Cultivation: I Can Traverse Otherworlds

The room was in shambles.

Chief Tang Qing of the Qingfeng Escort Agency stood in the center of the room, his face livid. An invisible pressure emanated from him, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

His concubine, Mrs. Tang Fang, was curled up in a corner, her hair a mess.

On the bed.

A headless infant lay lifeless.

In the center of the room, the fist-sized head lay with its eyes still open, blood slowly trickling across the floor.

On the other side.

Tang Yan stood by the door, clutching two sabers, her teeth clenched. Her beautiful eyes were locked on the infant’s corpse.

Tang Yan was the daughter of Tang Qing’s first wife. Though only sixteen, she had already accompanied her father on escorts for many years. Forget an infant who couldn’t even speak—even renowned experts of the Martial World were no match for her.

"What a family tragedy!"

"So tragic!"

"..."

The crowd outside whispered amongst themselves, their expressions varied.

To anyone unaware of the circumstances, it was a clear-cut case of an older sister, green with envy, ruthlessly murdering her younger brother.

"Chief Tang has always been distressed about not having a son, with no one to inherit the Escort Agency. He finally gets one, and now..."

"To think it would lead to siblings killing each other!"

"Father!" Tang Yan, whose features were normally delicate, roared through gritted teeth, her face twisted in a snarl.

"He was a monster!"

"A Demon!"

"Silence!" Tang Qing’s voice was ice-cold. He cupped his fist to a man in the room.

"Hek Dianli."

"If you would."

"Of course." Hek Dianli stepped forward and placed a hand gently on the infant’s body before shaking his head.

"There’s no Demon Qi."

It was common knowledge that Demons possess Demon Qi.

Even the legendary Great Demons, said to be able to conceal their auras, would revert to their true forms upon death.

The absence of Demon Qi meant the deceased was human.

"Impossible!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Tang Yan said frantically,

"I saw him kill Xiaocui with my own eyes."

Only then did anyone notice another body behind the bed, a dark red mark at the center of its forehead.

It looked as if it had been pierced by some long, thin weapon.

"And her!"

Tang Yan looked at Mrs. Tang Fang huddled in the corner. Growling through gritted teeth, she suddenly lunged with her sabers.

"You bitch!"

"You must know something! Spit it out!"

Her Saber Technique was vicious. As she struck, the blades blazed with a Fierce Flame. She wasn’t holding back in the slightest.

"Stop!"

Tang Qing’s eyes widened in fury as he suddenly struck with his palm.

The Tang Family possessed two ultimate skills: the Thunderbolt Rupturing Palm and the Celestial Burning Soul-Seizing Saber. Both were top-tier Methods of Martial and Magical Dual Cultivation.

What Tang Qing unleashed in his fury was none other than the Thunderbolt Rupturing Palm.

BAM!

Tang Yan sensed the danger and tried to pull back her sabers to defend, but she was a step too slow. The Palm Force blasted her through the air.

She spat out a mouthful of blood as she landed.

"You wretched girl!"

Qi surged around Tang Qing. He gritted his teeth and snarled,

"I gave you food and drink, I taught you Martial Arts, and this is how you repay me? By murdering my only son?"

"I’ll kill you!"

"Father!"

Tang Yan backed away repeatedly from the charging Tang Qing.

"I’m your daughter."

"No!" Tang Qing roared.

"I have no such daughter!"

"Die, you wretch!"

BOOM!

Furious Palm Force raged within the small room, shaking the entire house and forcing the onlookers to retreat even further.

As the Chief of the Escort who propped up an entire Escort Agency on his own, Tang Qing’s strength was naturally formidable.

Zhu Ju stood amongst the crowd, a subtle glint in his eye.

’Tang Qing’s Palm Technique is quite extraordinary,’ he thought. ’It can harmonize with the Power of Heaven and Earth. Unfortunately, his physical constitution is too weak. The amount of Power he can channel is limited, making his attacks only about as strong as a Martial Artist capable of Inner Qi Release.’

’And I...’

’...am already a top-tier expert in the Martial World.’

’The next level up...’

’...is the realm of Mages who have achieved the Unity of Heaven and Man.’

’With my power, Tang Qing wouldn’t last a single blow. But I wonder how I’d fare against a Mage?’

SWISH!

A red shadow flashed.

Tang Yan’s petite form moved like a swallow skimming the sky, grazing past the Palm Force as she rushed for the door, brandishing her sabers and shouting.

"Move!"

"Everyone, move!"

The area outside the room was packed with people; even those who wanted to move couldn’t make space in time. The faces of the few people directly in Tang Yan’s path paled in terror.

’Hm?’

Xing Suanzi’s eyebrow twitched. He flicked his finger slightly, then chuckled to himself and decided not to intervene.

’If they die, they die,’ he thought.

’They’re just a few wealthy fools.’

Zhu Ju sighed softly.

Facing the incoming sabers, he gently extended a finger. Power quietly surged through his Physical Body, which had been tempered by the Water and Fire Immortal Robe.

CLANG!

Tang Yan’s charge came to a dead stop.

Shockwaves of Powerful Qi blasted out in all directions.

"Impressive skill!"

Hek Dianli shouted.

"Men, seize this woman! I will reward you handsomely!"

"Yes, sir!"

An Escort Agency inevitably has dealings with the Government Office, and many officials had come to attend today’s banquet.

Hearing his order, several of them now rushed out from the crowd.

"Wait!"

Just then, a look of startled suspicion crossed Xing Suanzi’s face. With a flick of his long sleeve, he sent something in the middle of the floor tumbling over.

It turned out that a stray blast of the Powerful Qi had sliced open the infant’s head.

And inside the skull.

A grotesque, fingernail-sized insect was curled up within.

The insect wasn’t large, but that was relative. Inside an infant’s skull, it looked enormous.

"A Flower-Spotted Bee!"

Levating the strange insect with a raised hand, Xing Suanzi narrowed his eyes.

"Also known as the Parasitic Demon Bee. It’s a hermaphrodite. It seems that girl Tang Yan was right after all. There was indeed something wrong with this child."

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

While the Government Office men sealed the room and dispersed the onlookers, Hek Dianli examined the strange insect and asked with a puzzled expression,

"Mage, this insect is so large. How did it get inside the infant’s skull?"

"Heh..." Xing Suanzi stroked his beard and sneered.

"The Parasitic Demon Bee didn’t get in just now. It grew for ten months inside the mother’s womb, right alongside the infant."

"Even before this child was born, part of its brain had been devoured. By the age of eleven or twelve, the Demon Bee would have consumed its host entirely, then burst from the body to reach full maturity. At that stage, it would be nearly impossible to handle, even with Magic."