The Decisive Shot

“Fellow cultivator ahead, would you be interested in joining our team? Not far from here lies a massive warehouse, its contents unknown. If you venture alone, you might miss a significant opportunity. Why not journey with us?”

Su Hanxing was leisurely making his way when a voice suddenly called out from not far behind him. He had already noticed this group of cultivators; there were quite a few, perhaps a dozen or so. Yet, their cultivation levels were remarkably low, mostly consisting of Heart Scripture Realm cultivators, which was why he hadn’t given them a second thought.

Now that the group had taken the initiative to speak, expressing goodwill, Su Hanxing paused at their words. He turned, his gaze falling upon the cultivator who had addressed him.

“What do you say, fellow cultivator?” The newcomer was a cultivator clad in white robes. His hair was disheveled, and his robes were casually draped over him, revealing a significant portion of his torso, giving him a rather unkempt appearance. He wore a gentle smile, appearing approachable, yet his right hand was concealed behind his back, gripping something unknown.

“A massive warehouse ahead? How do you know it’s a warehouse?” Su Hanxing extended his spiritual sense, not bothering to answer the white-robed cultivator’s question. Instead, he began to inquire about this supposed ‘warehouse.’

“If fellow cultivator joins us, we will naturally inform you truthfully.” Noting Su Hanxing’s lack of a direct answer, the white-robed cultivator’s eyes narrowed slightly, though his smile remained unchanged. His right hand, hidden behind his back, made a few gestures, and immediately, several cultivators emerged from the shadows to stand by his side.

“Our small team consists of twelve cultivators, including three in the God Concealing stage. Fellow cultivator should consider this carefully.” The newly arrived cultivators slowly spread out, their formation suggesting an imminent encirclement of Su Hanxing.

A smile played on Su Hanxing’s lips. The other party was clearly not benevolent, and thus, he naturally had no need to play along with their charade.

“Get lost now, and I’ll spare your lives.” The smile vanished abruptly from Su Hanxing’s face. He drew the ink-jade longsword from his waist, pointed it forward, and issued his chilling threat.

Realizing Su Hanxing had seen through his intentions, the gentle smile on the white-robed cultivator’s face finally vanished. He extended his right hand and waved, and instantly, the cultivators by his side surged forward, charging directly at Su Hanxing.

Su Hanxing watched the cultivators rushing towards him, letting out a cold snort. With a swift shift of his feet, he effortlessly dodged several attacks. Then, with a diagonal slash of his longsword, he cleaved one cultivator in two, from left waist to right shoulder.

Splat—

A slightly viscous thud echoed as a heavy object hit the ground. The cultivator’s lower body remained standing, but his upper half had vanished, leaving a mix of organs and copious amounts of fresh blood pouring from the wound, collapsing limply onto the ground.

The remaining cultivators were all startled by this sight, instinctively halting their advance. It was important to note that even without activating his divine ability, ‘Starfall Step,’ Su Hanxing’s physical speed, honed by the divine ability ‘Intertwined Gold,’ was incredibly swift. The cultivator, being merely in the Heart Scripture Realm, had been careless, and thus was slain with a single sword stroke in their very first encounter.

Su Hanxing had initially believed that this single sword strike would surely deter the other cultivators. However, he hadn’t expected them to merely pause in shock before attacking him once more. It seemed this group wasn’t merely a temporary alliance; they were likely from the same sect.

Su Hanxing remained completely unperturbed. After making a silent decision, he sheathed his longsword, then unslung the large bow from his back. Quickly retreating several steps, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

“Stop him!” Seeing Su Hanxing draw his bow, the white-robed cultivator immediately issued an anxious command.

His command, rather than helping, only drew Su Hanxing’s attention to him. Immediately, an arrow of true qi materialized on the great bow. As Su Hanxing’s finger released, the arrow transformed into a long rainbow, shooting straight for the white-robed cultivator’s throat.

The white-robed cultivator saw Su Hanxing unleash a long rainbow directly at him. He dared not issue further commands, only hastily raised his blade and retreated. The long rainbow was incredibly fast. It struck his great blade just as he managed to raise it, before he could even construct a true qi defense.

