Noon.
Having left Cloud Mist Market and sprinted several hundred li, Ling Pengyun caught an extremely dense scent of blood wafting from ahead after a breeze passed by.
His brows immediately knitted together. He drew in a deep breath of the bloody air and muttered to himself.
"This smell of blood doesn't seem to belong to a demonic beast!"
"Could it be human blood?"
Though demonic beasts and humans both had blood, the scents of their blood differed, just as peaches and oranges were both fruits, yet their flavors were ultimately somewhat different.
"If I remember correctly, more than ten li ahead should be a village inhabited by the mortal clansmen of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan!"
Ling Pengyun had observed that village from afar three times while traveling to and from Cloud Mist Market. If his return trip went smoothly this time, he would see it for the fourth.
Yet every time he passed that village, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble with the Wen Clan cultivators guarding it, Ling Pengyun would skirt far around it and travel through places rarely visited by people.
"Could a bloodthirsty demonic beast be attacking the village?" Ling Pengyun secretly guessed.
A bloodthirsty demonic beast attacking a village was a terrifying matter. If the Wen Clan cultivators stationed there could not withstand it, not a single person in that village of Wen Clan mortals would likely survive.
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 caused him to fall into danger, that would be bad indeed.
Ling Pengyun cast aside those chaotic thoughts. Just as he was about to bypass that Wen Clan mortal village and continue returning to Azure Stone Mountain, he saw two black shadows several li ahead rushing swiftly in his direction.
More precisely, they were racing toward Cloud Mist Market behind Ling Pengyun.
Ling Pengyun's gaze tightened. He used the Aura Observation Technique to enhance his vision, and only then did he see that the two black shadows were one fleeing and one pursuing. They were roughly half a li apart, but the distance between them was gradually shrinking with time.
The fleeing person wore Wen Clan robes and was most likely a member of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. He seemed to have cast the Light Body Technique, and his sprinting speed was quite fast.
The pursuer was dressed strangely. In broad daylight, he wore a full set of black clothes and even controlled a small black flying boat. He was twice as fast as the Wen Clan cultivator, and before long, that Wen Clan member would likely be caught by the man in black.
With the Aura Observation Technique's enhancement, Ling Pengyun saw that the black flying boat controlled by the man in black pursuing the Wen Clan cultivator several li away, as well as the black banner in his hand, both emitted wisps of black spiritual energy.
Seeing this, Ling Pengyun's pupils contracted. His face changed drastically as he thought to himself, Demonic qi?
Only Demonic Items refined by demonic cultivators through bloody methods would emit demonic qi.
Ordinary magical artifacts emitted spiritual energy.
Furthermore, in the Cultivation World, Ordinary Cultivators rarely possessed Demonic Items. Righteous Path Cultivators who possessed two Demonic Items at once were even rarer.
Besides, the person controlling that Demonic Item Flying Boat had appeared in black clothes and a veil in broad daylight. Everything about him was bizarre.
"This man is almost certainly a demonic cultivator!" Ling Pengyun swiftly reached a conclusion.
With that thought, Ling Pengyun's heart turned cold.
Demonic cultivators had an extremely notorious reputation in the Cultivation World. Aside from their bloody reputation for refining Demonic Items with the souls and blood of mortals and cultivators, everyone knew that demonic cultivators possessed formidable strength.
According to the elders of the Ling Clan, demonic cultivators were powerful, with endless methods at their disposal. The Demonic Items in their hands were also much more powerful than ordinary magical artifacts. Basically, any demonic cultivator possessing even one Demonic Item was among the more outstanding fighters of the same rank.
If one possessed multiple Demonic Items, then one's combat strength would surely stand at the very peak among cultivators of the same rank, enough to kill enemies above one's level.
Without such strength, how could one refine mortals and cultivators to obtain multiple Demonic Items?
Mortals could also be called a kind of resource. Children with Spirit Roots would be born among them, and places inhabited by mortals generally had forces protecting them.
When encountering a demonic cultivator with multiple Demonic Items, the Ling Clan elders' instruction was, "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 that 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 sprinted madly toward Cloud Mist Market.
There was not a trace of human presence within a hundred li. Only Cloud Mist Market, more than a hundred li away, had cultivators, and Qi Training Late Stage cultivators of the Wen Clan were stationed there. So long as he fled there, he would surely be completely safe.
As for seeking aid, Ling Pengyun had not even considered it. This was the territory of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. Under normal circumstances, why would Ling Clan members be here? Ling Rushui, the only Ling Clan member within a thousand li, was nearly a hundred years old. His cultivation had begun to decline, and he likely retained only seventy percent of his former strength, at most comparable to someone at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining.
Such 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 such an unrighteous person. He did not wish to drag an elder to his death.
Not long after Ling Pengyun turned and fled, the Cloud Mist Wen Clan cultivator being pursued by the demonic cultivator several li behind him also noticed Ling Pengyun's presence.
As if he had found a savior, he used the Sound Amplification Technique to call loudly to Ling Pengyun for aid.
"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. As long as Fellow Daoist joins forces with me, we can surely hold him off for a while. Once the Qi Training Late Stage elder of my Lineage at Cloud Mist Market arrives with reinforcements, I will certainly reward you handsomely!"
Hearing these words, the demonic cultivator pursuing that Wen Clan cultivator used an Eye Technique and likewise spotted Ling Pengyun. Scarlet light flashed fiercely in his eyes, and even the speed of the Demon Boat beneath his feet increased somewhat.
Ling Pengyun, however, directly cast those pleas for aid to the back of his mind. He was still several li away from that demonic cultivator behind him, and he was highly confident that he could escape. There was no need to wade into these muddy waters.
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 took advantage of his speed and caught 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 the nine evil ghosts summoned from the demonic cultivator's banner.
The Wen Clan cultivator's soul was also drawn into the demonic banner in that demonic cultivator's hand.
The demonic cultivator stared at the demonic banner in his hand 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 my demonic banner, his soul will surely become the tenth Qi Training Middle Stage evil ghost in my Ten Ghost Banner, and this Evil Ghost Banner of mine will reach grand completion."
"Later, so long as I find another mortal village and refine this Ten Ghost Banner with the souls of a thousand mortals, I will surely be able to raise it into a First Rank High Grade Hundred Ghost Banner!"
"By then, I fear that even cultivators at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining will be extinguished with a wave of my hand!"
The demonic cultivator laughed wildly without end, his gaze turning toward Ling Pengyun, whose figure was gradually receding several li away.
"This person's cultivation is merely at the Qi Training Middle Stage, and he does not seem to possess a Flying Magical Item. Killing him will be as easy as turning over my hand. With this person's soul as well, I can make preparations for my demonic banner's advancement into a Hundred Ghost Banner!"
"Judging by the time, that Qi Training Late Stage Wen Clan cultivator at Cloud Mist Market should still need some time before he can reach this place. I have more than enough time to kill this person!"
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.
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