Chapter 48: Interception and Killing

Underground Drainage System of North City District, near the location of Shangcheng District.

A gust of eerie and cold wind blew, coming to a halt at an auxiliary passage corner.

As the wind fades, Xie Guangkun revealed himself.

Standing on the filthy pipe floor, Xie Guangkun took heavy breaths and cautiously examined the direction he came from.

Once confirmed there were no problems, he pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"Elder Wu, I failed. The auditor I encountered is a tough one. At least a cultivator from the Four Realm, I’m no match for him so I had to retreat first."

"Failure is failure, don’t make excuses."

A cold male voice echoed from the walkie-talkie.

"The Spiritual energy station didn’t explode, we can’t succeed now. We’ve already withdrawn, find your own way out of Jianghai. If you’re caught by the patrol department, you know what to do."

Even before the conversation was finished, Xie Guangkun’s walkie-talkie started to emit smoke.

Upon seeing this situation, the corner of his eyes twitched slightly.

He anticipated this when he chose to retreat.

But faced with the fact that he had been abandoned, he was extremely angry.

"Bastard!"

Grumbling under his breath, Xie Guangkun threw away the already broken walkie-talkie. He bent down, scooped up some of the sewage on the ground, and smeared it on himself.

He wasn’t a fool.

It wasn’t the time for resentment at this moment.

Ji Qing, the human-shaped demon who is always with Li Jing and Chen Yuran, is a keen-smelling feline. It would only be a matter of time until she found him by his scent.

If he didn’t take countermeasures, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Having covered himself in the foul stench, Xie Guangkun turned and prepared to head towards Shangcheng District.

His scent was obscured, all he has to do now is to find a place to surface.

As long as he was successful in getting back to the surface, escaping this ordeal would not be difficult.

Hiding in a bustling city, even if Ji Qing remembered his scent, it would be impossible to pinpoint him.

At that time, he just needs to find a way to leave Jianghai.

However, before he could control the flying skill, a layer of light silently unfolded, enveloping him along with the surrounding pipes.

Boundaries!?

Am I already being hunted!?

Xie Guangkun’s face changed color dramatically.

"You’re pretty smart, covering your own scent. Unfortunately, you’re a little late."

A calm voice came from behind him, causing Xie Guangkun to stiffen and turn his head mechanically.

In his field of vision, he saw Li Jing and Ji Qing hovering there.

Behind them were hundreds of charged Spirit Strikes.

Seeing them, Xie Guangkun felt a chill creep up his limbs.

Then, he gnashed his teeth and burst out with an explosive, nauseating and evil energy from his body.

The pursuers were now nearby, words were vain.

It was time to fight desperately!

"Go."

Li Jing waved his hand lightly.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

Hundreds of Spiritual Strikes were fired off together.

The Evil Energy around Xie Guangkun surged, easily engulfing the hundreds of Spiritual Strikes.

Li Jing wasn’t surprised at the scene. He tilted his head and softly spoke.

"Ji Qing."

"Got it."

Ji Qing answered, her feline body shaking and bursting forth with boundless Demonic Qi, forming a shield that encased them both.

Once they were enveloped by the shield, Li Jing decisively raised his hand.

"Boom!"

The startling sound of thunder echoed.

His Palm Thunder, as thick as a water bucket and acting like a Thunder Dragon, roared out of Li Jing’s hand, instantly piercing Ji Qing’s Demonic Qi shield and shooting forward.

Ji Qing was already prepared, and quickly opened her mouth to replenish the broken portion of the Demonic Qi shield.

On the other hand, Xie Guangkun had just managed to resist the hundreds of Spirit Strikes and was preparing to counterattack. When he looked up and saw Li Jing flinging a Palm Thunder as thick as a water bucket, his face went deathly pale.

He recognized the Palm Thunder.

But seeing one exaggerated to such an extent, was a first.

With a big laugh, Xie Guangkun exploded with his inner Evil Qi as if it was worthless.

The next moment.

"Rumble!"

A loud boom. The methane gas in the pipe was ignited.

This explosion set off a chain reaction causing another.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The methane gas in the pipe detonated one after another; turning into endless clouds of fire.

