Chapter 255

"Kill!"

At the shout, over a dozen people, enveloped in a fearsome aura and dazzling magical light, dove down.

The crocodile horde below was startled by the all‑encompassing killing intent, instantly turning into chaos, hissing and scrambling, shooting green water arrows skyward.

These water arrows were equally thick, as if forming a defensive arrow net.

Fortunately, this isn't the killing‑intent‑laden 'Monster Sea' we came from, so we can fly on our swords.

Then the sect disciples flew on their swords at a moderate height, lined up and swung their spirit weapons, clearing large areas.

The leader stepped into midair; with a wave of his hand, a pair of golden vajra wheels like a meat grinder crushed the crocodiles within a three‑zhang radius into pulp, rapidly advancing toward the crocodile king's location.

Heng Xian watched silently.

One has to say, this finally brought out the prowess and tactics of the senior sect disciples.

Unlike Ye Qiuyi, Niu Wanli and their crowd, who just studied on their own and wound up with half‑learned abilities.

Then his gaze turned to the crocodile king.

Last night, preoccupied with finding a place to absorb spiritual herbs, he missed that there were spiritual herbs here too.

His eyes flashed, and his form vanished in a blink.

Upon reappearing, he had looped around the valley and arrived near the crocodile king.

He silently squatted on a peak, looking down.

In the mud pool below lay a three‑zhang‑long giant crocodile, its body bristling with warts, its aura extremely ferocious.

Unlike the Spider King, it was not sleeping but awake, its upper half resting on an old tree, its blood‑red eyes staring toward the approaching sect disciples.

On a branch of the lofty ancient tree behind it grew a twin‑stemmed purple lingzhi, its spiritual aura thick and its fragrance superb.

"Good fellow, twin‑spirit herb, supreme!"

Heng Xian's eyes brightened a little.

He estimated the odds of harvesting; still no, the crocodile king's aura was too fearsome, probably at Primordial Dan Realm; if he went down now and got bitten, even armor would be pointless, so he'd wait.

"Whoosh…"

"Ah…"

The fighting ahead and the crocodiles' dying screams crept closer.

At last, the leading youth, fierce and overbearing, crushed a blood‑soaked path with his twin wheels; everything—crocodiles, trees, reeds—was ground to dust.

A crowd of disciples trailed behind him with ease.

"Ah oh——"

The crocodile king bellowed in rage, rolling up a huge cloud of miasma and poison; from its warts erupted a swarm of flying leeches that blanketed the heavens, buzzing around.

More than a dozen Fourteen Sect disciples hovered not far away, first sizing up the crocodile king, then looking at the lingzhi on the ancient tree behind it.

The leading youth's face showed a hint of a smile: "Fifth‑grade River‑Lifting Crocodile King, its surroundings are its parasitic flying leeches—I'll handle it."

You watch out for the parasitic flying leeches; take the opportunity to harvest the lingzhi!

"Yes!" The disciples stared with fervent eyes.

The leading youth pinched out a cloth bag with two slender fingers, murmuring: "... Ah Bu, come out!"

"Howl!"

A leopard‑sized spirit beast with twin wings burst forth, jaws wide open, snapping at the crocodile king.

The youth also affixed two talismans to his body, which immediately gave off a faint protective glow; he flashed to behind the crocodile king, joining the leopard in a front‑and‑rear assault.

Behind the peak, Heng Xian gazed enviously at the flying leopard.

This is a cultivator's spirit pet, needing massive resources to feed, a sky‑high‑priced spirit‑beast bag, and the patience to keep it nearby.

It's not that the big‑spending senior sect disciples can't afford to raise one!

Even though the crocodile king was extremely ferocious and violent, it was still being pushed back step by step by the youth and the flying leopard.

Other sect disciples, seeing this, quietly approached the ancient tree where the lingzhi grew.

Heng Xian rubbed his nose, the time was right; he gauged distance and escape route, his form flashed, like a 'spirit monkey', he bent and leapt to beside the ancient tree's branches.

