The Hunters and the Hunted

Inside the cavern's freezing lake.

A small azure serpent was continuously drawing upon the icy power of the lake to nourish the ‘cold miasma’ within its body. Suddenly, its eyes flickered. Whoosh~~~ It transformed directly into mist, then coalesced on the shore of the lake into a young girl dressed in green robes, with rosy lips, white teeth, and gleaming, intelligent eyes.

“How dare they come to my territory?” The green-robed girl muttered to herself. “I was just trying to properly nourish the cold miasma inside me, and they come to cause trouble.”

“But my power isn’t strong enough yet. It’s not the right time to fight.” The green-robed girl then turned into mist, and a streak of azure light flashed through the midair as a small azure serpent disappeared without a trace.

……

The white-robed and grey-robed cultivators were carefully tracking their quarry when, suddenly, a flash of azure light appeared in the distant sky. A snake in the air let out an angry roar: “You two human cultivators dare to come to my territory? You’re dead!”

The sound boomed.

Whoosh.

The serpent flashed through the air and vanished.

“It’s the Skygreen Serpent!”

“It’s found us.” The two cultivators were greatly startled. The white-robed cultivator then transmitted mentally, “This Skygreen Serpent seems enraged. It will probably make a move on us. We’ll play along with its plan and secretly set up a ‘Spatial Sealing Formation’ around the area. Once it gets close, we’ll activate the formation immediately, preventing it from using void shuttling to escape. Then we’ll kill it.”

“Alright. Be careful. Set up the formation quietly. Don’t let it discover us.” The grey-robed cultivator transmitted back.

……

Several thousand li away.

“Haha, I told you those two were dead men walking. Those two idiots are probably plotting right now how to deal with me. My life as a Skygreen Serpent… is far too precious. Why would I fight them head-on?” The small azure serpent flashed through the void again and vanished once more.

……

Ji Ning and Mu Northson were piloting the dragon-headed vessel, carrying their group of humans towards the Yinglong Guard’s encampment within Mount Yujue Wasteland.

Roughly ten thousand li away from Ji Ning.

On another boat were a man and a woman. The man was tall and handsome; it was Donghe Feiyun. The woman was also exquisitely beautiful, named Donghe Baixue.

“Brother, killing these Wanxiang-level great demons isn’t that hard. We’ve already slain two great demons working together in just a single day.” Donghe Baixue said happily.

“Killing two great demons isn’t a big deal. We got lucky; the first demon mountain we chose just happened to have two Wanxiang great demons dwelling there. But right after we killed them, several other Wanxiang great demons rushed over. We only managed to escape thanks to our Lesser Teleportation Talismans.” Donghe Feiyun shook his head. “What’s more, this trial for the Yinglong Guard is more about surviving in Mount Yujue Wasteland for three months… all three months. This land is filled with dangers everywhere. That’s far harder than killing one or two Wanxiang great demons.”

Donghe Baixue said, “But brother, you said the closer we get to the Yinglong Guard encampment, the safer it is. The monsters will also stay further away from it… Even if we can’t enter the camp, we can just find a spot within ten thousand li of the camp and stay there for three months.”

“Mm, but we must still be careful.” Donghe Feiyun said. “This place is different from our tribe…”

“I know.”

Donghe Baixue replied.

Just then, another warship flew over from afar.

“Oh?” Donghe Feiyun and Donghe Baixue both looked over.

“Haha, isn't this Brother Feiyun of the Donghe clan!” Laughter came from the distant warship. A dashing man in white robes was standing on its deck. The Donghe siblings immediately recognized him… it was ‘Beihe Zhou’ of the Lie Heaven Sword Sect, one of the hundred people participating in this Yinglong Guard trial.

“Brother Beihe.” Donghe Feiyun called out.

“It’s rare to run into you and your sister out here, Brother Feiyun. Would you care to come aboard my puppet warship and share some wine?” Beihe Zhou smiled.

“Alright.” A smile appeared on Donghe Baixue’s face.

“No need.” Donghe Feiyun shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”

This made Donghe Baixue look at her brother in confusion, but Donghe Feiyun just glanced at her, so she didn’t press the matter.

“In that case, I won’t force it.” Beihe Zhou was straightforward. He smiled and said, “I’ll be off then.”

No sooner had he spoken.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Five streaks of light shot in different directions, fast as lightning. These five streaks of light… were five Wanxiang Adepts, also among the hundred people participating in this Yinglong Guard trial. The five Wanxiang Adepts all erupted with boundless, hazy grey light from their bodies, and Beihe Zhou, standing on the warship, did the same.

A total of six people!

The grey light connected with each other, shrouding heaven and earth.

“Spatial Sealing Formation!” Donghe Feiyun and Donghe Baixue’s faces changed dramatically.

“You… you…” Donghe Feiyun looked ashen-faced at the six cultivators surrounding them. “Dong Yi of the Snowdragon Mountain Sect, Xu Manquan of the Thousand Rivers Sect, Beihe Zhou of the Lie Heaven Sword Sect… you even prepared a Spatial Sealing Formation.”

Minor Teleportation Dao Talismans were useful only for Zifu Disciples and ordinary Wanxiang Adepts.

But among Wanxiang Adepts, some of the more powerful ones would often carry Spatial Sealing Formations. Once deployed… teleportation was impossible within its range.

“Four at Wanxiang Perfection, two at Wanxiang Late Stage.” Donghe Feiyun and Donghe Baixue exchanged glances; both had a look of grim resolve in their eyes.

“Kill them.” Beihe Zhou’s eyes flashed with a cold light.

