Chapter 65: An Unexpected Blame

In the next moment, an oppressive aura descended, not quite as powerful as the Black-Heart Demon and his two companions, but not far from the strength of the Red and Green Demons. All were cultivators at the Core Formation stage.

Sure enough, the detector belatedly showed that three energy signals had appeared in the distance, with combat strengths of one thousand nine hundred, two thousand one hundred, and two thousand three hundred respectively.

Given their sudden arrival and the sense of crisis he felt, Qi knew these were not his allies. As a complete novice in the world of cultivation, he could count the number of cultivators he knew on one hand, and certainly had no friends at the Core Formation stage.

Without hesitation, Qi fled in the opposite direction at his fastest speed. As for the villagers of Qidian Village, upon hearing the battle outside, they all hid in the ancestral hall. As long as nothing unexpected happened, they should be able to survive this ordeal.

The seductive woman hadn't expected her opponent to be so decisive. She too sensed the oppressive aura, but while she was still hesitating, her adversary had already vanished. By the time she reacted, it was too late.

She hesitated for a moment but chose not to pursue, turning her interest instead to the bone wall below. Easily breaking through, she entered and found traces of survivors, even though the place had clearly been the site of a blood sacrifice. The only possibility was that the cultivator who had just escaped had left these traces, and judging by them, he likely had companions.

Finding no useful clues in the village, the seductive woman flew out over the bone wall. By now, three streaks of light from Core Formation demonic cultivators could be seen in the sky.

“Are you hurt, Young Mistress?” asked a handsome young man in the center with concern.

She shook her head indifferently. “I’m fine. Go after the fleeing cultivator. He’s not as simple as he looks. Bring him back alive if you can; if not, bring back his corpse.” A wary glint flashed in her eyes.

“Judging by his speed, he must have just reached the Core Formation stage—a disciple of Qiqi Sect who recently had a breakthrough while out on a mission. I’ll go—” the young man analyzed.

“No, in terms of strength, he’s still at the Foundation Establishment stage. While he could be a disciple of Qiqi Sect, it’s unlikely. In any case, go after him now. Don’t let him slip away and make us the laughingstock.” The seductive woman’s voice was grave.

“Yes.”

...

Qi fled as fast as he could, and though the auras of the Core Formation demonic cultivators grew more distant, the sense of crisis never left him, forcing him to keep moving. To stop would mean facing three Core Formation experts. These were not hapless victims to be slapped dead by a Nascent Soul cultivator, but true powerhouses, stronger even than the Eight-Headed Serpent.

Having almost been killed in a second by that serpent, Qi had no confidence whatsoever in facing them.

Only the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed before those three oppressive auras once again enveloped him, pressing down and forcing him to slow.

Flying at top speed, his body was constantly accumulating injuries and strains. If he kept this up, his body would gradually begin to break down, and then he’d have to use spiritual energy to recover—by which time his pursuers would have caught him.

But Qi had no intention of surrendering. He was racing against time, hoping to reach Qiqi Mountain before being overtaken. That place should be in utter chaos right now; only by muddying the waters could he hope to escape with his life.

Another cup of tea’s time passed, and now a streak of light could be seen behind him. The other two pursuers had not yet caught up, but he was still some distance from Qiqi Mountain. At this rate, Qi would be intercepted before reaching the Qiqi Sect outpost.

“Miss Misaka, do you have anything that can stop them?” In his desperation, Qi called out to Misaka Midori, who was on the other side of Qidian.

There was only silence.

Wait, Misaka had said she was going out—to some “Otaku Convention,” of all things. So there was no one over there? Seriously?

He’d hoped to get some tool to block his pursuers, but now he’d have to come up with something else. Why couldn’t he just redeem items directly in Qidian?

—Direct purchase from Qidian is possible, but the price will be much higher.—

To his surprise, Qidian actually responded. He’d never tried this before; clearly, he still didn’t understand all the functions of Qidian. Still, expensive was better than being caught.

“Is there anything that can stop a Core Formation demonic cultivator? Quick!” Qi glanced back. The distance between them had halved again. Time was running out. Once he entered the attack range, it would be too late.

—There are so many items that meet your requirements, they could circle the earth three times.—

“…As long as there’s something. I don’t need all of them. Just show me what I can afford with my current points. Pick the most cost-effective one.”

—There are one hundred and fifty million items that meet the requirements. The best value is the ‘Flying Frying Pan’.—

—‘Flying Frying Pan’: Throw the pan at your target. It will unfailingly strike them on the forehead, forcibly dealing one point of damage. Cost: 1,900 soft coins.—

“You’ve been invaded by soft coins too? Fine, I’ll take this one. Give me one now.” Qi could already see the handsome face of the Core Formation demonic cultivator behind him. Their gazes met across several miles.

With the deduction of 1,000 soft coins—so expensive!—a frying pan appeared in Qi’s hand, its base engraved with the golden words ‘Flying Frying Pan’.

No time for sarcasm, Qi hurled it behind him. Under both their gazes, the pan traced a beautiful arc, aiming directly for the Core Formation cultivator’s forehead.

The handsome cultivator, wary of this elusive prey, had been on high alert as per the orders of his Young Mistress. Seeing the strange weapon flying toward him with no spiritual energy fluctuations, he frowned but still activated his defensive treasure—the ‘Mysterious Spirit Shield’—to guard his entire body.

He then flicked his forefinger, sending out a beam of sword light at the pan.

But, to their astonishment, the frying pan tilted and dodged the attack, continuing to whistle toward its target’s forehead.

Qi had expected it to simply vanish and reappear on his enemy’s forehead, but hadn’t foreseen it could actually dodge attacks.

The handsome demonic cultivator frowned and sent out several more sword beams, but the pan evaded each one bizarrely. It was now close to its target.

He tried poison, then fire, but nothing could hinder the pan’s approach. As the frying pan broke through every defense and came right at him, the cultivator’s expression grew grave; his speed dropped, and the distance between him and Qi widened again.

After what seemed a long time but was only a few breaths, the frying pan finally collided with the young man’s full-force defenses.

His face changed dramatically as, without any resistance, the pan easily broke through his shield and struck him squarely on the forehead.

(And once again, things fall silent. With all this passion and nowhere to direct it, I might as well give myself a vote. Not that it counts anyway.)