Translator: Anubis Translations
Clang—
Sizzle—
Boom—
Gu Feng stood atop a green stone that reached his height, his expression grave as he guarded against the possible emergence of corpse warrior from the bushes.
Below, Tuoba Lei and Wu Qi, one wielding a sword and the other a blade, fiercely battled the corpse warrior.
Though the corpse warrior retained their cultivation levels from when they were alive, they lacked consciousness, relying solely on instinct in combat, which put them at a disadvantage.
However, due to the strengthening of their bodies, their overall combat capabilities were nearly the same as when they were alive.
Wu Qi had recently broken through to the first level of Qi Refining and could barely defeat corpse warrior of the same level. Tuoba Lei, also at the first level of Qi Refining, had the ability to challenge higher levels due to his suppression in the Body Tempering Realm, allowing him to defeat a third-level Qi Refining corpse person after a hard-fought battle.
Soon, the battle quieted down, and the three of them looked at the six or seven corpse warriors on the ground, their brows furrowed.
"I'm afraid the number of corpse warriors controlled by that evil man far exceeds our previous estimate of two hundred," Gu Feng said solemnly.
Before the evil man entered this mountain range, he already had a certain number of corpse warrior under his control; otherwise, how could he have caused so many sect disciples to perish here?
"Wu Qi, quickly search the area for any marks left by Chao Yuan and the others. We must find them as soon as possible, or we're in danger!"
Hearing this, Wu Qi swallowed a Qi Replenishment Pill, simultaneously refining it to restore his stamina while searching for subtle marks.
...
Meanwhile, the team led by Zhu Tao and Shen Wei also encountered a crisis, locked in a bitter struggle. The way they mishandled a good situation was almost identical.
After entering the mountain range, Zhu Tao and Shen Wei were each responsible for half the area, advancing forward to search for traces of the evil man.
Originally, if the two teams had advanced steadily, the corpse warrior wouldn't have posed much of a threat.
But the mastermind controlling the corpse warrior was cunning. He first sent out corpse warrior with cultivation levels no higher than the first level of Qi Refining, lulling Zhu Tao and Shen Wei into complacency.
Facing corpse warrior they could kill with a single move, Zhu Tao and Shen Wei became overconfident. In a silent agreement to outpace each other in finding and killing the evil man, they split their teams into countless smaller groups.
This played right into the evil man's trap. Using the strategy of many against few, he gradually devoured each small group, greatly increasing his strength in the process.
In the end, less than half of the members of both teams survived, a devastating loss.
"Zhu Tao, you scoundrel! You used us as stepping stones!" In a valley, Yu Ying, along with several female cultivators from the Jade Maiden Sect, fought desperately. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she gritted her teeth, shouting at Zhu Tao and his group, who had broken through the encirclement.
If it weren't for their assistance, Zhu Tao and his group would still be surrounded. Yet after breaking free, they chose to leave immediately.
"Junior Sister Yu, these corpse warrior aren't strong; they just have numbers on their side. Hold on for a bit. I'll gather the survivors and find Shen Wei. With our combined forces, we'll definitely eradicate them."
Zhu Tao shamelessly shouted at Yu Ying, making her stomp her feet in anger.
Among the Jade Maiden Sect disciples, aside from Yu Ying, the rest were only at the second or third level of Qi Refining. Lacking combat experience, their morale weakened upon encountering the corpse warrior, drastically reducing their combat effectiveness. They couldn't withstand the onslaught of dozens of corpse warrior.
Yu Ying led them in a fighting retreat to the end of the valley.
"It's over. Let's fight to the death!"
Yu Ying could probably fight her way out alone, but how could she bear to leave the others behind? Gritting her teeth, she chose to fight. Without a miracle, they wouldn't survive the day.
Just then, a voice came from a crevice in the rocks at the end of the valley: "Sisters, come here!"
If Gu Feng had been there, he would have recognized the speaker as Chao Yuan, the person he was searching for.
Yu Ying held off the corpse warrior, allowing the female cultivators to enter the passage behind the crevice before following them in.
The passage was narrow and long. After crawling for a while, they entered a cave about the size of a room, sealed on all sides but open at the top.
"Guo Renkai!"
"Chao Yuan!"
"I'm Xiong Wu."
"Yu Ying, from the Jade Maiden Sect."
"..."
After brief introductions, the atmosphere in the cave grew tense. They all knew this place had been exposed. The mastermind behind the corpse warrior would surely gather more to attack and breach this location.
"Our only option now is to climb up. Staying here is certain death!"
Everyone agreed with Yu Ying's decision.
Yu Ying had two female cultivators from the Jade Maiden Sect guard the passage while she climbed up the stone wall. After about half an hour, she finally reached the top.
Without delay, she found some vines, tied them together to make a rope, and had everyone climb up one by one.
"The mastermind behind the corpse warrior must have noticed we've left the cave. We can't stay here."
