After dealing with the gray-haired man and the female cultivator, four cultivators who had been watching from a distance finally approached Xiao Jingting, trying to befriend him.
From their conversation, Xiao Jingting learned that they too were cultivators who had entered the secret realm recently. However, shortly after arriving, they were captured by the group Xiao Jingting had just dealt with. Their captors had confiscated their artifacts and space rings and poisoned them, forcing the four to obey.
Xiao Jingting guessed that the space rings he took from the gray-haired man probably belonged to these individuals. Despite this, Xiao Jingting had no intention of returning the items—what’s eaten is not returned. Saving their lives inadvertently was good enough.
Xiao Jingting had recently been cultivating various spiritual plants within his space ring, using up the spirit stones he found in the mine at an alarming rate.
After gathering his things, Xiao Jingting quickly left the area. The sinister-looking man had escaped, and Xiao Jingting sensed he might have allies who could cause trouble if they found him.
Almost getting ambushed by the gray-haired man had made Xiao Jingting much more cautious. From the unlucky four, he learned that the gray-haired man had a magical artifact that could detect the general location of nearby cultivators. This explained why his position was exposed—not due to the gray-haired man’s skill but because of the artifact.
Among the gray-haired man’s belongings, Xiao Jingting found a golden lamp. The lamp’s four petals displayed red dots indicating the locations of nearby cultivators.
Realizing that his concealment technique couldn’t hide from the golden lamp, Xiao Jingting used an additional concealment talisman, which finally made his red dot on the lamp disappear.
The golden lamp revealed a cluster of nearly twenty cultivators nearby.
Following the lamp’s guidance, Xiao Jingting arrived at a medicinal herb garden. Outside the garden, seven or eight cultivators, dressed like the one-eyed man Xiao Jingting first encountered, were gathered. The sinister-looking man who had escaped was among them.
Xiao Jingting frowned. Lei Xuan had mentioned that Yunzhou had no means to gather its cultivators together in the secret realm. However, other continents seemed to have this ability, putting Yunzhou cultivators at a disadvantage.
Adding the three deceased to the group, it was clear that this sect had ten members in this location alone. Xiao Jingting was certain they had a way to locate each other.
“Brother Jin, are you saying that Brother Zhao and Sister Lu are both dead?” a red-haired man asked.
Jin Jue nodded, still shaken, “Yes.”
“You must be joking. Brother Zhao’s Yanluo Umbrella is formidable. The umbrella’s frame is made from dragon bones, its canopy from dragon skin, and the skulls hanging from the rim belonged to Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could it be broken so easily? What kind of artifact did that person have?” the red-haired man asked.
“Their artifact was a set of flying swords. If I’m not mistaken, the swords were made from millennium-old spiritual wood,” Jin Jue replied.
The red-haired man rolled his eyes, “Are you kidding? Millennium-old spiritual wood isn’t common. Even Golden Core cultivators rarely possess swords made from it. Having just one is rare enough, but you’re saying this Foundation Establishment cultivator had a set.”
“The cultivator was wealthy, with not only spiritual swords but also numerous talismans and even talisman treasures. He must have a Nascent Soul stage backer,” Jin Jue said thoughtfully.
The red-haired man rubbed his chin, “Brother Zhao and Sister Lu are dead. Their space rings must be with that guy.”
Jin Jue nodded, “Yes.”
The red-haired man sighed, “Lucky him.”
“Hmph, killing members of our Yin Gui Sect can’t be so easy. Brother Jin, do you remember what he looked like? Draw it out and give it to others. If anyone encounters him, kill on sight,” a young man with a gold crown said.
“Brother Bai is right,” Jin Jue agreed.
The young man with the gold crown looked at Jin Jue disdainfully, “Brother Jin, Brother Zhao is dead, yet you managed to escape. You’re quite lucky.”
Jin Jue gave an awkward smile in response.
…
Xiao Jingting hid nearby, listening to their conversation. Hearing them suspect he had a Nascent Soul stage backer made him feel odd. He wished he had one too, but the strongest in his family were only at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Millennium-old wood was indeed rare. Cultivating a millennium-old Qingyun Tree had cost Xiao Jingting about twenty percent of the spirit stones he had stolen.
Soon, three cultivators arrived, bringing several captives with them.
Xiao Jingting recognized the captives as the same ones he had released earlier. Seeing them captured again so quickly, he couldn’t help but think they were truly unlucky.
“Behave, or without the antidote, you’ll die,” the red-haired man warned the new captives.
Jin Jue’s eyes narrowed when he saw the four cultivators.
“What’s wrong, Brother Jin?”
