Their idea was simple: strike when both Hua Jian and the Strong Man were exhausted and take them both down at once!
This would eliminate a powerful competitor and secure the kill of a major Forbidden Land enemy—two birds with one stone!
Swish!
The Spirit Techniques flying toward Hua Jian were sliced apart in mid-air by a pitch-black sword light.
Shiqi, her face dark with anger, stood in front of the ambushers.
“Despicable and shameless!” she barked coldly.
“Humph, she’s alone. She can’t stop us. Go!”
The cultivators whose plot had been exposed looked at one another and charged together, launching an assault on Shiqi.
‘We can’t beat you one-on-one, but with so many of us here, can’t we handle a single person?’
Shiqi was indeed a genius, but these cultivators who could pass the Saint Sect’s preliminary selection weren’t weak either.
With several of them pressing forward at once, the pressure on Shiqi increased sharply.
Though she could barely hold them back, this wasn’t a sustainable situation.
From a distance, Xia Hui watched this scene, her inquisitive gaze turning toward Hua Jian, who was still locked in a struggle with her opponent.
‘What will you choose now?’
Hua Jian had claimed to have anticipated this situation, but where exactly was that anticipation?
The reset of the Earth Vein Spiritual Pillar was nearing its end, with only about one-fifth remaining above ground.
But looking at the rate of the Strong Man’s decline in strength, even if the pillar completely vanished into the ground, he would likely still retain a powerful combat ability within the Spirit Master Realm.
Hua Jian would still need to exert a great deal of effort to take him down successfully, and Shiqi might not hold out until Hua Jian finished the fight before being overwhelmed by the trailing cultivators.
The difference between a group fight and a duel was simply too vast.
“Ignore this sword cultivator! Just leave a few people to stall her, we’ll finish off the other one first!”
“Then who stays behind?”
“You stay behind, of course! I’m the strongest, I need to go use my power!”
“Shut your mouth! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking!”
A group of people capable of backstabbing for profit naturally couldn’t trust their own teammates.
Expecting them to give up the credit right in front of them was out of the question.
They were only united now because none of them could break Shiqi’s defense alone.
If they actually reached a distance where they could finish off Hua Jian and the Strong Man, they would inevitably descend into infighting over the distribution of credit.
However, they likely wouldn’t get that chance.
While the group was arguing, the pressured Shiqi suddenly reached into her robe and threw a small, glowing hidden weapon toward the nearest opponent.
Although that opponent was arguing heatedly with his companions, his eyes were still fixed on Shiqi.
When he saw her throw the hidden weapon, he immediately swung his sword to intercept the clearly visible projectile.
Pop!
Colored mist exploded in mid-air, enveloping that cultivator and those nearby.
The sweet Flower Fragrance momentarily confused their souls. By the time they realized what was happening, their vision was filled with nothing but mist.
They dashed left and right within the fog, yet they couldn’t seem to find their way out, which left them feeling startled.
What was going on? Why couldn’t they leave the range of the mist?
They didn’t know that the bullet Shiqi had thrown was laced with Li Qi by Hua Jian. When Spirit Masters encountered Li Qi, they were unknowingly pulled into a hallucination.
They believed they were still inside the mist, but in reality, they had long since run out of it and were heading straight toward Hua Jian.
“Little snacks delivered to the door?”
More Vines extended from beneath Hua Jian’s feet, wrapping around the bodies of these cultivators.
It just so happened that her Spiritual Power was running low; having these cultivators deliver themselves was perfect.
As the Strong Man’s strength waned, Hua Jian gained more spare capacity.
She took the opportunity to release more colored mist, continuing to interfere with the perception of the cultivators affected by the Li Qi.
The group of entangled cultivators would soon learn how terrifying it was to be caught by Hua Jian—especially when they were under the influence of Li Qi and their own Soul Power wasn’t strong enough.
As the Vines pierced into the napes of their necks, expressions of horror appeared on their faces, and the Spiritual Power in their bodies began to dissipate uncontrollably.
These escaping energies were exactly what Hua Jian wanted.
The Vines she released hungrily absorbed this power, providing a massive replenishment to her nearly depleted Spiritual Power.
Seeing this scene, the Strong Man wore a strange expression.
“That method of yours… it doesn’t look very righteous, does it?”
This was almost indistinguishable from some of the legendary demonic techniques.