At the same time, the Palm Thunder rolled in and hit the Evil Qi shield that Xie Guangkun put up.

"Boom!"

The Palm Thunder dissipated.

The Evil Energy protected him undamaged.

???

Xie Guangkun.

This situation was unexpected to him.

How could Li Jing’s Palm Thunder, which was so horrifying, be dissipated just like that?

Big thunder with little rain, is it not too much of a paradox?

In principle,

Thunder Skill, it’s the most positive and firm.

The Evil Energy, is even more sinister than the Demonic Qi possessed by monsters.

As an Evil Cultivator, he was completely at a disadvantage when facing the Thunder Skill.

So...

Why?

Xie Guangkun was dumbfounded.

While he was stunned, a sword light flashed from behind him, a severe sword energy shot out, tearing his Evil Energy shield apart like it was rotten wood.

"Puff!"

Blood splattered.

Xie Guangkun felt like he was struck by lightning, standing dumbfounded.

A line of blood quietly appeared around his neck.

Xie Guangkun unconsciously raised his hand.

Before it reached his neck, his vision began to spin.

His consciousness gradually blurred.

At the moment of his death, Xie Guangkun saw his headless corpse slump to the ground, and he finally closed his eyes unwillingly.

Li Jing was safe within Ji Qing’s Demonic Qi shield, not affected by the swamp gas explosion.

Seeing Xie Guangkun’s head being chopped off, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Xie Guangkun’s head removed, Ji Qing couldn’t help but feel poignant.

There’s no doubt that evil cultivators deserve to die.

All Evil Cultivators must have blood on their hands, they are not to be pitied.

But to be honest, Xie Guangkun died in a very awkward way.

Based on the strength of the Evil Energy he burst out just now, he was definitely in the late stage of the Three Realm.

Under normal combat conditions, it would be difficult for Li Jing, Chen Yuran, herself, and her cat to bring him down together.

Unfortunately, Xie Guangkun was not very smart.

He thought Li Jing was in the Four Realm, so he ignored Chen Yuran who hadn’t revealed his face yet.

What’s even more pathetic is that,

Until his death, Xie Guangkun didn’t understand that Li Jing was actually only in the Second Realm.

But if we’re being honest,

This couldn’t entirely be blamed on Xie Guangkun.

If it wasn’t for her close relationship with Li Jing and knowing his true cultivation level, she probably wouldn’t realize that he wasn’t that powerful.

Li Jing’s magic skills were indeed somewhat exaggerated, and his power couldn’t typically be matched by someone in the Second Realm.

But he himself was ultimately in the Second Realm.

Unless he could catch his opponent off guard and sneak an attack, the threat he could pose to someone in the Three Realm was quite limited.

Like just now, Xie Guangkun put in all the strength he could muster to defend, but Li Jing’s Palm Thunder, as thick as a bucket, couldn’t even splash a bit of water.

If Li Jing were in the Three Realm, the outcome would surely be different.

Unfortunately, he’s not.

At least not yet.

Looking at Li Jing, Ji Qing dispelled her Demonic Qi shield and rubbed her head against his neck with a head tilt.

All that showed was her will to survive.

At the same time, Chen Yuran, who had been hiding in the shadows, planting boundary stones, and wait for his chance to kill Xie Guangkun in one fell swoop, came flying over.

After taking a glance at Xie Guangkun’s body, Chen Yuran summoned his flying sword back and said,

"We’re done here, let’s go back and check the direction to the Examination Institute. We’ll leave the body here for now, nobody else can come in with the boundary in place."

"Okay."

Li Jing responded, casually stroking Ji Qing resting on his shoulder.

Even though he didn’t know what was going on, Ji Qing was nuzzling him after all, so he had to reciprocate, right?

Leaving the corpse behind, the two of them and Ji Qing flew away.

As they were leaving, Chen Yuran took a good look at the surrounding tunnels.

The swamp gas explosion was over in an instant.

Because of the existence of the boundary, the chain reaction caused by the explosion was limited to a small area.

The tunnels themselves should be capable of withstanding a swamp gas explosion.

Still, it was necessary to check, just in case there were any problems. It’s better to discover and rectify them in time.