Chapter 27: Ambushing the Tribulation Cultivator!
Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Ambushing the Tribulation Cultivator!
The early winter snow wasn’t falling too heavily, but the biting wind still stung the face. Clad in a padded cotton jacket, Chen Mo quickened his pace. He pushed his wheelbarrow so fast it seemed to fly, its wheels sending gravel flying in all directions. At this moment, he was unaware that another Tribulation Cultivator was already in pursuit. His cautious nature merely told him one thing: avoid all conflicts, necessary or otherwise. Staying alive was the most important thing!
The bitter wind howled in Chen Mo’s ears. After running for several miles, Chen Mo suddenly skidded to a halt. In a split second of rapid thought, he abandoned the wheelbarrow, took a sharp turn, and darted off in another direction.
Not long after he stopped, Lin Qing caught up, his face steaming with heat. Over the past two years, having robbed quite a few Spirit Plant Cultivators, he had amassed a sizable fortune. Aside from the essential Flaming Palm, he had spent a hefty sum at the Marketplace to purchase a Body Technique manual. And it was this Body Technique that made his speed noticeably faster than Chen Mo’s frantic sprinting!
On the deserted snowy path, a lone wheelbarrow sat in the middle of the road, covered by a thin layer of white snow. The moment Lin Qing saw it, his brow furrowed involuntarily. His anger toward Chen Mo surged by a few more notches. From finding a backer last year to calling for backup this year, and now anticipating his pursuit and abandoning the cart to flee... This guy had no martial honor! Couldn’t he just stand up like a man and let himself be extorted?
The more Lin Qing thought about it, the more irritable he became. He glanced around the wheelbarrow and saw a trail of footprints stretching toward the northwest. Without a second thought, he resumed his pursuit.
Ahead in the snowy landscape was a forest. Under Lin Qing’s gaze, the slippery little bastard’s footprints grew increasingly dense. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, looking up at a massive Ancient Tree right in front of him that would take three men to encircle, trying to search for the kid’s whereabouts. The footprints disappeared here!
Just as Lin Qing circled the massive tree, trying to smoke out that damn Spirit Plant Cultivator, a wave of heat suddenly rushed at him from behind. An intense sense of crisis made him twist his body instinctively. At the same time, without any hesitation, he unleashed a Geng Metal Finger and struck out with a Flaming Palm aimed right behind him.
BANG!
"You’re courting..." The words were barely out of Lin Qing’s mouth when he suddenly realized something was wrong! The power of this incoming Flaming Palm was completely beyond his expectations! In his hasty evasion, it still struck his left arm. In an instant, flesh and blood exploded, and the pungent smell of charred meat hit his nose.
"You’re at the Qi Refining Third Layer?!" Lin Qing was horrified. He hadn’t expected that the lowly Spirit Plant Cultivator hiding behind Mrs. Wang was actually a Qi Refining Third Layer Cultivator! If that were truly the case, he never would have taken this risk. But... in a flash, the memory of brushing past Chen Mo surfaced in Lin Qing’s mind. The aura that was clearly weaker than his own couldn’t have been more obvious! Why... why was this palm strike so terrifying?
Before he could think too much, another Flaming Palm came hurtling toward him. Lin Qing swiftly executed his Body Technique, barely dodging the attack. At that moment, he finally got a clear look at his opponent. In his twenties or thirties, not very old. The aura he displayed was indeed inferior to his own. And right then, a smile crept onto Lin Qing’s lips. He had just clearly seen his Geng Metal Finger strike the opponent’s chest. Given it was a full-force blow from his Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation, the opponent had to be severely injured by now!
"Kid! Hand over the Spiritual Sand, and I’ll spare your life!"
Chen Mo hid half of his body behind the Ancient Tree, somewhat surprised by the current situation. The other party was clearly the one severely injured, while he was fine. How dared the man still talk so tough? Suddenly, he realized the problem! The Blue Python Robe! The opponent didn’t know he had the Blue Python Robe! And that Finger Technique had indeed hit him squarely. Therefore, the man falsely assumed he should be heavily injured as well.
Since that was the case... Chen Mo clutched his chest, and his body slowly slumped down. He pretended to lean against the large tree, panting heavily, while using his left hand to fish out the Sachet from his inner pocket. It was heavy, overflowing with Spiritual Qi.
"Don’t kill me. I’ll give you all the Spiritual Sand."
"Glad you know what’s good for you!" Lin Qing slowly approached with his hands behind his back. But just as the distance between them closed to less than seven or eight meters, his right hand suddenly swung out horizontally. A wave of heat erupted from his body like a fierce falcon. He wasn’t stupid! As long as the guy died, wouldn’t the Spiritual Sand still be his? They were so far from the Marketplace. Even if he killed a Spirit Plant Cultivator here, no one would know. A Spirit Plant Cultivator’s life was worthless! It wouldn’t prompt the Marketplace to mobilize its forces for an investigation!
However, just when he thought his wicked scheme had succeeded, an identical Flaming Palm came rushing toward him. This time, it was faster and more powerful!
"Im... Impossible! This... This is Minor Achievement..."
BANG!
The Flaming Palm struck Lin Qing’s lower abdomen. Relying on the sheer resilience of the Qi Refining Third Layer, he gritted his teeth and endured it. He never expected the kid to have trained the Flaming Palm to Minor Achievement! Even he was only at the Mastery Realm.
But it was all too late now. It was over. He clearly saw that his own Flaming Palm had also struck the opponent’s chest. With a blow from his Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation, the kid was undeniably dead. Lin Qing struggled forward, swaying unsteadily. He still needed to grab the Spiritual Sand before the guy burned to death.
But just as he was about to get close, yet another palm strike hurtled straight toward his head. This strike directly smashed his head into a bloody pulp! Even at the moment of his death, Lin Qing couldn’t figure it out. After taking a Geng Metal Finger and a Flaming Palm from him, how on earth could that kid still be alive?
That’s right! Chen Mo had indeed taken the opponent’s Flaming Palm head-on. And wearing the Blue Python Robe, his Inner Mansion was churning violently right now! Even if weakened by sixty percent, it was still a full-force strike from the Qi Refining Third Layer. He had only just broken through to the Qi Refining Second Layer; how could he possibly have taken it without a scratch?
At this moment, Chen Mo was panting heavily for real. For his first Magical Combat since transmigrating, he had surprisingly run into such a tough customer. Thinking about it now, if Wei Wuwei hadn’t stepped in earlier and taken care of one of them for him, he probably would have followed in Yin Zheng’s footsteps. After this battle, Chen Mo was even more resolute in his determination to be cautious. Even if he had to spend some Spiritual Sand to hire escorts in the future, he must never face these Tribulation Cultivators directly!
Feeling a lingering fear, he leaned against the large tree to stand up. He stumbled over to the corpse with the obliterated head, crouched down, and thoroughly searched the body. Before long, he found a Sachet at the man’s waist. Weighing it in his hand, he estimated there were probably thirty or forty taels.
"Being a Tribulation Cultivator sure brings in the money!" Chen Mo lamented.
Next, he fished out a Porcelain Bottle containing eight Fasting Pills. From the chest area, he pulled out an Ancient Text. Its cover bore four characters written in seal script: Spirit Snake Body Technique.
"A Body Technique?!" Chen Mo was both shocked and delighted. He hadn’t expected to loot such a good item from the man! He flipped it open and muttered to himself, "No wonder I was easily caught up to even after running for my life!"