Intercept

Yangmei Market was only three hundred li from Green Bamboo Peak. Lu Wanyuan and his wife had discussed it long ago: they would set out at dawn and press on without stopping.

To keep anything from going wrong, they planned to reach Yangmei Market as soon as possible, within two days. They didn't dare stop along the way, even when their spiritual energy ran low. Instead, they kept walking while clutching Spirit Stones to replenish it.

Fortunately, Lu Wanyuan knew Yangmei Market fairly well. He had met Baili Qiuyue there, so the two of them did their best to take the side roads and hurry toward the market.

They figured they were still a little over ten li away. Lu Wanyuan sighed. "Darling, maybe we were worrying too much. Looks like nothing's going to happen. We've spent the whole way running, with no time to admire the scenery and not daring to stop for even a moment. I'm exhausted!"

"Mm, husband! We're only a little farther. Let's hang in there a bit longer!"

"All right. Let's keep going!"

Lu Wanyuan hurriedly supported Baili Qiuyue, who was beside him, clutching her stomach and panting hard. Running through the forest for nearly two days had left them completely exhausted!

"Haha! I've been waiting here for you two for ages. What took you so long?"

A sudden voice rang in their ears.

The two of them jumped. The trouble they'd been expecting had finally come—and so close to the market. They'd really let their guard down!

Following the voice, they saw a burly, fleshy-faced man not far ahead, looking at them with disdain as though they were a pair of blocks of wood.

After all, he was a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator who had come all the way here to ambush two rookies. The combined cultivation realms of the pair didn't even add up to Qi Refining Level 5.

If word got out, everyone would laugh their heads off!

And yet he'd taken the job, waiting here for nearly two days. He hadn't expected the two rookies to be so slow to arrive.

Lu Wanyuan was utterly bewildered. He'd assumed the man was a robber cultivator, but from the way he spoke, it seemed he'd been waiting here specifically for them.

The problem was, the man looked completely unfamiliar. Lu Wanyuan hadn't gone around picking fights with anyone, so he asked, thoroughly confused, "Senior, I'm a little lost. I've never met you before, and I don't believe we have any grievances between us. Why have you been waiting here for my wife and me? I don't understand. Please enlighten me."

"Hmph. You offended someone you shouldn't have. That's just your fate. You've no one to blame but yourselves!"

The man answered without a trace of courtesy.

"What are you talking about? My wife and I have been in seclusion this whole time. How could we have offended anyone?"

Lu Wanyuan deliberately put on a puzzled expression as he looked at the man.

In truth, he'd already figured there was no way this could end peacefully. He kept weighing how to handle the situation while cautiously staying on guard.

The man had set up an ambush for the couple, so he must have come with a clear purpose.

A green young man like him, fresh out of the gate, probably didn't have the ability to offend anyone. If someone did hold a grudge against him, it had to be that bitch from Green Bamboo Peak.

He had no idea how she'd gotten this man to ambush them.

But that wasn't something they had time to think about now. The urgent question was how to escape this predicament.

The man's cultivation realm was clearly higher than that of the couple. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so brazen.

"Heh. What a stupid question. You take someone's money, you handle their troubles. Boy, you offended someone you shouldn't have. You can discuss it together in the underworld!"

The man's eyes turned vicious, and he looked ready to attack.

"Senior, could you wait a moment? I don't know how much that person paid you, but we can double it. We only ask that you spare my wife and me!"

Seeing this, Lu Wanyuan pulled Baili Qiuyue back with him, putting on a frightened expression as he pleaded.

At the same time, he gripped a Spiritual Talisman in one hand and slowly began to activate it. It was a Low-grade Middle Tier Golden Sword Spirit Talisman that his second younger brother, Lu Shan, had given him.

This was his strongest trump card. After all, he was just a spirit farmer who cultivated Spirit Fields, with not the slightest bit of combat experience.

"Haha! You really don't know your place. At a time like this, you're still trying to bargain with me? Once I kill you both, won't everything you're carrying belong to me anyway?"

The man looked at Lu Wanyuan and Baili Qiuyue like they were a pair of ants, utterly confident of victory.

Seeing that the man still had no intention of sparing them, Lu Wanyuan grew furious. "If that's how it is, then go to hell!"

Before he'd even finished speaking, he flung the Spiritual Talisman at the man.

In an instant, the talisman transformed midflight into a gigantic flying sword, which hurtled toward the man and slashed at him.

"Bring it on!"

The man was startled, but he reacted at once. So the other fellow had been using a feint to mask his true intentions. He'd nearly fallen for it, and naturally, he was furious.

With a thought, he took a Ghost Head Saber artifact out of his Storage Bag, gripped it, and swung at the incoming flying sword.

A moment later, the Ghost Head Saber expanded into a blade more than ten meters long and hacked at the flying sword in a flurry of strikes!

Clang! Clang!

