Fierce Battle with Bandit Cultivators

Although Zhou Chun felt that, with his current strength, he should be able to enter and leave the market town alone without encountering any trouble, he still wasn't careless enough to make no preparations at all.

He still had the "Red-beaked Sparrow" he had trained for several years scout ahead, while holding the black iron shield magic tool in his hand so that he could bring it out to protect himself at any moment.

Relying on the Red-beaked Sparrow's early warnings, Zhou Chun hadn't encountered any of the cultivators appearing ahead along the way.

However, just as he was about to leave the Red Rock Mountain Range, a panicked cry for help suddenly reached his ears. It was also the pleasant voice of a woman.

"Help! Which fellow Daoist can save me?"

The soft, sweet woman's cry for help echoed through the mountain forest, startling countless birds into flight.

When Zhou Chun heard the voice, his footsteps paused slightly.

Then he glanced toward the direction from which the voice had come and soon shook his head, choosing not to pay it any mind.

Cries for help like this happened often in the Red Rock Mountain Range, some genuine and some fake.

Some people truly had nowhere left to turn and called for help, hoping to give it a try.

There were also bandit cultivators who deliberately exploited people's sympathy and used this method to fish for victims.

But to Zhou Chun, whether the person calling for help was truly in danger or deliberately fishing for victims, he didn't want to pay any attention.

One should only do what one was capable of doing. This was Zhou Chun's principle for conducting himself and handling affairs.

With his current cultivation and strength, he couldn't afford to casually save others.

This was the Cultivation World. If he failed to save someone, he might very well lose his own life as well.

However, after Zhou Chun had walked some distance farther, his expression quickly changed. He hurriedly waved his hand and activated the black iron shield magic tool in his hand, then rapidly formed hand seals and cast a First-grade Low-tier spell, "Earth Spirit Shield," upon himself.

Only after doing all this did he glare grimly at the empty forest ahead and shout, "Come out. Your trick has already been exposed!"

Yet his shout received no response. There was only the rustling of branches swaying in the mountain wind, along with the chirping of insects in the mountains.

But Zhou Chun seemed extremely confident in his judgment. When he saw that the person hidden in the shadows refused to come out, he immediately spoke coldly. "Since Your Excellency likes playing this game of hide-and-seek, then go ahead and keep playing. I, Zhou, won't accompany you!"

With that, he reached out and slapped his Storage Bag, activating the Bamboo Leaf Flying Magic Tool. He lifted his foot and was about to step onto it.

At that moment, a streak of scarlet fire suddenly flew through the forest at an angle, shooting straight for Zhou Chun's head.

"Clang!"

The ringing of metal against metal sounded as a black iron shield suddenly blocked Zhou Chun's front, knocking the attacking Flame Spear magic tool flying away.

"You're finally willing to come out?"

Zhou Chun let out a cold laugh, immediately put away the Bamboo Leaf Flying Magic Tool, then reached back and touched the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist, releasing the Rock Earth Turtle inside.

At this time, from the direction in which the Flame Spear magic tool had flown, a green-robed man with triangular eyes leaped out of the underbrush and raised his hand to recall the spear magic tool whose attack had failed.

His expression darkened as he glared at Zhou Chun and shouted, "Brat, how did you discover Yang? I admit my disguise wasn't flawless, but it shouldn't have been detectable by a cultivator like you who hasn't even reached the late Qi Refining Stage!"

He couldn't understand how, with his Level 10 Qi Refining cultivation and a concealment technique he had used many times without incident, he could have failed before a mid Qi Refining Stage cultivator like Zhou Chun.

Hearing this, Zhou Chun merely gave a cold laugh. "Your disguise technique was indeed flawless, but you had to gild the lily by having someone cry for help to draw my attention."

"From the place where I heard the voice to here, I walked only a hundred zhang or so. Why can't I hear that voice at all now?"

Just as he finished speaking, a giggle suddenly rang out from the mountain forest behind him.

"Heeheehee, so it was this servant girl who exposed us. Thank you, little brother, for pointing out my flaw. I'll certainly correct my mistake next time and never repeat it!"

As this coquettish voice rang out, a charming woman dressed provocatively in a red gauze robe suddenly appeared, blocking Zhou Chun's retreat.

Compared to the triangular-eyed man, however, the red-clothed woman had considerably lower cultivation. She was at the same level as Zhou Chun, also at Level Eight Qi Refining.

After hearing Zhou Chun's words, the triangular-eyed man's expression instead improved somewhat.

At least this proved that his disguise had indeed been flawless, and that the problem hadn't been with him.

But he hadn't forgotten his identity. A cold glint entered his eyes as he looked at Zhou Chun and said, "Brat, you do have some ability. But meeting our husband-and-wife pair today, you can only blame your own bad luck. If there's a next life, remember not to go out alone again!"

Before his voice had even faded, he shouted, "Attack!"

Then he pointed, and the Flame Spear magic tool shot toward Zhou Chun once more.

Next, he slapped the Storage Bag at his waist, took out a scarlet copper gourd magic tool, and tossed it above his head.

As his magic power surged into it, the gourd's lid automatically burst open. Flames erupted from its mouth, instantly spewing six or seven fist-sized fireballs toward Zhou Chun.

At the same time, the red-gauze woman who had appeared behind Zhou Chun wore a cold smile as she raised a sleeve. A water-blue long sword magic tool shot toward Zhou Chun's back.

