Chapter 136: One Dead, One Fled

"Brother, you're too weak!"

"Just a Qi Refining eleventh-layer cultivator—how can you still not handle him?"

The woman's tone carried a hint of disdain.

He Pingsheng split his spiritual sense and scanned the woman's cultivation base: Foundation Establishment first layer.

"You know nothing!" Changping Daoist cursed. "Open your eyes and look closely—can you break this shield?"

Only then did the woman turn her gaze to the shield surrounding He Pingsheng.

She pulled out her flying sword, extended it, and slashed down hard.

The result: the shield remained as solid as Mount Tai.

"This…?" The woman was slightly startled. "A second-rank defensive talisman—and… this quality is extremely high!"

"It's even reached superior grade!"

"Bad!" The woman suddenly spotted the 【Mountain-Moving Talisman】 in He Pingsheng's hand. "Brother… again… another second-rank talisman!"

"Heavens, it looks like it's of even higher quality—could it be superior grade?"

Seeing He Pingsheng activating the talisman, the woman instantly retreated.

"Damn…" Changping Daoist also turned and ran.

He wasn't without countermeasures—he had several second-rank talismans in his storage pouch.

One of them was defensive.

But he'd spent a fortune to buy them.

He had no intention of wasting one on a mere Qi Refining disciple.

The best strategy was to let this brat activate the talisman.

So what if he activates it?

Once he does, I'll flee—and the talisman becomes useless.

When the spiritual energy on it dissipates completely, I'll come back and deal with him.

That's the safest, most cost-effective approach.

Boom…

Just after both of them retreated, a small mountain immediately condensed above He Pingsheng's head.

The mountain spanned dozens of zhang, its dark, massive form appearing overwhelmingly heavy.

"Fall…"

He Pingsheng waved his hand, and the small mountain shot upward, plummeting toward Changping Daoist's head.

Changping Daoist never imagined that even after retreating a hundred zhang, the mountain could still strike.

How was this possible?

The attack range of a talisman depends on the user's spiritual sense.

If it reached a hundred zhang away, that meant the boy's spiritual sense had also reached a hundred zhang.

Qi Refining eleventh-layer—with spiritual sense of a hundred zhang?

Was that even possible!

Shouldn't a Qi Refining eleventh-layer cultivator's spiritual sense only be fifty to sixty zhang?

But he had no time to speculate.

"Open…" The old man waved his hand and summoned his defensive magic treasure.

A round, smooth little shield.

As magic power flooded into it, the shield instantly expanded into a massive circular barrier.

The barrier spanned ten zhang across.

He wanted to activate his own defensive talisman—but he couldn't!

There was no time.

Because like He Pingsheng, activating a second-rank talisman required three breaths.

Where was he supposed to find three breaths now?

Boom…

Changping Daoist poured every ounce of his magic power into the shield.

The shield did block the mountain's initial impact.

But its light membrane shattered instantly.

Changping Daoist was flung a hundred zhang away.

"Puh… puh-puh-puh…" He spat out several mouthfuls of blood—severely wounded.

He looked up and saw He Pingsheng walking toward him.

Then he stared in shock: the small mountain hadn't vanished after its strike—it still hovered above He Pingsheng's head.

"Bad!" The old man gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and summoned his flying sword. "Sister, run!"

Both of them rode their flying swords, streaking into the void as beams of light.

But the old man never expected that as soon as he entered the void, He Pingsheng followed, riding his own sword.

From afar, He Pingsheng wasn't just flying—he was surrounded by a Golden Body shield, and the black mountain still hovered above his head.

"Damn…" the old man muttered. "How is this possible?"

"How can a Qi Refining cultivator fly on a sword?"

"Sister… we must combine our strength and kill this bastard!"

"Otherwise, if this operation leaks, we're dead for sure!"

He'd assumed Qin Mingyue would help him—but he never expected she was already terrified, fleeing on her sword alone, vanishing within a few breaths.

Behind him, He Pingsheng's figure drew ever closer.

"Woe… woe…"

"Today, this old man dies here!"

"Damn it… I'll fight!"

Ignoring his wounds, the old man pulled out his only remaining second-rank defensive talisman.

"Open…"

After three breaths, he activated the talisman.

A spherical light shield encased his body.

At that moment, He Pingsheng finally caught up to Changping.

"Fall…"

He Pingsheng directed the mountain with his spiritual sense, slamming it down again.

Boom…

The mountain struck the defensive shield—the barrier Changping had raised shattered instantly, and the black mountain crashed onto Changping Daoist's body.

"Puh…"

Changping Daoist spat another mouthful of blood and tumbled from his sword into a deep valley.

His body slammed onto a massive boulder below, shattered beyond recognition—dead beyond any doubt.

Shhh…

The next moment, He Pingsheng landed in the valley.

The old man was dead!

But his belongings couldn't be left behind.

After searching, He Pingsheng found a mid-grade spirit weapon flying sword and a storage pouch.

At this point, the 【Mountain-Moving Talisman】 above He Pingsheng's head had been fully consumed.

But the Golden Body shield surrounding his body still glowed.

Its energy had not yet dropped by one-tenth.

He Pingsheng didn't deactivate the shield—he simply mounted his sword again and chased after the woman named Qin Mingyue.

But after chasing for a long time, he saw no trace of Qin Mingyue.

She must have fled far away long ago.

He Pingsheng wasn't discouraged.

The monk may run, but the temple won't.

This time, the Beast Taming Sect and the Hou family conspired together against him and Cheng Siyu—once this was reported to the sect, it would cause a massive uproar across the entire alliance.

Let's see how the Hou family explains it then.

Oh!

Third sister.

From Qin Mingyue's tone just now, she'd already killed Cheng Siyu.

Let's see.

Unfortunately, after searching the surroundings for a long time, He Pingsheng found no trace of Cheng Siyu's body.

Forget it.

If I can't find it, I won't look.

He Pingsheng mounted his sword and flew back toward the mountaintop where the others had paused.

Far away, he saw a figure standing atop the mountain: Hou Muling.

On the ground beside Hou Muling lay two corpses.

Hou Muling saw the sword light flying toward her from afar and knew a cultivator was riding a sword—she initially thought it might be Qin Mingyue or Changping Daoist, but as they drew nearer, she realized it was He Pingsheng.

In that moment, Hou Muling's mind went blank.

She immediately pulled out a paper crane, intending to flee.

But He Pingsheng would not let her have her way.

Chi ……

A cluster of ink-green vines erupted from the ground, instantly wrapping around Hou Muling's body.

Then, seven poison thorns shot forth and drove deep into her flesh.

Hou Muling instantly lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.

He Pingsheng did not kill her—he merely controlled the poison to render the woman unconscious.

She was a valuable witness; he could not let her go.