“Your cultivation level is higher than mine, but your strength is so weak—is this what they call the righteous path?”
The demonic path disciple who had entered the cabin initially thought there might be a trap, that getting in was too easy.
But after encountering the first person, he no longer thought so.
Because that person… was unexpectedly weak.
Hua Guanshi had hastily blocked a full-powered slash from him just now, and his right hand, gripping the sword, was still a bit numb.
The opposing demonic path disciple was at the fourth layer of the Mortal Martial Realm, while he was at the fifth layer.
However, the opponent’s fourth layer was simply where he was now, while his own fifth layer had basically reached its ceiling.
Originally, this cultivation could have easily allowed him to enter the Outer Sect, or even strive for the Inner Sect.
But his talent was limited, his age had passed the optimal window, and he usually focused his mind on his steward duties, naturally neglecting to hone his combat skills.
Even so, he still felt proud of his position.
Hua Guanshi took a deep breath, gripping his sword with both hands.
“Enough nonsense. Make your move.”
“Oh?”
The demonic path disciple glanced behind him, his face full of mockery.
“Is this a last stand? To protect those wastes behind you?”
The Menial Disciples who had come out upon hearing the commotion glared at the demonic path disciple, yet they couldn’t deny his words.
“They are all disciples of our sect. I won’t allow you to insult them.”
With that, Hua Guanshi raised his sword and attacked, but this played right into the demonic path disciple’s hands.
Though his strength was higher than Hua Guanshi’s, the gap in cultivation was not easy to bridge, and in a short time, he couldn’t take the man down.
So he needed to let the opponent attack first, to let him reveal an opening.
A simple combat technique, but unfortunately, Hua Guanshi truly wasn’t skilled in battle and easily fell for it.
He sidestepped Hua Guanshi’s furious sword strike, then swept his long blade upward.
Hua Guanshi hastily blocked, only to be sent flying again, crashing heavily into the wall behind him.
“Pfft!”
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Hua Guanshi!”
The Menial Disciples nearby rushed to his side, while some even wanted to charge at the enemy and blow up.
“Fall back! You’re no match for him, cough, cough…”
Hua Guanshi grabbed a disciple’s sleeve.
“All of you, go back. I’ll hold him off. Just hold on a little longer—once the battle outside is over, it’ll be fine. Pavilion Master Lu will win.”
The commotion here was significant, yet no one had come.
That meant no one would come.
Having reached this conclusion, the demonic path disciple relaxed his vigilance a little, even wanting to taunt a few more words.
After all, opportunities to openly humiliate the disciples of the number one righteous sect were quite rare.
Hua Guanshi only grabbed one; another Menial Disciple, whose blood was boiling, charged forward.
The demonic path disciple casually slapped him aside.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So weak. Why does your Heaven Origin Sect take in such trash? It’s a complete waste of resources. You really think they can be useful? Ridiculous.”
With the first disciple knocked back, the rest grew calmer.
Though their faces were full of fear, they still forced themselves to stand in front of the injured Hua Guanshi.
They didn’t say anything more.
Then again, nothing they said would matter now.
In the battle outside, their side might win, but even if they did, by then they would probably already be…
These young disciples experienced for the first time the cruelty of the struggle between right and wrong in the Cultivation World.
The demonic path disciple approached step by step, a cruel smile gradually spreading across his face, as if he could already see the scene of torturing these ants to death.
“In your next life, don’t be so weak. The strong are meant to humiliate the weak!”
He raised his long blade, and just as he was about to bring it down, an intense primal sense of danger welled up inside him.
He instinctively turned and slashed down with all his might.
“Wha—”
His blade struck nothing.
No, not nothing—it seemed to have hit a light, weightless piece of paper.
A talisman!
He realized it, but it was too late.
His vision blurred, and a violent dizziness surged into his mind.
“A demonic path is a demonic path. Then I’ll have to humiliate you.”
The voice came from where he had been standing moments ago.
A Teleportation Talisman.
“You think… using a talisman like that can save them?”
The demonic path disciple shook his head, forcing himself awake, and prepared to attack again.
Lin An let out a disdainful laugh, his eyes cold.
“You think I only had a Teleportation Talisman? I said I would humiliate you.”
“Ridiculous.”
The demonic path disciple could tell at a glance that Lin An had no cultivation whatsoever, but the next second, he sensed something was wrong.
The blade in his hand grew heavier.
His consciousness slowly drifted away.
Though only a few steps remained, he suddenly had a thought.
He would never reach them.
“You’re standing on a Spirit-Sealing Talisman and a Soul-Corrupting Talisman. Given your cultivation, you should feel honored to have such high-grade talismans used on you.”
Lin An looked at the demonic path disciple, whose eyes had already gone hollow but who was still struggling instinctively.
He pulled another talisman from his sleeve and tossed it lightly.
“Evil demons deserve to be struck by lightning.”
A flash of white light, followed by the sound of thunder—crackle—sizzle—and then all that remained before them was a pile of scorched black charcoal.
“A Thunderstorm Talisman, a high-grade lightning technique talisman. It also poses a certain threat to Spiritual Martial Realm cultivators. Cough, cough…”
Hua Guanshi, helped to his feet by the disciples nearby, slowly recited the name of the talisman Lin An had used last.
Lin An turned around and bowed to Hua Guanshi with cupped fists.
“Are you all right from your injury? I have some pills here…”
Before he could finish, Hua Guanshi interrupted, “Don’t waste those precious pills. My injury is minor; I just need some rest.”
Lin An opened his mouth, but faced with Hua Guanshi’s firm gaze, he ultimately said nothing.
The several talismans Lin An had just used were extremely valuable.
Hua Guanshi was well aware that these were not something an Outer Sect Menial Disciple could obtain.
So the pills Lin An was about to produce were probably no ordinary items either.
He suddenly remembered that before they left, Li Guanshi had asked him to look after Lin An, mentioning that Lin An had an elder in the Game of Swords Pavilion.
As for himself, he didn’t really like this kind of… pulling strings, so he hadn’t treated Lin An well earlier.
Out of respect for his colleague, he hadn’t scolded him too harshly for being late.
And now, he had been saved by someone he had previously looked down on.
A sense of shame inevitably rose in his heart.
Hua Guanshi silently left.
The Menial Disciples around who expressed gratitude, and even some who wanted to befriend Lin An, were all sent away by him.
Actually, he had been out for a while, using a Conceal Breath Talisman and a Shadow-Concealing Talisman to observe.
Though he had many tools on hand, his real body was the biggest weakness.
That demonic path disciple could really kill him in one blow, so he had to be absolutely sure and strike to kill.
How did someone get in?
He should have put on that armor earlier.
What a waste of those talismans.
He felt the sting too, but there was no help for it.
In a fit of anger, he played the big shot.
He couldn’t exactly deflate halfway.
Back in his room, he took out that metallic cube and slowly poured the meager strand of spiritual power into it.
Click!
The cube began to rotate like a Rubik’s cube, and the number of faces grew larger and larger…