Chapter 161: Pursuit and Escape

Chapter 161: Pursuit and Escape

The smug smile froze, and the Golden Core Sect Leader, who had flown into the middle of the various lights, his face nearly cracked. "How is that possible?!"

Pei Jie grabbed Shang Yunduo by the collar. "Let's go!"

The still-stunned Sect Leader bellowed, "Cut them off!"

As he spoke, a bowl-shaped magic treasure came crashing down on them.

However, Pei Jie was flying too fast; the bowl missed them, and Shang Yunduo even kicked it farther away.

The Golden Core Sect Leader shouted, and a swarm of flying swords shot out from him in pursuit, but none could withstand a single swing of Frost.

Other disciples and two more Golden Core cultivators within the sect blocked their way ahead, yet another magic tool shattered under Frost's blade. Pei Jie's spiritual power abruptly spiked to Late Foundation Establishment. The chasing Sect Leader flung the big bowl again, and Shang Yunduo also hurled the Purification Bell, barely keeping it under control. The suddenly enlarged bronze bell crashed into the bowl, which was half the size of a house. With a crisp crack, the jade-like bowl shattered.

"My bowl!!"

The Sect Leader's eyes bulged with rage. The sword he paid a fortune for! And the bowl!!

Shang Yunduo laughed sheepishly. He had no idea the Purification Bell was so hard, but he certainly hadn't expected the bowl to be so fragile. What a rip-off!

Ahead, Pei Jie had already broken through two layers of sect-protecting and enemy-trapping arrays that blocked them, taking on two Mid Golden Core cultivators by himself and forcing them back.

Shang Yunduo put away the bell and quickly caught up with him. Glancing back at the mentally broken Sect Leader, he surprisingly didn't feel much fear.

It wasn't like he'd gotten cocky from seeing too many fights, but rather that this Sect Leader, also at Late Golden Core, was vastly different from the three Tiger Clan elders he'd lived with day in, day out. His spiritual pressure, killing intent, combat experience, and determination were all leagues below the elders—let alone Tiger King and King Hundun.

He had a gut feeling this guy would never form a Nascent Soul.

Sure, in a one-on-one he'd lose, but he had backup!

The beast, still with a scabbard sticking out of it, had already pounced out of the pit, roaring and lunging at its enemy with its jaws, even more ferocious than Hua Guan.

What a good beast! It knows who its enemies are!

After silently praising it, Shang Yunduo didn't dare dawdle and quickly followed Pei Jie as they ran outside.

Just as they were about to escape, the Sect Leader, still tangling with the beast, suddenly flew higher and shouted, "Change the formation!!!"

The two Golden Core cultivators still blocking Pei Jie heard this and suddenly flew up to the rooftop, and the disciples retreated like a tide.

Shang Yunduo was taken aback. What are they up to?

Before he could suss out what formation they were switching to, his spiritual power vanished again.

"..."

Not another Spirit Suppression Array?!

Big deal if they have a Spirit Suppression Array? Did they think he was afraid?

He grumbled to himself, "I'm a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator, dammit!"

Without the array, he'd be scared of Golden Core; with the array, Golden Core was nothing!

If he weren't afraid they'd suddenly turn off the array, he'd have gone back to give that shorty Sect Leader a couple of punches.

He hit the ground, rolled, grabbed Pei Jie, and bolted.

At that moment, dozens of disciples appeared ahead, some pulling ropes, some shooting arrows. And the arrows were tipped with flaming oil!

Behind them, the sound of machinery being pulled echoed. Without spiritual power, he couldn't get his shield from the storage pouch, so he had to use his arm guard to block the arrows. He glanced back and saw the windows on both sides swing open, revealing cannons inside!

Shang Yunduo was like, WTF?!

What kind of cultivation novel is this?

The sect's ultimate treasure that even Nascent Soul cultivators fear is a cannon?!

What a cheap trick!

He immediately grabbed Pei Jie and ran even faster.

Boom! The cannon roared.

Shang Yunduo almost ducked and ran for his life.

Luckily, this world's tech wasn't advanced; the cannonballs just shattered into chunks without burning or exploding.

They scrambled away, dodging over ninety percent of the attacks with their movement skills.

