Chapter 11 - Prey

After crossing an underground river, Leng Yan and his companion split up and headed towards their target from two different directions. Leng Yan still carried the magical sword in his hand, wore the flame-shielded Jade pendant around his waist, and had the moonlight ring on his finger, which looked utterly ordinary.

“The prey is heading your way; just go around the mound ahead, and you’ll encounter them. Hide for a bit; I’ll be right there,” whispered the voice of Chu Jianfeng through the sound transmission conch at Leng Yan’s ear.

“No worries! I’ll go meet him, and if it gets tricky, you can sneak attack,” Leng Yan responded through the conch.

“And here I thought you were one of the Righteous Sect, yet you resort to sneak attacks!” Chu Jianfeng teased.

“What’s this about righteous or not! Surviving is the eternal truth!”

“Alright, you have a point! Start your move! I’ll keep an eye on the surroundings to make sure no one interferes,” Chu Jianfeng said, somewhat speechlessly.

Putting away the sound transmission conch, Leng Yan grabbed handfuls of soil and smeared them on himself. He looked over his disguise and smiled satisfactorily: “This should work! It’s been a while since I last played a role. Time for a little throwback.”

“Help! Someone, help!” Covered in mud, Leng Yan tumbled down from the mound just as Xun Zhi from the Infinity Sword Sect approached, frantically shouting for help.

Hearing Leng Yan’s cries, Xun Zhi quickly drew out his magical sword. Seeing Leng Yan’s disheveled appearance, a cold smile flickered across his lips, but his face showed concern. “What happened?”

Leng Yan’s face was filled with fear as he trembled, “Over there, lots of people from the evil sect, they want to kill me, you must save me!”

“Alright, I will save you!” Xun Zhi’s face was filled with benevolence as he moved to help Leng Yan up, yet he never lowered his magical sword.

Indeed, when Xun Zhi was about half a meter away, his intent to kill suddenly became apparent, and he thrust his magical sword towards Leng Yan.

Leng Yan, who had been watching every move closely, saw the murderous intent and no longer hid himself. A flame shield instantly formed around him, blocking the magical sword, and suddenly, a pitch-black dagger appeared in his hand, stabbing straight into Xun Zhi’s heart.

“You! Despicable!” Xun Zhi had never anticipated that this disheveled man had been scheming against him all along.

Pretending to be pitiable had led him to lower his guard. Even more unexpectedly, the other party possessed a supreme-grade spiritual weapon.

Feeling his blood draining, Xun Zhi, filled with hatred, glared furiously at Leng Yan and cursed him for his baseness.

“Don’t call me despicable! We’re all the same! You wanted to kill me too, didn’t you? You struck first, I was merely defending myself. Go on!” Leng Yan smirked coldly. In the immortal cultivation world, it’s survival of the fittest. If I don’t kill you, you would kill me. The difference is I’m more cunning, so I survive.

The magical sword was drawn, and a slash left a bloody mark on Xun Zhi’s neck.

“Hmm? Turns out to be a counterfeit, and a sinister one at that. What a pity!” Leng Yan, having killed Xun Zhi, saw a black orb merge into his mission jade slip, indicating that Xun Zhi was not from the Infinity Sword Sect, but rather belonged to an evil sect.

He was merely dressed as a member of the Righteous Sect, making it easier to approach and strike at the righteous.

“You, truly sinister! Just like that, you killed someone. Being with you is surely like making a deal with a tiger!” Chu Jianfeng had just arrived and, understanding the situation completely, exclaimed as soon as he appeared.

“Quick, take this man’s jade slip. And stop playing the victim in front of me! Beware of the lightning strike.” Leng Yan was used to Chu Jianfeng’s character-talkative and active, yet profoundly shrewd.

…

In the battlefield of righteousness and evil, there was no distinction between day and night, only the eerie glow of the blood moon.

Leng Yan didn’t know how many days he had spent here; his daily routine involved “hunting” with Chu Jianfeng.

During these days, the count of heads in Leng Yan’s mission jade slip had risen to fifty, sufficient for five missions’ requirements.

The waters of the underlands river were murky, but they contained a type of fish that was incredibly tasty! With Chu Jianfeng as the scout, Leng Yan wasn’t worried about ambushes and boldly made a fire to grill fish.

“When do you plan to leave?” Chu Jianfeng, holding a fish, tore off a strip of meat and asked as he put it in his mouth.

Leng Yan thought for a moment and said, “A hundred heads! I came here hoping to train and break through my current realm, but it seems there’s nothing here that can really challenge me!”

“You seem quite bold in your claims, but indeed, you’re right. When I first arrived here, I could only scavenge for easy pickings. After joining forces with you, I began to actively hunt targets. Aside from the initial challenges, it’s been a massacre lately!”

