Daoist

(This chapter is free)

Naturally, Daoist Yan truly had the capital to be arrogant. His cleverness-in-clumsiness swordsmanship clearly far surpassed Lu Bing's standards. However, Yu Ci was completely unafraid. His expression was cold and stern, and though he held no sharp weapon in his hands, he still channeled azure-light spirit guidance, preparing to rely on talisman arts to make a joint attack against this fiend alongside Lu Bing.

Seeing him behave so calmly, Daoist Yan laughed with a heh-heh, suddenly shouting out a cry:

"Sever!"

The moment the words fell, Yu Ci saw a red thread extend from the void. He opened his mouth, failing to make any sound in time before watching the sword light all over the sky shatter. Lu Bing and his precious sword split apart simultaneously, tumbling onto the burning grassland with their vital breath extinguishing.

Yu Ci's hand, which had been drawing a talisman inside his sleeve, suddenly froze.

All the screams and groans vanished. Aside from Yu Ci, over twenty other herb gatherers all died beneath Daoist Yan's hands, while the killer, still unsatisfied, turned his already crimson eyes over, fixing his gaze straight on Yu Ci's face.

"Pretty boy, why aren't you coming up?"

Yu Ci discovered that he had severely underestimated Daoist Yan.

In terms of physical cultivation, the difference between reaching the peak of the Long Breath realm and being in the Orifice Enlightenment realm was not very large, and Lu Bing also specialized in swordsmanship, so his combat strength was not far behind his own. Yet a character like this was casually cleaved apart by a single sword strike from Daoist Yan. Within this, there was naturally the effect of that bizarre and razor-sharp fire sword, but Daoist Yan's own cultivation must also have exceeded Yu Ci's preset standards.

Exceeding the Bright Aperture Upper Stage, wasn't that a spirit cultivator?

Yu Ci uttered not a word, withdrawing and retreating, leaping three zhang in a single bound.

Daoist Yan spat, not rushing to attack as he strode forward in pursuit.

Before retreating, Yu Ci had already scouted the terrain, and the spot where he landed happened to be a turning point in the mountain's topography. With a popping sound, gravel splashed beneath his feet, and he used almost all his strength in his legs, propping up his body to pivot at an angle and shifting toward the rear of the overlapping mountain rocks at an even faster speed.

Daoist Yan laughed heartily. "Can you run!"

While speaking, he caught up past the corner in a few steps. As he turned his face, however, an astonished exclamation escaped him.

Within his line of sight, only the swaying tree shadows of the gloomy mountain forest in the distance remained; Yu Ci's figure had vanished entirely.

Daoist Yan's rounded eyes widened even further, momentarily baffled. Even in the dead of night, his line of sight could reach a mile away, and the patch of forest here that could hide a person was roughly about this distance. Although that pretty boy was agile in his movements, he shouldn't have been this fast.

From this location to the dense forest, the path was completely flat, with almost no mountain rocks, grass, or trees to provide cover. Even if one wanted to hide, the probability of being discovered would be even greater. Daoist Yan stood stunned for a long time, but then gave a cold, low heh:

"The brat is slippery, yet you take your Daoist grandfather for someone easy to bully?"

He closed his eyes. Under the governance of his divine soul, a layer of intangible force swept across a radius of ten zhang in a fluctuating manner. Soon, his eyes lit up.

Suddenly exerting force with his feet amidst a booming crash, a rock beside him was kicked over by him, revealing a half-man-high cave behind it. The cave was formed naturally, yet the rock blocking the front had been moved over from somewhere else, decorated on the outside with thatch and dwarf trees so that at first glance it looked like a part of the mountain body. In reality, one could squeeze a single person completely inside from the bushes in the recessed area below.

This kind of arrangement completely deceived human eyes, except that for people like Daoist Yan, there were times when one did not use one's eyes to judge!

However, Daoist Yan still had one question he didn't understand: that pretty boy clearly looked like a passerby, so how could he have set up such an extremely hidden location as if he possessed foreknowledge?

The question went unanswered, but the more it was so, the more intense his intent to kill became. Without the slightest hesitation, he lowered his head and drilled into the cave.

"Even if the pretty boy has turned into a big rat, he still won't escape your Daoist grandfather's downward sword strike!"

Although the cave was dark and lightless, it was no match for the radiance of the crimson fire sword in Daoist Yan's hand. After he walked a few steps, the interior suddenly grew spacious. There were indeed signs of human habitation inside, and Daoist Yan even saw scattered debris on the ground.

Yet at this moment, his expression shifted slightly, for here he clearly sensed a head-on breeze, and furthermore, there were two sources from which the wind was coming!

This cave actually had three exits; the one he entered counted as one, and there were two others. Heaven knew which way Yu Ci had gone.

"Truly a rat that digs holes..."

Daoist Yan laughed out of hatred. "If it were anyone else, you really would have escaped. It's just a pity you ran into your Daoist grandfather me!"

He didn't waste time thinking about it much; closing his eyes, he drove his divine soul once more, sweeping it across the caves on both sides. The remnant aura left behind by Yu Ci appeared like a faint ball of fire. Daoist Yan swiftly confirmed one of the tunnel openings and gave fierce chase in wild strides.

Yu Ci slid down the steep cliff face, then rushed forward a few steps more. Behind him, Daoist Yan's aura had already broken off. Yet he knew that with the abilities of a legendary spirit cultivator, trying to escape by relying on that cave was truly unreliable. Therefore, after merely catching his breath, he continued to bolt away at a run while striving to pacify his mind, sketching talismanic runes on his sleeve and temporarily preserving them through the bronze mirror's supernatural force.

This was also one of the functions of the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror, except that there were limits to both the remaining duration and the quantity of talismans preserved. He could only temporarily store three, and the time amounted to about half an incense stick's worth.

The talismans he drew were extremely complex, and by the time Yu Ci had sprinted ten miles away, he had barely managed to draw two. As he prepared to draw the third, the night sky suddenly brightened. A crimson fire light shone over from behind him, and the pungent odor followed right along with it.

Only then could Yu Ci ascertain that this odor was the stench of burning blood, mixed with the fiend's own killing intent, stinging his nasal apertures.

He had long assumed Daoist Yan would catch up, but for the pursuit to arrive this quickly still exceeded his expectations somewhat.

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, suddenly turning around without any warning and leaping out while hugging the ground. The next moment, the red line brushed past. The two bowl-thick trees he had just crossed were sliced into two halves starting five feet from the ground, immediately collapsing and snapping backward with a crash. Even in the middle of the night, one could see dust and smoke rising with branches and leaves fluttering about. Beasts and birds cried out in panic, and the previously quiet mountain forest suddenly grew boisterous.

Failing to hit with a single strike, Daoist Yan still laughed happily. The laughter came closer from afar, and soon he and Yu Ci caught up to each other tail-to-head: "Pretty boy, is your Daoist grandfather's Nine Yang Talisman Sword sharp or not?"

"Nine Yang? Isn't it the Three Yang Talisman Sword?"

It was rare for Yu Ci to open his mouth and ask a question, but because of this he lowered his speed. Immediately afterward, the top of his head grew scalding hot as Daoist Yan flew past, carrying rolling heat waves to block his path. Yu Ci halted his body at once, assuming a posture to meet the enemy. Although his expression was solemn, he held no sense of panic.

"The pretty boy's curiosity runs quite heavy..."