The night wind whipped, thick with murderous intent.
A figure dashed frantically through the small woods, glancing back from time to time.
"Did I shake him?"
Muttering under his breath, his gaze hardened. Gritting his teeth, he channeled what little spiritual power he had left and sprinted on.
The Wind Riding Technique bolstered his body, yet it brought him no sense of cool relief—only a searing panic burning through his vital organs.
All because behind him, a cultivator clad in blue was flying at high speed upon a flying disc, hot on his trail.
"Zhou San, you can't run!"
Zhou San turned a deaf ear, barreling madly toward the Howling Moon Mountain Range.
As long as he made it into the Howling Moon Mountain Range, he could rely on the rugged terrain to lose Gao Ting'e.
Gliding with the Wind Riding Technique was far faster than riding a lotus leaf flying disc.
However, casting a spell consumed far more spiritual power than relying on a flight tool like a lotus leaf flying disc.
Gao Ting'e trailed behind with a sullen expression.
Whenever he noticed the gap widening too much, he would channel his spiritual power to burst forward and close in.
"Heh, instead of running toward the Mountain Breaker Gang's headquarters, you panicked and fled into the wild countryside. You truly court your own death."
Sneering, Gao Ting'e pinched a talisman between his fingers, ready to activate it at any moment.
But as the surrounding scenery gradually shifted, Gao Ting'e's expression darkened with uncertainty.
"Wait, he wants to head into the mountains!"
The Mountain Breaker Gang was far more familiar with the nearby mountains than men like him, who spent their years traversing the great rivers.
If he truly managed to slip inside and hide for two or three days, there would be little Gao Ting'e could do to track him down.
"Fine then. Looks like this Divine Travel Talisman will have to be wasted on you."
Without hesitation, Gao Ting'e put away the lotus leaf flying disc and slapped an earthy-yellow talisman onto himself.
He channeled spiritual power into it.
In the next instant, enveloped in a hazy yellow glow like an earthen dragon, his figure roared forward.
The distance between him and his quarry rapidly closed.
Zhou San's soul nearly leaped from his body at the sight. Yet no matter how desperately he pushed his spiritual power, he could not widen the gap.
The Wind Riding Technique, after all, had its limits.
"Zhou San, die!"
With a low shout, a flying sword shot forth from several hundred meters away.
*Slash!*
Zhou San stumbled, but he did not collapse. Instead, he bolted forward even more frantically for his life.
Gao Ting'e recalled the flying sword, its blade stained with fresh crimson blood.
"Quite durable, aren't you? Let's see how many strikes you can take."
Gao Ting'e pressed on in pursuit, the night wind brushing against his face with an oddly refreshing cool.
...
"Fellow Daoist, save me!"
The cry for help rang out, shrill and desperate.
Luo Chen's face was dark as thunder. Hiding behind the door, he had a sheaf of talismans slung at his waist and a Soul Breaking Nail clutched in his grip.
*Save your mother! Don't bring your trouble to my doorstep!*
Naturally, Zhou San couldn't hear the curse inside his head.
On the contrary, Zhou San charged straight toward his house.
"Great River Gang business! Scram, all uninvolved!"
With a thunderous bellow, an enormous fireball suddenly flared to life in the dark night sky.
Peeking through the door crack, Luo Chen's eyes went wide.
*Fuck your mother, what are you doing?!*
In the next instant, the massive fireball plummeted like a meteorite, aimed not just at Zhou San, but at Luo Chen's entire courtyard.
*Boom!*
Gao Ting'e landed lightly. The yellow glow about him vanished; the Divine Travel Talisman was utterly spent.
In the blaze of the house, half-collapsed and burning fiercely beside him, he looked down at the corpse sprawled on the ground.
"Still playing dead, are you?"
Before the words had even faded, the body on the ground rolled over, only for a flying sword to skewer through him and pin him ruthlessly to the dirt.
Gao Ting'e sneered, casting a sidelong glance.
"Are you going to crawl out on your own, or do you plan to be burned alive in there?"
His only answer was a fireball.
"Insignificant parlor tricks! How dare you flaunt your clumsy craft before me!"
