Chapter187: An Immortal in the Mortal World

“I’ll think about it…” Xing felt somewhat vexed. If it were anyone else who had said this to him, he would have casually made an oath and then gone back on his word later. But it was Qin Haoxuan; he didn’t want to deceive him. These past few days in the Taichu Sect had been very stifling for him. He had indeed planned to eat a few of their people later to vent his frustration. But to actually agree to this… Xing had a real headache. How had he, a decisive and formidable demon who had roamed freely in the Netherworld, become so soft-hearted towards this human, Qin Haoxuan?

Qin Haoxuan waited for his reply while taking out the Thousand-Mile Mirror from his robes. As long as it was someone he had seen before, he could use the mirror to find them. He used it to check Master Chi Lian’s position. In the mirror, Master Chi Lian was flying on his Talisman Sword, and near him was a small stream.

Xing felt the scene was familiar. He muttered to himself, “This place looks so familiar!”

Qin Haoxuan looked a few more times, then suddenly slapped his forehead and shot to his feet. “Holy crap, isn’t that the path we just ran past? Master Chi Lian is catching up! Run!”

He immediately stood up, took the refilled Thousand-Mile Talisman in his hand, and instantly activated it to flee. Just as he shot off, Master Chi Lian appeared in the spot where they had just been resting. Seeing him, Qin Haoxuan unhesitatingly pushed the talisman even harder.

Master Chi Lian had just managed to catch up to him with the help of the Great Luo Tracking Art, but he never expected the fellow’s nose to be sharper than a dog’s. The moment he arrived, the kid had scrambled up and run, and his speed was no slower than before. He had put all his effort into catching up, only to find himself grasping at empty air.

“Let’s see how long you can run!” Master Chi Lian ground his teeth, his eyes glinting with a venomous light, like a viper about to strike. “The tracking effect of the Great Luo Tracking Art lasts for fifteen days. For these fifteen days, I will chase you relentlessly. I don’t believe you have enough energy to drive that artifact forever! And with such constant use, the artifact itself will eventually be destroyed!”

Seeing Qin Haoxuan disappear in a puff of smoke, Master Chi Lian hatefully replaced the spirit stones in his Talisman Sword and then gave chase again. He had already prepared himself for a half-month-long pursuit.

It had to be said, the speed of the Thousand-Mile Talisman was very fast, and Master Chi Lian, riding his Talisman Sword, was quickly left behind. Thinking of his terrifying opponent, Qin Haoxuan ran until the spirit stones in the talisman were depleted before stopping. After hastily replacing them, he took out the Thousand-Mile Mirror to take a look, and—holy crap—that fellow was catching up again! The moment he arrived, Qin Haoxuan had already fled. Master Chi Lian, now accustomed to it, replaced his spirit stones and gave chase again.

After this happened several times, no matter how far he got ahead of Master Chi Lian, or whether he fled into a dense forest or a mountain ravine, Master Chi Lian was always able to catch up. Once, he had even nearly caught him.

Qin Haoxuan hastily replaced the spent stones in the talisman and began to run again. He said to Xing, “What’s going on? No matter how far I run, or in what direction, this Master Chi Lian can always catch up!”

Xing thought for a moment and said, “You must have been hit by his tracking spell. It’s probably some kind of tracking art. Once you’re hit by something like that, he can know your position at any time for half a month.”

Hearing this, Qin Haoxuan grew anxious. Even if he had enough spirit stones, a half-month-long life of fleeing would be enough to exhaust him to death. “Xing, help me break this tracking spell. Otherwise, when I run out of spirit stones, we’ll just be waiting to die.”

Xing rolled his eye. “I can’t break this tracking spell. My strength is not enough right now, and the person who cast it is a Spirit Tree Realm expert. How could I possibly break it?”

Hearing his words, Qin Haoxuan felt very displeased. “Ever since I joined the Taichu Sect, whenever I’ve met someone stronger than me, I’ve always been able to win. I’ve never been so wretched since I began cultivating, to be suppressed and beaten like this!”

Xing said, “Your opponent is a Spirit Tree Realm expert. For them to be this powerful, it’s perfectly normal for you to be no match for them.”

Qin Haoxuan sighed softly, his tone becoming firm and powerful. “But are we just going to keep taking this beating? Even a cornered rabbit will bite back! Is there no way for us to bite him, to let him know what pain feels like?” He then said to Xing, “Do you have a way to counterattack and kill him? He’s been chasing me all night; in his eyes, I have no ability to fight back at all. He must be extremely careless. If we suddenly counterattack now, even if we can’t kill him, we can seriously injure him and make him less arrogant.”

