In the face of death, the middle-aged man immediately unleashed the spiritual energy within him, causing it to surge outwards.
However, a short sword effortlessly sliced through his protective spiritual energy, and its gleaming blade plunged deep into his back.
Fortunately, the earlier surge of spiritual energy had caused the short sword's aim to deviate slightly, preventing it from directly piercing the middle-aged man's heart.
"Pfft!"
Zhou Lianying, having struck true, immediately withdrew her sword, her decisiveness absolute.
After all, she was a direct disciple trained by a major sect, and by no means a fool. She certainly wouldn't be so reckless as to greedily pursue an advantage.
As expected, the moment she retreated, the middle-aged man let out a furious roar. With one hand, he flung several talismans shimmering with spiritual energy towards his front, while with the other, he unleashed a torrent of berserk spiritual power, striking heavily behind him.
Seeing this, Zhou Lianying quickly held her short sword upright before her. The sword's blade, etched with special runes, sliced through the roaring, violent spiritual power that assaulted her, while she simultaneously retreated backward with all speed.
At this moment, her face held no hint of tension; instead, a joyful expression bloomed, and her eyes sparkled with brilliance.
The middle-aged man's heart suddenly sank with an ominous premonition. But before he could react, a flicker of water-like light appeared in the corner of his eye.
In his line of sight, a companion's face was etched with anxiety as he opened his mouth to shout a warning. Suddenly, a series of explosive sounds erupted.
The man quickly turned his head to look, and then saw several talismans in the air before him being shattered by afterimages. The spiritual energy within them immediately poured out, blooming like miniature suns.
Bathed in the flashing spiritual light, a whip's shadow pierced through the air and arrived before him. A faint blue afterimage flashed, and a crisp cracking sound ensued.
His companion's shout finally rang out, and immediately, the middle-aged man felt a searing pain in his chest, as a surge of immense spiritual power exploded outwards.
As his body was flung backward, his gaze passed through the pale blue whip, several exploding balls of spiritual light, and a sky full of broken branches and fallen leaves, finally settling on a young man clad in a Taoist robe.
However, before any thoughts could form in his mind, the life force within him had already been extinguished.
Bang!
A few breaths later, the middle-aged man's corpse plummeted to the ground, sent flying seven or eight zhang by a lash, his life force completely gone. The spiritual energy cultivated over decades of arduous training now quietly dispersed into the heavens and earth.
Ji Yuan's gaze sharpened, and with a flick of his wrist, his spiritual energy poured into the whip, transforming it into a length over ten zhang long. It moved like lightning, darting with afterimages.
The Yuan Chen Whip, now as agile as a spirit snake, zipped through the air. In mere breaths, it pierced the chests of two late-stage Enlightenment Realm cultivators. A mere tremor of its spiritual energy extinguished their lives.
Then, his gaze swept towards the distance. The last of the four, seeing that the situation was dire, decisively turned and began to flee with great speed.
But how could Ji Yuan let him escape? Although there was no prior enmity between them, having drawn blades, he couldn't afford to leave loose ends, even if this was merely a mid-stage Enlightenment Realm cultivator.
With a mere thought, a beam of sword energy shot from between his brows. After a few flashes, it pierced the man's back, severing all life force within him.
After retracting the Yuan Chen Whip and coiling it around his waist, he leaped down from the towering tree and slowly approached the young woman several zhang away.
As for the corpses scattered around, he didn't spare them another glance. Whether cultivator or warrior, once they stepped onto this path, they had to be prepared to be killed at any moment.
Even without personal animosity, when the time came to act, one should never falter, lest it become a trouble for oneself or one's loved ones.
However, acting without provocation and killing cultivators unrelated to him did stir some unease within Ji Yuan, and a trace of displeasure flickered across his face.
Zhou Lianying sheathed her short sword. After glancing at the approaching Ji Yuan, she jogged over to the fallen cultivators and, with somewhat stiff movements, began to collect their belongings.
It was evident that she had rarely, if ever, done such a thing before. Yet, a single trip to the underground arena had taught her a great deal.
After gathering the spoils, she didn't keep a single item. Instead, she presented everything to Ji Yuan with a proud smile.
This immediately eased his irritation considerably, making it difficult for him to voice any reprimands. He could only ask, with a sigh, "Why are you here?"
Logically, she should have returned with Zhao Yuansong and the others to the Nine Xuan Sect's Sky Crossing Warship. Regardless of what happened, her best course of action would have been to return to her sect immediately.
Unless something had happened during that journey, forcing her to remain in the underground arena. But with her cultivation, it would have been difficult to survive alone for months.
If she had possessed such ability, she wouldn't have been captured by those four wild cultivators and forced to follow them.
"After we parted that day, we headed towards the Nine Xuan Sect's disciples."
