"This!"
The leading male cultivator looked astonished. He had never expected the Spirit Sword Talisman to be broken in such a way.
"This is bad. The Spirit Sword Talisman is about to vanish. I can't keep waiting like this."
A savage expression crossed the leading male cultivator's face. It seemed he had to act personally after all.
Golden Armor Technique: Golden Armor Possession!
At once, his entire body was enveloped in golden light, condensing into a thick layer of soft armor as he hurled a vicious punch at Xu Chunniang.
"Die!"
Xu Chunniang had just dealt with the Spirit Sword Talisman when a fist came smashing toward her. Unable to dodge in time, she let out a muffled groan and was sent flying by the blow.
"Hiss, that hurts."
Xu Chunniang clutched her stomach, feeling as though her internal organs had all shifted out of place. She barely forced herself to stand, then used Spirit Void Steps to widen the distance between herself and the leading male cultivator.
Yet the leading male cultivator moved and actually caught up to her. He gave a cold laugh. "You think you're the only one who knows movement techniques? Trying to run? It won't be that easy!"
Xu Chunniang's face turned cold. Without any visible movement from her, a water sphere suddenly formed before the male cultivator and swallowed toward him.
The leading male cultivator darted left, unexpectedly avoiding the Water Bind Technique.
"You think I'd stumble over the same trick twice? You're underestimating me."
He had deliberately not pursued too closely precisely because he had been guarding against this move. Having experienced it firsthand, he knew just how troublesome that strange water sphere was.
Xu Chunniang remained silent. She could not keep running like this.
Her cultivation was already inferior to his, and more than half of her spiritual energy had been depleted. If this continued, her situation would only grow more difficult.
Seeing Xu Chunniang stop, the leading male cultivator clenched his fist and charged at her again. Just as he was about to strike her, he was blocked by a mass of blue.
"Water Bind Technique!"
Xu Chunniang shouted, and a water sphere instantly appeared around her, blocking the punch. In that moment of crisis, she had actually used the Water Bind Technique on herself.
The leading male cultivator's brows drew together. Unless he broke this water sphere, he would not be able to touch her at all.
He increased his strength and smashed several vicious punches into the water sphere, shattering it outright!
When the water sphere burst, Xu Chunniang remained calm. She repeated the same trick, summoning another Water Bind Technique to protect herself. At the same time, she rapidly used the Spirit Blast Technique, splitting four masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi in one go. The instant the second water sphere broke, the four masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi flew together toward the male cultivator!
"Bang!"
The Explosive Spiritual Qi detonated the moment it neared the male cultivator. However, the power of four masses was limited, and with the Golden Armor protecting him, it merely made him spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Is that all you can do?"
The male cultivator grinned viciously and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam before charging forward again with his fist clenched.
Xu Chunniang's expression darkened slightly. He really was hard to deal with!
She cast a Water Bind Technique on herself and began splitting Wood Spiritual Qi once more. Soon, four more masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi condensed, while at the same time, the Water Bind Technique was shattered for the third time!
Xu Chunniang activated Spirit Void Steps. As she retreated, she endured the excruciating pain in her meridians caused by excessive spiritual energy consumption and gritted her teeth, controlling the four masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi as they began to split again!
"Why aren't you using that water sphere trick anymore?"
The male cultivator gave a gloomy smile and lunged forward, closing the distance between them. "No matter how many water spheres you make, I'll smash them all to pieces!"
Xu Chunniang suddenly raised her head and flashed him a brilliant smile as she controlled the newly born eight masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi and sent them rushing toward him.
Sensing the violent spiritual energy within the eight azure spheres, the male cultivator's expression changed slightly. It was too late to retreat, so he could only grit his teeth and cast three layers of defensive shields around himself.
Xu Chunniang's gaze turned cold. Rather than detonate the Explosive Spiritual Qi while he was putting up his shields, she seized the opportunity to squeeze out every last drop of spiritual energy in her body and ruthlessly split the eight masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi again!
The moment sixteen miniature masses of Explosive Spiritual Qi appeared, they nearly slipped out of her control.
Xu Chunniang made her decision without hesitation. "Explode!"
"BOOM!!"
The Explosive Spiritual Qi detonated all at once. The several layers of defensive shields lasted less than half a second before shattering into scraps, instantly swallowing the male cultivator.
Xu Chunniang's face was deathly pale. Every last trace of spiritual energy in her body had been drained. She still held a talisman in her hand—the last mid-grade talisman she possessed, a Wind Blade Talisman. If the male cultivator somehow survived, this would be her final measure.
But the truth was that even Wind Cloud Tigers, demonic beasts at the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation, could not escape unscathed from such a massive explosion. Much less a human cultivator whose physical body was far inferior to a demonic beast's!
The male cultivator had not even left behind an intact corpse. His upper body had already been obliterated in the explosion.
Seeing that the male cultivator was finally dead beyond all doubt, Xu Chunniang let out a breath and collapsed onto the ground. Only now did she feel the intense pain. Aside from her injuries, her head and meridians ached terribly as well.
After resting for a moment, Xu Chunniang endured the pain and forcibly gathered herself. She sat up, drank two bottles of spiritual dew, and began meditating.
Although this was the safe outer area of the Hundred Demonic Mountain Range, it was not completely safe.
After absorbing the two bottles of spiritual dew, she felt somewhat better. She rose and collected the Storage Bags from the leading male cultivator and the three cultivators who had entered later.
In the end, seven Storage Bags lay before her.
Xu Chunniang opened them one by one, placing anything valuable and all the spirit stones into her own Storage Bag.
These people were truly poor. After opening six Storage Bags in a row, she had only obtained thirty-five spirit stones, some low-grade talismans, and worthless materials. There was not even a single mid-grade talisman.
Xu Chunniang shook her head and turned her gaze to the final Storage Bag. This one had been taken from the leading male cultivator. Surely he could not be this poor too, could he?
She opened the Storage Bag, and her eyes immediately lit up. There were a full sixty-eight spirit stones alone, along with three mid-grade talismans, half a bottle of Three Yuan Pills, and some other materials.
Taken together, these gains were almost equal to what she had earned during this entire trip into the mountains.
Xu Chunniang shook her head. No wonder these people never properly hunted demonic beasts and only thought about robbery all day.
But those who robbed others had to be prepared for death.
Xu Chunniang put all the valuable items into her own Storage Bag and placed the worthless ones into a second Storage Bag. Then she found a rope, strung the seven empty Storage Bags together, and hung them around her neck, intending to sell them all after returning to Green Mountain Town.
"Now, only one thing remains."
Only after finishing all this did Xu Chunniang take out a red string threaded with white beads. It was something she had found on the leading male cultivator after his death. Since he had carried it close to his body, it was clear how much he valued it.
"This must be the thing that was able to track my location."
Xu Chunniang quietly examined it but did not sense anything unusual about the white beads. After thinking for a moment, she tore the string apart and placed the white beads inside a Jade Box, intending to investigate what they were properly after returning to the sect.
Dawn would come in another two hours, so Xu Chunniang simply found a tree and began meditating beneath it.
There was no rush to return to Green Mountain Town until daylight. By then, her spiritual energy would likely have recovered almost completely as well.
Early the next morning, Xu Chunniang was waiting outside the market gates. The moment Green Mountain Town opened, she entered.
Seeing the bustling market, a faint smile appeared on Xu Chunniang's face. After living in the mountains for more than ten days, she had finally returned.
This haul should fetch a good price, shouldn't it?
Thanks to Fellow Daoist 160519222955758 for the monthly ticket. I'll continue posting bonus chapters for everyone!
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