Chapter 290: Thirty Heads Draw Out the Mountain Hermit Yunhe

‘Doesn’t he know not to flaunt his wealth?’

Qin Haoxuan looked at the mountain of spirit stones and chuckled to himself. This Elder Ximen was truly interesting, to think of such a roguish method to try and keep him here. ‘If I wasn’t in such a hurry to see Xu Yu and explain things, I wouldn’t mind staying to help him out…’

‘But as for now…’ Qin Haoxuan smiled helplessly. He would have to disappoint Elder Ximen for the time being. He would come back later and kill some more rogue cultivators to compensate him.

“Thank you, Elder.”

Qin Haoxuan clasped his fists in thanks, then took out the Dragon Scale Immortal Sword that had transformed into a protective mirror on his chest. He took two thousand low third-grade spirit stones from the ground, opened the sword’s storage space, and then, with a great wave of his hand, swept the entire mountain of spirit stones inside.

“This… this…” Ximen Sheng, who had intended to make things difficult for Qin Haoxuan to keep him here, was stunned to see that he actually possessed a storage space. Moreover, this storage space was not something like a Qiankun Talisman. From the brief glimpse he had just caught, the space within this thing was much, much larger than a typical Qiankun Talisman! And why did it look so familiar? Yet he couldn’t recall where he had seen it before.

After stowing the spirit stones, Qin Haoxuan bowed slightly and said very respectfully, “Deputy Hall Master Ximen, there is one matter this disciple would like to ask you about.”

“Speak,” Ximen Sheng said, looking at Qin Haoxuan with a sense of defeat.

“This disciple would like to ask where Junior Sister Xu Yu is for her trial in the mortal world,” Qin Haoxuan said, his gaze falling on the incense burner in front of Ximen Sheng. Wisps of musk-scented smoke were currently rising from it, creating a faint haze between them. Through the fragrant smoke, he could vaguely make out the troubled expression on Ximen Sheng’s face.

Each team of disciples entering the mortal world went to a different location. Qin Haoxuan didn’t know Xu Yu’s specific location, so even with a month’s leave, he would have no hope of finding her.

Ximen Sheng thought to himself, ‘Qin Haoxuan and Xu Yu have a very good relationship. It’s not forbidden for them to visit each other. I might as well tell him where she is. Otherwise, if Xu Yu finds out later that I made things difficult for him, she might think I’m malicious. Offending an Unsurpassed Purple Seed is not a good idea.’

After a brief moment of deliberation, Ximen Sheng said, “Each team goes to a different place. Xu Yu is in the capital of the Soaring Dragon Nation, Zixiao Imperial City, to complete her trial.”

Hearing this, Qin Haoxuan thought, ‘This trial of entering the mortal world is quite interesting. My team had it relatively well, fighting life-and-death battles with rogue cultivators in the wilderness. But Xu Yu is truly entering the mortal world, experiencing it at the very center of secular power.’

“The biggest difference between Taichu Sect disciples and rogue cultivators is that rogues do not have the trials of entering the immortal path and entering the mortal world,” Ximen Sheng said, a hint of disdain in his eyes. “That is why many rogue cultivators cannot be considered true cultivators! Because they can’t even tell the difference between what is immortal and what is mortal!”

Ximen Sheng said with a serious expression, “You do indeed have the qualifications to request leave, but you must remember that you have taken more leave than the others during these few months, and you have wasted more time. This will not be beneficial for your future! However, this trip to the imperial city will be a good opportunity to experience the secular world. It is a place of true mortal prosperity.”

“Experience it well; it will be very helpful to you,” Ximen Sheng instructed, looking at Qin Haoxuan seriously and emphasizing, “But after ten days, you must return.”

Qin Haoxuan sensed Ximen Sheng’s goodwill and chuckled softly. Looking at him again, he felt that this Ximen Sheng wasn’t a bad person after all. He immediately gave a sincere bow of thanks and then, under Ximen Sheng’s helpless gaze, dragged his tired, blood-stained body out of the tent.

