Zhao Chun drew her Red-Edged Dagger and met the cultivator wielding a long saber on the left head-on. Facing two opponents was ultimately disadvantageous for her; she needed to fight a quick battle and take one of them down.
The saber-wielding cultivator hadn't expected Zhao Chun to react so swiftly, attacking him at close range in the span of a single breath. He hurriedly dodged, but it was not enough. The Red-Edged Dagger pierced through his shoulder, and blood flew everywhere!
"How did I run into a Sword Cultivator!" he cursed inwardly, rapidly retreating backward.
Sword Cultivators were an anomaly among cultivators. They focused on the Dao of slaughter and attack, and in terms of killing prowess, they reigned supreme among their peers! The difference wasn't that great during the Qi Refining Stage, but after Foundation Establishment, a Sword Cultivator who had condensed Sword Qi could easily take on ten opponents at once!
Although the saber-wielding cultivator was continuously retreating, the venom in his eyes did not lessen in the slightest. He thought to himself, if you were truly a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator, I would have to fear you. But we are both at the Qi Refining Stage, what confidence do you have to face two enemies?
Seeing him retreat, Zhao Chun was relentless and once again swung her blade to slash at him! The other cultivator, at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, was a Spell Cultivator.
He wasn't well-acquainted with the saber-wielding cultivator, but he understood in his heart that if he allowed this female cultivator to take one of them out first, he would be like a fish on the chopping block, left to be slaughtered at will.
He immediately formed a hand seal, and a green light flowed, condensing a long vine that whipped towards Zhao Chun! However, Zhao Chun only glanced sideways at the long vine. With a backhand swing, a flash of her sword fell, and the long vine was instantly split into two!
The place where the sword had cut was scorched black! The vine-controlling Spell Cultivator's expression changed several times. Not only did the fire attribute suppress the wood attribute, but when she wielded the sword, its body shone with a dazzling light.
It truly looked as if she had obtained some of the true inheritance of the Way of the Sword! In the instant he was dazed, Zhao Chun attacked the saber-wielding cultivator. A miserable shriek was heard.
Half of the man's shoulder below his neck, along with his arm, had been completely chopped off by Zhao Chun! This strike had originally been aimed at his head, but he had shifted his body to dodge it. However, suffering such a heavy injury, the man fell wretchedly to the ground, unable to get up again.
The other Qi Refining cultivators had long since moved to the side, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. The vine-controlling Spell Cultivator was also so shocked that his face turned deathly pale. He hadn't expected this young girl to be so ruthless.
The saber-wielding cultivator's strength was about the same as his, yet in just a few short breaths, he had been defeated. To cripple a cultivator of the same rank in two moves... an ordinary sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator was not this terrifying! The saber-wielding cultivator lay in a pool of blood.
Watching Zhao Chun approach with her sword, he was filled with alarm and shouted, "It was I... It was I who was overcome by greed! That's why I attacked you, Fellow Daoist.
I already know my mistake. I am willing to hand over everything I obtained from the ruins. I beg you, Fellow Daoist, spare my life!
Spare my life!" His face was full of sorrow as he begged for mercy, yet there was no fear in his eyes, only deep-seated resentment. Zhao Chun watched him with cold eyes.
Did he take her for a naïve child? If she were soft-hearted enough to let him go, this scoundrel might succeed, and she would lose her own life. Seeing Zhao Chun remain motionless, he rejoiced inwardly, thinking his plea for mercy had worked.
He laughed at this female cultivator, wondering which sect's disciple she was, so new to the outside world and afflicted with the weakness of being soft-hearted. When she came forward to take his things, he would finish her off! Zhao Chun took half a step forward and then lunged at him.
Before he could crush the talisman in his hand, she directly cut off his head. The sword passed without a trace, but blood gushed out like a pillar. The Red-Edged Dagger, however, was not stained with a single drop of red.
She looked back at the vine-controlling Spell Cultivator, startling him into taking several quick steps back. His eyes were filled with deep apprehension as he said with a trembling voice, "I have greatly offended you today. All of this is my apology.
I will take my leave now!" He took off the pouch from his waist, placed it on the ground, turned around, and fled, completely disregarding his appearance as he ran into the distance. With Zhao Chun's speed, it would be easy to catch up to him.
However, she was not a person who reveled in killing. The Spell Cultivator's eyes were filled with terror, so he probably wouldn't try to attack her again. Besides, her purpose on this trip was for the Moistwood Fruits; it was not good to mistake the branch for the root and stir up more trouble.
Witnessing this battle, some of the other cultivators present had already left hastily, afraid she had gone on a killing spree and would not spare even the bystanders. Those who remained for the Moistwood Fruits stood timidly where they were, mumbling, "This Senior, we..." Zhao Chun searched the saber-wielding cultivator's pouch and saw an unused Fireball Talisman in his fist.
