Free Web NovelChapter 167: Chapter 167: Encounter
To the west of the Fire Cave Dynasty lies a vast, yellow desert.
It is said to be a place devoid of water, where neither man nor beast can survive.
As a result, the populated area of this small state was not large at all.
Following the old duke’s route, they encountered numerous military garrisons but always managed to find a way around them.
When their luck ran out and they faced an inspection, Zhao Jingyu would step in to handle it.
PLOP!
Zhao Jingyu tossed aside the soldier he was holding. The man landed in a shallow pit nearby, his lower body submerged in the collected rainwater.
This soldier was at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, by no means an ordinary person.
But in Zhao Jingyu’s hands, he was taken down in just two moves.
A shoulder slam and a wrist lock first scattered the man’s strength, followed by a heavy blow to the head that subdued him on the spot.
Bai Mo praised him:
"Brother Zhao, what impressive skill. If it were me and Brother Wan, we definitely wouldn’t have been so efficient."
Along the way, although Zhao Jingyu’s actions had sometimes lacked foresight, when it came to fighting, he truly didn’t mess around.
’He’s like a great beast of burden!’
Zhao Jingyu smiled smugly.
"These guys are a far cry from the Demon Beasts my senior brother used to take me to hunt."
"And they’re supposed to be on patrol duty."
Less than a hundred li away was the rebel army’s main camp.
The patrolling soldiers would demand the password right away, and the military password changed daily. There was nothing to be done but to force their way through.
Several more soldiers lay scattered about. Wan Shenxiu finished searching their bodies.
"What pathetic Cultivators. They’re even more broke than the Loose Cultivators in the Immortal City."
He said this as he stood up, lightly dusting off his hands.
"Let’s go."
After getting their bearings, the three of them departed.
They had barely taken two steps when Bai Mo’s brow suddenly twitched.
Just as a feeling of dread arose in his heart, a sharp whistling sound rapidly approached.
"Who dares to sneak around!"
Zhao Jingyu shifted his stance, let out a low roar, and in a flash, twisted his waist and threw a punch.
His body glowed as his fist collided thunderously with the incoming long arrow.
Blood spattered.
The arrow snapped and splintered.
Bai Mo looked in the direction of the attack and saw a soldier half-crouched on a distant mound, nocking another arrow.
Zhao Jingyu, however, was looking in another direction. A burly, armored man was walking toward them, his aura astonishing.
"A battle-hardened Cultivator."
Zhao Jingyu commented.
The burly man looked at the three of them, seemingly displeased.
"How did you get here? Few people know this path."
Without waiting for an answer, his formidable body barreled through the air, charging straight at Zhao Jingyu.
The latter let out a soft cry and met the charge head-on.
"Just the chance to test the mettle of an outsider Cultivator, I—"
The two collided like leather war drums. A glowing figure flew past Bai Mo, carving a trench in the ground as he skidded.
’The big beast is thick-skinned, though. He won’t die that easily.’
Bai Mo’s expression remained unchanged as he took two steps back.
An arrow whistled past, embedding itself in the ground right in front of him.
The burly man frowned, a patch of white ash on his chest left behind by Zhao Jingyu’s earlier blow.
"Almost missed one. There’s another expert here."
Just as he was about to move, Wan Shenxiu, who had been standing by, shouted crisply.
"Rise!"
Dense Spiritual Qi rose from the ground, instantly forming a Spiritual Mist that enveloped everyone present.
The burly man immediately sensed something was wrong and charged straight for Bai Mo.
"Halt!"
A Pill Furnace materialized out of thin air and, with a CLANG, covered the man’s head.
Caught off guard, the man stopped short, instinctively raising his arms to defend himself.
The anticipated attack never came.
He waited a moment, then punched the Pill Furnace on his head.
DONG!
The man’s ears rang as the Pill Furnace shattered and dissipated in an instant.
When his senses returned, he looked around and, as expected, found his enemies had vanished.
Several men holding weapons rushed to the scene from behind him.
"Boss!"
"Are you alright?"
The man waved his hand and took a deep breath, seemingly intoxicated by the dissipating Spiritual Mist.
"What marvelous techniques. What are the origins of those people?"
