Chapter 229: Who to Kill First?

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Who to Kill First?

"No way! Over a thousand kilometers!"

Jiang Xu’s jaw dropped. In disbelief, he retrieved the map of Dinghai State from his Storage Bag, spread it out before him, and began tracing a path along the mountains, rivers, and city landmarks with his finger to calculate the distance.

He focused intently, trying to accurately pinpoint Qian Jianjun’s coordinates on the map based on his senses. But as his calculations progressed, his expression gradually turned strange.

"How is this possible?" Jiang Xu whispered, his mind reeling as if struck by a tidal wave.

On the map in his hands, Qian Jianjun’s location had brazenly crossed the border of Dinghai State, pointing to a place he had never expected: Canglang State!

"Isn’t that fucking territory of the Demonic Cultivators?!"

Jiang Xu was stunned.

’How did Qian Jianjun end up over there? Did he go willingly, or was he captured by Young Master Qing?’

Jiang Xu quickly sensed Qian Jianjun’s aura again, only to find that it wasn’t weak or chaotic. Instead, it was relatively stable and normal, showing no signs of being restrained or harmed. Overall, it seemed perfectly fine, which made him think Qian Jianjun probably hadn’t been captured.

’...You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Jiang Xu recalled the terms Young Master Qing had offered from the Joyful Tower and immediately understood. Qian Jianjun couldn’t resist the temptation and had defected to the Demon Cultivators.

"Bah, a traitor to the Dao... truly shameless!"

Now that he knew Qian Jianjun had seemingly defected, Jiang Xu saw no reason to linger.

Jiang Xu had originally planned to give Qian Jianjun some trouble, hoping to team up with Zong Ziqi to eliminate the detestable bastard before leaving Dinghai State.

But not only had the guy run, he had run so far that he’d fled Dinghai State entirely.

’Whatever, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.’

When Jiang Xu came looking for Qian Jianjun, he hadn’t brought Zong Ziqi along, instead telling him to wait where he was.

After finishing his search for Qian Jianjun, Jiang Xu immediately went back to find Zong Ziqi. Together, they returned to the battlefield where the three villains had ganged up on Zong Ziqi.

Even after more than a month, the battlefield remained barren and desolate.

The once-lush forest was now lifeless, and traces of the fierce battle were visible everywhere.

The soil was an unnatural black, like a canvas soaked in ink. Demonic Qi permeated the area, and thin wisps of black smoke slowly rose from the ground.

The once-thriving trees were now withered and dead, their branches and leaves sere, their bark coated in a faint black mist.

The surface of the ground was riddled with fine cracks, through which the Demonic Qi seeped deep into the earth, completely stripping the entire area of its vitality.

The once-fertile soil was now as hard and barren as dead earth, showing no signs of life. Not even weeds could take root and grow here, let alone any other plants.

Demon Cultivators walk a predatory path of cultivation that goes against the natural order, and the destruction they wreak upon Heaven and Earth is severe.

For this land to fully recover, it would take at least five years for the Demonic Qi to slowly dissipate and for Spiritual Qi to return, only then would there be any hope for life to be restored.

Jiang Xu looked at Zong Ziqi, finding it hard to imagine how he had managed to hold on under such an onslaught until his arrival.

’How in the world did this guy manage it?’

"So, who should we go after first?" Jiang Xu asked. "Do we go from easiest to hardest, or hardest to easiest?"

"Young Master Yellow Springs is the weakest, and he talks the most, so he should be the easiest to deal with. The only thing is, he probably has the most Cultivators following him."

"Wuji Fairy from the Yin Yang Annihilation Sect isn’t the strongest—her power is average, I’d say—but she’s probably the trickiest one to handle. Just thinking about her gives me a headache. If it weren’t for her, even if I couldn’t have killed them in that last fight, I could have at least seriously wounded one of them."

"As for Young Master Ghost of the Netherworld Mansion... his personal combat strength isn’t that high, but that Soul-Calling Banner of his is just disgusting. If you factor in the Soul-Calling Banner, he’s the strongest of the three."

Zong Ziqi analyzed all three of them based on their previous battle:

"If you’re asking me to choose who to go after first, I’m definitely picking the easiest one."

"Oh? And why is that?" Jiang Xu asked, curious.

"What if we go for the hard one first and get killed in the process? It’s better to take out the easy one first. That way, even if we fail in the end, at least we’ll have taken one of them down."

"Haha, you do have a point there," Jiang Xu laughed. "Alright, we’ll do it your way!"

"Hey, come on. You’re the one with all the ideas. You give me your analysis."

Seeing that Zong Ziqi was insistent on hearing his analysis, Jiang Xu had no choice but to speak:

"Honestly, it doesn’t matter who we kill first, as long as we can get the job done. If we kill the easy villain first, the harder-to-kill ones will immediately be on alert when they see he’s dead. They’ll become even harder to kill and might even team up to hunt us down again."

"If we go for the harder-to-kill villain first, then like you said, if he gets away, all of them will become difficult to kill. But if we succeed, the difficulty of the remaining operations will drop significantly."

"So really, there’s no right or wrong choice. We just have to go for it."

With that said, Jiang Xu moved to the spot where the three Demon Cultivators had stood and activated his Seeking Technique.

This time, Jiang Xu once again refrained from rashly extending his Divine Sense. Instead, he first sifted through the chaotic mess of auras to find the one belonging to Young Master Yellow Springs of the Biluo Demon Sect. Only then did he connect to that specific aura with his Divine Sense.

After a moment of sensing, Jiang Xu opened his eyes and looked toward a certain point to the north.

"Young Master Yellow Springs is in a location over two hundred kilometers north of us."

Jiang Xu took out his map. After finding their current location, he pointed to a specific spot.

"Right here... Huh? What’s going on?"

Seeing Jiang Xu’s confusion, Zong Ziqi leaned over to look at the map in his hand and was also startled.

"The Bright Moon Sect? That’s a major Sect with a Golden Core Cultivator! What are Demon Cultivators doing so close to their territory?!"

On the map, the spot Jiang Xu’s finger was pointing to was right on the edge of the Bright Moon Sect’s territory. Any closer and it would have been a direct intrusion.

Jiang Xu and Zong Ziqi exchanged a glance, both seeing the astonishment in the other’s eyes.

"What should we do, Brother Jiang? Looks like there’s a situation. Are we still going?"

Jiang Xu pondered for a moment before weighing his options and finally saying:

"We’re going! But the objective has changed. We won’t rush to kill him. First, let’s see what’s happening. If things look bad, we bolt! Anyway, the Bright Moon Sect is one of the Righteous Sects, so they’re on our side. Maybe we can even use them to our advantage."

Zong Ziqi nodded in agreement.