Chapter 133: Zixuan at an Impasse (Part Two)

After the other Golden Core cultivator had directed the remaining eight cultivators to attack, he did not join the fray himself. Instead, he stood to the side, watching them surround and assault Zixuan. It seemed this man was the leader of the ten, and given his less-than-cordial attitude toward Zhang Zhi, he likely possessed some backing of his own. It is well known that rogue cultivators in this realm have virtually no dignity to speak of.

The nine men swarmed Zixuan, who immediately became flustered, his counterattacks disjointed and clumsy. After all, he lacked practical combat experience; he had always trained alone. He had never even tested his techniques against another person—he certainly couldn’t ask Tang Wei to spar with him. Truth be told, asking her would be a waste of time. She was incredibly lazy and would much rather find a spot to nap than learn a new technique. She relied entirely on the Five Spirits Treasure within her; if you tried to fight her, she would simply hurl a fireball at you. If you were unlucky enough not to dodge, your soul would be heading straight to the Underworld, and she would have already prepared your funeral arrangements—no cremation required, as she would have already reduced you to ash.

As the battle intensified, Zixuan spent most of his time dodging, finding no opportunity to strike back. The nine men, whether intentionally or not, began to lure Zixuan toward the mountainous region; it would be embarrassing for nine of them to be seen ganging up on one person. High-level combat does not reach a conclusion quickly, and as the group fought, they drifted further away until the city was no longer visible. With no one else around, only Zhang Zhi and the other Golden Core cultivator continued to follow.

But who was Zixuan? He was a resilient survivor with an incredible capacity for adaptation. After a few exchanges, he grew more comfortable, his movements became fluid, and his techniques began to flow. He gradually found himself with energy to spare against the nine. Finding a gap, he laughed and called out to the other Golden Core cultivator standing nearby: "This is exhilarating! I’ve never had such a good fight! But they seem a bit weak now. Why don't you join in? A challenge is only fun if it's difficult!"

"Insolent brat! It seems I truly cannot let you live," the lead Golden Core cultivator roared, incensed by what he perceived as a grave insult. If he let Zixuan escape now, they would never be able to show their faces here again without being the laughingstock of the cultivation world. He resolved then and there to eliminate him.

In truth, the spectator had already been signaling the nine men to lure Zixuan into the deep mountains the moment he saw him gaining the upper hand, specifically to create an opening for himself to intervene. In the cultivation world, ganging up on someone is common enough, but he was different. Having trained in a major sect, he considered himself superior. If a group of them, including fellow Golden Core cultivators, couldn't handle one man, this Zixuan would become an insurmountable obstacle to his own reputation. He had to kill him. Yet, lacking the confidence to take Zixuan down alone, he had to rely on the others—a fact he felt he had to conceal to avoid the scorn of his peers.

Once this Golden Core cultivator joined the fight, the situation shifted. His techniques were refined, and his control was potent. By coordinating with the other Golden Core cultivator to lead the assault while the eight "small fry" filled in the gaps, Zixuan found himself increasingly strained. He soon began to bleed, suffering two wounds on his chest and arm. Fortunately, they were shallow flesh wounds he could endure for the moment. It was also a stroke of luck that he hadn't been struck by their dark, venom-coated weapons; otherwise, he would have had to flee immediately. In that sense, he owed a debt to these self-proclaimed "righteous" cultivators—their facade of virtue prevented them from using such underhanded tactics openly, or he might have met his end today.

After a few more exchanges, Zixuan realized that the new Golden Core cultivator was skilled enough to take on the other nine himself. He was far more capable than the chubby cultivator, whose weapon, though formidable, was a liability that distracted him. Zixuan realized he had underestimated them. To survive, he had to go all out. Deciding to shake off the eight low-level cultivators to focus on the two Golden Core threats, Zixuan clumsily dodged a flying cone, mounted his flying sword, and took off. Once in the air, he unleashed a "Storm Technique" he had just learned. The two Golden Core cultivators easily dodged it, but the attack struck two Foundation Establishment cultivators, who fell on the spot. Zixuan had no time to check if they were dead, as he had to scramble to evade the follow-up attacks.

