The last glow of dusk sank behind the western mountains, and the sky gradually darkened.
Chen Ming stood atop a hill, gazing at a dense forest ahead. The locals called it the Ghost-Cry Forest, for eerie sounds drifted from it every night.
Curiosity had brought Chen Ming here to find out what was going on.
Chen Ming cast the Fireball Technique, then used the Object Manipulation Art to send twelve fireballs revolving around himself. By their light, he headed forward.
As he advanced, Chen Ming spread his divine sense to probe his surroundings. Suddenly, a faint disturbance came from ahead.
Chen Ming cautiously headed toward its source, summoned the Azure Glow Sword, and slowly flew low over the ground.
He quickened his pace, pursuing the trace of aura.
His divine sense locked onto the aura ahead. The distance shrank, closer and closer-
Just then, however, a dark figure suddenly flashed past. A dense wave of malevolent energy rushed into his face, more than ten times stronger than what he had sensed before.
Chen Ming hurried after the figure, pursuing it on his sword as the wind howled past his ears.
The dark figure was not particularly fast, traveling at roughly Chen Ming's own speed. From this, he judged that this person was probably also at late foundation establishment.
Chen Ming followed at a distance to avoid being discovered. They entered a small town, where the dark figure suddenly slipped into a residence in the southeastern corner.
Two large red lanterns hung before the residence, swaying gently in the night breeze and casting a dim crimson glow.
The dark figure vaulted over the high courtyard wall and vanished into the depths of the courtyard.
Chen Ming paused briefly in midair, put away his flying sword, and landed before the residence's entrance.
An ebony plaque hung above the gate, bearing the words "Shen Residence" in large gold-painted characters. The calligraphy was dignified and weighty, its strokes bold and vigorous-a master's work.
The stone steps before the gate had been swept spotless. A finely carved, lifelike stone lion stood on either side, looking somewhat ferocious beneath the lanterns' dim crimson light.
After some thought, Chen Ming decided to leave. Curiosity was fine, but too much curiosity was not. Now that he no longer had the system, it was best not to court death!
He found an inn and stayed the night. Early the next morning, he flew off on his sword, and after traveling in fits and starts, somehow ended up in the Wangshui Kingdom again.
Chen Ming suddenly felt that the cultivation world had everything going for it except maps. Mountains were mountains and rivers were rivers, but there were simply too many mountains, and every peak looked much the same.
Just as Chen Ming was lamenting this, the sudden sounds of combat snapped him out of his thoughts. Two people were fighting atop a mountain ahead.
The sunset's blood-red afterglow spilled over the desolate mountains.
Chen Ming hid behind a large boulder, his gaze sharp as a hawk's as he watched the two figures confronting each other nearby.
One wore the garb of a Soul-Destroying Sect disciple: black robes and black armor, with an emblem of a blood-red sword piercing a skull embroidered on his chest. Cold, baleful energy wreathed his body.
The other wore the emerald robes of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. Dark gold patterns of venomous insects crawled across his cuffs, and bottles and jars hung all around his waist, releasing a faint, sickly-sweet odor.
The two faced each other with swords drawn and bows bent.
"You Soul-Destroying Sect scum! You slaughtered everyone at our Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's outer-sect outpost. Today, you'll pay that blood debt in blood!"
The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple shouted fiercely, his hands already taking on an eerie purplish-black hue.
The Soul-Destroying Sect disciple sneered. "You? A mere middle foundation establishment cultivator dares bark at me?"
Before his words had faded, he formed a hand seal. A pitch-black soul blade tore through the air with a piercing shriek, heading straight for his opponent's throat.
The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple refused to back down. With a shake of his sleeves, he sent a cloud of emerald poison mist hurtling toward it. The two collided with a corrosive hiss.
Hidden in the shadows, Chen Ming watched this delightful dog-eat-dog spectacle, a knowing smile slowly curling his lips.
"Wearing out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without the slightest effort."
He began calculating inwardly. The Soul-Destroying Sect and the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect were sworn enemies, and these disciples' meeting on a narrow road was the perfect chance for him to fish in troubled waters.
Chen Ming quietly activated the Aura-Concealing Technique, suppressing his aura as far as possible. Then he crept forward like a ghost, hugging the ground for several dozen yards before hiding in a more secluded thicket.
The battle was now raging in earnest.
The Soul-Destroying Sect disciple clearly had the stronger cultivation. Several slashes of his soul blade forced the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple back again and again. Yet the latter's bizarre methods gave him an edge of his own. Every so often, he scattered poison powder or released a few venomous insects, keeping his opponent from pressing too hard.
