Terrifyingly Powerful
Shen Jingchuan knew from the look in their eyes that they were coming for him. He shook his head expressionlessly.
"No."
The five people opposite them exchanged a glance, smiled, and dismounted one after another. They were all Qi Refining cultivators and did not want to waste their Spiritual Power flying on swords, so they had chased after them on ordinary horses.
The man in the lead took two steps forward and looked up at him.
Do you know who we are?
Shen Jingchuan, sitting on horseback, almost laughed out of anger.
"You lot are nothing special, you think you're worthy of my noting your names?" He lazily glanced at the five people and scoffed.
"How would I know? I'm also puzzled. Why do all sorts of random people come up to me and ask if I know them?"
He paused, his gaze falling on the leader's face, and his smile turned cold.
"You ants, do you think you're worthy of my acquaintance?"
Among the five people, a middle-aged man at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer stepped forward with a stern face.
"Let's not beat around the bush. I'm asking you, a few days ago, our Wang Household's third elder and a distant relative were murdered outside the market. Did you do it?"
Shen Jingchuan laughed upon hearing this, and slowly spoke from his horse.
"Since you ask so openly, I'll answer you openly as well. A few days ago, three people did indeed try to ambush me outside the market: one at the Qi Refining Great Perfection, and two at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer—these lowly, shady cultivators who dared to steal from the light of day."
He shrugged, looking completely innocent.
"I have no idea if they're from your Wang Household. What, does your Wang Household also raise such despicable creatures? If so, then your Wang Household isn't any better; you're all snakes and rats in the same den."
The five people opposite them all frowned, their eyes blazing with anger.
A young cultivator in a blue robe couldn't contain himself and took half a step forward, his aura of the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining surging out. He turned and shouted at the middle-aged man.
"Second brother, why waste words with him! Grab him and interrogate him slowly!"
The elderly man at the head of the group did not move.
He was the most skilled among the five, at the Qi Refining Great Perfection. He squinted, looking Shen Jingchuan up and down—this kid was riding alone on horseback, fearless and arrogant, not taking the five of them seriously at all.
The old man released his Divine Sense and carefully scanned the surroundings.
The wind was calm, the wilderness was empty, there wasn't a single extra person in sight, let alone any ambushes.
He dared not be careless. Last time, he had lost everything, including a Grand Perfection and two Nine-Story levels, and not a single one returned.
But this time, no matter how he looked at it, his opponent was only a Qi Refining Sixth Layer, fighting alone.
That kid probably has something to rely on, but no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find a single clue.
The grudge must be avenged.
Moreover, this kid just bought most of First-Tier Spirit Vein at the auction. The Wang Household dreamed of having something like that, but they couldn't afford it at the time and didn't dare to compete with the Tian Household.
They followed him all the way without realizing that someone else was watching them.
Could it be that those people who were originally guarding outside the market, seeing that this kid was lingering, assumed he was going to stay for a long time and couldn't stand it, so they all dispersed?
A ruthless glint flashed in the old man's eyes.
To seek wealth, one must take risks; how will one know if they will succeed if they don't take a chance?
He had already considered it. The other side was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, while there were five of them. If things really went wrong, they could still manage to escape and wouldn't risk their lives here.
Having made up his mind, the old man didn't rush to go himself.
He wanted to see what tricks this kid was up to first. The old man raised his chin, gestured towards the three young men at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, and lowered his voice.
"You three, go first."
The young man in the blue robe gave a nod, completely disregarding the other party.
He was just a Qi Refining Sixth Layer. With a light step, he charged straight at them, sword in hand, the sword light imbued with Spiritual Power, his momentum undiminished.
Shen Jingchuan's expression hardened. The three opponents were all at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, each one more powerful than him. He dared not be careless and immediately went all out.
"Rise!"
The Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring appeared instantly, spinning so fast it was almost invisible, and swept the three people away with a whoosh of wind.
Shen Jingchuan slapped the Big Black and followed closely behind, rushing forward to meet it head-on.
The young man in the blue robe's expression changed drastically.
Before they even reached the circle, a powerful surge of Spiritual Power pressed down upon them.
This is hardly the Qi Refining Sixth Layer! This solid strength is at least higher than his, if not lower, at least the seventh level.
He dared not take the blow head-on, so he flicked his wrist and deflected the longsword diagonally, which struck the circle directly.
"Clang!"
A powerful force surged through the sword, numbing his arm and nearly causing him to drop the sword. The circle was also deflected.
Shen Jingchuan's hands moved swiftly, forming hand seals and channeling Spiritual Power. The Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring made a turn in mid-air and then charged towards the other two, the wind whistling through the air.
He reached out with his right hand, and the Law Artifact sword was already in his hand. He then pressed forward to meet the blue-robed youth.
In the blink of an eye, we were right in front of each other.
The blue-robed youth gritted his teeth, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and leaped into the air. While still in mid-air, his longsword, carrying Sword Qi, slashed straight at the young man's face.
This is the time!
A glint flashed in Shen Jingchuan's eyes; he had been waiting for this moment when Shen Jingchuan was airborne, his old strength exhausted and his new strength yet to arise. He flipped his left hand and, just to be on the safe side, slapped a Vajra Talisman onto his body, and a pale golden light shield immediately lit up.
At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat.
The Soul-Seizing Nail transformed into an almost invisible thin shadow, shooting out head-on.
At this moment, the two were only two meters apart, and the Sword Qi was already pressing against their eyebrows.
The blue-robed youth in mid-air suddenly stiffened.
The ruthlessness in his eyes hadn't faded when he suddenly felt as if something had pinned him to the head. A sharp pain shot through his soul, and his limbs instantly became unresponsive; he couldn't even hold his sword.
Shen Jingchuan had anticipated this outcome, and with a swift motion, he swept his longsword across the room.
A flash of sword light.
The young man's head rolled off the ground as he was suspended in mid-air, his body crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The remaining two Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, who were dealing with the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring, caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of their eyes and shuddered in unison.
In a single glance, less than a breath later, the young man in the blue robe was decapitated.
This... this is the Qi Refining Sixth Layer?
With a thought, Shen Jingchuan sent the Soul-Seizing Nail flying back and disappearing into his mouth. He picked up his sword and spurred his horse straight toward the two men.
The two men had lost their previous arrogance, and their composure was beginning to falter.
Although the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring was troublesome, they could still defend themselves. But they didn't see how the third brother died at all, and assumed that he had fallen victim to some kind of insidious trick, which made them very uneasy.
The two dared not delay, hurriedly pulling out protective talismans from their pockets and patting them onto their bodies one by one, causing the protective shields to light up continuously, as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Let's attack together!"
Seeing this, the old man behind could no longer wait. He gave a low shout and, together with the middle-aged man at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, they leaped forward.
Having lived most of his life, he was a man of great experience and knowledge. What others might not have seen clearly just now could not be hidden from him.
That was a soul attack; it damaged the Divine Sense, not the physical body.
The old man felt a weight lifted from his heart. Soul attacks are most taxing on Divine Sense, and this kid is only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. How deep can his Divine Sense be? That attack just now must have been his full strength, and he could only use it once at most.
That's right.
Shen Jingchuan's Soul-Seizing Nail attack had almost completely ripped out his Divine Sense, leaving him with only a sliver of it, barely enough to sustain the fight. Releasing it a second time was absolutely out of the question.