I'll Bury You

Despite his frustration, Chen Dengming explained, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not the protagonist you're looking for; I'm just an innocent passerby."

A male and female cultivator outside the woods paused. Listening to his voice, he didn't sound quite like the person they were after.

However, changing one's voice was incredibly simple; even a Mortal could do it.

The male cultivator in the blue robe said coldly, "Fellow Daoist, whether you are Jiang Qiang or not, to avoid any misunderstanding, please come out and clarify. We are not unreasonable people."

Chen Dengming sighed inwardly. He tapped the Blood Centipede Gu in his ear and signaled his companion, ready for action at any moment.

Simultaneously, the Snake Gu in his sleeve slithered out. He cautiously emerged from the woods, frowning as he stared at the female cultivator opposite him, who controlled a fireball hovering beside her. He said, "You two, I told you, I'm not the person you're looking for. There's no need to put on such a display, is there?"

The female cultivator with the triangular eyes frowned, scrutinizing Chen Dengming's attire. She exchanged a look with the male cultivator, and they both saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

His appearance indeed didn't match the Jiang Qiang they had been pursuing. However, the man was still wearing a mask, which was rather peculiar.

The male cultivator in the blue robe stared at Chen Dengming, his gaze lingering on the hilt of the Broken Blade behind his back for a moment. He asked suspiciously, "Take off that mask."

"One is at Qi Cultivation first level, the other is at second level."

Chen Dengming carefully assessed the Spiritual Might of the two and the distance they maintained. Upon hearing this, although displeased, he complied.

The reason he wore a mask was to avoid the Hutong Street's wanted notice and to prevent being recognized by nearby cultivators.

However, he hadn't seen anyone in over three months, and his face was covered in stubble. Even if his former neighbors had informed the Hutong Street cultivators of his appearance, they might not recognize him now.

Moreover, he was now a cultivator, not a Mortal.

Seeing Chen Dengming remove his mask.

The male and female cultivators examined him closely.

The surprise in the male cultivator's eyes flashed and then he suddenly smiled, "It seems we have indeed mistaken you. It's nothing. Fellow Daoist, please don't be offended."

The female cultivator nodded slightly, relaxing. Just as she was about to dismiss the fireball, she suddenly heard an almost imperceptible telepathic message from the male cultivator beside her. Her eyes sharpened instantly, and she abruptly unleashed the fireball in her hand.

The three forces intertwined. Chen Dengming's combat experience was immense. The moment the woman fired the fireball, he had already lunged forward, instantly evading it.

BOOM!

The ground to the side trembled, and intense heat surged with the flames.

Chen Dengming's face took on a bronze hue as he burst out from the edge of the flames. The Broken Blade behind him was drawn with the bulging of his back muscles.

SWISH!

A bright, dragon-and-snake-like blade light suddenly erupted.

A suffocating killing intent erupted with the ten-foot-long blade energy, slashing directly towards the male cultivator opposite him, who hastily conjured a Spirit Shield.

CLANG!

The powerful blade energy, filled with Spiritual Energy, almost instantly tore through the rapidly spinning Spirit Shield.

"What?!"

The male cultivator tensed up, his hair standing on end. He was horrified and frantically chanted an incantation. A Magic Item shimmering with spiritual light instantly rose before him and shattered the blade light with a 'clang'.

The male cultivator relaxed slightly, then glared furiously at Chen Dengming. However, he was met with an even more intense killing intent in Chen Dengming's eyes. Before he could react, his ankle went numb, and simultaneously, a 'buzzing' sound passed by his ear. His neck suddenly felt a sharp pain.

"Ah! Die!"

He roared and pointed an incantation.

WHOOSH!

The Magic Item, shimmering with spiritual light, swept past with a sharp whistling sound. Chen Dengming, judging the sound, accurately blocked with the Broken Blade in the same instant he spotted an opening.

CLANG!

The Broken Blade completely shattered into fragments that exploded outwards, cutting and tearing Chen Dengming's palm. Even the Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill, circulated with Spiritual Energy, couldn't withstand it.

