Counterkill

Wang Hong crept all the way toward the depths of the stone forest. The farther in he went, the denser the spiritual energy became. Along the way, he spotted several more kinds of spirit fruit trees. He directly summoned his flying sword, chose one tree of each kind, dug them out roots and all, and tossed them into his space.

Monkeys loved drinking and were skilled at brewing wine. The Hundred Fruits Wine they brewed was also called Monkey Wine, a rare and peerless delicacy. These fruit trees were presumably what they used for brewing.

Wang Hong was currently short on spirit fruits for brewing wine. With so many varieties laid out before him, how could he possibly let them go? Unfortunately, his space was too small and had little room left, so he could only choose one smaller tree of each kind.

He suddenly halted mid-stride and swiftly darted behind a massive boulder.

A black-robed cultivator emerged from ahead. He walked to where Wang Hong had just been standing, stopped, and called toward Wang Hong's hiding place, "Fellow Daoist Wang, come out!"

This man was none other than Cultivator Ding, who had fled earlier. Wang Hong no longer concealed himself and stepped out from behind the boulder.

He said, "Fellow Daoist Ding, what fine calculations you made. Your purpose in luring us here was to have us draw away the monkey horde, allowing you to slip in and claim the treasure, wasn't it?"

"Hahaha! Fellow Daoist Wang truly is a clever man. Unfortunately, you realized it a little too late. I'm quite happy to kill someone and seize his treasures once in a while. I've coveted Fellow Daoist Wang's wealth for a long time." As Cultivator Ding spoke, he pressed toward Wang Hong step by step.

With every step he took closer to Wang Hong, his aura rose steadily, climbing from Qi Refining Layer Four to Qi Refining Layer Five, then Qi Refining Layer Six... until it finally stopped at Qi Refining Layer Eight.

The oppressive might of Qi Refining Layer Eight left Wang Hong barely able to breathe and even unable to summon the will to resist. He took a deep breath and guarded his mind inwardly, resisting that negative state. Then he slapped several layers of Earth Armor Talismans onto himself.

Wang Hong withstood the pressure, let out a furious roar, and charged at Cultivator Ding with his long spear in hand.

While they were still three or four zhang apart, Cultivator Ding summoned a Golden Flying Sword. It was actually a High-grade Metal Element Flying Sword.

The Golden Flying Sword shone with a blinding radiance as it cleaved down at Wang Hong's head. In a rush, Wang Hong raised his spear with both hands to block it. With a crack, the spear snapped in two.

The Golden Flying Sword continued downward. Its force had weakened considerably after severing the spear, yet it still broke through two layers of Earth Armor Talismans before stopping, leaving Wang Hong's chest throbbing with dull pain.

Wang Hong was inwardly horrified. Had he not always been cautious and used several extra layers of Earth Armor Talismans, he would likely have been a corpse by now.

He hurled the two broken halves of his spear at his opponent, then pulled out a stack of talismans and fired them all at Cultivator Ding.

Cultivator Ding kicked off the ground, his body drifting backward two zhang like a ghost. He easily evaded the talisman attack.

Seeing this, Wang Hong pulled out another stack of talismans and threw them all at Cultivator Ding in one go. Then he turned and ran for his life. Even as he fled, he did not forget to add two more layers of Earth Armor Talismans and a Swiftness Talisman to himself.

He cast the Wind Riding Technique and pushed his speed to its utmost limit. The wind rushing against him stung his face, while the surrounding trees and rocks flashed backward in a blur.

Just as he felt that he had left the other man far behind and found time to look back, ready to mock his opponent, a single glance chilled half his heart. The words he had prepared were swallowed back down whole.

He discovered that Cultivator Ding had remained neither too near nor too far behind him, following at an unhurried pace as though he still had strength to spare.

He could neither defeat his opponent nor outrun him. With no other option, he could only continue his desperate flight, hoping for a turn in the tide.

