Reckless Beyond Measure

"That should be Xu Zhiji and Xu Shisen. Let's not join up with them. We'll pretend we got separated and lost while fleeing, so they don't press us into service again." Liang Jingtang followed Xia Daoming's gaze and vaguely spotted the two figures as well. His face darkened as he spoke.

"After being humiliated by them all this way, doesn't Master want to win back some face?" Xia Daoming narrowed his eyes at Xu Zhiji and his grandson, who were climbing ever higher.

"You..." Liang Jingtang's body swayed in shock, and he nearly tumbled off the cliff.

"With calculation against the unsuspecting, and with Xu Zhiji being old after all, as long as we catch him off guard and grievously wound him, he'll have only one road left: death.

"As for Xu Shisen, Master will probably need to keep him occupied first. When we return to Li City, even the Xu family will likely believe the two died beneath the Rabbit King's claws. No one will ever suspect us." Xia Daoming said calmly.

A chill rose down Liang Jingtang's back. He looked at Xia Daoming as though he were a complete stranger.

This disciple's scheming and audacity made even him, the master, feel as though all his years had been lived like a dog's.

"Are you confident? Xu Zhiji is an Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master!" After a long while, Liang Jingtang swallowed with difficulty and asked.

"If Xu Zhiji were on guard against me, I should have some confidence in defeating him, but little confidence in killing him.

"But after spending so much time with him, I've always shown weakness, and I've genuinely displayed only the cultivation of a Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master. He certainly won't be wary of me.

"As long as he isn't wary, I'm confident I can grievously wound him and ultimately leave him behind in the Vast Mountain Range." Xia Daoming said.

"Could it be that you're more than Fifth Rank?" Liang Jingtang's heart leaped at his words.

"Hehe, this disciple's true cultivation is Sixth Rank. And if I can obtain that Ice Rabbit and brew it together with Golden Crow Grass into medicinal soup, I'll definitely break through to become a Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master. I have Golden Crow Grass on hand, but I'm still lacking an Ice Rabbit." Xia Daoming said.

"Sixth Rank..." Liang Jingtang opened his mouth and stared at Xia Daoming for a long while before saying, "Actually, you revealed it just now. But the situation was too perilous then, so I didn't pay attention or think much about it.

"Still, I've heard that the medicinal soup brewed from an Ice Rabbit and Golden Crow Grass is extremely potent. Only a young Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master with surging vitality and blood can withstand its effects!"

"Hehe, Master, rest assured. I was born with a strong physique, so there won't be any problem. Besides, when we fled just now, you should have felt it too—my vitality, blood, and strength are far more vigorous than yours!" Xia Daoming said.

"That's right! Your vitality and blood are much more vigorous and powerful than mine, absolutely no weaker than a peak Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master." Liang Jingtang nodded. Then he swallowed hard to moisten his dry throat, a flash of ruthlessness appearing in his eyes. "Since it can help you become a Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master, damn it, let's do it!"

As master and disciple spoke, they did not stop climbing.

By the time Liang Jingtang decided to take the risk and pull off a major heist, the two had already climbed to the steepest part of the cliff.

From this point onward, they would need vines or ropes to continue climbing the mountain.

Just as the two raised their heads to search for vines, Xia Daoming's eyes suddenly lit up.

He saw a patch of mist in the distance that had gathered without dispersing. Logically, that place was high up and exposed to sunlight, so there should not have been any mist.

Could it be Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma? Xia Daoming's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly moved sideways toward it.

When he drew closer, Xia Daoming vaguely saw purple vines and leaves through the lingering mist.

"It's Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma!" Liang Jingtang, who had followed after him, said excitedly.

"That's right. Who would've thought our master and disciple's luck would be here?" Xia Daoming said with a smile. He stepped forward and waved away the mist, revealing an Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma plant.

Where the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma grew, there happened to be a crack filled with accumulated soil. Its roots had sunk deep into it.

Xia Daoming took out a small knife and carefully dug up the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma, roots, vines, and leaves all together.

That purple ganoderma had vaguely taken on the shape of a human.

When it was dug out, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop sharply.

"Gulp!" Liang Jingtang swallowed, saying excitedly, "Th-this should be at least four or five hundred years old."

"Four or five hundred years!" Xia Daoming's face filled with excitement.

A hundred-year Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma already had a tremendous nourishing effect on him. Previously, it had nearly helped strengthen his meridians by an entire level.

A four- or five-hundred-year-old purple ganoderma would certainly be far more potent.

"Master, let's go. Xu Zhiji will definitely be delighted when he sees this four- or five-hundred-year-old Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma." Xia Daoming quickly calmed down and said with a smile.

Liang Jingtang froze for a moment before finally realizing what Xia Daoming meant.

"You... This master truly misjudged you!" Liang Jingtang caught up to Xia Daoming, deeply moved.

"Is being misjudged not a good thing?" Xia Daoming asked in return.

"Good, of course it's good! Hahaha, the most correct thing I've done in my life was probably taking you as my disciple." Liang Jingtang was slightly stunned, then laughed heartily.

At the mountain's summit.

Xu Zhiji and Xu Shisen stood with pale, ugly expressions as they looked down below.

