Demonic Cultivator (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

Noon.

After leaving Cloud Mist Market and racing several hundred li, Ling Pengyun caught an extremely dense scent of blood drifting from ahead on a light breeze.

His brows immediately furrowed. He drew in a deep breath of the bloody air and muttered to himself.

"This smell of blood doesn't seem to be from a demonic beast!"

"Could it be the smell of human blood?"

Though demonic beasts and humans both had blood, its scent differed, much like peaches and oranges. Both were fruit, yet their flavors were ultimately distinct.

"If I remember correctly, more than ten li ahead should be a village inhabited by the mortal members of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan!"

During his travels to and from Cloud Mist Market, Ling Pengyun had glimpsed that village from afar three times. If his return journey went smoothly this time, it would be the fourth.

Yet whenever he passed that village, Ling Pengyun would take a wide detour through sparsely populated areas to avoid unnecessary trouble with the Wen Clan cultivators guarding it.

"A bloodthirsty demonic beast attacked the village?" Ling Pengyun secretly guessed.

A bloodthirsty demonic beast attacking a village was a terrifying matter. If the Wen Clan cultivators stationed there were unable to withstand it, the village of Wen Clan mortals would likely have no survivors.

As for going to help, Ling Pengyun had never considered it.

That village did not belong to the Ling Clan. What did it have to do with him, a member of the Ling Clan?

If meddling in such troublesome affairs put him in danger, that would be truly bad.

Ling Pengyun cast aside these scattered thoughts. Just as he was about to bypass the Wen Clan mortal village and continue back to Azure Stone Mountain, he spotted two black figures rapidly approaching from several li ahead.

More precisely, they were racing toward Cloud Mist Market behind Ling Pengyun.

Ling Pengyun's gaze tightened. He cast the Aura Observation Technique to enhance his eyesight, and only then did he see that the two black figures were one fleeing and one pursuing. They were roughly half a li apart, but the distance between them was gradually shrinking.

The fleeing man wore a Wen Clan daoist robe and was almost certainly a member of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. He seemed to have been enhanced with the Light Body Technique, and his speed was quite swift.

The pursuer was dressed strangely. In broad daylight, he wore a full set of black robes and even controlled a small black flying boat. He was twice as fast as the Wen Clan cultivator, and it would not be long before the man in black caught up to him.

With the Aura Observation Technique's enhancement, Ling Pengyun saw faint strands of black spiritual energy leaking from the black flying boat beneath the pursuer's feet several li away, as well as from the black banner in his hand.

At this sight, his pupils contracted, and his face changed drastically. That was demonic qi?

Only demonic items refined through the bloody methods of demonic cultivators would emit demonic qi.

Ordinary magical items emitted spiritual qi.

Moreover, in the Cultivation World, Ordinary Cultivators rarely possessed demonic items. Righteous Path Cultivators who possessed two demonic items at once were even rarer.

Furthermore, the person controlling that Demonic Item Flying Boat had appeared in black robes and a veil in broad daylight. It was utterly bizarre.

"This person is almost certainly a demonic cultivator!" Ling Pengyun swiftly reached his conclusion.

Once that thought arose, his heart tightened.

Demonic cultivators had a resounding reputation in the Cultivation World. Beyond their bloody notoriety for using the souls and blood of mortals and cultivators to refine demonic items, everyone knew that demonic cultivators possessed formidable strength.

According to the Ling Clan elders, demonic cultivators were exceptionally powerful, with endless methods at their disposal. The demonic items in their hands were also far stronger than ordinary magical items. Basically, any demonic cultivator possessing a demonic item was an outstanding figure among those of the same rank.

If they possessed multiple demonic items, their combat strength would undoubtedly stand at the very peak among cultivators of the same rank, enough to kill enemies above their own realm.

Without such strength, how could they refine mortals and cultivators to obtain multiple demonic items?

Mortals could also be considered a resource. Children with spiritual roots would be born among them, and places inhabited by mortals generally had sufficient strength protecting them.

According to the Ling Clan elders' instructions, when encountering a demonic cultivator with multiple demonic items, one should "run as quickly as possible."

