Chapter 459 - 391: ’Old Friend
Ji An said softly:
"It’s hard to discern the situation at night, besides, we don’t really know what happened, so it’s better not to get involved."
Out in the world, compassion cannot be too rampant, right and wrong are fundamentally unclear.
The night was too dark, his scope of vision only covered a few miles, unable to discern the identities of those engaged in combat.
Not long after his voice faded, another scream echoed, urgent and panicked, tinged with the shiver of impending doom.
"Woof," not far away, Dahuang let out a low growl, sensing a chilling disturbance, uneasily running towards its master.
Not only Dahuang, but also Golden Fur, Lan Bei, and the Golden Feathered Eagle all approached Ji An.
Han Yan felt the sound of waves carried on the wind, her skin instinctively tightening. She communicated telepathically:
"Junior Brother, I have a bad feeling."
Ji An sensed a faint iron scent wafting over, feeling a sense of familiarity.
He understood in his heart that he’d encountered an old adversary, the demon cultivator who he’d fought before and later fled!
If enough blood and flesh divine souls were obtained, the demon cultivator’s strength could grow rapidly. He wasn’t sure to what extent that demon cultivator had now grown.
Judging from the aura emanating from afar, the enemy hadn’t reached the level of a Golden Core Cultivator.
Compared to before, he too had not stood still; his magical power was more abundant, and his spiritual artifact had undergone longer sacrificial refinement.
More importantly, his Metal Element Technique was enhanced with a top-grade Metal Dao Seed, elevating his attack power to a higher level.
Along with various talismans and talisman treasures he had, he wasn’t worried about this enemy turning the tables.
But he had to see how much he was willing to sacrifice, as he was certainly reluctant to use the Bing Fire Divine Thunder Talisman.
"Senior Sister, stay here and don’t move, I’ll go ahead and take a look."
Ji An said, the situation already clear. As for demon cultivators, such locusts of the Cultivation Realm, he was inclined to get rid of them.
However, this enemy’s speed at fleeing was alarming, and he was uncertain if he could make it a permanent end should a battle break out again.
"Junior Brother, I’ll go with you, I also have a top-grade attack spiritual tool."
Han Yan said unyieldingly, it was her first time venturing out of the sect, with a sense of eagerness in her heart.
In the sect, she hadn’t experienced conflict, and sparring with fellow disciples couldn’t test her actual combat skills.
"Senior Sister, I can now confirm the enemy’s identity, a Chao Origin Stage demon cultivator I’ve fought before, with a very strong spirit soul attack ability.
If it weren’t for my spirit soul being naturally strong, I’d have surely suffered severe injuries in the last battle."
Upon hearing it was a demon cultivator, Han Yan’s ignited fighting spirit quickly diminished.
Demon cultivators’ methods are sinister and ruthless, often employing life-for-life ferocious tactics.
For demon cultivators, being injured is commonplace, they have ways to recover, even regrowing a lost limb.
For Daoist cultivators, losing a limb would undeniably be a deathly situation.
Han Yan’s hesitation quickly dissipated, she said:
"Since the enemy is a demon cultivator, there’s even more reason not to let Junior Brother fight alone."
The two of them traveling together, if they couldn’t advance and retreat together when encountering an enemy, then what was the point of setting out together?
Ji An slightly raised his eyebrow, and communicated telepathically:
"Since Senior Sister is determined to exterminate demons, let’s fight side by side."
He retrieved his few beast-taming companions, leaving only two puppets, as these beasts would merely be treated as blood bags in a fight against a demon cultivator.
He quickly explained the enemy’s methods, advising:
"Senior Sister, just release attacks to burn the Blood River."
Before heading out, they had revealed their strengths to each other, generally understanding each other’s spiritual artifacts and primary techniques. Forming a team naturally required a look at each other’s gear!
The opponent’s top-grade spiritual artifact was a Sun-Swallowing Bead, housing a Flame Bird Essence Soul able to spew flames across the skies, also assisting in alchemy ordinarily, very practical.
The two rode the Fire Element Auspicious Cloud side by side, flying towards the direction where the sound had vanished.
This was deliberate, slowly sneaking might not ensure a successful ambush, and the enemy would probably be long gone.
...
The Blood River churned, the blood and flesh of devoured cultivators quickly dissolving, with their spirit souls also merging into part of the Blood River.
A human face emerged on the Blood River, Yun Nianrong’s visage revealed under the moonlight.
The past few years hadn’t been pleasant for her, snatching the blood and flesh divine souls of cultivators could only be done stealthily.
She never dared stay in one place for more than half a year, even so, she was detected by cultivators of Luofeng Valley.
In terms of control over its territory, Luofeng Valley was the strongest among the Three Sects.
Luofeng Valley had been operating on the Western Continent for over five thousand years, two thousand more than the other two sects.
In its jurisdiction, most families were vassals, becoming plantations supplying low-level spiritual medicine.
Under Luofeng Valley’s model, other forces found it hard to grow significantly.
Even if these families grew strong, they at best became a more advanced spiritual medicine plantation, still essentially under Luofeng Valley’s control.
Yun Nianrong spent two years recovering from her injuries, only in the recent two years had she boosted her cultivation.
Tonight, she planned to leave, therefore ambushed a relatively large family, consuming eight Foundation Establishment cultivators and nearly a thousand Qi Refining disciples, a significant supplement.
Now, her cultivation was not far from breaking through to the Blood Essence Stage.
She had a premonition that if she were to gain a similar harvest once more, she could likely step into the Blood Essence Stage.
Unlike orthodox Daoist cultivators, demon cultivators don’t require insights, as long as they can plunder sufficient blood or spirit soul resources, they can quickly advance to the Blood Essence Stage.
Breaking through to the Blood Infant Stage would require enough understanding of demon skills, something she considered premature for her at the moment.