Chapter Eighty-Eight: Entering Merlin County

Northern Forest was a secular land. Though cultivators dwelled there as well, the spiritual energy was far thinner than in true immortal sanctuaries. It was said that only beyond this region would one find a paradise where rare treasures and heavenly materials gathered like clouds.

Of course, the journey beyond was exceedingly long, and perilous thorns and traps were never lacking.

Yet the path of immortality was never smooth to begin with. Staying within Azure Leaf Sect and hoping to break through to the foundation stage was difficult; seeking one’s fortune outside was not necessarily a bad choice.

The key was that she had already offended Falling Feather Sect, and with Huang Bing’s threat hanging over her, Chu Xin’er had a resolute nature. Once she decided on something, she would not easily change her mind.

By day she flew onward, and by night she took lodging in town inns to cultivate. After eight or nine days, she had already traveled more than ten thousand li away from the Mist Marsh and drawn near the edge of Plum Grove Prefecture.

During this time, Xiao Wenzi had already broken through to the seventh level with the aid of Senior Brother Wu’s blood. Chu Xin’er was delighted and even deliberately slowed her flight to help him find a suitable rogue cultivator to feed upon.

After exchanging for a new cultivation art, Xiao Wenzi continued cultivating. In any case, he did not need to travel on his own. It was only that the blood spirit art at the seventh level contained no new secret technique, which left him somewhat regretful.

A few more days passed, and Chu Xin’er had already penetrated several thousand li into Plum Grove Prefecture, where a marketplace for cultivators appeared ahead.

Mere constant travel was not the best approach. Since she had encountered a marketplace, Chu Xin’er decided to buy some spiritual pills, then find a suitable place to establish a secluded dwelling and first break through to the great perfection of the qi-refining stage.

In any case, she was already very far from the sect, and she was not afraid of exposure or of being hunted down by Huang Bing or by the sect elders of people like Gongsun Feng.

This marketplace in Plum Grove Prefecture had been established by several nearby cultivation clans. Its scale was not small; at the very least, it was larger than the Celestial Cloud Valley and the South Ridge marketplace Chu Xin’er had visited before.

Accordingly, the various spiritual pills needed by low-level cultivators were plentiful here.

Deliberately wearing a mask to hide her features, Chu Xin’er entered and exited the marketplace without incident. She easily bought the pills she needed, and also gathered two or three rare poisonous herbs for Xiao Wenzi.

But wealth stirred greed. Though she had already been very discreet and careful, she still drew covetous attention.

“Fellow Daoist, to meet is fate. Why keep running? Why not remove your mask and let us have a proper talk?”

More than a hundred li from the marketplace, in the open air, a thick-browed bald man called out in a teasing voice to Chu Xin’er as he chased after her.

Beside him, a sultry woman in a red dress smiled sweetly and added, “That’s right, little sister. My Brother Gong is a man who cherishes beauty. Why not become his dual cultivation partner? By then, we could be the best of sisters...”

“Many thanks for your kind intentions, fellow Daoists, but I already have someone in my heart. Please do not continue troubling me.”

Chu Xin’er replied softly, yet the speed of her flight did not lessen in the slightest.

Had the bald man not been at the half-step foundation stage, and had the seductive woman not been at roughly the same level as she, her temper would long ago have led her to curse them coldly.

But the cultivation world had no such thing as “if only.” Instead, Chu Xin’er’s attitude only stirred up Luo Gong and Zhou Yan’s evil desires further, and with their streams of flight joined together, they pursued her even more vigorously.

Because the bald man had the higher cultivation, his own speed was originally faster than Chu Xin’er’s. He had lagged far behind at first only because they were too close to the marketplace to make a move.

Now, with the seductive woman’s flight supporting him, they quickly drew near.

Seeing the distance between them shrink to less than a hundred zhang, Chu Xin’er grew anxious, yet had no good solution.

Clang--

As the chase tightened, a clear sword note rang out, and Zhou Yan’s flying sword burst with radiant light as it slashed toward Chu Xin’er. Since her flight was linked to the bald man’s, she had no fear of falling behind.

