Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Running Into Evil Cultivators on the Road

The three people meditating almost opened their eyes at the same time. Zhang Yan had already stood up and was peering outside through the formation.

Mu Ning Zhu and Yun Xi almost simultaneously released their divine senses to check what was happening outside, while Qin Tong Shuang warily gripped her sword.

The moment Yun Xi’s divine sense spread, she saw familiar faces: the Hundred Flowers Pavilion disciples they had met in the teahouse before. Only now their numbers had dropped. Two remained, and they were being surrounded and attacked.

Four cultivators in black were attacking them, their faces impossible to make out. Yun Xi sensed them – all four were at late Foundation Establishment, and her brows knit. She had no idea how the Hundred Flowers Pavilion people had provoked such strong enemies.

Mu Ning Zhu’s expression turned heavy as well, and she instructed Qin Tong Shuang beside her, “Xiao Shuang, raise the formation’s defense to the maximum.”

“Yes.”

Qin Tong Shuang knew they had run into trouble. She immediately formed hand seals and pushed the formation’s defense level to the highest, then quietly returned to Mu Ning Zhu’s side.

Yun Xi lowered her voice. “Senior Sister Mu, it’s the Hundred Flowers Pavilion cultivators from that day. Should we show ourselves?”

Mu Ning Zhu kept staring at the six people drawing closer and hesitated. “Let’s watch first. We don’t know the exact reason they’re fighting. It’s best not to jump in rashly, or we’ll only bring trouble on ourselves.”

Zhang Yan, who had not spoken until now, tightened his grip on the long staff in his hands and said coldly, “Martial Aunt Mu, those black-clad cultivators surrounding them look like evil cultivators.”

Yun Xi’s eyes widened at that. She had read records about evil cultivators, but this was the first time she had actually run into them.

She couldn’t help it. She crept a few steps forward, staring hard at the four of them, trying to spot something that would give them away.

Mu Ning Zhu’s brows were drawn tight. Now the question wasn’t whether to show themselves, but whether they could help at all. Among their four, two were early Foundation Establishment and two were late Qi Refining stage. What could they possibly use to fight these four?

Mu Ning Zhu looked again at Wei Yun Xi, whose face was full of curiosity, and felt a little tired inside. Junior Sister Wei might be early Foundation Establishment, but she had pitifully little combat experience. If they really fought, she would just be running to her death.

But those six people kept fighting as they moved, and they were already coming toward them. For a moment, she couldn’t think of the right response.

Yu Qing Cheng and her senior brother, Liu Hao Tian, who were being surrounded, were already at their limit. They hadn’t expected these black-clad men to be so hard to shake.

Irritation filled Yu Qing Cheng’s phoenix eyes. She shouted angrily, “Don’t get too arrogant! This is the Vast Cosmos Realm, not a place where you can do whatever you want. We’ve already sent a distress message. If you don’t want to be hunted down, you’d better let us leave!”

But the four attackers didn’t react at all. They didn’t say a word, and their moves only grew more vicious.

Their weapons were all curved blades. Each time they swung, a red glow streaked out, looking downright creepy.

Yu Qing Cheng and Liu Hao Tian’s robes were covered in slash marks. Liu Hao Tian even had a wound across his face. The cut was already turning black, as if sinister qi had invaded it, and it made the late Foundation Establishment Liu Hao Tian’s battle strength drop sharply.

Liu Hao Tian’s handsome face was frighteningly pale, with a sickly kind of beauty. He clenched his teeth and said coldly, “Junior Sister, stop talking. They won’t let us go. Either we run or we die. I will never become a furnace!”

Yu Qing Cheng bit down hard after hearing that. She stopped talking, flicked her hand, and threw out a Second-Rank Lightning Strike Talisman, forcing the four back for the moment. Then she grabbed her senior brother’s hand and kept running.

Inside the formation, the four of them heard every word. The amount of information was a lot, and each of them wore a different expression.

