Chapter 30, Fierce Battle with Bandit Cultivators

Translator: Raznick

 

Although he felt that with his current strength, entering and exiting the market alone shouldn’t result in any mishaps, Zhou Chun wasn’t negligent enough to do nothing.

 

He still had that Red Beak Sparrow, which he had trained for several years, scout ahead, while keeping the black iron shield artifact in hand, ready to summon it at any moment for protection.

 

In this way, Zhou Chun did not encounter any cultivators ahead because of the early warning from the Red Beak Sparrow.

 

But as he was about to exit the Red Rock Mountains, a sudden cry for help, filled with panic and coming from a pleasant female voice, echoed around him.

 

“Help! Is there anyone who can save me?”

 

Soft, muffled cries for help from a woman echoed through the mountains, startling countless birds into flight.

 

The sound caused Zhou Chun to halt briefly in his tracks.

 

Then he cast a glance in the direction where the sound originated and promptly shook his head, choosing not to pay it any mind.

 

Such calls for help often occur in the Red Rock Mountains, with both genuine and fake ones.

 

Some, with no other options left, had hit rock bottom and decided to try calling out for help.

 

There were also bandits who intentionally exploited others’ sympathy by employing this tactic to lure their quarry.

 

However, Zhou Chun couldn’t care less whether the person calling for help was genuinely in danger or just trying to trick someone. He simply didn’t want to get involved.

 

Only do what you can—this was Zhou Chun’s principle in dealing with matters.

 

His current cultivation abilities would not allow him to casually save others.

 

This was the cultivation world; if one failed to save someone, they might even lose their own life.

 

After walking a certain distance, Zhou Chun’s expression quickly changed. He hurriedly raised his hand to summon the black iron shield artifact and then swiftly cast an art for himself, reinforcing it with an inferior first-grade mystical art known as Earth Shield.

 

He had just completed all this when his face darkened with anger as he glared at the empty forest ahead, growling, “Come out! I’ve seen through your tricks!”

 

However, his shout went unanswered. All that could be heard was the rustling of wind through swaying branches and the distant chirping of insects in the mountains.

 

But Zhou Chun seemed very confident in his own judgment. When he saw that the person in the dark refused to come out, he immediately said coldly: “Since you like to play games, then go ahead. I won’t humor you!”

 

Having finished speaking, he reached out and struck his storage bag, summoning out the leaf-shaped flying artifact, lifting his foot to step onto the artifact.

 

At this moment, a crimson light suddenly pierced through the forest aimed straight for Zhou Chun’s head.

 

Ding! A metallic clash resounded, as a black iron shield suddenly appeared in front of Zhou Chun, deflecting the crimson spear artifact that had been thrust toward him, sending it flying away.

 

“Finally willing to come out?”

 

Zhou Chun emitted a cold laugh and immediately retrieved the bamboo leaf flying artifact. Then, he reached for his waist’s spirit beast pouch and released the Rock Turtle inside.

 

At this moment, from the direction where the red pointed spear artifact had flown out, a man with sharp eyes in green robes leapt out from the grass. He raised his hand to recall the failed attack’s artifact.

 

Then, with a grim expression, he looked down at Zhou Chun and growled in a low voice, “Boy, how did you discover me? I thought my disguise, though not impeccable, was enough to escape detection by someone like you—a cultivator who’s supposedly still at the late Qi Refining Stage.”

 

He didn’t understand why, despite his cultivation at the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining and using a disguise and spirit-restraining technique he had used multiple times without incident before, he would falter in front of Zhou Chun, a mid Qi Refining cultivator.

 

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun coldly laughed and said, “Although your disguise is flawless, you made the fatal mistake of calling for help, thereby drawing my attention.”

 

“I have walked over a three hundred meters from where I heard the sound to this place, and yet now I can’t hear any of it?”

 

As soon as these words left his lips, a mocking laughter suddenly rang out from behind him in the mountain forest.

 

“Hee hee hee, oh, it seems my disguise is undone. Thank you, sir, for pointing out my mistake. I vow I’ll never let it happen again!”

 

Suddenly, as she spoke in a sweet and delicate tone, a flirtatiously attractive woman lightly clad in a red gown appeared, blocking Zhou Chun’s retreat.

 

However, compared to the man with the slit eyes, the woman in the red dress had a significantly lower cultivation level, comparable only to Zhou Chun’s, also at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

 

After hearing Zhou Chun’s words, the man’s expression actually improved.

 

At least this proved his disguise is flawless; the issue wasn’t with him.

 

But he did not forget his identity. At once, his eyes flared with cold light as he stared at Zhou Chun and said, “Boy, you do have some skills, but today, upon encountering us, your own misfortune is your doing. If there’s a next life, remember not to venture out alone again!”

 

Hardly had the words left his lips when he issued a low command.

 

He pointed his hand, and the crimson spear artifact was again hurled straight at Zhou Chun.

 

He then raised his hand to strike the storage bag at his waist, producing a crimson copper gourd, which he flung into the air.

 

As the man’s spiritual power surged, the gourd’s lid burst open instantly, a jet of flames erupted from its mouth, sending six or seven fist-sized fireballs streaking toward Zhou Chun.

 

At the same time, when Zhou Chun was about to speak, a woman in red appeared behind him. With a sardonic smile, she lifted her hand. Suddenly, a water-blue sword flew towards Zhou Chun’s back.

