A Deadly Night

Drawing Godly Speed Talismans and Invisibility Talismans was far more difficult than drawing Explosive Flame Talismans. Chu Xiaotian spent a full four hours finishing the sixteen sheets of talisman paper he had prepared. He failed three times while drawing the Invisibility Talismans, wasting three sheets, and failed once with a Godly Form Talisman, wasting another. In the end, he had three Explosive Flame Talismans, four Godly Form Talismans, and eight Invisibility Talismans.

These talismans were the first he had ever drawn in the true sense of the word. He had succeeded with so many of them, and his excitement was beyond measure. After carefully putting them away, Chu Xiaotian had dinner with Xia Xue and sent her back to refine pills. He planned to take advantage of the night and quietly make his way near the Spirit Beast that was about to give birth, so tomorrow's plan to seize its young would have a better chance of success.

"Brother Xiaotian, be careful. I'll wait here for you to come back. If you don't return for a day, I won't leave the valley for a day." Xia Xue held Chu Xiaotian's hand and gazed into his eyes as she murmured softly.

Chu Xiaotian's heart trembled. What kind of feeling did it take for a young woman to say something like that to him? How could his heart not be stirred? He pulled Xia Xue tightly into his arms, then slowly lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Xia Xue's body trembled, and she struggled faintly, but soon went still. Her starry eyes half-closed, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she let Chu Xiaotian kiss her. Their lips met, and both their bodies shivered. A strange sensation surged through them, making them feel as if they were in another world, where only the two of them existed. Clumsy yet eager, Chu Xiaotian invaded Xia Xue's territory, prying open her pearly teeth and finding her fragrant little tongue. He teased and entwined with it to his heart's content. Xia Xue's breathing grew ragged, her whole body went limp, and she looped her arms around Chu Xiaotian's neck, letting him do as he pleased.

The lingering kiss lasted a full two or three minutes before Chu Xiaotian finally ended it, reluctant as he was. He had to stop. If they continued, he feared what came next would leave him with no resolve to leave the valley at all.

"Be a good girl, Xiaoxue. Don't worry about me. I'll be back soon." He gently patted Xia Xue's cheek, kissed it once, then turned and strode away. He was afraid that if he didn't leave quickly, he wouldn't be able to restrain the desire inside him and would take the little minx right there and then.

Once he was out of the valley, he took several deep breaths and scooped up two handfuls of river water to wash his face. Only then did the desire within him finally subside. After orienting himself, Chu Xiaotian quietly made his way toward the place where Huang Nian and the others had died. Xia Xue's valley lay on the edge of the Endless Forest, where few people ever came. But as soon as he entered the forest, things changed. The Spirit Beast was due to give birth tomorrow, and those hoping to seize its young had already begun entering the forest at night to prepare.

Almost every dozen steps, Chu Xiaotian sensed one or two people in the surrounding trees. Others were crouched in the underbrush below. Like him, they all had their eyes on the Spirit Beast's young. They weren't trying to hide their presence; they merely wanted to claim a spot closer to where the Spirit Beast would give birth. Besides, it wasn't time for the struggle over the Spirit Beast yet. Their greatest obstacle was the Huang Family, who were stopping them from advancing. So long as you didn't get too close and they didn't think you posed a threat, these people wouldn't attack. They would only watch you warily.

Chu Xiaotian knew this as well, so he deliberately kept away from them and took a winding path forward. The Huang Family had deployed a large number of experts to guard the area within a one-mile radius of the Spirit Beast's birthing place. Any outsider who entered that zone would be attacked by the Huang Family's experts as a group. Beyond that mile was where everyone else was allowed to stay. The Huang Family didn't actually want anyone lingering there either, but they had no choice—the crowd was too large. If they provoked the masses, everyone might turn on them, and the outcome would be disastrous.

The closer one got to the one-mile zone, the greater one's chances of seizing the Spirit Beast's young the next day. As a result, an unspoken rule quietly arose among those who had come alone. Only the strongest could get closer to the boundary. Anyone lacking the strength who still tried to push forward would be slaughtered by the experts occupying the ground ahead. No one wanted another person competing with them for the Spirit Beast's young, especially if that person was weaker than they were.

So far, aside from the Huang Family, no one who had come alone had reached the Poxue Realm. The strongest was only at the Huayuan Realm. The ring closest to the Huang Family's one-mile zone belonged to Huayuan Realm experts. Fifty meters behind them was where those in the Pi-Hai Realm and below could stay. Of course, they were divided into ranks there as well.

