Who Were the Real Evil Cultivators?!

"Master! Hasn't Second Junior Brother been in there too long?"

Li Yingling glanced at Chu Xingchen, unable to hide her worry.

Ever since Li Xingtian had given the signal and slipped into the mine, there had been no word from him.

"Let's wait a little longer." Chu Xingchen frowned slightly. With a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman, Li Xingtian should have been fine even if he couldn't win.

Perhaps things had gone wrong and Li Xingtian had teleported away.

Hearing his answer, Li Yingling sighed deeply, but followed her master's decision and waited a little longer.

However, ten minutes later...

A violent explosion rang out inside the mine, followed by a fierce surge of sinister Spiritual Power erupting from its entrance.

This time, Chu Xingchen didn't wait for Li Yingling to speak.

The Golden Core elder whom Li Xingtian had predicted would be in the spirit stone warehouse-a middle-aged man-had already emerged from it. Whatever Li Xingtian's situation inside, Chu Xingchen had to intercept that Golden Core cultivator first!

Chu Xingchen decisively drew a Spirit Sword from his Spatial Ring. Before advancing, he handed Li Yingling a teleportation talisman.

"If you run into danger, use it without hesitation. Then find somewhere to hide and wait for me to come get you."

"What's this?" Li Yingling looked down at the talisman covered in golden patterns in her hand.

"A Random Teleportation Rune. Infuse it with spiritual energy to activate it. Don't use it just because you're curious." Chu Xingchen took out his mask again and put it on. "Also, stay calm and keep yourself safe."

"Then what should I do now?"

"Follow Li Xingtian's plan and try to meet up with him, but make sure you stay safe. Especially if you see someone you can't beat-run first, without hesitation. Li Xingtian has one of these talismans too, so don't worry about him."

Then Li Yingling watched Chu Xingchen's figure vanish before her eyes, streaking away as Rainbow Light.

Chu Xingchen opened with his strongest move without hesitation. His most powerful weapon right now was the Divine Ability he had gained when Li Yingling joined him.

Three Thousand Weak Waters Sword.

Wisps of Sword Qi transformed into water dragons, coiling around the blade.

Chu Xingchen aimed at the elder preparing to return to the mine and swung his sword.

Even an entry-level Divine Ability was still a Divine Ability. Combined with Chu Xingchen's consummate mastery of movement techniques, this was also a surprise attack.

The elder was rushing back to provide support. Their plan had reached a critical stage, and this place was the Clearwind Sect's lifeline.

Nothing could go wrong now. He had already crushed an urgent-message jade talisman. As long as he stalled for a moment, other elders from the Clearwind Sect would come to reinforce him.

But nothing could be allowed to happen to the formations and ritual arrangements inside. Anxiety gripped him.

By the time he glanced over and spotted Chu Xingchen's sudden killing strike, it was already too late to defend himself.

The elder could only squeeze his Golden Core for power and force up a barrier.

Yet it seemed unable to hold for even a moment. That sword seemed to slice through time and space itself. In an instant, the breath of death descended with its boundless sword intent.

The elder looked at the swordsman. His clothes were shabby, his face hidden behind a demon mask, and his exposed eyes held neither joy nor sorrow.

Unable to evade, the elder could only wrench his head aside to dodge the decapitating strike.

But he still couldn't escape. The sword pierced his heart, and immense Spiritual Power mixed with torrential Sword Qi ravaged everything inside him.

With a single blow, half his body, including his heart, was blasted into bloody mist.

But the elder used the force of that blow to break free of the attack's range, hurriedly retreating.

Chu Xingchen didn't pursue him. Instead, he stopped and stared at the elder. A Golden Core cultivator wasn't a Nascent Soul cultivator. With his heart shattered, he should have died.

Yet this elder looked... almost unharmed. Something sinister was going on. Chu Xingchen decided to check his traits with the system first.

[Mo Chen]

[Cultivation: Mid-stage Golden Core]

[Blue trait: Acquired Demon Body]

[White trait: Thick hide, tough flesh]

[White trait: Petty cunning]

[Black trait: Inner demon possession]

An acquired demon body?

Chu Xingchen frowned slightly. It seemed there was more to the Clearwind Sect than met the eye.

The elder came to a halt, a trace of relief on his face. Black-and-red Spiritual Power suddenly erupted from his body, ravenously engulfing the second- and third-level Qi Refining miners nearby before they could react.

