Beichen Yue exhaled a breath of relief, gently placing Chun’er on the ground before quickly taking out a pill to feed her.
Chun’er’s robe had already been slashed open in multiple places, but what could be seen through the tears were not delicate glimpses of skin, but jagged wounds, with blood gushing out like a river.
However, after taking the healing pill that Beichen Yue gave her, her expression visibly improved.
A third-tier Defensive Spirit Talisman—this could block a single strike from someone at the Golden Core stage! In Ling Tian City, where the highest cultivation realm was only Golden Core, this was nothing short of a treasure!
But…
“I can’t break this talisman, but how long do you think you can hide inside it?”
The leader of the evil cultivators who had deliberately thrown Chun’er at Beichen Yue taunted, “If I’d known you had such a treasure, I should have killed you from the start. In the end, it’s all death anyway—a waste of such a good thing.”
The advantage of a spirit talisman was that its power didn’t depend on the user; as long as it was activated by spiritual energy, it worked.
But the downside was that it couldn’t sustain for long, and was one-time use only. All they had to do was wait for the talisman’s effect to wear off, and then they could swarm in.
The evil cultivator licked his lips and looked at the three of them with a seemingly persuasive smile.
“Why don’t you just come out and die quickly? I’ll give you a quick end, and it’ll save me from torturing you later.”
“Hey.”
Beichen Yue sighed softly. She had heard that the third-tier Vajra Protective Talisman could only hold for at most three hundred breaths before disintegrating on its own.
Since Dongfang Xiaotian hadn’t used his from the start, it was obvious he didn’t have many left.
Thinking of this, Beichen Yue felt a wave of despair, but as a cultivator of the Path of Forgetting Emotions, she showed no sign of it, simply taking a deep breath and saying, “Young Master Dongfang, you’ve wandered the jianghu for years; you must have your own means of self-protection, right?”
That would do.
Beichen Yue looked at Dongfang Xiaotian with some hope, hoping he could surprise them once more.
“Hm, of course, but I’m unprepared and can only bring one person.”
Jun An nodded without hesitation. Otherwise, the lazy Dongfang Xiaotian could have just blamed Beichen Yue and fled with someone.
In other words, besides Dongfang Xiaotian, Beichen Yue, Chun’er, and that girl from the Four Saints Academy were destined for a three-to-two death here.
“Alright, bring Chun’er then. I’ll add five hundred spirit stones.”
Without hesitation, Beichen Yue made the decision and handed Dongfang Xiaotian a purple card.
Dongfang Xiaotian recognized the card immediately—it was a Ling Card specially made by the Black Dragon Chamber of Commerce, functioning like paper money that could be directly exchanged for spirit stones of equivalent value.
The card Beichen Yue gave bore the number one thousand, adding to the previous five hundred from breaking the formation. Unfortunately, she hadn’t added her own third-tier Vajra Protective Talisman.
Beichen Yue noticed Dongfang Xiaotian showed no intention of producing an escape method.
She glanced at his injured junior sister, who was from the same sect, assuming he would prefer saving his fellow disciple over a maid with a loose tongue.
“Hmm?”
Beichen Yue pondered for a moment before continuing, “If even that isn’t enough to prove your bond with your junior sister, then I will betroth Chun’er to you.”
As she spoke, Beichen Yue pulled out a Contract of Sale and handed it to Dongfang Xiaotian. “Here is Chun’er’s Contract of Sale, now yours.”
Suddenly, a blood-stained delicate hand grasped Beichen Yue’s wrist.
“Miss… Chun’er will never leave you, even if it means dying! You are the hope of Beichen Yue Jun An… you must live!”
Clenching her teeth, Chun’er stood up and looked at Dongfang Xiaotian.
She was about to ask him to take Miss away when she saw his expression—like he had just seen a relic of the Five Grains Wheel of Reincarnation.
Alright then?
“Fine, just give me five hundred spirit stones.”
Dongfang Xiaotian said.
“Cough cough cough~”
That nearly made the slightly improved Chun’er cough up blood again, and she started coughing uncontrollably.
Feeling wronged? She was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a beautiful Foundation Establishment cultivator at that.
As a slave, she would never be sold for just five hundred spirit stones. If she weren’t seriously injured now, she would definitely make him understand what a terrifying Foundation Establishment cultivator was.
“Alright.”
But Beichen Yue had no mood to joke around with Chun’er and took out the Ling Card again.
