Chapter 60: Loose Cultivator Infighting, Intervening to Save Someone
The Hongyan Mountain Range extends for two or three hundred miles, and aside from Hongya Marketplace, there are no other Cultivator forces present.
However, due to the existence of the Marketplace, Cultivators often come and go here, nearly eliminating any chance for Demon Beasts to exist in the mountains.
Moreover, the closer one gets to the Marketplace, the fewer wild beasts there are to be found.
After all, although wild beasts have lower intelligence, their instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm still drives them away from dangerous areas.
Therefore, for Zhou Chun to hunt enough wild beasts near the Marketplace to feed the Silver Lightning Python and Rock Earth Turtle was no easy feat.
He wandered within a ten-mile radius of the Marketplace for half an hour but only managed to catch small animals like rabbits and wild chickens, barely enough for the Silver Lightning Python to be one-third full.
This hardly justified his having taken time off for the trip.
After some hesitation, Zhou Chun decided to venture further into the mountains.
After distancing himself thirty or forty miles from the Marketplace, the quantity of wild beasts in the forest indeed increased. Without much effort, Zhou Chun managed to hunt down two deer and a wild boar.
There was now enough meat for the two Spirit Pets to feast on.
Zhou Chun immediately let out the two Spirit Pets so they could eat on the spot, to avoid dirtying his Storage Pouch.
But just as the Silver Lightning Python swallowed a deer and the Rock Earth Turtle was halfway through eating the boar, the sounds of a battle using magical powers erupted not far from the woods.
Seeing this, Zhou Chun’s face tightened immediately, and he hurriedly collected the Silver Lightning Python, which had just finished eating a deer, into the Spirit Beast Pouch first.
Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he commanded the Rock Earth Turtle to speed up its eating, while he himself stored the other deer’s carcass into his Storage Pouch.
After waiting for almost half a quarter of an hour, the Rock Earth Turtle finally devoured the remaining half of the wild boar, even crushing and cleaning out the boar’s head with a swipe of its paw.
Nevertheless, the commotion in the nearby forest continued without pause, and a wildfire had even started.
At this point, Zhou Chun no longer hesitated. He immediately put the Rock Earth Turtle into the Spirit Beast Pouch and began to leave.
But he had barely covered a distance of thirty zhang when a loud shout from the woods made him stop in his tracks.
“Liu Shiyun, if you run away like this, do you know what will become of your father?”
Liu Shiyun?
Is that the female Cultivator?
An image of a veiled girl in green clothes emerged in Zhou Chun’s mind.
Because the profits from selling the Red Essence Ganoderma were so substantial, Zhou Chun had a deep impression of Liu and her father from that day, and naturally, he did not forget their names.
Therefore, he instinctively stopped moving.
“He Sangu, the things you did to harm my father and me will surely be exposed to the world. Even if I, Liu Shiyun, become someone’s Cauldron, I will make sure you pay a blood debt with blood!”
A crisp female voice, filled with anger, followed closely and sounded in the woods.
Since he had not heard the girl in green speak that day, Zhou Chun was unable to determine whether the person now speaking was that girl in green merely by the voice.
But his curiosity was indeed aroused at this moment.
Listening to the conversation, it seemed the Liu family was betrayed by someone they knew.
But as mere Loose Cultivators, what did the father and daughter have that was valuable enough for an acquaintance to betray them without regard for their relationship?
Various guesses sprang up in Zhou Chun’s mind, and he started to feel an urge to act.
He remembered that the daughter of the Liu family was not of high Cultivation Level, only in the fifth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.
The fact that someone of her Cultivation Level could escape, and that underhanded tactics had to be used against them, indicated that the Cultivation Level and strength of those who ambushed her family couldn’t be very high.
In that case…
With a thought, Zhou Chun immediately cast the “Wind Control Skill” on himself and hurried toward the source of the noise.
After a while, Zhou Chun finally saw the owners of the two voices.
He hadn’t guessed wrong; the owner of the crisp female voice was indeed the girl in green with the veiled face from that day.
The other voice belonged to a somewhat enchanting woman dressed in purple, who was at the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.
At that moment, the woman in purple and the girl in green were battling each other, wielding their Magic Artifacts, completely unaware of the presence of a third party.
Seeing this, Zhou Chun silently reached for his Storage Pouch and without a sound, brought out the “Moon Blade Meteor Wheel.”
“Who’s there!!”
The actions of Zhou Chun manipulating his Magic Artifact didn’t slip past the woman in purple, who, becoming alert, hastily drove a green scarf Magic Artifact to protect herself and shouted angrily in his direction.
But the woman in purple never expected that not only was her attacker a late-stage Qi Refinement Cultivator, but he also used a first-grade superior Magic Artifact right from the start.
Under the sharp edge of the silver-black circular Magic Artifact, the green scarf Magic Artifact was instantly torn into countless pieces, and then her voluptuous body was also split in half, creating an extremely discomforting scene.
Even the girl in green, who just moment ago could not wait for her to die, now let out a sharp scream of “Ah,” quickly turning away, unable to bear the sight of the bloody corpse on the ground.
This caused a misunderstanding in Zhou Chun. He quickly spoke out loudly, “Taoist Friend Liu, do not panic. The one who killed her is Zhou Chun!”
