Immortal Encounter (May Day Joy!)

"Junior Sister Zheng, something's happened!" That night, just as Junior Sister Zheng was preparing to cultivate, she received a message from Senior Brother Zhao. She hurriedly opened the door and stepped outside.

The Defense Formation outside had already been withdrawn by Senior Brother Zhao. Without the slightest hesitation, he applied several talismans to himself and rushed in one direction.

Junior Sister Zheng hesitated slightly. She did not put away her belongings, but then remembered that this was the Government Office, one of the safest places in the mortal world.

Moreover, Senior Brother Zhao had already left ahead of her. She too applied several talismans to herself and chased after him.

Great Xia was within their sect's sphere of influence. The sect had long issued strict orders forbidding outside cultivators from entering the mortal realm. Cultivators had their own world.

The mortal world was the foundation of a sect. Without mortals, how could a sect continue to exist?

Whenever cultivators unaffiliated with their sect appeared within its territory, sect disciples had to investigate. More importantly, eliminating such cultivators not only allowed them to claim what the cultivators left behind, but also earned them rewards from the sect.

Ge Tianqing was a Rogue Cultivator. This time, he was merely passing through Great Xia.

Traveling through mortal lands protected by a sect was originally an utterly ordinary matter.

As long as he did not reveal a cultivator's methods, there would be no Trouble at all.

Yet if he detoured around Great Xia, around the mortal lands under the sect's protection, he would have to travel several times farther.

Thus, he chose the shorter route. As night was about to fall, he spotted Nanling City and decided to enter to replenish his food supplies.

Legend had it that immortal cultivators could live without touching mortal fare, but that had nothing to do with Qi Refining Stage cultivators. Like ordinary people, Qi Refining Stage cultivators still needed food to replenish what they expended.

Ge Tianqing was not a sect disciple with precious Spiritual Qi-infused food.

Since it was rather late, Nanling City's gates had long since closed.

He chose to climb over the city wall. When he cast the Light Body Technique, he did not conceal himself in the slightest, believing that no cultivators were present within Nanling City.

Who would have thought that, in order to detect cultivators, Senior Brother Zhao's formation had its Spiritual Power Fluctuation detection function activated?

The moment Ge Tianqing cast the Light Body Technique, the formation sensed him.

He was walking down the street, considering where to find an inn for the night, when he suddenly froze and looked in one direction.

Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng were moving quickly. The two sides soon drew close enough to sense one another.

"Be careful, Junior Sister. He's a Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivator!" Senior Brother Zhao's expression changed slightly as he sent a voice transmission to Junior Sister Zheng.

By then, he had already decided that Ge Tianqing was the cultivator they sought—the cultivator who had caused the explosion in the Government Office's Back Garden. His strength matched, and he had been discovered at precisely this time.

In a place like Nanling Prefecture, it was difficult for even a single cultivator to appear over several decades. How could there be such a coincidence?

Upon hearing that he was a Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivator, Junior Sister Zheng slapped her Storage Bag, and a small shield appeared in her hand, blocking the front of her body.

Senior Brother Zhao was no slower. He held a longsword in his hand, while a tortoise-shell-shaped shield circled around him.

Ge Tianqing had been about to speak, but when he saw the two cultivators draw their Magic Artifacts, it was already too late for him to say anything.

His figure retreated, and a black iron hammer appeared in his hand.

When Senior Brother Zhao saw him take out the hammer Magic Artifact, he instead breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's a Rogue Cultivator. Prepare to kill him by force!" he transmitted to Junior Sister Zheng.

The reason he judged Ge Tianqing to be a Rogue Cultivator was Ge Tianqing's poverty.

When facing cultivators and preparing for battle, Ge Tianqing had actually only taken out a Low-Grade Iron Hammer Magical Artifact.

Perhaps the Low-Grade Iron Hammer Magical Artifact was not weak in power, but for a Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivator to use a Low Grade Magical Artifact was enough to reveal his background.

Senior Brother Zhao was extremely confident that he could kill Ge Tianqing in one stroke. Before coming over, he and Junior Sister Zheng had already applied several talismans to themselves, while no talisman light shone from Ge Tianqing's body.

The gap between cultivators born into sects and Rogue Cultivators was enormous. This was why cultivators all strove to join sects, only reluctantly becoming Rogue Cultivators when they had no way to enter one.

The cultivators' battle unfolded right on the street. It was not a battle Nanling City should have witnessed, yet it was fiercely intense from the very beginning.

Senior Brother Zhao's Mid-Grade Longsword Magical Artifact shot forth, slashing down at Ge Tianqing.

Ge Tianqing's equipment was inferior to Senior Brother Zhao's, but as a Rogue Cultivator, he possessed exceptionally rich combat experience. He swung the Low-Grade Iron Hammer Magical Artifact in his hand against the Mid-Grade Longsword Magical Artifact.

The Low-Grade Iron Hammer Magical Artifact collided with the Mid-Grade Longsword Magical Artifact, and a shockwave born of clashing Spiritual Power spread in all directions.

The terrifying shockwave shattered the stone slabs covering the street. Broken stones flew everywhere, striking the doors and windows of nearby buildings.

A tremendous crash rang out first, followed by the sound of countless doors and windows being smashed apart, then cries of alarm from those inside.

Neither Ge Tianqing nor Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng paid any attention to the destruction caused by their battle.

Junior Sister Zheng's attack arrived as well. It was a Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact. Though the Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact was not very powerful, it was exceptionally covert.

After Ge Tianqing blocked Senior Brother Zhao's attack, the Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact stabbed toward his shoulder from the side.

Junior Sister Zheng had launched her Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact while holding an Elementary Attack Talisman in her hand. Ge Tianqing had not expected her attack to be so insidious and had focused only on that talisman.

When the Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact reached Ge Tianqing's shoulder, he sensed its presence and hurriedly ducked. Even so, the Low-Grade Hairpin Magical Artifact still left a wound on his shoulder.

Blood flowed from the wound, along with Junior Sister Zheng's Spiritual Power embedded within it.

Although Ge Tianqing was far stronger and it would not be difficult for him to expel the Spiritual Power from the wound, the problem was that doing so during battle would distract him and affect his fighting.

"You deserve to die!" Ge Tianqing cried, his face twisting.

For no reason at all, he had been attacked by two sect disciples, and they had tried to kill him from the very first exchange. How could his fury not surge skyward?

The vicious ferocity unique to Rogue Cultivators was fully revealed when his life was threatened. Rogue Cultivators were not entirely without opportunities either.

He knew that if he did not fight with all his strength now, he might die here today.

He brushed a hand over his Storage Bag, and a stack of elementary talismans appeared in his hand. Without the slightest hesitation, he hurled the entire handful of talismans at Senior Brother Zhao.

Flames, frost, Wind Blades, and attacks formed from all manner of Spiritual Qi surged toward Senior Brother Zhao in an instant. Senior Brother Zhao hurriedly took an Intermediate Defense Talisman from his Storage Bag and activated it.

Fearing that the Intermediate Defense Talisman would not be enough to block the attacks, Senior Brother Zhao retreated. At the same time, he recalled his Mid-Grade Longsword Magical Artifact and poured even more Spiritual Power into the Mid-Grade Tortoise Shell Magical Artifact beside him.

As someone born into a sect, he was gold; Ge Tianqing was rubble. There was no way he would risk his life fighting Ge Tianqing.

As he retreated, he exposed Junior Sister Zheng alone before Ge Tianqing.