“Kill!”

Donghe Feiyun and Donghe Baixue went berserk.

……

“I, Donghe Feiyun, will definitely take revenge! I will definitely take revenge!!!” A shrill cry full of hatred echoed in the distance. Donghe Feiyun, covered in blood and having lost an arm, burst out of the Spatial Sealing Formation and directly used a Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman to vanish. As for his sister, she was already dead.

After all, the siblings weren’t facing Wanxiang great demons lacking in inheritance; they were facing elites among Wanxiang Adepts, each from different sects and tribes!

Four at Wanxiang Perfection, two at Wanxiang Late Stage. Once they joined forces, they absolutely crushed the siblings.

“We let Donghe Feiyun get away.” Beihe Zhou shook his head.

“Lucky for him.”

The other five also flew back to the warship. Beihe Zhou picked up Donghe Baixue’s slain storage belt and began to examine its contents.

“How is it?” The others asked.

“Not bad. There’s a Wanxiang great demon corpse head in here.” Beihe Zhou handed the storage belt to the person next to him, letting the others inspect it as well. Although the six of them had formed a pact to hunt together and sworn a Heavenly Dao oath, they still needed to check the spoils individually.

Beihe Zhou smiled, “It’s a three-month trial; it’ll be easy to collect six Wanxiang great demon corpses.”

“Mm.” The golden-robed Dong Yi also nodded with a smile. “Those cultivators who go around killing Wanxiang great demons are probably staying close to the Yinglong Guard encampment. If we patrol around here… we’re bound to run into more. When we do, we kill them!”

“Let’s keep doing this.”

The group was full of anticipation.

Killing cultivators not only allowed them to obtain Wanxiang great demon corpses, but also the magic treasures and other items on the cultivators’ bodies. It was far better than just killing great demons.

……

“I, Donghe Feiyun, swear I will kill them all.” Donghe Feiyun, stained with blood, appeared in midair, his eyes filled with hatred. “Beihe Zhou, Xu Manquan, Dong Yi…” One name after another, he gnashed his teeth as he recited them, as if to burn them into the deepest part of his soul.

“Little sister.”

“Little sister.” Tears flowed from Donghe Feiyun’s eyes.

He had always known the path of cultivation was fraught with danger, but he never imagined that on his very first real venture out, his sister would die. This filled Donghe Feiyun, who had been so confident and spirited just moments before, with endless pain and hatred.

He also knew that for killings among Wanxiang Adepts, the seniors of the respective sects generally wouldn’t intervene. Unless a Primal Daoist took action against a Wanxiang Adept, this kind of ‘bullying the weak’ would cause the victim’s side to step in.

If the fight was between peers…

If you died, you could only blame your inferior skill!

Of course, if the person who died was the most beloved junior of some powerful figure—their only disciple, for example—the powerful figure might go mad and disregard the rules to avenge their disciple.

……

Ji Ning and Mu Northson, aboard their warship, were steadily advancing towards the Yinglong Guard encampment.

“Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning.” Mu Northson looked at the people who were still somewhat fearful and uneasy, and said softly, “They are still terrified, still unsettled. Even now… they are still afraid of us. Only the children are a bit bolder.”

“They’ve been enslaved for too long.” Ji Ning shook his head. “Servility is deeply ingrained in them. It will be very difficult to change. There’s still some hope for the children.”

Mu Northson spotted the child they had rescued earlier. He smiled and walked over. The boy’s mother, a dirty woman, was so frightened she pulled her son back, but the child wasn’t afraid. He looked up at Mu Northson.

“Little one, I haven’t even asked your name yet,” Mu Northson said.

“My name is Ironwa!” The child looked up. “Immortals, what are your names?”

Mu Northson laughed. “My name is Mu Northson, and this is my senior apprentice-brother, Ji Ning.”

“Mu Northson… Ji Ning…” The child murmured softly, as if trying to remember the two names.

Ji Ning walked over with a smile as well. “This Ironwa is quite clever.”

……

Just as Ning and Northson were chatting with the little child, a warship was drawing near in the distance.

“Look, that dragon-headed warship.” Beihe Zhou pointed from afar. “If I remember correctly, that’s the puppet warship used by Mu Northson, the Black-White College disciple among our hundred. It’s likely Mu Northson and his senior apprentice-brother on that ship.”

“Black-White College?”

“The Black-White College is full of monstrous geniuses. They aren’t easy to mess with.”

“Will we attack?”

These people began to hesitate.

The golden-robed Dong Yi, however, said, “Don’t worry. I know Ji Ning quite well. He should be only twenty years old this year! Although his talent is astonishing, he’s had a short time to cultivate. As you know before… his ‘Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens’ is at the ninth stage. His close-combat threat is significant. As long as we keep our distance, we have nothing to fear from him. And Mu Northson seems to follow Ji Ning’s lead; his strength is probably nothing special either.”

“The fact they’re returning probably means they have the corpses of two Wanxiang great demons.”

“Killing Black-White College disciples is worth more than killing several ordinary Wanxiang Adepts. Besides, one of them is at Wanxiang Medium Stage, and the other is a Fiendgod Body Refiner barely at Wanxiang Early Stage. The four of us are at Wanxiang Perfection, and two of us are at Wanxiang Late Stage. We can also attack using a six-person formation.”

“With their guard down and us prepared, we have a great chance of winning.”

Soon, the six of them reached a consensus.

“Let’s go. Let’s kill these two monstrous geniuses of the Black-White College.” A fierce light filled Beihe Zhou’s eyes.