Chapter 245: A Rogue Cultivator Has His Own Path

Having tasted the sweetness of slaying enemy rogue cultivators, Qin Haoxuan, without waiting for Li Jing to send someone to invite him, very proactively came to the assembly hall the next day.

Today’s assembly hall was just as lively. Qin Haoxuan did not see Qin Yang or Liao Qiankun; it was clear that the two of them had been scared silly by him and no longer dared to come. Before long, Li Jing arrived. He still wore a gentle and confident smile, greeting the familiar and unfamiliar Taichu Sect disciples. Seeing Qin Haoxuan, the smile on his face stiffened, but it was only for a fleeting moment. He then enthusiastically greeted him, congratulating him on his harvest from the previous day.

Following the rules of the three-man squads, Li Jing once again arranged for an Eighteenth-Leaf and a Twelfth-Leaf teammate for Qin Haoxuan.

After leaving the main camp, a weakling like Qin Haoxuan should have been the one tagging along at the back of the squad. But his group was different. He, at the Seventh-Leaf, walked at the very front, while the other two, whose cultivation realms were higher than his, trotted along behind him.

They hadn’t gone far when they ran into two lone rogue cultivators. Before his two teammates could even react, Qin Haoxuan had already charged forward and finished them off. Collecting the spoils of war and their badges, he had made another small profit.

“If it goes on like this, I’ll be a rich man in no time!” he laughed happily, not caring that his two teammates were staring at him as if he were a monster.

However, he also knew his own limits. If he were to encounter a formidable Twenty-Fifth-Leaf rogue cultivator, he would surely have no strength to fight back. So, he did not get too close to the enemy’s formation but instead circled around the periphery.

After more than an hour, he saw a lone rogue cultivator ahead. The man looked dry and thin, without a few taels of flesh on his entire body. He held a black dagger in his hand and was riding on his Flowing Cloud Leopard Talisman Beast. Qin Haoxuan had heard of the great name of the Flowing Cloud Leopard. This type of leopard was extremely fast; even an ordinary cultivator using a Godspeed Talisman might not be able to catch it. In battle, it was extremely nimble, its movements cunning.

Seeing him, Qin Haoxuan’s eyes lit up. His confidence swelling, he looked at him as if he were looking at four thousand low third-grade spirit stones. Although the leopard’s speed was terrifying, he was very confident in his own physical quality.

So, under the astonished gazes of his teammates, he leaped out and slowly walked in front of the rogue cultivator. He said with an arrogant air, “Do you know where this is? Do you know who I am?”

The rogue cultivator on the leopard sized him up and, seeing his disdainful aura, immediately laughed.

“I’m asking you a question, old man! Is your ear full of water, you can’t hear? Or has your tongue been cut out, you can’t speak?” Qin Haoxuan continued to put on an arrogant, brain-dead act.

Being cursed at by him, the rogue cultivator’s brow furrowed slightly. Having cultivated his nature but not his heart, his voice was sharp, clearly angered. “It’s been a long time since anyone has spoken to me, Master Liuyun, like this. You, little fellow, are very interesting.”

His two teammates, who were watching from a distance, were startled. Master Liuyun was an extremely famous existence among the rogue cultivators. Not only was his Talisman Beast extremely fast, but he himself was also skilled in speed. The black dagger in his hand had a cunning attack angle, and his speed of casting spiritual arts was faster than an ordinary cultivator’s. Riding on his leopard, he could cast spells while his opponent, if their speed was inferior, could only be a target. A Twenty-Fifth-Leaf senior brother from the Taichu Sect had fallen at his hands, unable to even escape.

Qin Haoxuan had only been back at the camp for two days and had never heard of him. Hearing him announce his name, he laughed. “Remember, my name is Qin Haoxuan. When the King of Hell asks who killed you, you can report my name.”

Master Liuyun laughed heartily, his gaze fixed on him as he uttered two words, “Interesting.”

As he spoke, Qin Haoxuan had already moved. He had been close to him before and was confident he could close the distance in an instant. As long as he got close and landed a few punches, even if he didn’t die, he would be skinned alive. He was very confident in his own speed.

“Hah!” Seeing that Master Liuyun was not moving, his eyes lit up, a murderous intent blooming on his face. A cyan blade of qi from a Heaven-Cleaving Slash suddenly appeared on his hand, and he viciously chopped at him.

The next moment, he was horrified. Just as his cyan blade of qi was less than a foot away from him, this Master Liuyun had actually run. He had vanished like a ghost and, in the next instant, had appeared behind him, looking at him with a leisurely air as he hastily withdrew his move. The cyan blade of qi from his Heaven-Cleaving Slash cut a bottomlessly deep gash in the ground.

“Your speed is not bad, and your attack power is very strong. A pity you ran into me,” Master Liuyun said with admiration. The moment his words fell, the Flowing Cloud Leopard beneath him moved, pouncing on Qin Haoxuan. At the same time, the dagger in his hand transformed into a black streak of light, stabbing straight at his chest.

