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Chapter 56: Are You Awake?
Chapter 56: Are You Awake?
Just as he was about to approach and completely destroy the grass puppet, a golden sword qi suddenly shot out, as swift as lightning. In the blink of an eye, it appeared before the masked cultivator.
"What kind of sword art is this?!"
The sword art was so sudden and swift that the masked cultivator didn't have enough time to summon a defensive artifact.
With death staring him in the face, he could only barely twist his body to the side.
A sharp hissing sound rang out.
The golden sword qi pierced straight through his shoulder, causing blood to gush out and soak the spiritual field.
The momentum of the sword qi was unabated as it continued on and embedded itself into the courtyard wall behind him.
"Run!"
Ignoring the excruciating pain from his shoulder, the masked cultivator's mind raced as he tried to escape from the spiritual field.
He was experienced and knew that such a profound sword art could not be executed by an ordinary Qi Refining Third Layer lone cultivator.
If he were to face a few more strikes of that sword art, or even just one more, there was a high risk of him perishing here.
A gust of wind brushed past him, and a silver-white sword blade pursued him closely.
The masked cultivator's thoughts raced, and he quickly channeled his spiritual energy, causing an ice wall to materialize in mid-air, just in time to block the incoming silver-white sword blade.
However, just as the sword blade was about to collide with the ice wall, the silver-white blade silently shattered into dozens of thin fragments. Like silvery-white butterflies, they attacked the masked cultivator from all directions.
This unexpected attack threw the masked cultivator into chaos, and the fragments pierced his limbs, shoulder, and chest.
A dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and a pitch-black spirit beast appeared in front of him. Its emerald green eyes coldly fixed on the masked cultivator, its exotic gaze causing him to be momentarily dazed.
Before he could react, the spirit beast raised its thick, white paw and slapped him on the head, knocking him to the ground. He rolled a few times and then passed out from the pain.
...
The masked cultivator slowly regained consciousness, emerging from the depths of endless darkness.
Instead of opening his eyes to observe his surroundings, he first carefully assessed the current state of his body.
The situation was dire; when he tried to circulate his spiritual energy, it felt like stirring a puddle—completely ineffective. His dantian and qi sea had been destroyed, and his cultivation had been wiped out.
At the same time, his body was bound by something, restricting his movements. The wounds on his limbs and other parts of his body were exposed to the air, causing intense pain.
His throat, heart, and lower abdomen felt a sharp, cold sensation, as if any slight movement would cause the piercing cold to invade his body.
"Are you awake?"
A gentle voice rang out from a short distance away.
The cultivator kept his eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep.
"If you don't wake up, I'll make sure you never wake up again."
The gentle voice spoke again, calm and indifferent.
With no other choice, the masked cultivator opened his eyes, his pupils darting around as he took in his surroundings.
He was currently in a simply furnished house, bound by grayish-black ropes made from grass. The silver-white fragments that had stopped at his vital weak points earlier were still hovering in front of him.
A young cultivator stood before him, his eyes clear and bright.
"I didn't expect a lone cultivator and spiritual herbologist like you to be able to hide your true strength so deeply."
"That sword art... It's almost at the level of a Grand Master. Even the sword art experts I've encountered in the past rarely possess such exquisite sword skills."
"Moreover, you're so young."
"And your cultivation... It's definitely far beyond the Qi Refining Third Layer."
The more the masked cultivator spoke, the more regretful he felt. He had originally thought that dealing with a Qi Refining Third Layer lone cultivator and spiritual herbologist would be an easy task, but he had never expected to end up in such a dire situation, heavily injured and easily captured.
"Speak. Why did you enter my residence and try to harm me?"
Lu Chen ignored the masked cultivator and asked with a smile.
"Just tell me who sent you," Lu Chen said, his voice icy.
The masked cultivator fell silent.
"Actually, it doesn't matter if you speak or not. I already have a good idea of who's behind this," Lu Chen continued.
"I'm usually a reclusive person, minding my own business and treating others with kindness. If someone has a grudge against me and wants me dead, it wouldn't be hard to figure out who it is," he said.
"But if you don't speak, the consequences will be very different. This artifact before you will slice you into thin layers, making sure you don't die in the process."
"When you have but a breath of life left, I'll send you to the black market. There are plenty of evil cultivators there who buy the souls of cultivators. Someone at your level of Qi Refining should fetch a good price." Lu Chen's tone was indifferent as he threatened the masked cultivator.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?" the cultivator asked, his voice shaking.
"If you talk, I'll give you a quick and clean end. If you don't, you'll endure endless torture of both body and soul. The choice is yours," Lu Chen replied.
"It was Zhou Haiwen, the spirit herbologist. He offered spirit stones and asked me to come and kill you. He promised to give me all the spirit herbs in your spiritual field and any jade slips you had on you," the masked cultivator confessed without hesitation.
"As I expected, it's that spirit herbologist who just won't let it go. I suppose he wants to learn the method of cultivating perfect quality spirit herbs from me," Lu Chen said, having already guessed as much. With the cultivator's confirmation, his suspicions were laid to rest.
"Tell me his address, and don't try to deceive me. You know that since we're both herbologists hired by the Hundred Grass Hall, it won't be difficult for me to verify the information," Lu Chen demanded.
"Alright, I'll tell you," the masked cultivator agreed. Having revealed the identity of his employer, he held nothing back, sharing everything he knew, still hoping that Lu Chen might spare him.
"Alright, you can rest now," Lu Chen said softly. The thin fragment hovering before the cultivator's throat suddenly shot forward, piercing deep into his throat.
After killing the cultivator, Lu Chen manipulated his spiritual energy, creating a fireball the size of a human head that hung over the corpse. It then broke apart into clusters of flames that fell upon the body, reducing it to black ash within a dozen breaths.
Lu Chen then took out an Exorcism Talisman. A soft white light radiated from it, rippling outward from the center of the black ash.
Nothing unusual happened, and Lu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He swept the thick layer of black ash together and scattered it over the soil of his spiritual field.
"You little guys dodged a bullet tonight. Here's some high-quality fertilizer as compensation," he said to the spirit herbs.
After Qin Ming, this was the second time a cultivator had met his end in Lu Chen's spiritual field, his remains becoming fertilizer.
Lu Chen tidied up the courtyard a bit, scanned his surroundings with his spiritual sense, and instructed the Azure-eyed Cloudstepper to guard the house. Then, he silently slipped out of the house.
There were cultivators patrolling the area day and night, but the level of protection varied depending on the region.
The outer area of the North District, where Lu Chen had lived before, was a mixed bag, with minimal protection.
The courtyard he resided in now was located deeper within the sect, and the protective measures were significantly stronger. However, it was usually guarded by a few low-level Qi Refining cultivators going through the motions.
Only the core areas were guarded by mid-level or even high-level Qi Refining cultivators to prevent the intrusion of evil cultivators or other malevolent forces.
Soon enough, Lu Chen arrived at his destination—the courtyard of the Zhou clan's spirit herbologist.
(End of Chapter)
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