Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Bluffing

Yu Qing Cheng’s eyes lit up. She recognized Yun Xi, especially the way she was dressed. She immediately called out, “Junior Sister Wei, hurry and ask your master to act! They’re evil cultivators!”

The four black-clad evil cultivators noticed the moment Yun Xi appeared that there was a concealment formation around them. For a moment, they couldn’t tell what kind of cultivator was inside.

But after seeing Yun Xi, they exchanged glances. They didn’t choose to retreat at once. Instead, they probed by pointing their blades at Yun Xi.

Mu Ning Zhu’s heart jumped. [This is bad.] These evil cultivators clearly weren’t buying it. Junior Sister was in danger.

Yun Xi felt a little annoyed. She hadn’t expected them not to fall for it. In that case, she would just kill these evil cultivators.

She took two steps forward and, without any warning, released Nascent Soul Stage pressure. She didn’t dare look down on these evil cultivators. If she gave them a chance to fight back, the one who would die was her.

The four evil cultivators also hadn’t expected her to be even more unreasonable than they were. The moment the Nascent Soul Stage pressure appeared, they knew they were in trouble, but it was already too late.

This was the natural suppression of a high-level cultivator over low-level cultivators. They were already forced to their knees.

Yun Xi shouted sharply, “Why aren’t you moving? Do you want my master to act personally?”

Although Yun Xi avoided Yu Qing Cheng and Liu Hao Tian when she released her pressure, the two of them were still affected. But to stay alive, they squeezed out their maximum potential and struck back, plunging their swords into the evil cultivators’ dantians.

Gripping the Seven-Star Doom Staff, Yun Xi leaped up and smashed one evil cultivator’s head to pieces. The stench of blood made her frown, but this time she didn’t throw up.

The moment Yun Xi made her move, Mu Ning Zhu darted out of the formation. Seeing the evil cultivators pinned to the ground, she swiftly formed a hand seal, and a wooden spike stabbed into the last man’s dantian.

But a red glow flashed over that evil cultivator’s body, blocking the attack. In the next breath, he crushed a teleport talisman in his hand and vanished on the spot.

Yu Qing Cheng and Liu Hao Tian had run their spiritual energy dry. They collapsed on the ground, gasping.

Yun Xi quickly collected the storage gear from three of the evil cultivators. She formed a hand seal and tossed out three fireballs, burning the bodies to ash.

After destroying the evidence, she finally turned to look at Mu Ning Zhu.

Mu Ning Zhu came to Yun Xi’s side and asked, “Junior Sister Wei, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I just used up all my spiritual energy,” Yun Xi said vaguely.

“Go back into the formation and meditate. I’ll go speak with those two.”

“Yes, Senior Sister.”

Yun Xi went back into the formation without argument.

Qin Tong Shuang hurried over and said, “Yun Xi, you’re really amazing.”

Yun Xi pretended to sway, then plopped down on the ground. “I was scared to death just now. I was afraid they wouldn’t even give me a chance to speak and would attack me! Then I’d be exposed!”

After saying that, she patted her chest. It really had been dangerous. Earlier, the adrenaline had made her lose her nervousness. Now her legs felt a bit weak, and her heart started pounding again.

Qin Tong Shuang pressed her lips into a smile. Junior Sister Wei had a fearless nature, and she hadn’t expected she would ever be afraid. She immediately comforted her, “Meditate and recover first. Leave the rest to Senior Sister Mu.”

Yun Xi didn’t refuse. She crossed her legs and began to meditate.

A moment later, Mu Ning Zhu brought Yu Qing Cheng and the other man into the formation. The two of them took a corner to treat their injuries and regulate their breathing, with no intention of disturbing the four of them.

By then, Yun Xi had already changed out of the robe and returned the borrowed gear. Only then did she send a voice transmission, “Senior Sister Mu, what’s their situation?”

Mu Ning Zhu sighed. “They were on their way back to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion when evil cultivators set their sights on them. The four senior siblings of their group were all good-looking and not low in cultivation, so the evil cultivators wanted to kidnap them and make them furnaces.