“Without a magical treasure by your side here, you’re destined to become the prey!” Leng Yan also felt fortunate, thankful for having met Shui Yunyao, who provided him with a magical treasure, allowing him to become a ‘hunter’ instead of a lamb waiting for slaughter.

“Hurry up and eat! Someone’s coming; get ready to kill!” Chu Jianfeng furrowed his brows, noticing someone entering his surveillance area, and spoke indifferently.

“Alright! I’ll start eating! Same old rules, you test the waters. If you can beat them, kill them directly; if not, I’ll step in.” Leng Yan, unfazed, continued to carefully pick at fish bones and eat the fish meat.

“But I still want to eat more!” Chu Jianfeng reluctantly looked at the fish.

Without a word, Leng Yan took all the fish, licked them all over with his tongue with a ‘swish, swish’ sound, and then chuckled, “How about it? Still want to eat?”

Damn! I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you; why doesn’t lightning strike you dead! Chu Jianfeng grumbled.

“Go ahead! Try to be back before I finish eating the fish,” Leng Yan said, continuing his meal, indifferent to Chu Jianfeng.

Chu Jianfeng knew he couldn’t out-shameless Leng Yan; after all, considering Leng Yan’s background as a beggar, one couldn’t expect him to have a thin skin-he would have starved on the streets long ago.

Mao Li is a disciple of the Supreme Dao Sect, and his elder brother is even a true disciple of the sect. Within the Supreme Dao Sect, Mao Li could command the wind and summon the rain.

However, the sect rules are strict, and to be promoted to an inner disciple, one must contribute significantly to the sect.

Mao Li’s elder brother equipped him with a full set of magical treasures, believing that he would face no danger on the battlefield of righteousness and evil, thus allowing him to undertake this mission to advance to inner disciple.

Mao Li arrived at the battlefield armed with his magical treasures, proving invincible and having already killed eighteen people; he needed only two more to complete his mission. However, he had walked a long while without spotting anyone, which frustrated him.

Just then, a man in green robes leaped out, shouting, “I opened this mountain! I planted these trees. If you want to pass…”

“You’re out of your mind! Not even death should be sought like this.” Mao Li was finally relieved to see someone, but the words that person blurted out nearly drove him to despair.

“Damn it! Have you no manners? I wasn’t even finished speaking. What’s the rush? Eager to get reincarnated?” The person who had jumped out was none other than Chu Jianfeng, who looked more like a bandit than a hunter.

“Shit! Courting death, I was thinking of letting you live a little longer! Since you don’t wish to remain in this world, I’ll send you off!” Mao Li, enraged by Chu Jianfeng’s arrogant words, suddenly brandished a long cyan sword adorned with a bird totem, a supreme-grade spiritual weapon.

Seeing the supreme-grade spiritual weapon, Chu Jianfeng felt a wave of excitement. It had been a long time since he’d seen such a treasure.

“Is that the only one you have? I have a supreme-grade spiritual weapon too! And I also have a middle-grade spiritual weapon. You can’t kill me with just one!” Chu Jianfeng wasn’t foolish enough to show his full hand, but he wanted to provoke Mao Li into revealing his, making it safer to attack.

“Middle-grade spiritual weapon and you dare to show it off? Hmph! I have another supreme-grade spiritual weapon, you might as well take your own life! Don’t make me waste my energy.” Raised under the protective wing of his elder brother, Mao Li, though not foolish, lacked cunning and loved to show off, unaware of the world’s dangers. Chu Jianfeng’s challenge led him to rashly compare their weapons, falling right into the trap.

“Two supreme-grade spiritual weapons!” Knowing he was dealing with a tough opponent, Chu Jianfeng opened his sound transmission conch and shouted in feigned shock, actually signaling to Leng Yan, then continued to bait, “Unbelievable! You possess such treasures, but killing me won’t be so simple. Just so you know, I also have a low-grade treasure tool. You can’t kill me, but I can kill you.”

At that moment, Leng Yan was savoring his fish when Chu Jianfeng’s surprised shout, “Two supreme-grade spiritual weapons!” reached him.

The shout startled Leng Yan, who was about to curse out loud, but the mention of two supreme-grade spiritual weapons made his eyes gleam.

Like a hungry man eyeing a robust woman. Oops! Not quite right! Like a lustful giant craving a naked beauty.

He tossed aside his fish and sprinted towards Chu Jianfeng’s location, only hearing Mao Li’s astonished response along the way, “I didn’t expect you to have magical treasures too! Our treasures are quite comparable! I also have a low-grade treasure tool, but you are still outmatched, and you are destined to die by my hand.”

This statement made Leng Yan slip in his rush, and he thought, “Damn! Another low-grade treasure tool, this time I’ve struck it rich!”