However, at almost the same moment, the male cultivator fell to the ground, his body convulsing violently, black blood flowing from his seven orifices.

"Mu Lang!"

In such a lightning-fast exchange, the male cultivator had already met his end. The female cultivator with the triangular eyes had only just fired her fireball and recovered her breath when she saw her companion fall. She immediately screamed, her eyes burning with murderous intent as she glared at Chen Dengming. She quickly chanted an incantation, and the Spiritual Might around her rapidly intensified.

However, the moment she began chanting, Chen Dengming's eyes turned icy.

He flicked his finger.

A spiral of energy, swift as lightning, struck her chanting arm first, preempting her.

BANG!

A spray of blood accompanied a severed arm that fell to the ground.

Intense pain immediately assaulted the woman's nerves, twisting her face into a scream of agony.

But before she could close her mouth, a shadow flashed. The Blood Centipede Gu instantly burrowed into her mouth. The woman's eyes widened, her face turned black, and she fell to the ground with a 'thump'.

Hoo!

Chen Dengming gasped for breath, his chest heaving. He immediately stepped forward to check. After confirming the male cultivator was undeniably dead, he kicked the dimly glowing Magic Item beside the man away and breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, his forehead and back were covered in sweat, his lips were dry, and his hands, whether from injury or spasms, trembled uncontrollably, bleeding.

He glanced at his palms.

His palms, under the effect of the Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill, were cracked open, revealing bone.

Some parts of the back of his hands even showed thin layers of fat, and his blood vessels had been cut.

As he deactivated the skill, blood quickly filled the wounds, and Spiritual Energy raged within them.

He immediately mobilized his Spiritual Energy to his hands, expelling the foreign energy and using acupoint pressure and meridian blocking techniques to stop the bleeding.

The battle had erupted quickly and ended just as fast. While it seemed he had won easily, the truth was that a single misstep would have meant his death. What was the point of pursuing Longevity through cultivation then?

"Thankfully, thankfully I didn't foolishly stand there chanting incantations and trading Fireball spells with them."

Chen Dengming looked at the scattered fragments of Broken Blades on the ground, feeling a mix of relief, vigilance, and a touch of lingering fear.

It was fortunate that he had decisively unleashed the Green Hill Mad Dragon strike, combined with his Gu Worms, to kill the enemies. This allowed him to achieve a swift and unexpected victory, catching the two off guard.

Otherwise, if he had used his newly learned Great Fireball Technique, he probably would have been killed by their Magic Items the moment he started chanting.

In fact, when the female cultivator was chanting to cast her Great Fireball Technique, he hadn't hesitated for even a moment, instinctively using the Finger Flicking Divine Ability to quickly interrupt her spell.

This was all combat experience, and also habit.

However, relying purely on martial arts to fight, while swift, was only effective against these low-level cultivators.

No matter how strong martial arts were, they were merely skills that approached the Dao, but they could never achieve the profound wonders of Daoist Magic when cultivated to a high level.

This was because martial arts couldn't harness the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, consuming too much of his own, while their power remained very limited.

Even his strongest ultimate move, Green Hill Mad Dragon, had only barely managed to tear through the enemy's Spirit Shield Technique. This had already depleted nearly sixty percent of his Spiritual Energy. Coupled with the other martial arts he had used earlier, his Spiritual Energy was now almost completely depleted.

"If that male cultivator had been prepared and blocked with his Magic Item immediately, I'm afraid... my only option would have been to turn and run, and I might not have even escaped."

Chen Dengming bared his teeth and kicked the female cultivator's corpse, summoning the Blood Centipede Gu from within. He shook his head.

"Short-lived fools, you couldn't be stopped! I just want to lie low, but no, you had to seek trouble. Learn from me, I never seek conflict, and I live long!"

He also silently vowed in his heart.

"I must quickly practice Daoist Magic like the Fireball Technique until I can cast it instantly. It consumes little Spiritual Energy and has great power!"