Facing the two-person pincer attack from front and rear, Zhou Chun's expression grew solemn, but his heart was also eager to try himself.

In a little over a month, the Daoist martial arts competition held by the Five Great Cultivation Families would begin. By then, he would inevitably face the late Qi Refining stage cultivators of those Cultivation Families head-on.

As outstanding members of the younger generations of their respective Cultivation Families, those people certainly wouldn't be weaker than the triangular-eyed man before him.

Today, he could use this husband-and-wife pair to test his own strength and see exactly how powerful he had become.

"Stone..."

With a thought from Zhou Chun, the Rock Earth Turtle beside him understood his intention. It opened its mouth and let out a low hiss, spraying out a vast expanse of ocher spiritual light. In an instant, it raised a long ocher stone wall three steps before Zhou Chun, two zhang in both length and width.

Zhou Chun himself shifted his thoughts and directed the black iron shield magic tool to block the water-blue long sword magic tool stabbing toward his back.

At the same time, he slapped the Storage Bag at his waist. A silver-black circular magic tool appeared and was caught in his hand.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out one after another, blasting the stone wall before Zhou Chun until it shook incessantly, cracks spreading across its surface.

Although the Rock Earth Turtle's "Stone Wall Technique" was a First-grade Mid-tier defensive spell, both the Flame Spear magic tool and the copper gourd magic tool controlled by the triangular-eyed man were also First-grade Mid-tier magic tools. Being able to block this wave of attacks was already quite impressive.

Taking advantage of the moment before the triangular-eyed man's second wave of attacks arrived, Zhou Chun tossed the silver-black circular magic tool in his hand into the air. Under the urging of his magic power, it burst with silver light and descended toward the triangular-eyed man like a silver meteor.

"A First-grade High-tier magic tool!"

The triangular-eyed man cried out in alarm. He had identified the grade of the magic tool from the formidable might released by the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel.

His expression immediately became much uglier.

With a thought, the Flame Spear that had been preparing to attack Zhou Chun again suddenly blazed with a ring of scarlet flames around its tip. It swiftly flew to meet the descending silver meteor and thrust toward it.

At the same time, he slapped the Storage Bag at his waist repeatedly. Soon, he activated another ocher round-shield magic tool, sending it flying around his body, and slapped a talisman inscribed with "Adamantine Shield" onto himself.

Just as the pale-golden shield rose around him, the silver meteor and the Flame Spear collided in midair.

Then a scene that made the triangular-eyed man's eyelids twitch appeared.

After the two magic tools collided and clashed in the air, the Flame Spear held out for less than a breath before being blasted away on the spot by the silver-black circular magic tool.

Through his spiritual sense, the triangular-eyed man could even detect that numerous cracks had appeared along both the spearhead and shaft.

This magic tool, which had accompanied him in killing many powerful enemies, would probably be completely retired after this battle!

After blasting away the Flame Spear, the silver-black circular magic tool still retained considerable force. It continued spinning and slammed into the ocher round-shield magic tool.

This time, the round-shield magic tool finally lived up to the triangular-eyed man's expectations and successfully blocked the silver-black circular magic tool's attack.

But when he saw the several slashes carved into the round shield by its sharp moon blades, the triangular-eyed man felt not the slightest joy.

He knew very well that, facing the attack of a First-grade High-tier magic tool, his two First-grade Mid-tier defensive magic tools might withstand one or two strikes, but they absolutely couldn't endure three or four!

Thus, he now had only two choices: immediately retreat from the battlefield, or capture Zhou Chun before his several magic tools were completely ruined.

The first choice had only just surfaced in his mind when the triangular-eyed man immediately rejected it.

Setting aside whether Zhou Chun would simply watch them retreat from the battlefield, he himself didn't want to let this "fat sheep" Zhou Chun go.

A mid Qi Refining Stage cultivator had gone out alone carrying a First-grade High-tier magic tool. If he missed such a stroke of luck, he might not encounter another even after squatting in the Red Rock Mountain Range for several years.

Thus, he quickly made his choice and shouted, "This one's tough! Wife, stop holding back. Use everything you've got!"

Before his voice had even faded, while Zhou Chun had yet to replenish the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel with magic power and activate its second strike, the triangular-eyed man slapped the Storage Bag at his waist again and took out a glittering First-grade High-tier magic talisman.

He infused the talisman with magic power and struck toward Zhou Chun with a wave of his hand. The burning talisman instantly transformed into a fire snake over a zhang long and pounced toward Zhou Chun. It was the First-grade High-tier Fire Snake Talisman.

Behind Zhou Chun, after hearing the triangular-eyed man's words, the red-gauze woman continued controlling the blue long sword magic tool, entangling it with Zhou Chun's black iron shield magic tool.

At the same time, she also took out and activated a First-grade High-tier Golden Spear Talisman, which instantly transformed into a glittering golden spear and stabbed toward Zhou Chun.

This attack from front and rear used First-grade High-tier magic talismans as its means of offense.

Not to mention a mere mid Qi Refining Stage cultivator like Zhou Chun, even an ordinary late Qi Refining Stage cultivator would suffer severe injuries at best and death at worst without a First-grade High-tier defensive magic tool in hand.

The triangular-eyed man was extremely confident about this.

But in the next instant, Zhou Chun's response instantly made his expression change dramatically, leaving him dumbfounded.