“Not at all. They lost control of their Spiritual Power because of fear. What’s wrong with me absorbing some of the ambient energy in the air?” Hua Jian tilted her head in rebuttal.
Although it looked like she was using Vines to pierce their bodies and suck out their power, she hadn’t actually crossed the line.
The Vines entering their bodies only injected pheromones that induced terror, a specific application of the Illusory Dream Flower’s ability.
Normally, Hua Jian didn’t have the need or opportunity to engage in that kind of soul-deep interaction, so she used this simplified method instead.
Unfortunately, she had only mastered the emotion of fear, and using it required the Vines to pierce the enemy’s body.
If sprayed into the air, the effect of these pheromones would be greatly diminished and would hardly affect a cultivator.
“Besides, these guys had such bad intentions. Am I not allowed to retaliate?”
The Vines binding the cultivators tightened bit by bit, causing the terrified men to wail.
The bones in their bodies let out a series of cracking groans. Under the immense pressure of the Vines, their bones were snapping one by one.
Hua Jian even intentionally avoided their vital points. She was simply torturing them.
If she had wanted to eliminate the threat once and for all, she could have used similar force to snap their necks and send them out of the Secret Realm, but she chose not to.
With that minor interlude over, Hua Jian had completely taken control of the situation.
The Strong Man was unable to break her bindings, and the ambushers had become her batteries. Victory was at hand.
In the distance, the Stone Pillar had completely sunk into the ground.
The northern wind swept over the remaining lava plain, causing the Strong Man’s strength to drop to the level of the Spirit Master Realm.
In this state, he was even more powerless to escape Hua Jian’s death grip.
He was slowly swallowed by the Vines, which then tightened with a powerful twist.
White specks of light seeped out from the Vines.
Hua Jian could no longer sense any trace of the Strong Man. It appeared the Boss had been defeated.
Snowflakes began to flutter down from the sky.
Before Hua Jian could breathe a sigh of relief, and before the cultivators who had worked so hard to reset the pillar could cheer, a Ling Sword suddenly descended from the sky, pointing straight at Hua Jian’s forehead.
“Witch, take my sword!”
A young woman’s loud voice rang out, causing Xia Hui’s pupils to shrink in shock. She couldn’t help but look up at the sky.
There, she saw a girl wearing the Yaochi Disciple Robe diving down, thrusting a sword toward Hua Jian.
‘Her? Is she actually looking for Hua Jian?’
Hua Jian hadn’t expected a second fight after finishing the Boss.
Subconsciously, she raised her hand and lashed out with the Vines she hadn’t yet retracted.
Boom!
The blade collided with the Vines, producing the sound of clashing metal.
Hua Jian’s Vines not only didn’t fear fire, but they also showed no fear when facing the Ling Sword of a Saint Sect disciple.
“Why is it you again, Senior Sister! I already told you it was a misunderstanding!”
Hua Jian finally saw who the intruder was.
She quickly retracted the Vines and raised her hands to show she was a law-abiding citizen.
“Misunderstanding? Are those people behind you a misunderstanding too!”
The girl pointed at the cultivators lying behind Hua Jian, who were twitching in pain, and questioned her loudly.
“Don’t think I didn’t see it! You definitely absorbed their Spiritual Power just now!”
“They ambushed me; am I not allowed to fight back? And they were so scared they couldn’t control their power, so I just used my Vines to absorb what was leaking. That shouldn’t count as me sucking them dry—that power was already ownerless!”
“Hmph, you still dare to make excuses! Today, I shall uphold justice and capture you, you witch!”
The girl was about to continue her attack when a little girl scrambled in front of Hua Jian, spreading her arms wide to block the sword’s path.
Finding someone blocking her way, the girl couldn’t thrust her sword forward.
She could only glare in frustration at the little girl who had appeared from nowhere, telling her to get out of the way and not be deceived by the witch behind her.
“Miss Hua Jian isn’t a bad person. There must be a misunderstanding!” Xia Hui shook her head vigorously, refusing to move from in front of Hua Jian.
Hua Jian nodded repeatedly behind Xia Hui. “Exactly, exactly. A massive misunderstanding.”
‘Ah, having such a sweet and sensible little helper is truly wonderful. She even knows to come and block a sword for me in times of danger.’
Moreover, the timing of Xia Hui’s appearance was very clever.
When her running over would have been useless, she did nothing. But now that her presence mattered, she appeared instantly.
During the previous battle, in the heat of the fight, who would have cared if she was a little girl?
