Chapter 9: Here Comes Another One to Die

With a shout, the middle-aged man's body flew several zhang away and landed on the ground. Then, a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

However, instead of getting angry, he laughed, his face distorted with a grin, gnashing his teeth. Coupled with his pale complexion and the crimson at his chin, he looked particularly ferocious and terrifying, like a devil that had escaped from hell!

"A divine artifact! The legendary divine artifact! It's really here with you!" He laughed, his voice filled with surprise. "A mere flesh-and-blood girl can wield such power. If it falls into my hands, I will surely be invincible in the world! Even a cultivator at the peak of the Huashen stage won't be able to match me!" As he spoke, he suddenly leaped up. A cultivator of his level was instantly back in front of Le Piaopiao.

Le Piaopiao was stunned.

So the golden light emanating from her body was real! But what was going on? She didn't feel anything special; just a warmth spreading through her, as if her soul had been slumbering in this body for sixteen years and was now about to awaken. So, did she really have the so-called "divine artifact" inside her? What exactly was it?

At this moment, despite his severe injuries, the middle-aged man still had plenty of strength to deal with her. Coupled with his intention to kill her, he became exceptionally fierce and terrifying. She was unwilling to be killed like this and struggled to resist, but the golden light, like Duan Yu's unreliable Liu Mai Shen Jian, did not appear again. Fortunately, the middle-aged man seemed unsure about what the divine artifact was and, fearing damage, did not use excessive force despite tearing at Le Piaopiao's clothes and pulling her hair.

At the critical moment, two black dots suddenly appeared in the sky, rapidly approaching. In the blink of an eye, they grew larger and landed—one white and one red.

The white one was a little crane, filled with fairy-like aura, looking超凡脱俗. It carried a sunny-looking young man in a white robe with dual swords hanging from his waist. It was Luo Chengdong. The red one was a strange bird, somewhat resembling a duck but covered in flames, with four small fleshy beads growing on each side of its head and its eyes closed. Its wings spread out over a zhang, and even from a distance, it exuded a menacing aura. On its back were the Crown Prince of Daqin, Baili Bu, and his personal guard, Yan Beitian.

The two spiritual pets seemed extraordinary, but they were both still young, with incomplete feathers. This time, they had forcibly carried their masters out of the city and, upon landing, both collapsed. The little crane groaned softly, while the strange bird, despite its large size and carrying two people, kicked its little legs and fell asleep immediately.

"Who dares to come?" Baili Bu shouted. "In the land of Daqin, using fairy arts without permission is forbidden and punishable by death!" As he spoke, he had already floated over. He was tall and imposing, always looking down on others.

At the same time, Luo Chengdong also rushed forward, with Yan Beitian naturally following close behind Baili Bu. Unintentionally, the three formed a "triangle" shape, surrounding the middle-aged man and Le Piaopiao, who was being dragged like a broken doll in his hand.

Originally, Le Piaopiao was in grave danger and about to be strangled by the middle-aged man. But now that reinforcements had arrived, regardless of who they were, she bit down hard on the middle-aged man's wrist. The middle-aged man was a Jin Dan stage cultivator with spiritual energy protecting his body, so Le Piaopiao's ordinary teeth couldn't hurt him. However, his attention was elsewhere, and in the process of seizing the treasure, he was distracted. Angry and startled, he actually let go of her in pain and threw her away.

Coincidentally, after flying through the air in a parabola, she landed heavily on the two spiritual pets piled together. If they weren't extraordinary beings, she would have turned them into mincemeat. As for herself, she was unharmed and quickly got up, tightly clutching her clothes, with her disheveled hair hanging over her face and angry eyes staring at the middle-aged man.

The owners of the two spiritual pets were heartbroken to hear their babies' cries.

They had been observing Le Piaopiao from the second and third floors of the tavern in the marketplace. When they saw her suddenly enter the tent, each had their own plans. Who would have thought they would both sense the flow of abnormal qi, indicating that a cultivator was using fairy arts?

As the Crown Prince of Daqin, Baili Bu was the one who made and enforced the laws, so he naturally rushed over immediately. Today, he was dressed in casual clothes—a dark purple robe with golden patterns, a Baobao Zijin crown on his head, and small lambskin boots. He still exuded a noble aura, and Yan Beitian, in sky-blue attire, was also extraordinary. As a result, those foolish villagers thought they were noble masters and servants visiting the tents and were so pleased with themselves that no one noticed Le Piaopiao was missing.

However, the keen-sensed Baili Bu felt the lingering aura of fairy arts that had not yet dissipated, and so did Luo Chengdong, who arrived later. But both of them were at the peak of the Jiji stage, with one foot in the Taidong stage but not yet able to fly with swords. Fortunately, they both had fairy-level spiritual pets and followed the trail to catch up.