Seeing the twin lingzhi within reach, he hesitated a bit, for those people were relying on the spirit herbs to survive; taking them all would be equivalent to condemning some to death.

"Just one!"

He reached out to seize one.

At that moment, a male and a female sect disciple shot forward like lightning; upon seeing him, they both stared in shock.

Then the female disciple with an imperial consort's bun stabbed forward, yelling: "Where did you come from, you monster? Dare to move the lingzhi—I'll wipe out your nine clans!"

"Holy shit!"

Heng Xian's anger surged; he grabbed both lingzhi, stuffed them into his Storage Bag, twisted his body to evade the female disciple's sword, and with a whoosh appeared on the far side of the reed marsh.

The male and female disciples didn't expect his reaction to be so fast and resolute; they froze again, and the female disciple cried out in fear: "Senior Brother He, the lingzhi was taken!"

"Chase!" Senior Brother He shouted angrily.

The group at once gave up on the crocodile king and sprinted after Heng Xian.

At this point Heng Xian had exited the reed marsh and valley; he looked around, saw only thick weeds to the northwest, tapped his foot, and shot out.

He followed the weed patch, veering left and right, running a full sixty or seventy li before halting at a small river.

He looked back; the group hadn't caught up yet, so he exhaled in relief and brushed off the dried grass and dirt stuck to his armor.

Being pursued is no fun; unable to fly on his sword, he got all dirty, and his crucial armor was just too heavy.

He went to the river, squatted to wash his hands, was about to take off his mask and wash his face, when a sudden wariness struck him.

He saw a phantom reflected in the river—surely the leading youth's flying leopard spirit beast, jaws wide open, lunging at his throat.

"Damn dog!"

Heng Xian cursed, bent his body, and slipped out.

"Pa-da!" That flying leopard bit off a clump of mud in one bite.

Heng Xian darted to the side, hardly thinking, and flew off into the distance.

However, just as he was about to move, a figure appeared ahead.

It was that leading youth in white robes, fanning himself with a landscape fan, who sized him up and said: "You're the first Qi Hai Realm cultivator to escape this far under the pursuit of my sky-flying leopard!"

Heng Xian glanced back at the slowly approaching flying leopard, careless, he hadn't used the Heavenly Hexagram to divine; the speed of this person and leopard exceeded his expectations, so he could only smile and say: "I'm honored!"

The youth closed his fan, clasped his fists, and said: "I am He Bi Zhi, top of the Earth Ranking of the Blue Mountain Sect. May I ask which sect you pretend to be from? What is your name?"

The Blue Mountain Sect is one of the Fourteen Great Sects of the Dongyu cultivation world; its disciples excel at commanding spirit beasts, and this person is the Blue Mountain Sect's top of the Earth Ranking—no wonder!

Heng Xian casually blurted: "I'm from the Spirit Sword Sect—why ask?"

He Bi Zhi frowned slightly and said: "Why ask? There's no such sneaky rat in the Spirit Sword Sect, and besides, your name resembles mine—you probably just made it up. Are you insulting me?"

"A sneaky rat? You're the only one allowed to wave a folding fan and sway like a spoiled rich kid loitering in a brothel, while others aren't allowed to dress however they please?" Heng Xian said.

He Bi Zhi said solemnly: "No need for idle talk—seven disciples from various sects have been wounded by crocodiles, the crocodile poison has already attacked their hearts, they urgently need spirit herbs to save their lives. While we attack the crocodile king, you took the chance to steal the spirit herbs, didn't you?"

Heng Xian pondered a bit, also feeling it was rash, so he simply took out a spirit herb, split it in two, and said: "Although spirit treasures go to those fated, I'm not the type to refuse aid; let me give you one stalk."

He Bi Zhi's face flashed with annoyance: "It's clear you wickedly stole them; how can you act like you're granting charity? I want both stalks."

"Impossible!" Heng Xian shook his head.

(End of chapter)