The group didn't dare linger and fled together.
"Senior Sister Yu, do you have any food? We're starving!"
Xiong Er, clutching his stomach, mustered the courage to ask. They had been on the run for over ten days, barely sustaining themselves with pills and stream water. Two days ago, they entered this cave and found it devoid of even a drop of water. Even if they hadn't heard the fighting, they would have planned to climb out later.
Better to die in battle than starve to death!
"Yes!" A Jade Maiden Sect disciple quickly took out food packed from the Grand Assembly Pavilion and handed it to Guo Renkai and the others.
"Huh—this food is so fresh! It's like it just came from the restaurant!" Chao Yuan took a bite of roasted meat, his sunken eyes lighting up as he exclaimed in surprise.
"Haha, it's quite a coincidence. If Gu Feng hadn't tricked Zhu Tao, we wouldn't have this food."
Yu Ying laughed, reflecting on how Gu Feng had tricked Zhu Tao, Zhu Tao had tricked them, they had been saved by Chao Yuan and the others, and now they were using the food obtained from Zhu Tao to satisfy Chao Yuan's group's hunger. The whole process seemed meticulously planned, forming a perfect cycle that made one marvel at the surprises life could bring.
"Gu Feng?? Which Gu Feng?"
"The most famous outer sect disciple of the Sunset Glow Sect! What? You're not the friends he's here to rescue, are you?" Yu Ying was dumbfounded. The coincidences were piling up!
"He's here to rescue us?"
Chao Yuan and Guo Renkai, upon hearing the confirmation, were both shocked and moved. They had thought Wu Qi or Yan Xixi might come to their rescue, but never Gu Feng.
To be precise, they had considered it, but given Gu Feng's current perilous situation, they didn't want him to leave the outer sect.
Qiu Tian hung over Gu Feng like a sword, yet he ignored the danger and came here solely to rescue them.
"Getting robbed once, benefiting for a lifetime—worth it!"
"Worth it!"
Gu Feng's presence instantly brought everyone closer. They began to chat and laugh, finding an unexpected sense of ease in this dangerous situation surrounded by corpse warrior.
Yu Ying and the Jade Maiden Sect disciples were equally astonished.
When they heard how Gu Feng had robbed Chao Yuan and the others, leaving them only in their underwear and forcing them to sign high-value IOUs on the way to the Sunset Glow Sect; when they heard how Yan Xixi had been thoroughly tricked the first time she met Gu Feng; when… the Jade Maiden Sect disciples burst into laughter.
Gu Feng was truly a remarkable figure. Yan Xixi had been tricked by him, Chao Yuan had been robbed by him, Guo Renkai had been robbed by him, the Xiong brothers had been robbed by him… It seemed many who had been robbed by him had become his friends.
Even their sect leader, who had been tricked twice, hadn't thought of killing him and would likely become a friend in the end.
While others made friends through heart-to-heart connections or mutual benefits, Gu Feng made friends by robbing them. Truly one of a kind.
"Senior Sister Yu, before leaving, Gu Feng gave me a whistle, saying that in times of crisis, blowing it would summon him if he heard it."
The female cultivator who had received the whistle from Gu Feng only remembered it now.
Yu Ying furrowed her brow, hesitating as she took the whistle. She was familiar with this type of whistle—a low-level warning artifact with a range of about a hundred miles. But Gu Feng had only recently broken through to the Qi Refining Realm. Could he really help?
She was deeply skeptical. What if blowing the whistle summoned Gu Feng, but he lacked the strength to help? Wouldn't that endanger him?
On the other hand, Chao Yuan and the others, upon seeing the whistle, instantly relaxed, sprawling on the ground.
"Senior Sister Yu, you don't understand Gu Feng well enough. He's quite the trickster and never pays for meals, but if he says he can do something, he means it. Any doubt or hesitation is disrespectful to him."
"Blow it. Once Gu Feng arrives, these corpse warrior and their mastermind will face only one outcome—utter annihilation!"
"Let's wait here and watch Gu Feng unleash his might to save us!"
The Xiong brothers, Chao Yuan, Guo Renkai, and the others all urged with full confidence.
"Then I'll blow it?"
Yu Ying placed the whistle to her lips, hesitated for a moment, and finally blew it.
A sharp sound pierced the sky, echoing into the distance.
At the same time, hundreds of corpse warrior began converging toward Chao Yuan and the others.
Miles away, Gu Feng, who had just finished killing a few corpse warrior, felt movement in his storage pouch.
He took out a compass-like object and handed it to Wu Qi.
"Help me see which direction the whistle is coming from."
Wu Qi studied it for a moment. "It's in the same direction as the marks left by Chao Yuan and the others."
"Good. Let's head there at full speed!" With that, Gu Feng took the lead, charging forward recklessly toward the direction indicated by the compass.
(End of the Chapter)
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