The flying sword was swift. Chu Xin’er did not dare let it strike her, and could only halt her flight for the moment, turn back, and launch a water sword technique to resist it while drifting downward.

In this way, she barely managed to block the attack, but it was no longer possible to escape.

“Fellow Daoist, you really do refuse the fine wine and insist on the punishment,” the bald man Luo Gong said with a grim smile as he and the alluring Zhou Yan blocked Chu Xin’er’s retreat.

As he spoke, both of them raised their artifacts and attacked the young girl with full force.

Boom, boom, boom--

Chu Xin’er would not sit and wait to be slaughtered. She immediately drew out the Willow Leaf Blade, and with both sword and blade under her control, she engaged them in fierce combat. At once, this hillside of low shrubs was filled with surging sword energy and unending thunderous blasts.

“Hm? A mid-grade artifact? Truly a fat sheep.”

The reason Luo Gong and Zhou Yan had trailed Chu Xin’er was not really lust at first sight, but because they had seen her enter and leave the pill pavilion in the marketplace.

Chu Xin’er’s cultivation was about the same as Zhou Yan’s, and the pills she had bought would certainly be of great benefit to her cultivation. That was why they had decided to kill and seize her treasures.

Now that she revealed a mid-grade artifact at the first strike, Luo Gong was not worried but delighted. The seductive gleam in Zhou Yan’s eyes was likewise full of greed.

But a mid-grade artifact was still a mid-grade artifact, far beyond what their low-grade artifacts could compare to. After a burst of clashes, fine cracks had already appeared on Zhou Yan’s artifact.

Fortunately, Luo Gong displayed his great might, suppressing Chu Xin’er and driving her back step by step. Because the exchange of flying swords had gone poorly, her full breasts rose and fell violently, and she nearly suffered injury and spat blood.

Chu Xin’er knew at once that her initial plan—first dealing with the weaker Zhou Yan, then using the two artifacts to kill Luo Gong—had been far too naive. She hurriedly formed hand seals and cast her spell.

Whoosh, whoosh--

The Willow Leaf Blade and the flying sword reversed direction and each confronted the artifacts of the bald man and Zhou Yan.

In this way, the Willow Leaf Blade, relying on its quality and power, could fully handle Luo Gong at the half-step foundation stage, while Zhou Yan, with her damaged artifact, naturally could not gain the upper hand either.

The battle settled into a stalemate. However, Chu Xin’er’s cultivation was ultimately limited, and she had to control two artifacts at once. Given enough time, she would surely be injured and defeated.

Buzz--

At that moment, Xiao Wenzi, within the spirit-beast pouch, shuddered and ceased cultivating. After spreading his demon sense to inspect Chu Xin’er’s situation, he immediately flew into a rage.

Where had these vile man and woman come from, to dare besiege Chu Xin’er? She was clearly struggling to hold them off, yet had not sent a transmission to wake him. Evidently, she feared disturbing him if he were in the midst of a crucial moment of cultivation.

After so much wind and rain together, how could Xiao Wenzi stand by and watch such a considerate Chu Xin’er be bullied? But he was not a rash person, and did not rush out to help at once.

Because he knew full well that with his own strength, a direct clash would at most make him comparable to a minor cultivator at the tenth level.

One should outthink, not merely overpower. Victory through ambush was the choice of the wise. Just as he had done when dealing with Huang Yipeng and Senior Brother Wu, he spared no expense of his few remaining system coins and directly exchanged for an invisibility talisman and a demon-concealing talisman.

A transparent figure, almost impossible to detect by the naked eye, flew out from the young girl’s waist, quietly circled around the battlefield, and moved toward the back of the bald man’s head.

To ensure a successful ambush and kill this fellow in a single blow, Xiao Wenzi did not even transmit a message to Chu Xin’er. Even she noticed nothing unusual, let alone the two men who were already drunk on their own confidence.