The sun was setting in the west.
The Flying Sword upgrade was complete, but Li Xuan searched the clouds for a while and couldn't find the Rogue Cultivator.
"Could it be that this person escaped?"
He flew out from the clouds, his left hand clutching a Vajra Talisman, and his right hand a Fireball Talisman. The upgraded Flying Sword lay unremarkably within the spirit boat, as if it were an unrefined, ownerless Flying Sword.
"He's not on the mountaintop either. If I were him, would I flee?"
"Based on their previous conversation, they coveted my spirit boat. A Medium Grade spirit boat is worth 50 Spirit Stones. Of the two people I killed, only one had a Storage Pouch, and it contained a surprisingly rich hoard. If I were him, not to mention the revenge for his brother, could he abandon all that wealth?"
"The answer is no. Then he must be hiding in the shadows. There's no need to hide at the foot of the mountain; I have a spirit boat, so he can't easily guess which path I'll take down. If he hid at the market entrance, not only would he not dare to fight me there, but the four entrances to the market would be enough for him to give up."
"So, the only remaining place I'm sure to go is that small courtyard. It's a bit of a shame."
He vanished into the clouds, analyzing carefully.
A moment later, with a wary expression, he flew towards the mountaintop. A hundred steps from the small courtyard, he threw out a stack of Low Grade Fireball Talismans mixed with Medium Grade Fireball Talismans, sending them flying towards the courtyard.
Blazing flames ignited in the small courtyard. Li Xuan's expression remained unchanged. Even if the other party had truly escaped, he wouldn't abandon this step; he'd rather kill by mistake than let them go.
However, a golden light shone within the flames.
"Die, you bastard!"
The Rogue Cultivator boss, enveloped in golden light, leaped out of the inferno. A stack of Fireball Talismans flew towards Li Xuan, and behind them, a Flying Sword was hidden.
Li Xuan's expression remained calm. He calculated the time in his mind and put away his spirit boat.
Seeing Li Xuan's intention to confront him head-on, the opponent sneered.
"You're really courting death. I'd like to see how many Talismans you have left and if you can break through my High Grade Vajra Talisman."
The golden light on his body did not diminish. A High Grade Vajra Talisman lasts for a quarter of an hour, unlike a Medium Grade one which only lasts for a breath, but its price is also quite expensive, costing a full 20 Spirit Stones on the market.
"Four Vajra Talismans, four breaths. That's enough."
Li Xuan took a deep breath. As the opponent's Fireball Talismans approached him, a golden light appeared on his body. The Vajra Talismans, upgraded by the System, could greatly weaken the power of High Grade Fireball Talismans. Therefore, he wasn't afraid that the opponent would use High Grade Fireball Talismans; at most, he would be injured, but not die.
At the same time, he threw a handful of Fireball Talismans, which flew rapidly towards the Rogue Cultivator boss, with his Flying Sword following close behind, skimming the ground.
Soon, explosions occurred where both of them were, but the explosions lasted for less than three breaths. As the smoke dissipated, their figures were revealed.
Li Xuan was charred black all over, but his eyes were full of spirit. The Rogue Cultivator boss, however, had his eyes wide open, a Flying Sword embedded in his neck. In his hand, he still clutched an unactivated Fireball Talisman.
"Cough, cough."
Li Xuan picked up the Flying Sword that had fallen in front of him due to the death of the evil Cultivator boss. He slowly walked towards him. Reaching him, he pulled out the Fireball Talisman from his hand, and after sensing it, he immediately chuckled:
"When you should have been sneaky, you weren't. When you should have fought with all your might, you held back. You... deserved it. In short, you died from talking too much."
Just now, the Rogue Cultivator boss had indeed mixed a High Grade Fireball Talisman among the others, but it was a fake High Grade one. Generally, such a Fireball Talisman has passed its expiration date, and its power is greatly diminished. That's why, even mixed among so many Fireball Talismans, its power only managed to break through the Vajra Talisman's defense, but caused no greater harm.
If the opponent had truly used a perfectly preserved High Grade Fireball Talisman, Li Xuan would have been injured this time, instead of merely being blackened all over as he was now.
After searching the body, he threw a Low Grade Fireball Talisman to burn the Rogue Cultivator boss, turning him into ashes.
