Fleeing for His Life

Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Giddy-up!

Across the wilderness, a young man galloped at full speed, fleeing wildly.

Several hundred zhang behind him, a yellow-robed, middle-aged man with a green Daoist crown and narrow, elongated eyes flew on a magic tool, pursuing him relentlessly with a cold gaze.

As time passed, the distance between them steadily shrank, and soon it was less than a hundred zhang.

The divine sense of an ordinary late Qi Refining Stage cultivator generally extended no farther than a hundred zhang, making that distance the normal maximum attack range for Qi Refining cultivators.

Attacks beyond that range could no longer lock onto an enemy with divine sense and ensure that they would strike their target.

Thus, not long after entering the hundred-zhang range, the yellow-robed middle-aged man pinched a talisman between two fingers and struck downward without hesitation.

In an instant, flames flashed, and the talisman burned up, transforming into a scarlet firebird that lunged toward the young man on horseback.

It was a First-grade Mid-tier Talisman, the Firebird Talisman!

On horseback, Zhou Chun glanced back and saw the yellow-robed middle-aged man's movement. His face immediately darkened as he recognized the origin of the talisman.

As a member of a Cultivation Family, one did not necessarily have to learn every spell, but one absolutely had to recognize most of the spells that ordinary cultivators could learn.

Otherwise, if someone used a spell whose origin and function he did not know, ignorance could very well cost him his life.

Moreover, most spells could be made into corresponding talismans.

Therefore, after recognizing the origin of the spell used by the yellow-robed middle-aged man, Zhou Chun immediately slapped the back of the Ink Scale Colt beneath him. His body suddenly shot into the air and leaped away.

Rumble!

Less than two breaths after Zhou Chun leaped from the horse, the firebird flew above the galloping Ink Scale Colt and exploded with a thunderous boom.

The scorching flames instantly engulfed the Ink Scale Colt.

The horse's shrill, miserable cries rang across the wilderness. After running more than a hundred zhang while wreathed in flames and screaming in agony, the Ink Scale Colt finally collapsed from exhaustion.

By the time the flames covering its body had completely died out, even its bones had been scorched black and baked apart.

At a time like this, however, neither Zhou Chun nor the yellow-robed middle-aged man paid any attention to the life or death of a beast.

Although Zhou Chun had leaped from his horse and escaped disaster, after losing the Ink Scale Colt as his mount, he could no longer continue fleeing.

After casting the Firebird Talisman, the yellow-robed middle-aged man had already guided his flying magic tool down toward the ground. By the time Zhou Chun landed and steadied himself after leaping from the horse, the man had also descended safely.

After landing, he flipped his palm and stored the flying magic tool in his Storage Bag, then took out two other magic tools and strode toward Zhou Chun.

As he walked, he called out mockingly, "Go on, keep running! I can even give you another few dozen zhang!"

Zhou Chun ignored the man's arrogance. He knew that a battle today was unavoidable. After steadying himself, he quickly slapped the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist and released the Rock Earth Turtle inside, then took out magic tools and talismans from his Storage Bag.

After more than two years of cultivation by Zhou Chun, the Rock Earth Turtle had grown as large as a wooden tub. Its cultivation had also reached the level of a Fifth Layer Qi Refining cultivator, making it a First-grade Mid-tier Demonic Beast. The innate spells it had awakened and mastered had likewise reached four.

When the yellow-robed middle-aged man saw Zhou Chun release the Rock Earth Turtle, his expression shifted slightly in surprise. Looking at him, he said, "You even have a Rock Earth Turtle with you. It seems that you're quite favored in the Mu Family, junior!"

Hearing this, Zhou Chun's heart stirred, and he immediately said, "You're mistaken. I am not a cultivator of the Mu Family. I am from the Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge."

"The Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge? The Cultivation Family that migrated here from Feng Kingdom?"

The yellow-robed middle-aged man was slightly taken aback. He followed Zhou Chun's words and asked two questions in return, clearly having heard of the Zhou Family's reputation.

Seeing what seemed like a glimmer of hope, Zhou Chun drew a deep breath and answered solemnly, "Precisely."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the yellow-robed middle-aged man merely pondered for a moment before shaking his head dismissively. "So what? You're nothing more than a pack of homeless dogs driven from your old den!"

Then he looked at Zhou Chun with a half-smile. "Don't tell me you think announcing your family name will scare me into sparing you?"

Zhou Chun fell silent. He had indeed entertained such a thought.

But judging by the yellow-robed middle-aged man's appearance, the man clearly had no intention of letting the matter go.

Thus, he quickly snuffed out those impractical fantasies, steeled his heart, and shouted at the yellow-robed middle-aged man, "Since you are so confident, then let me experience your abilities!"

Before his words had even ended, the Rock Earth Turtle beside him attacked first.

The turtle slapped the ground with its paw, and a sharp stone spike as thick as an arm burst from the earth beneath where the yellow-robed middle-aged man stood.