“Nothing. These four are the ones Brother Zhao, Sister Lu, and I captured earlier. I thought they had escaped, but it seems they still couldn’t avoid you. Stay in line,” Jin Jue said, glaring at the four.
Xiao Jingting surmised that the sinister-looking man feared his earlier desertion would be exposed and seemed to harbor murderous intentions toward the captives.
“Put them to work in the herb garden,” the red-haired man laughed.
Xiao Jingting saw several cultivators harvesting herbs in the garden, with a few corpses on the ground. He deduced that the garden was filled with chaotic restrictions. Unable to break the restrictions, they used captives to collect herbs at the cost of lives.
Screams from the garden indicated another cultivator had triggered a restriction and was killed, causing the others to shrink back in fear.
The young man with the gold crown sighed, “Another one dead. Looks like we need to capture more people. Progress is too slow otherwise.”
Xiao Jingting’s heart sank. These people didn’t see the captives as humans at all.
“You all, get in there,” a gray-haired man ordered the new captives.
A charming female cultivator smiled at them, “Collect thirty spirit herbs over a hundred years old, and we’ll lift the restrictions and release you. Someone already reached the goal and was released. Keep it up.”
Xiao Jingting felt a chill at the female cultivator’s enticing smile.
While unsure of the truth in her words, no one wanted to die. Xiao Jingting saw some hope flicker in the eyes of the captives.
“I’ll go catch more cultivators,” a cultivator said, standing up.
“Alright.”
Two cultivators followed him, leaving together.
Xiao Jingting moved away from the area to a dense forest.
Knowing their intentions, Xiao Jingting had a bold idea: kill them all. Since they had already targeted him, leaving such a threat would be troublesome. Moreover, he was interested in the herb garden controlled by the Yin Gui Sect.
Xiao Jingting came to the secret realm primarily for the Xiling Grass. Although many knew about its existence in the Tianxia Secret Realm, its exact location was unknown. Xiao Jingting felt the chances of finding Xiling Grass in the herb garden were slim but worth a try.
…
Xiao Jingting found a cave at a reasonable distance from the herb garden and set up traps outside. Then he removed his concealment talisman, pretending to rest in the cave. He suspected that multiple groups from the Yin Gui Sect had the artifact to locate people.
After setting up, Xiao Jingting waited in the cave, conserving his energy.
A day later, three cultivators appeared around Xiao Jingting’s cave. He could hear their conversation from a distance.
“Those cultivators are too slow at picking herbs.”
“Yes, the restrictions in the herb garden are too many. Most captives don’t last long before dying.”
“Luckily, we’ve started to figure out the restrictions’ patterns. Otherwise, it would be even harder.”
“I heard Brother Zhao and Sister Lu were killed by a cultivator. Brother Zhao was among the strongest here, yet he met such an end.”
“Brother Jin only said Brother Zhao and Sister Lu were dead, but he didn’t mention the one-eyed brother. Do you think he might have also been killed?”
“Impossible. The one-eyed brother is very strong.”
“True, but that rich second-generation cultivator had many treasures. Brother Jin said he had a special Thunderflame Walnut, much stronger than ordinary ones.”
“Alright, enough talk. Let’s be careful.”
…
When the three entered the ambush zone, Xiao Jingting triggered the traps. Amidst their shock and anger, he released his flying swords, killing them all. Killing had become easier for Xiao Jingting with each encounter.
He collected their space rings, finding various spirit herbs and spirit stones inside.
Xiao Jingting put away the spirit stones. Although the cultivators of the Yin Gui Sect were not poor in wealth, Xiao Jingting was still somewhat unsatisfied.
The consumption of spirit stones has been increasing recently, and Xiao Jingting couldn’t help but think that it would be great if there was still a chance to rob the spirit stone warehouse and make a fortune.
Entering his space, Xiao Jingting continued to cultivate the Thunderflame Tree. The power of the Thunderflame Walnuts was notable. Due to the sudden appearance of the secret realm, his preparations had been incomplete. He had over a hundred Thunderflame Walnuts, keeping only a dozen for himself while giving the rest to Xu Muan and Xiao Xiaodong.
Estimating that the tree would bear more walnuts in about a month, Xiao Jingting knew he needed to conserve them.
Moving to another location, Xiao Jingting set another trap, but this time the enemy seemed prepared. He only managed to kill one before the other escaped.
R : this Jingting… is actually not coward!! He’s only cunning,viscious, selfish and careful! What a main character… quite interesting hm
Thank you so much for support ♡(´･ω･)(･ω･`)♡ :Ko-fi
I don´t think he is selfish. He is generous within family/friend settings. And he is compassionate towards others. But he knows, that everybody in here entered voluntarily and knew of the risk. With his own life on the line he can not help others too much.