Chapter 161

Xia Daoming ran wildly for seventy or eighty miles until he was far from the Yanyang Ridge market and could no longer see the ridge, only then did he slow his pace.

Logically speaking, his current strength was already quite formidable.

But caution is the parent of safety.

He was carrying three Foundation Establishment Pills with him this time; if word of this were to get out, let alone Foundation Establishment cultivators, even Nascent Soul ancestors might be tempted to make a move.

The setting sun soon dipped completely behind the western mountains.

The twilight was vast and dim.

Xia Daoming arrived at a canyon passage.

With steep cliffs on both sides and a flat, wide road, this was the official road of Qingzhou.

During the day, there was no lack of people and horses passing through.

But now that night had fallen, this canyon passage was far from any village or shop at both ends, and wild beasts often prowled at night; travelers would pass through long before the sun set, or stop early to wait for daylight to traverse this path.

Now, under the cover of night, the passage was long and secluded, with night owls hooting from time to time on both sides, echoing through the canyon and making one's heart race with fear.

However, having grown weary of the bustling, noisy crowds of the market these past few days, Xia Daoming actually enjoyed this rare, quiet solitude that had lasted for so many days.

Suddenly, a sense of alarm arose in Xia Daoming's heart.

He stopped his footsteps.

About thirty zhang ahead, in the middle of the canyon passage, a man stood with his hands behind his back, though it was unclear when he had arrived.

"I have been waiting for you for a long time!" the man said indifferently, looking at Xia Daoming.

"Has your Excellency mistaken me for someone else?" Xia Daoming's heart sank slightly, and he asked in a cold voice.

"Rest assured, I watched you come out of the market; I cannot be mistaken." As the man spoke, he strolled leisurely toward him.

Xia Daoming's expression changed slightly, a look of gravity appearing in his eyes.

His spiritual sense was now powerful, and his six senses were keen.

Unless the opponent's strength was very formidable, it would have been impossible for him not to have sensed someone following him the entire way.

Or perhaps, the opponent possessed some formidable tracking method.

However, this was not the time for Xia Daoming to ponder these things.

In any case, the best of the thirty-six stratagems was to flee; he should not entangle himself with someone whose background he did not know.

Yet, just as Xia Daoming had this thought, he sensed three auras approaching him from above, about ten zhang behind him.

These three auras gave Xia Daoming a feeling similar to that of the Lu Clan's elder, Lu Renwei.

Xia Daoming understood in an instant: the opponents were tracking him from the air.

Even so, Xia Daoming still had doubts.

Tracking from the air—as long as the distance was not too great, he should still have been able to detect it.

But this was not the time to seek answers; Xia Daoming made a prompt decision, leaped into the air, and a Black Tiger Great Blade and a Profound Dragon Spear appeared in his hands.

While in mid-air, Xia Daoming turned his body, swung his blade horizontally toward the air behind him, and pointed his spear toward the front, guarding against the man who was strolling leisurely toward him.

At the same time, his body was already covered in dragon-scale armor formed from his internal energy.

Seeing Xia Daoming point a spear at him while slashing a blade behind, the man curled his lips into a sneer of contempt.

Ten zhang distance.

As a mere eleventh-rank Martial Master, his slashing was in vain.

The three women descending from the air, seeing Xia Daoming slash his blade horizontally, also sneered coldly, each flipping their palms to reveal a magic treasure.

As the light of the magic treasures flickered and they were about to be unleashed, the man and the three women changed their expressions almost simultaneously.

"A twelfth-rank Grandmaster!"

They saw that the horizontal slash had suddenly lit up with a piercing cold light in the darkness, and a black-winged tiger roared out.

The two tiger wings were like two giant blades, cutting through the air, creating friction that produced a harsh sound and scorching light.

The black-winged tiger arrived in the blink of an eye.

The magic treasures in the hands of the three women had already been unleashed, killing toward the winged tiger.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The winged tiger seemed to have a spirit of its own, its body rotating in the air as its wings slapped against the magic treasures.

The giant tiger wings slapped down, actually knocking the three magic treasures fiercely into the canyon.

The three women were mentally connected to their three magic treasures; as soon as the treasures were knocked down, they immediately felt their internal blood and Qi surging and their magic power in turmoil, unable to control the wind power wrapping around them, and they were all teetering, about to fall into the canyon.

