Outside Cloud Mist Mountain.
Near the camp, the battle grew more and more intense. One cultivator after another fell, mercilessly devoured by the Beasts.
"Little Junior Brother, I'm sorry. I meant to bring you to Cloud Mist Mountain to earn some contribution points, but I never thought I'd lead you straight to the gates of hell..."
As she fought the Beasts, Luo Lan blamed herself.
This Beast tide was enormous. With two waves merged into one, Little Junior Brother, who was only at the third level of Qi Refining, could easily perish in a Beast's jaws.
During the battle, she kept adjusting her position, trying to stay closer to Little Junior Brother. If he really ran into danger, she would rush to his aid even if it cost her life.
However.
After all this time, she had noticed that Little Junior Brother relied on his Dragon Glide Step, which he had mastered to perfection, and his fierce Lingxiao Sword Technique to move with ease amid the Beasts' encirclement, dodging attack after attack.
"How come the Dragon Glide Step seems so powerful when Little Junior Brother uses it?"
Luo Lan was a little baffled.
She had never learned this movement technique, but she had watched plenty of junior brothers from the outer sect use it. In her eyes, none of their Dragon Glide Steps came close to Little Junior Brother's.
In the night.
Three red figures dodged the Beasts along the way and charged toward Chen Changming.
"Hm? Blood Demon Sect disciples?"
Luo Lan recognized their origins at a glance, and her heart instantly tightened.
Two of the three were at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and the other was at the fifth. With such a powerful group, their target was actually Little Junior Brother, who was only at the third level of Qi Refining.
They had come to avenge Leng Shankui.
Luo Lan immediately understood why. The Leng Household held a respectable position within the Blood Demon Sect. Leng Shankui had died at the hands of an outer-sect disciple of the Lingxiao Sect, and they naturally couldn't swallow that insult, so they had sent people to take revenge.
"Little Junior Brother, run!"
Even from far away, Luo Lan shouted to him. Then she dodged a Beast's attack and tried to rush over to help.
"Heh-heh, Miss Luo, I'm your opponent!"
A streak of bloodlight descended, blocking her path.
With a mocking laugh, Liao Changhai launched his attack. A vast sea of blood crashed down over her.
"Seventh level of Qi Refining!"
When she sensed his cultivation, Luo Lan's expression changed drastically. To kill a Lingxiao Sect disciple at the third level of Qi Refining, the Blood Demon Sect had actually sent an inner-sect disciple at the seventh level.
Run?
At Luo Lan's warning, Chen Changming saw three blood-red figures dodging the Beasts as they raced toward him.
Blood Demon Sect disciples!
The moment he saw their familiar robes, Chen Changming's heart tightened, and he immediately understood.
Leng Shankui had possessed so many Spirit Stones and Spirit Gathering Pills, and even a magical treasure. That meant he must have held some standing within the Blood Demon Sect.
He had killed the man, and now the Blood Demon Sect had sent people to take revenge.
"Two at the fourth level of Qi Refining and one at the fifth. The Blood Demon Sect is really using an ox cleaver to kill a chicken..."
Chen Changming gave a bitter laugh, turned around, and fled in the opposite direction.
Since the three Blood Demon Sect disciples were closing in from the outskirts, the only direction Chen Changming could flee was toward Cloud Mist Mountain.
There were plenty of Beasts in that direction, and quite a few cultivators from various sects were fighting them. The scene was utter chaos.
Relying on his nimble, swift Dragon Glide Step, Chen Changming dodged Beast after Beast and fled deeper into Cloud Mist Mountain.
"Blood Demon Sect disciples?!"
In the chaotic battle, someone spotted the Blood Demon Sect disciples. Though they were rather surprised, they were trapped in the Beasts' encirclement and could barely protect themselves, so no one attacked them.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out. One of the Blood Demon Sect disciples at the fourth level of Qi Refining was struck by the tail of a frenzied first-grade mid-tier Beast. His body was split in two on the spot, and he died right there.
