You Dare Come Over and Bite Me!

The tall, burly sword cultivator twitched his nose.

"Senior Brother Tianhe, I was wondering why you hadn't returned to the sect. You're living quite the carefree life here."

The girl gazed at Old Ye with a lovestruck expression, practically shooting stars from her eyes.

"Senior Brother Tianhe, I've missed you so much..."

Ye Tianhe threw back his head and laughed, then turned around and pointed at Su Fan.

"Junior Brothers, this is a new little brother I've met. He's a pretty decent fellow."

Su Fan stood up and smiled, cupping his fists toward the two of them.

He simply couldn't figure out why the two people across from him were looking at him so strangely.

How could he have known that Ye Tianhe always kept to himself wherever he went?

Let alone getting mixed up with a low-level Rogue Cultivator.

The two of them were both baffled. How had this little Rogue Cultivator caught their senior brother's eye?

Su Fan didn't care about any of that, nor did he have any intention of ingratiating himself with them.

He busied himself with his own work, tilting his ear to listen to the few of them drinking and chatting.

"Senior Brother Tianhe, you should have just returned to the sect. So what if you crippled two scum from the Zi Xiao Sect? If it had been me, I would have cut them down with a single sword."

The girl sounded furious, as though she were standing up for her senior brother.

Su Fan could tell there was a story behind this.

"That's right. When have we sword cultivators ever been cowards? So what if they're an immortal sect from the Central Plains? If they dare strut around in front of us sword cultivators, we'll wipe them out all the same."

The tall, burly sword cultivator was equally indignant.

Su Fan's gossip-loving soul began to burn fiercely. He hadn't expected Old Ye to have come here to lie low.

"Haha, do you think I wanted to stay in this godforsaken place? Could I refuse my master's orders?"

Hearing Old Ye say that, Su Fan immediately became displeased.

What kind of thing was that to say? Your household was the godforsaken place!

"Those immortal sects never mean well. They fight the demon sects to the death, yet they always make our Sword Sect take the front line. If you ask me, they can fight their own battles. What does it have to do with our Sword Sect?"

"Exactly. Our Sword Sect helps them wage bloody war against the demon sects, and they still point fingers at us. They're really getting too big for their boots."

After hearing the two of them complain, Su Fan gained a new understanding of the situation in this world.

He had originally thought sword cultivators counted as disciples of the immortal sects. Apparently, sword cultivators didn't see it that way; they had always regarded the Sword Sect as standing apart from the others.

The reason these Sword Maniacs had come to Qin State to join in the excitement was to temper themselves—to kill and fight.

This world wasn't as peaceful as it looked, either. The surface alone was already this complicated.

"I heard Senior Brother Tianhe encountered Gu Qinghuan..."

"Mm... I fought her once..."

"Senior Brother Tianhe, did you let her go because you thought she was beautiful?"

"Don't go spreading that nonsense. Gu Qinghuan is the only promising seed in the Ghost King Sect. I heard several Old Devils nearly emptied the sect to cultivate her. That witch is no simple character. You must never underestimate her if you encounter her in the future."

Su Fan was quite surprised as well. So Gu Qinghuan was that powerful? Thank goodness he had escaped quickly.

So what if she was powerful? You dare come over and bite me!

"By the way, why did you come here?"

"Don't ask. Several demon sects in Yongzhou have started stirring again. According to an elder martial uncle in the sect, it seems the Liangzhou True Demon Sect was behind it."

"Several Sword Sects from Ganzhou and Lanzhou have sent people over. Apparently, some of the immortal sects from the Central Plains have also arrived in Yongzhou."

Ye Tianhe took a drink of wine, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Hehe, after staying quiet for several decades, it looks like Yongzhou is about to descend into chaos again."

Su Fan didn't even need to look. From Old Ye's tone alone, he knew exactly what expression the man was wearing now.

Couldn't these Sword Maniacs settle down for once? Was killing and fighting really that interesting?

Damn it, there was no way to live like this.

It seemed the Western Wilderness had always been chaotic. The immortal sects and demon sects were fighting fiercely, and even the immortal sects of the Central Plains had gotten involved.

The situation was bad.

If things came to it, he might as well leave this land of trouble.

Seeing his two fellow disciples looking eager to get started, Ye Tianhe waved a hand.

"Don't get excited so soon. At least for the next few years, the two sides won't be able to start a war."

"Mm, the elder martial uncle in the sect said so too. This time, several immortal sects from the Central Plains and many demon sects from the Western Wilderness will come to join in the excitement. It probably won't break out into war anytime soon."

"Hmph, those people from the immortal sects are such a nuisance. Why not just kill our way over and be done with it?"

Only after hearing Ye Tianhe and the others did Su Fan finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. In a few years, he would have already broken through to Late Qi Refining.

By then, he should at least have some ability to protect himself. He wouldn't be as helpless as he was now, at the mercy of others.

While Su Fan was lost in wild thoughts, the sword cultivator girl came over.

She squatted beside Su Fan, holding a skewer of meat in her hand, her mouth greasy with oil.

"How did you and Senior Brother Tianhe meet?"

"How else could we have met? We met, that's all."

"Impossible. Senior Brother, he... he hardly ever talks to anyone normally..."

Su Fan understood what the girl meant.

She was asking how a low-level Rogue Cultivator like him had managed to latch onto Old Ye, that towering tree.

Su Fan smiled, turned toward her, and leaned closer before whispering a sentence.

"Do you like Old Ye?"

The girl reacted as if she had been shocked by electricity, springing to her feet with her little face flushed bright red.

Then, feeling that reaction inappropriate, she squatted back down.

"Don't talk nonsense. I... how could I..."

The girl stammered and stumbled for a long while, opening and closing her mouth without managing to say a complete sentence. In the end, she fled awkwardly.

Su Fan smiled. He might not be able to beat her, but he could still tease her to death.

The emotional intelligence of these sword cultivators was nothing to write home about.

After quite a while, the girl came over again and muttered softly beside him.

"How did you know that I liked Senior Brother?"

Su Fan rolled his eyes. Did she take him for an idiot? Her lovestruck expression was written all over her face.

But he certainly couldn't put it that way. No matter what, he couldn't afford to offend a sword cultivator.

"I guessed. Old Ye is so charming. You female cultivators would naturally admire him."

The girl let out a long breath and smiled shyly, her mood improving considerably.

"Then you absolutely mustn't tell Senior Brother Tianhe."

Su Fan nodded. As if I had nothing better to do than meddle in your nonsense.

The three sword cultivators gathered together to drink, but he had no intention of joining them.

After finishing the skewers, Su Fan sat to one side and ate his own food, constantly pondering the information he had overheard.

He still had to increase the speed of his cultivation as quickly as possible.

From what he had just heard Old Ye say, this godforsaken Western Wilderness had never been particularly peaceful.

The Yongzhou where Su Fan was currently located belonged to the northeastern border region of the Western Wilderness.

The immortal sects of the Central Plains had constantly been infiltrating Yongzhou, doing everything they could to stop the demon sects of the Western Wilderness from advancing eastward.

Without the vigorous support of the immortal sects from the Central Plains, Yongzhou might have long since fallen into the demon sects' hands.

Su Fan didn't care whether they were immortal sects or demon sects. All he wanted was to cultivate in peace.

But judging from the current situation, that was clearly impossible.

In a few years, the immortal sects and demon sects would inevitably fight a great battle.

When immortals fought, lesser beings suffered.

How could a low-level Rogue Cultivator like Su Fan possibly stay out of it?