The Golden Core cultivator felt a surge of emotion in his heart. It was rare to find such a skilled hunter still around these days. He looked up at Li Yunxian.
Then he fell silent once more.
He saw that Li Yunxian was clad in a completely new set of equipment.
Yes, most of it was given by Ginkgo, but what she took from him was no small amount either.
This actually made the Golden Core cultivator feel much more at ease.
If the other party truly wanted nothing at all, he would have been suspicious that Ginkgo was hiding some ulterior motive.
Of course, the cultivator also understood that Ginkgo’s generosity had a purpose.
After all, every time Ginkgo came these past few days, she had been chattering nonstop.
“Ancestor, I’ve already found out that Lian Ping has been hanging around Tianping Grass Valley. There might be a powerful legacy there…………”
“Today Lian Ping is at Baizhang Plain. She’s definitely hiding all the stolen items there……”
“Ancestor, the secret realm will close tomorrow. If we don’t get to Miyun Forest soon, and Lian Ping manages to bring all that stuff back to Tiantong, it will be difficult to find it later.”
The Golden Core cultivator could tell that except for Lian Ping’s location, most of the rest was nonsense.
But the part about the secret realm closing did sway him.
Thinking of all the things Li Yunxian had transported into his cave these past few days, and considering what Lian Ping might be hiding, the cultivator felt he couldn’t simply let it go.
Recalling the places Lian Ping had passed through, as reported by Li Yunxian, there had been no problems apparent.
Finally, the Golden Core cultivator stood up.
He brushed his hand over the Stone Lotus, which immediately shattered, its inherent Dao aura dissipating greatly.
With some regret, he gathered the Stone Lotus into his Storage Artifact, but since the secret realm was about to close, this item was meant to be taken.
He habitually kept such valuables on him—after all, hunters always needed to carry their precious items.
***
Turning his face, he put on a casual expression and said indifferently to Li Yunxian, “Well, letting that Lian Ping live a few more days is enough.”
“Let’s go.” The cultivator said to Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian’s expression showed she hadn’t expected this, and she was momentarily stunned. “Ancestor, I’m coming too?”
The Golden Core cultivator looked at her coldly, “Not willing?”
If I go alone, then after I clean up Lian Ping and return, will I only find an empty cave?
He had not forgotten Ginkgo’s skill in robbing and fleeing.
Li Yunxian smiled awkwardly, “Of course I’m willing.”
Or rather, if the cultivator hadn’t said that, she would have found a way to make him take her along anyway.
The cultivator grabbed Li Yunxian and left Lotus Mountain.
As they departed, he waved his hands and cast a Formation Restriction Technique on his cave, then headed toward Miyun Forest, the place Li Yunxian had mentioned.
After walking for a while, Li Yunxian’s eyes flickered as she said to the cultivator, “Ancestor, Lian Ping has left Miyun Forest again. She’s gone to Wangtian Cliff.”
Wangtian Cliff was the location agreed upon by Li Yunxian and Lian Ping.
The cultivator was not surprised by Li Yunxian’s news.
The locations Li Yunxian had previously mentioned all aligned in one direction towards Wangtian Cliff.
“You placed a Tracking Magical Tool on Lian Ping, didn’t you?” the cultivator chuckled.
Li Yunxian had claimed these bits of information were all gathered from others.
They sounded fake from the start, but the cultivator hadn’t bothered to expose her then.
Li Yunxian smiled awkwardly and quickly praised him, “Nothing escapes the Ancestor.” With that, she tactfully handed over the Magical Tool.
This was a simple device she had just refined. It wasn’t for actual tracking.
It only needed to show the location and move slightly in a pattern at Wangtian Cliff.
Li Yunxian knew this Golden Core cultivator was no technical expert and wouldn’t notice its flaws.
Sure enough, the cultivator accepted it with a satisfied look, glanced at it, and concealed the device.
Without any suspicion.
Soon after, the cultivator arrived at Wangtian Cliff.
His divine sense detected Lian Ping, as well as Yu Juanshu and the others. He also noticed faint lingering whip intentions, probably left by Deity Realm cultivators.
Seeing Yu Juanshu and Du Rong wielding whips confirmed why Lian Ping had come all the way here.
So that’s it.
It was for her companions.
Righteous cultivators could be so boring.
Lian Ping suddenly felt the Warning Talisman she wore burning intensely.
This was the pre-warning Li Yunxian had mentioned—if she got too close, it would activate.
Li Yunxian had arrived.
