Chapter Twenty-Seven: Ambush and Murder

Ge Qian spoke calmly, “How could I dare deceive Senior Sister Bai? Every word I say is true. Tomorrow, I’ll hand the Water Spirit Pill I’ve refined to Senior Sister Hongmei. If you have time, I’d like to invite you to witness the process. Should the pill meet the requirements, you can rest easy and entrust your spiritual herbs to me for refining.”

Bai Ruyu thought for a moment, realizing she had nothing to lose. Besides, she did indeed need some pills refined lately; if Ge Qian could succeed, it would save her a considerable amount of spirit stones. She said, “Very well, I’ll come and see. But you’d better not disappoint me!”

“Rest assured, Senior Sister, I’m fully confident. If any of the senior brothers have time, they’re welcome to witness as well,” Ge Qian replied with assurance.

Ma Jun noticed Senior Sister Bai was quite interested, and though he was not lacking in pills for cultivation, who would ever object to having more? If this fellow was telling the truth, getting him to refine pills would be a simple matter. He said, “Since Senior Sister Bai is going to witness it, out of regard for her, I’ll certainly go to support her.”

“Yes, I’ll go too,”

“I’ll go as well,”

Ma Jun’s subordinates echoed their agreement.

At that moment, Feng Lilin’s eyes flickered and he said, “Senior Sister, I’m badly injured, so I’ll head back first. I hope you’ll permit it.”

Bai Ruyu nodded, “You can all go. Reflect well on your actions. I’ll be leaving as well.”

She summoned her flying sword, stepped upon it, and vanished into the night as a streak of white light.

The others exchanged glances. Ma Jun said, “Feng, let’s just wait and see how this plays out.” Then he turned to his subordinates, “Let’s go!”

Though their flying swords had lost much spiritual strength, they could still be barely controlled. One after another, they mounted their swords and soared away.

Feng Lilin, depleted of magic power and with damaged spiritual sense, collected the Fire Spirit Hook and began to walk slowly away.

Only Ge Qian, unable to fly with magical tools, remained. He licked his lips, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, then used the Wind Command and disappeared.

He circled ahead of Feng Lilin, found a concealed spot, nodded in satisfaction, and produced five array flags. Following the principles of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, he tossed them into the ground, then took out a low-grade spirit stone and crushed it into five pieces.

He scattered the fragments according to the positions of the array flags, and in his hand appeared an array disc. He quickly cast several incantations.

Instantly, mist surged around him, the scenery shifted, and a winding path appeared.

Ge Qian nodded contentedly and hid behind a tree. This was the Illusion Trap Array he’d obtained from Hu Ye. Having mastered the art of array-setting in his spare time, he hadn’t expected it to come in handy today.

He had already observed that Feng Lilin was at his last gasp, his magic power nearly exhausted. Bai Ruyu had just warned them, so no one would dare speak of this duel, nor would anyone kill openly. But once Feng Lilin recovered, he might be the first to silence Ge Qian—after all, he still harbored murderous intent.

Now was the perfect moment to eliminate future threats. As the saying goes, opportunity knocks but once; Ge Qian would not let it slip by.

Feng Lilin moved slowly, cursing inwardly, “Bai Ruyu, just you wait. You ruined my plans, and I’ll make you suffer every torment imaginable. And that useless brat, I’ll deal with him too. Ma Jun and his lot—I’ll strip their souls and refine their spirits.”

Lost in his malicious thoughts, he suddenly saw a winding path ahead. He had flown in on his sword, never walking on the ground before. Finding a path now delighted him. It was much easier than traversing the forest, so he strode directly onto it without a second thought.

As he walked, mist suddenly billowed and the scenery shifted. The path vanished, replaced by dense shrubbery and weeds everywhere.

Feng Lilin’s face turned livid, his mind racing, “Ma Jun must have returned so quickly for revenge! Ruthless and bold, he set up an array to trap me. I really underestimated him. If it were me, I wouldn’t have had the courage to act now—it’s practically telling Bai Ruyu he was the killer. But if I don’t act now, when else will I get such an opportunity? And as long as I do it cleanly, even if I’m suspected, what can they do?”

Though terrified inside, he maintained a calm façade and said, “Ma Jun, you’ve got nerve, trying to take advantage of my weakness. Remember, if anything happens to me, Senior Sister Bai will suspect you. Even if I die, you’ll accompany me to the grave. I advise you not to act rashly.”

Ge Qian emerged from behind a tree, saying, “Well said! If I kill you, Ma Jun will take the blame. Such a golden opportunity comes once in a lifetime—how could I let it pass?”

Feng Lilin had never imagined it would be Ge Qian. How could that second-layer Qi Condensation weakling possess such a powerful array, and be so audacious as to ambush him?

But reality was before him. If he were at full strength, killing Ge Qian would be as easy as slaughtering a dog; now, however, the situation was reversed. He shouted fiercely, “How dare you violate sect rules! Senior Sister Bai is a witness. Though I’m injured, you may not be my match—be careful, or you might lose your life!”

“Enough talk. You know better than anyone the state you’re in. You tried to kill me earlier, and now is my perfect chance for revenge,” Ge Qian said coldly, eyes narrowed.

Feng Lilin’s hand began to tremble. Raised under Elder Feng’s protection, he was a prodigy with powerful spiritual sense—never imagining he would be outwitted. He instinctively stepped back, drew a low-grade flying sword, and focused what little magic power he had left, while his other hand gripped a low-grade spirit stone, absorbing its energy.

He deliberately stalled for time, saying, “Ge Qian, I misjudged you. I admire your decisiveness and boldness, but I look down on you for taking advantage of others’ misfortune. It’s despicable and shameful. If you had set a three-year challenge, and won, I’d accept whatever fate you choose.”

Ge Qian, keen-eyed, noticed the fluctuations in Feng Lilin’s left hand. He thought, “Foolish—trying to absorb spirit stone energy and delay! He doesn’t even hide the stone in his sleeve. Trying to play tricks with me—how laughable.”

Ge Qian retrieved a small gourd covered in demonic runes from his storage pouch, cast a spell, and the gourd trembled, expanding to three feet in size. Opening its mouth, a dense black mist poured forth, enveloping Feng Lilin.

Feng Lilin smelled the bloody, putrid stench and nearly retched. “Damn, a demonic artifact—he’s a demon cultivator!” Realizing this, he dared not hesitate, driving his flying sword in a fierce thrust.

Sweat soaked his back. Demon cultivators were ruthless and bloodthirsty—falling into their hands was worse than death.

Once the sword entered the demonic mist, it slowed immediately. Tiny pits appeared all over its blade, its spiritual glow faded and vanished, and it tumbled to the ground.

The demonic mist possessed the power to corrode magical artifacts.

End of Chapter Twenty-Seven: Ambush.