But the yellow-robed middle-aged man seemed to have anticipated it. The instant the stone spike broke through the ground, he moved and left his original position.

Then, taking the opportunity, he sneered at Zhou Chun, "Don't bring out such petty tricks to disgrace yourself. I've been through countless battles and seen every kind of situation. Do you think a junior like you can scheme against me?"

Zhou Chun's expression turned ugly, but he still did not answer. He merely summoned his pale-gold flying dagger magic tool.

This magic tool was called the Golden Willow Blade. It resembled a willow leaf and was incomparably sharp, making it a rather fine First-grade Mid-tier magic tool.

But the yellow-robed middle-aged man was a Layer 10 Qi Refining cultivator who even possessed a flying magic tool. How could his other magic tools be inferior?

He raised his hand and beckoned, and a pitch-black iron shield automatically blocked the willow-leaf flying dagger, easily knocking it away.

Before Zhou Chun could change his approach, the man flicked his sleeve and uttered a single word: "Go."

In an instant, a silver streak of icy light shot from his sleeve straight toward Zhou Chun.

Zhou Chun's heart jolted. He hurriedly raised his hand and summoned his protective magic tool, a green wooden shield.

But he had severely underestimated the power of that silver streak of icy light.

The icy light flashed, and the First-grade Low-tier magic tool, the Green Wood Shield, which he used for protection, shattered into more than a dozen pieces and fell to the ground. Then the protective Adamantine Shield shook violently, pressing down on him until his legs went weak and he dropped onto the ground.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed middle-aged man burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Looks like I've overestimated you. Your protective magic tool is nothing but this kind of trash. Clearly, you aren't someone with powerful backing in your family. I'm afraid no one would even miss you if you died!"

He was not entirely wrong.

Zhou Chun indeed had no powerful elder in the Zhou Family to serve as his backing, but his original protective magic tool had not been trash like the Green Wood Shield.

The Zhou Family had once been one of the Three Absolute Sect's three leading powers. It had not been difficult for them to provide each family member who reached the mid Qi Refining Stage with two First-grade Mid-tier magic tools, one offensive and one defensive.

Unfortunately, the First-grade Mid-tier defensive magic tool Zhou Chun had originally used had been damaged in his previous battle with Li Han of the Li Family.

After the Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge had split apart, most of its wealth had been taken away by Yu Jinghua, a Golden Core stage cultivator, to establish the Spirit Beast Manor. The family was now completely unable to casually issue replacement magic tools to its members.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been fine. Even if the family did not provide free replacements, Zhou Chun could still have used Spirit Coins to purchase magic tools from the family at a discounted price.

The problem was that ever since he had hatched the Rock Earth Turtle, Zhou Chun had spent most of his Spirit Coins purchasing medicinal pills for nurturing spirit pets from the family.

Without that, even though Demonic Beasts grew much faster in their early stages than cultivators, the Rock Earth Turtle could never have become a First-grade Mid-tier Demonic Beast only two years after hatching.

It could only be said that plans never kept pace with change.

Zhou Chun had assumed beforehand that he would be able to safely remain in the family and cultivate for the next several years. How could he have predicted that he would encounter such a perilous situation today?

Fortunately, the Rock Earth Turtle had not consumed all those medicinal pills for nothing, nor had it failed Zhou Chun's devoted care.

At this moment, sensing that its master was in danger, it glared angrily at the yellow-robed middle-aged man and struck the ground hard. Five or six stone spikes burst from the earth simultaneously, with it at the center.

This was the spell it had awakened and mastered after becoming a First-grade Mid-tier Demonic Beast: Chain Earth Spikes.

The yellow-robed middle-aged man had been careless—or perhaps he had been too confident in his own strength and experience. Unlike Zhou Chun, he had not raised a protective barrier spell from the outset.

Now, when several stone spikes appeared at once, even though his divine sense detected the danger in advance, he could not dodge them all in time. One stone spike grazed his left thigh and tore away a large chunk of flesh.

"Ah! It hurts like hell!!"

The yellow-robed middle-aged man, his left leg injured, dropped heavily onto the ground. His face twisted with pain as he let out a shrill, anguished scream.

He clutched his thigh in agony and glared furiously at the Rock Earth Turtle before roaring, "Damn beast! I'll boil you alive!"

Though he shouted threats, he quickly took out a Adamantine Shield Talisman and activated it, transforming it into a barrier that protected him.

Then he hurriedly took out powders and salves for stopping the bleeding and treating wounds from his Storage Bag, administering emergency treatment.

Zhou Chun's eyes immediately lit up with delight. He praised the Rock Earth Turtle fervently in his heart, then swiftly recalled it into the Spirit Beast Pouch and fled by casting Wind Riding Technique.

If he did not run now, when would he?

Taking advantage of the yellow-robed middle-aged man being occupied with treating his wounds and unable to pursue him, Zhou Chun would be able to escape this calamity as long as he got beyond the man's line of sight.