Chapter 77: Surrounding

Steward Zhao immediately recognized the ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’. The number of cultivators in the marketplace with flying magical devices was countable on one hand, and the Green Jade Flying Leaf was a particularly well-known model.

Seeing this ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’ told him the old manager’s disappearance had to do with Li Zhen.

“So it was you!” Steward Zhao muttered under his breath.

He didn’t know how to express his feelings at that moment. The conflict between the Iron Sword Gang and the Lin Clan had started because of the old manager’s disappearance.

It was precisely this conflict between the Iron Sword Gang and the Lin Clan that had given the Golden Blade Gang an opportunity to exploit. Eventually, the Lin Clan colluded with the Golden Blade Gang, driving out the Zhao Clan and the Iron Sword Gang from the marketplace, which also resulted in heavy losses for the Zhao Clan.

Steward Zhao hesitated briefly, then pulled out a talisman, entered the message he wanted to transmit, and activated it.

Once activated, the talisman transformed into a little bird and flew off into the distance.

Because Li Zhen had left using the ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’, Steward Zhao couldn’t catch up immediately. He could only track in the direction Li Zhen had flown.

Li Zhen was completely unaware of what was happening behind him. After entering the grasslands, he put away the ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’ into his dragon heart space.

Using the ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’ was purely for the sake of indulging in the experience of flight.

Cultivators incapable of flight held a special longing for it. Especially with a magic flying artifact in hand, they would naturally want to use it in private moments to savor the joys of soaring.

In the Xian Nation, one could only use the ‘Green Jade Flying Leaf’ outside the city. However, Li Zhen had been diligently cultivating recently and hadn’t ventured out.

Li Zhen drew his sword and casually swept it, clearing a circular area ten meters in radius around himself.

Standing with the sword, he mentally reviewed the Xian Kingdom’s intermediate-level close-quarter sword techniques.

Unlike the foundational level, which focused on basic techniques, the intermediate level emphasized a comprehensive theoretical framework.

He channeled spiritual energy from his dantian into the longsword. Using a special technique, he waved the sword again, causing a shaft of sword light to extend from the blade.

Due to his low cultivation, the sword light extended only about ten centimeters. Yet, successfully manifesting the sword light indicated that he had mastered this aspect of intermediate sword techniques.

“Not quite! It can be even more condensed!” Unsatisfied with his achievement, he murmured to himself.

The sword light before him grew increasingly brighter and more tangible.

From the sword light emanated an terrifying sharpness, as if capable of cleaving through anything in its path.

Cultivating the intermediate sword technique at the third level of Qi Refining consumed spiritual energy too quickly. In no time, his reserves had depleted by half.

Daring not to exhaust his spiritual energy too much in the wilderness, he activated the Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk. Though there were no spirit veins here, only thin spiritual energy, the array disk’s aggregation allowed him just enough to recover his strength as a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining.

Once he ascended to the fourth level, without the support of spirit veins, the Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk’s effect would be significantly diminished.

He sat cross-legged at the center of the array disk, feeling the faint spiritual energy enter his body and, through the Seventeenth Version of the Foundation Qi Refining Technique, guide it to his dantian.

Just as his spiritual energy was recovering in great part, his eyes snapped open.

Sensing danger, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. With a wave of his hand, the Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk was put away.

Then, he activated a mid-grade Diamond Talisman and Lightening Talisman, bolstering his defense and speed.

Since he began crafting his own mid-grade talismans, he treated them as ordinary consumables.

“What keen perception!” Steward Zhao said, stepping into the space Li Zhen had carved out with his sword, his gaze scrutinizing Li Zhen.

Li Zhen cast a quick glance at Steward Zhao before scanning his surroundings. Two cultivators materialized to his left and right, while another appeared behind him.

Encircled by four cultivators, Li Zhen’s attention remained fixed on the one at his back. He sensed the presence of a top-grade first-rank spirit object, its aura unmistakable.

Having lived in the market for some time, Li Zhen knew that any cultivator wielding such a spirit object would be at least in the late Qi Refining stage.

Steward Zhao, however, was only in the Qi Refining stage’s mid-core. The fact that Zhao had taken the lead instead of the late-core cultivator behind him suggested either a prior acquaintance or, more likely, that they were certain of capturing Li Zhen.

“I bear no grudge against the Zhao Clan,” Li Zhen said cautiously. “So why have you come after me, Steward Zhao?”

