A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

There might even be more than one!

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Li decisively left again.

He had no interest in avenging his fellow disciples, much less in getting himself injured and putting himself in danger at this time.

Unbeknownst to Wang Li, just moments after he left, in a stream covered by water plants, a two-legged fish lazily poked its head, the size of a washbasin, out and glanced sleepily at the spot where he had been hiding. Beneath it lay four human skeletons covered in teeth marks. Beside it, an even larger, slightly injured two-legged fish slept soundly, its head resting on a dimly lit magical artifact.

In its sleep, one of its tails lashed out, causing the head that had just emerged from the water to stumble.

They are all top-tier demonic beasts.

One has just entered the top tier, while the other is in the transitional stage where it could step into the second-tier monster tier at any moment.

……

Beside a stone house on a ridge of a mountain ring, three figures stood facing each other in two opposing directions, locked in a fierce battle over four mature medicinal herbs in a water cellar inside the stone house.

One of them had only one person, and judging from their attire, they should be from Tianque Fortress.

The other two, a man and a woman, were dressed in the attire of the Hidden Moon Sect. When they joined forces to fight against the disciples of Tianque Fortress, they used a set of two-person combined attack techniques. With the assistance of several high-grade magic weapons, they were not inferior to the male cultivator from Tianque Fortress who possessed two top-grade magic weapons.

Just then, Wang Li passed by this place.

They were simply passing by and had absolutely no intention of vying for the spiritual herbs inside the stone house.

But because of his appearance, the three who were fighting fiercely immediately stopped their attacks.

"Fellow Daoists of Tianque Fortress, how about we divide these four Blue Crystal Lotuses between us?"

The female cultivator from the Hidden Moon Sect smiled radiantly and gave him a flirtatious wink.

Upon hearing this, the young man from Tianque Fortress opposite him had a flicker in his eyes; then he glanced at Wang Li, who was rapidly approaching, and his expression showed considerable interest.

Before he could respond, the male disciple from the Hidden Moon Sect objected: "Xiao Yao, we can't let this guy get away with this! We have a trump card; no one can take these four spiritual herbs away..."

"Shut up, did I tell you to speak?"

This stern shout was exceptionally cold and utterly devoid of any sense of dignity. Even Wang Li, who was dozens of feet away, heard it clearly.

With just this one sentence, the male disciple, who had suffered many injuries while protecting his Daoist partner, immediately turned red in the face. He gritted his teeth, his breath caught in his throat, and forced a smile.

This is the Hidden Moon Sect.

There is an unequal relationship between men and women; to be precise, the status of female disciples is usually higher than that of the male disciples with whom they cultivate together.

Furthermore, if the gap between talent and family background is even slightly larger, this difference in status will become even more pronounced.

"Fellow Daoist, it's a misunderstanding..."

Looking at her cultivation partner, a woman from the Hidden Moon Sect who had only reached the mid-stage of the twelfth level of Qi Refining, had no powerful backing, and was so poor she was almost unpresentable, she felt nothing but disdain. But when she turned to look at the young male cultivator from the Heavenly Palace Fortress who was younger than both of them, whose cultivation had reached the high-stage of the thirteenth level, who exuded masculine energy, was truly handsome, and whose wealth was evident in his use of top-tier magical artifacts, clearly indicating a privileged background and family fortune… the woman smiled broadly, making every effort to showcase her assets, charming and alluring.

It's hard to say whether this woman is capable and efficient, good at managing things, or ambitious but cold-hearted and ungrateful.

Or perhaps, it was a good performance.

However, Wang Li didn't care about any of that. While the two were talking, he moved another ten zhang closer.

The three people, startled, instantly became alert and extremely tense.

Someone caught a glimpse of this out of the corner of their eye, and a slight smile appeared on their lips, which then quietly disappeared.

He then adopted a naive and innocent demeanor, as if he hadn't noticed the three's subtle movements, and once again closed the distance to within several feet.

The atmosphere among the three parties was extremely strange.

However, just as the three opposite them finished their discussion in a few words and began to prepare for Wang Li's potential interference, he subtly brushed past them. He left with remarkable agility.

The three of them looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.

What does this mean?

The most crucial question is, to whom will this carefully prepared killing move be unleashed?

"Sigh, I never thought that just passing by would actually avert a deadly battle!"

Wang Li had never felt so full of mission.

And not long after he left:

"Clang, clang, bang..."

Both sides tacitly broke their previous verbal agreement and launched a long-planned killing move.

It turns out everyone was using delaying tactics to hold back their big moves.

A quarter of an hour later, sensing that the fluctuations of the battle were gradually subsiding, Wang Li concealed his aura and quietly returned. When he saw the two corpses on the ground, especially the female cultivator lying face up with her eyes wide open and unseeing eyes, he raised an eyebrow; then, after exchanging a glance with the male disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect who had just staggered out of the stone house, he grinned:

"That's right, this is the kind of cultivator I know!"

Then he burst into laughter.

“Brother Dao, we have no grudges against each other, and now you have the leverage that I mistakenly killed a fellow Daoist in our sect…”

"No need to say anything more, leave the elixir, you can go."

The response was so decisive that the male disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect, who was preparing for a desperate fight, was left speechless for a long time.

"What, you don't want to?"

Wang Li's voice grew colder.

"No, no, thank you for your kindness, brother. I will remember it forever..."