The three women's faces turned pale with fright, and they gritted their teeth, repeatedly forming incantations to urge the falling magic treasures.

The magic treasures hummed, light flared, and they stopped their descent, about to soar into the sky.

The three women secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But just at this moment, the black-winged tiger that had knocked down the three magic treasures paused slightly in the air before charging toward them with even greater speed.

"No!"

The screams of the three women pierced the silent canyon.

The women on both sides were cut in half at the waist by the giant tiger wings, and the woman in the middle had her chest torn open by the tiger's claws and died on the spot.

"Damn it! How can he be so powerful!" The man, who had only changed his expression slightly and felt surprised when he discovered Xia Daoming was a twelfth-rank Grandmaster, now had his expression change completely.

A claw magic treasure covered in black scales was instantly unleashed by him, grabbing toward Xia Daoming through the air from twenty zhang away.

This claw grew as it met the wind, and by the time it approached within ten zhang, it was large enough to cover an area of about half a mu; people looked tiny beneath the giant claw.

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator!" Xia Daoming's pupils shrank, revealing a trace of gravity, while at the same time, his heart felt inexplicably excited.

The Profound Dragon Spear had already struck out, turning into a black dragon, blocking the giant claw eight or nine zhang away and preventing it from getting closer.

Foundation Establishment cultivators had astonishing lethality, and this giant claw was clearly a very powerful magic treasure.

Even though Xia Daoming relied on his protective armor formed from blood and Qi energy, which was extremely thick and solid—not comparable to the thin true qi barrier of a cultivator—he dared not be certain he could withstand the sharp claws of the giant claw.

Naturally, he had to fend off the enemy from the outside to give himself more room to maneuver.

In fact, battles between cultivators were also like this.

Basically, they all unleashed magic treasures from a distance to fight, and if they couldn't win, they fled.

Martial Masters were at a disadvantage because the distance at which they could project their energy to kill was inferior to the distance at which cultivators could unleash magic treasures, and Martial Masters could not borrow external forces; they consumed their own blood and Qi energy, unlike cultivators who could borrow magic treasures and spells to mobilize the energy between heaven and earth, and could even absorb the spiritual power in spirit stones while fighting to replenish some of their true qi and magic power consumption.

Therefore, once a Martial Master faced a cultivator, they would disregard danger and try to close the distance to end the battle quickly.

Under normal circumstances, when a twelfth-rank Martial Master faced a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was either a fierce, desperate charge regardless of danger, or a prompt decision to run away.

Like Xia Daoming, a twelfth-rank Martial Master fighting a Foundation Establishment cultivator's magic treasure in the air from eight or nine zhang away was actually slow suicide.

The dragon formed by energy was not a true dragon; it looked short and small beneath the giant claw, but it was very fierce.

In the dark night, in the canyon, a dragon and a claw fought in mid-air, stirring up gusts of wind, knocking down countless leaves, and the impact generated when they clashed shook the cliffs, causing loose stones to roll down from time to time.

The man manipulated the giant claw while continuing to approach, stopping only when he was about fifteen zhang away.

At this distance, even if Xia Daoming's energy form managed to break through his Black Flood Long Zhao, there would be no chance to kill his physical body.

And if Xia Daoming turned to flee, at this distance, he could definitely control the Black Flood Long Zhao to chase and kill him.

"It is rare to see a Grandmaster as powerful as you!" The man stopped, secretly breathing a sigh of relief, and looked at Xia Daoming with a playful expression.

As for the killing of his three subordinates, he seemed to have already thrown it to the back of his mind.

"I am very curious, how did you track me?" Xia Daoming asked while "laboriously" releasing energy to fight the opponent.

"Do you see the mouse on my shoulder? It is called a Heavenly Fragrance Mouse; it can smell a certain special fragrance from a hundred miles away." Seeing that the three Foundation Establishment Pills would soon be in his hands, the man was in a good mood and was quite willing to satisfy Xia Daoming's curiosity.

"Heavenly Fragrance Mouse, fragrance?" Xia Daoming's expression changed slightly, then he quickly said, "So it was that Miss Zishan! Truly, one can know a person's face but not their heart; a female immortal so petite and cute, I never expected her to be a secret agent you planted in the Lingrui Pavilion."

