First Battle

Jiang Chen's gaze shifted slightly, and his heart skipped a beat.

Just now, he had vaguely seen a fox's shadow.

However, it only resembled the Nine-Tailed Fox shadow reflected on the cave walls that night.

This woman's aura was not entirely the same either. She seemed like an almost perfect imitation; only someone who had had deep contact with the real person could spot the difference at a glance.

Jiang Chen realized that someone had set their sights on him!

Strange... he had clearly been very careful.

Moreover, he had replayed the plot recordings of the two merged realities repeatedly. Aside from the first time, when a few Tranquil Heart Peak disciples had seen him with Liu Ruyan, no suspicious person had taken notice of them.

Jiang Chen stared directly at the figure on the branch.

Within those moonlit eyes, he vaguely caught a trace of nearly imperceptible demonic aura.

Jiang Chen understood.

This person must have been quite close to Liu Ruyan to discover him in secret. Perhaps she was a spy from the Demon Sect monitoring Liu Ruyan.

Besides that, there was another possibility...

Without saying a word, Jiang Chen turned and left.

With a whoosh, a sword shot toward him!

Jiang Chen had long expected the enemy to strike from behind. Relying on the high-grade Hedgehog Armor protecting him, he shifted sideways at the sound of the sword's whistle and raised a hand to catch the flying sword.

He carefully sensed the spiritual pressure of the enchantment on the sword... Fortunately, it was only at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

He relaxed slightly.

Protected by the high-grade Hedgehog Armor Liu Ruyan had given him, and having cultivated the Demi-Immortal's Book along with decent Basic Spirit Control, Jiang Chen felt that he could fight.

Even if he could not win, making enough noise would draw Azure Mist Sect disciples, stewards, or Liu Ruyan... If she had truly come seeking an opportunity, there was no reason for her to let him go for nothing.

The instant Jiang Chen gripped the flying sword, the demonic aura contained within it slowly seeped out like black mist, coiling around his right hand.

This person truly was a Demon Sect spy...

Jiang Chen immediately activated the Abyss within his sea of qi, spreading its siphoning force through his spirit veins to his right palm and forcibly devouring the demonic aura of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

After devouring the demonic aura within the sword, Jiang Chen immediately infused it with his own spiritual power, instantly claiming it as his own. With a thought, he placed it into his Storage Ring.

It was clearly his first time taking someone's treasure, yet he did it in one smooth motion, with an absurd degree of skill!

A man's voice came from the treetop:

"You really do have a problem."

Immediately afterward, the man drew his sword and released sword aura.

"Whirlwind Sword Aura, bind!"

In an instant, spiraling sword auras swept toward Jiang Chen from every direction.

The sword aura carried fallen leaves from the forest, forming a whistling tornado of sword pressure.

It trapped Jiang Chen completely!

"A man pretending to be a woman?"

Jiang Chen had no time to dwell on gender and hurriedly drew his sword to meet the enemy.

Come to think of it, this was actually his first battle since beginning cultivation.

This simulator was truly ridiculous. Such a life-or-death crisis did not even count as part of the main storyline, so it gave him no chance to simulate it.

Could a mighty transmigrator like him really be nothing more than a minor supporting character?

Fortunately, the other party's first choice was not to kill him, but to capture him.

Fights between Qi Refining cultivators were generally decided through swordsmanship and spirit control. Spells were rarely used.

That was because Qi Refining cultivators needed time to form hand seals or chant when casting spells, while spells had short range and weak power. They were fine for crushing mortals, but against fellow Qi Refining cultivators, swordsmanship and spirit control were faster and deadlier.

So-called sword aura was actually a gaseous form of blended spirit control.

Facing binding-type sword aura, Jiang Chen drew his sword, enchanted its edge, and shattered it with one strike!

A sharp whistle rang out.

Swish—

A crack suddenly appeared in the side of the tornado sword aura.

Jiang Chen seized the chance to leap free and sprint down the mountain.

The enemy quickly reacted and rapidly caught up.

