Cangxuan Continent, Yu Country, Qinghe City.
The streets were a vibrant tapestry of bustling crowds and blooming prosperity. Nestled by the roadside sat a humble tea stall, where a single copper coin bought a generous bowl of chilled tea.
A young man in coarse linen garments sat at a corner table, quietly sipping his drink.
Reflecting on the past year of scurrying in the shadows, he couldn't help but sigh. For a transmigrator, living like a rat was downright embarrassing.
His name was Chu Xuan. Twenty years ago, he had crossed over to the Cangxuan Continent and become an outer sect disciple of the Wuji Sect. He hadn't been blessed with a mystical old grandpa in a ring, nor did he possess a heaven-defying Gold Finger. All he had to his name was a handsome face and painfully mediocre aptitude.
Fortunately, the Wuji Sect had been the undisputed hegemon of Yu Country, controlling three of its nine great provinces. It had taken Chu Xuan ten grueling years to finally draw Qi into his body, stepping into the Qi Condensation stage and earning his promotion to the inner sect.
Acutely aware of his own lackluster talent, he had cast a wide net, dabbling extensively in unorthodox arts: Gu insects, poison, corpse refinement, puppetry, and disguise. As a result, while his cultivation realm remained unremarkable, his lethal practicality did not. At his peak, he had ranked tenth among the inner sect disciples—close enough to almost catch the eye of an Elder for personal tutelage.
Then, disaster struck.
The Wuji Sect's founding Patriarch suffered a catastrophic Qi Deviation during his secluded cultivation and Perished.
Smelling blood in the water, the five "righteous" Sects of Yu Country immediately banded together. Brandishing banners of justice, they declared the Wuji Sect a den of irredeemable evil, steeped in sin, and launched a joint crusade to exterminate them.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the Wuji Sect crumbled. Of their highest echelon—one Nascent Soul Patriarch and ten Golden Core masters—most were slaughtered in battle. A few surrendered; only two managed to flee. The Sect Leader, the deputies, the Grand Elder... they all met similar fates.
From the absolute zenith of power to a scattered pile of ashes, it took barely a month.
Compared to those Golden Core titans, Chu Xuan was nothing but a bottom-feeder. That insignificance was exactly what allowed him to slip through the cracks. Yet, the brand of a demonic cultivator forced him into a life of perpetual paranoia.
A year had passed since the righteous coalition's purge. Countless Wuji Sect disciples had been hunted down and publicly executed.
But Chu Xuan was still breathing.
His jack-of-all-trades approach to the dark arts had transformed into the ultimate survival toolkit. Even now, as he sat seemingly idle, the entire street was an open book to him. Nestled deep within his ear canals were two Truth-Listening Bugs. These specialized Gu insects passively amplified the faintest vibrations, feeding the subtle whispers of the city directly into his mind.
Footsteps approached. A man hovered hesitantly before taking the seat opposite the linen-clad youth.
Leaning in, he whispered, "The Heavenly King covers the earth tiger?"
Chu Xuan didn't blink. "You're a complete idiot."
The man swallowed, trying again. "The Precious Pagoda subdues the river demon?"
"You're utterly hopeless," Chu Xuan deadpanned.
The man finally let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. "Senior Brother, you are truly brave. You actually chose to meet *here*?"
Chu Xuan took a slow sip of his tea. "We are law-abiding, upstanding Rogue Cultivators. What is there to fear?"
The man gulped, nodding frantically. The gaze he fixed on Chu Xuan was brimming with sheer reverence.
This Senior Brother of his had only ranked tenth in the inner sect. Yet, a year after the purge, every single disciple who had ranked above him was either rotting in a dungeon or missing their head. Only Chu Xuan remained completely free, brazenly sipping tea right in the heart of righteous territory.
It was impossible not to admire such terrifying audacity.
"He Liang, did you bring the goods?" Chu Xuan asked casually, setting his bowl down.
He Liang nodded, slipping a Low Grade Storage Bag across the table.
Chu Xuan took it, sending a thread of spiritual sense inside. His blood-based cultivation art demanded vast quantities of essence blood. Mortals, Demon Beasts—any living vessel with a pulse would suffice.
Slaughtering mortals was, naturally, the most efficient method. But it was also the most idiotic. Massacring mortals shredded one's karmic merit and drew the baleful gaze of the Heavenly Dao. When the time came to break through to higher realms, the heavens would respond with rolling thunder and raging earth fire. Surviving such a tribulation was practically impossible.
Chu Xuan highly suspected that their founding Patriarch's sudden demise was a direct result of his astronomical body count. Furthermore, with the Wuji Sect in ashes, the five righteous Sects were policing the mortal populace with fanatical zeal. Slaughtering mortals right now wasn't just risky; it was actively Courting death.
