“These guys are really unreasonable. They fell into my trap because of their own greed, and now they’re cursing at me. Is being kicked out of the Secret Realm really better than being possessed by me?”
After a long day of hard work, Hua Jian returned to her hidden cave, carrying the Storage Pouches of the three unlucky fellows.
Except for the first penniless yet foul-mouthed Magic Path cultivator, the other two actually brought Hua Jian quite a few surprises.
They each carried weapons of decent quality. These were far more valuable than Storage Pouches she couldn’t open.
Before Linglong came back, Hua Jian had been in the cave, picking out weapons that suited her hand.
After all, these were hers now— she’d be a fool not to use them.
As she was picking through them, Linglong, her aura slightly disordered, walked in from outside the cave. Hua Jian then said the words from before.
“If you’re kicked out of the Secret Realm, you won’t lose your belongings.” Today, Linglong seemed too drained to bother with Hua Jian.
As soon as she returned to the cave, she sat cross-legged and began to meditate.
She probably used up quite a bit of energy wrestling with that Spirit Beast earlier.
“But at least I gave them a chance to start over from scratch. And yet they still call me Magic Path— truly unreasonable.”
Linglong’s eyes narrowed slightly. There was something she wasn’t sure whether she should say.
In truth, even those from the Magic Path wouldn’t do what Hua Jian did in the Secret Realm. Her tactics were simply ahead of their time.
Nowadays, most Secret Realms have excellent protections for cultivators.
Unless it’s over Treasure or personal grudges, cultivators can generally coexist peacefully in the Secret Realm.
After all, fighting an enemy to the death brings little benefit even if you win, and if you lose, you waste your entry fee and suffer for it— why bother?
Hua Jian, however, had blazed her own unique path, knocking out cultivators and stripping them clean.
If she ever did join the Magic Path, she’d probably become a headache for the Right Path as a great demoness.
“Don’t mind them. Right and wrong will be judged by all.”
Linglong was calm about such baseless accusations. These days, no one could brand someone as Magic Path just by spouting off.
What Hua Jian did was a bit much, but Linglong was certain— Hua Jian was definitely not a Magic Path cultivator.
“I like the sound of that.” Hua Jian tossed aside the sword she’d snatched, propping her chin up and muttering, “Why can’t I ever get my hands on a weapon that fits?”
She’d possessed others so many times, yet never managed to grab a weapon that suited her. It was truly disappointing.
She’d originally hoped for some zero-cost gains, but now it seemed hopeless. Weapons and Spiritual Garments were different.
With weapons, either they fit or they didn’t— unlike Spiritual Garments, which gave you bonuses no matter the size.
Of course, she meant the common Spiritual Garments. Something like Linglong’s custom-made high-grade Spiritual Garment— even if Hua Jian stripped it off, she couldn’t wear it.
“The weapons you snatch are ones others carefully chose for themselves. No two people are exactly alike, so it’s natural your preferences differ.” Linglong pointed at her own Ling Sword set aside nearby. “You could try my Ling Sword.”
“You’re the one saying this. If I break it, don’t blame me and ask for compensation.”
“…If you can break it, I’ll go complain to Master and have her ask the Elder who forged it if he cut corners.”
Normally, a Ling Sword is tougher than its wielder.
Linglong’s Ling Sword was forged from all sorts of rare Treasures— among Ling Masters, no one could possibly damage it.
Seeing Linglong so confident, Hua Jian drew the sword at her side and weighed it in her palm.
The moment she held it, Hua Jian knew this sword was completely unsuited for her.
Within the Ling Sword surged a domineering power, the force of thunder and dragon’s might intertwined.
Hua Jian, who had nothing to do with either power, couldn’t use the sword’s greatest abilities at all.
“Too heavy, too clumsy— I don’t like it.” Hua Jian returned the Ling Sword to its sheath.
On this Secret Realm journey, the most fitting weapon she’d found was still the long whip from that Black-clad Woman a few days ago.
It was a whip studded with many sharp blades, quite similar to the Spirit Vine she usually used for attacking and disrupting.
Today, she was wearing the Black-clad Woman’s black clothes, wielding her whip. Aside from being a bit shorter, she was practically the woman’s double.
This was the allure of the possession style ().
……
“Lu, Lu, are you all right?”
“Damn thief! To even dare attack Lu, that’s lower than a beast!”
“Lu was strangled unconscious— how vicious and ruthless that thief is…”
When the unfortunate cultivator awoke, he saw several friends sitting around a campfire, righteously cursing the thief.
“Lu’s awake!”
His awakening stirred the cultivators into excitement.
What he said next made their blood boil.
“It was those two Magic Path cultivators— the one who attacked me was the woman!” Lu growled through gritted teeth.
“What?! Lu, do you mean the two who stole the Mirage Incense?”
“I’d recognize her even if she turned to dust! Black Spiritual Garment, barbed long whip—it was definitely her!”
With old and new grudges stacked together, flames of greed and hatred ignited in their hearts.
“So it really was Magic Path attacking us in the Secret Realm— no wonder they’re so ruthless and shameless!” one cultivator slapped his thigh. “What is Linglong Pavilion doing, letting Magic Path infiltrate the Secret Realm!”
“No matter what, we can’t let those two Magic Path cultivators run wild any longer. We should gather the other righteous cultivators in the Secret Realm and drive them out together!”
“That’s right! We can’t let them continue their crimes. As members of the Right Path, we should take the lead!”
The cultivators discussed heatedly, never mentioning the Mirage Incense Treasure now in the hands of those ‘Magic Path’ cultivators.
But deep down, they all knew— hunting Magic Path was just an excuse. Their real target was the rare Spirit Item in those two’s hands.
……
“Achoo!”
In another patch of darkness, the Black-clad Woman— stripped of all her valuables by Hua Jian— sneezed fiercely.
“That damned thief! Next time I see him, I’ll skin him alive and break his bones…”
Beside her, the Black-clad Man was gloomily roasting a rabbit. Hearing her words, he sighed helplessly, “But right now, how are we supposed to find that thief?”