Apprehension

Rumble!!!

A violent aura surged forth. The burly scar-faced man erupted with all his strength, charging forward like a rampaging beast.

Every tree and boulder in his path shattered one after another.

Even the ground shook at that moment!

Facing the man's charge head-on, Shen Changchuan felt as though he were suffocating!

Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level!

A full two minor realms above him!

The gap in magical power cultivation, and the oppressive force brought by that gap, made Shen Changchuan feel for an instant as though his limbs had frozen solid!

Fortunately,

Shen Changchuan quickly broke free of that sensation.

Ever since he had devoured and refined the Azure Origin Water Grass, Shen Changchuan's Spiritual Sense had improved considerably, allowing him to unlock Internal Vision, which only Qi Gathering Late-stage cultivators could normally attain.

With a robust soul,

he naturally possessed greater resistance to the oppression of cultivators at higher realms.

However,

that did not mean

Shen Changchuan could take things easily.

On the contrary,

at this very moment,

this was practically the most dangerous battle of his life!

Zhao Hantao had been severely wounded, and the enemies lying in ambush on both sides had all been slain by him.

Throughout that process,

Shen Changchuan's successive outbursts had left him in the awkward state where his old strength had faded, yet new strength had not arisen!

And yet,

the burly scar-faced man's heavy, unstoppable charge, like that of a train, had arrived!

At this critical moment,

Shen Changchuan forcibly squeezed out the last wisp of magical power within him. In an instant, he activated the Light Body Technique, shifting like a ghost and narrowly avoiding the burly scar-faced man's terrifying impact by a hair's breadth.

Bang bang bang!!!

The burly scar-faced man could not stop in time.

He barreled straight past Shen Changchuan,

trees exploding one after another,

while shattered rocks and wood chips flew in all directions!

His savage charge struck nothing but empty air.

Yet at this moment,

there was not the slightest joy on Shen Changchuan's pale face at having toyed with his opponent.

His body staggered, and he nearly dropped to one knee!

He had suffered backlash!

He had consumed a massive amount of magical power in a short time,

then forcibly wrung out the power within him to cast a spell by force.

The damage this caused to the dantian and meridians within his body was simply too great!

Fortunately, the Azure Origin Water Grass widened and strengthened my meridians. Otherwise, after forcing them like this, some of them would certainly have twisted and ruptured!

Feeling the intense pain radiating from his dantian and meridians, Shen Changchuan could not help but have that thought flash through his mind.

Only because his meridians had become tougher after tempering

was he able to endure this ordeal.

Otherwise,

he would truly have been in trouble!

Yet even as thoughts flashed through his mind,

Shen Changchuan did not stand there in a daze.

He gripped a Spirit Stone in his hand

and began extracting the spiritual energy within by violent means, refining it into his own magical power.

At the same time,

his figure sprang several times,

retreating backward and widening the distance.

Meanwhile,

the Elephant Mountain Qi Absorption Art within him circulated rapidly. While refining the spiritual energy he had drawn in, it swiftly regulated his breathing and restored the circulation of his magical power.

"Damn brat!"

After only a few breaths,

the burly scar-faced man returned, his face dark as charcoal.

His body was covered in dust, wood chips, fallen leaves, and other debris, leaving him looking rather disheveled.

But even so,

he still exerted immense pressure upon Shen Changchuan!

After all, he was at the Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level.

Shen Changchuan had no choice but to treat him with utmost caution.

Fortunately,

after these few breaths of respite, Shen Changchuan had recovered somewhat.

He still had roughly seventy percent of his magical power remaining.

Not bad.

The situation was not yet too dire.

"Wind Blade Technique Mastery, Light Body Technique Mastery, Golden Thorn Technique Mastery, and even Scouting Eye Technique Mastery. Is this what it means to be a Descendant of a Renowned Family?!"

"No wonder you dared leave home alone without a protector!"

The burly scar-faced man stared coldly at Shen Changchuan, his expression incomparably gloomy.

He was naturally not some Rural Spirit Planter who farmed in the countryside and had never seen the world.

In a sense, having traveled far and wide, his knowledge far exceeded that of many cultivators of the same realm.

The fact that he had survived until now

naturally meant that he possessed no weak eye for judging people.

From their brief exchange earlier, he had already seen through Shen Changchuan's methods.

It was precisely because of this

that he could not help but draw a sharp breath inward.

The way he looked at Shen Changchuan was filled with apprehension.

Mastery Level Spells

were already exceedingly rare for an ordinary person to master even one.

Among dozens of cultivators, there might not even be one who possessed a Mastery Level Spell!

Yet this brat before him was only fifteen or sixteen years old,

and at such an age,

he had somehow mastered four of them?!!

Since when

had Mastery Level Spells become so commonplace?!

How had he done it?!

"Trifling tricks, not worth mentioning. My Shen Family is a great and influential house. Naturally, we possess some Secret Transmissions."

"I simply wonder who you are, sir. Why did you set this ambush here and make trouble for Shen?"

Shen Changchuan's eyes flickered,

and he spoke aloud.

He also took the opportunity to raise the Shen Family banner, hoping to glean some information from the other man.

To be honest,

even now, he was completely baffled by this ambush.

Why had Zhao Hantao betrayed him?

And what faction did these people belong to?

Had someone within the Shen Family Manor sent them to kill him amid a struggle for power, or were they merely rogue cultivators seeking to make a killing?

Who exactly was targeting him?

Shen Changchuan knew nothing of these many questions.

"Hmph! Why should a dead man need to know so much!"