“What will you do then?” Dongfang Xiaotian asked curiously.
Beichen Yue was silent for a moment before replying, “I’ll just pray for the best.”
Their exchange lasted barely two minutes.
“Fine.”
Without waiting for Chun’er to object, Dongfang Xiaotian took the Ling Card and, fiddling with it, walked over to the light barrier formed by the Vajra Protective Talisman.
The evil cultivator leader, hearing their conversation clearly, assumed Dongfang Xiaotian was just trying to say some last words before leaving.
So he sneered, “Kid, run all you want, it’s just a few more days you’re buying. That girl is pretty—smooth skin and tender flesh, a beauty. I suggest you sleep with her a few times; otherwise, when I catch her, my men will have a feast!”
“Run? Why would I run?”
Dongfang Xiaotian shrugged. “Why do you think I need to? There are plenty of ways to deal with you.”
The evil cultivator frowned and took a step back. “Kid, what are you up to?”
He was starting to get scared. This kid was just too uncanny—first with his Xiantian Tongshu eyes, then breaking the formation, and now a third-tier Defensive Spirit Talisman.
Who knew if he’d pull out a third-tier offensive talisman next? That would be like a Golden Core strike!
However, Dongfang Xiaotian just held the final payment from Beichen Yue and spoke to the Xiao Yuanqing that had been watching since the start.
“Hey, fellow cultivator, stop spectating. My Miss is a direct disciple of Ice Ling Immortal Palace. If you help us, I’ll reward you with these thousand spirit stones. How about that?”
From the beginning, Dongfang Xiaotian’s Xiantian Tongshu had detected the hidden figure within the miasma.
His target was clear, and the strength was certainly sufficient. Yet, despite multiple attempts, the figure hesitated to act.
Dongfang Xiaotian could tell the other party wanted to help but lacked the motivation.
What motivation is purer than profit?
Dongfang Xiaotian’s call immediately made the remaining evil cultivators snap to attention and turn around.
“Ah, Brother Dongfang still has sharp eyes as always.”
A tall, refined young man with the appearance of a scholarly figure emerged from behind a rock.
He smiled at Dongfang Xiaotian. “It’s been a long time, Brother Dongfang.”
Wait, who was this?
Dongfang Xiaotian felt the face was familiar but couldn’t quite place it.
The young man didn’t react to Dongfang Xiaotian’s surprise but pulled a three-foot-long Qingfeng sword from his spatial spirit tool.
“Let me clear these pests out first, then we can talk properly, Brother Dongfang.”
“Kid, your mouth’s big!”
The third-layer Foundation Establishment evil cultivator, already furious at being suppressed by a half-step Foundation Establishment girl, now faced this young man in his twenties who suddenly appeared and swung his blade at him.
He refused to believe that after encountering so many monstrous geniuses today, this kid would be any less powerful!
Fury filled his heart—he vowed to sever this man’s limbs later, to teach him that being the first bird to chirp had a price!
But his savage smile froze on his face.
As he felt a tremendous spiritual energy surge, over a dozen sharp sword qi slashed at him.
In an instant, his body shattered like scattered Ji Qi Mei Kong, fragments falling to the ground.
That terrifying momentum made the evil cultivator’s hair stand on end.
This young man’s cultivation was Qi Refining at the tenth layer—half-step Golden Core!
“Scatter! Run!”
Without hesitation, the evil cultivator leader fled into the dense miasma, while the remaining Qi Refining cultivators scattered to escape as well.
“Offend Brother Dongfang and still want to run?”
The young man swung his sword again, releasing more than a dozen sword qi that flew toward the evil cultivators.
Within moments, all Qi Refining evil cultivators fell before even entering the miasma, none surviving!
The young man’s figure then transformed into a breeze and sped toward the seventh-layer Foundation Establishment evil cultivator.
Among the mist, sword light flashed multiple times.
A steel blade suddenly flew out of the miasma, clattering onto the ground.
When the young man reappeared, he was already gripping the evil cultivator leader’s neck, walking out of the mist, his right hand empty, blood continuously dripping.
The evil cultivator leader struggled desperately in the grasp of this half-step Golden Core young man.
His remaining fists pounded uselessly against the youth’s body without causing a scratch.
Meanwhile, the youth’s grip on his neck tightened, allowing no escape.
“Spare me… please…”
The evil cultivator struggled like a dying monkey, flailing limbs wildly.