"No wonder you could cultivate to become a Grandmaster at such a young age; you are indeed a smart person!" the man praised, his eyes revealing a trace of regret.

He was a very narcissistic person who paid great attention to style.

Even when intercepting and killing halfway, if conditions permitted, he had to strike a pose and show off his demeanor.

Xia Daoming's reaction made him feel a bit of mutual appreciation; it was just a pity that the three Foundation Establishment Pills were too tempting, otherwise he would have liked to recruit Xia Daoming.

"What good is being smart? I still fell into your trap," Xia Daoming said with a "laborious and depressed" look.

"Haha!" The man laughed triumphantly.

However, the Black Flood Long Zhao fought even more fiercely.

Since Xia Daoming admired him so much, he naturally had to show off even more, letting him know that he was not only smart but also more powerful.

Of course, the most important thing was to consume the opponent's blood and Qi energy as quickly as possible, so as to kill and capture him in one fell swoop.

The black dragon formed by energy finally could not hold on under the attack of the Black Flood Long Zhao and began to retreat step by step.

Xia Daoming also retreated repeatedly, opening the distance to prevent the Black Flood Long Zhao from getting close to his body.

The man was triumphant, urging the Black Flood Long Zhao to press on step by step.

The distance was constantly closing.

Xia Daoming suddenly retreated rapidly.

The man was startled and chased urgently.

Xia Daoming stopped abruptly, his right-hand blade slashing out.

A fierce tiger pounced out, directly crossing the area covered by the Black Flood Long Zhao and killing toward the man who had approached within ten zhang.

At a distance of ten zhang, with Xia Daoming's current strength, the tiger formed by energy could arrive in the blink of an eye.

Even if the opponent was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while focused on fighting his black dragon formed by energy, he would be caught off guard for a moment.

"Damn it! Impossible!" The man's expression finally changed drastically, revealing a trace of horror, and he retreated rapidly.

Xia Daoming sneered coldly and approached rapidly.

One was retreating in a hurried, panicked stop, while the other had been planning for a long time.

Moreover, Xia Daoming's strength was already greater than the man's!

In the blink of an eye, Xia Daoming was only five zhang away from the opponent.

Such a distance was extremely unfavorable for the man.

Because the buffer time for him to cast spells was extremely short, while Xia Daoming's attacks could be extremely fast.

Moreover, the black tiger formed by his energy emitted an extremely terrifying aura, overwhelming and covering the sky, completely overpowering the aura of the Black Flood Long Zhao the man was wielding.

The man's face turned pale, his eyes filled with horror and panic.

However, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

At this life-and-death juncture, the man reacted very quickly.

Talismans were thrown out as if they were worthless, then turned into fireballs that exploded, trying to block Xia Daoming's path.

At the same time, a shield blocked his front.

And almost simultaneously, a flying boat appeared beneath his feet.

Cultivators had another great advantage over Martial Masters: they could control magic treasures or flying magic treasures to break through the air and leave.

"Hmph!"

Xia Daoming sneered coldly at the sight.

A black banner suddenly appeared in front of him.

Gusts of gloomy wind blew.

A mass of black mist instantly spread, covering an area of several mu.

Inside the black mist, ten thousand snakes surged, surrounding and entangling the flying boat and the man.

Fireballs exploded inside, causing the black mist to churn, but they still failed to blow the black mist apart.

"Damn it! Impossible!" The man screamed almost hysterically.

A Grandmaster he thought he could easily capture had suddenly erupted with such terrifying energy; it was already inconceivable.

Now, not only had he erupted with such terrifying energy, but he could also manipulate magic treasures so skillfully; how could the man's mentality not be on the verge of collapse?

Previously, Xia Daoming naturally could not manipulate the Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner like this, but once he broke through to become a Grandmaster, his spiritual sense underwent a near-metamorphosis.

It had completely transcended the scope of a Martial Grandmaster and entered another realm.

Now, he could truly manipulate the Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner, rather than relying on his spiritual sense to stimulate the ten thousand snake souls within the banner as he had before.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

While the man was screaming, Xia Daoming had already killed his way into the black mist.

Holding the Black Tiger Blade, his energy spewed out for over a zhang, slashing one blade after another onto the man's shield magic treasure, exploding with bursts of light.

The man's originally pale face began to flush with blood.

The flying boat beneath his feet vibrated incessantly.