The chase continued for more than three hours. Wang Hong had already used seven Swiftness Talismans and drunk spirit wine five times.

"Damn it!" Cultivator Ding cursed viciously. He had just seen Wang Hong use another Swiftness Talisman, and he could not understand how that brat had so many of them.

A Swiftness Talisman cost more than ten Spirit Stones apiece. Who went out carrying so many? His heart was bleeding as well. Those were his talismans, and those burning away were his Spirit Stones. Everything in Wang Hong's storage pouch should have belonged to him, yet that brat was wasting it all.

It was not that he wanted to toy with Wang Hong by following slowly behind. He had hardships he could not speak of!

In the past, when he had killed someone for treasure, he had slain a small rogue cultivator in the Qi Refining realm. From him, he obtained a map marked with the location of a cave abode.

After investigating through many channels, he learned that deep within this grove of spirit fruit trees lay the ruins of a cave abode, left behind by at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. As for the demon monkey horde guarding the outside, there was absolutely no way he could handle it alone.

So he had devised a way to lure other cultivators here. Earlier, he had secretly told the Lei cultivator that there was a huge spirit fruit orchard here, guarded by more than ten demon monkeys.

Then the earlier scene unfolded. Everyone drew away the demon monkeys for him, while he crossed the warehouse under cover of darkness and quietly infiltrated the cave abode.

Yet the dead ghost in that cave abode refused to rest peacefully even in death. He had been caught out by the formations inside and suffered injuries that were neither serious nor light. He needed several days of recuperation before he could recover.

As he ran now, every tug on his wounds hurt like knives twisting, and faint bloodstains seeped through. He had thought an opponent he could settle in a few moves would be so slippery.

More than half of his spiritual power had already been consumed. Although a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator possessed abundant spiritual power, replenishing it was also extremely difficult.

Ordinary spirit wine could only satisfy one's palate; its ability to replenish expended spiritual power was negligible.

Higher-grade spirit wine, meanwhile, was in short supply and high demand. It was not something one could buy merely by spending a few Spirit Stones.

Wang Hong fled all the way without finding a chance to escape, only to run into a dead end. Looking at the cliff walls surrounding him ahead, unless he could fly, there was nowhere left to run.

When enemies met on a narrow road, the brave won. He had once been a soldier, who had come through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. At a critical moment, he had never begrudged a fight to the death. Even if he died in battle, he would bite a chunk of flesh from his enemy.

Wang Hong summoned a Black Flying Sword, which circled and danced above his head and around his body. This sword was the Mid-grade Flying Sword he had seized from Lin Junjie back then. He stood in place and quietly waited for his opponent to approach step by step.

"Oh-ho! Weren't you quite good at running? Why aren't you running now? Hand over your storage pouch obediently, and I can spare your life. Among cultivators who seize treasure, my reputation is quite good." It would be nice if he could coax Wang Hong into handing over the storage pouch willingly. Otherwise, if they fought to the death, many good things would be wasted again.

"Do you take me for a three-year-old? If I handed you the storage pouch, wouldn't I be meat on the chopping block for anyone to carve? Stop talking nonsense. Come at me!"

"Fine! Let's see how many more times you can hop about." As Cultivator Ding spoke, he summoned the Golden Flying Sword. It transformed into a streak of golden light and slashed at Wang Hong.

Wang Hong sent his flying sword into the air to intercept it while rushing forward and flinging out a handful of Iron Thorns seeds.

The two swords clashed in the air, erupting in dazzling light. Then the Black Flying Sword was sent flying backward.

By then, the Iron Thorns seeds had nearly reached Cultivator Ding. He once again used that ghostlike movement technique, drifting two zhang to the side and dodging them.

The Iron Thorns seeds missed him, but the moment they landed, they took root and sprouted, growing into thickets taller than a man.

