Rogue Cultivator, Rogue Cultivator, A Small, Wandering Rogue Cultivator

The 'noisy' and tense night finally passed.

The horizon showed the pale white of fish belly, which gradually turned a light red, like the flush on the face of someone who'd had a little too much to drink.

As sunlight streamed into the mountain crevice, Chen Dengming felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

He felt as though this single night had been incredibly long, the most arduous night he had experienced since arriving in the Cultivation World.

His stomach rumbled, and he was hungry. The Blood Centipede Gu and Golden Silkworm Gu, which had circled and kept him company all night, were clearly also hungry, buzzing audibly.

Chen Dengming took out some dried monster meat he had bought and fed the two Gu.

Looking at these two ultimate weapons, which felt as though they were connected to his very bloodline, now struggling along with him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of self-mockery.

He had thought that with his own abilities, even if he couldn't "turn his hand into clouds and his other hand into rain," he could at least leverage various forces a few times, coupled with his Gu Art, and gradually establish a foothold, grow stronger, and slowly rise.

In the end, before the title "Chief Chen" had even become widely known, and before he had received the second share of the profits from the Gu market, he was once again forced to leave the Gathering Place, wandering aimlessly.

"Rogue cultivator, isn't this just what a rogue cultivator is? Rootless, wandering, a small nobody."

Chen Dengming laughed heartily, taking it all in stride.

At least he still had a considerable nest egg, and he was close to breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Cultivation.

He took out some Spirit Rice, cooked it, and ate it.

Then, he retrieved the travel pack he had hidden in the mountain crevice, put on a human skin mask and a bamboo hat, and carefully walked out of the crevice, intending to get a distant view of the Gathering Place's situation before looking for Jiang Qiang.

The formation disk he had made was of great use to him, and in the current environment, areas protected by formations were safer.

As he reached a riverbank, he saw two corpses.

They were enveloped in a strange, sticky substance resembling spider silk, corroded beyond recognition, a brutal sight.

He dared not get too close, worried that it might be a trap set by a Demon Beast.

He walked a little further.

He saw a half-female corpse floating on the river.

She was unclothed, and her other half had long since vanished, possibly one of the unfortunate souls from last night.

Chen Dengming frowned. Having seen so much, this brutality made him feel slightly uncomfortable, and he quickened his pace to leave.

After that, along the way, Chen Dengming encountered quite a few more people.

There were Mortals traveling in groups, and also Cultivators.

Almost everyone maintained a strong sense of wariness towards strangers they encountered.

A woman held a child in her arms, weeping before a corpse.

Some Cultivators silently cremated the bodies of their companions.

He could see that many Mortals had expressions of confusion and despair on their faces, and they would occasionally look back towards the Gathering Place. Some were even heading back, no longer daring to stay outside the Gathering Place.

After the impulsiveness of last night, some had calmed down.

They felt safer within the Gathering Place, as there were no Demon Beast incursions.

Even if multiple factions of Cultivators were fighting, they wouldn't be fighting every day.

After the battle last night, it should be much safer now.

However, those who made this decision were mostly Mortals.

Many Cultivators who had left the Gathering Place intended to observe the situation for a short period.

They possessed a certain ability to protect themselves, and they had all received news that the Lüo Family and the Zhu Family were likely to engage in a major conflict.

The battle in the Gathering Place last night might have just been an appetizer.

Once the two great Cultivation families went to war, any Rogue Cultivator within the Gathering Place, without exception, would be cannon fodder if they couldn't escape quickly enough.

"Fellow Daoist, are you heading out to seek refuge? Why not join us? We can stick together. There were Demon Beasts roaming outside last night; sticking together makes us much safer."

As Chen Dengming was observing the situation of the Gathering Place from a distance, at the foot of a hillside not far from the Gathering Place, a middle-aged Cultivator approached him.

He stopped about ten feet away and, under Chen Dengming's wary gaze, cupped his fists with a smile and said.

Chen Dengming glanced at the three Cultivators standing not far away, who seemed to be companions of the middle-aged Cultivator. One of them was even a familiar face.

He thought for a moment and recalled that the familiar face should be a Cultivator from the Merchant Alliance, whom he had seen beside Master Hu. He hadn't expected him to be out here now.

"No! I prefer to be alone!"

Chen Dengming cupped his fists and refused.

The middle-aged Cultivator paused, then said nothing more, nodding with a smile as he turned to leave.

