Chapter 657: Profit
“His saber intent is very strong. There are not many with a stronger saber intent than this young bladesman’s in the eighteen provinces of the south.”
“When that saber intent came out, I almost could not control my own saber.”
The eyes of the many bladesmen who leaped out when they heard the sword hum filled with astonishment.
Xiao Chen ignored the discussions and gazes of the others. He simply gathered the bodies of the Seven Black Wind Killers in one spot and chopped their heads off.
He would be bringing these heads back to the Supreme Sky Sect as he needed to show proof of completion. Then, he extracted the spatial rings of the seven.
Loose cultivators often pursued a lifestyle that lived in the present as they might die at any moment. Thus, they generally would not have much wealth on them. However, this group of people had just robbed two clans. They should have some items of value.
After doing all this, Xiao Chen rode an Azure Dragon image and landed beside the Feng Clan’s Clan Head. He held out the mission documents and said, “You must be the one that issued the mission to the Supreme Sky Sect. Please place your handprint here.”
The Feng Clan’s Clan Head was somewhat absent-minded at the moment. Up to now, he still could not believe that the Seven Black Wind Killers, who visited fear and anxiety on everyone in Dingshui City, were dead.
The Feng Clan’s Clan Head only reacted after Xiao Chen called out to him again. He quickly took the mission document and placed his handprint on it. He performed a cupped-fist salute and said, “Many thanks to Young Hero for your help. The Feng Clan is unable to return such a favor.”
“You do me too much honor. I already obtained their wealth and their heads. It is just eliminating a threat to society; that’s all.”
Xiao Chen smiled gently and returned the cupped-fist salute. Then, he took his leave. After that, his white figure slowly disappeared from everyone’s vision, vanishing into the night.
Xiao Chen arrived under the cover of night and left the same way. He came and left like the wind—disappearing without a trace. The darkness of night did not change because of him. Only the seven headless corpses lying on the ground served as silent testament to his deeds.
After some time, when everyone had left, two figures with strong auras flew into the city from the distance. They saw the seven headless corpses and exchanged glances, feeling rather depressed.
The two wore similar sky-blue robes. The person on the right had a sword hanging at his waist, and the person on the left had a pair of twin sabers on his back.
If the people of Dingshui City saw them, they would be able to identify these two people as being from the Rising Sky Pavilion from the insignia on their clothes. Furthermore, these two were inner sect disciples with high status.
As Dingshui City was near the border between Supreme Sky Province and White Feather Province, both provinces had managed Dingshui City at some point in history.
Dingshui City was considered a rather chaotic place. There were many cities like this in most of the provinces. Loose cultivators liked to frequent such cities where governance was not clear.
The cultivator with a rectangular face and the twin sabers looked at the seven headless corpses and said, “Senior Brother Wang, it looks like we are too late. The Seven Black Wind Killers have already been killed by someone else.”
The Seven Black Wind Killers caused trouble in many places. The Rising Sky Pavilion had a mission for taking down the Seven Black Wind Killers. The reward offered was no lower than what the Supreme Sky Sect had.
The cultivator with the two sabers was called Liu Feihu. The handsome swordsman with the sword hanging at his waist was Wang Feng. These two people were among the peak of the Rising Sky Pavilion’s inner sect.
Coincidentally, these two had accepted the mission to kill the Seven Black Wind Killers. When they received the news about the Seven Black Wind Killers, they immediately rushed to Dingshui City. Unexpectedly, they were still too late.
Wang Feng muttered to himself. After a moment of silence, an ominous glint flashed in his eyes. He said, “The blood from their wounds has not coagulated yet. This person is probably still nearby. The people of the city should have seen what happened.”
Liu Feihu immediately understood what Wang Feng meant. They had long since emerged from the sect, and this was not the first time they had done something like this.
The two were very decisive. They immediately found another cultivator and found out the details of what happened from him.
After the two heard him out, looks of disbelief appeared in their eyes. Liu Feihu said, “That is impossible. I never heard of an inner sect disciple that could have killed the Seven Black Wind Killers so easily.
“If he was one of the Supreme Sky Sect’s five experts, I might still be inclined to believe it. After all, these five people are already very close to becoming true inheritors.”
Wang Feng also had an uncertain look in his eyes. However, he did not rush to share his opinion.
After taking his time to think things through, Wang Feng voiced his thoughts. “The Seven Black Wind Killers had already survived for a very long time, but their cultivations were not that much higher than that of ordinary inner sect disciples. After all, loose cultivators have limited resources—definitely less than sect disciples.
“Instead, loose cultivators have strong baleful auras and rich combat experience. With these two factors, inner sect disciples who have just emerged from the sect would not have any advantage over them.”
Liu Feihu was not stupid; he immediately understood what Wang Feng was driving at. “You mean that this person might be a lower-realm genius with deep resources and a killing Qi and combat experience no weaker than loose cultivators?”
Wang Feng nodded his head and said, “That’s right. This is the only possibility. He did not kill the Seven Black Wind Killers by relying on his cultivation. So, he will surely not be a match for us.
“This person definitely has to take the transportation formation from Sky Mound City. We just need to ambush him along the route that he must take to get there.”
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Xiao Chen, who had left the city, did not know that two peak inner sect disciples of the Rising Sky Pavilion were targeting him.