One of the men behind him stepped forward and said in a low voice:
"We’ve tracked their route. Several of our overt and covert posts were attacked. It’s not hard to deduce the path they took to get here."
He listed several locations.
The man listened quietly, then closed his eyes.
"Heh. Every step they took was through the weakest points of our deployment."
"Only someone with profound military knowledge could have perceived such a path."
He pondered for a moment.
"I’ve been paid to do a job, so I must see it through."
"Let’s go pay a visit to that duke. Right, where is he staying now..."
A moment later, many of the surrounding men began to withdraw, following the burly man as he left.
They had spent time setting up a perfect encirclement, but they had underestimated their opponents’ methods and gained nothing.
Meanwhile, at the distant Duke’s Mansion, two unremarkable carriages swayed as they departed from the main gate.
The surroundings were very quiet. No one paid them any mind.
...
In a deserted place, inside a dilapidated old house, the concealment Array was deactivated.
The figures of Bai Mo and the other two appeared.
"Brother Wan, you have such a fine Array? It’s truly a top-tier tool for a sneaky escape!"
Bai Mo was quite amazed.
"I don’t suppose it’s for sale?"
If not for the concealment Array, escaping would have been much more troublesome.
Bai Mo had seen all the soldiers hidden in the surroundings as they were leaving.
Wan Shenxiu shook his head.
"The Array must be activated with an Array Plate. Only an Array Master can use it."
"Speaking of which..."
His gaze turned to Bai Mo.
"It’s widely acknowledged among the disciples of the Golden Jade lineage that Broken Blade Peak has powerful combat techniques and protective arts."
"But I never knew it also had such strange and wondrous methods."
At these words, Zhao Jingyu nodded repeatedly.
"If I’d known there were such interesting techniques there, I would have joined the Broken Blade lineage. After all, you can practice Body Refinement anywhere, can’t you?"
"My senior brother led me astray!"
Bai Mo waved his hand dismissively.
"What are you two talking about? It was just a small trick."
Closing the door of the house, the three of them settled in for the time being.
Zhao Jingyu felt sore all over. He pressed several points on his body, dislocating and then resetting his bones.
After doing this a few times, he finally let out a turbid breath, as if a great weight had been lifted.
Wan Shenxiu was still quite intrigued by Bai Mo’s methods.
"Junior Brother, how did you dodge that arrow?"
"You looked so at ease, almost like a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who has mastered the external projection of Divine Thought..."
He was an Array Master, and for the Dao of Arrays, Divine Thought is crucial.
Therefore, Bai Mo wasn’t surprised that Wan Shenxiu would ask such a question.
"How could I possibly have the abilities of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?"
Bai Mo explained methodically:
"I just spread my Divine Thought to drift around my surroundings. When a foreign object enters the area, my Divine Thought latches onto it, allowing me to track its path. That’s how it seems like I have the ability to predict things."
"However, this is very taxing. I can only spread my Divine Thought to a distance of five zhang."
Wan Shenxiu was visibly moved.
"May I ask, Junior Brother, how did you accomplish this?"
"It’s complicated to explain. The mysteries within are all from the ’Divine Thought Transformation Scripture’, which is stored in the Collection Pavilion."
Bai Mo said frankly.
"Brother, you can go take a look when you have the time."
Wan Shenxiu nodded gratefully.
Having said this much, things were more or less settled.
Asking any more would risk being suspected of prying into a fellow disciple’s secrets.
He exchanged a glance with Zhao Jingyu, suppressing the curiosity in his heart.
’There were still more questions they could ask if they really wanted to.’
’For example, Bai Mo’s Divine Thought could only reach a range of five zhang. At that distance, an arrow would cross it in an instant.’
’How could he possibly dodge it in a split second?’
’This must be the skill of a true Cultivator. It must be a personal technique of Junior Brother Bai’s.’
The three of them rested briefly, then took out the map to recalibrate their plan.
Now that powerful enemies had appeared, there was no reason for them to expect the journey ahead to be as easy as before.
Having witnessed the strength of the outside Cultivators, and with his body still aching, Zhao Jingyu no longer dared to be overconfident.