Nevertheless, the middle-aged man had teleported with Le Piaopiao, and no matter how fast the spiritual pets flew, they still needed time, so they almost lost track. If it weren't for a golden light shooting up into the sky, they would have lost their way. Of course, they never thought the golden light came from Le Piaopiao; they all attributed it to the middle-aged man. After all, it was a Jin Dan stage cultivator who could teleport, so the golden light must have come from him.

Thanks to human cognitive bias, Le Piaopiao escaped suspicion.

"Who would have thought it would be the Crown Prince of Daqin," the middle-aged man sneered. "Your emperor father really dotes on you, giving you such an extraordinary fairy pet like the Guiche. It's a pity that you're just a Jiji stage junior. Today is your day to die!"

Standing aside, Le Piaopiao felt chilled to the bone and even selfishly considered whether to run away first. But then she thought, no matter the reason, they had come to save her. It would be too inhumane of her to leave like this, so she made up her mind to face death with them.

Jiji stage versus Jin Dan stage. Even if there were three energetic young people at the Jiji stage and the one at the Jin Dan stage was severely injured, there were two insurmountable gaps like two towering mountains. So... there was no way to escape...

"So much nonsense!" Baili Bu slowly drew his blade without hesitation and suddenly leaped forward.

The blade was dark and dull, seemingly old. Its only impressive feature was its size—twice the length and width of an ordinary blade, looking quite heavy, indicating that its user needed immense arm and wrist strength.

When the blade was swung through the air, a fierce black light shot out.

However, with a clang, the blade did not hit the middle-aged man but was blocked by a layer of spiritual energy three feet away from him. Sparks flew instantly. However, the blade's aura did not dissipate but returned to the blade, buzzing continuously with even greater fighting spirit.

The middle-aged man was startled.

What kind of extraordinary encounter did Baili Songtao have? His son had low cultivation but was accompanied by a fairy-level Guiche spiritual pet. Even major sects like Kunlun and Shushan might not possess such things. And although that blade looked ordinary, it had a hidden menacing aura, seemingly able to devour surrounding energy, clearly not an ordinary item. It was only because its user had low cultivation that its treasure-like aura was concealed.

Thinking of this, he felt even more hatred.

Why did the legendary divine artifact end up in the hands of an ordinary girl? Why did fairy artifacts and pets belong to useless people? All things in the world belong to those with virtue. He was the virtuous one! He would obtain all these things!

With greed arising, the middle-aged man sneered, withdrew his spiritual energy shield with his right hand, waved his left hand, and conjured a red token-like object similar to a court's token. As incantations were chanted, fire burst out.

"Your Highness, be careful," Yan Beitian said as he wielded his sword to assist.

Baili Bu didn't respond. He pressed two fingers against the blade, sliding from the hilt to the tip. Immediately, a faint black mist spread out, blocking the flames outside.

Yan Beitian was a sword cultivator, loyally standing by Baili Bu's side. His sword qi danced wildly, weaving a net-like barrier around Baili Bu for protection. However, even so, the gap in cultivation between the Jin Dan and Ji Zhu stages was too vast. It seemed they could barely hold on for another moment.

"I'll help you!" At this moment, Luo Chengdong, who had been standing aside, suddenly spoke up.

"Get out of here!" Baili Bu refused.

But Luo Chengdong ignored him, drawing his sword and joining the fray. "I'm not helping you. I just can't stand seeing a man欺负 (bullying) a woman. Especially a woman I'm interested in."

Huh? What did he mean? She was the only woman here. Was he her admirer? This situation... was too chaotic.

"Another one coming to die!" The middle-aged man sneered. With a wave of his right hand, a black-and-white spotted marten leaped out, soaring towards Luo Chengdong.

"Even your spirit pet is out. It seems you really want us dead," Luo Chengdong laughed. "I love fighting those stronger than me. It's exhilarating!" As he spoke, his hands didn't stop moving.

He wore two swords at his waist and drew out one with a snow-white blade to meet the challenge. With the activation of his sword qi, the black-and-white spotted marten was actually frozen in the scorching air.

He was actually a cultivator of the variant Ice Element within the Five Elements!

The middle-aged man was startled again, and his confidence began to waver. Everything in the world belonged to the Five Elements. For humans, a single pure Elemental Root was the best qualification. But those who possessed the variant Ice, Wind, or Lightning Roots could only be described as geniuses, and they were rare. He remembered that there was a rising young cultivator in Kunlun with a single Ice Elemental Root...

These people must die! He was even more determined now. The elite cultivators of the world, Kunlun, were not to be trifled with! Although these three young people's cultivations were not high, their combat strength surpassed their levels. He was also severely injured. As one's strength increased and the other's decreased, only he knew in his heart that they couldn't drag this out for long. Otherwise, when the injury from the divine artifact worsened, the situation would be unpredictable.

He bit his tongue, sprayed the incantation onto the token, and caused flames to rise several meters high, engulfing Baili Bu and the other two in one fell swoop.