“Let me remind you, ‘Greenshard Dart’,” Steward Zhao replied coolly.

Li Zhen realized his oversight. The recent calm had lulled him into a false sense of security, stripping him of his wariness.

“Who would have thought that you were the root cause of our market’s change in ownership?!” Steward Zhao said through gritted teeth.

Of course he was furious. Losing the market imperiled the cultivation resources for him and all the other cultivators in the clan. Not to mention the casualties sustained during the battle—the blood debt had to be paid.

Li Zhen could sense the murderous intent radiating from Project Manager Zhao and the three cultivators accompanying him. The words spoken by Project Manager Zhao had clearly triggered the Zhao family cultivators’ anger.

He quickly communicated with his Dragon Heart Space and instantly equipped the ‘Police Type A30 Martial Fighter Armor’.

No wonder Old Shopkeeper Zhao fell to you!” Project Manager Zhao exclaimed, his expression shifting to surprise upon seeing the ‘Police Type A30 Martial Fighter Armor’. “I see you possess a first-grade high-quality wearable puppet! While such puppets are rare, they are not unheard of.

Had he not called upon a family cultivator in the late Qi Refining stage, Li Zhen might have truly gained the upper hand.

However, with a late Qi Refining cultivator present, a single first-grade high-quality wearable puppet made little difference. Li Zhen’s cultivation realm was simply too low.

From the moment he donned the ‘Police Type A30 Martial Fighter Armor,’ it began consuming its internal energy. Li Zhen knew he couldn’t waste any more time.

His display of the ‘Police Type A30 Martial Fighter Armor’ was truly a necessity born out of desperation.

The pressure exerted by the late Qi Refining cultivator behind him was overwhelming. Even the Dragon Might aura, which he relied on for intimidation, seemed to have little effect against such a formidable opponent.

Had he ascended to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, reaching the mid-stage of cultivation, perhaps his Dragon Might aura would have been even more potent.

Most importantly, Li Zhen’s ordinary attacks could barely penetrate the defenses of late Qi Refining Stage cultivators—let alone three additional opponents in the mid-Qi Refining Stage.

For the first time, Li Zhen held nothing back, fully unleashing the power of his mid-stage Body Tempering art.

With the augmentation of the ‘Police A30 Martial Fighter Armor’, he achieved at least the equivalent force and speed of a practitioner in the eighth layers of Qi Refining.

Instead of targeting Steward Zhao, he opted for the mid-Qi Refining cultivator on the left.

This cultivator reacted swiftly, summoning a mid-grade, first-order defense magical tool shaped like a turtle shell. He knew that if he could block this attack, Li Zhen would immediately be pummeled by his companions.

“Slash!” Li Zhen roared, the first-order mid-grade longsword in his armored gauntlet slicing towards the cultivator with deadly force.

As the sword was about to strike the turtle shell, a dazzling blade glow burst forth, amplified by the fighter armor. What would have been a mere dozen centimeters of sword glare, in both length and intensity, multiplied several times over.

In this world, such a mid-grade sword glare from his Body Tempering technique was akin to a secret sword technique of a major sect—a killing art of formidable renown.

This was the difference between the Xian Nation and this world. Perhaps the Xian Nation also had many secret techniques that were not disclosed, but as long as cultivators met the conditions set by the Xian Nation, they could obtain those publicly available techniques.

In this world, without joining a major sect, a lone cultivator would never be able to access such knowledge no matter how long they lived.

The sword’s brightness sliced through the turtle shell’s defensive talisman as easily as it would tofu, simultaneously cutting through the cultivator’s body behind it.

Li Zhen killed the cultivator on the left with one stroke. Then he escaped the fire-based technique from the late-stage qi-cultivation cultivator behind him in a tumbling motion, looking as wretched as a fleeing wolf. The explosion from the fire-based technique pushed him forward even further.

Using the fighter armor’s built-in detection system, even though Li Zhen had his back turned to the other three cultivators, he could see the positions and movements of the three cultivators through the retina display.

The fighter armor provided predictions of the three cultivators’ attacks, but Li Zhen paid no heed to its suggestions. These were not Xian Nation cultivators. Everything from their magical artifacts to their cultivation techniques, combat styles, and habits were different.

After escaping the initial onslaught, Li Zhen did not hesitate to bolt onward. He plunged into the tall grass, concealed beneath its girth, where the cultivators behind him couldn’t follow without using a tracking spell.