Chapter 63: – Chase

No, there's no need to chase a fifth‑tier. Jiang Yu is self‑aware; she can handle a fourth‑tier, but three fifth‑tiers would consume a lot of spirit energy and talismans.

No one can predict the outcome of a fight; there might be a hidden yellow sparrow nearby, and the two dragon treasures are for survival.

Moreover, when encountering human cultivators, Ao Ze's bright dragon horns on his forehead would likely attract cultivators even more than a fifth‑tier monster.

She spun around and ran at breakneck speed; with the Seven‑Star Step enhanced by her newly bought Cloud‑Stepping Boots, her escape ability was pushed to the limit.

In the distance, a cultivator saw a white silhouette flash by, with three ice bears hot on its heels.

"Three hundred zhang to the left, human tribe spotted." Jiang Tu stared at the dragon stele, ready to give her informational support.

"I'll go; there are a few cultivators hidden in the snowfield, all at Foundation Establishment."

Jiang Yu, you need to run faster, using a high‑quality spirit stone. In a situation where friend or foe is unclear, it's best to act alone.

Jiang Yu suddenly received a spirit stone from Jiang Tu; while attracting it and running, she eventually caused the fifth‑tier ice bear behind her to give up.

The bear knew the area ahead belonged to the ice lynx; despite their boundless strength, against a peer of the same tier that is small, adept at leaping, and attacks faster, they wouldn't do well.

Jiang Yu plunged several li into this side, and indeed a monster that swooped down mid‑way blocked her.

The only consolation was that there was only one of them.

Even if she swiftly threw a fireball talisman, the ice lynx could quickly leap out of the attack range.

Ao Ze observed keenly: "Her speed is still insufficient.

If the ice lynx lunges again, it might get injured."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ice lynx whooshed and jumped in front of Jiang Yu again.

However, Jiang Yu was already prepared; not only did the aura of her defensive bracelet shield her whole body, she also swiftly hurled a thunder ball.

Bang—Boom—

The blast struck the ice lynx's front paw that had pounced at an angle; it slammed onto the snow, and spotting Jiang Yu still holding a thunder ball to throw, it rolled and hopped away.

Before leaving, it turned back and stared at Jiang Yu for two breaths, as if to imprint her memory, planning to kill her next time.

On the scene, only a severed claw and a bloodstain remained.

Jiang Yu dared not linger; after a few breaths of sprinting, more pursuers appeared behind her.

This time, someone shouted at her repeatedly without seeing her stop, then said to the person beside them, "Still chasing? They're only at the Refining Qi stage."

"Her footwork is not slower than ours at all.

When it comes to snatching the fruit, she'll give us a few extra chances of victory."

"Chase?"

"Chase."

Unfortunately, the more they chased Jiang Yu, the less she dared to stop.

Because of the earlier shout, she didn't understand a single word; huh, they actually spoke a different language.

And if she responded, her status as an outsider would be exposed immediately, making it easy for others to plot against her.

Jiang Yu deeply regretted not having made two snowboards; even though she never learned in two lifetimes, with spirit energy now she can control them easily.

Overthinking was useless; she kept running, but Jiang Tu said the two cultivators behind still wouldn't give up.

One even chased to within three or four zhang behind her.

Jiang Tu suggested: "How about stopping for a moment; Ao Ze and I will act together."

"Not yet." Jiang Yu slapped her storage bag, pulling out a handful of talismans; she chose the ten‑li flash‑dodge talismans, firing five in a row.

Bang

When the fifth flash‑dodge talisman ran out, Jiang Yu crashed into the snow; after running nonstop for hundreds of li, even with a high‑quality spirit stone she was exhausted.

"No one nearby; you can slip underground into a space." Jiang Tu feared she might cause trouble if she kept running.

Jiang Yu, realizing, instantly used another talisman to burrow, but the soil beneath the snow was so hard she couldn't go deep; she slipped into the space and let out a long sigh.

Not being able to use a flying boat was truly troublesome; running while absorbing spirit stones was inevitably uncomfortable.

While holding the high‑quality spirit stone and checking how much spirit energy it had used, she glanced sideways at the dragon stele.

In the distance, a herd of... deer, oh no, a group of cultivators riding deer, rushed forward.

