A hundred breaths passed. The burly man had swung his sword more than a dozen times, burning through over thirty Defense Talismans. He was panting heavily from exhaustion.
The burly man gasped, "Just how many Talismans do you have, brat? Is this never going to end? I refuse to believe I can't chop you to death."
With that, he continued slashing at Wang Daoyuan. Wang Daoyuan was not having an easy time either. Although the Golden Armor Talismans blocked the attacks, his body still bore part of the force. Though it was only a small portion, after more than a dozen strikes, he still felt his blood and qi churning.
Taking a beating without striking back was not Wang Daoyuan's style. He pulled out several Wood Spike Talismans and hurled them directly at the burly man. Several phantom wooden spikes as thick as an adult's arm appeared out of thin air and shot straight at him.
The wooden spikes struck the phantom armor and vanished without a trace, while the earth armor dimmed somewhat. Wang Daoyuan had never expected those few wooden spikes to achieve much. His purpose was to drain the burly man's spiritual energy.
Among the Five Elements, wood overcame earth. Although wood-attribute attacks were weak, thanks to elemental suppression, they were far more efficient than other attributes at consuming an opponent's spiritual energy.
If this dragged on, with more than four hundred First-order Talismans and several Second-order Talismans in hand, it was hard to say who would kill whom.
Of course, that was assuming his opponent had no other secret arts. If the other man possessed an offensive secret art, even one that was not particularly powerful, a Second-order secret art would be difficult for a Qi Refining Layer Seven cultivator like him to withstand, even with Defense Talismans.
This stalemate could not continue either, and neither of them wished to keep dragging it out. The battlefield was only about a hundred li away. Wang Daoyuan feared that others might catch up, and then even if he grew wings, he would be unable to escape.
The burly man, meanwhile, wanted to keep everything on Wang Daoyuan for himself. If anyone else came to help, he would have to share a portion with them. Wang Daoyuan was throwing Talismans around as though they cost nothing—he was clearly a fat sheep. Sharing him with others would be too great a loss. If those who came to help harbored evil intentions and dealt with him as well, then he would truly be losing big.
Wang Daoyuan did not dare drag things out any longer. He activated a Divine Movement Talisman and fled swiftly eastward.
When the burly man saw Wang Daoyuan run, not only did he not get angry, he was delighted instead.
They had been fighting here for quite a while, and he had been worrying that someone might come to steal his prize. Yet this brat had voluntarily chosen another place to continue their battle. How sensible. When he dealt with him later, he would not torture him—he would grant him a quick death.
As for whether he could take down Wang Daoyuan, he had never even considered the question. He was a dignified Foundation Establishment First Layer Cultivator. Could taking down a junior at Qi Refining Layer Seven possibly involve an accident? Could a cooked duck still fly away?
This Qi Refining junior was dead for certain. Not even a Golden Core ancestor could save him.
Still, the brat's escape speed was a little too fast. He was taking advantage of the fact that this old man cultivated an Earth Attribute technique and was slow.
The burly man had only just achieved Foundation Establishment and had not yet cultivated the Sword Control Technique. Unable to use Sword Flight, he could only expend spiritual energy and chase on his own two legs. Due to his cultivation technique, he could not catch up with Wang Daoyuan, who was using a Divine Movement Talisman, for the time being.
The burly man chased desperately, gradually closing the distance. Once Wang Daoyuan entered the attack range of his Talismans, he would throw out several offensive Talismans. The burly man could only condense earth armor to block the attacks.
As a result, the burly man had to slow down, or even stop outright, and the distance between them would widen once more.
One chased while the other fled. After five or six hours of this torment, they had traveled another thousand-odd li. At such a distance, no one should have extended their surveillance range beyond a thousand li. Moreover, countless peaks of all sizes lay between this place and the Cart Gorge battlefield.
Wang Daoyuan arrived at a valley. The mountains were clear and the waters beautiful here; killing this blockhead in such a place could be considered doing right by him.
After being hunted for over a thousand li, Wang Daoyuan had learned seven or eight parts out of ten about the burly man's background. This fellow had only just established his foundation and had not yet had time to cultivate the Sword Control Technique or Second-order spells. Compared with a Qi Refining Peak cultivator, his spiritual energy was merely more abundant, and his First-order spells were more powerful. In terms of combat methods, there had been no qualitative improvement.
