Xu Xian did not choose to fly; instead, he sprinted through the bamboo forest.
He didn't run back the way he came, either, but intentionally changed direction to run diagonally.
Furthermore, he chose not to kill the woman.
She was an evil cultivator, and he couldn't be certain if these people had some means of staying in contact.
Something like a soul lamp, where a death would be instantly known.
There definitely wasn't just one person on the other side; it was a group.
Moreover.
These people had been entrenched in Yecheng for a long time, and it was highly likely they were in league with the local Yecheng government.
To ensure everything went smoothly, he had to keep her alive until he escaped the range of this mountain wilderness.
The night wind was sharp.
The bamboo forest was in chaos.
After a short while, Xu Xian's Pupil of Insight glimpsed a wall of blood-red light emerging from deep within the forest.
"What the hell?"
He gritted his teeth, his racing footsteps coming to a halt.
On his shoulder.
The Little Book Spirit appeared at some unknown moment, sitting there and looking up at the canopy of the bamboo forest. It said solemnly, "It's an isolation array. It covers a full hundred miles."
"Can it be broken?"
"Yes," the Little Book Spirit said with certainty, before its tone shifted. "However..."
"However what?"
The Little Book Spirit said, "Breaking the array will alert the person behind it. Given your speed, Master, you'll be caught quickly. It's not safe. Although this array is a mortal-tier construct, the person who set it put in a lot of effort. Their strength isn't low; they must be at least a fifth-stage cultivator."
Xu Xian fell silent.
In his original plan, he intended to distance himself from this place first, then burn the spirit incense to send word back to the sect.
The sect would have received the news within a day.
Now it seemed that wasn't an option.
Burning spirit incense.
It would produce spiritual smoke.
He hadn't burned it before.
Firstly, he was afraid that if the enemy knew he had burned it, they might kill the owners of those sword intents in a fit of desperation. Secondly, the enemy's strength was unknown, and he feared the message would be intercepted, making the attempt a waste.
Thinking about it now.
These people had blocked off this path from the very beginning.
Sending a core formation expert to intercept a mere foundation establishment kid like him still wasn't enough for them to feel secure; they had even set up this isolation array and deliberately lured them here. They wanted to make them disappear without a trace.
This group was not simple.
It seemed that while demonic cultivators might be vile, they weren't stupid.
This was going to be difficult.
He calculated in his head, 'What should I do? Am I really going to die here...'
From behind him, a voice of extreme weakness drifted out.
"It's useless. You can't run. I told you, no one is coming to save you."
Xu Xian crouched down and looked down at the blood-soaked figure. His tone was chilling. "Before I die, you won't be living either."
She squirmed her body like a maggot in a latrine, struggling to prop up her upper half against a giant bamboo stalk. Her clouded eyes stared at Xu Xian, mocking him:
"It doesn't matter if I live or not. I only want you to die."
Xu Xian furrowed his brows and backhanded her with a slap.
She was stunned, her clouded eyes clearing slightly...
"You?"
Xu Xian said indifferently, "What are you trying to pull with me? Talk. Who are you? What do you want? How many of you are there?"
"Pah!"
A mouthful of bloody water splattered across Xu Xian's face.
Xu Xian took a deep breath and wiped it away.
She bared her blood-filled mouth, her expression full of defiance.
Xu Xian lowered his voice. "You aren't afraid of death, are you? Then I'll make you wish you were dead. I have a hundred methods. Do you want to try them?"
She laughed provocatively. "I haven't gone back on time. They'll be looking for me soon. You don't have much time left."
Xu Xian hesitated for a moment.
He lifted her with one hand.
He wrapped her body in foundation establishment spiritual energy to prevent her dripping blood from leaving a trail, then dove back into the bamboo forest.
Since he couldn't get out for now, he would prioritize staying alive.
He asked the book spirit, "Can I also seal off my own presence?"
The Little Book Spirit answered, "Yes. I told you before, Master, that the Pupil of Insight can launch mental attacks to kill someone with a look. You certainly can't do that now, but conversely, you can use the Pupil of Insight to block the divine sense of others. It just consumes a lot of mental energy. You can only maintain it for twelve hours at most—provided there isn't a sixth-stage being in here..."
Fifth stage: nascent soul.
Sixth stage: soul transformation.
Xu Xian thought that since the opponent went through such trouble to lure them here and even waited until dark to act.
And they had been leading them along, besides being wary of them sending messages back to the sect, they were likely even more wary of their strength.
Nangong Ning was in the middle stage of the nascent soul.
Therefore, he speculated that the strongest person among the opposition should be roughly in the nascent soul stage as well.
Each stage was a whole new world; a gap of one stage was like the difference between a qilin and a common horse. This was no joke.
The reason he could cross realms to take out a core formation cultivator.
In the final analysis, it was because he had the Pupil of Insight and could see through the opponent's weaknesses. Of course, the most important factor was.
An immortal sword.
Otherwise.
Foundation establishment simply could not break the defense of the core formation stage.
But if anyone else asked, he certainly wouldn't say that.
Don't ask; if you do, it's just extraordinary talent. A foundation establishment beating a core formation is as easy as breathing...
"Then don't just stand there. Use it quickly, or we'll be discovered in a moment."
"Yes, Master!"
By sharing the Pupil of Insight, he consumed mental energy to sever his own aura.
Xu Xian disappeared into the dark night, carrying the dying gray-robed woman.
Shortly after Xu Xian isolated his presence.
In the bamboo forest.
Several dark shadows flickered through the bamboo, arriving before the array wall where Xu Xian had stopped. The leader slowly crouched down and reached out to touch the blood splattered on the ground.
He rubbed it between his fingertips and looked up. From under his black hat, a pair of eyes flashed with a cold, sinister light.
His voice was hoarse. "Search! Only bring them back alive!"
The shadows bowed in acceptance.
"Yes!"
They scattered and vanished, leaving only the occasional rustle of leaves deep within the forest.
The leader in the black robe slowly stood up and cursed with frustration.
"What a useless waste!"
A core formation cultivator couldn't handle a foundation establishment kid. Not only did she let him run, but she even got injured. In his eyes, if this wasn't a waste, what was?
Meanwhile.
Deep in the forest.
By a stream under the hazy moonlight, Xu Xian was subjecting that girl to punishment.
Xu Xian knew at least nine ways to make someone wish they were dead.
So he wanted to try.
To see if her mouth was tougher, or if his methods were.
First, under the book spirit's guidance, he used a small trick to lock her wounded dantian and sea of qi, temporarily reducing her to a mortal.
Next, he took out a spirit qi pill he had found in her pocket when they set out and fed it to her.
He reset her limb joints and nourished them with spiritual energy, forcefully bringing her back from the brink of death.
Then.
He began the methods.
He tore a piece of cloth from his clothes, laid it over her mouth and nose, and used his qi to control the water, pouring it over her.
The cruelty of the method.
The Little Book Spirit could not bear to look.
As for the already sickly girl, she finally experienced what Xu Xian meant by wishing she were dead.
Fear.
Suffocation.
Despair.
Like falling into hell.
"Will you talk?"
"You... will die a horrible death..."
"Heh... quite stubborn. Let's do it again."
"Wuu wuu wuu wuu!"
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