Jiang Yu couldn't help but sit up, "I think it'd be best to hunt a live deer."

Actually, she was already lucky to see humans and a fifth‑tier monster within a day, rather than encountering higher tiers deep in the snow mountain.

Jiang Tu laughed: "Hehe, I knew you'd get tired from running.

Next, I'll use a dragon pearl to chase these people; hopefully they'll leave the snow mountain before nightfall."

"Alright, I'll cultivate for a while; you two stay out of the space.

The area is swarming with Foundation Establishment cultivators." Jiang Yu feared that the two, actually possessing fifth‑tier power, might inadvertently be hunted by cultivators.

With a dragon pearl for transportation, Jiang Tu certainly wouldn't run out to fly on his own.

He carefully maneuvered the dragon pearl to glide just above the snow layer, and the deer‑riding cultivators never noticed.

But after over a hundred li, the dragon pearl could no longer fly.

Jiang Tu lamented: "Why can't it fly five hundred li?"

Ao Ze: "Dragon Court's dragon pearls never fly."

"I'm a bit hungry; should we wait until Jiang Yu finishes cultivating before we make food?"

As a result, the two dragon treasures waited until nightfall, while Jiang Yu, immersed in cultivation, hadn't awakened.

And not until midnight did the two dragon treasures eat something casually and fall asleep, after which she finished her cultivation.

Jiang Yu read Jiang Tu's message and couldn't help laughing; she then slaughtered a chicken and a cow at midnight, marinated the meat, and planned to stew it all the next day.

But the snow mountain must be left; given the two dragon treasures' appetite, the poultry kept in the space wouldn't last ten days.

Fasting is possible, and hunting low‑tier monsters is doable, but Jiang Yu herself doesn't want to stay in a place where ice Qi is abundant everywhere, monsters run by day and ghosts fight by night, to cultivate.

So at dawn the next day, Jiang Yu continued on her way, this time using an invisibility talisman, hoping to lower the chance of being spotted by monsters.

Speaking of which, since leaving the sect, her cultivation routine has been disrupted; now the intermediate talismans in her hand are used up one by one.

Her current cultivation level allows her to draw intermediate low-grade five-element talismans easily, but special ones like invisibility and avoidance talismans require Foundation Establishment power to draw.

These thoughts had just flashed when Jiang Tu gave a warning: "Two li ahead, cultivators are being surrounded by a wolf pack."

They all look like Qi Refining cultivators; do you want to lend a hand and draw a map?

"How many people, how many wolves?" Jiang Yu suddenly stopped, alertly scanning her surroundings.

"Three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, four wolves—no, there's also a sentinel on the right flank, making five fourth-stage ice wolves in total." Jiang Tu observed carefully.

"Wait a few breaths." Jiang Yu solemnly took out her crossbow, which is best suited for long-range attacks, and she attached intermediate fireball talismans to several arrowheads.

"Uh-oh, one Qi Refining cultivator has been knocked down by a wolf.

"It's over, the Three Talents Human Formation has been breached." Jiang Tu broadcasted in real time.

Just then, Jiang Yu lifted her spiritual power, covering the two-li distance in a flash, and from a hundred meters out she dropped into a crouch and unleashed a rapid barrage.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh, boom boom

Her point shots were extremely accurate; the first two arrows struck the two wolves squarely—one blew its head off, the other had its leg shattered, instantly losing combat ability.

The besieged cultivators instantly got a breather, and the injured also climbed to their feet, rejoining the counterattack.

As the sentinel wolf charged at her, Jiang Yu let out a whoosh and fired the fire-talisman arrow at it.

The immense power of the fire talisman made it hesitate slightly, and also enabled the three desperate Qi Refining cultivators to jointly topple a fourth-stage beast.

The remaining fourth-stage beast, upon hearing the sentinel ice wolf's howl, decisively retreated.

It seems the demon beasts here are all very keen on preserving their lives.

Moments later, the three Qi Refining cultivators completely slaughtered the two wounded wolves.

Shouts came from that side toward Jiang Yu, but unable to understand them, when a person ran over, she deliberately retreated several zhang.

That person seemed to understand her intent, turned to his companions, set down two wolves and two arrows, clasped his hands in a brief salute, and quickly left.