Her gaze turned even colder; she wondered just how many cultivators had fallen into his trap. She then picked up the pouch left by the Spell Cultivator and weighed it, feeling satisfied. Hearing the person's question, she replied calmly, "Go ahead and pick them yourselves."
Fruits under fifty years old were of little use to her, so there was no need to compete with these cultivators. She leaped nimbly upwards and continued to search for Moistwood Fruits. The others saw that her words did not seem false, but they did not dare to be the first to step out.
They waited until Zhao Chun had picked all she could and left before they came out with trembling legs to rummage for the spiritual fruits below.
"Who was that person? To think she fought one against two and even took a life! Does she have a high cultivation base?"
The speaker was a rogue cultivator at only the third layer of Qi Refinement. He had seen the two attack Zhao Chun and thought she would flee in panic, but instead, she drew her sword to fight, killed one, and forced the other to escape. Answering him was a fifth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator.
Judging by his attire, he was likely a sect cultivator with some knowledge. He replied, "The auras of these three people had not reached the late stage. They should all be at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement."
Once these words were spoken, everyone around was shocked. Someone gasped, "So young, and already at the sixth layer!" The sect cultivator sneered, raised an eyebrow at him, and seeing everyone gathered around him, he felt a sense of being the center of attention.
Only then did he speak, "In the Major Sects, reaching the late stage of Qi Refining at twelve or thirteen is commonplace. Some are even more exceptional, stepping into Foundation Establishment at the tender age of fifteen.
The most famous are Song Yikun, the personal disciple of the Sect Master of the Perceptive Moon Sect, the leader of the Southern Region, and Xue Yun, the genius disciple of Glorious Clarity Mountain. Both have Heavenly Spiritual Roots, reached Foundation Establishment at ten, and now at seventeen or eighteen, are about to seek the Dao of Core Formation!"
The rest were filled with endless admiration. Hearing about such geniuses, they suddenly felt a sense of disparity. Even the image of Zhao Chun single-handedly slaying a cultivator of the same rank faded significantly.
Another cultivator, also from a sect, looked at the man's proud expression with slight disdain, thinking to himself, what does the might of a genius have to do with you, using others to show off your own importance here. His mind, however, was clearer than the others.
He knew that heaven-gifted prodigies like Song Yikun and Xue Yun were rare, seen only once in a century. Someone like Zhao Chun, who could fight two cultivators of the same rank and still hold the upper hand, even if not considered a top-tier genius, was still far superior to most of her peers.
Zhao Chun, of course, knew none of this. After she had taken the Moistwood Fruits, she found a secluded spot to take inventory. Including those from the two cultivators, she had over eight hundred in total.
The vine-controlling cultivator had appeared unassuming, but his pouch actually contained three spiritual fruits over a hundred years old, their bodies a verdant green. With this, Zhao Chun now had nine hundred-year-old Moistwood Fruits and eight hundred and thirty that were over fifty years old. She figured this would be enough to last her for a long time.
The saber-wielding cultivator's entire fortune was now in her hands. She could only say that rogue cultivators were truly poor. He had only a hundred-odd Essence Stones and two or three bottles of pills.
He did have two more Fireball Talismans, which could be considered a gain. Zhao Chun collected everything, lamenting that even a mosquito was still meat. The spiritual herbs in the outer garden were of little use to her; she still needed to enter the inner layer to search.
With this in mind, she put the spiritual fruits into her storage pouch and headed towards the spirit herb garden's exit. She would rendezvous with Meng Han first, then proceed inward. Unexpectedly, just as she reached the Water Gathering Spiritual Field, she ran into some familiar faces.
The youth in the lead had a handsome face and a posture as straight as a pine. Who else could it be but Fan Shuping of the Fen Feather Sect? However, on the boat, there had been seven or eight of them, but now only three remained.
Besides the spoiled and arrogant junior sister Zhao Zhanqian, there was only a round-faced disciple following behind. The three seemed to be in another dispute with someone else, but this time, the opponent was not like Fang Xunzhuo, who only engaged in verbal sparring.
With a dark face, he controlled his spiritual artifact and directly attacked the weakest of the three, the round-faced disciple! Fan Shuping waved his sleeve to block the attack and then formed a hand seal to counter.
He was at the fifth layer of Qi Refining, after all, so blocking these few third and fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivators was relatively easy. However, the opposing side had many people, a full ten of them, which made it quite strenuous for him. Zhao Chun watched coldly from the sidelines, with no intention of intervening, and continued to walk forward.
She heard a series of explosions behind her and glanced back. It turned out that Zhao Zhanqian had thrown out a sky full of talismans, blasting the opponents into a continuous retreat. Truly, winning through wealth...
As she sighed, she had already reached the stone gate. Meng Han was sitting quietly on the ground. Seeing her leap out, he opened his eyes and smiled, "Had a bountiful harvest?"
Zhao Chun nodded. After Meng Han stood up, she followed him towards the inner layer.
(End of Chapter)