“They fought to the death, but two were already captured. The two of them fled the whole way, and then they ran into us in Wan Ruo Forest.”

Yun Xi rubbed her chin. “From what they said just now, it sounds like Fellow Daoist Yu knows the evil cultivators’ background.”

Mu Ning Zhu nodded, then pointed upward. “You’re right. They’re from up there.”

“Tsk! That arrogant? Isn’t there a big shot to keep them in check?”

“Evil cultivators are enemies of everyone – anyone can kill them. The people they can send to the Vast Cosmos Realm can’t have cultivation higher than the Nascent Soul Stage, or the powerful experts on our side would notice.

“And Foundation Establishment Stage evil cultivators like this don’t draw attention, but they can still get things done. When they come to the Vast Cosmos Realm, the suppression on them is also small.

“They were once extremely arrogant, until the sects joined forces to wipe them out. After that, they started acting in secret, and their whereabouts became hard to pin down.”

“This time, we only ran into them by accident. You used a treasure to kill three of them, so I believe the evil cultivators won’t come near us in the near future.

“But to be safe, we should return to the sect as soon as possible.”

“Senior Sister Mu, I understand. What about those two?”

“Once we leave Wan Ruo Forest, it’s Wan Ruo City. We’ll separate from them there. In the city, a late Golden Core stage cultivator is stationed, so those evil cultivators won’t dare act recklessly.

“As for what they do after that, that’s their business. I just need to make sure I bring you three back to the sect safely.”

“Understood,” Yun Xi said.

She also felt they had done more than enough for Yu Qing Cheng. They weren’t close. Those two had higher cultivation than them and should be able to handle the rest.

Then Yun Xi quietly sent another voice transmission. “Senior Sister Mu, I still have three evil cultivators’ storage pouches. They’re our spoils. Let’s split them!”

This time Mu Ning Zhu didn’t refuse. They had taken a huge risk, so there should be some gain. But she silently let Yun Xi take the biggest share. Junior Sister had contributed the most and taken the greatest risk.

The other two didn’t object. Zhang Yan even said he hadn’t done anything and didn’t want to take a share, but Yun Xi blocked him.

She understood the idea of “people don’t worry about too little, they worry about unfairness.” It also counted as a bribe to get everyone to keep her high-level treasure secret.

Fortunately, the three of them had upright minds and didn’t feel any greed. After the four finished dividing the spirit stones from the evil cultivators’ pouches, they burned the useless items with a fire.

Then they closed their eyes to meditate. This time, Mu Ning Zhu kept watch.

Maybe it was because of that fleeting burst of Nascent Soul Stage pressure. Wan Ruo Forest was quiet the entire night. At dawn, Mu Ning Zhu urged everyone to continue forward.

Yu Qing Cheng looked at her senior brother, who was struggling to suppress the sinister qi in his body. She could only grit her teeth and follow behind Yun Xi’s group of four. With her injured senior brother in tow, she couldn’t travel alone.

Maybe Yu Qing Cheng’s bad luck had run out. After she teamed up with Yun Xi, they didn’t run into any more accidents.

Three days later, the group smoothly left Wan Ruo Forest, and she finally let out a breath. At least there were no pursuers behind them.

Mu Ning Zhu also let out a breath. She was afraid those evil cultivators wouldn’t give up and would keep sending people to track them, dragging them into disaster too.

After entering Wan Ruo City, Yu Qing Cheng tactfully proposed parting ways. “Yu Qing Cheng thanks you all for saving our lives. Escaping death this time was only possible because you helped.

“The Hundred Flowers Pavilion will remember this favor. If you ever need anything in the future, you can come find me at any time.”

As she spoke, she offered her message talisman, one for each of them. Beside her, Liu Hao Tian already had dark qi seeping across his face, but he still forced down his injuries and offered his own message talisman.

Only then did he separate from the four, supported by Yu Qing Cheng.