 

Facing this double attack from both sides, Zhou Chun’s expression turned grave even as his enthusiasm rose.

 

Less than a month remained until the martial competition held by the five major cultivating clans. At that time, he would inevitably face off against those late Qi Refining cultivators from the cultivating clans in direct combat.

 

Those people, as outstanding young members of various cultivating clans, definitely wouldn’t have weaker strength than the man in front of them.

 

And today he could use this couple to test his own strength and see how powerful he really was now.

 

“Stones…”

 

He merely willed it with a flick of concentration, and the Rock Turtle beside him instantly understood his intention. The creature let out a low growl, its mouth agape, and burst forth with a spray of golden-brown light. In an instant, this loomed into a massive wall of earthy-yellow stone, stretching six meters in length and width, positioned just three paces ahead of Zhou Chun.

 

And Zhou Chun, with a single thought, quickly brought out his black iron shield artifact to block the piercing blue sword that came from behind.

 

Meanwhile, he lightly tapped at his waist storage bag, and a silver-black circular artifact suddenly appeared, which he then grasped in his hand.

 

Boom!

 

Explosion sounds kept ringing one after another, shaking the stone wall in front of Zhou Chun and leaving it cracked with numerous fissures.

 

Rock Turtle cast Stone Wall, an average first-grade defensive mystical art, but the sharp eyed man’s use of his crimson spear artifact and copper gourd artifact—both also average first-grade artifacts—managed to withstand this wave of attacks, which was already quite impressive.

 

Before the man’s second wave of attacks had begun, Zhou Chun hurled his silver-black artifact into the air. Under the urging of his spiritual power, it burst into silver light, sending it hurtling toward the man like a silver streak through the night sky.

 

“Superior first-grade artifact!”

 

The cries of surprise came from the man with sharp eyes, for it was through the immense power unleashed by the Shooting Moon Edge that he instantly discerned the artifact’s rank.

 

Then his face turned much paler.

 

Suddenly, he willed the crimson spearhead that had been preparing to attack Zhou Chun and it erupted in a circle of fiery light, dashing swiftly toward the plummeting silver meteor.

 

Meanwhile, he slapped his storage bag twice with both hands. Shortly after, he summoned a yellow artifact shaped like a circular shield to float around him, and then slapped a Metal Shield talisman onto himself.

 

Just as the faint golden protective barrier began to rise around him, a silver meteor and a flaming spear engaged in a fierce collision midair.

 

Then came the moment when the man with had his corners twitch.

 

The two artifacts collided in mid-air, and the flame-tipped spear barely held out for less than a breath before it was instantly blasted away by the black-and-silver circular artifact.

 

The sharp eyed man was even able to detect through his Divine Sense that the blade and handle of the weapon were riddled with multiple fractures.

 

This artifact, which had accompanied him in defeating numerous powerful enemies, was likely to be completely useless after this!

 

After sending the flame spear flying, the silver-and-black circular artifact remained full of energy and continued to spin, striking the yellowish circular shield artifact repeatedly.

 

This time, the round shield artifact did not disappoint as well; it successfully parried the attack of the circular artifact.

 

But looking at the round shield with several cuts from sharp crescent blades, the sharp eyed man felt no joy.

 

He clearly realized that in the face of a superior first-grade artifact’s attack, these two average first-grade defensive artifacts he possessed might barely withstand one or two attacks, but no more.

 

Therefore, he now had only two choices: either retreat immediately from the battlefield or capture Zhou Chun before his artifacts were completely destroyed.

 

The first option had barely surfaced in his thoughts when it was swiftly discarded.

 

Whether Zhou Chun would let them escape the battlefield unchecked was another matter. He, however, had no intention of letting Zhou Chun off as an easy target.

 

He possesses mid Qi Refining cultivation and ventured out alone with a superior first-grade artifact. If such an opportunity was missed, even if he continues to watch in the Red Rock Mountains for several years, he might not encounter it again.

 

So he quickly decided in his heart and shouted loudly, “The target is troublesome; wife, don’t hold back!”

 

The words were still hanging in the air when, taking advantage of Zhou Chun not yet channeling spiritual power into the Shooting Moon Edge to launch a second strike, the sharp eyed man struck his storage bag once more. From it, he produced a gleaming superior first-grade talisman.

 

He channeled his spiritual power into the talisman, then with a flick of his hand, he sent it hurtling toward Zhou Chun. The talisman burst into flames and transformed into a Fire Snake Talisman, a serpent nearly ten feet in length, coiling through the air to strike Zhou Chun directly. It was no ordinary Fire Snake Talisman—it was a superior first-grade one.

 

And behind Zhou Chun, that red-wearing woman, upon hearing the man’s words, also continued to maneuver her blue sword artifact, entangling it with Zhou Chun’s black iron shield artifact.

 

She simultaneously pulled out a superior first-grade Golden Spear Talisman, activating it instantly to transform into a gleaming golden spear, which pierced towards Zhou Chun.

 

The attack was carried out using superior first-grade talismans as the means of assault from both front and rear positions.

 

Not to mention Zhou Chun, a mid Qi Refining cultivator, even an ordinary late Qi Refining cultivator would be seriously injured if not killed without the protection of a superior first-grade defensive artifact.

 

The sharp eyed man was very confident about this.

 

But in the very next moment, Zhou Chun’s response instantly caused his expression to change dramatically, leaving him speechless.