But that beast that had just emerged was unlucky. It had never seen such a thing and suddenly couldn't use its spiritual power. After getting hit a few times, it went berserk and started charging around, ramming into houses, knocking over the cannons at the windows and the disciples inside. Taking advantage, Shang Yunduo and Pei Jie fought their way out and quickly escaped the cannon range amid the bombardment.

Neither the Sect Leader nor his disciples had expected the two to be so agile, and it was clear that Shang Yunduo was a body cultivator!

Hit by several shell fragments, this guy still didn't go down!

"Chase them!!"

But ordinary disciples couldn't possibly keep up with them.

Shang Yunduo and Pei Jie jumped down the cliff while dodging arrows from behind. Shang Yunduo even had time to ask, "Senior, we haven't taken the scabbard yet!"

Pei Jie said, "Frost has no scabbard; don't worry about it."

Shang Yunduo: "Alright!"

He focused on finding landing points. He had to admit, this cliff was far too steep!!!

The climbing skills he had developed when he had no spiritual power were now used to the fullest, allowing him to reach the bottom of the cliff a few steps ahead of Pei Jie. Once Pei Jie landed, they sprinted downstream along the river at the bottom of the cliff.

The disciples still struggling to climb down with ropes couldn't see any trace of them.

Shang Yunduo faintly heard a shout from above: "Change the formation! They've escaped, change the formation quickly!"

In the blink of an eye, their spiritual power indeed returned.

He quickly took out his shield and asked, "Use the flying ship?"

Pei Jie: "No."

Not knowing how large the Spirit Suppression Array was, if their spiritual power was suppressed while on the flying ship, even the ship would crash.

He threw out Star Breaker Sword and reached out to Shang Yunduo. "Get on!"

Shang Yunduo jumped onto Star Breaker, with one hand around Pei Jie's waist and the other holding a shield. He asked, "Why not use Frost?"

Pei Jie turned back and smiled: "Don't step on Frost Sword."

Shang Yunduo looked down and saw the Frost Sword in Pei Jie's hand, still humming faintly.

The blade was thin and narrow, almost transparent, with a sharp edge that glinted coldly, radiating a murderous, chilling aura.

No wonder it was called Frost.

Pursuers quickly appeared above them.

Pei Jie calmly sped up, shaking off all the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples, and only engaged the three Golden Core cultivators.

Shang Yunduo seized every opportunity to throw the Purification Bell, but unfortunately, with his current cultivation, he still couldn't fully control it. He had refined and bonded with it, but still couldn't make its sound waves tell friend from foe. Its indiscriminate attacks harmed both sides equally, making it a last resort. For now, he could only use it as a shield or for sneak attacks.

Frost Sword in hand, Pei Jie wasn't afraid of the Golden Core cultivators, but like Shang Yunduo, he had to use it sparingly since it overdrew his cultivation.

Seeing the three Golden Core cultivators closing in, Shang Yunduo regretted not buying some Explosive Fire Talismans in the city. He hurled Fireballs behind him while looking for a chance to ambush. When one of them got within range of his Fire Arrow, he used the Purification Bell to corner him into an advantageous spot. The flames masked the Fire Arrow as it shot out. The weakest Golden Core cultivator sensed something was off and dodged, but a large hole was burned in his clothes, and his arm was singed.

Shang Yunduo regretted not hitting the target, but the opponent was shocked that his fire attack, from an early Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, could penetrate his protective spirit robe.

He must've used some cheap sneak-attack treasure!

These two Foundation Establishment brats have so many treasures—we gotta kill them!

The three thought in unison.

But then that beast also caught up!

Seeing this, Pei Jie gave up on forcibly raising his cultivation to Golden Core and instead flew his sword into the cliffs, narrowing the chase space to give the Golden Water Thunder Beast an advantage.

In the distance, the waterfall roared. Star Breaker skimmed the water's surface as it shot upward. The three Golden Core cultivators followed closely. Before they could burst out of the waterfall, lightning burst from the water, whipping splashes toward the three.

Pei Jie swung his sword back. A flash of Frost Sword's blade caused the water above the waterfall to instantly freeze, forming a transparent lid that slid across, perfectly blocking the three.

The leading Sect Leader swung his sword to break the ice, but that brief pause let the Golden Water Thunder Beast take another step closer.