Chu Xiaotian knew nothing about these rules. He only knew that he couldn't enter the mile of territory occupied by the Huang Family. He hadn't given much thought to anywhere else. Without stopping, he kept pushing inward, hoping to reach the spot closest to where the Spirit Beast would give birth.

"Kid, take one more step and you die." As Chu Xiaotian continued toward the birthing place, a cold voice rang out ahead.

Chu Xiaotian furrowed his brow slightly. He glanced at the black-clad, burly man ahead, who was in the late stage of the Pi-Hai Realm, then turned and walked toward the front left. He hadn't yet approached the man's safety distance, yet he'd already been warned away. Chu Xiaotian figured the man must have some kind of odd quirk. He didn't want trouble, so he let it go.

But after changing direction, he had only taken two steps when the same warning came again. This time, he sensed something was off. Frowning, he changed direction once more. No one tried to stop him this time. Instead, a streak of sword light slashed straight at him.

Chu Xiaotian sighed inwardly. It seemed there was no way he could reach the front peacefully. His cultivation looked to be only at the early stage of the Pi-Hai Realm, while the people before him were all in its late stage. Unless he showed them his strength, he'd be plagued with trouble. As he thought this, he narrowed his eyes at the incoming sword light, and his figure vanished on the spot.

Then came the sound of bones snapping, a brief scream, and the clatter of a weapon hitting the ground alongside the thud of a body. Chu Xiaotian reappeared, took a Qiankun Bag from the fallen man, then flashed away and sat cross-legged beneath a large tree not far ahead.

At night, the chill permeating heaven and earth was thick, and the Heavenly Corpse Art he cultivated revolved around chilly Corpse Poison. His strength was therefore much greater at night than during the day. Killing a late-stage expert in the Pi-Hai Realm took little effort. As for going farther, he had no desire to. The territory ahead surely belonged to Huayuan Realm experts, and if he went there now, he would only get himself into trouble. Better to cultivate here all night. Given the concentration of cold energy in this world at night, one night of cultivation was worth at least three days for others. If their cultivation arts were inferior to his, it could be worth even more.

Strands of cold energy flowed into his body and merged with the mass of purple corpse qi in his dantian. From there, it spread through his flesh and blood, continuously transforming them. When he had first begun cultivating, the mass of purple qi had been no bigger than a fist. After so many days of cultivation, it had grown to the size of a human head. And that was despite having to use more than half of it to strengthen his body. Otherwise, the mass of corpse qi would have been more than twice as large. When cultivating the Heavenly Corpse Art, the corpse qi within the body was important, but the body's strength was even more so. The Heavenly Corpse was renowned for its physical might. It was said that an Undying Heavenly Corpse who reached the highest realm had an unmatched body and was impervious to all techniques. Even if someone blasted him to pieces, as long as a single drop of blood remained, he could recover. That was how the title Undying Heavenly Corpse had come about. It was also one reason Chu Xiaotian had survived Huang Xiang's Gale Slash.

"What kind of background does this fellow have? He possesses such a terrifying cultivation art, and the speed at which he absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is something even a Heaven-grade art couldn't manage. Could he have a legendary God-grade art? Interesting. I didn't expect to encounter someone like this here. Seems my luck is good." Chu Xiaotian sat beneath the tree, cultivating. Though he devoured spiritual energy at a terrifying pace, no outsider could detect it. For one thing, no one here had a high cultivation level. For another, the cold energy at night was so dense that it was difficult to notice what he was absorbing. But there were always exceptions. At that moment, a voice muttered softly from the dark canopy of a tree ten zhang away. Through the swaying branches, a young woman could be seen perched in the tree, her gaze fixed on Chu Xiaotian. Her eyes shone like water in the darkness. A moment later, her figure vanished.

Chu Xiaotian paid no attention to anything else and focused entirely on cultivating. At the same time, he spread his mental power over an area one zhang around him. Anyone who entered that range would be detected.

A little over ten minutes passed. Suddenly, Chu Xiaotian's eyes snapped open as he cultivated, and a cold glint flashed in them. He sensed someone approaching.

"Who's there? Take one more step and you die." A quiet warning left his lips as he turned his gaze toward the woods on his left. The person he had sensed was coming from that direction.

"Oh, big brother, don't be so fierce. This little woman wouldn't pose the slightest threat to you." A sweet, coquettish voice came from the direction he was watching. The saccharine tone made Chu Xiaotian's heart waver.