The man stood up and pointed at the Dao Palace cultivators, cursing, "You cultivators are deliberately bullying me, a mere mortal, aren't you?"
As he spoke, a cold, furious expression spread across his face, making him look quite frightening.
Yun Yao said, "We're not bullying you. Your horse ran out of control. If we hadn't stepped in, it would have injured us. We did hit it a little too hard, though."
She hadn't expected the Dao Palace disciple to kill the horse outright, much less for this mortal to be so unreasonable.
"Shut up! Don't think us mortals don't know. You cultivators think you're above everyone else, and you've never treated mortals like people!" the man roared, his words utterly extreme.
Then he reached into his robes, pulled out a black Dao Medicine, and shoved it into his mouth.
Black qi erupted from the man's body and seeped into his eyes, making him look terrifying.
Perhaps he could no longer be called a mortal, for he was now exuding the aura of Spiritual Power.
"What's going on? He gained Spiritual Power cultivation after eating a pill?" The Dao Palace disciple who had killed the steed stared in astonishment.
Cultivators all began as mortals and cultivated step by step, slowly absorbing Spiritual Power. There was no way to become a powerful cultivator with vast reserves of Spiritual Power all at once.
Unless it was some special method used by an Evil Cultivator.
"Die! Go join my little horse in the grave!"
The man, black qi billowing around him, roared and punched at the Dao Palace disciple who had killed his horse.
A layer of black Spiritual Power enveloped his fist, giving it an eerie appearance.
The Dao Palace disciple didn't let his guard down. He released his Spiritual Power and struck the man with a palm, sending him flying.
But the next instant, the man sprang up from the ground and charged at the Dao Palace cultivators again.
Qiang Di furrowed his brow slightly and flicked a finger, sending out a streak of Spiritual Power.
The Spiritual Power struck the man and pierced straight through his heart.
The man fell to the ground, a pool of black blood spreading beneath him.
Yun Yao frowned slightly and said, "That's an Evil Cultivator's method. He took a pill made by an Evil Cultivator."
A single pill had given a mortal Spiritual Power cultivation and robbed him of his ability to feel pain.
But it came at the cost of his life. Before long, anyone who took the pill would die, even if no one else laid a hand on them.
Qiang Di's expression was cold. "We need to inform the nearby sect, Tianren Sect, and have them handle this."
Xu Yan returned to his little shop and immediately closed it.
What had happened in the street was terrifying. The man wreathed in black qi had looked downright sinister.
The Golden Emperor Ant said, "Master, that mortal just ate a Black Blood Pill. It can temporarily grant Spiritual Power cultivation, but it does so by draining the user's life force. Anyone who takes it is doomed to die. It's an extremely sinister pill."
Back in the day, it had once encountered an entire city of people who had taken Black Blood Pills. In the end, every last one of them had died a miserable death.
"To think someone would take a pill like that for no good reason. What a fool," Xu Yan said.
He was a physician who could treat illnesses and compound medicines, but almost none of the medicines he made could harm anyone.
He wondered what kind of person would invent such a sinister pill.
"Master, let's eat the roast chicken first." Smelling the chicken, the Golden Emperor Ant immediately forgot what had happened in the street and spoke eagerly.
Food came first, no matter what. That was its way of life.
Xu Yan cut the roast chicken in half, giving one half to Su Jiuer and the other to the Golden Emperor Ant. He ate a separate roast chicken all by himself.
They had just finished eating when someone knocked on the door.
Xu Yan didn't open it right away. Instead, he called out, "Who is it?"
Tianren City wasn't peaceful these days, so even doing business called for caution. Losing your life through carelessness would be a terrible deal.
"Senior Xu, it's me, Qin Yudie."
A pleasant female voice came from outside the shop. It was Qin Yudie, who hadn't visited Xu Yan for many days.
Xu Yan went over and opened the door. Seeing Qin Yudie beaming, he asked, "You look so happy. Did something good happen?"
As he spoke, he invited Qin Yudie inside, then closed the shop door behind her.
Qin Yudie smiled. "Seeing Senior Xu is good news all by itself."
She was happy, of course, because she had finally mastered the Tianren Sword Technique.
She had now cultivated the sword technique to the great-achievement stage, and her strength had improved considerably.
"You've got a sweet tongue, like it's been dipped in honey," Xu Yan said with a smile.
But then he remembered what had happened in the street and told Qin Yudie about it.
He knew Qin Yudie was a cultivator too, so perhaps she had the means and ability to deal with the matter.
After hearing Xu Yan out, Qin Yudie's expression grew serious.
Evil Cultivators were a headache for righteous cultivators wherever they went.
Righteous cultivators wouldn't casually lay hands on mortals, but Evil Cultivators didn't care about that. They would stop at nothing to achieve their aims.
She looked at Xu Yan and said, "Senior Xu, I'll tell my Grandpa about this and have him investigate it thoroughly."
She figured Xu Yan must be worried that his reclusive life would be disrupted, so he was testing her to see if she could find a way to deal with the matter.
"You and your Grandpa are both cultivators, right? Are you considered strong among cultivators?" Xu Yan suddenly asked, thinking of the cultivators he had seen in the street.
He figured they would need at least the same level of cultivation as those people to handle this. Otherwise, if Qin Yudie and her Grandpa were just weak little cultivators, not only would they be unable to deal with the matter, they might get themselves dragged into it too.
Qin Yudie wasn't sure how to answer.
Her cultivation was among the best of the younger generation, and her Grandpa, Qin Tian, was a powerful cultivator throughout the Southern Domain.
But what sort of person was Senior Xu? She and her Grandpa were insignificant before him. How could she call herself strong in front of him?
After thinking it over, Qin Yudie said, "Our paltry cultivation is nothing to speak of. The path of cultivation has no end, and we'll take Senior Xu as our goal."
She felt that was the best answer. Their cultivation could only be considered paltry before Senior Xu, but he could still be the direction they strove toward.
Hearing this, Xu Yan sighed to himself. So they really were just little cultivators. No wonder she kept coming by.
He said, "If you go investigate this, be careful. If you can't handle it, let those powerful cultivators take care of it. When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up."
Hearing Xu Yan's words, Qin Yudie thought he was hinting that they should work hard to investigate and not be afraid.
Even if they ran into something they couldn't deal with, Senior Xu would take care of it. He was telling them to go all out.
When the sky fell, the tall ones held it up. Wasn't Senior Xu, that reclusive expert, the tall one?
So she confidently promised, "Yudie will relay Senior Xu's words to my Grandpa. I absolutely won't let Senior Xu down."
Before you continue