What he didn't know was that the Hidden World Sect, Wonderful Sound Sect, and other sects had jointly organized the Ascension Convention in Nanxun Kingdom, a country that revered martial arts, precisely because they saw the potential of the martial path.

Several sects had important figures who wanted to conduct research in this area, cultivating formidable martial cultivators to counter sword cultivators.

However, this research was merely a small branch of the long Immortal Way. It wasn't guaranteed to be prioritized in the future, nor was it certain to continue developing. Perhaps one day, the Ascension Convention would cease to be held.

"Rustle--"

At this moment, the Blood Centipede Gu crawled out of the female cultivator's corpse and took flight, its wings buzzing.

Chen Dengming frowned and flicked his finger at the Blood Centipede Gu as a warning.

This Blood Centipede Gu had a strong killing intent and was too bloodthirsty. Once a fight started, it was almost impossible to stop, refusing to retreat without drawing blood.

He had initially intended to question the female cultivator about why she was so insistent on fighting, before "politely" sending her to join her beloved.

But before he could ask, she had already been poisoned to death by the Blood Centipede Gu.

Suddenly, Chen Dengming's relaxed body tensed up again, his Spiritual Might surging, whipping up the wind and sand around him, causing his robes to flutter.

His gaze suddenly shifted to a hillside in the distance to his left.

Almost at the same time he looked, a tall, thin figure appeared on the hillside, exuding a faint Spiritual Might.

The cultivator on the hillside saw him, frowned in confusion, then glanced at the two dead cultivators on the ground. Terror flashed in his eyes, his face instantly becoming younger, like that of a terrified grandson. He became wary, immediately retreated, and said from afar.

"Fellow Daoist, greetings. These two were wanted cultivators who were pursuing me. Unexpectedly, they somehow got into a conflict with you. In any case, I have no ill intentions. Please accept this Spirit Stone as my token of gratitude."

With that, the cultivator on the hillside took out a Spirit Stone, threw it on the ground, took a few steps back, activated a Talisman, and then sped away like lightning.

From beginning to end, Chen Dengming had been frowning, watching the other party's every move. Only after the cultivator activated the Divine Movement Talisman and left did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

If that cultivator had made a move, he would have been in trouble.

After all, his Spiritual Energy was already mostly depleted. Fortunately, the other party was timid.

"I suppose he must have offended someone in the Gathering Place to be wanted."

Chen Dengming mused, then looked at the male and female cultivators on the ground.

Only then did he realize why these two had suddenly attacked him.

Since they were wanted, they had likely seen his portrait and description on the bounty posters, which was why they were so determined to attack him.

However, he was now a cultivator, no longer a Mortal. The fact that these two attacked so decisively likely meant they thought they had the upper hand and were willing to kill him to claim the bounty, perhaps even more. But this time, they had miscalculated.

"You can walk by the river a thousand times, but you'll never avoid getting your shoes wet."

Chen Dengming exhaled, bent down, and began to loot the bodies, collecting his spoils.

This experience served as another warning: sometimes trouble cannot be avoided. Even if you try to avoid it, there will always be short-lived fools who come looking for death.

However, he had experienced similar situations many times in the Martial World, so he was accustomed to it.

Although he was low-key and yielding by nature, it did not mean he was weak or foolish.

When he needed to act, he would kill without mercy, regardless of who the enemy was.

The "Frenzied" in Frenzied Blade refers to the moment the blade is unleashed!

After collecting all the spoils of war and a low-grade Spirit Stone from the hillside as an 'appearance fee', Chen Dengming departed swiftly.

He couldn't be bothered to deal with the bodies of the male and female cultivators.

Old rules.

He only kills, and heaven and earth bury them.

Heaven and earth would give them a proper burial.

Novels often have characters destroy bodies with Fireball spells, which is cool and eco-friendly, but doesn't Fireball consume Spiritual Energy? His Spiritual Energy was quite weak right now, he couldn't afford to waste it.

Another update at 11 AM - 12 PM today! Still 6k words today! Please vote for me with your monthly tickets and keep reading.