He swiftly drained them as blood sustenance, converting them into energy and restoring the half of his body destroyed by that single blow.

That strike had pierced straight through his Golden Core's protection. And that sword art, as seamless as nature itself, was clearly a Divine Ability!

Cultivators with Divine Abilities and those without them weren't on the same level at all.

Especially since this man's cultivation should have been higher than his own. What he needed to do now was stall until the sect's other elders arrived!

Mo Chen hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist! Could there be some misunderstanding? This is the Clearwind Sect's mine."

Chu Xingchen's voice was as still as an unruffled lake. "A mine belonging to a sect of evil cultivators. Enacting Heaven's justice is my bounden duty."

Hearing his response, Mo Chen breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he could exchange a few words and buy some time, that was enough. This idiot-so what if he was at late-stage Golden Core? So what if he knew a Divine Ability?

The sect's Nascent Soul patriarch would be rushing here too.

Mo Chen hurriedly cupped his hands. "Our Clearwind Sect is an orthodox cultivation sect certified by the Immortal Alliance Pavilion of southern Dan Prefecture. How can you call us a sect of evil cultivators?"

Seeing Mo Chen cup his hands, Chu Xingchen rejoiced inwardly. Fuck, villains really do die from talking too much.

What kind of idiot thinks I'll keep wasting words on him?

Cutting his body didn't work too well. Then I'll cut off his head.

"But you..."

Chu Xingchen opened his mouth to speak, but his sword never stopped. He shot forward, appearing before Mo Chen in what seemed like an instant, Sword Qi winding around his Spirit Sword like water.

Without hesitation, he brought the sword down at Mo Chen's head.

Yet, unexpectedly, this strike missed too.

Mo Chen suddenly released a dark-red blood mist, shrouding the surroundings.

The presence Chu Xingchen's blade had locked onto abruptly vanished-or rather, the presence he was tracking had become that cloud of blood mist.

Chu Xingchen hurriedly raised a spiritual energy barrier to keep the blood mist out. After all, he didn't know exactly what it was.

He could no longer afford to worry about his spiritual energy consumption. His Spirit Sword suddenly blazed with light, and threads like flowing water poured from its blade into the blood mist. Razor-sharp spiritual energy swiftly severed every connected strand of mist.

"Aren't you the evil cultivator here, fellow Daoist?! Launching a sneak attack?!"

Mo Chen's furious voice rang out from the blood mist. If he hadn't kept his guard up, that last strike might really have taken his head off.

"My heart is full of light. What more is there to say?"

Chu Xingchen answered simply. The threads of spiritual energy suddenly surged, eroding all the blood mist like a flood.

Mo Chen knew he couldn't remain in his blood-mist form any longer. That would only mean a slow death. He hurriedly solidified his body again.

His eyes, now utterly scarlet, fixed on Chu Xingchen. This brat was bullying him purely because he didn't know any Divine Abilities.

Chu Xingchen's expression remained calm. With a late-stage flawless golden core, facing a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and a Divine Ability at his disposal, he would be useless if he couldn't crush his opponent.

His Spirit Sword shone again, the essence of flowing water swiftly gathering around its blade. He intended to finish this Golden Core cultivator within two moves.

But a sudden upheaval erupted inside the mine behind him.

Several mangled figures flew out of the mine, smashing through every building in their path before embedding themselves in the stone walls around the mining grounds.

Unable to suppress his worry, Chu Xingchen glanced over first.

After those mangled figures came flying out...

Li Xingtian emerged with demonic flames towering to the heavens. Dark-red spiritual energy, steeped in blood, clung to his entire body, and his scarlet eyes brimmed with endless killing intent.

Some strange, sinister blood carried an uncanny aura. It seemed to be under Li Xingtian's control, swirling around him along with his spiritual energy.

Had he succumbed to demonic corruption?

Why did he look so sinister?

Li Xingtian walked out of the mine and spotted his master. His voice was frenzied yet respectful as he called out:

"Master!"

Mo Chen also stared at Li Xingtian, dumbstruck.

He had never seen this man before. The master he was calling for certainly wasn't him.

Then it had to be the masked man who claimed his heart was full of light.

Hold on. Of everyone here, your disciple is the most fucking sinister, and you're still claiming your heart is full of light?

Filled with grief and indignation, Mo Chen pointed at Li Xingtian.

"Aren't you bastards the real evil cultivators?!"