The burly scar-faced man gave a cold laugh. The way he looked at Shen Changchuan was as though he were looking at a corpse.

Then, he had no intention of wasting any more words on Shen Changchuan.

He took a longsword from his Storage Bag. The blade radiated bone-piercing chill, gleaming with an icy, sinister light.

He gripped the sword and pointed it at Shen Changchuan.

"Die for me!"

The scar-faced man shouted. He leaped into the air, becoming a gray afterimage as he thrust toward Shen Changchuan!

This sword strike was swift and vicious, fast as lightning.

Magical power gleamed across the blade's sharp edge, adding several more degrees of terrifying might to the attack!

If this strike landed,

Shen Changchuan would undoubtedly be cut into two!

Fortunately,

after catching his breath, Shen Changchuan's magical power had stabilized once more.

The Light Body Technique Mastery activated almost instantly.

Shen Changchuan's body immediately became incomparably light,

and with a shift of his feet,

he glided several yards sideways like a ghost,

evading the scar-faced man's thunderous strike!

However,

this time, rather than rushing past as before, the scar-faced man controlled the force in his sword well.

Only to see

his sword miss,

his body still midway through its advance,

as the blade turned around

and immediately pursued Shen Changchuan once more!

The transition of force within that motion carried the flavor of lifting a heavy weight as though it were light!

Facing the sword's edge, shimmering with magical power, Shen Changchuan did not dare receive it head-on and retreated again.

The scar-faced man immediately followed close behind!

For a time,

layer upon layer of sword shadows flashed through the forest, like startled swans and streaking lightning. Guided by the blade, powerful magical power transformed into Sword Qi that swept through the air.

The surrounding trees and enormous boulders were severed and toppled one after another!

Yet,

although the interweaving sword light formed an impenetrable net of blades through the forest,

it still failed to touch even a single hair on Shen Changchuan's body!

But rather than turning furious or grim-faced,

the scar-faced man instead revealed a trace of triumph.

He knew very well

that when facing a cultivator who had mastered a spell to Mastery,

unless one possessed a Mastery Level Spell as well,

using spells to fight the other party was simply courting death!

Only by relying on his superior realm and strength to close in and engage in close combat could he bring his greatest advantage into play!

That was exactly what the scar-faced man did!

And the result

was precisely as he had expected!

Shen Changchuan was forced back step by step.

Before he could even cast a spell, it would be interrupted in an instant!

He could only dart left and right beneath the Sword Qi, utterly unable to strike back!

After several dozen exchanges,

the prolonged dodging seemed to make Shen Changchuan's steps falter slightly.

This brat seemed unable to maintain his focus and sharpness amid such intense evasion any longer!

"An opportunity!"

The scar-faced man's eyes lit up.

At once,

Another lightning-fast flash of sword light stabbed out, Sword Qi sweeping like a venomous dragon and shearing through a swath of trees.

Shen Changchuan was forced back once more!

"It's over!"

The half-faced man flipped his palm and produced a fist-sized bell.

The bell was entirely black, like a temple's great bell shrunk ten or a hundred times over.

Yet black mist seemed to curl from its surface, giving off an evil aura.

"What is that?!"

Shen Changchuan's mind instantly tensed.

However—

Clang!

Almost at the same time,

the scar-faced man poured spiritual power into the bell and struck it hard!

In an instant,

a shrill roar, piercing at an extremely high frequency, swept in all directions, spreading in the blink of an eye to cover dozens of yards around them!

Shen Changchuan, standing directly in the path of the bell's sonic assault,

felt as though his head had been struck by a club, his ears buzzing wildly!

At that moment, his body seemed to slip beyond his control, frozen in place.

"Heh heh, my Soul-Snatching Bell is a treasure rarely seen in this world."

"Unless one's Spiritual Sense is powerful enough to rival a Qi Gathering Late-stage cultivator who has opened Internal Vision, anyone weaker than me will be immobilized for a while!"

"Accept your death obediently!"

The outcome had been decided!

The scar-faced man put away the Soul-Snatching Bell,

then gripped his longsword with a cold sneer

and walked toward Shen Changchuan, who stood rooted where he was under the Soul-Snatching Bell's control.

However—

just as he came within several yards of Shen Changchuan,

suddenly,

Rustle, rustle—

vines burst forth from the ground, springing up like long serpents. Within a breath, they had coiled around the scar-faced, burly man's feet,

while several more vines stretched up from behind him, twisting around his hands and arms!

"What?!"

The scar-faced man immediately sensed that something was wrong,

but before he could think further—

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

Five crimson fireballs radiating scorching heat crashed down upon his head!

"Not good!"

In that critical moment, the scar-faced man's Golden Bell Technique flared to life around him.

Yet compared with the Golden Bell Technique of that Qi Gathering Fourth Level fellow from before,

both its thickness and the brilliance of its golden light far surpassed the latter's!

But it did little good.

Clang! Clang! Clang!!!

As the fireballs struck the scar-faced man, they exploded outright,

their searing firestorm blasting outward,

the tremendous force smashing apart his Golden Bell Technique layer by layer!

Until the final two fireballs detonated squarely against the scar-faced man's body, the bursting flames swallowing him whole!

In that instant, the scar-faced man was nearly reduced to a charred lump!

The perfected fifth level Fireball Technique

had grievously wounded him almost instantly!

Shen Changchuan's sudden chain of explosive attacks left the scar-faced man utterly dazed, his mind blasted into chaos for a moment.

In that instant,

the last Golden Needle in Shen Changchuan's palm shot forth like lightning,

instantly piercing through the man's head!