There was a shocking wound on Xu Zhiji's left arm, as if some sharp blade had sliced through it, splitting flesh and exposing blood. However, the blood had already frozen solid.

"Great-Uncle, are you all right?" Xu Shisen asked.

"I won't die! I truly never expected there to be a Rabbit King beneath that valley!" Xu Zhiji said, lingering fear still in his heart by the end.

"What do we do now?" Xu Shisen asked.

"We'll wait here first and see whether any of our Xu family members escape up here," Xu Zhiji replied.

"What about the others?" Xu Shisen blurted out.

"The others? If it were you, would you still come running over to join us?" Xu Zhiji asked with a cold sneer.

Xu Shisen thought about it and shook his head. "No. If we join up with you, we definitely won't escape becoming cannon fodder on the return journey.

"It would be better to use getting chased by the Rabbit King and losing our way as an excuse, then find a way to return to Li City ourselves. That way, you wouldn't be able to settle accounts with us afterward either."

"You're not completely stupid." Xu Zhiji nodded.

After saying that, Xu Zhiji fell silent. He leaned against the trunk of a towering tree, took out wound medicine, and applied it to his injured left arm.

Earlier, he had been carrying the Ice Rabbit's heart and Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma, making him the Rabbit King's prime target. Several ice arrows had shot toward him in succession. If not for his profound cultivation, he would already have died in the Ice-Cold Valley.

Even so, one ice arrow had still grazed his arm.

That sharp, freezing ice arrow had nearly crippled his left arm.

"Great-Uncle, let me help you apply the medicine!" Xu Shisen hurriedly said.

"No need. Keep watch below and see whether anyone comes up. Also stay alert in case that Rabbit King leaves the valley and charges up here," Xu Zhiji said.

"Yes, Great-Uncle!" Xu Shisen nodded in response.

Thus, one of the grandfather-grandson pair looked down below while the other treated his own wounds.

Very soon, Xu Zhiji finished tending to his arm. Just as he was about to rise, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the forest ahead. Then he saw Xia Daoming and Liang Jingtang, master and disciple.

The moment Xia Daoming and Liang Jingtang saw Xu Zhiji, their expressions visibly changed. They quickly flashed behind a large tree to hide.

"Hmph, Liang Jingtang, you master and disciple are quite lucky to still be alive." Xu Zhiji sneered.

"Cough, cough. So the clan elder and Young Master Shisen have already returned. We master and disciple were just preparing to find you and join up with you!" Liang Jingtang emerged from behind the tree, his expression extremely unnatural.

"Is that so? I think you wanted to hide from us!" Xu Shisen mocked.

"How could that be?" Liang Jingtang said with an expression that screamed unwilling words.

As Liang Jingtang spoke, Xia Daoming remained hidden behind him, quietly shifting the bulging bundle slung over his shoulder farther behind his back.

"Young man, what is in your bundle?" A flicker of surprise passed through Xu Zhiji's eyes as he asked flatly.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma the clan elder gave this boy in the valley earlier." Xia Daoming said nervously, his gaze darting away.

"Hehe, Xia Daoming, the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma my great-uncle gave you wasn't that large. Open the bundle already!" Xu Shisen sneered darkly.

"It really is only..." Xia Daoming stubbornly insisted.

"Open it!" Xu Zhiji cut him off coldly, leaving no room for doubt.

"Yes!" Xia Daoming answered helplessly, then took down the bundle.

"Clan Elder, you said before that of the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma we harvested, we only needed to hand over half, and we could keep the other half. You are an Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master and a clan elder of the Xu family. Surely your word counts, doesn't it?" After taking down the bundle, Xia Daoming hesitated before looking up at Xu Zhiji and asking.

"Of course! Hurry and open it." Xu Zhiji replied without thinking, genuine curiosity stirring as he looked at the bundle in Xia Daoming's hands.

"All right!" Xia Daoming gritted his teeth and opened the bundle with trembling hands.

At once, cold air spread outward, and a faint layer of watery mist formed around the bundle.

"Half-human-shaped Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma! Th-this is at least four or five hundred years old!" Xu Zhiji could not help abruptly rising to his feet, his expression excited.

"Clan Elder, you must keep your word!" Xia Daoming hugged the bundle tightly, looking as though if Xu Zhiji went back on his promise, he would rather smash the jade than preserve the tile.

"Rest assured, this old man's word certainly counts. Quickly bring that Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma over and let this old man inspect it carefully to determine its exact age." Xu Zhiji said anxiously.

"All right!" Xia Daoming walked toward Xu Zhiji step by step.

Xu Zhiji stared fervently at the bundle in Xia Daoming's hands.

Xu Shisen was no exception.

PS: Yesterday, it quickly returned to first place on the newly signed xianxia novel rankings. I truly thank all my fellow readers for your tremendous support. On this new day, I continue to ask for bookmarks and follow-up reading. Readers who have book lists, if convenient, please consider adding it and leaving a review as well. Thank you.

Thanks to 20200829181523361 for the twenty-thousand-point reward and to Lian Shang Ziji de Feirou for the ten-thousand-point reward. Thanks as well to fellow readers Dai Zong, RPG Defense, hylt, Xiaohe 005, wishangtian, 20210301106536646592, 20240131161302609, and others for their rewards.