Chapter 135: If You Can’t Win the Fight, Then Run

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“The Dao Heart Seed Demon Art?” Qin Haoxuan frowned and immediately focused his spiritual sense. An aura that made Xing deeply uncomfortable radiated from him. He stared at Xing and said, “Try mentioning it again.”

Xing twitched his lips but did not dare to bring up the art again. After all, Qin Haoxuan’s spiritual sense was a troublesome thing.

“Alright, let’s go.” Ye Yiming straightened his clothes, dusted himself off, and then, with Qin Haoxuan leading the way, they began to head in the general direction of Xu Yu’s location.

They left the courtyard and walked along a clear river about ten feet wide. Along the way, they encountered a few stray Nether-Souls, which were all dispatched by an eager-to-please Xing.

After walking for some time, they saw a small pavilion up ahead where a cultivator was resting. Judging by his robes, he was a new disciple from the same year as Qin Haoxuan. Under Qin Haoxuan’s watchful gaze, Xing reluctantly transformed. This time, he was lucky; he didn’t turn into an animal but into a young man in black clothes, with a square face, a sturdy build, and the distinct look of a brute.

Seeing them approach, the new disciple nervously clutched a spiritual talisman. In the lawless Aqueous Manor, no one could be trusted. When he recognized Qin Haoxuan, however, he relaxed his grip. Qin Haoxuan’s reputation among the new disciples was fairly good. “Senior Brother Qin, what a coincidence!” he called out.

Qin Haoxuan smiled. He recognized the person as Dijie, a full colorless seed. Among their cohort of two hundred, besides the three Purple Seeds and two Gray Seeds, there were two with full colorless seeds. This Dijie was one of them, and he was now also at the First-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm.

Qin Haoxuan nodded in acknowledgment. He noted that Dijie’s clothes were tattered; he had clearly been through some tough fights.

“Senior Brother Qin, Senior Brother Ye, it’s great to run into you. This place is too dangerous,” Dijie said, walking over eagerly. “There’s still some time before the manor closes. May I travel with you two?”

“Yes, you can,” Qin Haoxuan agreed readily.

Just then, Xing tugged on Qin Haoxuan’s clothes and whispered in his ear, “This human cultivator’s aptitude looks quite good. My mouth is watering. Just let me eat him. I haven’t eaten human flesh in so long, I’m starving to death. If you let me eat him, I’ll teach you many powerful spiritual arts, ones you’ve definitely never learned before.” As if on cue, Xing’s stomach let out a loud rumble.

Qin Haoxuan gestured with his chin towards Dijie. “Go ahead and try. Let’s see who’s faster.”

Xing shot him a sulky look and said no more, secretly wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.

Once their whispering was done, Dijie said enthusiastically, “Senior Brother Qin, Senior Brother Ye, and this junior brother, let’s go together!”

They hadn’t traveled far as a group when Ye Yiming’s eyelid suddenly twitched. He immediately grabbed Qin Haoxuan.

With Xing as a bodyguard, Qin Haoxuan had been quite relaxed. He was in the middle of a conversation with Dijie when Ye Yiming pulled him. He looked ahead and was instantly startled. The person standing there with a grim face, covered in the red and green blood of cultivators and Nether-Creatures, was none other than Zhang Kuang.

At the same time, Zhang Kuang spotted them. Without a word, he strode towards them, covering the distance of nearly two li in just ten breaths. His gaze hardened and fell upon Dijie. “If you don’t want to die, get lost!”

At his roar, Dijie, who had been acting like a brother-in-arms a moment ago, was so terrified he nearly wet himself. He scrambled to the side without a second word. Qin Haoxuan glanced at him with contempt, but then sighed to himself. You can’t really blame him. Any normal person would retreat when faced with a Zhang Kuang like this. Before he could finish his thought, an immensely powerful aura exploded from Zhang Kuang’s side.

Qin Haoxuan’s eyes focused. Zhang Kuang had unleashed his Talisman Dragon, and it was charging directly at them. The overwhelming dragon’s might washed over them like a tidal wave, instantly freezing both Qin Haoxuan and Ye Yiming in place.

To be hit by this incredibly powerful Talisman Dragon would mean certain death. Because the distance was too short, their bodies were locked in place, unable to dodge. With a grim look in his eyes, Qin Haoxuan had no choice but to launch a spiritual sense attack at Zhang Kuang. He figured that even if he was killed, seriously injuring Zhang Kuang’s soul would not be a total loss.

After this period of practice, his use of his spiritual sense had become quite proficient. He quickly condensed it into a golden rod and slammed it into Zhang Kuang’s mind.

