I never had a choice before. Now I want to be a good person! Whoosh!
The flying sword streaked toward him like lightning, its chilling Sword Qi swelling rapidly in Zhao Hao's pupils!
Every hair on his body stood on end. Without thinking, he bent backward at an impossibly twisted angle, as though he had no bones, pressing his back flat against the ground.
Slash!
The flying sword skimmed past the tip of his nose, its razor-sharp wake cutting a long, thin bloody line across his face.
Ignoring the pain, Zhao Hao rolled like a lazy donkey, scrambling behind a tree so thick it would take both arms to encircle it. His heart pounded like a drum.
I can't fight them!
He did not even dare reveal any more of his strength.
One of his opponents was at the peak of Qi Refining, the other at the ninth level, and they were clearly fellow disciples with excellent coordination.
If he fought, there was no chance he could finish them both quickly. If they held him up for even a little while and others found him, he would die!
He abruptly tore off the conspicuous black robe of the Corpse Refining Lineage, revealing the gray cloth clothes underneath, then flung the robe far away and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Fairy sisters! Please stop!"
"I never had a choice before. Now I want to be a good cultivator!"
His desperate cry, coupled with his bedraggled appearance, made both female cultivators on the branches pause just as they were about to attack again.
A strange expression actually crossed the cool face of their leader, the woman at the peak of Qi Refining.
"Oh?"
Her voice was clear, but held a hint of amusement.
"Can anything you demonic cultivators say be trusted?"
There's a chance!
Zhao Hao's heart stirred, and he shouted rapidly, "Fairy sister, please judge fairly! I'm just a mortal who was abducted and brought up the mountain! I only joined three months ago! I've never done anything that defies Heaven and harms others!"
Afraid that would not carry enough weight, he dropped another bombshell:
"And I have a fire-attribute heavenly spiritual root!"
"A heavenly spiritual root?"
Sure enough, the woman at the peak of Qi Refining was startled.
Delight rose in Zhao Hao's heart. He hurriedly spoke, the words tumbling out. "Please judge fairly, fairy sisters! I was just an ordinary boy from a mortal town. Three months ago, the Extreme Yin Sect forcibly abducted me and brought me up the mountain. They tested my spiritual root and forced me to practice demonic arts!"
He paused, then laid out his greatest bargaining chip:
"And I have a fire-attribute heavenly spiritual root!"
"A heavenly spiritual root?"
The woman at the peak of Qi Refining was indeed taken aback, a gleam flashing through her clear eyes.
She had thought he was merely a small fry she could crush at will. Who would have guessed she had caught a big fish instead?
That made him tremendously valuable! Whether they killed him or took him back to their sect, it would deal the Extreme Yin Sect a massive blow.
Yet when the woman at the ninth level of Qi Refining beside her heard Zhao Hao's words, her pretty face twisted with utter fury.
"So what if you have a heavenly spiritual root? You little demon spawn! Stop making excuses!"
Her voice was shrill, filled with hatred etched into her very bones.
"My elder sister was abducted by demons like you and refined into a living corpse! Even after death, she was put in a brothel in the market town to suffer every humiliation!"
"You've practiced demonic arts. Your demonic nature has already seeped into your bones. All demonic cultivators deserve to die!"
As Zhao Hao listened, his mind buzzed.
The market town's brothel... a living corpse... Seventh Senior Brother Wu De!
Damn it, I've walked straight into the line of fire!
This woman's elder sister was actually the Heavenly Sword Sect disciple Wu De had refined into one of the "Yin-Yang Heavenly Beauties"!
This was awkward.
No wonder she refused to hear his explanations and had gone straight for a fight to the death.
He groaned inwardly. He had only joined three months ago. How could he feel any sense of belonging to the Extreme Yin Sect, that demonic hell on earth? He had simply suffered bloody awful luck!
The woman at the peak of Qi Refining had already begun to waver. After all, someone with a heavenly spiritual root who had been abducted and had only joined three months ago truly was valuable.
But the moment she saw her junior sister looking as though she wanted to devour his flesh and sleep on his flayed skin, she knew there could be no peaceful resolution.
