Chapitre 19: Chapter 19: Fleeing by the Road

Charge! Charge! Charge!

In the wilderness, a young man galloped on his horse, running wildly.

Several hundred yards behind him, a middle-aged man in yellow, with a green Daoist crown and slender eyebrows, flew upon a magical artifact, his eyes coldly fixated on the young man as he relentlessly pursued him.

As time passed, the distance between them narrowed until soon it was less than a hundred yards.

The range of the divine sense of an average Cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refinement rarely exceeds a hundred yards, so this distance is considered the normal attack limit for a Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Realm.

Attacks beyond this range can no longer lock onto the enemy with divine sense, ensuring accurate strikes on the target.

Therefore, shortly after entering within a hundred yards, the middle-aged man in yellow didn't hesitate to pinch a talisman between his fingers and cast it downward.

In an instant, a flash of fire lit up, and the talisman immediately ignited, transforming into a Crimson Firebird that dove towards the young man on horseback.

It was a second-tier, medium-grade talisman, the "Firebird Talisman"!

On horseback, Zhou Chun looked back and saw the middle-aged man's actions, his face instantly darkened as he recognized the origin of the talisman used by the man.

As a member of a Cultivation family, one didn't necessarily need to learn every spell, but it was imperative to recognize most of the spells that ordinary Cultivators could learn.

Otherwise, one could lose their life due to ignorance if confronted by an unfamiliar spell.

And most spells can be made into corresponding talismans.

Having recognized the origin of the middle-aged man's spell, Zhou Chun immediately slapped the back of his mount, the Ink Scale Steed, and his body suddenly leaped into the air, vaulting forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just as Zhou Chun left the back of the horse in less than two breaths' time, the Firebird reached the running Ink Scale Steed, and with a thunderous explosion, burst into flames.

The fierce flames instantly engulfed the Ink Scale Steed.

The horse's agonizing screams echoed across the wilderness, and engulfed in flames, the Ink Scale Steed continued running for a hundred yards, before finally collapsing on the ground, its strength depleted.

By the time the flames on its body had completely died out, its entire body and bones had been charred and cracked.

However, at such a time, neither Zhou Chun nor the middle-aged man in yellow bothered to concern themselves with the life and death of a mere beast.

Zhou Chun may have avoided a disaster by jumping off the horse, but without the Ink Scale Steed's speed, he had no means to continue his escape.

And after casting the "Firebird Talisman," the middle-aged man in yellow was already maneuvering his Flying Artifact towards the ground; as Zhou Chun stabilized his footing after jumping off the horse, the man had landed safely as well.

Upon landing, he withdrew the Flying Artifact into his storage pouch with a flip of his hand, then took out two more Magic Artifacts and strode towards Zhou Chun.

He walked over, mocking Zhou Chun with a teasing tone, "Why don't you keep running? I can give you a few dozen more yards head start."

Zhou Chun ignored the man's arrogance, knowing that the battle was inevitable. Having steadied himself, he quickly tapped the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist to release the Rock Earth Turtle and took out Magic Artifacts and Talismans from his storage pouch.

After more than two years of Zhou Chun's nurturing, the Rock Earth Turtle had grown as large as a bathtub, and its Mana cultivation had reached the level of a fifth-layer Qi Refinement Cultivator, making it a second-tier, midsized Demon Beast, with four innate spells at its command.

Upon seeing Zhou Chun release the Rock Earth Turtle, the middle-aged man in yellow showed a slight surprise, revealing a look of astonishment as he said, "You even have a Rock Earth Turtle with you; it seems you are quite favored in the Mu Family."

At his words, Zhou Chun had a thought and couldn't help but respond, "You are mistaken, sir. I am not a Mu Family Cultivator, but a member of the Zhou Family from Jiufeng Ridge."

"Jiufeng Ridge's Zhou Family? The Cultivation family that migrated from Fengguo?"

The middle-aged man in yellow seemed slightly startled, asking back as if he had heard of the Zhou Family.

Zhou Chun saw this as a glimmer of hope and promptly took a deep breath, replying earnestly, "Indeed, that is us."

Far from being moved, the middle-aged man in yellow merely pondered for a moment, then dismissively shook his head, "So what? They're just a bunch of losers driven out of their lair."

He then looked at Zhou Chun with a mocking smile, "You don't actually think that by stating your family name, you can scare me, making me let you go, do you?"

Zhou Chun fell silent; he had indeed harbored such thoughts.

Yet it was clear from the middle-aged man's demeanor that he was not going to back down.

So Zhou Chun quickly dispelled those unrealistic hopes and, with resolve, looked at the middle-aged man and declared, "Since you are so confident, sir, let me experience your superior skills then!"

Before he could finish speaking, his Rock Earth Turtle took the initiative to attack.

It struck the ground with its paw, and a sharp spike as thick as an arm burst forth from the earth right where the yellow-robed middle-aged man was standing.