This fellow could only bully cultivators below Qi Refining Peak. Let alone dealing with other Foundation Establishment Cultivators, even to take down a Qi Refining Peak cultivator would require considerable effort. An outstanding Qi Refining Peak cultivator, such as Twelfth Uncle, could even kill him in return.
Wang Daoyuan analyzed the burly man's character and other traits. This fellow sorely lacked experience in the martial world and was incapable of properly judging either enemy or ally. His mind was also far too simple. Seeing Wang Daoyuan's considerable wealth, he had pursued him relentlessly like a mad dog.
This fellow had consumed so much spiritual energy and did not know any Second-order spells. His current combat strength was merely at the Qi Refining Peak level, and not even among the stronger kind. Naturally, his physical body was still much stronger than that of a Qi Refining Peak cultivator, but so long as he had not practiced body refinement, it would take only a single Golden Sword Talisman.
Yet even now, he had not realized that he might be killed in return. He was most likely a disciple of some power, sheltered beneath his elders' protection, never having weathered wind or rain. This was probably his first time leaving to handle affairs.
This fellow's status within his sect or Lineage was likely not very high either. After fighting for so long, all he had used was that earth-yellow longsword. He had no Talismans, no other magic tools, and no formidable spells. If he truly had powerful elders, how could he be this damn poor?
If the burly man could hear Wang Daoyuan's thoughts, he would surely burst into tears. If he had not been driven mad by poverty, who the hell would go to such lengths to chase down a Qi Refining junior for a thousand li?
His name was Zhang Dacheng, a disciple of the Myriad Spirit Sect, the strongest among the Three Great Sects of the Zhao Kingdom. Both his parents had been ordinary people. After entering the Myriad Spirit Sect, he had no connections to take him on as a disciple, and thus had remained an ordinary disciple. After laboring bitterly in the sect for decades, he had finally saved enough Contribution Points to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.
But overnight, his assets had returned to before liberation. Apart from this high-grade first-order magic tool, he had nothing worth showing. He did not even have the Contribution Points to learn the Sword Control Technique, standard equipment for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. As for a Second-order magic tool, that was even farther beyond reach.
This time, the Myriad Spirit Sect had plotted against the Netherworld Sect. Hearing that there was an opportunity to obtain Spirit Stones, he had volunteered to come and earn some extra money.
Long before making his move, he had been lying in ambush at a distance and had noticed Wang Daoyuan.
Wang Daoyuan's habit of scattering Talismans by the handful had convinced him that this was a fat sheep. Setting aside everything else, that thick stack of Talismans alone was worth one or two thousand Spirit Stones! Moreover, Wang Daoyuan did not care about those Talismans in the slightest, making Zhang Dacheng even more certain that this fat sheep was dripping with oil.
As long as he could take down this fat sheep, he could exchange for the Sword Control Technique and perhaps even buy another Second-order magic tool.
Wealth stirred a man's heart. When Wang Daoyuan used Earth Escape to flee, Zhang Dacheng chased after him without hesitation. Wang Daoyuan had gone ten zhang underground, a depth Zhang Dacheng's divine sense could not track.
However, the Myriad Spirit Sect was famed for commanding insects and beasts. What disciple in the sect did not keep a spirit beast or Spirit Insect? Zhang Dacheng was naturally no exception. He raised an Earth-Drilling Rat. Once grown, an Earth-Drilling Rat possessed First-order peak strength, and with sufficient resources, it had a strong chance of breaking through to the Second-order.
The Earth-Drilling Rat was not much in battle. Its only specialty was burrowing underground. Zhang Dacheng's Earth-Drilling Rat was at the First-order peak and could easily travel within a hundred zhang underground, its speed far surpassing the Earth Escape Technique of cultivators of the same rank.
Wang Daoyuan used an Earth Escape Talisman to travel ten zhang underground, while the Earth-Drilling Rat had been following behind him all along. It could be said that Wang Daoyuan had never escaped Zhang Dacheng's sight.
Just as Wang Daoyuan had guessed, Zhang Dacheng had indeed never gone out to gain experience. He had entered the sect when he was young, and all the Contribution Points he had accumulated came from working within it. This was the first time since beginning cultivation that he had stepped beyond the mountain gate.
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