Chapter 23: Fierce Battle

“That kid shouldn't have gone far. Let's search the area; if we can't find him, we'll give up.”

The youth in golden robes suppressed his anger. The Miaozhi Hall had many influences in the county town and would soon discover who had taken the Purple Spirit Grass. He was currently only at the second level of Qi Refinement, and the Purple Spirit Grass would be of great use to him as well.

The reason he hadn't brought the twenty first-rate martial artists or used a carriage was to avoid making too much noise and alerting the target. He hadn't expected to lose the trail even after chasing him this far.

*This person strikes so ruthlessly; it seems he came with ill intent.* On a raised mound in the dense forest, Lu Xiaotian crouched in the bushes. Seeing the man in the bamboo hat frozen into an ice sculpture, he felt little emotion.

“Brother Situ, there is no need to be angry. If he hasn't gone far, I believe we can still catch him.” The girl in the red dress stroked a small brocade pouch at her waist.

With a flash of white light, a furry, grey-bodied rat appeared on the ground.

“A Scent-Demon Rat! I didn't expect you to have such a spirit beast,” the golden-robed youth said with sudden joy.

“Although it isn't much help in combat, it can be useful occasionally, so I keep one. As long as the person is within a five-mile radius, it can find him,” the red-dressed girl said with a delicate laugh.

The grey rat, slightly larger than an ordinary feral cat, was incredibly fast. It squealed and rushed toward a patch of grass, covering dozens of feet in an instant.

“This person is quite bold, actually hiding nearby to spy on us.” Seeing the rat's reaction, the red-dressed girl's gaze swept toward the nearby bushes, and she broke into a smile.

*Damn! I've been discovered.* Lu Xiaotian was startled. He hadn't expected the large grey rat's nose to be so keen that it found him the moment it was released. Had he known, he would have hidden much further away.

“You certainly are bold, hiding right there to watch us. If you don't want me to come and fetch you, come out yourself,” the golden-robed youth shouted with a sigh of relief. He had thought things might get troublesome, but it seemed resolved in an instant.

“May I ask what you two want with me?” Lu Xiaotian forced himself to step out from the bushes. The grey rat did not dare approach him from dozens of feet away, which made him feel slightly more at ease; it didn't seem particularly strong. After all, there were already two of them; if there were also a spirit beast, the situation would be truly dire.

Seeing that the spiritual energy fluctuations on Lu Xiaotian were weak, the golden-robed youth completely relaxed, losing even the trace of politeness he had shown moments ago. He laughed loudly, “I wondered which rogue immortal was wandering aimlessly through Liangzhou. Don't you know that Liangzhou is the territory of our Situ family? I'm in a good mood today, so if you're sensible, hand over those three Purple Spirit Grass plants and get the hell out of Liangzhou.”

Lu Xiaotian said with a grim expression, “These are ownerless spiritual items; they belong to whoever has the fate to claim them. If I don't hand them over, do you intend to take them by force?”

“Giggle...” The red-dressed girl laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world, taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Since you refuse to be sensible, don't blame me for being ruthless,” the golden-robed youth said disdainfully. He didn't bother wasting more words on Lu Xiaotian and immediately began chanting an incantation. Five or six ice spikes appeared one after another.

The red-dressed girl crossed her arms and stepped aside, looking on like a spectator at a show.

“Roar!” A coarse sound rang out as a sturdy leopard charged out of the jungle with lightning speed.

The golden-robed youth and the red-dressed girl were both startled. They hadn't expected a demon beast to be hiding here. It shouldn't be called a spirit beast; a demon beast wouldn't coincidentally attack them while ignoring the weaker Lu Xiaotian.

The golden-robed youth hurriedly manipulated the ice spikes to shoot toward the leopard.

*Boom! Boom!*

The leopard dodged the ice spikes as it ran, causing several nearby trees to be blasted into ice shards.

As the golden-robed youth stopped his attack, Lu Xiaotian felt a sense of relief. The moment those ice spikes appeared, he had felt closer to death than ever before. Had it been an attack from an ordinary martial artist, he would have had confidence in dodging, but facing those ice spikes, he had felt an inexplicable inability to escape. Fortunately, there was a spirit beast; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

“This beast is fast!” Seeing the ice spikes being repeatedly dodged by the leopard, the golden-robed youth's expression changed. He flicked his left hand, releasing a spiritual talisman that transformed into several small fireballs, flying toward the leopard in a triangular formation.

At the same time, he barked at the red-dressed girl, “This leopard is quite formidable! Don't just stand there, help me! I'll hold this beast, you go kill that boy!”

*Awoo!* The leopard let out a pained cry, dodging two of the fireballs, but the remaining one exploded against it, tearing its skin and charring a large patch of fur on its back. With a sinister grin, the golden-robed youth took out another talisman. Fortunately, he had brought talismans; otherwise, facing this leopard would have been truly dangerous. Casting spells required preparation time, but talismans could be deployed with a wave of a hand. Even if they were only basic spells with limited lethality, they were enough to wound the leopard.

“Alright!” The red-dressed girl nodded. Just as she was about to cast a spell, she suddenly felt a numbness in her legs that began to spread throughout her body. Looking down, she saw that two green flying ants had crawled onto her legs at some unknown point.

Simultaneously, over a dozen more small green ants flew out from the grass and leaves, swarming toward the golden-robed youth.