The Golden Flying Sword slashed toward Wang Hong once again, only to be entangled by the Black Flying Sword. Time after time, the Black Flying Sword was knocked away, and the cracks upon it grew ever more numerous. It likely would not hold much longer.

Wang Hong found an opening to pour a bottle of spirit wine down his throat, then charged at his opponent again. At the same time, he threw out another handful of Iron Thorns seeds.

Thus, a strange scene appeared. In the air, Wang Hong's Black Flying Sword was being beaten back step by step. On the ground, Wang Hong chased Cultivator Ding around, wildly throwing Iron Thorns seeds at him.

Cultivator Ding drifted diagonally two zhang away and shouted, "Aren't you wasting them by throwing them around like that?"

"Even if I waste every last one, I won't let you have them." As he spoke, he willfully threw out another handful of Iron Thorns seeds.

At that moment, an explosive boom rang out in the air, and the Black Flying Sword shattered into fragments that drifted down from above.

The Golden Flying Sword slashed toward Wang Hong once more. Wang Hong pulled out another flying sword and hurled it at the golden sword. Fortunately, he had kept some of the flying swords he had seized earlier rather than disposing of them. He charged desperately at his opponent again and randomly threw out another handful of Iron Thorns seeds.

When Cultivator Ding saw the Iron Thorns seeds flying toward him, he finally realized that Iron Thorns thickets had already filled the area behind and to his left. So this brat had planned it all along. His seemingly willful, random throwing had been intended to use the Iron Thorns thickets to restrict his movement.

In his urgency, he could only dodge to the right. With a flicker, his body drifted rightward. But Wang Hong had long anticipated that he would move right, and even before he dodged, Wang Hong had thrown a handful of Iron Thorns seeds toward a spot two zhang to his right.

Cultivator Ding crashed headlong into the Iron Thorns seeds. Several seeds latched onto his body, and in an instant, he was tightly bound.

At that moment, his flying sword was shattered once more, and the Golden Flying Sword chopped down at his head.

Meanwhile, a small knife artifact appeared in Cultivator Ding's hand, and he was cutting through the thorns wrapped around him. At most, one breath later, he would break free of the thorny bindings. Once he was on guard, binding him again would be difficult.

Wang Hong gritted his teeth. "I'm going all in!" He ignored the flying sword slashing at him and pulled out a huge handful of talismans, firing them at Cultivator Ding, who was desperately cutting through the thorns.

The instant he launched the talismans, the flying sword came down upon his head. In the urgency of the moment, he had no time to think and could only hurriedly dodge a few inches to the right.

The Golden Flying Sword broke through three layers of Earth Armor Talismans, its momentum only slightly diminished. It slashed down along the edge of his left ear and into his left shoulder. It severed his collarbone, split his shoulder blade, cut through his ribs, and sliced open a lung.

At the same time, the huge handful of talismans exploded around Cultivator Ding. Cultivator Ding had time only to let out a miserable scream before turning into a pile of ashes.

The moment Cultivator Ding died, the Golden Flying Sword lost control and became lodged in Wang Hong's chest. His left shoulder had separated from his body, the wound gaping like an open bloody maw, while his left arm hung limply at his side.

With his right hand, he took out several Healing Medicines and swallowed them. Then he sprinkled some Blood-stopping and Muscle-regenerating Powder over the wound. Only then did he gently pull the Golden Flying Sword from his chest. As the sword came out, blood sprayed more than a foot away. He immediately applied more blood-stopping powder and pressed down hard. Only after a quarter of an hour did the bleeding gradually stop.

"So close! The wound was only an inch from my heart. Why hadn't I dodged left instead? At least it wouldn't have been this dangerous."

Fortunately, the three layers of Earth Armor Talismans had blocked it for a moment, and he had achieved minor success in body refinement, giving him strong physical defenses. Otherwise, he would have been split in two long ago.

He hastily bound his wounds, picked up the flying swords and Cultivator Ding's storage pouch, then hurried away.