, as if enraged or perhaps laughing maniacally.

“Clang!”

On the hand gripping Li Qingqing’s sword-wielding hand, a series of cracks suddenly lit up, emitting a brilliant golden light, as if responding to the Great Sin Blade.

Su Ming and Li Qingqing stood facing each other at the closest distance—one with a face full of frenzy, the other with utter calm.

“Your name is Li Qingqing, right?” Su Ming stared at Li Qingqing’s face and said, “Are you wielding this sword of your own will?”

His words intensified the madness in Li Qingqing’s eyes.

“Big brother, that’s a strange thing to say.” Li Qingqing seemed captivated by Su Ming’s question, smiling innocently as she replied, “Of course it’s Qingqing’s own will. Could it be that someone is forcing Qingqing?”

This made Su Ming’s gaze grow meaningful.

“Isn’t that so?”

Su Ming uttered words that made Li Qingqing’s heart tremble.

“If no one is forcing you, then why has something like that been implanted inside your body?”

The current Su Ming could see it clearly.

Through his extraordinary Spirit Sense, he could perceive the foreign object inside the girl’s body.

“A strange chip.” Su Ming’s voice rang out clearly. “Last time, in the Midnight Labyrinth, Li Wu used this thing to control you, didn’t he?”

As a technician capable of modifying alchemical items, it was evident from the success of Pandora Modified that Li Wu’s skills were quite remarkable.

Back on the Tenth Floor of the Midnight Labyrinth, Li Wu had used a mysterious crystal to make electricity surge through Li Qingqing’s body, electrocuting her and restoring the frenzied Li Qingqing to calmness.

At that time, Su Ming hadn’t understood what caused that result.

Now, Su Ming knew.

Without a doubt, to control Li Qingqing, who could go berserk and lose control at any moment, Li Wu had created a “Collar” for her.

The crystal in Li Wu’s hand was merely a switch.The one who actually electrocuted Li Qingqing was a chip—a chip implanted inside her body.

“The Li Brothers are truly ruthless,” Su Ming remarked sarcastically. “One is your biological father, the other your uncle, yet they made you wield such a dangerous Sword and even implanted this bizarre, hazardous thing in you to control your potential rampages.”

“Don’t tell me you volunteered for this too?”

His mocking tone and cutting words intensified the crimson glow in Li Qingqing’s eyes.

Boom!

A scarlet shockwave erupted from the Great Sin Blade, violently throwing Su Ming back as he released her wrist.

Li Qingqing stared at Su Ming with blood-red eyes, her once-innocent voice now coarse and menacing. “Stop saying strange things, big brother,” she murmured. “Qing Qing brought you here to play with her, not to lecture her.”

“This isn’t a lecture,” Su Ming replied indifferently, flexing his numbed wrist with calm composure. “I’m merely stating facts.”

“But Qing Qing doesn’t like it,” she declared, raising the Great Sin Blade to point at him. “Qing Qing only wants to play, not talk.”

“Then how about listening to one more thing?” Su Ming lifted his gaze, locking eyes with her. “Put down the Sword. You can’t handle this game.”

Not a trace of hostility tinged Su Ming’s voice toward Li Qingqing.

It couldn’t be helped.

Unlike the Li Brothers, Li Qingqing’s complicity in such atrocities clearly wasn’t her own choice but theirs. Her guileless demeanor suggested a young girl with little cunning, and Su Ming sensed none of the malice or coldness he felt from the Li Brothers—only the Divine Artifact’s frenzied aggression.

This proved that among the three enemies present, Li Qingqing was the only innocent one. She was merely a pawn exploited by her father and uncle, controlled by a Divine Artifact like the Great Sin Blade.

While Su Ming seethed at Sin, the underground organization that had turned Longyao City into a blazing ruin, and vowed to settle scores with its leaders, Li Qingqing was not among his targets.

Unfortunately, she failed to grasp this.

“Qing Qing can handle any game!” she giggled. “She loves playing games, especially the kind where you slash people. It’s so much fun—how could she not handle it?”

As if responding to her words, the Great Sin Blade’s crimson edge quivered slightly, its bloody aura coalescing into a grotesque, grinning face that seemed to mock Su Ming with gaping jaws.

