First Battle

Danger!

Danger!

Danger!

Jiang Lu's heart suddenly jolted!

Before her mind could even think, her body had already twisted aside to dodge.

Hiss—

She let out a soft grunt, scrambled up from the ground without time to think.

Whoosh—

Bang—

In an instant, a long spear had embedded itself in the tree trunk where she had been leaning just moments ago.

A bead of sweat rolled down Jiang Lu's forehead. Just one instant—if she had been any slower in that instant, the spear would now have been lodged in her body.

She took two steps back, her body slightly bent in preparation for battle.

Sensing the restless aura around her, she swallowed and looked in the direction from which the spear had come. A figure slowly emerged from the dense brush.

Her pupils trembled slightly.

This was the cultivator who had thrown the egg to her and fled earlier.

A vicious glint hung in the cultivator's expression as he stared at her without emotion. There was none of his earlier panic to be seen.

Looking more closely, Jiang Lu saw bloodstains on his clothes and tears in his sleeve. It seemed that something inside was missing.

The cultivator ground his teeth as he glared at Jiang Lu. Why had she not obediently run away with the egg? Then those two demon beasts would not have continued chasing him.

It had cost him his left hand.

But...

No matter. He would make this female cultivator taste what it was like to lose a left hand.

She was only at the Qi Refinement Second Layer. Could a cultivator at Qi Refinement, Sixth Level possibly fail to defeat her?

Seeing the madness in his eyes, Jiang Lu clenched her teeth inwardly. She had no idea how she had offended him.

Could it be that he hated her simply because she had not taken the blame for him?

What kind of logic was that?

But now, she could only face him head-on. Fortunately, her earlier escape had not completely drained the spiritual power within her.

She placed a hand behind her back and secretly channeled spiritual power. Several fireballs appeared at her side, and with a sweep of her hand, they all shot toward the man.

Because of the vast gap in their strength, Jiang Lu did not dare let down her guard in the slightest. After the fireballs flew toward him, the wind blades in her hand continued attacking as well.

The cultivator flashed aside, then pulled forward with his right hand. The long spear instantly returned to his grasp.

He then continuously swung the spear in his hand, knocking Jiang Lu's fireballs and wind blades away in every direction.

Heh—

With strength like this, it was nothing more than a scratch to an itch.

A yellow glow appeared atop the long spear as it shot toward Jiang Lu with a fierce attack.

Jiang Lu immediately dodged backward, but the spiritual power attacks came one after another, leaving her struggling to cope.

Chi Li and Cangchen exchanged a glance and immediately moved to either side.

Having known each other for so long, they understood each other's meaning with a single look.

Fireballs and waterballs flew toward the man. His attention was entirely on Jiang Lu, and he had not noticed the two figures at his sides at all.

He ran smugly toward Jiang Lu, madness in his eyes. The bloodshot veins in his eyes deepened, and the corners of his mouth could not help but rise.

Suddenly!

"Ah—"

He let out a miserable scream.

Chi Li frowned. Its fireballs seemed a little different—somehow, they appeared much stronger than before.

Its gaze slid toward Jiang Lu. What other secrets did she have?

It had a feeling that these changes of its were inextricably linked to Jiang Lu.

Hearing that scream, delight flashed across Jiang Lu's face. She stopped retreating and swiftly condensed several wind blades in her hand, sending them after him.

Strike while he was sick and take his life!

After several muffled groans, there was no sound from him again.

Jiang Lu and the two spirit beasts walked forward. His body was stiff, his eyeballs bulged, and his twisted face was filled with unwillingness.

Jiang Lu let out a breath.

Then she collapsed onto the ground.

But their battle had caused quite a disturbance. This was not a place to remain for long.

Cangchen snatched the storage pouch from the man's waist, while Chi Li breathed a mouthful of fire at him. In an instant, he vanished from sight.

They then crawled into Jiang Lu's cloth pouch. Jiang Lu gritted her teeth, rose on trembling legs, and staggered away.

Jiang Lu ran with the two of them for some distance, panting heavily, before finally relaxing.

This place should be safe, right?

Jiang Lu was completely out of strength, and the spiritual power in her body had also been exhausted. She immediately sat cross-legged to recover it.

Chi Li and Cangchen kept scanning their surroundings, vigilantly watching for any movement.

Jiang Lu felt as though she had entered a very strange state. Everything around her was so quiet that not a trace of aura could be felt, as though she were the only existence in the entire space.

But—

It felt wonderful. She felt every pore in her body open with her breathing, and she could clearly sense her spiritual power circulating within her.

She felt as though something was surging out from her body. Suddenly, her mind became utterly clear. Through that clarity, even with her eyes closed, she could sense the auras around her.

She tried to continuously expand the range of her perception, but some kind of barrier seemed to be obstructing her.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she repeatedly crashed against that barrier. As the ripples intensified, the barrier was completely shattered.

What followed was a surge in her strength. The dense spiritual power around her rushed toward her, pounding through her meridians and flowing into her dantian.

Chi Li and Cangchen saw a vortex of spiritual power continuously gathering above them. Carrying violent gales, it separated the place where Jiang Lu sat from the surrounding area.

Cultivators who saw the scene and wanted to investigate were blocked outside by the fierce winds.

Jiang Lu only felt warm all over. A massive amount of spiritual power poured into her dantian, where it continuously churned.

She felt herself absorbing spiritual power at an astonishing speed. It kept filling her meridians, widening them through tempering.

After a long while, two popping sounds rang out from within her dantian.

She had officially entered the Qi Refinement, Fourth Level—the Qi Refinement Middle Stage.

The surrounding aura gradually calmed. She opened her eyes, which were filled with joy.

In just two short months, she had advanced from the Qi Refinement First Layer to the Qi Refinement, Fourth Level. Even some favored geniuses could not match such a cultivation speed.

But she knew that her increase in strength was entirely due to having entered meditation just now. Her spiritual power had been fully depleted before she cultivated anew, and her tightly wound nerves had relaxed.

By a convergence of many fortunate chances, she had successfully entered meditation, and only then had her strength risen.

Such an opportunity could be encountered but not sought. Some cultivators searched their entire lives without ever finding it, yet she had received such an opportunity at this time. She was already deeply moved.

What was more, this time it was not only her strength that had increased. She had also successfully cultivated Divine Sense. As she extended it outward, everything within a hundred meters was under her control.

One had to know that for cultivators who had just cultivated Divine Sense, a range of ten meters was already considered quite good. Yet hers was ten times theirs.

This also meant that the breadth of her sea of consciousness would far exceed that of ordinary cultivators in the future. Those whose Divine Sense was inferior to hers would be unable to detect her presence.

She stood, preparing to leave.

Earlier, the gale had kept the cultivators outside from approaching. Now that it had dispersed, those cultivators waiting outside would surely come investigate.

But...

The corners of her lips curled upward as she looked teasingly in the direction of the approaching people.