Dongting Immortal Clan

Chen Dajiang did not hesitate for a moment.

He channeled his magic into his arms, instantly drawing the bowstring to its fullest extent. The purple-blue lightning clung to the arrow, making his hair stand on end and sending a tingling sensation through his entire body.

No need to aim, the arrow moves as the heart desires.

With a deafening roar like thunder.

The purple-blue arrow, carrying a faint golden light, shot out in an instant, accompanied by a thunderous roar from the white mist.

The purple and blue lightning crackled around the arrow, leaving a blinding trail of light in the mist.

The burly man with the dark face was suddenly startled.

By the time he saw the purple-blue lightning, it was too late to dodge.

He could only roar, unleashing all the magical power in his body and using every protective technique he could muster.

The sturdy magical artifact, the Ghost Head Blade, shone with a brilliant blue light, transforming into a light barrier in front of him.

boom!!!

The violent lightning strikes exploded, and purple and blue lightning bolts crashed into the light shield.

The moment it touched the shield, it was utterly destroyed, and lightning instantly engulfed the dark-faced burly man's body.

The ghost-headed broadsword was sent flying, and its spiritual light suddenly dimmed.

The burly man with the dark face fell to the ground, his body convulsing. His internal organs had been crushed, and his breath was visibly weakening.

The physical body of the fourth realm has undergone several transformations and is quite resilient, so it did not explode directly under this arrow.

On the contrary, the Jade Spring cultivator behind him was only affected by the aftershocks. He groaned and flew backward, lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance.

Chen Dajiang stood there, his hand still trembling as he held the bow.

That arrow just now consumed most of his magical power.

He glanced at Chen Yunlu with icy eyes, grabbed the black stick beside him, and charged toward the Yuquan cultivator who had been knocked away.

The man still had a faint breath, his chest rising and falling slowly, as if he sensed Chen Dajiang approaching and was trying to stand up and resist.

Unfortunately, the lightning strike had paralyzed his body, and he couldn't summon any magical power for the time being.

"Bang!"

Chen Dajiang did not hesitate.

The black staff slammed down, splitting the melon and spilling its marrow. The cultivator's body trembled and went completely limp.

He turned around and walked toward the burly man with a cold expression.

Even though the Golden Marrow Realm cultivators possessed abundant vitality and their internal organs were shattered by the lightning strike, this burly man was still alive.

The burly man, half-crippled, could only watch helplessly as Chen Dajiang approached with his stick.

"I am from the Demon-Catching Bureau—"

"Bang!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

A dull knocking sound rang out from the thick fog.

Gradually, only slightly hurried breathing remained in the fog.

……

Chen Yunlu leaned against the rock wall, his face as pale as paper, his breath as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

His head was lowered, his eyes were closed, and the blue longsword lay across his knees, its blade devoid of any spiritual light, as if it were just ordinary iron.

The footsteps approached from afar and soon stopped in front of them.

Chen Dajiang stood still, holding the black stick, looking down at the heavily injured and dying Qi cultivator. His right hand unconsciously clenched tighter, and the veins on his arm bulged, his killing intent gradually gathering.

Almost instantly, several thoughts flashed through his mind.

"This person is severely injured and has exhausted his magical power. Killing him now would be as easy as turning one's hand."

"Even if a Qi Refining cultivator is only at the early stage, their wealth and treasures are unimaginable to me."

"Now, the two who chased after him have died. Chen Yunlu was also confirmed to have perished by Master Yuan a month ago."

"Killing him now would mean there would be no way to prove anything... Even if the Chen family of Shimen investigated, they would have no way to find out."

Thinking of this, Chen Dajiang silently raised his arm.

The tip of the stick trembled slightly as it aimed at the lowered head.

With just one strike, all of this will be his!

hum-

Suddenly, Chen Dajiang's body stiffened, and his eyes narrowed.

The last time my body was in this condition was when my father fell into the lake.

At that time, he had not yet begun his spiritual practice, but on a whim, he foresaw his father's danger.

Now, his soul trembles, and madness is a warning to him.

The Chen Yunlu before him was clearly barely breathing and as stiff as a piece of rotten wood, but in Chen Dajiang's spiritual perception, he seemed to have become a raging flood, a vicious tiger that devoured people.

If he makes the slightest move, it will suddenly pounce and devour him.

His raised arm remained frozen in mid-air, feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds; Chen Dajiang simply couldn't bring himself to swing it down.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

What's wrong with me?

"He actually harbored murderous intent towards a Qi cultivator?!"

"How could someone who escaped from that evil cultivator leader 'Qiu Qianli' and survived hiding in this canyon for over a month not have some kind of backup plan?"

Chen Dajiang felt a sudden chill in his heart. That greed that blinded him should never have appeared in him.

"What is clouding my mind, driving me to kill Chen Yunlu!"

