Chapter 96

Chen Xun reached down to the ground and grabbed a handful of black mud, smeared it all over his face, then let out a loud cry and leaped down from the cliff, swinging his saber to unleash a fierce and mysterious saber beam.

Chen Xun's move was not to harm the enemy but to establish his authority.

However, Chen Xun's cry came first, and the saber beam followed after. A masked disciple on the left side couldn't dodge in time and was struck directly by the mysterious and cold saber beam.

A burst of golden light erupted from the man's body, dispelling the saber beam, but the intense shock wave forced him to retreat several steps before he could steady himself.

Chen Xun coldly shouted, "Fellow Daoists, what is the meaning of your silent approach?" He had smeared his face with black mud to make the Meng brothers and others think twice, not wanting them to worry that their voices might reveal their presence and lead to a desire to kill to silence them.

Meng Chong had never imagined that someone could approach within a hundred meters without being detected, and his heart was filled with fear. He immediately retreated several steps. Seeing the black-faced youth descend from the sky and force Chen Chuan back several steps with a fierce saber beam, he thought to himself: This person's cultivation is so strong, not inferior to any of the eight of us!

The Meng brothers were both alarmed and suspicious. They had been following Tie Xinmei for two days, but had never seen her meet anyone. Where did this black-faced youth come from?

Aqing, recognizing the familiar scent, didn't understand why his master had smeared his face with black mud to come and save him. He wagged his tail and hid behind Chen Xun.

Meng Chong now knew that this youth was the owner of the little green leopard. Seeing the familiarity between the little green leopard and Tie Xinmei, he guessed that the black-faced youth must be very close to Tie Xinmei.

Meng Chong wasn't afraid that the eight of them would be at a disadvantage, but he was worried that if the black-faced youth and Tie Xinmei fought like cornered beasts, it would be difficult to kill them without paying a price.

They had left the city to target lone wandering cultivators, hoping to seize some cultivation resources, but they hadn't intended to risk their lives.

Thinking this, Meng Chong felt a desire to retreat and laughed, "Fellow Daoist, it seems there has been a misunderstanding. We saw this leopard and thought it was a wild animal from the mountains. We didn't realize it was your pet—misunderstanding, misunderstanding!"

Meng Chong's eyes, visible through his mask, were filled with smiles, but he was secretly looking for an opportunity to launch a sudden attack.

The Meng brothers' spiritual senses were scanning wildly, and Chen Xun knew that these two hadn't given up their thoughts of killing and robbing. He reached into his chest and pulled out a green flame bead from the Void Yuan Pearl, ready to defend against any sudden attack...

Cultivating both martial arts and magical techniques!

The Meng brothers, who practiced fiery magical techniques, were particularly sensitive to green flame beads. They hadn't expected that this person would be proficient in both martial and magical techniques!

Ordinary wandering cultivators, when they encountered a bottleneck, would only focus on hard training to gradually break through the barriers and eventually achieve a breakthrough.

Only wealthy sects could support their disciples in cultivating additional techniques.

This not only opened up alternative paths to the Rebirth Realm but also effectively increased personal strength before breaking through the bottleneck.

Chen Xun's display of the magical bead made the Meng brothers' eyes dart around. They knew that killing this youth would yield significant gains, but with his dual cultivation and the possibility of other powerful treasures, he was a tough nut to crack.

Tie Xinmei was also a formidable opponent. She retracted three iron arrows from her bow and replaced them with a new one.

She understood the black-faced youth's intention: to make the other side realize that although the eight of them had an absolute advantage and could easily kill and rob, they would also have to sacrifice two or three lives.

She had only two secret arrow charms with her and wouldn't use them lightly unless absolutely necessary, but now was the time to display her strongest power.

The other six people, apart from the Meng brothers, also had wandering eyes, sharing the same thoughts: they had greedy desires but didn't want to pay such a high price.

"Sorry!" The Meng brothers and the other six exchanged glances, then without hesitation, they quickly retreated downstream, disappearing into the dense forest in an instant.

As the Meng brothers retreated, the little green leopard rushed out from behind Chen Xun and roared at their disappearing backs.

Chen Xun kicked this useless creature into the stream.

The little green leopard, unaware of being rejected, climbed out of the water and rubbed against Chen Xun, shaking off water droplets that splashed all over him.

"Tie Xinmei thanks you for your help, young hero," Tie Xinmei said, bowing. She knew that without this youth, she could only use the Shadow Splitting Technique twice more and would have been hard-pressed to escape the eight of them.

"Aqing ate your roasted meat, so it's only right to help you," Chen Xun said with a smile, looking up to see that Tie Xinmei was tall and strong, even taller than him, with a rough face, a typical tribal woman. He asked, "Do you know who those eight people were?"

"Before leaving the city, I heard that a group of masked people were robbing wandering cultivators in the wilderness, but no one knows who they are," Tie Xinmei said. "Even if someone reports this to the Left Cavalry Guard, they ignore it outside the alert zones. With so many wandering cultivators entering and leaving the city daily, no one can guess the identity of this group."

Chen Xun had no intention of revealing the identity of the Meng brothers but wanted to know if there was someone else behind their actions. He asked Tie Xinmei, "Aren't there any strong wandering cultivators who would step in for justice? Haven't the eight of them reached the Rebirth Realm yet?"