Currently, anticipation filled Xiao Chen as he slowly opened the Seven Black Wind Killers’ spatial rings one by one.
Aside from some very strong bandits, loose cultivators generally did not have much wealth. The logic was simple to understand. If they had a lot of resources, they would not need to risk their life to plunder others everywhere.
Furthermore, since loose cultivators were not in any sects, the prices of Medicinal Pills were much higher for them. For example, in the Supreme Sky Sect, one spent only fifty thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones to obtain an Inferior Grade Quintessence Gathering Pill, but outside, the price would exceed two hundred thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
As for the Spirit Gathering Pearls that the sect gave out for free, these were rare treasures for loose cultivators. Even if they had enough Spirit Stones, they would have difficulty buying them.
As loose cultivators, they lived from hand to mouth. They did not know when they would end up dying at the hands of cultivators. So, they usually lived in the moment, spending whatever they had.
However, there were exceptions to everything. Occasionally, there would be news of someone killing a loose cultivator and obtaining an unexpected fortune.
However, such a matter was not likely to happen to Xiao Chen today. Out of the seven spatial rings, he already opened six of them. In the end, there was nothing remarkable in them.
Actually, there were a few thousand-year-old Spirit Herbs worth several thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones and many Yellow Ranked and Profound Ranked Martial Techniques.
Upon consideration, he concluded that these should be the wealth they had obtained and split after robbing the two big clans of Dingshui City.
Given Dingshui City’s size and location, it was easy to imagine how much savings the four big clans had.
The only point of consolation was that all six of them had some Superior Grade Spirit Stones. All combined, there were more than a hundred thousand.
Because Xiao Chen had used most of his Superior Grade Spirit Stones to buy Quintessence Gathering Pills, this windfall had somewhat solved his problems.
Finally, Xiao Chen looked at the final spatial ring, which was the spatial ring of the one-eyed man, the leader of the Seven Black Wind Killers. He had also been the strongest of the group.
It was likely that the one-eyed man had more than the other six combined.
With some anticipation, Xiao Chen checked the last spatial ring with his Spiritual Sense. He scanned through the place briefly and obtained a rough idea of its contents.
It had over two hundred thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones, more than twenty Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls, one Inferior Grade Quintessence Gathering Pill, and a peak Medicinal Pill that could instantly replenish Quintessence.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. At least there is some profit. Altogether, he gained four hundred thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones. The twenty Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls were an unexpected bonus.
Right now, he lacked Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls the most. Only the surging Spiritual Energy in the Spirit Gathering Pearls could speed up his cultivation. Superior Grade Spirit Stones were merely useful as currency.
After tidying up everything, Xiao Chen reviewed the battle earlier as he traveled, identifying whatever he could improve on.
This was the first time he had tried using the final attack of the Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop against many people simultaneously. The effects it achieved surpassed his expectations.
Based on his estimation, this Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop should be an Inferior Grade Heaven Ranked Martial Technique. Its grade was much lower than Return of the Azure Dragon, but the effects were similar. Furthermore, it did not exhaust as much Quintessence.
In the future, Xiao Chen could use the Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop as his finishing move and keep Return of the Azure Dragon as his trump card.
A Heaven Ranked Martial Technique was different from an Earth Ranked Martial Technique. It required continuous comprehension and practice. Every time it improved, the might displayed would be completely different.
However, an Earth Ranked Martial Technique already reached its peak, no matter how hard one practiced it. It could only reach a level similar to that of the Four Season Saber Technique at most. Its potential was limited because the technique was created based on Essence.
As for a Heaven Ranked Martial Technique, it could be improved continuously, as it was based on Quintessence. Even when one broke through to Martial Sage, they could continue using it until peak Martial Sage and it would still be relevant.
Xiao Chen muttered softly to himself, “At this moment, I can only use thirty percent of the Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop. There is still much room for improvement. However, this name is rather horrible. In the future, when I have time, I should change it to a nicer sounding name.”
The original move was called Sea of Fire Sword Light Chop, then it was changed to Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop, which sounded rather ordinary.
Along the way, while Xiao Chen looked relaxed, he was not. He continuously simulated the Sea of Lightning Saber Light Chop in his mind, making all sorts of alterations.
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Four days later, the majestic Sky Mound City was already within his vision. Xiao Chen found himself speeding up involuntarily.
When he passed a forest, he could not help but frown slightly. He had gone past this forest before; it was a location that he would definitely traverse going to Sky Mound City.
This forest did not have any strong Spirit Beasts in it, only some ordinary birds and beasts. Logically, there should not be any danger.
However, he had distinctly felt some killing intent earlier. That killing intent disappeared very quickly, hidden very well.
Xiao Chen had always been very confident in his senses. So, he immediately sent out his Spiritual Sense and searched the forest.
“Strange, I clearly felt some killing intent earlier. How come my Spiritual Sense cannot find anything?” Xiao Chen withdrew his Spiritual Sense and revealed an expression of suspicion.
In the Kunlun Realm, there was a greater suppression on cultivators. Cultivators could fly, but they would be slower than they would be in the lower realm. Furthermore, they would exhaust much more Quintessence.
If the situation was not critical, most cultivators would not fly for long periods of time. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Chen eventually decided to continue on as previously planned.