In response, Su Ming cast a frigid glance at the blade, his gaze imbued with a divine, authoritative spirit. The Sword shuddered abruptly, recoiling as if confronted by something it feared.

“Huh?”

Li Qingqing, whose consciousness was intertwined—almost merged—with the Great Sin Blade’s will, seemed to notice its anomaly.

In that very instant, Su Ming moved.

Transforming into a streak of starlight, he teleported before Li Qingqing.”Thinking about cutting someone down?” Su Ming stated, “Then I’ll first take your Sword, and see if you still feel the same way.”

As soon as the words fell, Su Ming reached out toward the Divine Artifact held by Li Qingqing.

“Don’t touch Qingqing’s things!”

Li Qingqing’s heart first trembled, then she became enraged. Not only did she shout loudly, but she also erupted with astonishing pressure, swinging her Sword directly at Su Ming’s hand.

Yet Su Ming’s figure once again transformed into starlight and vanished.

When he reappeared, Su Ming was already beside Li Qingqing, positioned next to where the Great Sin Blade had slashed downward.

“Give it to me.”

Su Ming’s hand seemed to have never deviated or withdrawn, remaining extended just as before.

Finally, Su Ming’s hand grasped Li Qingqing’s palm, wresting the Great Sin Blade from her grip.

“Boom!”

The Great Sin Blade immediately went berserk.

Crimson blood Qi and terrifying demonic nature erupted together, transforming into tangible power that enveloped Su Ming’s body.

Clearly, the will within the Great Sin Blade had also fallen into a frenzy due to Su Ming’s actions.

It was resisting Su Ming.

Not only because it had gradually eroded Li Qingqing’s spirit and was unwilling to leave her side, but also because the Great Sin Blade seemed to sense a lethal threat from Su Ming.

This threat drove the Great Sin Blade to madness, causing it to struggle desperately and release its power.

“Hiss…!”

An aura of death spread out, causing the ground to emit corrosive sounds as green smoke rose.

Naturally, Su Ming, who was within close range, bore the brunt of the death energy’s impact.

Especially Su Ming’s hand gripping the Great Sin Blade—black mist coiled around it, with corrosive sounds continuously heard, as if his hand had been placed in sulfuric acid.

If not for Su Ming having activated the defensive power of [Silver Arm: Gluttony], using his right hand’s strength to resist the Great Sin Blade’s death energy, he might have truly lost a hand, or even his life.

A Divine Artifact symbolizing death was absolutely not just an empty claim.

Last time, the collision between the Demon Emperor Sword and the Great Sin Blade was purely a clash of raw power, so the Great Sin Blade’s extraordinary nature wasn’t apparent.

Now, Su Ming had actively come into contact with the Great Sin Blade, essentially delivering himself to be fiercely pecked by it.

And when Li Qingqing reacted, she became hysterical as well.

“Give it back to me!”

Li Qingqing lunged at Su Ming.

Su Ming transformed into a streak of starlight, taking the Great Sin Blade with him as he vanished from the spot.

He had ultimately seized the Great Sin Blade from Li Qingqing’s hands, carrying this Divine Artifact that continuously corroded him with death energy, appearing mid-air accompanied by starlight.

“Hmm?”

Just as Su Ming prepared to use the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring’s power to Seal the Great Sin Blade, turning it into ordinary iron, a trigger from his Spirit Sense caused his figure to freeze.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, a beam of fire cut through the atmosphere, streaking toward Su Ming and exploding upon impact, transforming into waves of flame that swept through the surroundings.

The source of the fire beam was naturally Pandora Modified.

It turned out that Li Wu, seeing the unfavorable situation here, had acted without hesitation, attacking Su Ming with Pandora Modified.

And it wasn’t just Li Wu.

Li Feng had also appeared here at some point, his face cold as he unleashed several Ghost Shadows.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…!”Suddenly, continuous explosions erupted within the fiery waves, causing the eerie hue of the Ghost Shadow to be stained with blazing crimson flames, making even the color of the explosions appear distorted.

Under such circumstances, the sinister flames spread far and wide.

Only after a long while did the fiery blasts finally subside.

Li Feng and Li Wu’s eyes abruptly narrowed.

For within the eerie flames, a figure stood as if rooted in the wind, poised atop the fiery waves.

Unharmed, unscathed.

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(End of Chapter)