His eyeballs bulged as he spat words of pleading from his throat.
Once a boastful late Foundation Establishment powerhouse, now he was nothing more than a defenseless monkey in the hands of this half-step Golden Core youth.
“Wait!”
Just as the youth was about to twist the evil cultivator’s neck, Dongfang Xiaotian shouted to stop him.
“Brother Dongfang, these people aren’t worth mourning. What’s your intention?”
The youth looked at the evil cultivator, his eyes filled with icy killing intent, but he still stopped his hand from finishing the job.
Dongfang Xiaotian met the youth’s fierce gaze and said, “The Evil God Cult always makes big moves when they appear. Perhaps this time is no different. We need to interrogate them properly!”
Dongfang Xiaotian was no saint, but the Evil God Cult had grown to span the entire world.
It was definitely not some petty cult that liked to carve out fiefdoms or ambush travelers.
Most importantly, his chosen junior brother was in this ruin!
The difficulty doubled, and so did the reward. Dongfang Xiaotian didn’t believe the Evil God Cult had no schemes.
“You’re right, Brother Dongfang. I was negligent.”
The youth smiled at Dongfang Xiaotian, but didn’t loosen his grip, turning his cold gaze back to the evil cultivator. “But there’s no need for interrogation. We’ll do a Soul Search directly.”
“No, no! I’ll talk! I’ll say everything!” The evil cultivator’s face turned pale instantly.
Soul Search was a common interrogation technique in the cultivation world.
Since it was a skill, naturally there were refined and crude applications.
A refined Soul Search could be performed without the subject noticing, but only if the spirit powers of the two parties were vastly different.
Crude Soul Search was usually used when spirit powers were closer, accompanied by severe side effects—mild memory loss, or worse, turning the subject into an empty shell, a living dead.
For example, with the young man still at Foundation Establishment and the evil cultivator leader likewise, covertly entering the other’s consciousness was dangerous.
For the youth’s safety, the simplest and most straightforward method was to tear apart the target’s Spirit and then—inspect the remaining fragments!
The pain of having one’s Spirit shredded was said to be the greatest human agony, even beyond the Wheel of Reincarnation.
Whether reincarnation actually existed, Dongfang Xiaotian wasn’t sure, only knowing that the people in this world truly believed in it.
Ignoring the cultivator’s desperate struggles, the youth instantly wrapped him in spiritual energy.
After several painful screams, the evil cultivator foamed at the mouth, eyes vacant—transformed into a soulless husk.
Chun’er looked at the brutal scene, as if pigs were being slaughtered, and couldn’t help but feel a chill.
At the same time, she felt immense relief; if not for this person, one of them—either her or Miss—would have died today.
Beichen Yue also scrutinized this sudden arrival, silent as ever, just like when she had first met Dongfang Xiaotian, standing there quietly observing.
Dongfang Xiaotian sighed inwardly. Life was indeed messy.
The Evil God Cult, which once held absolute advantage, was instantly wiped out by an even stronger enemy.
There were no perfectly balanced fights in the world like in novels.
Only destined protagonists could always find enemies slightly weaker than themselves.
Who knew when, like this evil cultivator, some powerful being would suddenly appear out of nowhere, crushing all your careful plans and advantages with sheer stats?
Troublesome.
But, truth be told, fighting was only interesting when others were doing the fighting.
Once he trained his junior brother, he wouldn’t have to throw down like this again.
“Hey, who’s that? Seems close to you,” Chun’er said, having noticed that scholarly young man calling Dongfang Xiaotian “Brother Dongfang” repeatedly.
Dongfang Xiaotian didn’t answer, as he couldn’t quite recall. He hadn’t returned to Ling Tian City for a long time.
Since returning, he’d been busy training his junior brother or recovering from injuries—he simply couldn’t place this new comrade.
“Brother Dongfang, it really has been a long time.”
Before Dongfang Xiaotian could reply, the youth strode forward, grabbed Dongfang Xiaotian’s wrist, and said, “You’re back in Ling Tian City but haven’t come to visit my Xiao Sect? My sister misses you a lot.”
Xiao Sect, sister…
Dongfang Xiaotian’s hair stood on end, and long-dormant memories suddenly awoke.
What the hell! Wasn’t this the ultimate little sister fan, Xiao Yuanqing, who had chased him all over Ling Tian City back in the day when he first started wandering around?
Well, wrong person this time!