With a resounding bang, the great blade shattered into pieces. The white-robed cultivator behind it had no way to dodge, able only to watch helplessly as the long rainbow pierced straight through him. Although Su Hanxing had not used a divine ability with this arrow, its power was still far beyond what a Heart Scripture Realm cultivator could withstand. Thus, the white-robed cultivator instantly lost all vitality, perishing on the spot.

“Insolent thief, take this strike from my blade!”

With two Heart Scripture Realm cultivators slain in quick succession, the God Concealing stage cultivator observing from the shadows finally grew restless. A great shout echoed from afar, and a sharp blade light suddenly appeared. This blade light was incredibly fast, its angle cunning, and its power not to be underestimated.

“Perfect timing!”

Upon seeing the blade light, Su Hanxing neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he laughed heartily as he drew the ink-black longsword from his waist, then severed the blade light with a single strike. Witnessing this scene, the surrounding cultivators were filled with even greater despair. Without any thought of resistance, they scattered and fled in all directions.

Su Hanxing paid little attention to the Heart Scripture Realm cultivators desperately fleeing. His target had already shifted to the God Concealing stage cultivator who had unleashed the blade light. With a movement of his feet, Su Hanxing flickered several times, appearing in the distance. There, he saw a black-robed elder, clutching a long blade, preparing to flee.

“Do not presume that merely breaking a wisp of my true essence means you can defeat me.” Fear had taken root in the elder’s heart. That previous blade strike was one of the strongest secret techniques he knew, yet Su Hanxing had casually shattered it, making him realize Su Hanxing’s strength far surpassed his own. However, the more he feared, the more he pretended nothing was amiss. The black-robed elder forced himself to appear calm, merely wishing to stall for time until the other God Concealing stage cultivators arrived.

“Whether I can win or not, we’ll find out once we fight.” Su Hanxing had no intention of wasting words with him. His figure flickered, true qi erupted, and he thrust his sword, aiming directly for the elder’s glabella.

Seeing that threats were useless, the black-robed elder ceased his words. He gripped his long blade with both hands and began to fiercely battle Su Hanxing. Both moved with extreme speed. In but an instant, they had exchanged dozens of blows. Though the black-robed elder’s blade techniques were exquisite, he was still steadily forced into retreat.

In close-quarters combat for cultivators, the most crucial factors are physical strength and the refinement of techniques. Presently, the black-robed elder’s blade techniques were indeed excellent, surpassing Su Hanxing’s. However, his physical body was far inferior to Su Hanxing’s, making it naturally difficult for him to resist.

“Stop quickly! I am an elder of the Gate of Wonders! If you kill me, the Gate of Wonders will surely not let you off!” Seeing that he could no longer parry, the black-robed elder hastily revealed his affiliation, hoping to slow Su Hanxing’s assault.

“How could the Gate of Wonders have an elder in the God Concealing stage? I think you’d best just accept your death obediently.” Su Hanxing scoffed disdainfully. As one of the Nine Great Sects, the Gate of Wonders required its elders to be at least at the Dharma Manifestation Realm to qualify.

While the two battled, the Heart Scripture Realm cultivators had long since fled, but new cultivators were approaching from afar. Su Hanxing briefly scanned the area, detecting another God Concealing stage cultivator. Without further concealing his strength, a starlight flickered beneath his feet, and his figure instantly vanished.

The black-robed elder hadn’t even realized Su Hanxing had disappeared from before him. He cleaved at empty air, then instantly retracted his blade. Just as he was about to look around for Su Hanxing, he felt a sudden dizziness, and then his vision flew outwards, tumbling to the ground. Before him stood a headless corpse, still clutching a long blade. Behind the headless corpse, Su Hanxing stood, sheathing his sword. It was then that the black-robed elder understood he had been decapitated. He tried to speak, but his consciousness was already fading.

The other God Concealing stage cultivator arrived belatedly. Everything had happened too quickly; from the moment Su Hanxing charged the black-robed elder to the elder’s decapitation, the entire process took less than ten breaths. Thus, he could only watch helplessly as the black-robed elder died before him.

“You impudent brat, how dare you!”

The recently arrived God Concealing stage cultivator’s eyes were bloodshot, looking utterly furious. He waved his hand, and a large cloud of purple mist spread out, threatening to engulf the area. Wherever the purple mist touched, the earth and rock walls hissed with corrosion, clearly indicating its potent toxicity.

