Book 9: Chapter 71: Youngsters, Take a Different Path

The night scene slowly descended upon Jadefall City.

Xu Zhenyan and Xie Ningke were lying on the grassland, motionless, facing the long and dangerous night.

After the previous rapid advance and great battle, most of the people in the great battle were already utterly exhausted. In order to guard against a possible attack at night, most of the army’s cultivators took on roles of night sentries.

Because the two of them were extremely close and since Xu Zhenyan’s injuries never healed, there was naturally a slightly bloody and pungent smell that entered Xie Ningke’s nose from time to time.

Xie Ningke was a cultivator who entered Jadefall City together with Qiu Hanshan and Xu Zhenyan. He had previously served as a military commander in Thousand Sunset Border Army. As long as one remained in the border army for a certain amount of time, even those who obsessed about cleanliness the most might not care too much about dirtiness anymore. However, when he saw the bandages that were full of dried dirty blood and wrapped around Xu Zhenyan’s body and also smelled the bits of foul odor, a bit of unhappiness appeared in Xie Ningke’s eyes.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the bit of smell coming from Xu Zhenyan’s body, but rather because ever since Xu Zhenyan suffered the first ambush from Wenren Cangyue’s troops, Xu Zhenyan became too gloomy. Moreover, after that conversation between Xu Zhenyan and Lin Xi, they all understood the identities of Xu Zhenyan, Lin Xi, and the others clearly. When he then thought about how this Xu Family’s third young master had a cold and ruthless father who was known as Judicial Sector’s butcher, he was just like most other people, feeling even more dislike for Xu Zhenyan.

The path Xu Zhenyan, Qiu Hanshan and Xie Ningke travelled through was extremely difficult. When they were rescued by Lin Xi’s Rear Heaven’s Lens Army, their troop only had five individuals left out of their original group. Normally, when five individuals experienced life and death together, they would develop some feelings exceeding normal friendship. However, Xu Zhenyan was instead still disliked by others… this meant that his way of conduct really was extremely terrible, he failed quite badly.

Only, Xu Zhenyan didn’t really care about these things. Right now, he wasn’t thinking about these things either.

When he ran into Lin Xi again and then faced him head-on, after finally casting aside his fear towards Lin Xi, the thing he was thinking about in his head was precisely how to defeat Lin Xi.

After his father Xu Tianwang had that private discussion with him, forcing him here, Lin Xi still didn’t reach Soul Master level cultivation yet, but now, Lin Xi clearly already broke through into Soul Master level cultivation, moreover already travelled who knew how far along this level… On top of all of this, he even became a Spiritual Sacrifice Priest, even a general like Qin Qinghuan was cut down by a single slice from Lin Xi.

What Xu Tianwang told him was correct. Compared to Lin Xi, he was simply trash.

If he continued like normal, there was no way he could catch up to Lin Xi’s steps, he could only stare at Lin Xi’s brilliance with hatred and jealousy, let alone one day brilliantly defeat Lin Xi.

In that case, only by becoming an abnormal person… could he trample Lin Xi underneath his feet.

“In the end, I still have to thank you… Lin Xi, if this world didn’t have a powerful opponent like you, how could I think through so many reasons so quickly, and how could I have become this powerful so quickly?”

Xu Zhenyan laughed coldly to himself.

He had just broken through into initial stage Soul Master level, his injuries never recovering that well, so in the eyes of all of the cultivators in Jadefall City, he was an extremely weak existence. However, right now, he already felt that he became extremely powerful. This power didn’t come from his cultivation, but rather from his heart.

After sneering coldly inwardly, his body moved slightly, and then he narrowed his eyes, concentrating all of his attention to the left side up ahead.

Xie Ningke immediately noticed his abnormality, saw his extremely grave and nervous expression. Xie Ningke’s body immediately shivered in coldness, following Xu Zhenyan’s line of sight.

However, he didn’t see any enemies. The moment he twisted his head, concentrating all of his attention in the direction Xu Zhenyan was looking at, Xu Zhenyan’s body turned over, pressing on top of his body. Before he had enough time to react, a cold and sharp object already stabbed into his neck’s main artery, cutting through his windpipe.

Hot blood gushed out, spraying all over Xu Zhenyan’s body.

Xu Zhenyan let go of the black fine steel arrow embedded into Xie Ningke’s neck, firmly holding down Xie Ningke’s twisting body.

The immediate loss of the ability to breathe and the loss of blood supply to his head naturally created dizziness that made it so that not only was Xie Ningke unable to make any effective counterattack, he couldn’t even utter any sound. Only wisps of blood splashing sounds and chi chi noises of his throat leaking air could be heard.

In just a few breaths of time, all of the power in his body already completely disappeared as his blood flowed out. His four limbs began to twitch powerlessly, his body also starting to turn ice-cold.

When faced with the final moments of his life, this cultivator who had survived under the assassinations of Wenren Cangyue’s elite troops, yet was going to die here felt great unwillingness, his expression slackening, looking at Xu Zhenyan full of a blank expression. Blood foam continuously rushed out from his mouth, continuously releasing ambiguous noises.

No one could hear what he was saying right now, but Xu Zhenyan understood what he was asking.