Qin Haoxuan was horrified. He forcibly twisted his body but still couldn’t dodge. The black dagger grazed his shoulder. If not for the soft armor that Xing had transformed into activating the Dragon Demon Golden Body at the critical moment and blocking the blow, he would have likely been injured.

The dagger had not been able to harm him. Master Liuyun was slightly surprised. A Seventh-Leaf junior disciple of the Taichu Sect actually had such a protective treasure on him. A greedy light flashed in his eyes.

“Pay attention,” he said, retracting his dagger, a wicked smile on his lips. His hand gestures changed, and a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy was transmitted as his ten fingers moved. At the same time, the leopard no longer approached but instead began to move with an extremely cunning pattern. With his own speed and physical quality, he couldn’t even tell where it would appear next.

CRACK! A wind blade chopped towards Qin Haoxuan. He managed to condense a Heaven-Cleaving Slash to meet it, but how could he, in his current state, casually block the spiritual art of a Twentieth-Leaf rogue cultivator? His cyan blade of qi shattered, and the remnant wind blade still slashed at his soft armor, sending him staggering.

The next moment, a meteorite appeared behind him, sending him flying. The moment after that, a fireball fell from the sky, once again leaving him covered in soot. Although he was protected by Xing’s Dragon Demon Golden Body and was not injured, this feeling of being a target was truly terrible.

Riding on the leopard, Master Liuyun’s speed of casting spiritual arts was incredibly fast. One moment he was on the left, the next he was on the right. Although they were all low-level arts with short casting times, he knew that if he continued to stay here, he would only be taking a beating. Even if he released his two ghost soldiers and had Xing simultaneously control his three Talisman Beasts, it would be useless, because his speed was too fast, his movements too cunning.

If not for Xing’s soft armor protecting him, he would have been dead already from this string of attacks. His brow furrowed, and he quickly condensed his spiritual sense into a small golden sword. Finding an opening, he viciously struck Master Liuyun. His head was filled with a sharp pain, and his body paused slightly, but he quickly recovered.

Qin Haoxuan was astonished. Although he had been stunned for a moment, his speed was simply too fast. Before he could launch an attack, he had already recovered. With no way to hit him, and with his ever-reliable spiritual sense attack now ineffective, his confidence was completely shattered. He knew that if this continued, he would surely be defeated. So, he unhesitatingly took out the Thousand-Mile Talisman, activated it, and ran.

Seeing him take out a talisman, Master Liuyun knew he wanted to escape. A cold smile appeared on his lips. Even a Thirtieth-Leaf cultivator’s speed was no match for him on his Flowing Cloud Leopard. A mere Seventh-Leaf brat wanted to escape with a Godspeed Talisman?

But the next moment, he was dumbfounded. The moment Qin Haoxuan activated the Thousand-Mile Talisman, his figure became a residual shadow, fleeing into the distance and instantly disappearing from his sight.

“So fast!” Master Liuyun smacked his lips. “This kid has so many good things on him. To actually have such a fast escape treasure. This speed… is comparable to a Spirit Tree Realm expert.” He knew he couldn’t catch up and so gave up the chase, continuing to search for his next ignorant prey.

Qin Haoxuan ran for a long distance before stopping. He let out a long breath. This Master Liuyun’s speed was too terrifying. He had originally thought that a Twentieth-Leaf rogue cultivator would be a pushover in his hands, but now it seemed that was not the case at all.

This encounter served as a wake-up call for the confident Qin Haoxuan. It turned out that not all Twentieth-Leaf cultivators were soft persimmons.

He found a bush and, not daring to walk out in the open as he had before, he hid inside, restraining his aura and silently waiting for the rabbit to fall into the trap. After waiting for more than an hour, a rogue cultivator with a sword on his back appeared in the detection range of the Heaven’s Eye Talisman. Nineteenth-Leaf. Of course, his sword was not a flying sword, but just an ordinary sharp blade.

Nineteenth-Leaf, and he’s alone. I should be able to win, right? A thought moved in his heart, but to be cautious, he prepared to wait until the rogue cultivator was closer before launching a sudden sneak attack.

But his wishful thinking was for naught. Before he could get close, a Taichu Sect interception team arrived.

“Stop!” Seeing that there was only one rogue cultivator, and his cultivation was only at the Nineteenth-Leaf, the three Taichu disciples were excited. They immediately slapped Godspeed Talismans on themselves and rushed over, for fear that he would run away.

Seeing the three of them, the rogue cultivator, who was a leaf stronger than one of them, did not run. Instead, a strong battle intent erupted from his eyes, and he looked at them with a cold gaze. The three of them surrounded him in a triangular formation, each one releasing a Talisman Beast.

“Kill yourself, and we will leave you a complete corpse,” the leading Twentieth-Leaf disciple said. “You cannot escape. If you dare to resist, you will die without a complete corpse.”

The rogue cultivator sneered. He was not worried at all. An even stronger battle intent emanated from him as he drew the sword from his back.