Zhou Lianying let out a wry smile and slowly recounted the events.
At that time, the attention of the demonic cultivators was focused on the Nine Xuan Sect's prodigies. Furthermore, the three-realm elders were gradually gaining the upper hand, even killing two demonic cultivators of the same realm.
Because of this, they encountered no pursuit when they fled, and managed to escape safely for nearly a hundred li.
However, their luck seemed to run out at that moment. After resting for two days and preparing to set off towards the Nine Xuan Sect's Sky Crossing Warship, they unexpectedly encountered disciples from the Moon Gazing Sect.
The enmity between the two sects ran too deep to be reconciled. When they met, a battle was inevitable, and Li Buwei and Zhou Lianying had no choice but to help Zhao Yuansong and the others fight.
After a fierce battle, the group was scattered. She then followed Li Buwei, wandering aimlessly within the underground arena.
Perhaps it was because of Ji Yuan, or perhaps Li Buwei still held some sentiment, but throughout their journey, despite encountering many cultivators and facing several dangers, he never abandoned Zhou Lianying.
Furthermore, over the past few months, the two had even explored several caves together, reaping considerable rewards.
The short sword she now carried, capable of slicing through spiritual energy, was obtained from one of these caves. It was a highly valuable magic artifact, its material already extraordinary, and it contained five layers of post-celestial restrictions.
"But about half a month ago, we encountered a group of demonic cultivators. We barely managed to escape, but during the pursuit, we got separated."
Zhou Lianying sighed. It was only after getting separated from Li Buwei that she encountered those four wild cultivators and was forced to join their group.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. The experiences of these two had been quite tumultuous, fraught with danger but miraculously safe. Whether it was the disciples of the Moon Gazing Sect, the demonic cultivators they encountered, or the exploration of several caves, they had faced great peril but suffered no harm, merely depleting their provisions, and even gaining much.
"Why didn't you return to your sect?"
He put away his thoughts and looked at the woman before him with a slight narrowing of his eyes.
A look of helplessness appeared in Zhou Lianying's eyes. Every time she considered returning to the sect, and even when Li Buwei intended to escort her, they would always encounter some unexpected event.
Either they were forced into a cave or ruin, or they would run into cultivators with ill intentions, confining them to a radius of a few hundred li.
As soon as these words left her mouth, Ji Yuan's brow furrowed, and a peculiar gleam flashed in his eyes.
He had sensed for some time that there was something between him and Zhou Lianying. Hearing her words now, he felt as if something was influencing them from the unseen realm.
But whenever he felt he was close to grasping something, it was as if a mist obscured his vision, making it impossible to see through.
"Let's leave here first."
Ji Yuan sighed and prepared to take Zhou Lianying with him.
Although the engagement had been brief and he had quickly dispatched the four cultivators, it had still caused a considerable disturbance. It was possible that someone nearby had noticed.
In this environment, so-called opportunities weren't just the remnants of predecessors or spiritual entities that grew and nurtured from heaven and earth; they also included the life savings accumulated by other cultivators.
There were always cultivators for whom exploring caves and ruins was merely incidental. The slightest ripple of activity would draw them with lightning speed, eager to kill other cultivators and enrich their own coffers.
However, Ji Yuan had only taken a few steps when he stopped, turning back with a look of confusion. He then saw her standing still.
"This… you should take it…"
Zhou Lianying mumbled softly, her gaze somewhat distant.
Being a woman of keen observation, she had noticed his initial displeasure and could guess the reason.
Perhaps those four men were villains with ill intentions towards her, but they had no connection or enmity with Ji Yuan. And although cultivators inherently engaged in conflict and struggle, no one could feel comfortable acting without provocation to kill strangers.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan fell silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly and put the treasures in her hands into his jade thumb ring.
The items weren't many: a few unranked talismans, two or three bottles of pills for restoring spiritual energy and healing injuries, and some loose silver and low-denomination bank notes.
But according to Ji Yuan's character, every little bit counted. He would never let go of such opportunities unless it was a matter of life and death.
The reason he hadn't taken them earlier was that he was still holding a grudge. Though not a great one, it still made him feel somewhat uncomfortable. Letting her hold them without taking them was a small display of his temper.
Zhou Lianying clearly understood this, which was why she had remained standing there, hoping he would accept them.
Seeing this, she immediately broke into a smile, knowing that once the young man accepted the items, even if he still felt some displeasure, this matter would finally be put to rest.
"If you used this intelligence of yours elsewhere, you wouldn't have ended up being coerced."
Ji Yuan said with a hint of annoyance, turning to walk into the distance.
Hearing this, Zhou Lianying offered no rebuttal, following him with a cheerful smile.
Their distance gradually diminished, until they were almost touching. And between them, it seemed as if a thick red thread had silently begun to intertwine.