"Ask a Rebirth Realm expert to help?" Tie Xinmei smiled. "It would be better to travel in groups. Who knows if there are other strong experts behind those eight? Besides, outside of Canglan City, everyone is used to fighting and killing each other..."

Chen Xun thought it was true; wandering cultivators were not united, and self-preservation was key.

"They might not give up easily. If you don't return to the city, be careful in the mountains," Tie Xinmei said.

"It's still early. I need to find a few herbs," Chen Xun said. He didn't want to return so soon after leaving the city.

"The nearby spirit herbs have long been picked clean. It will take decades for new ones to grow. Some wandering cultivators have gone to the Python Tooth Ridge and the Lake Marsh Wilderness," Tie Xinmei said. She couldn't see through this youth's identity but saw that his cultivation was high and his intelligence was sharp, so how could he not know that there were no spirit herbs left in the nearby mountains?

Chen Xun smiled awkwardly. He had already thought that the cultivation resources near Canglan City would be scarce, but he hadn't expected it to be this empty.

Although he had been in Canglan City for a year, this was his first time leaving the city to venture into the wilderness, and he felt ashamed.

"Let's part ways here," Chen Xun said, patting Aqing's fat neck, ready to go his separate way from Tie Xinmei.

"May I ask your name, young hero?"

"Oh, I'm Chen Xun," Chen Xun said. "If you need anything in the future, you can find me at Copper Gong Lane or North Mountain Society..."

In terms of archery, Tie Xinmei was slightly better than him, but not by much. However, her Shadow Splitting Technique was truly remarkable, almost making it impossible for an opponent to lock onto her with their spiritual senses.

However, since they had just met and weren't close enough, Chen Xun didn't feel comfortable directly asking Tie Xinmei what price he would have to pay to learn the Shadow Splitting Technique. He thought that leaving his name would give him a chance to learn this unique technique in the future.

Tie Xinmei didn't realize that Chen Xun was thinking about her Shadow Splitting Technique. The name "Chen Xun" sounded familiar, as if she had heard it before, but she couldn't recall from where. She slung her large bow over her shoulder, grabbed a rock crevice, and climbed up the cliff like a monkey, disappearing into the dense forest in a blink.

Chen Xun thought that Tie Xinmei was indeed smart, with extensive survival experience in the wilderness. If she tried to return to Canglan City from the downstream of the stream, she would likely fall into the ambush of the Meng brothers again.

Chen Xun had spent nine months refining the Void Yuan Pearl in his study and had perfected the first level of the Dragon Binding Technique.

At this point, he could sense faint auras up to four or five kilometers away. How could he not know that the Meng brothers and the others were actually hiding in the dense forest downstream and hadn't left?

Chen Xun leaped over the stream and headed west toward a stone peak. A short while later, he sensed that the Meng brothers and the other eight were indeed following him.

Chen Xun didn't return to the city with Tie Xinmei because he wanted to lure the Meng brothers to chase him.

On the plain that day, Chen Xun hadn't been chased by the Meng brothers and Lou Shiyi. Now that he had learned the Wind Riding Technique, his long-distance speed was even faster. He believed that even if the Meng brothers had learned new techniques at the academy, not all of them could outrun him.

Chen Xun couldn't match the Meng brothers and the others in a direct fight, so he planned to lead them in circles in the deep valleys and mountains. As long as he could scatter them, he would have a chance when one or two of them were alone...

If he had a chance to rob and plunder without any psychological burden, Chen Xun would certainly try it.

However, since he had just met Tie Xinmei and didn't know her well, he didn't dare to invite her to rob the academy students.

Whether they could rob or not was one thing, but if the news of him robbing academy students spread back to Canglan Academy, even Su Tang might not be able to protect him.

Chen Xun alternated between fast and slow, leading the Meng brothers and the others in circles. By nightfall, he had run several hundred miles deeper into Tushan.

At this point, the valley was filled with the sounds of birds and beasts. Even peak True Yang Realm experts rarely ventured this deep into Tushan.

The Meng brothers sensed something was wrong. Meng Chong stopped and asked Chen Chuan, "Is this kid deliberately playing with us?"

Chen Chuan wasn't stupid. After chasing for so long, the black-faced youth had been running in a zigzag pattern into the mountains without a fixed route, never stopping to do anything, making it impossible for them to catch up or cut him off.

If he couldn't see through the trick by now, he would be blind.

However, if the eight of them were afraid that the black-faced youth could set a trap and didn't pursue, it would be a laughingstock.

"How did they discover us?" Chen Chuan asked, puzzled.

The eight of them were well-coordinated and had become very familiar with hunting wandering cultivators in Tushan. They could move through the mountains and forests without disturbing birds or beasts. He believed they had hidden well and couldn't understand how the black-faced youth had discovered them.

"Perhaps someone accidentally revealed their presence. He couldn't shake us off, so he was forced to run deeper into Tushan," Meng Chong said, feeling a sense of familiarity with the situation but not immediately realizing that the black-faced youth was Chen Xun, whom he and Lou Shiyi had pursued together.