Luo Qingchen crouched on a tree branch, her fingers digging hard into the rough bark.
Wood chips wedged under her fingernails, causing a dull ache, but she didn’t even notice.
Should she leave or stay?
This question had cycled through her mind 800 times already.
She glanced down at the inside of her right arm.
The crimson curse mark lay dormant beneath her skin like a blood-sucking insect — ugly and lethal.
3 years.
By a full count, she only had 2 years, 7 months, and 15 days left to live.
If she ran today and found a hidden cave to hole up in, she could live more comfortably than anyone with the heap of top-tier spirit stones and medicinal pills inside the Jade Slip’s space.
She could go to the most prosperous Immortal City on the Xuanzhou Continent and buy the largest mansion.
She would eat spirit beast meat and drink celestial nectar every day.
If she was happy, she would throw money around at the auction houses; if she was upset, she would pelt people with spirit stones.
She could experience the joy of being the wealthiest person in the cultivation world.
So why go back?
Any one of those old monsters outside could be pulled out and crush her into a meat patty.
She was just a little weakling who had only recently broken through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
Was she really going to run back to save a powerhouse at the peak of the middle stage of Core Formation?
Only someone with water in their brain would do something so stupid.
Luo Qingchen turned her head, her toes pressing against the trunk as she prepared to leap away and make her escape.
Her foot had just lifted, suspended in mid-air.
Suddenly, images of the bottom of the Heavenly Pit flashed through her mind.
Ling Xiyue had exhausted her spiritual power just to catch her, even though she should have been the one to die.
The dull sound of bones cracking against rock when they hit the bottom still made Luo Qingchen’s own bones ache just thinking about it.
Yet, those hands had protected her fiercely, never loosening their grip for a second.
Then there was the bracelet emitting a faint cyan light, which Ling Xiyue had placed on her wrist without a moment’s hesitation.
“You are the main force for breaking the array. This is what you deserve.”
And that stupid dog, Xiao Bai, wagging its tail like a propeller while holding a dead rabbit in its mouth.
“Luo Dog, hurry up and start the fire! Let’s eat well!”
Luo Qingchen scratched her hair in frustration, ruffling her long locks until they looked like a bird’s nest.
‘Aren’t people in the cultivation world supposed to be selfish, murderous, and greedy for treasures?’
‘Why is this ice-cold sword cultivator so stupid!’
‘All she knows is how to stubbornly hammer away at an array. It’s been half a month and she hasn’t even figured out the basics!’
It was a miracle someone like that could survive in the cultivation world long enough to reach the Core Formation stage.
Luo Qingchen frantically called out to the Deception Jade Slip in her mind.
Usually, it was more proactive than anyone else when it came to issuing tasks, but now that a big scene was unfolding, it was actually playing dead!
The Jade Slip gave no response.
It didn’t even flicker.
‘At least give me some benefits to make me feel better, so I can save her with a clear conscience.’
“Dammit!”
Luo Qingchen cursed through gritted teeth.
“Dog Xiyue, you better remember this!”
“It’s the moral fiber of my nine years of compulsory education that’s saving you!”
“I really can’t just leave you behind!”
She took a leap, diving down from the tree canopy.
—
Luo Qingchen sprinted through the dense forest.
Withered branches and fallen leaves snapped under her feet.
The wind generated by her speed whipped against her cheeks.
Her brain began to work at high speed.
A direct confrontation was definitely out of the question.
She had to win through wit.
Her cultivation had now reached Level 25 in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and her spiritual power reserves had doubled.
She could draw the Sky-Shattering Bow on her wrist once and fire a single, complete spiritual power arrow.
This was her trump card, not to be used unless absolutely necessary.
There was a large pile of top-tier medicinal pills in the Jade Slip’s space that she could chug like health potions at any time.
The most critical element was the “Earthly Imprisonment” array.
She was the one who had set it up.
The reason those people couldn’t break it was that they didn’t understand arrays; they only knew how to hack at it blindly.
Based on her current gear, a tactic of diverting the trouble while using extreme kiting began to take shape in her mind.
Outside the abandoned cave dwelling.
Dust filled the air.
Over a dozen cultivators had the entrance blocked so tightly that not even water could trickle through.
A burly man from the Hegemon Blade Sect stood shirtless, his muscles bulging.
He held a broad-backed saber with both hands, pouring spiritual power into the blade.
“Break for me!”
The saber carried a violent gale as it slammed heavily against the translucent yellow light screen.