The woman at the ninth level of Qi Refining did not even wait for her senior sister to speak. Murderous intent blazed in her eyes as she sent her flying sword into motion again!
The flying sword let out a clear, ringing cry, its force greater than before as it shot straight for Zhao Hao's head!
This time, Zhao Hao knew he could not dodge.
With a cultivator of the same level hunting him down, concealing his strength any longer would be nothing but courting death!
He hesitated no further. The spiritual power inside him erupted! An immense aura, far beyond what his apparent age suggested, surged skyward like an erupting volcano!
The ninth level of Qi Refining!
"What?!"
"The ninth level of Qi Refining!"
Both women on the branches cried out at once, their faces filled with disbelief.
A boy who looked barely in his early teens had soared to the ninth level of Qi Refining after just three months in the sect?!
What kind of monster was he?
This was no longer a genius. This was a freak of nature!
The two exchanged a glance and instantly understood the gravity of the situation.
This boy absolutely cannot be allowed to live!
The woman at the peak of Qi Refining reacted swiftly. Without hesitation, she pulled a crimson jade talisman from inside her clothes and crushed it!
Whoosh!
A dazzling pillar of red light shot into the sky and burst in midair, forming an enormous sword-shaped image that lingered without fading!
It was the Heavenly Sword Sect's signal for reinforcements!
I'm finished!
At the sight of that signal, Zhao Hao's heart sank into the depths.
He knew he had to escape at any cost before reinforcements arrived!
"Kill!"
After recovering from her shock, the woman at the ninth level of Qi Refining burned with even greater killing intent. Her flying sword became a white rainbow, sealing off every avenue of retreat.
Not a trace of panic remained on Zhao Hao's face. In its place was a vicious resolve that did not belong on someone his age.
He had kept dodging and concealing his cultivation because he wanted to live.
Now he would risk his life in a desperate fight for exactly the same reason!
If you won't give me a way to live, then we'll die together!
Before the two women could shake off their cat-and-mouse mindset, Zhao Hao simply raised his hand and pointed from afar at the woman who had only recently reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Perfection-level Evil Light Art!
Pfft!
A black beam, so condensed it seemed solid, struck instantly and without a sound!
The woman at the ninth level of Qi Refining had never imagined that a boy who looked barely in his early teens could wield such a powerful spell.
She had thought Zhao Hao was doing nothing but running away, and subconsciously had never put up any defenses.
By the time she reacted, the black light had already pierced her heart.
"Urgh..."
She lowered her head in disbelief, staring at the bloody hole that went clean through her chest. Her blood and vitality were draining away rapidly.
Her lips parted as she tried to say something, but all that came out was a mouthful of bloody froth. Her body went limp and toppled from the branch.
"Junior Sister!"
The woman at the peak of Qi Refining let out a piercing wail, her eyes instantly turning bloodshot!
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that her junior sister, who had grown up alongside her, would be gone after a single exchange!
Killed by a boy who looked utterly harmless!
"I'll kill you!"
She went completely mad. Her flying sword transformed into a skyful of sword shadows, pouring down on Zhao Hao like a raging storm!
Zhao Hao was hardly faring well himself.
Facing the frenzied attacks of a sword cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining, he recalled the Ghost Bone Sword and struggled to defend himself. Yet those exquisitely controlled sword shadows forced him back step by step. One careless moment allowed a streak of sword light to pierce his left shoulder. Agony surged through him, making his movements falter.
I can't drag this out any longer!
Zhao Hao's eyes were threaded with blood as he viciously bit the tip of his tongue.
Throwing caution aside, he flicked his fingers at the woman three times in succession!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Three beams of Evil Light Art shot out in a triangular formation, forcing the woman to draw her sword back to defend herself and briefly slowing her offensive.
Now!
Without even looking at the result, Zhao Hao willed his technique into motion.
Every inch of his flesh screamed, and his bones groaned beneath an unbearable burden.
The next instant, with a boom, his entire body exploded into an intensely dense cloud of blood mist!
The blood mist flashed, and Zhao Hao vanished from the spot.
Blood Escape Art!
"Aah! Demon! You won't escape!"
The woman at the peak of Qi Refining shattered the three black beams. Staring at the empty mountain forest, she screamed like a cuckoo crying blood.