Having taken the spirit stones and secured his leave, Qin Haoxuan went directly back to his own tent to wash up and rest. Although his magnificent feat of slaying thirty rogue cultivators today was impressive, it had come at the cost of complete exhaustion.

…

Long after Qin Haoxuan and Xing had left, Ximen Sheng was still trying to figure out what Qin Haoxuan’s storage treasure was. It felt so familiar, and he racked his brain for a long time. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He leaped up from his chair, his face a mask of horror. “The Dragon Scale Immortal Sword! It’s the sect’s treasure, the Dragon Scale Immortal Sword! It must… it must have been the Sect Master who awarded it to Qin Haoxuan as a reward…”

“The Dragon Scale Immortal Sword can still be used as long as one has spirit stones. Qin Haoxuan has earned over a million low third-grade spirit stones on the battlefield… At one hundred thousand stones per activation, he has enough to use it ten times!”

Ximen Sheng thought of the Dragon Scale Immortal Sword’s terrifying power and its glorious history of once leveling Emperor Peak with a single strike, and his heart trembled slightly.

…

In the rogue cultivator camp, the main command tent was in an uproar. After one person, Qin Haoxuan, had slain thirty of their men in a single day, they had been scared into calling an emergency meeting. The meeting was presided over by two rogue cultivators at the Fortieth-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm.

“Fellow Daoist Jiang, our losses today have been immense, with thirty men killed by a single brat from the Taichu Sect. You must find a way to deal with him!”

“Who is that person, to be so powerful?”

“Is it that one called Li Jing? Did he take some kind of stimulant today? To become so formidable?!”

“No, it wasn’t Li Jing. Have you forgotten that a month ago, there was another fellow just as powerful as Li Jing, named Qin Haoxuan? I’ve seen him before. The person today was him!”

“It’s terrifying, one person actually killed thirty… Fellow Daoist Jiang, you must find a way to eliminate him, or he will be an endless scourge!”

“Yes, otherwise the lower-level members of our camp will be too scared to even go outside!”

The rogue cultivator presiding over the meeting, addressed as Fellow Daoist Jiang, was named Jiang Luofeng. He was at the Fortieth-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm. His brows were tightly knitted as he muttered to himself, “He must be killed! He absolutely cannot be left alive!”

These rogue cultivators reached a consensus: this Qin Haoxuan must be eliminated. He was far more terrifying than Li Jing!

To kill thirty rogue cultivators in a single day, all of them in battles against higher-level opponents—such combat prowess made even Jiang Luofeng, at the Fortieth-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm, shudder involuntarily.

As the rogue cultivators were discussing how to deal with Qin Haoxuan, a figure that would be forever seared into the memories of both Qin Haoxuan and Xing arrived at their camp.

This person was none other than the Mountain Hermit Yunhe, who had first been severely injured by Elder Yu and then nearly killed by an explosion set by Qin Haoxuan, even losing his Qiankun Talisman.

Ever since he had been injured by the half-finished Bifang Talisman Beast set by Qin Haoxuan, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe’s injuries had been compounded. The girl with the Variant Seed had been rescued by those two detestable brats, and he had even lost the Qiankun Talisman that held his entire life’s savings.

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe had hidden in an unknown corner to recuperate for several months. Only then had some of his more serious injuries slightly improved, but this only meant that the surface of his wounds was no longer bleeding; he was still far from a true recovery.

“Qin Haoxuan! Qin Haoxuan!” The Mountain Hermit Yunhe constantly thought of this name. Back when he was chasing the boy, that Taichu Sect member, Chi Lian, had shouted this name, and Yunhe had remembered it. Especially after having a treasure as rare as a Variant Seed cultivator snatched away by a mere Sixth or Seventh-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm brat, and having his entire fortune stolen along with his Qiankun Talisman, the name Qin Haoxuan was now etched into his very bones.

“Qin Haoxuan, you had better not fall into my hands. Otherwise, I will make you wish you were never born!”

Even in his dreams, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe gritted his teeth. This hatred, this humiliation, was too deep, so deep that he could not extricate himself from it!

After some of his more severe injuries had mostly recovered, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe needed to find some medicinal herbs to recuperate. However, in his current condition, it was unrealistic to go to dangerous places to search for the herbs he needed. Fortunately, after cultivating for a hundred years, he still had a few rogue cultivator friends.