The three people in the distance saw this and whispered amongst themselves, looking at Chen Dengming with a hint of mockery in their eyes, clearly regarding him as an arrogant little fool.

Chen Dengming did not want to cause trouble. After observing the Gathering Place for a while, he quickly left.

From the surface, the Gathering Place was temporarily peaceful after the battle last night.

However, he still didn't know exactly how many people had died last night, which faction had gained the upper hand, or why the battle had started.

Ignorance, sometimes, was a form of happiness.

At the very least, it was painful to have someone who knew the situation inside and out at this moment.

Precisely because he knew too much and had gotten involved in too much, he was now deeply mired in the mud, finding it difficult to extricate himself.

He was currently in a rather dim room, his heart even darker than the room, filled with annoyance and struggle.

A indifferent and cold voice came from behind him.

"Xu Ning, you have no way back now. The Lüo Family will soon be unable to take care of themselves. The resources of this land will belong to our Zhu Family after that. If you honestly work for our Zhu Family, you'll at least have something to eat."

Xu Ning raised his head from the darkness. His appearance now was far more haggard and disheveled than when he was once spirited and proud. His eyes were bloodshot, his eye bags deep, as if he hadn't slept properly for over ten days.

He said hoarsely, "I'm just a Qi Cultivation Sixth Level cultivator. Your Zhu Family has too many cultivators of my strength, why do you value me so much?"

"Hehehehe--"

The person behind him chuckled and said, "You don't need to belittle yourself. While we have many cultivators of your strength in our Zhu Family, you're not so common, and each one is precious.

Precious people should do precious things. Porcelain will not clash with earthenware.

Your value lies in doing less precious things for us in a Gathering Place for Rogue Cultivators, just like you're doing now."

Xu Ning wearily closed his eyes and said, "The Lüo Family won't let me go. I can only hope you are right."

"Of course, what we say won't be wrong, otherwise, we wouldn't be declaring war so brazenly.

Xu Ning, put away your petty cleverness. I once asked you about that kid who knew Gu Art, and you actually paid lip service while acting in opposition, attempting to lure him to Jinxiu Workshop and interrogate him for his Gu Art along the way.

I can only say you were too naive.

You were afraid of Lüo Bing and didn't dare to kill him, yet you expected to force him to reveal his Gu Art through intimidation? Did you expect to play both sides between our Zhu Family and the Lüo Family? Is that even possible?"

Xu Ning's brows furrowed. "I've already helped you afterward by handing him over to you. It was your people who failed to capture him."

"Sigh--"

A sigh came from behind, followed by footsteps receding, saying, "That's right, which is why you're still alive. Because you've already chosen a side. Unfortunately, that bunch of trash was utterly useless, failing to even capture a Qi Cultivation Third Level kid.

Forget it, there's still one more thing you need to do together with Lin Hu. Qian Yuan from Hutong Street has escaped.

Capture him, kill him, and hang his body up outside the Gathering Place. This is our Zhu Family's declaration to all Rogue Cultivators!"

Cruel! Too cruel!

Xu Ning clenched his fists, but knew he had no other path and had to do it.

Once he, a former member of the Lüo Family, killed Qian Yuan, who was also from the Lüo Family, he would be completely on the Zhu Family's ship.

At the same time, Qian Yuan's death would be the Zhu Family's greatest provocation of the Lüo Family's bottom line.

If the Lüo Family couldn't tolerate it, then the Cultivation families would go to war.

If the Lüo Family tolerated it, then from then on, the Gathering Place and the surrounding resource points would entirely belong to the Zhu Family.

Xu Ning collapsed to the ground, covered in cold sweat.

He had previously only dealt in selling women and making small transactions with the Zhu Family, never daring to get too deeply involved.

He never expected that due to a moment of foolishness, he would now be completely unable to turn back.

Because he was greedy for the power in his hands and the many hard-won riches, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to withdraw from this vortex.

What about Chen Dengming? Chen Dengming should have escaped, right?

The cultivators from Iron Forest Hall said they had injured him, and he had narrowly escaped.

A wounded Qi Cultivation Third Level cultivator, in the current chaotic wilderness, would either die at the hands of malevolent cultivators or be eaten by Demon Beasts.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning felt that the pain and disparity in his heart suddenly lessened. He couldn't escape, and if Chen Dengming died, it meant he hadn't escaped either...