“I saw you fish out a pill medicine from the body of a Sky Wolf Guard when you were cleaning up the battlefield today… Even though you quickly put it away, I saw it clearly. This should be a Dry Grass Pill that can increase one’s cultivation a bit.” Xu Zhenyan spat out the blood that sprayed into his mouth, breathing heavily while quietly saying this by the ears of this dying cultivator.

Xie Ningke’s mumbling suddenly stopped. However, in this last breath of time, he released an even greater urged and unwilling cry.

He found it hard to understand why just for a pill that could increase one’s cultivation a bit, at most bringing Xu Zhenyan from initial stage Soul Master level close to mid stage Soul Master cultivation, this person would actually dare kill him… take on the risk of being found by others and then executed under Yunqin’s law!

“I know you cannot understand it… that is why you can only give up your life for people like my father in Jadefall City.”

Xu Zhenyan continued to breathe, and then coldly said this, as if he wanted him to understand even when he was about to die, also as if he was saying this for himself to hear. “Even though the Dry Grass Pill isn’t worth much, it is at least useful to me. If I don’t kill you, I won’t be able to have it… By killing you here, I can just randomly push your death onto Wenren Cangyue’s troops… As long as it is something that can make me become a bit more powerful, I will do it… Otherwise, how could I possibly win against Lin Xi?”

“Xu… Tian… wang… even…” In his final moments, Xie Ningke spat out these muddled four characters, and then his breathing stopped, passing away with his eyes wide open.

Xu Zhenyan still understood the meaning behind these last words, starting to laugh coldly. “Indeed… not even my father is as fierce as me, he definitely wouldn’t risk killing a colleague for this type of pill… That is why I will definitely become even more powerful than my father… If killing my father can make me stronger than Lin Xi, then I will even kill him.”

Xu Zhenyan that was covered in blood laughed coldly, his smile filled with cold mockery, laughing until his face became more and more ice-cold, looking indescribably crazy and sinister. Together with his body’s bloodiness and foul stench… he was completely like a corpse eating beast who would eat any type of rotten flesh for the sake of strengthening itself.

…

Heaven’s Lens Lake was just like a gemstone embedded in Jadefall City.

The mirror-like calm clear lake surface was naturally extremely beautiful. However, everyone who entered Jadefall City, as well as all of Yunqin’s cultivators knew that this beautiful lake that seemed quiet and secluded, was also extremely dangerous.

It was because there was a type of special fiend beast in Heaven’s Lens Lake called Heaven’s Lens Mermaid.

This type of fiend beast was half man half fish. The upper half was like a gorgeous and elegant woman, while the bottom half was a fish tail. This type of unusual fiend beast who brought one an unreal feeling wasn’t like the ones from fantasy in Lin Xi’s world, using songs to confuse passerbys, but could rather use the soul force in their bodies to concentrate the water vapor in the air into powerful strength.

Because Heaven’s Lens Lake was extremely deep, no one could catch all of the Heaven’s Lens Mermaids or determine just how strong the most powerful of these unique fiend beasts in Heaven’s Lens Lake was. However, what they were sure of was that there were some Heaven’s Lens Mermaids that had at least State Knight level strength. Moreover, these Heaven’s Lens Mermaids could leave the waters for a set amount of time, the mountain ridge within a dozen or so li around the lake was also their territory.

That was why normal cultivators definitely didn’t dare risk their lives and head to Heaven’s Lens Lakeside, they didn’t dare enter the forest within this region.

However, under the thick darkness of night, Lin Xi and the others were quickly moving through the mountain ridge by Heaven’s Lens Lake.

Lin Xi and Gao Yanan walked at the very front, while Bian Linghan and Jiang Xiaoyi brought up the rear. Meng Bai and Du Zhanye carried a stretcher, while Chen Mu… who was also Changsun Wujiang, was lying on a leather military stretcher that fastened his body in place, able to greatly reduce any shaking.

Because of nervousness and because his body sweat rather easily, the sweat on Meng Bai’s face finally gathered to the point where it began to wriggle down.

Lin Xi actually wasn’t worried, even looking forward a bit to seeing what the legendary Heaven’s Lens Mermaids were like, how different they were from the mermaids of his world’s movies. Because he hadn’t used his ten halt rewind ability yet, even if they encountered a Heaven’s Lens Mermaid ambush, he could still easily avoid them with his ability.

However, right at this time, what made him, Gao Yanan, Bian Linghan and the others all suddenly become nervous was that a light groaning noise sounded from the stretcher.

This was a groan of pain that was clearly forcefully suppressed through willpower.

Everyone stopped. Lin Xi and Gao Yanan turned around. The two of them saw that Du Zhanye’s body was shaking uncontrollably, that Changsun Wujiang who was always lying unconscious on the stretcher woke up.

“I actually still didn’t die… Lin Xi, what a coincidence… who would have thought we would actually meet again at this type of time…” Changsun Wujiang only released a light groan and then didn’t release any more sounds of pain. He looked at Lin Xi and the others, saw Du Zhanye and Lin Xi’s appearance. Then, he licked his somewhat dry lips, slowly nodding his head with great difficulty, saying these words.

Lin Xi was a bit stunned. He didn’t expect that this student, who he had only met once before, in the very first sentence after waking up from a serious injury induced coma, would directly mention his name.

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