Chapter Forty-Three: Stirring Up Enmity
Jiang Shuangyan glared fiercely at Ming Haohua, her apricot-shaped eyes flashing with anger. She pressed her four fingers together and, with a solemn gesture to the heavens, swore a heart demon oath.
She couldn’t afford to provoke that hideous Ming Haohua now. Once she caught the thief who had stolen the cultivation technique, she would settle accounts at her leisure!
After swearing her oath, Jiang Shuangyan’s expression turned cold. “Is that enough, Senior Brother Xia?”
“Hmph, how did Xia Changhan manage to reach the Foundation Establishment stage? His mind is as narrow as a needle!” One of Jiang Shuangyan’s loyal followers, unable to stomach the scene, deliberately muttered under his breath.
“Does he not know who our Junior Sister Jiang is? How dare he make her swear a heart demon oath?”
“Just a minor longevity technique, and Senior Brother Xia’s true nature is exposed! No wonder he’s the chief disciple of Guangbai Peak—calculating to the core!”
The three followers whispered their complaints about Xia Changhan in low voices, but he paid them no heed. Cradling the Soul Resonance Bell, he struck at Ming Haohua, whose long blade met the blow with a ringing clash of metal.
Other disciples from the Fifth Squad, those sharp of hearing, caught snatches of the exchange and felt a surge of anger. Still, constrained by Jiang Shuangyan’s status and the interference of the black-robed demonic cultivators, none dared speak out.
“Junior Sister Jiang, you’d better give chase. If you fail to catch him this time, you’ll owe me a favor!” Xia Changhan teased, splitting his attention for a moment.
Having heard her followers voice her own thoughts, Jiang Shuangyan saw no need to waste further time here. The corners of her lips curled into a proud smile. “Don’t dream, Senior Brother. He’s been struck by the chilling fragrance of the plum blossom branch—no matter where he runs, to the ends of the earth or the sea, I’ll catch him!”
“Let’s go!”
With a flash, Jiang Shuangyan shot forward, a corner of a talisman flickering in her palm. She had used a fourth-grade Hundred-Mile Swift Talisman without hesitation.
Her three followers, faces alight with pride, crushed identical talismans and followed close behind.
“Hahaha, that wild little minx is really rich!” Ming Haohua laughed, dueling Xia Changhan with relaxed ease, still keeping an eye on Jiang Shuangyan and her trio.
Xia Changhan smiled as well, a fleeting glint of caution in his eyes. “She is indeed wealthy.”
…
Qu Yiqiu felt as though she might vomit.
The medium-sized mineral vein was nearly destroyed, the already labyrinthine passages now even more impossible to navigate. The man carrying her was muttering nonsensically, charging blindly ahead with no idea where he was going.
She couldn’t keep following this lunatic senior any longer!
Struggling to steady her mind amid the jolting ride, Qu Yiqiu formed a hand seal, summoning a tri-colored spiritual light, ready to release a spell—when, in a shadowy bend of the tunnel, she noticed several loose stones shifting.
She immediately redirected her hand seal and cast her spell at the moving stones in the dim corner.
“Senior Brother, there’s an enemy ahead!”
At the same moment, Qu Yiqiu called out in warning.
The one-armed man’s lifeless, blood-red eyes suddenly flared with murderous intent. “Where? Where’s the enemy? Where’s the demonic cultivator?!”
“Just ahead—” Qu Yiqiu barely finished before the one-armed man flung her aside, sending her sprawling to the ground.
Was this his first time on the battlefield? Protected disciples really couldn’t handle adversity!
She scrambled up, only to see the one-armed man’s entire body cracking apart.
Tension tightening her features, Qu Yiqiu quickly summoned her Frost-Colored Jade Ribbon, which burst forth in a dazzling glow, lengthening in the air and colliding with a torrent of black demonic energy.
With a thought, five-colored spiritual light flowed from her palm into the ribbon, which twisted with dragon-like agility and in an instant, bound the unsuspecting demonic cultivator tight as a cocoon.
Staring at the writhing captive, a cold glint flashed in Qu Yiqiu’s eyes.
Her pale hands closed, and the jade ribbon tightened mercilessly.
“Spare me, spare me! I—I know where the cultivation technique is!”
Qu Yiqiu hesitated, puzzled for a moment.
What cultivation technique?
But it didn’t matter. If this person could kill even the one-armed senior and was skilled in earth-escape arts, she, being only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, had no reason to leave trouble behind. Best to kill him now!
The ribbon shrank to a blade-thin leaf, cutting short the demonic cultivator’s final scream; his soul dissipated.
Task complete, the jade ribbon swept up two storage pouches.
Qu Yiqiu swiftly rifled through them—just some low-grade spirit stones and worthless materials.
Nothing that caught her eye.
However, inside the demonic cultivator’s pouch, she discovered a curious bamboo slip.
She took it, along with the spirit stones, storing them in her own ring, then tossed the pouches back to their owners’ sides and set them alight.
For cultivators, burial was meaningless; cremation was the greatest respect, protecting the body from evil influence and desecration.
Turning to leave, Qu Yiqiu sensed with her spiritual perception that Yao Zhi Mei was nearby.
“The one-armed senior said there were the most demonic cultivators inside—could Yao Zhi Mei have come down as well?”
With that thought, and her ever-increasing tally of merit tokens, Qu Yiqiu decided to probe deeper.
She couldn’t let Yao Zhi Mei wreak havoc any longer!
…
Deepest recesses of the medium-sized mine.
“Damn it! That brat knows earth-escape arts and played us for fools! I came in such a rush I didn’t bring any earth-attributed talismans. Did any of you?”
Jiang Shuangyan turned on her three followers in fury.
They exchanged anxious glances, all looking guilty.
“Idiots! Useless trash! The clan poured so many resources into you, yet you’re no help at all. Hurry up and catch him!”
After a round of petulant scolding, Jiang Shuangyan shot off like a streak of lightning, crushing another talisman and doubling back the way she’d come.
Her three followers, flustered and afraid, dared not linger and hurried after her.
Meanwhile, the battle on Xia Changhan’s side had not ended. Though the black-robed demonic cultivators were few, their unpredictable tactics kept all the Fifth Squad disciples thoroughly entangled.
Qu Yiqiu had walked a long way inside before realizing her connection to Yao Zhi Mei led not deeper, but outside. It was only the properties of the ore here that had interfered with her sense of direction.
Gazing at the surrounding rubble, she prepared to leave—only to be attacked by a demonic cultivator.
Their powers were evenly matched, and the fight spilled all the way into the main cavern where Xia Changhan and the others were battling.
The moment Qu Yiqiu and her opponent appeared, her stunning beauty caught Ming Haohua’s eye, distracting him for an instant.
Seizing the chance, Xia Changhan drew his sword and pierced Ming Haohua’s shield, the blade scraping against his robe.
“Our sect’s youngest junior sister is far lovelier than those hideous snake demons of your Supreme Saint Sect, don’t you think?” Xia Changhan teased with a smirk.
Ming Haohua showed no anger, keeping his gaze fixed on Qu Yiqiu.
“Not only more beautiful than the women of my sect, even that little wildcat Jiang Shuangyan isn’t fit to compare with a single strand of her hair!” he roared with laughter, unrestrained.
At that moment, four familiar streaks of light flashed across the hall—the very same party of Jiang Shuangyan and her three followers, returning from the depths of the mine.