Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 824 - Chapter 824 Chapter 824 Someone to Take Care of the Aftermath

Chapter 824: Chapter 824 Someone to Take Care of the Aftermath Chapter 824: Chapter 824 Someone to Take Care of the Aftermath Liang Zhongyu didn’t target that high tier of Qi Refinement cultivator just out of a sense of imbalance.

He thought, since he was already offending people, it wouldn’t hurt to offend one more.

Ordinary people’s impression of loose cultivators is that they are desperately brazen; this is indeed true. Once they are pushed to the edge, there is nothing they dare not do.

His transformation was too swift, and when he made his move, it was like a thunderbolt. The one who had been battling him for half the day was unexpectedly, in a single encounter, forcibly severed of an arm by him.

Feng Jun was a bit displeased and coughed lightly, “Lao Liang?”

“I’m just taking a storage bag,” Liang Zhongyu raised his hand to snatch the other party’s storage bag, and with a raise of his leg, he kicked the person over.

Then he snickered, “The three that Venerable Feng you killed, I dare not touch their belongings, so I can only deal with this one… Rest assured, I’ll spare his life so he can go back and report.”

“This is really…” Feng Jun shook his head, both amused and frustrated, but to speak the truth, killing people and seizing treasures were far too common in the Cultivation World. He just hadn’t expected Liang Zhongyu to be so scrupulous over such minutiae.

Anyway, he was very clear that the one whose arm was severed definitely wasn’t surnamed Xue, so sparing the life of this man named Sun was a bold move on his part. And as for Liang Zhongyu insisting on looting the treasures, Feng Jun had no grounds to stop him.

In reality, he was very clear that Lao Liang had been dragged into trouble by him, inevitably clashing with the Xue Family and feeling uncomfortable about it.

After Liang Zhongyu seized the storage bag, he turned around, and with one stroke of his sword, he killed Xue Hongfei.

With this committed act, the matter should be coming to an end.

Feng Jun glanced at the man with the severed arm and said solemnly, “He who kills shall be killed in turn. Considering you’re not the ringleader, I will spare your life… I’m being quite generous in my dealings, am I not?”

The man climbed up from the ground, and like lightning, sealed the major acupoints on his shoulder, answering through gritted teeth, “Thank you, Venerable Feng!”

Feng Jun didn’t care about any grudge the man might hold. He gestured, “Mr. Sun, tell the Xue Family that I am ready to face them for what I’ve done; let them direct all grievances to me.”

He was determined to kill those two from the Xue Family who were in the out-of-dust phase, and as to whether he would antagonize the Xue Family–was that even a question anymore?

He had no illusions that the Xue Family would let him off the hook. From the moment they made a move against him, it had become a fight to the death, and although he intended to lie low and progress covertly, he wasn’t prepared to unduly constrain himself.

If the Xue Family didn’t come knocking, he wouldn’t go looking for them–keeping low after not suffering losses was plausible.

But should the Xue Family come after him, he wasn’t afraid to accept this cause and effect. He just hoped they would understand–since he was the killer, it was his responsibility to face the consequences.

The cultivator surnamed Sun chuckled wryly, “Alright, I’ll make sure to relay that.”

After the fierce battle with Liang Zhongyu, his spiritual energy was nearly depleted, and although he had Qi-Recovery Pills, he now had only half of his usual spiritual energy left. And having had an arm severed, not to mention the physical injury, his vitality was greatly diminished as well.

Having his storage bag taken, he accepted his fate since he was employed as an external guard by the Xue Family, he lacked wealth anyway, and there was nothing of value in his storage bag. If possible, he hoped to receive two pills for healing, to ensure his safe return to the city.

This was also the norm among cultivators in this realm; if one wasn’t planning on a complete massacre, leaving some healing pills or travel expenses was only proper–the proverbial saying went: leave a thread in the fabric of life, that you may find it again in the future.

But Liang Zhongyu’s surprise attack, which struck home, made the Sun surnamed cultivator extremely irritated. The fight was supposed to be over; why the need to injure him further?

If he wanted the storage bag, he could have just said so. After all, he was no match for the two of them and would have handed it over; why the need to sever his arm?

He was fixated on Liang Zhongyu’s wrongdoing and didn’t consider that, had Liang explicitly demanded the bag, he might have found another excuse to refuse.

Nor did he ever entertain the thought that all the while he had been lying in wait to ambush Liang Zhongyu–wasn’t that a sneak attack too?

Choking on his resentment, he didn’t bother to ask for pills, muttering, “May I go now?”

After receiving permission, he turned and left without another word.

Traversing the Qingling Mountain Range alone at night was risky enough, let alone with a missing arm. The danger was obvious; Spirit Beasts had keen noses, especially at night, which was prime time for the more aggressive ones to prowl.

More frightening than the Spirit Beasts were cultivators who hunted them. Not only did they prey on Spirit Beasts, but they also wouldn’t let slip the “two-legged treasures” they encountered.

Being experienced in wilderness survival, the Sun surnamed cultivator, after a night of grueling travel, finally reached the city wall the following morning.

Upon reaching the city wall, he didn’t even have the strength to leap over it–especially without his flying artifact. It was the city guards who spotted his plight and helped him up.

The guards were bound to ask what had happened–what if Spirit Beasts were preparing some new menace?

