When the Mortal Slices the Immortal! Cold Spirit Fish Slap Randomly Across the Face!

Boom!--

The astonishing blade aura spanning over ten zhang slammed heavily into the golden light shield, erupting with a sound utterly unlike metal striking metal—a deep, muffled groan instead.

On the ground, large patches of broken leaves and twigs were blasted apart by the collision's shockwaves, leaving the scene in chaotic disarray.

Chen Dengming felt as if he'd been electrocuted. The Dengming Blade in his hand shattered inch by inch, its blade aura fading, while the golden light shield slowly rotating around the Old Man opposite him remained dazzlingly bright, seemingly indestructible.

"With blade aura born from your Xiantian True Qi, you thought to shake a Dao technique driven by spiritual energy?"

The Old Man chuckled lightly, a flash of Killing Intent sharpening in his eyes as a Flying Shuttle condensed into a fierce current, poised to strike Chen Dengming.

But in that fleeting instant, a dark shadow suddenly shot out, slammed into the golden light shield around the Old Man, and opened its pincer-like venomous fangs to bite down.

Crack!

The seemingly indestructible golden light shield shattered open in an instant.

"What is that?!"

The Old Man jolted in alarm, whipping his head around. A blood-red shadow loomed in his vision, its speed so ferocious it gave him no time to react.

"Ah!"

The Old Man felt a searing pain on his face, as if a venomous insect had bitten him hard. His entire face went numb, and the Golden Bell Qi Shield around him collapsed.

The Flying Shuttle, following his control, grazed past Chen Dengming's abdomen, tearing a spray of blood. Before it could turn back, Chen Dengming roared in fury, lunged forward, and swung the broken blade in a vicious chop at the Old Man.

That single strike carried the force of a thousand troops, like a mountain crashing down, erupting with an unprecedented Killing Intent—on a narrow path, the brave prevail.

"Pfft!--"

The Old Man's body trembled.

Chen Dengming halted abruptly.

Their eyes locked, their auras clashing like Thunder Fire.

One poured out every ounce of strength, rage blazing.

The other stared in disbelief, despair and shock mingled.

"You..."

The Old Man's eyes quivered, his peripheral vision catching a blood-red centipede head crawling before him.

Then his gaze dimmed. A bloodline appeared on his forehead, running from his hairline down to his chin, and blood sprayed out as he toppled backward with a thud.

"Huff--"

Only then did Chen Dengming let out a long breath of foul air, dodging the blood spray and pressing a hand to his still-bleeding abdomen. His eyes, still shaken, fixed on the Old Man's corpse on the ground.

The area around the Blood Centipede Gu's bite on the face had already turned a deep, bruised purple, the toxin spreading rapidly across the entire face and neck. Black veins crisscrossed under the skin, and the blood seeping from the wound had turned black, reeking of rot.

"Sss--"

The Blood Centipede Gu's hundred legs skittered happily over the wound on the Old Man's face, its pincer-like mouthparts drinking the poisoned blood. Its body grew increasingly vivid and bright red, a sight that chilled the heart.

"I killed a cultivator?"

Only now did Chen Dengming fully relax from the tension of battle, realizing his entire upper body had gone numb.

Wave after wave of stubborn spiritual energy still rampaged through his meridians, steadily pushing toward his heart. His Xiantian True Qi was utterly powerless to stop it.

If this continued, he'd be crippled at best, dead at worst.

Cultivators and their spiritual energy were far more formidable than he'd imagined.

"I have to get rid of this rampaging spiritual energy inside me, right now."

Chen Dengming's expression turned grim. Watching the Blood Centipede Gu, which had just fed on a cultivator's poisoned blood and seemed to have grown slightly stronger, he suddenly recalled how it had bitten through the cultivator's protective shield in one go.

Could this Spirit Gu be unafraid of spiritual energy—even treat it as food, absorbing it?

Chen Dengming steadied his resolve and glanced around.

He picked up the still-lively Spirit Fish from the ground, then, not yet satisfied, smacked the Old Man's face hard with the fish tail a few times, smack, smack.

"So you like fish, huh? I'll treat you to your fill! A cold Spirit Fish slapping wildly on your face!"

"Eat! I gave you the chance, but you couldn't take it—you're useless!"

Chen Dengming slapped until he'd vented all his pent-up frustration, then added a vicious kick to the Old Man's face for good measure. The movement pulled at his wound, making him hiss in pain through gritted teeth.

