Murder and Arson Earn a Golden Belt

Xu Qingtong watched with his heart pounding and his calves trembling. He recalled the scene at Black Wind Pass, where Liu Er had killed the two bandits, and his heart hammered relentlessly in his chest. I can't stay here. Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best!

Seeing the Biluozong disciple killed had horrified Xu Qingtong. He wanted to leave at once rather than invite disaster upon himself. Yet although he wanted no trouble, trouble came looking for him.

Just as he turned to leave, a voice sounded behind him. "Since you're already here, fellow Daoist, why leave in such a hurry?"

Xu Qingtong had no choice but to turn around and cup his hands. "I was merely passing through and saw nothing. Please carry on. Farewell!" With that, he turned to leave again.

The burly man called him back once more. "Wait, fellow Daoist. That Biluozong disciple insulted me first. He brought his death at my hands upon himself. Since you witnessed it, why don't we divide his possessions and become friends?"

Xu Qingtong was about to reply when alarm suddenly gripped him. The Goumang Seal moved straight in front of his chest. With a clang, a spiked club slammed into it.

The impact jolted him, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Forcing down his discomfort, Xu Qingtong hurriedly activated a Shield Talisman before fixing the burly man with a cold stare.

"You have a rather unusual way of making friends!" Xu Qingtong said with a sneer.

"Hahaha! A rogue cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining thinks he can befriend someone from the Azure Sea Gate? Since you stumbled upon my little business, you can die alongside this Biluozong brat!" Seeing that Xu Qingtong was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, the burly man immediately showed his true colors.

Fortunately, Xu Qingtong had remained fully on guard. Otherwise, even if that sneak attack had not killed him, it would have stripped a layer of skin from him. Now that the man had torn away all pretense, Xu Qingtong wasted no more words on him. Whoever struck first held the advantage. He raised his hand and sent a Fireball Talisman flying straight at the man.

Despite his burly build, the man was remarkably agile. He dodged the fireball and swung his spiked club at Xu Qingtong again. Xu Qingtong did not pause either, throwing out Fireball Talismans one after another and forcing the man to keep dodging, unable to get close to him.

While throwing Fireball Talismans with one hand, Xu Qingtong pointed at the Goumang Seal with the other. Driven by his magic power, the seal hurtled toward the man as well.

The man immediately began to flounder. With fireballs in front of him and the Goumang Seal overhead, a single careless move could put him in danger. He leaped aside to avoid a fireball and raised his spiked club to meet the attack above his head.

With a clang, the Goumang Seal was knocked away. Before the man could recover, a red flying sword thrust straight toward him. The burly man was startled. What sort of tricks does this little third-layer cultivator have? He can control two magical artifacts at once without even slowing down his use of talismans!

As the flying sword and fireball reached him, the burly man steeled himself and swung his spiked club to block the sword. At the same time, azure light flashed, and a protective barrier appeared around him. He intended to withstand the fireball head-on, but he had underestimated its power.

With a boom, the fireball blasted the man away. He lost his footing and fell to the ground. Then a streak of red light shot straight toward his face.

The burly man could only roll across the ground to dodge the flying sword. Before he could rise, another fireball came flying toward him. His face filled with resentment. Turning his hand over, he pulled out a jade token and shouted, "Brat, I'll remember you! If we ever meet again..."

Before he could finish, however, a buzzing filled his mind, and he immediately lost consciousness. Then a flying sword swept across his neck, and his head rolled onto the ground.

That's what it means to turn a man's own methods back upon him! Xu Qingtong murmured inwardly.

This was Xu Qingtong's first time killing someone. His heart pounded so hard it nearly leaped out of his chest, and his legs could barely hold him upright. He kept telling himself, It wasn't that I wanted to kill him-he wanted to kill me! A man need not seek a verdict on every right and wrong, only a clear conscience!

Xu Qingtong recalled his flying sword, walked over, and said to the man's severed head, "Remember, be more decisive next time, and don't talk so much!"

Those words were directed at the burly man, but even more so at himself. In a battle between cultivators, victory and defeat were decided in an instant. There could be no dragging one's feet or fussing and dithering!

Xu Qingtong put away the burly man's spiked club and the nearly shattered steel fork, then pulled off his Storage Bag as well. He swept his divine sense through the bag, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

The Azure Sea Gate disciple's Storage Bag actually contained five kinds of trial herbs, and in considerable quantities. Xu Qingtong transferred them into his own Storage Bag first.

He then turned toward the Biluozong disciple lying on the ground and thought, Brother, I've avenged you, so there's no need to thank me from beneath the Nine Springs. It would be such a waste to leave your Storage Bag here. Why not give it to me instead?

With that thought, he took the man's Storage Bag and the flying sword that had fallen to the ground, regardless of whether the man agreed. A sweep of his divine sense revealed four more kinds of trial herbs. However, the purple spirit fruit and four-leaf heart-soothing grass were duplicates.

By now, Xu Qingtong had gathered seven kinds of trial herbs, including four-leaf heart-soothing grass, blueflower phoenix bell, dragon saliva grass, purple spirit fruit, and heart-piercing red. He needed only three more kinds to complete the task.

Besides the trial herbs, he had also gained more than two hundred spirit stones, three magical artifacts, some elixirs, and two jade slips.

He placed the spirit stones and herbs into his Storage Bag and stored everything else in the Seven-Star Bracelet. After all, those items could not bear the light of day.

Looking over his haul, Xu Qingtong could not help sighing. "It's true-'murder and arson earn a golden belt.' Not a single word of those old sayings is wrong!"

After gathering the possessions, he turned his gaze to the two dead men. He thought that if he left their corpses here, someone observant might discover clues. If suspicion fell on him, wouldn't he merely be inviting trouble?

Thus, he squandered another two Fireball Talismans, reducing the two men to wisps of smoke.

After carefully checking the grand hall inside and out and confirming that nothing was amiss, Xu Qingtong left and headed toward the nearby hillside. As he walked, he considered his next move.

He had already collected seven kinds of herbs and needed only three more to complete the trial. He had spent over a day at the bottom of the lake, so he reckoned there were still twenty-seven or twenty-eight days left before the month was up. He had plenty of time to finish the task.

Since that was the case, there was no need to rush. Ensuring his own safety came first.

Having settled on a plan, Xu Qingtong no longer felt anxious. He spread out his divine sense and walked unhurriedly toward the distant hillside.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, he finally reached the hilltop. There were not many trees there, but they were all quite tall, their spreading crowns resembling enormous umbrellas. Low shrubs grew around them.

Not far to one side stood a steep cliff. As Xu Qingtong swept his divine sense over it, he actually discovered a cave in the cliff face.