“He’s right to think you have no ability to fight back. You really don’t! If you did, why would you be running?”

“But aren’t you here?” Qin Haoxuan said, patting Xing, who was wrapped around his arm. “You know so many strange and wonderful things. I’m sure you have a way to fight back.”

Xing said, “My cultivation is not high enough! If Master Chi Lian were only at the forty-ninth leaf, and we had enough spirit stones, I’d have a thousand ways to kill him. But he’s a Spirit Tree Realm expert, and we only have a few spirit stones on hand. What can we do?”

“No way at all?”

“None!” Xing answered decisively. “If we could find some materials in the mortal realm to set up an array, we might be able to put up a fight. But right now, besides running, there’s absolutely nothing we can do.”

Helpless, Qin Haoxuan could only continue to flee. He ran until the spirit stones in the talisman were once again depleted. He stopped, replaced them, and then began to search the nearby terrain with the Thousand-Mile Mirror. A few dozen li ahead, on a vast plain, two mortal armies were engaged in a battle. There were several thousand men on each side, fighting a chaotic battle to the death. The battlefield was piled high with corpses, and the air was thick with the aura of slaughter.

Seeing this scene, Xing immediately grew excited. “Quickly, run there! If you run there, Master Chi Lian won’t be able to find us.”

“Why?” Qin Haoxuan asked, surprised.

“Because there is a battle happening there. There is too much killing intent, too much of the stench of blood, and the resentful energy of the dead soldiers. With the help of these auras, you can dilute the tracking spell on your body. Then he won’t be able to find us. After we escape his pursuit, we can find a place to hide. We can even gather a large amount of the killing intent and death energy and, with the few spirit stones we have, set up a great killing array. Even if we can’t kill him, we can injure him and deplete his vital energy. And don’t you still have the Formless Sword? If you can seriously injure him with that, then I can eat him. After I eat him, my strength will greatly increase, and you will be much safer in the mortal realm.”

Speaking of injuring and eating Master Chi Lian, Xing’s eyes gleamed. Even though he was in the form of a shield, Qin Haoxuan could imagine his long, drooling tongue. For a being from the Netherworld, eating a Spirit Tree Realm cultivator was better than any heavenly treasure or spiritual pill.

Having no other way to shake off the relentless pursuit of Master Chi Lian, Qin Haoxuan had no choice but to follow his suggestion and run towards the battlefield. Before he left, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He said to Xing with great seriousness, “You won’t eat people on the battlefield, will you?”

Xing sneered with contempt. “Rest assured. I like to eat cultivators. Those dirty, stinking mortals, covered in filth, I really have no interest in them.”

Qin Haoxuan thought that made sense and immediately ran towards the battlefield. The distance of a few dozen li was covered in an instant. The entire battlefield was permeated with the pungent, thick smell of blood. The ground was stained red.

He arrived at the rear of one of the armies. Not having any way to conceal his figure, he was immediately discovered by a patrol of soldiers. Twenty to thirty of them, armed with real swords and spears, immediately surrounded him. Seeing their gleaming weapons, Qin Haoxuan, still not fully accustomed to his new status, felt a trace of fear.

Sensing his fear, Xing said, “You have no need to be afraid of them. They are just mortals. You are a cultivator. They should be afraid of you.”

His reminder made Qin Haoxuan think of the day when a First-Leaf new disciple had killed twenty ferocious bandits with a single blow. These soldiers were not even as skilled as those bandits. And since even the power of a Heaven-Cleaving Slash couldn’t harm him, these mortal weapons were even less of a threat.

At this thought, his confidence soared. He said to the soldiers, “I am not here to participate in your war. I am an immortal.”

The soldiers looked at each other and then burst into a wild laughter. One of them said, “Brothers, seize him! We’ve discovered a spy, and he’s so deranged he’s claiming to be an immortal. Haha, how utterly ridiculous!”

The soldiers let out a resounding cheer and, raising their weapons, were about to cut him down. Although he didn’t want to harm them, he had no choice but to make a display of his power. He condensed his spiritual energy and unleashed a Heaven-Cleaving Slash. A blade formed of spiritual energy appeared in his hand. With a casual swing, the mortal weapons that were about to strike him were all severed, as easily as cutting tofu.

A faint immortal aura emanated from him, and the cultivators’ majesty completely stunned the mortal soldiers.

“Ah, a High Immortal! It’s really a High Immortal…”

“We’ve offended a High Immortal! What do we do?”

“Run… run!”

One of the soldiers was so terrified that he had just uttered the word “run” when another brother grabbed him and said urgently, “Where can you run to in front of a High Immortal? Don’t make any rash moves and anger him, or we’ll all die!”