With no time to clean up the scene properly, he used acupressure and meridian-sealing techniques to roughly stop the bleeding on his wound. Then he picked up the Blood Centipede Gu, placed it on the wound on his abdomen, and channeled his power to drive the Gu to devour the spiritual energy inside him.

Half an incense stick later.

Chen Dengming's expression eased. The rampaging spiritual energy in his body had been significantly drained by the Blood Centipede Gu, bringing it under temporary control.

Without waiting to fully resolve his internal condition, he quickly began clearing the Battlefield, taking the cultivator's belongings and picking up the shattered blade fragments from the ground.

After a moment's thought, Chen Dengming once again drove the Blood Centipede Gu to corrode the Old Man's corpse with its venom, until the wounds on the body were mangled beyond recognition, looking as though he'd been killed by insect bites. Then he swiftly hoisted the corpse and hurled it into the seemingly ordinary woods opposite.

As expected.

A Formation had been set up there.

The Old Man's body vanished into the woods in an instant, as if swallowed by an invisible maw.

"Formation...?"

Chen Dengming narrowed his eyes and observed for a moment, suppressing his curiosity and greed. He did not rashly explore and quickly turned to leave.

He already had a cultivation technique. All he needed now was to lie low and cultivate quietly, quickly extending his lifespan. Once his lifespan was extended, he could use the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique to improve his Spiritual Root Potential. With improved Spiritual Root Potential, his cultivation speed would increase in turn, and with faster cultivation, his lifespan would grow even quicker. It was a perfect closed loop.

Thus, there was no need to take risks for small gains now.

This time, if not for the old man pressing him step by step, he truly would not have been willing to risk battle with a cultivator—even with the Blood Centipede Gu...

A few days later.

Inside the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place, Chen Dengming had not only healed most of his injuries but had also long since buried the magic tools and Spirit Stones obtained from the elderly cultivator in various hidden spots outside the Gathering Place, keeping only a few Spirit Grains on hand.

As for the Spirit Fish, he dared not take them out to sell, nor even cook them too fragrantly. Hiding in a corner, he simply heated them enough to kill parasites and ate them half-raw.

After eating the Spirit Fish, his injuries healed faster. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the fish meat allowed his Xiantian True Qi to complete its final accumulation, finally breaking through to the eighth level of Xiantian. His lifespan thus increased by three years, reaching a total of 138 years.

Next, he would cultivate the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique, refining all his Xiantian True Qi into spiritual energy, and then break through to become a true cultivator.

These past few days, he had been on edge, worried that news of killing the old cultivator would leak out, ready to flee at any moment.

He had even felt regret, secretly resenting that the old cultivator had refused to show courtesy and had bullied an honest man who never sought conflict too far, forcing him to kill in anger.

If everyone had just spoken nicely, if the other party had been willing to set aside that arrogant cultivator's airs and sat down for a cup of tea, maybe he would have even treated him to a Spirit Fish.

Why resort to such crude methods as turning into a Spirit Fish warrior and slapping someone's face with a fish tail?

But the man was already dead, and his corpse had been desecrated. These regrets quickly flashed through Chen Dengming's mind, replaced by a sense of relief and satisfaction.

If he had to do it all over again, under those same unavoidable circumstances, he would still take down that cultivator—slap his face with a Spirit Fish and wipe that smug look off it.

Perhaps it was also good luck.

For several days in a row, no one mentioned the death of the old cultivator from the Golden Character Workshop.

Instead, news of a Demon Beast appearing by Lingyue Lake spread like wildfire, causing many cultivators to leave the Gathering Place less frequently.

Chen Dengming knew he had the unknown Demon Beast to thank this time.

It was likely because of the Demon Beast that no cultivator from the Golden Character Workshop had approached the lake to contact the old cultivator living by its shore, and naturally, no one had discovered his death.

Besides, cultivators often went into seclusion for a month or even several months—it was common.

If this world had a police station, reporting a missing person after months of absence probably wouldn't even get a case opened.

With that, Chen Dengming finally relaxed, knowing he no longer needed to flee.

He reappeared in some of his usual haunts, turned down requests from regulars wanting to buy fish, told them he couldn't afford the stall rent for selling fish and had changed careers, and prepared to claim a temporary residence of his own.

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