Chapter 54: Jiang Kun, Bathed in Blood

On the other side.

Jiang Kun and his father, who was none other than Jiang Minshan, the current Elder of the Punishment Hall of the Spirit Feather Sect, were urgently piloting a Dharma Boat outward.

Suddenly!

Both of their communication talismans simultaneously received a message sent by Elder Zhuang Xiran.

"Kun'er, I must go ahead first and rush immediately to support Elder Zhuang; you take people to coordinate from the perimeter. This group of bandits has an extraordinary background; you must absolutely not act rashly. Do you understand?!"

Jiang Minshan turned his head and instructed him with a grave expression.

Jiang Kun hastily responded repeatedly in agreement.

After speaking, Jiang Minshan soared into the air, vanishing into the horizon at an inconceivable speed of escape, heading toward the swamp where Elder Zhuang and the black-robed cultivator were engaged in battle.

Subsequently.

Jiang Kun, leading more than ten elite disciples of the Punishment Hall on the Dharma Boat, slowed their speed and began standing guard while contacting nearby fellow sect members.

Yet what he did not know was that at this very moment, four fierce bandits wearing masks and clad in black robes were speeding rapidly in his direction.

Above the swamp.

Elder Zhuang was casting spells to bombard the ground, attempting to break the illusion array through brute force.

Just at this moment!

Abruptly.

A black arc several zhang long suddenly shot up from the swamp below, slashing straight toward him!

Elder Zhuang narrowed his eyes in shock and immediately attempted to leap aside to dodge, but at that instant, a chill ran down his spine.

Countless black arcs, covering the sky and earth, came swirling toward him from behind to crush him!

For a moment, there was nowhere to evade.

He reversed his hand to form a seal, and instantly a square white barrier appeared in the sky to protect him.

Countless black arcs struck the barrier; failing to penetrate the defense, they all vanished one after another.

At this point, Elder Zhuang had clearly seen the newcomer; a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes as he slowly spoke: "I wondered what formidable character this was, yet it turns out to be merely someone at the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

"Oh? Whether I am formidable or not, let us see the truth under our hands," said the black-robed cultivator wearing a Buddha mask, his voice utterly devoid of fluctuation.

Just then.

A trail of escaping light approached from afar, drifting gracefully until it instantly arrived before the two.

This person was none other than Jiang Minshan, the Elder of the Punishment Hall, who had rushed over to provide support.

Upon arriving, Jiang Minshan did not bother exchanging many words with the opponent; he immediately launched an overwhelmingly powerful spell, smashing it toward them.

Even when facing the joint assault of two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The black-robed cultivator with the Buddha mask remained completely unperturbed; he used his pair of fair hands to form a strange technique seal.

Boom! Surging black flames began to erupt around his body, and his aura suddenly skyrocketed from the early stage of Foundation Establishment to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment in an instant! In that very moment.

Three great Foundation Establishment experts fought in a tangled melee above the swamp.

Various spells of immense power emerged endlessly, colliding one after another with terrifying momentum.

In mid-air.

Qin Ming, with a grave expression, spared no expenditure of vast amounts of magic power as he piloted the Spirit Light Shuttle at maximum speed, flying toward the Qingyang Market direction.

'Truly damn unlucky!'

'Of all times to get robbed, why did it have to be right now?'

Qin Ming felt extremely depressed in his heart; he had finally obtained a jade talisman, yet before he could even secure Elder Zhuang's recommendation quota, his well-laid plans had gone up in smoke.

All he wanted now was to return to the Qingyang Market as quickly as possible.

'Next time, I won't step out of doors again until I cultivate to the Foundation Establishment realm.'

'The outside world is too terrifying.'

'They casually pierce through second-grade great arrays; who can withstand that?'

Having made up his mind, he fully devoted himself to piloting the Spirit Light Shuttle beneath his feet.

In a flash.

Just as Qin Ming was speeding forward, a cultivator in an extremely wretched state flew straight toward him, the two nearly colliding.

"Have you drunk too much? Can't you watch where you're going?"

"Holy crap! Senior Brother Jiang."

Not looking was fine, but one glance nearly startled him speechless.

At this moment, Jiang Kun was utterly disheveled, having lost the former elegance of a core disciple of the Spirit Feather Sect; his body was covered in severe injuries, and even his entire left arm was gone without a trace.

Jiang Kun was also startled at first, but upon seeing that the person opposite was Qin Ming, the tension on his pale face immediately relaxed.

"Sen-Senior Brother Jiang, what happened to you?" Qin Ming feigned an expression of extreme shock on his face.

Jiang Kun pulled a pill from his robe, swallowed it, and panted: "So it is Fellow Daoist Qin; this is no place for conversation. I have pursuers behind me; let us speak once we return inside the sect."

"I have already sent communication talismans to my fellow sect members."

Hearing this, Qin Ming paused; without needing to ask, he knew that the only ones capable of beating the fully perfected Qi Refining stage Jiang Kun into such a wretched state.

Apart from that group of fierce bandits, who else could it be? "Ah? Then what about the others?" Qin Ming suddenly asked a question.

