Striking Out, Cutting Down Several in Succession

Five hours passed without anyone noticing.

Yang Wenqing's group encountered more than a dozen Third Realm cultivators, but each chose to flee the moment they saw the group's formation. Their journey had been smooth.

The trail of Spirit-Gathering Runes kept leading them toward a spot beneath the Banyan Tree. They had not traveled particularly fast, but five hours was enough to circle the tree several times.

As the Dragon Palace cultivators put it, Zhu Sheng was indulging his twisted sense of amusement.

A cool breeze and a ripple of spiritual energy suddenly came from ahead. Everyone grew alert. People were fighting, and judging by the frequency of the ripples, quite a few were involved.

Zhao Xian sped up and vanished into the darkness. A little over ten seconds later, he returned and told Yang Wenqing, "They're cultivators from Ascending City and Bright Radiance City on the Western Continent. Twenty-three in all."

Ten cities on the Western Continent were particularly renowned, and these were two of them. Ascending City respected strength. So long as cultivators did not disrupt the city's basic order of cultivation, the city lord's estate rarely interfered. It was a comparatively free place.

Bright Radiance City, by contrast, was dominated by Buddhism, particularly Gold Cultivators and Divine Arts Cultivators. Its beliefs were a jumble, with a great heap of arhat and Buddha titles, though all revered a single "Buddha Lord." That "Buddha Lord" was most likely a high-realm cultivator from the Beyond Realm. They placed great importance on rank.

The two cities shared a border, and their grudges went back a long way. It was only natural for them to fight when they ran into each other!

"This Banyan Tree belongs to Wanxuan," Yang Wenqing said gravely. "What they're doing is no different from an invasion. Defender Cang,