"The flying boat beneath that demonic cultivator's feet and the demonic banner in his hand both emit obvious, dense demonic qi. They are almost certainly First Rank Middle Grade demonic items."

From the demonic items, Ling Pengyun could naturally infer the demonic cultivator's approximate cultivation.

"At least a Qi Training Middle Stage demonic cultivator!"

Ling Pengyun shuddered. Without a second thought, he immediately turned around and fled madly toward Cloud Mist Market.

There was no trace of human habitation within a hundred li. Only Cloud Mist Market, over a hundred li away, had cultivators, and it was guarded by a Qi Training Late Stage cultivator of the Wen Clan. As long as he escaped there, he would certainly be safe.

As for seeking aid, Ling Pengyun did not even consider it. This was Cloud Mist Wen Clan territory. Under normal circumstances, why would there be Ling Clan members here? Ling Rushui, the only Ling Clan member within a thousand li, was already nearly a hundred years old. His cultivation had begun to decline, and he likely retained only seventy percent of his peak strength, at most equivalent to the strength of the fourth or fifth level of Qi Training.

That level of strength was not much different from Ling Pengyun's own.

Should he send a Message Talisman to ask Ling Rushui for help, only to have Ling Rushui come and die as well?

Ling Pengyun was not so unrighteous a person. He did not want to drag an elder to his death.

Not long after Ling Pengyun turned and fled, the Cloud Mist Wen Clan cultivator being chased by the demonic cultivator several li behind him also noticed Ling Pengyun's presence.

As if he had found a savior, the man used the Sound Amplification Technique to call loudly for help.

"Fellow Daoist ahead, I am a member of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. The one pursuing me is a Qi Training Middle Stage demonic cultivator. If Fellow Daoist joins forces with me, we can certainly hold him off for a while. Once my clan's Qi Training Late Stage elder from Cloud Mist Market arrives with reinforcements, I will surely reward you generously!"

Upon hearing those words, the demonic cultivator pursuing the Wen Clan cultivator used an ocular technique and also spotted Ling Pengyun. Scarlet light flared in his eyes, and even the speed of the Demon Boat beneath his feet increased by several degrees.

Ling Pengyun simply cast the plea for help to the back of his mind. He was several li away from the demonic cultivator behind him and had great confidence that he could escape. There was no need to wade into this muddy water.

In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea.

The demonic cultivator controlling the Demonic Item Flying Boat several li behind Ling Pengyun used his speed advantage to catch up with the Wen Clan cultivator traveling on foot.

The two began a fierce battle, but before they had exchanged blows for even a hundred breaths, the Wen Clan cultivator, also at the Qi Training Middle Stage, was besieged to death by nine vicious ghosts summoned from the demonic banner in the demonic cultivator's hand.

The Wen Clan cultivator's soul was then sucked into the demonic banner in the demonic cultivator's hand.

The demonic cultivator looked at the demonic banner and spoke joyfully to himself.

"I finally killed this Wen Clan Qi Training Middle Stage cultivator. Once I find an opportunity to refine his soul with the demonic banner, it will become the tenth Qi Training Middle Stage vicious ghost in my Ten Ghost Banner. This Ten Ghost Banner of mine will then reach major completion."

"Later, once I find another mortal village and use the souls of a thousand mortals to refine this Ten Ghost Banner, I will certainly be able to advance it into a First Rank High Grade Hundred Ghost Banner!"

"At that time, I fear that even cultivators at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Training could be wiped out with a wave of my hand!"

The demonic cultivator laughed wildly without end, his gaze turning toward Ling Pengyun's gradually receding figure several li away.

"This man is only at the Qi Training Middle Stage and appears to have no Flying Magical Item. Killing him should be as easy as turning my hand. With his soul as well, I can prepare for when my demonic banner advances into a Hundred Ghost Banner!"

"Judging by the time, that Qi Training Late Stage Wen Clan cultivator from Cloud Mist Market should still need some time to arrive. There is more than enough time to kill this man!"

Having made up his mind, scarlet light flashed through his eyes. He drove the Demon Boat beneath his feet and pursued Ling Pengyun in the distance.