Pei Jie stopped short and turned: "Hide!"

Shang Yunduo didn't hesitate—he jumped off the sword and darted into the nearby woods to hide.

Star Breaker and Frost Sword rose together. Silver light and cold gleam intertwined. The flying swords fanned out, leaving only the gleaming Star Breaker—the translucent Frost Sword had vanished.

The Sword Formation rose, merging with the Sect Leader's sword formation. Silver and green light blurred together, but the truly deadly one was Frost Sword, already lurking like a shadow!

No—at least you could see shadows.

Frost Sword carried no murderous intent. It sliced through the body with just a faint chill. A thin layer of frost crept over the skin. Blood flowed slowly, not splashing. The sword disappeared again, unstained by blood or aura.

Shang Yunduo, hiding in the distance, only saw the right arm of a Mid Golden Core cultivator, who was trying to control the Golden Water Thunder Beast with a chain, suddenly separate from his body at the shoulder.

The Mid Golden Core cultivator almost stumbled from the sudden loss of strength, while his arm still held the chain. Blood seeped slowly through the frost, dripping into the water, blooming faintly.

Even the pain felt numbed. Only when he realized what happened did he scream in shock.

The Golden Water Thunder Beast, unaware of what had occurred, felt the loosening of its restraint. It growled, flung the other Mid Golden Core cultivator aside, and charged straight at the Sect Leader who was still locked in combat with Pei Jie.

The Sect Leader immediately whipped out seven or eight magical artifacts.

Five at the Golden Water Thunder Beast, three at Pei Jie.

But that showed his inexperience—he lost his priorities, unsure who to focus on.

Pei Jie naturally wouldn't miss this fleeting moment of panic. Frost Sword pressed the attack.

The Sect Leader didn't see any sword, but felt a chilling cold. He shivered, a desire to retreat welling up, inexplicably feeling today wasn't a good day to fight.

Intuition told him to withdraw.

Even though both the Golden Water Thunder Beast and the Foundation Establishment kid seemed to be at the end of their strength.

But he trusted his intuition. "Retreat!"

As long as the sect existed and they kept mining Marrow Cleansing Stones, he could buy any artifact he wanted. An ancient sword he couldn't even draw, that wouldn't obey—he could afford to ditch it!

Frost Sword grazed his neck; right before he fled, goosebumps rose on his skin. When he teleported miles away, the expensive protective collar he had bought was broken.

He shivered again.

No, that guy definitely wasn't at the Foundation Establishment stage!

He must be some Nascent Soul old monster who deliberately suppressed his cultivation to steal my sword!

Fine, fine—he wasn't one to be trifled with either!

"Switch formations!!! Switch formations!!!!"

Shang Yunduo and Pei Jie had just started running again when the spiritual energy suddenly gave out.

They crawled out of the water, helplessly watching as the Golden Water Thunder Beast chased the two Mid Golden Core cultivators a bit, then turned back with the arm in its mouth and started chasing them instead.

Shang Yunduo cautiously dragged Pei Jie along as they ran, but didn't sense too much killing intent from the beast.

It was also on guard, seemingly very wary of Pei Jie and his Frost Sword, yet it insisted on following them.

Shang Yunduo: "What does it mean?"

Pei Jie: "Ask it."

Shang Yunduo: "?"

He'd only pretended to be a demon cultivator—he wasn't actually one!

But after spending time with the demon beasts in the Boundary Mountains, he could somewhat understand their body language. Shang Yunduo asked uncertainly: "Does he want us to take off the sword sheath and untie the chains?"

Then, while running, he turned back and shouted loudly: "Do you want us to take off the sword sheath and chains?"

The Golden Water Thunder Beast didn't understand and kept chasing them.

Shang Yunduo picked up a random branch, mimed drawing a sword from his back, and threw it away: "Take it off?"

The Golden Water Thunder Beast stopped, snorted, and growled at him.

He stopped too, surprised: "Hey, how does he know we're the good guys?"

Author's note:

Golden Water Thunder Beast: Your sheath, your sheath! Don't just pull out the sword and leave the sheath!

Moments earlier, Sect Leader: So many treasures, do you two juniors even know how to use them?

A moment later, Sect Leader: My treasures! My treasures! Which old ghost is