Just as he was sweating profusely, Chen Yunlu, who had kept his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

His gaze, as cold as an ancient well, first fell on Chen Dajiang's arm, which was frozen in mid-air, tightly gripping the black stick.

Then, slowly move upwards.

He met his eyes, which still held a hint of fear and panic.

……

"You want to kill me too?"

Chen Yunlu's voice was weak and hoarse, but it struck Chen Dajiang's heart directly.

Chen Dajiang stiffened slightly, pursed his lips, and did not respond.

Chen Yunlu twitched the corners of his mouth, as if he wanted to laugh, but this aggravated his internal injuries, causing him to cough rapidly.

Once his breathing had calmed down, he spoke softly and slowly:

"Your cultivation technique is quite good; you managed to break free from 'that person's' lustful and malevolent aura so quickly."

His voice was very soft, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"I was struck by that demon's 'Turbid Desire Divine Power,' and eight or nine out of ten of my magical power was used to suppress the evil desires within my body."

"If this malevolent energy leaks out even slightly, those creatures in the vicinity with weak wills will be corrupted by it, their desires will surge, and they may even go mad..."

"You should be glad that the blow just now didn't actually land."

"Cough cough..."

He coughed a few more times, his breathing becoming heavier.

"Take me back to the Chen clan's camp. I, Chen Yunlu, owe you my life."

"In exchange... I can grant you a great fortune."

Chen Dajiang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he finally spoke, his voice dry and hoarse:

"What good fortune?"

"Your physical foundation is quite remarkable, far surpassing that of ordinary wooden-form cultivators. You must have been born with divine strength, further honed and shaped over the years."

Chen Yunlu's gaze fell on his strong arms; he had already noticed the considerable weight of the black staff. He continued in a low voice:

"Our Chen family of Shimen has a secret body-refining method called the 'Gold and Stone Bone Tempering Technique,' which does not emphasize spiritual apertures but focuses on tempering tendons, bones, and skin."

"If you can master this skill to a minor level, at the Qi Refining Realm, ordinary magical artifacts will be unable to harm you in the slightest, and your strength and magical power will both increase exponentially!"

How can I trust you?

Chen Dajiang remained silent for a moment, then his voice turned cold, filled with doubt and wariness.

"Cough cough cough—!"

Chen Yunlu suddenly coughed violently, and a trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

He suddenly looked up, his previously weak gaze becoming sharp as needles. Although his aura was waning, he still exuded an aura of authority that came from long-held power.

He raised the longsword across his lap, its tip pointing at Chen Dajiang, and said in an icy tone:

"I am severely injured, and my magical power is no longer sufficient to suppress that demon's supernatural abilities... If you are unwilling..."

"Then I'll have no choice but to kill you first!"

There's no turning back now.

Chen Dajiang glanced at him and said nothing more.

With a flick of his wrist, he inserted the black stick into his waistband, stepped forward, and hoisted Chen Yunlu onto his back.

Chen Yunlu's body was very light, as if it were just an empty shell containing a few bones, and he could hardly feel any warmth or vitality.

Clinging to Chen Dajiang's back, Chen Yunlu's tense mind finally relaxed slightly, and he thought to himself:

"This hothead is stubborn and won't listen to reason... If I keep arguing with him, I might really perish..."

As Chen Yunlu was pondering this, he noticed that Chen Dajiang was carrying him on his back and was not heading towards the camp, but instead turned to the other side.

"You're going the wrong way."

He immediately spoke up to remind him.

Chen Dajiang didn't stop walking; he merely turned his head slightly and calmly explained:

"The situation was urgent just now, and I left in a hurry, forgetting to collect the spoils of war."

"Senior Chen's cultivation is profound; surely... he wouldn't deign to look down on those two's tattered clothes?"

In the time it takes to say two sentences, Chen Dajiang has already reached the two corpses.

He carefully placed Chen Yunlu next to a slightly dry rock, then quickly searched the two corpses and soon pulled out a gray storage bag from each of their bodies.

When a cultivator dies, the spiritual imprint on the storage bag naturally dissipates.

Chen Dajiang scanned the area with his spiritual sense, easily erasing the remaining traces and leaving his own mark.

He moved swiftly, leaving behind talismans, spirit stones, pills, magical artifacts, and other items.

That Golden Marrow cultivator was quite wealthy. Besides the ghost-headed broadsword, he also had a short dagger, more than ten spirit stones, and several bottles of various healing and qi-restoring pills.

The cultivator from Yuquan was much poorer; besides the open magic weapon longsword, he only had two spirit stones, some talismans, and a few bottles of ordinary pills.

Both of them still had their demon hunter tokens hanging on them. Chen Dajiang only glanced at them before throwing them into the canyon.

After putting his own obsidian bow and black staff into his bag, Chen Dajiang picked up Chen Yunlu again, adjusted his position, and made him lie more steadily.

After quickly determining his direction, Chen Dajiang took a deep breath and headed towards the camp.

-

Another update is overdue, why can't I save any more drafts...?