*Boom!*
The light screen vibrated violently.
The originally translucent color instantly deepened by a layer.
Not only did it not shatter, but it actually became thicker.
A massive recoil traveled back through the hilt, splitting the man’s thumb webbing.
Blood flowed down the handle of the blade.
Refusing to believe it, he raised the saber again, the blade igniting with raging flames.
“Blazing Slash!”
A blade of fire nearly 10 feet long slammed into the light screen.
The flames were instantly swallowed by the barrier.
An earthy yellow ripple appeared on the surface of the screen before it returned to silence.
A female cultivator from the Celestial Sound Sect stood to the side, her fingers rapidly plucking a pipa.
Sound waves transformed into physical blades, incessantly striking the light screen.
A cacophony of metallic clanging filled the air.
The light screen absorbed it all.
The burly man stopped his movements, panting heavily as he wiped the sweat from his face.
“This array is freaking weird!”
“The harder we hit it, the tougher it gets!”
The female cultivator stopped her hands, her brow furrowed.
“Keep attacking!”
“Every array has a limit to what it can withstand.”
“Once the elders from each sect arrive, Ling Xiyue won’t be able to escape even if she grows wings!”
From within the light screen, the cold ring of a sword could faintly be heard.
There was also the sound of Xiao Bai’s exasperated barking.
“Woof! You bastards! Just wait until I get out of here and bite you all to death!”
Luo Qingchen hid behind a nearby bush.
Over a dozen cultivators.
The strongest were that burly man and the female cultivator — both at the early stage of Core Formation.
The rest were all at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Perfect.
Luo Qingchen immediately activated the Breath-Concealing Technique.
Her breathing stopped, and her heartbeat slowed.
Her entire being merged with the surrounding environment.
She pushed her Snow-Treading Step to its limit.
Shadowless Hand was ready.
Luo Qingchen suddenly bolted out.
She transformed into an extremely blurry gray shadow.
A strange, eerie wind brushed past the dozen or so cultivators.
She was too fast.
Luo Qingchen’s fingers were incredibly nimble.
She grazed past the burly man’s back, her fingertip giving a gentle flick.
A coarse cloth storage bag fell into her palm.
Next was the female cultivator from the Celestial Sound Sect.
Luo Qingchen ducked low, sliding past her side as a silk sachet fell into her hand.
Along the way, she stripped all the bags from the waists of the surrounding Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Untying the strings and swiping the storage bags — the entire process was seamless.
The burly man only felt a lightness at his waist.
The female cultivator felt a slight tug on her belt.
By the time they reacted, the gray shadow had already bypassed the crowd.
It came to a steady halt right in front of the yellow light screen.
The dust settled.
A petite girl wearing tattered gray clothes with her hair in a high ponytail stood there, her back to the light screen, blocking the cave entrance.
The entire area fell silent.
Everyone’s gaze focused on this girl who had suddenly appeared.
The burly man lifted his saber and took a step forward.
The tip of the blade pointed at Luo Qingchen.
“Which sect are you from!”
“How dare you poke your nose into our business!”
The female cultivator from the Celestial Sound Sect looked wary, scanning Luo Qingchen up and down.
“Middle stage of Foundation Establishment?”
“Little girl, this is no place for you to talk.”
“Get lost!”
Luo Qingchen didn’t say a word.
The corner of her mouth quirked up.
She revealed an extremely arrogant, ruffian-like smirk.
She slowly raised her left hand.
Hanging from her five fingers were over a dozen storage bags of various styles.
There was the coarse cloth bag embroidered with the Hegemon Blade Sect’s emblem.
The exquisite silk sachet from the Celestial Sound Sect.
And all sorts of other miscellaneous pouches.
Luo Qingchen shook her wrist.
The dozen or so storage bags knocked together.
They produced a crisp clinking sound.
In the dim canyon, the sound was particularly piercing.
She even casually loosened the opening of one storage bag, took a peek inside, and curled her lip in disdain.
“You dare to show your faces in public with this little bit of junk?”
The dozen or so cultivators froze.
The burly man instinctively reached for his waist.
It was empty.
The Celestial Sound Sect female cultivator reached for her belt.
Also empty.
Everyone simultaneously felt for the position of their storage bags.
They were all gone!
The burly man’s face instantly turned flushed, the veins on his forehead bulging.
“You maniac!”
“You… how bold of you!”
“A mere pipsqueak at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment actually dared to steal from your grandfather at the early stage of Core Formation!”