Running over then would likely have meant failing to block even a single move for Hua Jian.
But now, the enemy Hua Jian faced was a young examiner from Yaochi—someone who could be reasoned with.
With such a tiny girl standing in front of Hua Jian, there was no way the young woman would just thrust her sword through her.
“Then explain this to me! Your sword, your poison, and your spells—why are they all exactly like those of Wanhuagu!”
The girl wanted to hear what kind of excuse Hua Jian could possibly come up with.
To her surprise, the one who spoke wasn’t Hua Jian, but Xia Hui, who was still standing in front of her.
“Miss Hua Jian’s sword was a gift from my mother!”
“Huh? So you’re the true demonic cultivator of Wanhuagu! Take my—” The girl froze for a moment before immediately raising her sword to strike at Xia Hui.
Hua Jian quickly pulled Xia Hui into her arms. This little girl… she really shared everything. Now things were going to be a pain to explain.
“Wait a moment, Senior Sister! It’s like this… her mother is…” Hua Jian spoke at high speed, recounting the story of her encounter with Xia Hui’s family.
The sword did indeed come from Wanhuagu, but it belonged to a traitor of that sect.
Surely Hua Jian couldn’t be blamed for that? Was she supposed to not use such a powerful Spirit Tool just because of its origin?
“The Saintess of your Yaochi knows about this. She didn’t say anything, so it’s definitely fine!” Hua Jian whispered the last sentence.
The girl, who had been aggressive just a moment ago, wore a very strange expression after hearing the story.
Upon hearing Linglong’s name, her expression became even more complex—a mix of emotions that was hard to put into words.
If that was truly the case, the poison and the sword could indeed be explained away.
But what about the evasion technique? That didn’t make sense!
“Fine, even if that’s how you got the sword, what about your evasion technique? Don’t tell me you learned that from her mother too. How could you possibly master such a technique in just a few months!”
“The evasion technique… it came with the Cultivation Method I practiced. It’s my family’s Ancestor’s Cultivation Technique. I found it under my bed.” Hua Jian was actually telling the truth this time.
It just sounded hilariously fake.
An ancestral technique with a matching evasion skill?
Had Hua Jian’s ancestors been some great figures who could pass down such a set?
Could it be that her ancestors were named Hua and were from Wanhuagu?
“You think I’ll believe that?” The girl raised an eyebrow.
“But it’s the truth! I swear, I am absolutely not a demonic cultivator!” Hua Jian expressed her grievance with a look of deep distress.
These days, anyone with a sane mind wouldn’t give up the chance to join the Right Path just to run off to the Demonic Path. There was no need.
Shiqi also walked over at this time and vouched for Hua Jian, stating that what she said was true and that things had always been this way.
Seeing that Hua Jian really had two witnesses, the Yaochi girl found herself in a difficult position.
She lacked sufficient evidence to take Hua Jian back for interrogation as a demonic cultivator.
If she arrested the wrong person, the consequences would be a total embarrassment.
Yet, she was unwilling to just let it go, fearing she might let a villain slip away.
After much thought, she made a compromise. She wouldn’t arrest Hua Jian yet, but she would stay close and watch her.
The moment Hua Jian did anything suspicious, she would act immediately.
“I’ll be watching you. Don’t even think about doing anything bad under my nose!”
The girl stroked her Ling Sword, huffing at Hua Jian aggressively.
Hua Jian was fine with this arrangement.
After all, this Senior Sister wasn’t eating her food, so she could follow along if she wanted.
It was better than having an enemy lurking in the shadows watching her.
This little interlude provided the nearby cultivators with plenty of entertainment.
They didn’t particularly care whether Hua Jian was from Wanhuagu or not; after all, she had helped them defeat a powerful enemy in the Forbidden Land, and they felt they had profited greatly.
Some of the more hot-blooded youths had already begun shouting, asking Hua Jian if she had another target for them to conquer.
Based on the fact that Hua Jian had single-handedly held off the Strong Man and dealt almost one hundred percent of the damage, they acknowledged her leadership from the bottom of their hearts.
They might have had doubts before, but they certainly had none now. By following Hua Jian, they were actually getting a piece of the pie.
“There are quite a few Forbidden Lands nearby. Let’s go check out the closest one,” Hua Jian said, waving her hand to calm the excited cultivators.
“But everyone should rest well today. We’ll think about the next Forbidden Land tomorrow!”