With a flip and leap, he brought his sword down toward Jiang Chen's head once more!

At the same time, he used the demonic spiritual pressure of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer to draw out a palm strike, keeping it hidden behind him as he prepared to ambush Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen possessed the Five-Element Endowment, could sense all demon and spirit energies, and had exceptionally sharp divine sense. He saw through the enemy's palm strike in advance.

The opponent's sword was incredibly fast, and he had leaped down from uphill, occupying favorable terrain.

If Jiang Chen dodged too easily, he would likely take a follow-up palm strike.

With that in mind, Jiang Chen immediately infused his sword with metal-element spiritual power, reinforcing its blunt side, and swept aside the descending blade.

Then, the opponent's pursuing palm strike came down.

Jiang Chen had expected it. Without retreating in the slightest, he met the palm with his own.

Bang—

The opponent's palm force was stronger, but fortunately, the Hedgehog Armor dispersed it.

However, the Demonic Flame erupting from the opponent's palm was completely devoured by the Abyss vortex that appeared in Jiang Chen's palm.

Normally, demonic aura was a toxic, corruptive kind of spiritual energy capable of breaking down and destroying ordinary spiritual power.

Yet the Demonic Flame was instead devoured by Jiang Chen.

Fearing damage to his own demonic spirit, the opponent leaped and flipped back onto the treetop. He stepped on leaves like the wind, light as though weightless, and stared directly at Jiang Chen.

"Who exactly are you? What is your relationship with Senior Sister Liu, and why can you devour demonic aura?"

Only then did Jiang Chen take a careful look.

He was a plain-looking young man with a steady aura... Could he be one of Senior Sister Liu's admirers?

"I am Senior Sister Liu's friend!"

Jiang Chen answered decisively, without the slightest ambiguous or suggestive tone.

"Then I absolutely cannot spare you!"

Knowing that Jiang Chen could devour demonic spirits, the man did not hesitate at all and brought his sword down.

This time, he did not use demonic spirit power. Instead, he spread the spiritual pressure of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, forcibly pinning Jiang Chen down.

Then, with spiritual power of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer infused into his sword, he thrust toward Jiang Chen's neck!

Pinned by the spiritual pressure, Jiang Chen could neither evade nor even swing his sword, while his neck was not protected by the Hedgehog Armor.

After all, the spiritual power of the Qi Refining, Third Layer, was far inferior to that of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Under such crushing pressure, Jiang Chen could not even employ his precise fine control.

Facing the swiftly descending sword, he could only discard his own spirit sword and forcibly raise his hand to grip the blade.

Blood from his palm trickled down the sword edge.

His metal-element spiritual power merged into his blood and slowly seeped into the sword, producing a clear metallic ringing...

The opponent still had another move. Taking advantage of the moment, he sent down a palm strike.

This time, there was no Demonic Flame in his palm, only spiritual pressure that Jiang Chen could not rapidly devour.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen had been prepared. He suddenly twisted his demon, devil, and spirit energies together in a spiraling, interlocking manner, unleashing his strongest Flicked Spirit Pellet—

Bang!

The spirit pellet instantly pierced through the descending palm and then through the forehead behind it.

The bloody, ruptured hand slammed down, but most of its force had already dissipated.

Jiang Chen's flicked middle finger straightened, piercing straight through the palm, while his remaining curled fingers braced against the palm force.

The opponent had been nearly killed by the headshot.

Taking advantage of the moment, Jiang Chen executed an over-the-shoulder throw and slammed him heavily onto the ground.

He then seized the man's spirit sword and delivered the finishing blow, thrusting it into his dantian and ending him completely.

He took the man's Storage Ring, dug up the soil with his sword, and buried the body on the spot.

Only then did Jiang Chen wipe the fine sweat from his forehead, shocked by his own calmness and cold-bloodedness.

He could even clearly sense his adrenaline receding...

Of course, that was also because he had guessed that a certain woman was present.

"Come out. Without your guidance, this person could never have noticed me."

A gust of cold wind swept through, and the forest remained utterly silent.