Yun Xi was sensitive to the word “furnace.” Evil cultivators forcibly absorbed other cultivators’ cultivation to train themselves, and the cultivators forced to contribute their cultivation were called furnaces. She had seen this in a miscellany of cultivators. It was the evil cultivators’ most common training method, a predatory way of cultivation.

“Martial Aunt Mu, what do we do?” Zhang Yan turned back and asked.

Mu Ning Zhu didn’t know what to do either. Even if she wanted to help, she didn’t have the strength. If she dragged her junior brother and junior sisters into it, that would be even worse.

All she could think of was protecting themselves.

Yun Xi didn’t want to wade into muddy water either. But seeing the group about to fight right in front of them, being exposed was only a matter of time. They might as well strike first. She spoke up immediately, “Senior Sister Mu, we need to take the initiative. We can’t wait for them to discover us.”

Mu Ning Zhu frowned. “I want to, but the four of us wouldn’t even fill a gap in their teeth. We’ll fail to save anyone and get ourselves killed too.”

Qin Tong Shuang didn’t speak. She was thinking about whether she should take out the teleport talisman she had been saving as her last card and get everyone out first.

Zhang Yan only tightened his grip on his weapon. He knew he wasn’t strong enough, and he wasn’t qualified to fight. All he could do was stay silent.

Yun Xi’s eyes turned. “Senior Sister Mu, let’s bluff.”

Mu Ning Zhu turned to look at Yun Xi. “How do we bluff?”

Yun Xi didn’t waste time. She said straight out, “The formation blocks outside probing. They don’t know who’s inside, or what our cultivation is. I’ll say I’m following my master on an outing to train, and I saw injustice on the road, so I drew my blade to help…”

“You want to make them think there’s a high-level cultivator in the formation?” Qin Tong Shuang reacted fast.

“Yes.”

“What if they don’t believe it?” Zhang Yan spoke up rarely.

“Then we’ll make them believe it. I happen to have a treasure that can disguise my cultivation level. My mother left it for me to save my life. It should come in handy now.”

Yun Xi felt it would be best if they could solve this without fighting.

Mu Ning Zhu’s eyes lit up when she heard that. Then she swept Yun Xi a glance and started rummaging in her storage pouch, pulling out a pair of white jade pendants. At a glance, they were high-level treasures.

“Put these on first. Since you’re a high-level cultivator’s disciple, it doesn’t make sense if you don’t have one or two treasures on you.”

Then she took out a new robe for inner disciples of the Hao Ran Sect and had Yun Xi change into it. That was also a way to show her identity.

Qin Tong Shuang understood Mu Ning Zhu’s intent. She didn’t want to admit it, but with Yun Xi at early Foundation Establishment at the age of ten, she really did have the qualifications to be accepted by a mighty expert.

She also took out a white jade belt from her storage pouch. Cold air seeped from it. She tied it around Yun Xi’s waist and whispered, “This is a jade belt refined from thousand-year ice. It should help you look the part.”

Yun Xi carefully touched it with her hand. A thread of cold qi seeped through the belt and into her meridians, making her feel wonderfully refreshed. Why did she feel so tempted?

Zhang Yan rummaged through his storage pouch for a long time, but he really couldn’t find anything suitable for a female cultivator. In the end, he could only give up.

After Yun Xi armed herself and got everyone’s unanimous approval, she prepared to step out of the formation.

Mu Ning Zhu didn’t forget to warn her, “If you can’t fool them, come back into the formation. As long as you can hold on until dawn, they’ll definitely retreat. Don’t force it.”

Qin Tong Shuang also said, “If it can’t be done, we run. As long as we have no regrets, that’s enough.”

Zhang Yan didn’t say anything. He only watched Yun Xi step out of the formation.

Yun Xi’s sudden appearance made all six people stop fighting.

With her nostrils lifted high, Yun Xi said, “Tsk, tsk! Since when have evil cultivators become this arrogant? You actually disturbed my master’s peace and quiet. Are you going to roll away on your own, or do I have to trouble my master to move personally?”