Hearing his voice, Liu Shiyun also swiftly turned to look at him.
She obviously had a good memory or perhaps Zhou Chun’s youthful and handsome features were highly recognizable.
She looked at Zhou Chun in shock and uncertainty, saying, “Are you the young shopkeeper from Spirit Beast Restaurant?”
“Indeed, it is Zhou!”
Zhou Chun nodded his head and then explained with a serious face, “Zhou was hunting nearby and only rushed to the rescue after hearing Taoist Friend Liu’s cries, realizing that an acquaintance was in danger.”
Without waiting for Liu Shiyun to respond, he turned to her with a solemn expression and asked about the direction she had fled from, “Is your honored father engaged in a battle over there? Who is the enemy? What is their cultivation level?”
Only when he mentioned her father did Liu Shiyun snap back to reality.
Suddenly, she knelt on the ground with a “plop,” repeatedly kowtowing and pleading to Zhou Chun, “Please, Shopkeeper Zhou, save my father! I am willing to work like an ox or horse to repay your kindness!”
Seeing this, Zhou Chun hastily helped her up and said, “What are you doing, Taoist Friend Liu? Please rise and speak!”
After saying this, he repeated the questions he had asked earlier.
Rescuing was certainly not a problem, but only if it was possible.
He didn’t want to rush into a rescue without even knowing how many enemies there were or their strength in cultivation.
Lest he fail to save the person and instead lose his own life.
Fortunately, Liu Shiyun’s answer set his mind at ease.
It turned out that there were only two people attacking Liu Qingshan: one was in the tenth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, and the other was in the ninth layer, both of whom were Loose Cultivators, just like Liu Qingshan.
Since that was the case, Zhou Chun had no reason to hesitate any longer.
He immediately waved his sleeve, summoning his Flying Artifact and headed towards Liu Qingshan’s location at top speed.
The Flying Artifact was naturally much faster than the Wind Control Skill, and it didn’t take long for Zhou Chun to arrive at the site of the battle.
His timing was perfect, as Liu Qingshan was at his wit’s end and about to be slain.
Like a god descending from the heavens, Zhou Chun instantly shielded Liu Qingshan behind him and plucked the Spirit Beast Pouch from his waist, releasing the Rock Earth Turtle.
Then he spoke reassuring words to Liu Qingshan right away.
“Fear not, Taoist Friend Liu. Your beloved has been saved by Zhou, and Zhou has also come at her request to rescue you.”
Upon hearing this, relief clearly washed over Liu Qingshan’s face, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Zhou Chun.
But the expressions on the two attackers’ faces changed drastically.
One of them, a bald, rotund man with bulging eyes, glared at him and bellowed, “What did you say, you little brat? What have you done to Sangu?”
“Naturally, I killed her!”
Zhou Chun replied calmly.
At this answer, the bald brute’s eyes almost burst with fury, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot.
“Ah! You deserve to die, die, die, die!!!”
The bald brute screamed hysterically, as if his wife had died, and immediately conjured a crimson-colored axe Magic Artifact, fiercely swinging it towards Zhou Chun.
He also didn’t forget to grab a handful of Talismans from his Storage Pouch and, without looking, flung them all towards Zhou Chun.
Zhou Chun was somewhat stunned by the man’s extreme reaction, not understanding why.
Still, he swiftly ordered the Rock Earth Turtle to release the Stone Wall Technique to protect himself and Liu Qingshan, and circled a dark Iron Shield Dharma Tool around his body.
Then he quickly performed hand signs, casting the secret technique, Five Elements Spiritual Armor Technique.
The bald brute seemed to have truly lost his mind at this moment.
Even though there was a high stone wall in front of Zhou Chun that he could have flown over with his Magic Artifact to attack Zhou Chun directly, he chose to persistently hack at the wall instead.
The other middle-aged man who had been attacking Liu Qingshan alongside him, however, did not join in the attack against Zhou Chun but seized the opportunity of the distraction to turn and flee.
“Not good, Guo DaHu is escaping! You mustn’t let him get away, Taoist Friend!”
Liu Qingshan cried out to Zhou Chun as he noticed what was happening.
“Rest assured, Taoist Friend Liu, he won’t escape!”
Zhou Chun responded, directing the Rock Earth Turtle to protect Liu Qingshan while he himself concentrated on the bald brute.
He swiftly summoned the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel and pursued the fleeing Guo DaHu.
As soon as he moved, the bald brute immediately turned, red-eyed, swinging his axe at Zhou Chun as if determined to cover Guo DaHu’s escape.
But his wild manner seemed more driven by a vendetta, solely focused on avenging He Sangu by killing Zhou Chun.
Zhou Chun, who had been traversing the Cultivation World for several years, had never encountered such a person.
Not wishing to entangle with him, Zhou Chun met a swing of the axe with his dark Iron Shield Dharma Tool and continued his pursuit of Guo DaHu.
At this moment, the Rock Earth Turtle forcefully slammed its palm onto the ground, causing spires of rock to burst forth, flipping the bald brute onto his back. Then it opened its mouth and emitted a yellow spiritual light, instantly turning into a massive boulder as big as a wheel, smashing down on the bald man.
In this way, under the relentless assault of the Rock Earth Turtle, despite the bald brute’s hateful obsession with Zhou Chun, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Zhou Chun left the scene.