Chapter 25: The Cruelty of the Cultivation World

Shen Qinghe counted the newly acquired spirit stones, and, satisfied, tucked them away in her storage pouch before preparing to leave. She had barely taken two steps when a figure suddenly blocked her path.

Her brows knitted as she looked at the man standing before her. "Fellow Daoist Luo, what is the meaning of this?"

Luo Yan’s wrinkled face was wreathed in smiles as he hurriedly replied, "Please don’t misunderstand, fellow Daoist. I’m simply quite interested in the mutated Violet Absolut Ginseng you possess. I wonder if you have any more? I’d like to purchase some."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Shen Qinghe’s expression softened, and after a moment’s thought, she said, "I do have more of the Violet Absolut Ginseng. But if you want it, you’ll have to trade those spirit plants for it."

As she spoke, she gestured toward Luo Yan’s stall.

"This..." Luo Yan’s face changed and he shook his head vigorously. "Impossible, impossible! My spirit plants are far more valuable than your Violet Absolut Ginseng!"

"In that case, let’s forget it." Shen Qinghe didn’t insist and walked around Luo Yan, departing without another word.

Watching her receding figure, Luo Yan opened his mouth as if to call out, but ultimately didn’t try to stop her.

After the frenzy for Foundation Pill purchases, the marketplace had grown noticeably quieter.

With her newly acquired spirit stones, Shen Qinghe stepped once more into the Treasure Pavilion. She carefully browsed the medicinal section and finally selected Qi Gathering Pills, which could speed up spiritual energy absorption. She bought three bottles, paid over three hundred low-grade spirit stones, and stowed the pills in her storage pouch.

By the time she left the Treasure Pavilion, the sun was already slanting toward the west.

Azure Cloud Market was only two miles from the sect, and this time, Shen Qinghe chose not to take a flying boat but to walk back instead. The original owner of her body had often traveled between the market and the sect on foot, mostly to save unnecessary expenditures of spirit stones.

As soon as Shen Qinghe stepped out of the marketplace, a cool mountain breeze greeted her. She walked lightly along the mountain path, her robes fluttering gently in the wind as she headed toward Azure Cloud Sect.

Yet after barely a hundred steps, strange, intermittent sounds echoed from the dense forest ahead.

Shen Qinghe immediately halted, her right hand instinctively pressing against her storage pouch at her waist, her gaze wary and fixed on the source of the disturbance.

"What’s happening up ahead?" She was both alert and curious.

The sounds were still distant, fuzzy and fragmented, making it difficult to discern their nature.

After a moment’s thought, she took out a Fire Tongue Talisman she’d purchased at the Treasure Pavilion, gripping it tightly in her palm as she crept forward, her steps light.

After all, this was the only path back to the sect; she had to investigate, whatever the risk.

As the distance closed, the noises ahead grew clearer. Shen Qinghe’s ears caught explosive booms, shouts of rage, and the clashing ring of metal.

She stiffened. "Cultivators are fighting!"

Just then, the fierce sounds of combat rapidly approached her direction.

Through gaps in the forest, she could already glimpse several flickering figures.

If she’d known she’d encounter something like this, she would have bought more talismans for protection!

There was no time to think.

Shen Qinghe made a snap decision, quickly taking out a Concealment Talisman from her pouch. With a surge of spiritual power, the talisman turned into a stream of light that cloaked her aura entirely.

She darted into a thicket beside the road, holding her breath and focusing intently on the unfolding battle.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Sharp sounds sliced through the air. The first to burst into her view was a blood-soaked, one-armed male cultivator.

He staggered through the woods, blood pouring from his severed limb and leaving a shocking trail behind him.

Close behind, four murderous figures gave chase—three men and one woman, each wielding spirit artifacts, their fierce attacks raining down on the one-armed man.

The one-armed cultivator shielded his back with a small bronze shield. Whenever an attack landed, the shield flared with dazzling spiritual light, repelling every blow.