One of his friends was named Sun Yaowang. As his name suggested, this person had some expertise in the art of alchemy and refining medicine, and he possessed many strange and rare herbs. He happened to have the herbs that Yunhe needed.

Through various inquiries, Yunhe learned that he and many other rogue cultivators were at the Seven Zhang Abyss, fighting against the Taichu Sect.

At once, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe rushed to the rogue cultivator camp.

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe was a rogue cultivator who commanded a flying sword. In the Taichu Sect, which had tens of thousands of disciples, only a dozen or so people possessed one. Even the Hall Masters of the five great halls, despite their noble status and formidable strength, did not have a true flying sword.

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe’s fame among the rogue cultivators of the Soaring Dragon Nation was immense. However, the few rogue cultivators guarding the formation were not discerning enough to recognize him at a glance.

When they saw him appear, commanding a true flying sword that trailed a long rainbow of light, they looked at each other in utter horror. ‘Don’t tell me the Taichu Sect can’t afford to lose and has sent a cultivator with a flying sword to annihilate us?’

A flying sword, whether in the hearts of Taichu Sect cultivators or rogue cultivators, was a supreme existence. How could an ordinary cultivator possibly possess a true flying sword? Those who did were all truly powerful experts.

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe arrived outside the formation, gathered his spiritual energy, and shouted, “The Mountain Hermit Yunhe is here! Open the formation at once!”

His voice was like rolling thunder, wave after wave passing into the formation.

When the few rogue cultivators on guard duty heard the name “Mountain Hermit Yunhe,” their terrified expressions immediately turned to joy. Although there were Spirit Tree Realm experts presiding over the rogue cultivator camp, there was not a single one with a true flying sword. Yunhe’s sudden arrival was like a stimulant, exciting the entire camp.

After comparing his appearance and his true flying sword, the few guards at the entrance were moved to tears. They immediately confirmed that he was the real Mountain Hermit Yunhe, opened the formation, and invited him in.

After all, if a Taichu Sect cultivator with a flying sword had come, with the power of the sword, they could have shattered this defensive formation in a few strikes and wouldn’t have needed to be so secretive. And with the pride of the Taichu Sect cultivators, they wouldn’t deign to disguise themselves and deceive others.

“Venerable Ancestor Yunhe, you are a senior expert whom I have admired for a long time. This junior disciple pays his respects to you.”

“Venerable Ancestor Yunhe, we have been waiting for you as one waits for the stars and the moon. Now that you are here, we can finally feel at ease!”

“Venerable Ancestor, we have been beaten miserably by those brats from the Taichu Sect these past few months. Some of their disciples in their teens and twenties of the Spirit Sprout Realm have inflicted heavy casualties on our rogue cultivator brothers. You must seek justice for us!”

In the hearts of these low-level rogue cultivators, with the Mountain Hermit Yunhe and his true flying sword presiding, even if the Taichu Sect sent out an elder with a flying sword, there would be nothing to fear!

Perhaps under his leadership, they could even launch a full-scale counterattack against the Taichu Sect, sweeping away the frustration of being suppressed for months and killing all those disgustingly rich and arrogant Taichu disciples.

As the rogue cultivators showered him with flattery, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe, who had suffered a great loss at the hands of a Sixth or Seventh-Leaf Taichu disciple just a few months ago, had a gloomy face. After being praised by so many people, his expression only grew darker. He thought to himself, ‘What does it have to do with me that you brats were beaten? At least you were beaten and killed by a group of cultivators in their teens and twenties. I was taken down by a Sixth or Seventh-Leaf Taichu brat and nearly died. Who is going to seek justice for me?’

Of course, whether for the sake of his reputation or his pride, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe would never let it be known that he had been injured by a Sixth or Seventh-Leaf Taichu disciple. At most, he would admit to having a great battle with a Taichu Sect elder who also had a flying sword, and then escaping after being injured.

To be injured by a Taichu Sect elder with a flying sword and still escape alive was not a shameful thing.

(End of Chapter)