The saber and sword tangled in midair, striking and colliding again and again, ringing out like metal chimes.

For a while, neither side had the upper hand!

Yet the man watched Lu Wanyuan and Baili Qiuyue with complete indifference.

Lu Wanyuan saw this, and his heart lurched. He immediately understood what was going on.

His cultivation realm was lower than the man's, so he was bound to have less spiritual energy. What's more, his means of attack were limited.

If he couldn't kill the man in one blow, then he'd be the one to die.

But he was just a spirit farmer, with only a few spells for tending the fields and no offensive techniques at all. What was he supposed to do?

Still, if he didn't fight back or at least struggle, he could imagine what would happen to them.

"Darling, stall him for a moment. I'm going to use a big move and kill him!"

Lu Wanyuan tried to reassure Baili Qiuyue, who still looked terrified.

Seeing that Lu Wanyuan could keep his composure even now, Baili Qiuyue nodded. Her fearful expression quickly faded as she understood that this was a matter of life and death; there was no time to give in to grief and fear.

All she could do now was hope her husband had a powerful move that could pin their opponent down. Otherwise, the two of them would have to be husband and wife in the underworld.

She stopped where she was, took out a Long Whip artifact, and lashed it at the man.

The whip let out a sharp whistle as it grew to more than ten meters long, like a black flood dragon whipping toward the man's head.

Seeing the whip coming, the man hurriedly took out a defensive shield artifact and set it in front of himself.

Lu Wanyuan had already been rapidly forming hand seals beside them, preparing to cast the Golden Needle Technique and attack their opponent.

He had no choice. As a spirit farmer, this low-level technique for killing pests was the only offensive spell he had.

Though it was meant for killing insects, he believed it could kill a person too. He only had to treat the man like a bug.

The reason he was confident was the Entry stored in his Purple Mansion: "10x Magical Power Amplification."

When the man saw him preparing to use the Golden Needle Technique, he burst out laughing. "Haha! You're making my stomach hurt from laughing!"

"You really think a low-level labor spell like that can hurt me? I'm curious—what on earth is going through your head?"

"Old dog, don't get cocky. You'll find out soon enough what happens to you!"

Lu Wanyuan ignored him. He didn't stop forming hand seals; instead, he sped up, because Baili Qiuyue beside him was already as pale as paper, a clear sign that she'd overused her spiritual energy.

With no time to think, he swept his hand forward, and countless tiny golden needles shot toward the man like a storm blotting out the sky.

Seeing the needles, fine as hairs, the man looked disdainful.

Even if those needles hit him, he'd be completely unharmed. They couldn't hurt him in the slightest!

Just as he was gloating, he suddenly noticed the incoming needles had sped up—at least ten times faster than before. That wasn't all; each needle was now two or three inches long.

A fierce Spiritual Energy Fluctuation slammed into him in an instant.

The man was scared out of his wits. He hadn't expected this!

It had happened too suddenly. At this point, he couldn't stop it even if he tried!

In this world, speed was everything. And with so many enormous golden needles coming at him, even a cultivator at the Qi Refining Great Perfection realm would likely die on the spot!

Instinctively, he tried to flee, but the needles had already sealed off every inch of the area within several zhang. There was nowhere to run.

Agh!

The next moment, a scream rang out!

Then, in an instant, it fell silent.

The man had already been reduced to a pool of flesh, blood and filth spreading across the ground. A terrifying, bloody stench filled the air.

Lu Wanyuan was also startled. He hadn't expected a single "10x Magical Power Amplification" Entry to have such an astonishing effect.

If he could get Entries that multiplied it a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand times, wouldn't he be able to kill all the big shots in Luling Commandery?

The thought thrilled him. It seemed that getting more Entries was what mattered most from now on. With an Entry, he could surely make rapid progress.

He was only at Qi Refining Level 1 right now. If he were a cultivator at Qi Refining Great Perfection or Foundation Establishment, the power of "10x Magical Power Amplification" would be unimaginable. In other words, the stronger his foundation, the greater the power of the amplified magic.

He might really be able to move mountains and fill seas, shatter peaks, and split the earth with terrifying strength!

Baili Qiuyue stared wide-eyed at what had happened, unable to believe that the vicious man who'd been snarling at them moments ago had been killed by her husband in a single move, leaving not even an intact corpse behind.

She looked at Lu Wanyuan with admiration. "Husband, how did you do that?"

"Darling, don't worry about that now. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. I only had one trick up my sleeve, and all that noise must have attracted the attention of nearby cultivators. If we don't leave now, we might not get away!"

Lu Wanyuan grabbed Baili Qiuyue and immediately turned to flee. He beckoned to the Ghost Head Saber lying nearby. Without the man's spiritual sense controlling it, it had fallen to the ground. He retrieved it, but the Storage Bag had already been destroyed by the golden needles, leaving nothing to salvage.