Using the force of the rebound, he propelled himself forward several more yards.

Judging by their momentum, they would soon leave this place.

Shen Qinghe silently calculated that once these five left, she could slip away from this place of trouble. Suddenly, the battle shifted.

The female cultivator among the pursuers formed a spell with her fingers, lightning-fast, and pointed ahead.

"Ah!"

The one-armed man shuddered as if struck by lightning, then collapsed heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

He curled up in agony, blood streaming from the corners of his mouth—clearly gravely wounded.

"What just happened?" Shen Qinghe watched with a pounding heart, both tense and bewildered.

She’d seen the woman only make a gesture, without any visible spell trajectory; how had the one-armed man suddenly fallen?

The four immediately surrounded the fallen, gravely injured cultivator.

The woman’s face was icy, her eyes flashing with cruelty. "You’ve been struck by my Heart-Corrosion Gu. Did you think you could escape?"

"Give up the Foundation Pill, and we’ll make it quick!" barked one of the men, his face disfigured with centipede-like scars, brandishing a gleaming blade.

"Heh..." The one-armed cultivator propped himself up with difficulty, half-sitting against a tree, his lips twisting into a bitter smile. "You want the Foundation Pill..."

Suddenly, his throat moved, and he swallowed the Foundation Pill hidden in his mouth in one gulp!

"Courting death!" The scarred man’s eyes nearly burst with rage. He swung his blade, slashing at the one-armed man’s neck.

Splurt—

Blood sprayed. The one-armed cultivator’s head soared, his face frozen in a mocking smile as it traced a shocking arc through the air, finally landing with a thud right in front of the grass where Shen Qinghe was hiding, the mud-streaked face staring directly at her.

That corpse’s face, so close she could almost touch it, its wide-open eyes seemed to fix her with a piercing gaze.

The sight nearly made Shen Qinghe leap out of her hiding place in terror.

She bit down hard on her lower lip, her nails digging deep into her palm, her breath utterly stilled.

Then, something even more horrifying happened.

The scarred man raised his blade, and with a flash, sliced open the one-armed man’s chest.

Grinning fiercely, he rummaged through the bloody flesh and finally pulled out a blood-soaked Foundation Pill.

"The Foundation Pill is ours. Let’s go!" The scarred man tucked the pill into his robe and gestured to his companions.

The four gathered together, vanishing swiftly into the depths of the forest.

Curled up in the grass, Shen Qinghe didn’t know how much time passed before a stabbing pain in her chest made her realize she’d been holding her breath the entire time.

She gasped for air, trembling as she parted the grass and staggered to her feet.

The thick scent of blood hit her, her stomach churning.

In all her lives, past and present, she had never witnessed such a gruesome scene.

This moment made her truly understand the brutality of the cultivation world.

She forced herself not to look at the ghastly corpse, desperately wanting to escape.

But just as she turned away, her storage pouch began to tremble strangely.

"What’s this...?"

Shen Qinghe, puzzled, took out the segment of Jade Blood Vine.

No sooner did she reveal it than the vine sprang toward the mutilated corpse like a living creature—so fast she couldn’t react.

Staring in shock, she saw the Jade Blood Vine burrow deep into the body, ravenously absorbing the blood.

Even more chilling, the once-intact corpse shriveled visibly within moments.

In just a few breaths, the ruined body had become nothing more than a dried husk, the skin shriveled tightly around the bones.

At that moment, the Jade Blood Vine slowly withdrew from the corpse. The dark red thorns along its length gleamed with an eerie, lustrous blood light, as if soaked through with fresh blood.

"Return!" Shen Qinghe commanded, hastily recalling the vine.

It darted back into her palm like a serpent.

She gazed at the blood-glimmering vine in her hand, then at the shriveled corpse, a complex emotion flickering in her eyes.

After a moment’s silence, she sighed softly. "Well, since my Jade Blood Vine destroyed your body, I’ll bury you. At least you’ll find some peace in the earth."