And the Golden Core cultivator had arrived too!
Lian Ping shouted fiercely, “Danger!!”
Yu Juanshu and his two companions instantly ceased their cultivation and stood up, warily scanning the surroundings.
Just as the Golden Core cultivator drew his Twin Maces:
“How did Lian Ping notice us?”
At that moment, the resentful voice of Ginkgo sounded beside the cultivator, “Ancestor, Lian Ping’s acute crisis sense will surely become a serious threat to us. We absolutely cannot let her live!”
The cultivator was speechless.
At a time like this, Ginkgo was still thinking about how to blind Lian Ping.
But…………..
The cultivator did not consider himself enemies with Lian Ping. He only felt she was a bit troublesome for having discovered him.
He came for loot, not for a fight to the death.
Though wielding the Twin Maces, the cultivator’s expression was surprisingly calm as he slowly appeared before Lian Ping and her group.
“You must be Lian Ping. Return the belongings you took from my subordinate, and I will let you all leave peacefully.” He said this as he emitted all his Golden Core energy.
Lian Ping’s face darkened instantly, her gaze sharp and alert as she glared at the cultivator. She shouted loudly, “Late Golden Core Stage?”
The cultivator was about to speak but paused, silently assessing Lian Ping.
How did she determine his cultivation stage just from the aura he projected?
He had no idea Li Yunxian had already leaked all his information to Lian Ping.
Lian Ping’s shout was meant for Yu Juanshu and the others.
If they were going to fight, key information had to be passed at the right moment.
Yu Juanshu and Du Rong’s eyes both landed on the Ginkgo Fairy standing next to the cultivator—her clothing different but impossible to forget.
Li Yunxian?
The two men were stunned.
Then they recalled the strange expression on Lian Ping’s face when they met her.
Putting the pieces together, they quickly understood the situation.
Yu Juanshu and Du Rong both breathed a sigh of relief.
Having witnessed Li Yunxian’s various exploits, they couldn’t help but feel strangely reassured by her presence here.
“Yes.” The cultivator felt a bit suspicious and grew more wary of Lian Ping.
If it were only Lian Ping, he might have simply left, but she wasn’t alone.
He spoke up, “Even if your strength is outstanding and you can escape me, what about your companions?
“Can you keep them safe?”
“You don’t need to save them all. Return half my stuff, and I’ll let you go.” His tone was silky smooth as he took a step back.
Li Yunxian held the Yellow Grade Superior Spirit Sword behind him, anxious. “Ancestor, Lian Ping can’t even take me down, why bother wasting words with her?”
Upon hearing this, the cultivator’s face suddenly darkened. “When I’m talking to Lian Ping, do you have any say?” Before finishing, he swung one of his maces straight at Li Yunxian.
Unsure of Lian Ping’s strength and unwilling to waste a warning by attacking her, he decided to take it out on his subordinate instead.
The secret realm was ending, and most hunters had been looted dry. Ginkgo was no longer useful.
Li Yunxian hadn’t expected the cultivator to be so shameless, but she reacted quickly.
Though her face looked surprised, her movements were incredibly swift. In an instant, she dodged the attack.
“Ancestor, why are you trying to kill me?” Li Yunxian cried incredulously, putting distance between herself and the cultivator, subtly moving toward the cliff’s valley below.
That was her best escape route.
It was also where she and Lian Ping had set an ambush.
“How dare you dodge?!” The cultivator was stunned, angry that his strike had missed.
He had heard Ginkgo was quick, but never imagined she could be this fast.
Every time he had sent Ginkgo flying out of the cave before, this had never happened.
The cultivator found this odd but what overwhelmed him more was his anger at failing to capture the academy’s prodigy and now being unable to deal with a Foundation Establishment Stage hunter like Li Yunxian.
He launched a second attack at Li Yunxian.
Her face changed drastically, and she fled rapidly into the valley.
Lian Ping didn’t hesitate either. She raised her long blade and slashed at the cultivator with all her might.
Her aura was immense—enough that even a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator would find it hard to face head-on.
The cultivator immediately dodged, his face full of frustration.
He now confirmed that Lian Ping was indeed a threat.
He felt that if it weren’t for Ginkgo’s interference in letting Li Yunxian escape, he wouldn’t have needed to fight Lian Ping at all.
Damn Ginkgo!
Faced with a fight to the death with Lian Ping or venting his anger on Ginkgo, the cultivator decisively chose the latter.
He vanished instantly into the valley below.