A sense of relief washed over him, and the man from the Hidden Moon Sect felt a wave of relaxation wash over him. He instinctively moved closer to Wang Li and bowed.

At this moment, both of them had smiles on their faces.

"Pfft."

Strike first to gain the upper hand.

Wang Li had no interest in remotely controlling the other party from across thousands of miles, nor in raising a dog that might turn on him at any time, and he certainly wouldn't let the other party take away the spoils that belonged to him. Besides, there was no reason not to take advantage of the situation and kill him.

And if it were him, how could he possibly allow someone else to have a handle on him?

Therefore, to minimize unnecessary trouble, first give the opponent hope of survival to put them at ease, and then launch a sudden attack...

A sneak attack is the only way to succeed.

"you……"

Glancing at the bloody hole in his chest, the young man looked up at Wang Li with resentment, his right hand clenched into a fist until it turned white.

"No need for that expression. Don't you also want to kill me to silence me?"

Sure enough, when the young man's tightly clenched right fist was pried open, a high-grade magic weapon called "Illusionary Sound Needle," about an inch long, was hidden inside.

Clearly, in terms of speed of a sneak attack, the young man was a notch slower than Wang Li. But compared to the boy from Tianque Fortress and his Daoist partner from the Yanyue Sect, he was a tiny bit faster.

"Go in peace."

A massive fireball was unleashed, turning the three corpses to ashes. All past grievances and grudges were wiped clean.

Then I found a secluded corner to organize my spoils.

It must be said that the young man from Tianque Fortress was indeed wealthy. His set of Meridian Swords, one long and one short, were both excellent top-tier magical artifacts: both swords were primarily offensive. The long sword was exceptionally sharp and incomparably razor-sharp, imbued with sword energy; when infused with magical power, it could unleash two beams of light, one to the left and one to the right, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks as easily as cutting tofu. The short sword resembled a long nail, without a sharpened blade, only a thick, heavy body; when struck with a magical hammer, the short sword could unleash unimaginable chiseling force.

There are certainly other wonderful uses that Wang Li is unaware of, but time is limited, and this is all the preliminary information he has.

Of the ten high-grade magic artifacts and five mid-grade magic artifacts, only four high-grade magic artifacts and two mid-grade magic artifacts were intact. The Illusionary Sound Needle, stained with the blood of the young man from Tianque Fortress, was one of them. The rest of the magic artifacts were more or less damaged and were no longer of great use.

Of the seven spiritual herbs, four came from this stone house, which shows how rare they are, and this is why neither side is willing to give an inch.

There were several spirit stones, talismans, and other items, but unfortunately, Wang Li did not find the talisman he wanted.

This time, he didn't do anything, but he showed his face when both sides were still relatively restrained. This led to their tacit understanding to prepare for a big move and to plot against each other, which eventually got out of control and created a werewolf.

Unfortunately, the werewolf wanted to be destroyed.

Thus, following the second phase of the plan, Wang Li did the opposite, targeting places that might have already been visited or where people might be present.

While others ate meat, he only drank the soup.

Of course, he wouldn't mind if he happened to get a bargain.

Two hours later, inside a cave in the mountainside, Wang Li's lips twitched as he looked at the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators who had inexplicably died beside two jade marrow mushrooms that shimmered with spiritual light. When a giant toad the size of a millstone, with a pair of black horns on its head and a mouthful of sharp teeth exposed, surfaced in the pool in the corner, his eyes twitched again.

This aura...

Top-tier monster!

He took a deep breath, and the fluctuations of his Qi Refining thirteenth level mana no longer subsided. He then slowly bent his knees to gather his strength, and the Swift Wind Boots under his feet shimmered with spiritual light.

"Hmph, don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a top-tier demon beast king!"

After making those harsh remarks, he turned around and ran away.

It is quite in accordance with one's heart.

Chapter 35 Top-Tier Monsters Within the Forbidden Land

Outside the forbidden area, where cultivators from the seven sects gathered.

"Fourth Brother, did you see that? Since two hours ago, Senior Fuyunzi of Qingxu Sect has stopped being so anxious and he seems more confident. Isn't that strange?"

Chen Laowu frowned slightly.

"They should have given up on this duel with their grandfather. After all, we've sent seven disciples at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, and each of them is an elite disciple with a top-tier magic weapon and a low-level high-tier talisman. As long as they know their limits, know when to advance and retreat, and don't try to fight those top-tier level one demonic beasts head-on, but instead gather together before taking action, it shouldn't be a problem for them to successfully bring out a few spiritual herbs."

Uncle Chen, no longer hesitant, spoke with utmost composure.

"But Fourth Brother, what if those disciples become reckless because they have just acquired top-tier magic weapons? You know, even we have to put in some effort to deal with some special top-tier demonic beasts."

For some reason, Fatty Chen had a bad feeling.

"Why are you panicking? You were comforting me before, but now you're all deflated."

"Fifth Brother, it suddenly occurred to me that the Yue Kingdom has been completely divided up by our seven sects over the years, and all the demonic beasts in various places have been wiped out; however, precisely because of this, it seems that the sect rarely educates its disciples about the situation of demonic beasts anymore!"

What are you trying to say?

Uncle Chen had also come to some sense of it.

"I'm afraid those disciples might get carried away and use the top-tier magic artifacts bestowed upon them by their grandfather to fight against some top-tier demonic beasts!"

can you?