Rogue Cultivators Block the Way

Three years later.

Little Sunset Peak, Sunset Market.

A masked man was squatting behind a stall.

Before him lay a two-meter-wide strip of grayish-white cloth. Only four bottles of pills were displayed upon it, with paper labels set in front of them reading "Qi Nourishing Pill," "Evil Warding Pill," "Breakthrough Pill," and "Mind Gathering Pill."

The market street teemed with people, and from time to time, someone would squat down to haggle over prices.

Some deals were made, while others ended with both sides parting on bad terms.

The masked man was naturally Han Yi.

This market was one of the many markets belonging to the Outer Peak.

And at this point, it was already his third year after returning to the sect.

Over those three years, he had moved between numerous outer sect markets. He had even collected over a dozen different masks, no two alike.

Moreover, every time he sold pills, he would wait several months before switching to a market far away from the last one.

His aim was to minimize the risks and avoid being targeted.

As night gradually fell, Han Yi put away the displayed pills into his storage bag, folded up the grayish-white cloth and stored it as well, then headed out.

Roughly two hundred meters behind him, three figures were not walking together, yet their gazes flickered as they exchanged glances. Neither too fast nor too slow, they trailed behind Han Yi.

Han Yi, walking ahead, noticed nothing unusual.

Though he had been cautious enough over the past two years, he had not encountered even a single cultivator robber. Naturally, he was somewhat less vigilant than at the beginning.

As usual, after leaving the enclosed cluster of market buildings, he picked up speed. The Body Lightening Technique swiftly unfolded, and he shot into the distance like a flying bird.

Seeing Han Yi speed up, the three behind him quickly ran out of the market and followed close behind.

By the time they reached the mountainside of Little Sunset Peak—

Han Yi stopped.

A man stood in front of him, blocking his path.

"Junior Brother, I am only after wealth. Leave your storage bag behind, and you may go."

The man blocking him had a hoarse voice and wore a mask as well. Clearly, he was an experienced cultivator robber.

Han Yi's heart turned cold.

Over the past two years, he had repeatedly rehearsed in his mind what he should do if he encountered cultivator robbers.

Now that the moment had arrived, he really was somewhat nervous.

After all, aside from that sudden battle against Jiang De in Mengshan City two years ago, this was only his second real battle.

It was another unexpected encounter, but this time was different. What would be tested was absolute strength.

"Senior Brother, I..."

Han Yi had been about to say a few more words when he suddenly turned to look behind him. Three figures were rushing toward him from the rear diagonal.

"Not good. They're attacking from both front and back—they're together."

Han Yi could not afford to hold back. He raised his hand and flicked two fingers in rapid succession.

BOOM!!

His cultivation had just advanced to Qi Refining Layer 5, coupled with the Spirit Void Finger, which he had grinded to 90/100 progress toward Comprehensive Mastery.

The power of those two finger strikes exceeded everyone's expectations.

The man who had originally blocked Han Yi's path was overjoyed when he saw his companions close in. He thought that they had finally netted themselves a big fish.

But in the next instant, he was stunned.

No—stunned was no longer enough to describe it. Terror was more fitting.

The big fish before him flicked a finger, and a star-like gleam of spiritual light arrived before his eyes in the blink of an eye.

He thought, With my Qi Refining Layer 5 Peak strength, taking a single instantaneous spell from someone also at Qi Refining Layer 5—who has only just entered the fifth layer—should be no trouble at all.

So he did nothing else, merely activating a defensive spell to block the attack.

This defensive spell was called the Golden Shield Technique.

He had tested it before. This defensive spell could even briefly withstand ordinary attacks from the sixth layer.

Unfortunately.

In the next instant, his pupils violently contracted.

He could only watch helplessly as the star-like gleam shot through his activated Golden Shield Technique like lightning, then struck his body.

Before the searing pain even arose, another star-like gleam followed right behind it.

BOOM! BOOM!!

After flicking out those two fingers, Han Yi did not even look at the result. Instead, he swiftly brought his index and middle fingers together and swept them forward.

The dagger tucked at the small of his back abruptly shot into the air.

Whoosh!!

A tearing whistle split the air, and the scream ahead came to an abrupt halt.

Han Yi moved like lightning, rushing forward and scooping up the storage pouch from the headless corpse whose chest had been pierced through.

The air-piercing dagger also returned to his waist, trembling with a low hum.

Then—

Han Yi did not linger in battle. Instead, he pushed the Body Lightening Technique to its limit and charged onward, vanishing after a few leaps.

He was not afraid of the three behind him, but what if more people came? What if Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators—or even stronger ones—arrived?

Killing rogue cultivators was not a problem, but killing them so cleanly would make him seem more like a rogue cultivator himself. That would be hard to explain.

In the time it took a rabbit to rise and a crane to fall, the battle was over—not even a breath had passed.

By the time the three behind arrived at the scene, they were seized by an intense fear.

It had been too fast. The battle had ended far too quickly.

From afar, they had only seen starlight flash in rapid succession. A scream rose, a scream fell, and the battle was over.

"Senior Zhuang, what do we do?"

"Li Kui just died like that?"

"He was at the Qi Refining Layer 5 Peak. Even against a Qi Refining Layer 6 cultivator, he could hold his own for a short while."

"With strength like that, could the opponent be a Qi Refining Layer 7 expert?"

"That's not impossible."

The male cultivators on either side sounded somewhat panicked.

The masked man standing in the middle had just risen from a crouch beside the headless corpse. Called Senior Zhuang, he was the strongest member of their four-man team, yet even his voice carried a trace of fear.

"The other party is strong. Very strong. Incredibly strong."

"Two spells—I couldn't tell their attributes—but they directly shattered Junior Brother Li Kui's shield and pierced his chest. Then he controlled his sword and beheaded him, clean and decisive."

"Even if I ran into him, it would be nine deaths and one life."

"Even if he isn't at Qi Refining Layer 7, he definitely has the combat strength of a Qi Refining Layer 6 Peak cultivator—and one with astonishing battle prowess."

"Leave, quickly. This is no place to stay. This time, we can only say Junior Brother Li Kui was unlucky."

The masked man took out a black bottle, poured out a viscous black liquid, and let it drip onto the corpse. A sizzling sound immediately arose. Moments later, only a small pit remained, even the bones having melted away.

The practiced ease of his methods made it clear that he had already found his way into the trade of rogue cultivators.

Then—

The three swiftly vanished.

Other than them and Han Yi, no one knew that a battle had begun and ended there. No one knew that a rogue cultivator at the Qi Refining Layer 5 Peak had died in that place.

After Han Yi returned to Little Spirit Void Peak and removed his mask, his heart was still pounding wildly.

Only after waiting a full quarter of an hour did he finally calm down.

Once he had calmed down, he first began reviewing this sudden encounter.

"There were four rogue cultivators. Good thing I was clever. If the three behind had surrounded me, even if I could have escaped, I might still have been injured."

"Too dangerous."

"I can't go to Sunset Market anymore."

"Still, my combat strength really isn't bad. Within Qi Refining Layer 5, absolutely no one could withstand repeated strikes of my Spirit Void Finger. As for Qi Refining Layer 6... forget it. I've never fought one before, so I don't know what methods they possess. I shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"As expected, fighting still requires strategy: fast, accurate, ruthless. Too much nonsense can easily delay things."