Gao Ting'e raised a hand, and an earthy-yellow dome enveloped him. When the fireball struck it, ripples of yellow light shimmered, and the flames vanished without a trace.
With a beckoning gesture, the flying sword on the ground whizzed back into his hand.
"Senior, mercy!"
Gao Ting'e watched the man scramble awkwardly out of the window, shaking his head in disdain.
Just a fourth-layer Qi Refinement piece of trash.
Suddenly, he barked, "Impudent!"
Yet another fireball hurtled toward him.
A fireball was nothing to fear; what infuriated him was that a mere fourth-layer Qi Refinement runt dared to attack him even after seeing who he was.
Enraged, he was about to unleash his flying sword.
As for the fireball, he paid it no heed whatsoever.
His Xutu Shield possessed defense superior to almost all low-tier spells. Let alone a Fireball Art, even a Meteor Fire Shower couldn't breach it.
Yet in the very next instant, his expression warped.
As the fireball dissipated, a ray of black light sliced through his Xutu Shield like a knife through tofu, boring straight into his chest.
*Splurt!*
"Soul Break..."
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Under the cover of night, a ghostly figure darted about, fingers forming hand seals in rapid succession as ball after ball of fire flew out in a furious barrage.
Gao Ting'e tried desperately to conjure the Xutu Shield again, but beneath the relentless onslaught of fireballs, he wasn't given a single moment to catch his breath.
*His casting speed... is so fast!*
That was Gao Ting'e's final thought before he collapsed.
Standing more than two hundred meters away, Luo Chen fixed his gaze squarely on the fallen corpse.
*He might be playing dead. I've used that trick, and so did that other guy just now.*
*I need to test it!*
Without hesitation, Luo Chen flung another fireball.
*Bang!*
The corpse did not react. He seemed thoroughly dead.
Luo Chen remained uncertain. At this distance, if the man was truly faking death, Luo Chen still had room to flee.
But unless one was truly pushed to death's door, why would anyone play dead?
Luo Chen's eyes lit up. Murmuring a brief incantation, his fingers twitched.
Far off on the ground, a stream of azure light snaked outward like a vine, wrapping tightly around the cultivator's neck.
*Clang!*
A sword hum rang out! Luo Chen was startled, then poured in even more spiritual power.
The vine twisted the neck violently, only fading away after wringing the head around two full turns.
"He really was playing dead. Too bad that trick won't work on me."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Luo Chen walked up to the corpse.
Gazing at the twisted cruller of a neck and the contorted, bizarre expression on the face, Luo Chen found his heart surprisingly calm this time.
There was neither the fury of being caught in the crossfire nor the smug triumph of having ambushed a formidable foe.
Sometimes, adapting to an environment was an effortless matter.
And Luo Chen had always been remarkably adaptable!
He merely marveled at how the Entangling Art could genuinely kill people—he'd never mock a certain God-King again.
He started to shake his... well, looking at that corkscrewed neck, shaking his own head felt a little too chilling.
Skilled from experience, Luo Chen began looting the body.
A swallow-shaped flying sword; he'd check its exact grade later.
A lotus leaf flying disc. This he recognized: a low-grade flying artifact, sold at Wanbao Pavilion for a hundred and fifty spirit stones, half again more expensive than an ordinary first-tier low-grade artifact.
The robes were ruined.
Oho, an inner vest of armor as well. No wonder he didn't die outright after taking a Soul Breaking Nail and over a dozen fireballs.
Pity it was mostly wrecked too.
No spirit stones? No cultivation arts? Not even a storage bag?
Damn it, what kind of pauper is this?!
Prying the Soul Breaking Nail from the chest, Luo Chen went to loot the other corpse, grumbling all the way.
In the end, he obtained only a set of flying daggers and a small pouch of spirit stones. Nothing else.
Fuck, another pauper!
"A bunch of paupers, why the hell are you risking your lives every day?!"
Venting his frustration, Luo Chen turned back to look at his house blazing fiercely, caught between laughter and tears.
"The local gangs have no manners at all!"
Chapter 22