Su Hanxing watched the toxic mist before him with amusement. This was because, in his perception, after the God Concealing stage cultivator had cursed and released the mist to obscure Su Hanxing’s vision, he had actually activated a movement technique and fled. This behavior was completely inconsistent with his earlier furious expression, which provoked Su Hanxing’s laughter.

However, since Su Hanxing had already revealed his divine ability ‘Starfall Step,’ he would not let anyone escape. Starlight reappeared beneath his feet, and his figure vanished once more.

In the next instant, the fleeing God Concealing stage cultivator felt a chill in his legs, then stumbled, his body involuntarily pitching forward. He turned back in horror, only to see that his calves had vanished. A large amount of fresh blood was spurting out. He quickly circulated true qi to stop the bleeding, then looked around. Su Hanxing was leisurely approaching him, carrying the ink-black longsword.

“Fellow cultivator, spare my life! I am willing to tell you about the opportunity within the Yinglong Tomb.” Regenerating severed limbs was not difficult for cultivators who had reached the God Concealing stage, but it did require time.

Su Hanxing raised an eyebrow, asking playfully, “Oh? Is it about that warehouse? Wasn’t that something you fabricated?”

Seeing that Su Hanxing was unwilling to believe him, the cultivator on the ground grew anxious. He quickly explained to Su Hanxing, “It’s not fabricated, it’s true! It’s fifty li to the north.”

“Truly?” Su Hanxing’s expression remained playful.

“Truly!” The cultivator nodded repeatedly.

“Explain it to me in detail, and I’ll spare your life. Otherwise…” Su Hanxing’s eyes narrowed slightly, his tone calm.

The cultivator nodded repeatedly, speaking rapidly. “Fifty li to the north, take the right path. There’s a spatial rift there, and within it, a treasure hall. A colossal beast guards the front of the hall.”

Su Hanxing listened intently, interrupting when he heard about the colossal beast. “If a colossal beast guards it, how do you know it’s a warehouse?”

“That treasure hall often spews out various magical artifacts, rare materials, and immortal herbs. One of my senior brothers even obtained a grain of Golden Star Sand from it.” The cultivator dared not conceal anything, revealing all he knew.

“Which sect are you from?” This group was indeed not a casually assembled team, Su Hanxing nodded slightly.

“I am a disciple of the Green Forest Pavilion. If fellow cultivator can let me go, my sect will surely offer a generous reward.” The cultivator’s eyes lit up, believing Su Hanxing was preparing to spare him.

“Continue. If you can satisfy me, I will naturally let you go.” Su Hanxing remained unperturbed.

“Alright, the colossal beast’s strength should be at the Dharma Manifestation Realm. We discovered this place but couldn’t defeat the beast. Then, another sect also discovered it. Their strength far surpasses our Green Forest Pavilion, but fortunately, they also couldn’t defeat that colossal beast. So, they plan to gather their sect’s cultivators here, and then they dispatched us to guard the various routes leading to this treasure hall, to eliminate any cultivators who pass by. Who would have thought we’d encounter fellow cultivator…”

The cultivator, desperate to live, spilled all the information he knew in one breath. Afterward, he looked eagerly at Su Hanxing, hoping he would spare his life.

“And the sect that dispatched you to guard this place, which sect are they from, and how many strong cultivators do they have?” Su Hanxing straightened up, his tone gentle.

“They are from the Gate of Wonders. There are about twenty to thirty of them in total, and most are God Concealing stage cultivators.” Seeing that Su Hanxing seemed inclined to let him go, the cultivator immediately brightened.

“Good, you may leave.” Su Hanxing nodded, stepping back a few paces to clear the path.

“Thank you for sparing my life, fellow cultivator. I will surely repay your kindness in the future.” The cultivator’s face showed joy. His legs had already regenerated. He then stood up, bowed to Su Hanxing, and ran barefoot towards the north.

Su Hanxing watched him flee north, shook his head helplessly, then slowly drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

“I originally intended to spare you, but you sought your own demise.”

Su Hanxing murmured to himself, then released his finger, and the fleeing figure collapsed to the ground.