Of course, the Sun surnamed cultivator indicated that he had nothing to disclose.

Once you leave Qiuchen Market, the rule against cultivators fighting each other doesn’t apply, especially beyond the city walls, where it’s a brutal case of the survival of the fittest. Any mishaps could be blamed on Spirit Beasts–this was precisely why the Xue Family waited until leaving the city to make a move on Feng Jun.

The Sun surnamed cultivator wouldn’t report Feng Jun’s deed–firstly, it was pointless; secondly… the Xue Family couldn’t afford such a loss of face.

So he merely stated, “I had a brush with a Spirit Beast attack and barely escaped back here. I need to rest.”

This statement wasn’t entirely true or false, but the guards, being experienced and knowledgeable, guessed that this chap had run into serious trouble. They no longer bothered to ask–after all, if his storage bag was gone, what had happened to him was self-evident, wasn’t it?

Anyway, a spirit beast had just attacked the city wall. There wouldn’t likely be any major movements in the near future.

After leaving the black archway, the cultivator surnamed Sun hurried toward Fang Market. This place wasn’t quite within the market’s boundary; it was more akin to the distant suburbs. The chaos here was much less than in the Qingling Mountain Range, but it was far from safe.

His complexion was pale, and one arm was freshly severed, clearly visible wounds indicating he had suffered severe injuries.

Yet, his aura remained fairly stable. After all, he was at the high tier of qi refinement, and ordinary people would keep their distance when they saw him from afar.

What he didn’t notice was that in the forest behind him, a sparrowhawk fluttered into the air.

He walked swiftly, and upon turning a corner, he saw two mid-stage qi refining cultivators walking slowly ahead, with their backs to him.

Maintaining his pace, he planned to bypass the two men.

However, just as he was about to overtake them, he suddenly felt an immense sense of threat.

On instinct, he reached for the short spear on his back, but it was too late.

Two bright arcs of bladelight came slashing from in front, so cunningly angled and perfectly coordinated that his heart sank, “A killing formation!”

In truth, it wasn’t a formation, just a simple combination of lethal tactics, honed by human cultivators during their hunts for spirit beasts.

If he had been in perfect condition, he wouldn’t have feared this killing formation, but now he was gravely injured, his qi and blood severely depleted, and he didn’t even have his storage bag. To make matters worse, the attackers surged forward without giving him much time to react.

Almost in an instant, he was chopped into three pieces.

The two attackers exchanged glances, one of them pulling out a storage talisman to collect his remains, then looking around cautiously.

The other took out a small bottle and sprinkled a pinch of brown powder into the air.

After spreading the powder, the two of them left the road without another word, occasionally scattering more as they went.

The powder slowly drifted down in the air, eventually becoming colorless and transparent, and then, little by little, it disappeared.

Having retreated over a mile away, the two drew out their flying artifacts and left skimming above the ground.

No more than two minutes after they had left, a group of four walked by, clearly a team of spirit beast hunters.

The leader, who was at mid-stage qi refinement, abruptly halted, “Hold on!”

The others, unprepared for any warning, hastily retreated several steps, with two of them even drawing their weapons, “Lao Jiang, what’s going on?”

Lao Jiang, with furrowed brows and flaring nostrils, took a long time before speaking gravely, “This smell… it seems like Fade Powder.”

Fade Powder could partially conceal one’s aura… even one’s fate. It was often used to hide traces of murder and robbery and was a controlled item–rarely sold in ordinary shops.

“Did someone commit a murder for treasure?” a young cultivator asked excitedly, “Shall we investigate?”

This place was some distance from the black archway, and cultivators wouldn’t use Fade Powder simply to avoid spirit beasts.

“Don’t meddle!” another sober cultivator spoke sternly, “Do you know who the murderer is? Or who the victim is?”

Lao Jiang waved his hand decisively, “Let’s retreat two miles and then… make a detour to fly over. Whatever it is, we won’t get involved. Better to do less than to meddle more.”

Since they had arrived swiftly, they had detected the Fade Powder. Some time later, when the second wave of cultivators passed by, they noticed nothing amiss and simply walked through.

Feng Jun didn’t know that the person he had sent to call for help had been killed. He and Liang Zhongyu had camped in Red River Valley for two more days, waiting for the experts from the Xue Family to arrive.

The Xue Family hadn’t shown up, and Liang Zhongyu really didn’t want to wait any longer–he was eager to run for it as soon as they left the archway. So he repeatedly suggested to Feng Jun–let’s go back.

Seeing that the pressure was really too much for Liang, Feng Jun had no choice but to leave Red River Valley with him.

After returning to Fang Market, Liang Zhongyu took his leave without a word, and Feng Jun didn’t stop him. He returned to his residence and waited for the people from the Xue Family to come.

While waiting, he took out the storage bags of the three men to check his loot.

This battle had brought him quite a haul. Xue Jingren, an intermediate level cultivator, had carried not only the Soul-Suppressing Bell and folding fan, but also quite a few pills and talismans, indicating his substantial wealth.

Upon seeing this, Feng Jun couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder. It’s a good thing I struck first and pressed the attack. Otherwise, with what this fellow was carrying, if I had fought him head-on, it would have cost me a lot more.

The old saying wasn’t wrong at all: war was indeed about money.

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