“You want me to throw the fight and lose to the Spirit Beast early, so the Spirit Beast can return to its Territory ahead of time and attack the other Cultivators?”
Even if you don’t throw the fight, you still can’t beat that Spirit Beast. Besides, there’s no need to do it tomorrow—we can play the long game and catch a bigger fish…” Hua Jian glanced at Linglong, whose face was clouded with hesitation, and thought this Saintess really was hopelessly stubborn.
She’d just thought it over again and realized that if they acted tomorrow, it would be too obvious—everyone would see through their intentions. After all, she’d only just incited a few Cultivators to enter the Territory of the Spirit Beast today. If Linglong then lost early the very next day, allowing the Spirit Beast to kill those Cultivators, it would be far too suspicious.
But if Linglong waited a few more days before losing, then no one could possibly suspect Hua Jian.
After all, everyone’s performance fluctuates. No one would suspect Hua Jian of colluding with Linglong just because Linglong had an off day, right?
“Right now, only a few people have become greedy. Let them go into the Territory of the Spirit Beast to test the waters. If they manage to come and go a few times, it’ll spark ideas in more people’s hearts. That way, we can catch them all in one net!”
These bystanding Cultivators were ultimately a hidden danger. If they could be dealt with, it was best to clean them up—and using the Spirit Beast’s hand to do so was undoubtedly the safest and most convenient method.
If others tried to investigate, at most they’d find that these people were too greedy. No one would ever suspect Linglong or Hua Jian.
“This is the Secret Realm. It’s a Battlefield. Everyone here is our enemy. Are you really going to show mercy to your enemies on the Battlefield?”
Linglong lowered her head and silently acknowledged Hua Jian’s words.
On the battlefield, you truly couldn’t show mercy to your enemies. Doing so wasn’t just irresponsible to oneself—it was irresponsible to one’s comrades as well.
“Alright then, I’ll listen to you.”
“You should be listening to me anyway. Fighting? That’s your thing. Brains? That’s mine.” Hua Jian snorted lightly. What good was brute strength alone? In a crisis-ridden place like the Secret Realm, she had plenty of ways to trick Linglong to death!
Ahem, don’t ask how she’d been forced to a dead end by Linglong before. A failed sneak attack and being hunted down was hardly the same as a premeditated ambush, was it?
Back then, she hadn’t known Linglong was such a freak.
……
The next day, several Cultivators took advantage of the gap in the battle between Linglong and the Spirit Beast to sneak into the Territory of the Spirit Beast.
Then, only one of them managed to escape from the Territory of the Spirit Beast.
Because the Spirit Beast had returned to its Territory early.
“This Spirit Beast really cares about its Territory.” Watching the Cultivator, bedraggled and fleeing into the Lake after being chased by the Spirit Beast, Hua Jian muttered under her breath.
The Spirit Beast didn’t return early because Linglong threw the fight. Today, Linglong still fought with all her might and only retreated after exchanging more than a dozen moves with the Spirit Beast.
Ordinarily, after things developed to this point, Linglong would run into the Lake, and the Spirit Beast would wait by the shore, only slowly losing its hatred and returning to its Territory after a while.
But today, as soon as Linglong fled into the Lake, the Spirit Beast immediately left her behind and rushed back to its Territory to hunt down the Cultivators who had entered.
These Cultivators were bold, but their strength clearly didn’t match their courage. Even together, they couldn’t last as long as Linglong alone.
Only one Cultivator, who used the others as shields, managed to escape into the Lake in a sorry state, barely evading the Spirit Beast’s pursuit.
“This Spirit Beast Lair isn’t easy to get into.” The other Cultivators began to chatter among themselves. None of them suspected Hua Jian, since everything this time clearly looked like the Spirit Beast’s own decision.
And the reason was obvious: to the Spirit Beast, guarding its Territory was more important than keeping watch over Linglong.
Linglong had indeed provoked it, but always from outside its Territory. Now that someone had snuck in to steal things, compared to those people, Linglong—already driven into the water—wasn’t such a high-priority target anymore.
Roar!
The Spirit Beast let out several thunderous roars at the lakeshore. Today, it waited here even longer than it had waited for Linglong.
It seemed determined not to leave until it had caught that Cultivator.
“Holds a grudge, doesn’t it…” Hua Jian watched the black Demon Tiger roaring endlessly on the bank and thought that if this tiger were strong enough, it would probably dry up the whole Lake with fire and drag that Cultivator out to bite him to death.
But it wasn’t that powerful. Even at Spirit King-level, it couldn’t move mountains or fill seas, and evaporating such a huge Lake was beyond its ability.
As long as the Cultivator stayed hidden, the Spirit Beast simply squatted on the shore, waiting for him to show himself. It waited until dusk before leaving reluctantly.
Long after it left, the Cultivator who had been chased finally poked his head out from underwater and shouted at Hua Jian, “You little thief, how dare you set me up!”
After being chased so miserably by the Spirit Beast, he had to say something to save face. And after looking around, the only one left to vent his anger on was Hua Jian.
Unjustly blamed, Hua Jian’s eyebrows shot up. So this was how people passed the blame? Did he have no shame at all?
“Set you up? Let’s put aside whether I dragged you in there and threw you into the Territory of the Spirit Beast. Even if I beat you out of the Secret Realm right now, that’s still allowed by the Rules!”
Hua Jian flexed her wrists. Now wasn’t the time to back down—if she did, this Cultivator would just get bolder and keep pestering her.
People like this only feared strength, not virtue. The best way to deal with them was with fists.
“You want to spar with me, idiot?”
Hua Jian’s voice was full of aggression, making the Cultivator— soaked and sorry-looking —hesitate to act rashly. He’d just barely survived; it would be a shame to lose his life here.
Even if he could defeat Hua Jian, if his condition dropped too much, the vulture-like Cultivators nearby would never let a competitor slip by.
The fewer people there were to fight over things, the better.
“Use your brain before slandering people. We’re all just trying to survive in the Secret Realm—who’s nobler than who? Even if I set you up, that’s your own stupidity for not seeing the pit in front of you!”
The nearby Cultivators, watching the show, were all visibly surprised by Hua Jian’s tirade.
This girl’s mouth was vicious! And from the way she cursed, you could tell she was an old hand in the Secret Realm. They’d have to be careful when dealing with her in the future.
In the world of cultivation, the last thing you could trust was someone’s looks. Who knew—maybe she was actually an Old Demon who’d taken youth-preserving medicine.
“Hmph, what a useless fool.” With that, Hua Jian turned and left the scene.
She’d said all she needed to establish her reputation. The rest was just a waste of time. She might as well go back to the cave and mooch off Linglong’s dinner.
After scheming against these deep-minded Cultivators, Hua Jian suddenly felt that Miss Saintess was so gentle and approachable.
If she had to choose between the two sides, she’d definitely pick Miss Saintess.