However, the yellow-robed middle-aged man seemed to have anticipated this, and the moment the spike emerged, he swiftly moved away from that spot.

He even mocked Zhou Chun, "Don't embarrass yourself with these petty tricks. I've been through countless battles. What kind of situation haven't I seen? Do you really think you can outsmart me, a junior like you?"

Zhou Chun looked somewhat displeased, but he didn't respond. He simply summoned his pale golden flying knife Magic Artifact.

This Magic Artifact was known as the "Golden Willow Blade", shaped like a willow leaf, and was incredibly sharp, a rather good mid-tier first-grade Magic Artifact.

But as a tenth-layer Qi Refinement Realm cultivator with even a Flying Artifact at his disposal, how could the other Magic Artifacts of the yellow-robed middle-aged man be any inferior?

He raised his hand and summoned a pitch-black iron shield that automatically positioned itself in front of the flying willow blade knife, effortlessly knocking it away.

Without waiting for Zhou Chun to change his tactics, the man flicked his sleeve and uttered the word "Go".

Instantly, a silver cold light shot out from his sleeve, heading straight for Zhou Chun.

Zhou Chun was startled and quickly used his own Body Protection Dharma Item, a greenish wooden shield Magic Artifact.

But he had severely underestimated the power of that silver cold light.

The light flashed, and his protective first-grade lower-tier Magic Artifact "Green Wood Shield" shattered into over a dozen pieces and fell to the ground. His protective "Vajra Shield" then violently shook, causing him to buckle under the pressure, and he fell onto the ground with a thud.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed middle-aged man couldn't help but burst into loud laughter, "Hahaha, it seems I overestimated you. If that's the quality of your protective gear, you must not have any powerful backers in the family. I suspect if you die, there might not even be anyone to mourn you!"

His words were not entirely incorrect, but not entirely correct either.

Zhou Chun really did not have any powerful elders in the Zhou Family to rely on, but his original protective Magic Artifact was not a piece of trash like the "Green Wood Shield".

The Zhou Family, once one of the three giants of the Sanjue Sect, would still find it manageable to equip each family member who reached the mid-Qi Refinement stage with two mid-tier first-grade Magic Artifacts, one for attack and one for defense.

Unfortunately, the original mid-tier first-grade Defensive Dharma Artifact that Zhou Chun used had been damaged in a previous fight with Li Han of the Li Family.

After the Zhou Family of Jiufeng Ridge went through a split, most of their property was taken by Yu Jinghua, a Golden Core Stage cultivator, to establish the Spirit Beast Manor, and the family could no longer afford to provide Magic Artifacts to family members at will.

Zhou Chun would have let this pass, as even if the family didn't provide free Magic Artifacts, he could have still bought them from the family at a discounted price with Spirit Coins.

The problem was, ever since he hatched the Rock Earth Turtle, Zhou Chun had spent most of his Spirit Coins on buying elixirs from the family to cultivate his Spirit Pet.

If not for that, the Rock Earth Turtle would not have been able to grow from hatching to a mid-tier first-grade Demon Beast in just two years, far outpacing the growth speed of a cultivator.

It seems that plans can never keep up with changes.

Zhou Chun, who thought he would be safely cultivating within his family for the next few years, how could he have anticipated facing such a deadly threat today?

Fortunately, the Rock Earth Turtle didn't eat all those elixirs for nothing and didn't let Zhou Chun's generous care go to waste.

Realizing that its master was in danger, it glared at the yellow-robed middle-aged man and fiercely hit the ground, causing five or six spikes to burst forth from the earth around him at once.

This was the Spell "Chain Earth Spike" that it had mastered after becoming a mid-tier first-grade Demon Beast.

It was also the yellow-robed middle-aged man's complacency, or rather, his overconfidence in his own strength and experience, that had led him to not raise a Protective Barrier like Zhou Chun had done from the start.

Now, faced with several spikes emerging at once, even though he detected the danger with his Divine Sense, he couldn't dodge in time and was grazed by a spike on his left thigh, ripping off a large chunk of flesh.

"Ah! It hurts like hell!!"

The yellow-robed middle-aged man with the injured left thigh collapsed onto the ground, his face twisted with pain as he let out a sharp cry.

He held his thigh in agony and, with eyes filled with rage, roared at the Rock Earth Turtle, "Damn beast, I'll definitely cook you alive!"

Despite the harsh words, he quickly pulled out a "Vajra Shield" Talisman and activated it, forming a Protective Barrier around himself.

Then he hurriedly took out hemostatic and healing powders and ointments from his Storage Pouch for first aid.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately showed great joy in his eyes. He silently praised the Rock Earth Turtle in his heart and quickly stored it in the Spirit Beast Pouch, then used the "Wind Control Skill" to make his escape.

If he didn't run now, then when?

Seizing the opportunity while the yellow-robed middle-aged man was busy healing and couldn't pursue, as long as he could get out of his line of sight, Zhou Chun would have the chance to avoid this peril.

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