Thus, he had outsourced the labor, commissioning He Liang to procure Demon Beast Blood Beads. These condensed spheres of purified essence were compact, highly volatile, and perfect for his cultivation.
"Acceptable quality," Chu Xuan murmured, tossing ten small Spirit Stones onto the table.
Greed flashed in He Liang's eyes as he snatched them up.
Chu Xuan prepared to stand, but a subtle shift in the ambient noise made him pause. The air felt suddenly heavy. The distant snack vendor, the vegetable hawker, the woman at the rouge shop, the butcher—the faces had changed. The cadence of their voices was too controlled. An invisible net had been cast over the street, and the metallic tang of killing intent hung in the air.
Among the hidden watchers, several dense auras pulsed with the unmistakable weight of the Foundation Establishment stage.
He slowly shifted his gaze back to He Liang. The face Chu Xuan currently wore was a freshly crafted human skin mask. He had made it this very morning. Only one person in the entire city knew who he was.
Looks like I'll be needing a new face, Chu Xuan thought, his expression remaining perfectly placid.
"Junior Brother, there is one more thing I require," he said smoothly.
He Liang nodded eagerly. "Senior Brother, please instruct."
Chu Xuan asked, "Do you have any Spirit Blood Pills?"
He Liang nodded seriously. "I have two. I snatched them from the sect treasury when we fled."
Chu Xuan lowered his voice. "I need Spirit Blood Pills, the more the better."
He Liang was taken aback. "But, Spirit Blood Pills are only needed by severely injured Foundation Establishment cultivators. Senior Brother, you..."
He suddenly realized something. "I know! Senior Brother, have you found Uncle Liu?"
Uncle Liu, full name Liu Zhenxiong, was a Foundation Establishment cultivator and one of the few Wuji Sect members not yet captured by the righteous sects.
Chu Xuan said coldly, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't."
He Liang quickly covered his mouth. "I understand, I understand."
"Give me the Spirit Blood Pills," Chu Xuan extended his hand.
He Liang whispered, "Spirit Blood Pills are too valuable. Senior Brother, you don't have enough Spirit Stones, do you?"
Chu Xuan remained silent.
He Liang hurriedly said, "How about this? Take me to see Uncle Liu. I'll join you. In times like these, we should stick together for warmth, Senior Brother."
Chu Xuan said sternly, "No, the risk is too great!"
He Liang sighed deeply, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a Spirit Stone, stuffing it into Chu Xuan's hand.
"One medium Spirit Stone! That's all I can give!"
Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Small Spirit Stones were scraps from Spirit Stone veins, with low purity, generally circulating only among Qi Condensation cultivators.
Medium Spirit Stones had high purity and were larger, mostly circulating among Foundation Establishment cultivators.
One medium Spirit Stone could exchange for one hundred small Spirit Stones.
He hadn't expected He Liang to have one. "With such sincerity, I am somewhat reassured," Chu Xuan nodded slightly.
He Liang also sighed in relief. "Let's go quickly, Senior Brother. Only with the protection of a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Uncle Liu can I feel safe."
Chu Xuan nodded. "The location is an abandoned house in the east of the city. Follow me."
With that, he tossed down a copper coin and immediately stood up.
He Liang hurriedly followed.
After they left, six cultivators observing from afar immediately came to the tea stall.
The leader, a middle-aged cultivator with an immortal demeanor, was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"He Liang went with him. We must have hooked a big fish!" the middle-aged cultivator said with delight.
"Follow them immediately. If we catch this big fish, we'll all have merit!" he ordered.
"Yes!"
A short while later, at the abandoned house in the east of the city.
The middle-aged cultivator and his group arrived, surrounding the nearby houses tightly.
"Uncle, when do we go in?" a young disciple asked.
"Wait for the signal!" the middle-aged cultivator whispered.
After another moment, an explosive sound rang out.
The door was blown off its hinges.
He Liang's figure flew out, vomiting blood mid-air.
He screamed in pain, "Underground! Liu Zhenxiong is underground! They found me!"
The middle-aged cultivator's eyes lit up, and he immediately roared, "Charge in! Try to capture them alive!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The righteous cultivators rushed past He Liang and into the house.
Inside the house, there was indeed a dark hole leading underground.
The middle-aged cultivator and his group entered, finding numerous passages and many traps, like a maze.
After a long search, one cultivator exclaimed, "Uncle, there's a dried corpse here, with its face peeled off!"
The middle-aged cultivator was stunned. After carefully examining the corpse, he instantly flew into a rage. "This is He Liang! The one outside was Chu Xuan! Chase him, we've all been tricked!"
However, when they returned to the surface, there was no trace of "He Liang" anywhere.
"Damn Chu Xuan! He got away again!"
The middle-aged cultivator was furious.
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