In the black mist, the Black Flood Long Zhao constantly exploded with bursts of black light, wanting to retreat, but it was entangled by the black dragon formed by energy.

This Black Flood Long Zhao was a top-tier magic treasure the man had obtained by chance; it was the great killing weapon he truly relied on. Even when facing a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could easily and safely escape by relying on this magic treasure.

As a result, the man never dreamed that he would be entangled by the black dragon formed by Xia Daoming's energy.

He was cursing that there was no justice in the world.

This was no Grandmaster; this was a freak comparable to that small group of top-tier figures among mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

What was most hateful was that this guy was also playing the pig to eat the tiger; clearly his strength was far beyond that of a Grandmaster, yet he pretended to be an eleventh-rank Grandmaster!

Was there anyone so deceitful?

"Boom!"

"Clang!"

Finally, the shield could not withstand the heavy slashing, its light dissipated, and it fell to the ground.

There was no help for it; the closer a Martial Master was, the more terrifying the power of the energy erupted.

Not to mention a bull like Xia Daoming, who directly used a blade to slash at close range.

If he didn't have to divide his attention to control his energy to entangle the Black Flood Long Zhao and manipulate the Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner to trap the man and prevent him from escaping.

The power of a direct close-range slash with a blade would probably make a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator cry.

"No..."

The shield hit the ground, and the man's face turned pale as he screamed shrilly.

But the scream stopped abruptly.

"Hoo!"

Xia Daoming breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was still very formidable, especially that claw of this rogue cultivator, which had always given him a sense of crisis.

Now, he had finally killed him, and the crisis was resolved.

Soon, Xia Daoming's mood changed from relaxed to blood-boiling, his eyes shining.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator!

This time he was definitely going to make a fortune!

With his blood boiling, Xia Daoming prepared to start his corpse-looting operation.

However, before he could start, Xia Daoming suddenly narrowed his eyes, looking at the black mist that was clearly becoming thicker with disbelief.

In the black mist, ten thousand snakes surged; Xia Daoming could clearly feel that the ten thousand snake souls seemed to be feeding on and absorbing something, becoming more powerful.

"This... could it be that they are devouring the soul of the deceased?" Xia Daoming felt a bit creeped out.

Last time he stimulated this banner to trap the new generation of the Heart-Devouring Old Demon, worried about being discovered and misunderstood by Lu Jinglong, he immediately put the banner away after one successful strike and did not discover that this banner could actually devour the souls of the deceased.

And the soul of this Foundation Establishment cultivator before him was powerful; after Xia Daoming unleashed the Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner, he did not collect it in time, which was how he discovered the anomaly.

Soon, the creepiness in Xia Daoming's heart turned into conflict.

This behavior of devouring the souls of the deceased, although it could increase the power of the Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner, was clearly a demonic act.

"Eliminating evil is promoting good; one must eliminate evil completely. After such evil people die, if their souls do not dissipate and turn into fierce ghosts, they will harm the world. I don't seem to need to show any womanly kindness to him.

Moreover, tools are used by people; if used for good, they are good, and if used for evil, they are evil; the cleverness of their application lies in one's heart. I don't kill innocent good people, so why should I feel uneasy?

However, the human heart is the most difficult to fathom, and I am using my spiritual sense to stimulate this banner. To prevent being influenced and going astray in the future, if I am not forced to use this banner, even if I kill someone, I should still avoid actively taking out this banner to devour souls."

Soon, Xia Daoming made a decision in his heart about how to use this Ten Thousand Snake Soul Banner in the future.

Having made his decision, Xia Daoming began to loot the corpse quickly.

While looting the man's corpse, Xia Daoming also glanced at the Heavenly Fragrance Mouse not far away.

The Heavenly Fragrance Mouse only had the special ability to track by scent; its strength was truly average, and it had already been killed by the ten thousand snake souls, now also a corpse.

Xia Daoming quickly finished looting the corpse and then left without hesitation.

——

The half-moon was half-hidden behind a black cloud drifting over.

It was already late at night.

Outside Red Cloud City in Qingzhou, at an unnamed abandoned Taoist temple on an unnamed mountain in the wilderness.

Xia Daoming sat against the wall, unable to wait to start counting the harvest from this black-eating-black operation.

After looting the corpse, he didn't care to check the harvest and ran wildly toward the northwest, which was the direction of Muzhou.