As the attack struck, Qin Haoxuan clearly felt that it had not hit Zhang Kuang. Although Zhang Kuang’s own consciousness was there, there was another, far more powerful consciousness residing within him. His attack had struck that one.

The attack greatly weakened this other consciousness. As it weakened, Zhang Kuang seemed to grow even more excited. “Good!” he roared, simultaneously commanding the Talisman Dragon to charge even faster. The sheer force of the wind it generated was terrifying, tearing up grass and flagstones and sending them flying like scraps of paper.

The moment Zhang Kuang had unleashed the dragon, Xing had reacted instantly, pulling a defensive talisman from his robes. It was equivalent to the full defensive power of a Thirtieth-Leaf cultivator. He infused it with his demonic energy and threw it into the air, and a pale-yellow wall of light appeared before them.

The Thirtieth-Leaf defensive talisman was shattered on impact with the dragon, but its ferocious momentum was stalled for an instant. Xing grabbed Qin Haoxuan and Ye Yiming, who were still lost in the dragon’s overwhelming aura, and yelled, “Run!”

With the dragon’s pressure momentarily blocked, the invisible shackles binding their bodies loosened. They immediately turned and fled for their lives with Xing.

They had already witnessed the power of Zhang Kuang’s Talisman Dragon in the Thousand-Mile Mirror; they had no desire to experience it firsthand.

The three of them ran frantically while Zhang Kuang gave chase, constantly directing his dragon to attack. Trees and rockeries in its path were smashed to smithereens. Just as it seemed there was no escape, Ye Yiming suddenly remembered the ward he had repaired. “Quickly!” he shouted. “Go back! To the ward I fixed!”

Watching the three of them being chased like chickens, Dijie, who had been hiding on the side, was so terrified his legs gave out. He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up. “My god, is this the power of a Purple Seed? Qin Haoxuan is a dead man for sure.”

As Zhang Kuang chased them, the three of them fled pathetically, with Xing occasionally throwing out a powerful defensive talisman to block the dragon’s attacks. They finally managed to escape back to the previous courtyard.

It was a humiliating retreat. Qin Haoxuan had never been so wretched.

From a distance, Ye Yiming opened the ward. Xing threw out two more defensive barriers behind them, buying them a few precious seconds to dive inside.

Just as they entered and Ye Yiming closed the ward, Zhang Kuang arrived. He sneered, “Done running? Qin Haoxuan… remember? I said I would kill you. Now, I’ll make it a reality.”

Unaware of the ward’s special properties, he confidently commanded his Talisman Dragon to strike.

Inside, the hearts of Qin Haoxuan, Ye Yiming, and Xing leaped into their throats. All they could do was pray that the ward would hold.

BOOM! The dragon slammed into the ward. The light barrier trembled violently, nearly shattering, but it managed to hold. Before Zhang Kuang could order another attack, the ward flashed with a bright light and teleported away, taking the three of them with it.

The scene instantly changed. They found themselves in a vast, empty plaza.

Ye Yiming opened the ward and they stepped out, still shaken, their backs soaked with cold sweat. At that moment, Xing’s transformation time ran out, and he reverted to his original form.

“Where is he? Where is he?” Xing shouted, looking around. “This seat is hungry! Didn’t you say this seat could eat someone? Let that bastard out! I’m going to eat him!”

Qin Haoxuan just shot him a disdainful look. He had seen braggarts before, but never one so shameless.

In the center of the large plaza was a high platform made of green jade. Floating above it was a golden token, about the size of a grown man’s forearm.

Seeing the token silently hovering and rotating, Qin Haoxuan immediately sensed it was extraordinary. Ye Yiming walked over, his face filled with excitement.

The token was protected by a pale-gray ward. Strange, ancient characters, similar to the ones on the token itself, occasionally floated across its surface.

The three of them walked up the steps of the platform. Ye Yiming shook his head with regret. “I don’t recognize the words on this token. It must be an extremely ancient script. They form hundreds of restrictions. If you knew the script, you might be able to break them, but without that knowledge, there’s no way.”

Ye Yiming tried tossing a small stone at the ward. The light barrier flashed, and the stone was instantly turned to dust.

As Qin Haoxuan and Ye Yiming looked on in amazement, Xing, who had been observing quietly, spoke up with an air of superiority. “Is this supposed to be difficult? This seat recognizes all of it. And it seems I can also break this ward.”

He looked at Qin Haoxuan and said seriously, “After I break it, the token is mine. How about it?”