The other two surviving Blood Demon Sect disciples turned deathly pale with fright.
This place was far too dangerous!
If Elder Leng hadn't given them a death order, they wouldn't have dared enter such a chaotic battlefield even if someone beat them to death!
The two continued their relentless pursuit.
Chen Changming used Dragon Glide Step to flee ahead of them. Even now, the youth was still holding back and had yet to unleash the technique's full power.
Boom!
A deafening crash came from up ahead. A massive Iron-Armored Wolf slowly fell to the ground, and a figure descended from the sky, landing atop its head.
The aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator spread through the air.
Chen Changming took one look at the man and was overjoyed. It was Senior Brother Qin Changtian of Gengjin Peak.
"Senior Brother Qin, save me!"
Chen Changming shouted as he ran, drawing closer and closer to Qin Changtian.
Qin Changtian looked at the two groups, one in pursuit and one fleeing, and instantly grasped the situation. His face was expressionless, but a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes.
"Beast, where do you think you're going?"
Qin Changtian shouted furiously, then rode his swordlight into the night and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Hm?"
Chen Changming froze for a moment, and his heart turned ice-cold.
Had even a little cultivator like him, only at the third level of Qi Refining, been seen as a rival by Qin Changtian?
A mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator, the foremost inner-sect disciple of the Lingxiao Sect, was so cold and heartless that he would watch someone die without lifting a finger!
Once again, the fickleness of human kindness had taught the youth a lesson.
"Hahaha! Chen, trash like you might as well die! Even your own sect won't help you!"
The Blood Demon Sect disciple's wild laughter came from behind him.
The laughter was so grating that Chen Changming's heart grew even colder.
He looked around and saw that there weren't many Beasts here anymore. A few scattered battles were taking place, all far away from him.
Chen Changming turned around.
The two men behind him were less than a hundred meters away.
Sst! Sst!
He abruptly waved his hand, and Spirit Finger Flick was unleashed.
Seven or eight thick beams of light flashed through the pitch-black forest, swift as lightning.
"What is that?"
One of the Blood Demon Sect disciples cried out in alarm.
Pfft, pfft...
After several muffled thuds, the Blood Demon Sect disciple at the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining was riddled with holes.
The other man, who was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, reacted faster. At the crucial moment, a layer of blood-red light rose around him.
Thud! Thud!
The Spirit Qi beams slammed violently into the bloodlight. Their ferocious force shattered it in an instant, and the weakened beams still struck the man's chest.
Boom!
It was as if he had been struck by lightning. His body swayed a few times, and he nearly fell to the ground.
"What kind of treasure is this?"
He murmured to himself, his eyes suddenly widening.
A dazzling flash of light had blinded him. Several thick Spirit Qi beams came screaming down and blasted his head apart.
The two had underestimated their opponent from the start. The darkness further impaired their vision, and their foe's attack was nearly instantaneous, with no hand seals or spells involved. As a result, Chen Changming took both of them down in Cloud Mist Mountain.
It had to be said: no cultivator in this world had ever seen a Spirit Finger Flick with power this terrifying.
Chen Changming checked his surroundings. Seeing that no one had noticed, he hurried over, ripped the Storage Bags from the two men, and stowed them inside his own Storage Bag.
Rumble!
The ground trembled. A terrifying black maw opened in the sunken earth and swallowed the two corpses.
Chen Changming had been standing right beside them. He was always on guard, so the instant the earth shook, he used Dragon Glide Step to retreat dozens of yards.
A huge, ochre-colored Beast burst out of the earth and charged toward Chen Changming with thunderous steps.
"First-grade mid-tier Beast!"
Feeling its aura, Chen Changming's expression changed drastically.
In terms of cultivation, this Beast was on par with someone at the sixth level of Qi Refining, but its strength was comparable to that of a human cultivator at the seventh level!
It was far beyond anything he could contend with!