Hearing this sentence, Jiang Kun paused, then said coldly: "Fellow Daoist Qin, what is the meaning of this?" Qin Ming laughed it off, "Nothing, just asking casually; I will not be returning to the Spirit Feather Sect."

"Senior Brother Jiang, farewell."

Having said this, he cupped his fists toward the other party and made a gesture as if intending to leave.

Jiang Kun frowned tightly; a strong premonition of misfortune suddenly arose in the bottom of his heart as he detected a slight anomaly.

This Qin Ming is not right!

He immediately prepared to pilot the Dharma Boat and depart.

However, just as he was about to mobilize his magic power, Qin Ming's figure on the opposite side suddenly vanished from the spot!

Jiang Kun's heart jumped in alarm; he instantly crushed a high-grade Spirit-Protecting Talisman, and a blue barrier immediately shielded him.

Boom! A violent collision rang out!

Crack!

Jiang Kun looked up, his gaze filled with shock and rage, staring forward.

He saw Qin Ming's entire aura surge violently, holding a black longsword in hand, its blade wreathed in flaming sword light.

Since this Jiang Kun had repeatedly tried to kill him, naturally, he would strike while the enemy was vulnerable to take his life!

With a single slash, he nearly shattered the barrier formed by the high-grade talisman!

Jiang Kun instantly realized the truth, chilling him to the bone! "A body-refining cultivator!"

He didn't need anyone to tell him; he already understood how Chen Ziang and the others had died.

A trace of coldness appeared in Qin Ming's eyes; without wasting words on him, he directly pulled out two high-grade attack talismans with a reverse grip.

One was a high-grade Lightning Arrow Talisman, the other a high-grade Blazing Sun Talisman.

He threw them both simultaneously at Jiang Kun.

In an instant.

Terrifying lightning flashed, mixed with a firebird-shaped flame spell, fiercely bombarding the direction where Jiang Kun stood.

Boom! A violent explosion sounded.

Jiang Kun stumbled out from within, vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood; a faint purple mystic pearl hovered beside him, emitting purple tassels that coiled around his body.

It had actually neutralized most of the spell's power.

If he were in peak condition, he would naturally not fear Qin Ming, but now he was at the point of exhaustion, realizing that continuing the fight would surely make him no match for Qin Ming.

Jiang Kun acted with extreme decisiveness; he took out a talisman radiating blue light, slapped it onto his body, and instantly transformed into a streaking shadow to flee.

Qin Ming was truly surprised, not expecting that even in such a critically injured state, Jiang Kun still possessed so many life-saving items.

He hurriedly mobilized the Spirit Light Shuttle to full speed in pursuit! Whoosh! It must be known that the Spirit Light Shuttle at full speed matched the flight speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator giving their all.

In an instant, Qin Ming closed the distance with Jiang Kun.

Sensing Qin Ming catching up from behind, Jiang Kun was instantly terrified out of his wits! A top-grade flying magical artifact!

How could this brat possess such a thing?

After closing in on Jiang Kun, Qin Ming erupted with qi and blood power, directly slashing a flame sword light at him! In a rush, Jiang Kun raised a cyan longsword in his right hand, gritting his teeth to exhaust his last reserves of magic power and thrust out a sword technique.

Sword light flashed.

Swish! Clang! The cyan longsword erupted with several sharp sword energies, actually just barely blocking Qin Ming's certain-kill strike.

Not only that.

One strand of sword energy pierced through the flame sword light, striking the 'Glazed Treasure Robe' condensed from Qin Ming's qi and blood, then breached the defense, slicing a wound open on Qin Ming's arm.

"A top-grade magical artifact!"

Stung by pain, Qin Ming was instantly shocked; since strengthening his physical body for so long, this was the first time he had been injured by a magical artifact.

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes; he unleashed the "Blood-Burning Blade Technique" with full force, and the area where Jiang Kun stood was instantly engulfed by dense flame sword lights.

Slash!

"Ah!"

The sword lights flashed, directly severing Jiang Kun's left lower leg.

Qin Ming leaped forward to stand before him, stepping one foot down to pin him beneath.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

"Fellow Daoist Qin, listen to me..." Jiang Kun's face was covered in blood, his pupils suddenly dilating.

Swish! A cold glint flashed in Qin Ming's eyes; acting with ruthless precision, he slashed once, directly severing his neck.

Jiang Kun's head rolled to the side, his eyes remaining wide with shock and disbelief until death.

Qin Ming stored away his cyan Dharma sword and storage bag, then flicked a black spirit seed at the corpse and cast the Thorn Technique.

Black vines instantly submerged Jiang Kun's corpse, turning it into a dried mummy within moments.

Qin Ming picked up the blood pearl from the ground, then flicked a Fireball Technique at the corpse to destroy the body and erase all traces.

Just as he finished all this.

He suddenly sensed four cultivators with formidable magic power auras rushing rapidly toward this location from afar.

Qin Ming's heart grew solemn; he immediately mounted the Spirit Light Shuttle and vanished from the spot.

PS: Thanks to "Reader20220329095731940" for the 200 coin donation; this is the first time in my life I've received a donation, so I want to express special gratitude! Thanks, big shot!

(End of Chapter)