It wasn't until he had almost run out of the territory of Red Cloud City that Xia Daoming slowed his pace and found this abandoned Taoist temple in the wilderness to settle down.

Xia Daoming did not rush to open the man's storage ring, but started with the storage bags of the three female immortals first.

He was worried that if he opened the high-level blind box, he would quickly enter a sage-like state, and then opening the low-level blind boxes would become insipid.

Therefore, even though he was very impatient to know what was in the storage ring, Xia Daoming still suppressed the impulse in his heart and started with the storage bags of the three female immortals first.

Killing and looting money comes fast.

So rogue cultivators were still very wealthy.

The spirit stones, spirit rice, spirit elixirs, and spirit medicines collected in the storage bags of each of the three female rogue cultivators were clearly much more than those of the elders of the Yan Clan.

The attack magic treasures they used were of very good quality, all being fine pieces among mid-tier magic treasures; if any one of them were taken to be sold, it would probably fetch four or five hundred spirit stones.

The defensive magic treasures were relatively inferior in grade, but the price of defensive magic treasures of the same level was generally higher than that of attack magic treasures.

Among the three female rogue cultivators, two had defensive magic treasures; combined, they would probably fetch four or five hundred spirit stones.

After Xia Daoming finished counting the items of the three female rogue cultivators, he calculated in his heart and was overjoyed.

Just the harvest from looting these three female rogue cultivators, when converted, actually amounted to about three thousand spirit stones.

Suddenly, Xia Daoming felt his originally empty purse bulge.

"A storage ring!" Soon, Xia Daoming took out a silver ring, rubbed it happily on his clothes twice, looked at it repeatedly before his eyes for a while, and only then began to release his spiritual sense to erase the mark inside.

The spiritual sense mark left by a Foundation Establishment cultivator was still very strong.

Xia Daoming spent quite a bit of time before he finally erased it and successfully opened the storage ring.

Once opened, Xia Daoming was almost blinded by the spirit stones piled up inside.

There were over two thousand low-grade spirit stones and fifty-one mid-grade spirit stones; converted, this was already over seven thousand spirit stones.

Besides spirit stones, there were also hundreds of catties of spirit rice piled up inside, as well as various spirit elixirs and spirit medicines that looked expensive at first glance.

Xia Daoming didn't know the market, but he estimated they were worth at least five or six thousand spirit stones.

There was also the male rogue cultivator's Black Flood Long Zhao; it was very powerful, and it happened to be a flood dragon claw, so Xia Daoming planned to keep it for his own use after he stepped into the immortal path.

A flood dragon claw—he was familiar with using it!

The quality and power of the shield must also be very good; there was a mysterious and surging power flowing within it, and at first glance, it was higher grade than the defensive magic treasures used by the three female rogue cultivators.

Of course, the storage ring was also very good.

Not only could it be worn on the finger without worrying about it falling off, but the space inside was also seven or eight times larger than the storage bag Xia Daoming had used before, like a small room.

And the previous storage bag was at most like a storage room.

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator is a Foundation Establishment cultivator; their net worth is indeed not small!" Xia Daoming felt his purse bulge much more than before he entered the market, and he was in a great mood, almost unable to help but laugh out loud.

After a while, Xia Daoming calmed his mood and began to flip through the scrolls he had specifically picked out and piled together.

There were not many scrolls.

Clearly, these four rogue cultivators did not like to read.

However, Xia Daoming flipped through several scrolls in succession and was surprised to find that they were all scrolls related to cultivation and spells.

However, Xia Daoming had no way to cultivate now, let alone cast spells, so he just flipped through them casually, put them aside, and continued to flip through the remaining scrolls.

He casually opened another scroll; this was an ancient painting scroll.

In the painting, a green pine growing alone on the peak of a mountain had lush branches and leaves, old roots intertwined, surrounded by clouds and mist, and in the distance, mountain peaks were layered one upon another, all beneath the green pine.

On the painting scroll, five characters were written.

Azure Wood Evergreen Art.

"Azure Wood Evergreen Art, one of the introductory cultivation methods of the Qingyuan Sect!" Xia Daoming's whole body shook, his face full of disbelief.

PS: Today continues with two chapters combined into one, six thousand words, update completed. The monthly ticket battle is very tight, please help out.

(End of chapter)