After washing himself in the mountain spring, he put on new clothes taken from the Rogue Cultivator's Storage Pouch and sat cross-legged by the Heavenly Pond, slowly recovering the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian.
In this battle, his Spiritual Qi was almost exhausted. The greatest consumption came from the Armor-Piercing Flying Sword, which depleted 90% of his Spiritual Qi in just one strike.
"This sword... though good, requires too much Spiritual Qi. It can only be used as a trump card, a last resort. Normally, I have to be careful with it."
Although he won the battle, he was still lingering with fear. Protected by the Sect, this was his first true battle with someone. Fortunately, with the calmness he honed during his childhood escape and his large reserve of Talismans, he narrowly won.
"If these Rogue Cultivators hadn't deliberately revealed these things, I would probably still be in the dark, still thinking this incident was just an accident. Now that I think about it carefully, I just arrived, and most Rogue Cultivators don't know my specific situation. Provoking me rashly would be unwise."
"If the Storage Pouch hadn't been on this old Rogue Cultivator, allowing me to replenish some Spirit Stones midway, I'm afraid I would have only been able to hide back in the market. The Qi Refining third-layer Realm still limits me too much and makes me too easily coveted. Fortunately, I won this time. Such probing should be much less frequent in the coming time. This Zhou Lin is really a troublesome one."
"That Zhou Family Old Ancestor seems to be at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Realm. Besides that, the Zhou Family also has three clansmen who have reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and two venerated guests are also at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. The most troublesome thing is that the Zhou Family is said to have a Foundation Establishment clansman cultivating in the Inner Sect. This is the core reason they can become a major Family here. Revenge must be handled with caution; at least at my current Realm, I still need to lay low."
Li Xuan recalled the information about the Zhou Family that Island Lord Feng had introduced to him, his expression slightly sinking. On the surface, with the Saintess as his backing, he seemed fearless, but in reality, only he knew that the Saintess had no real connection with him. This matter couldn't withstand scrutiny; it would fall apart with a poke. By then, things would not be good.
"I still need to focus on improving my own strength. If I were Foundation Establishment right now, how would Zhou Lin dare to insult me, and how would Su Qinghan dare to be inferior to me?"
A Foundation Establishment at eighteen, let alone in the Bingxuan Sect, was a rarity even in the North Sea. Most Cultivators who could reach Foundation Establishment before sixty were blessed by heaven.
The Early Stage of Qi Refining, the first three layers, is relatively easy. But from Early Stage to Middle Stage, it requires a large intake of Spiritual Qi. After the Middle Stage, the Spiritual Qi needed for Cultivation will double, and correspondingly, the Dantian's Spiritual Qi storage will also double.
From Middle Stage to Late Stage, which is from Qi Refining sixth layer to Qi Refining seventh layer, this is the first Bottleneck a Cultivator encounters in their life. If they pass, their strength greatly increases. If they don't, their life ends at this Realm. If that old Rogue Cultivator today had been at the Qi Refining seventh layer, Li Xuan would definitely not have won so easily.
"In the coming time, everything will be focused on improving my own strength. The Bronze Palace must be built as soon as possible. At least then, even if I can't win, I can run away. With this harvest, 100 Spirit Stones don't seem like a big problem for me, not to mention I still have this treasure mountain."
He planned in his mind. After sitting cross-legged for a long time, the sky gradually darkened. He drove his spirit boat and carefully patrolled the Heavenly Pond several times, then his expression turned completely grim.
Using the fading light, he saw that the fish in the lake were sparse. Based on his experience feeding Spirit Fish in the Sect, he could roughly estimate that there were fewer than fifty thousand fish in the lake, and all of them were small fish. Not to mention Spirit Fish, he hadn't even seen a single treasure fish, as if someone had cleaned out all the fish and then restocked with fry.
"When he arrived, the Senior Brother who brought him here had warned him that if he failed to complete the Spirit Fish submission task for three consecutive years, his position would be replaced, and he would be demoted from an Outer Sect Disciple back to a Utility Disciple."
"For others, being demoted to a Utility Disciple still offers a way out, but for me, being demoted to a Utility Disciple and returning to the Sect, if Su Qinghan sees me and remembers that night... Alas, human hearts are unpredictable. Fortunately, I have the System... Zhou Family, I've noted it down."