“Shadow Ants!” The golden-robed youth was horrified. While the individual lethality of a Shadow Ant was low, their paralyzing effect was extremely strong. Even someone at the middle stage of Qi Refinement would find their spiritual energy circulation disrupted and unable to cast spells effectively if bitten a few times. As for those at the late stage of Qi Refinement, while a dozen ants might not be a major threat, a swarm of over a hundred would force them to flee if they lacked powerful means. As a second-level Qi Refinement cultivator, he could only keep his distance and dare not let them touch him.

However, with over a dozen small green ants flying at him from all directions, there was no way to dodge. The golden-robed youth hurriedly released all the fireball talismans he held. Fireball talismans were the cheapest and easiest to manufacture, but he didn't carry many. The Situ family had no talisman masters, and since leaving Wangyue City, he had used them one by one. Fearing he would waste them, his father had only given him a few.

*Boom!*

In the air, the Shadow Ants were blown apart one by one by the heated fireballs. Lu Xiaotian's face turned pale; controlling these ants required divine sense, and as they were destroyed, his divine sense was also affected. Fortunately, the leopard possessed high intelligence and only required commands. Otherwise, he would have died of exhaustion before the enemy could kill him.

However, a few fireball talismans were not enough to kill all the ants. The red-dressed girl had accidentally fallen victim to them, and the golden-robed youth, facing the dual threat of the Shadow Ants and the leopard, had no time to cast spells. He drew a green precious sword from his person and fled in panic, completely abandoning the red-dressed girl to her fate.

Through his struggle with the black-robed elder, Lu Xiaotian had learned a lesson: enemies must be eliminated completely, or there will be endless trouble. This golden-robed youth, who sought his life so readily, was clearly no good person. Lu Xiaotian's expression turned cold as he commanded the remaining five Shadow Ants to continue harassing the youth, while the leopard engaged him in a fierce struggle.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, taking advantage of a moment when the golden-robed youth swung his sword to knock away an ant, the leopard seized the opening and bit through the youth's right arm, the one holding the sword.

“Mer... mercy...” The golden-robed youth collapsed to the ground, curling up and crawling backward, his blood staining the ground crimson.

*Roar!* The leopard bit through his throat, and the youth's voice stopped abruptly.

Lu Xiaotian roughly scavenged the items from the golden-robed youth. The green sword looked decent, much sharper than the short iron sword at his waist. Besides the green sword, there was also a storage bag.

Opening the bag, Lu Xiaotian was overjoyed. Inside was a bottle containing five Qi Gathering Pills and a book titled *Complete Encyclopedia of Basic Spells*. Flipping through a few pages, he saw elemental spells such as Metal and Wood. The black-robed elder had refused to teach him spells, but he had unexpectedly obtained them from this golden-robed youth. With this ancient text, he could teach himself spells in the future. It was a true unexpected windfall; this fierce battle had been well worth it.

There was also a bottle of medicine in the storage bag, though its purpose was unknown. He put everything away and turned his gaze toward the red-dressed girl.

“Don't... don't kill me!” The red-dressed girl had been bitten several times by the small green ants and had not yet recovered from the paralysis. She could still move slightly, but she had temporarily lost her combat effectiveness. However, her divine sense remained clear. Seeing the death of the golden-robed youth, she turned pale with terror. She never imagined that a youth who appeared to be only at the first level of Qi Refinement would possess such a powerful leopard spirit beast and so many Shadow Ants. Furthermore, he had deployed the ants in advance to set an ambush. With her second-level Qi Refinement strength, she could only tame that Scent-Demon Rat.

He didn't know if the opponent had other allies. Currently, his divine sense was damaged and the leopard was also injured; if more enemies appeared, his situation would be quite dangerous. This was no place to linger; he needed to find a safe place to rest and recover first. The grey rat from before had fled and was nowhere to be seen, but this woman might still be of some use. Lu Xiaotian found a green vine to bind the red-dressed girl, then controlled a few small green ants to rest on her body to ensure he could subdue her at any moment. Only then did he feel safe enough to carry her into the forest, arriving at the previously hidden cave and blocking the entrance with rocks.

*Thud!* Lu Xiaotian threw the red-dressed girl onto the ground, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Can't you be a little gentler?” she said pitifully.

“Stop acting in front of me, or don't blame me for being unkind. What is your name? And who was that golden-robed youth I killed? How did you find me? And what was the deal with that grey rat?”

Lu Xiaotian had no intention of being a gentleman. Not to mention her clothing was revealing and not his type, but having suffered such significant losses against the black-robed elder, he would not be easily seduced by such a woman.

“My name is Lyu Bifeng. That golden-robed youth was Situ Jing, a member of the Situ family. That grey rat was my spirit beast, the Scent-Demon Rat. It has no combat power, but its sense of smell is extremely keen; within a certain range, it can find anyone based on their scent.”

Seeing that Lu Xiaotian remained unmoved by her beauty, Lyu Bifeng could only speak truthfully.

“A Scent-Demon Rat!” Lu Xiaotian gasped. His knowledge of the cultivation world was almost a blank slate; had he known of the existence of Scent-Demon Rats, he would never have given them the chance.

“What is the situation with the Situ family? How many of them are there?”

“I can tell you everything I know, but once you have the answers you want, you must let me live,” Lyu Bifeng bargained.