Glancing back after dodging another joint strike, he saw something that made him regret his choices immensely. Damn it! How did he not know they had flying artifacts? If he had known, he would have run away long ago—life is far more important than pride. He had to find a gap to escape, or he would be dead before he knew it once his spiritual energy was exhausted.

Zixuan realized he couldn't outrun them if they pursued him, so he had to create a distraction. Seeing five dark cones flying toward him, he pulled another sword from his storage space and swung it with all his might at the six low-level cultivators tailing him. As the enemy’s next volley of attacks arrived, Zixuan parried in a panic, keeping one eye on the trajectory of his sword. It struck one of them, and the other five dodged, which bought him a moment of time. Of course, that wasn't his primary goal—the real trap was yet to come.

Distracted by multitasking, he failed to notice an incoming fireball that struck him in the chest. He was knocked off his flying sword, vomiting a mouthful of blood, his chest burning with intense pain. He had been severely wounded, but he had no time to dwell on it. Upon hearing a scream, he began chanting again, and his flying sword caught him just before he hit the ground. With a "whoosh," he sped into the distance.

The two Golden Core cultivators moved to give chase, but were stopped by a voice from below: "Young Master! Young Master, wake up!"

Since Zhang Zhi was the highly favored son of the clan head, they could not ignore the situation. Hesitating, the two cultivators glanced at Zixuan’s retreating figure before turning to land beside Zhang Zhi. A dark, black-tipped cone was embedded in Zhang Zhi's chest; the blood oozing from the wound had already coagulated into black clumps, and the exposed skin had turned entirely black. The poison was clearly vicious, and Zhang Zhi, whose cultivation was too low to resist, had collapsed within ten seconds. He was beyond saving.

"Give him the antidote, now!" the lead Golden Core cultivator roared at the chubby one.

"He... he... he's already... dead!" the chubby cultivator stammered. "His face... it's all black... there's no saving him!"

"You've killed us! The clan head will never let us off for his son's death!" The leader wasn't worried about the boy's life, but rather the clan head's wrath. The clan head had been generous to him because the Zhang family relied on his sect. If the clan head demanded a life for a life, his sect wouldn't sacrifice their influence over the Zhang family just to save him.

The chubby cultivator was even more terrified. Despite being at the Golden Core stage, he was a rogue cultivator with no backing. If someone wanted his life, there would be no one to speak for him. He trembled uncontrollably: "What do we do? What are we going to do? We're finished!"

"It's your own fault! I told you time and again not to coat your weapons with those dishonorable poisons! You were so proud of your 'lethal-upon-contact' venom, and now look—you've caused a disaster! Do you expect to shoulder the blame alone?" The lead cultivator kicked him while he was down, hoping to find a scapegoat to save himself.

"Brother Guang, you can't say that! Is it my fault? That brat deflected it!" The chubby cultivator argued, knowing he couldn't admit fault.

"It doesn't matter what you say. Given how much the clan head doted on him, we'd better find a good excuse, or we'll all be paying with our lives!" The leader was a clever man; he knew they had to work together to survive.

"Then what do you suggest?" The chubby cultivator heard a glimmer of hope. Anything was better than dying.

The lead cultivator pointed at the two remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators: "You two, go notify the clan head and have him send reinforcements. The five of us will pursue that brat. If we catch him, we’ll be fine." The messengers would surely die facing the clan head's fury, but he wisely kept that to himself.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators, whether oblivious or simply resigned, didn't utter a word and turned to head out of the forest. Resistance was futile; their cultivation level couldn't compare. It was better to be compliant.

Seeing them leave, the lead Golden Core cultivator pulled a flight artifact from his storage ring, beckoned the other four to board, and activated the incantation, speeding off in the direction Zixuan had fled.

It seemed Zixuan was in for a bout of bad luck. His lack of experience was his undoing; having traveled through so many star systems, he still didn't know that flight artifacts were the current trend in the cultivation world. They required very little spiritual energy to operate and were far more practical than flying on a sword. In a direct race, sword flight simply couldn't keep up. It seemed that even in the world of cultivation, high technology was the name of the game.