I can't let this drag on.
Chen Ming narrowed his eyes and took two specially crafted talismans from his Storage Bag.
One was a Soul-Seizing Talisman from the Soul-Destroying Sect, loot he had taken after killing an outer disciple of that sect last time. The other was a Gu-Insect Talisman from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, with an equally shady provenance.
A cunning gleam flashed through Chen Ming's eyes. He murmured, "Since you're fighting so enthusiastically, let me add a little fuel to the fire."
With a flick of his finger, he silently shot the Soul-Seizing Talisman into the shadow beneath the Soul-Destroying Sect disciple's feet. Almost simultaneously, he gently raised his other hand. The Gu-Insect Talisman transformed into a tiny venomous insect almost invisible to the naked eye and landed soundlessly on the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple's collar.
"Explode!"
Chen Ming silently recited the incantation.
The Soul-Seizing Talisman abruptly burst, unleashing a powerful shock wave against the soul. Caught off guard, the Soul-Destroying Sect disciple staggered as though struck by a heavy hammer. In that instant of distraction, the tiny gu insect burrowed into the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple's skin. He gave a pained grunt as the spiritual energy within him instantly fell into chaos.
"You used a dirty trick!"
The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple was shocked and furious, believing his opponent had secretly tampered with him.
"Bullshit! You're the one who poisoned me!"
The Soul-Destroying Sect disciple was equally enraged, convinced his opponent had seized the chance to launch a sneak attack.
Each believed the other had broken the rules, and their killing intent instantly surged to its peak.
"Ten Thousand Poisons Devouring the Heart!"
"Soul-Destroying Slash!"
Their strongest attacks blasted out almost simultaneously and slammed into each other. Violent fluctuations of spiritual energy destroyed every blade of grass and every tree within thirty yards, filling the air with dust.
When the dust settled, both lay collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood without cease. They were clearly spent arrows at the end of their flight.
Just then, a figure strolled out of the shadows.
Chen Ming stood with his hands behind his back, a gentle smile on his face, as though he were merely an idler out for a walk. He looked down at the two dying cultivators and said softly:
"Fellow Daoists, all this fighting does such harm to harmony. Why not let me send you on your way, so you can find release sooner?"
Chen Ming smiled faintly. With a lift of his hand, two streaks of sword energy tore through the air, precisely reaping two lives.
He bent down, picked up their Storage Bags, weighed them in his hands, and nodded in satisfaction.
"When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits. The ancients truly did not deceive me."
The sun sank in the west, and the evening breeze swept through the mountain forest, carrying away the last trace of blood.
Chen Ming's figure vanished into the twilight, leaving behind only two slowly cooling corpses and a secret known to no one.
Half an hour later, Chen Ming stopped before a secluded mountain cave. Dense vines concealed its entrance; without a deliberate search, no one would have noticed the hidden space beyond.
He turned sideways and squeezed inside, then used several loose stones to block most of the entrance from within, leaving only a narrow gap for ventilation.
The cave was dark and damp, but it offered enough room to shelter him.
Chen Ming sat cross-legged and took the two Storage Bags from inside his robes.
The Soul-Destroying Sect disciple's bag felt icy to the touch, with faint yin energy circulating through it. The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple's bag gave off a faint, pungent herbal smell. He opened the Soul-Destroying Sect's bag first and extended his divine sense inside.
Three bottles of pills, a dozen or so Low-Grade Spirit Stones, a damaged jade slip containing a cultivation method, and several black tokens.
"Pauper."
Chen Ming muttered the word, then picked up the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect's bag.
The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect disciple was clearly much wealthier: five bottles of decent-quality healing pills, over thirty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, and an incomplete handwritten copy of the True Explanation of a Hundred Poisons.
After taking stock of everything, he transferred it all into his own Storage Bag and let out a long breath.
Chen Ming leaned against the cave wall and closed his eyes to rest. Outside, the night deepened. Occasionally, a night owl's cry rang out, mournful and distant. The evening breeze slipped through the gaps in the vines, carrying the scent of soil and moss. Not the slightest trace of blood remained.
Chen Ming opened his eyes, his gaze calm as still water. He took the True Explanation of a Hundred Poisons from inside his robes and began leafing through it by the faint moonlight filtering in from outside. Its dark green writing flickered in and out of view in the gloom.
The enmity between the Soul-Destroying Sect and the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect went back a long way. The fuse he had planted today would sooner or later ignite an even greater conflict.