plumnovel Chapter 23: Tribulation Cultivator?
Chapter 23: Tribulation Cultivator?
The two hurriedly headed to the place where the three clan elders, Chen Daoyan, Chen Heming, and Chen Heting, would meet them.
The three elders, Chen Heming and Chen Heting, were at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Although Chen Heting was only at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, he specialized in combat and was no weaker than Chen Heming.
Chen Daoyan carried the clan's magical artifacts, and the five of them traveling together were enough to put them in a fighting chance even against cultivators in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.
Traveling in groups will reduce a lot of trouble.
The agreed-upon place was in a valley more than fifty miles away from the market town.
Chen Chunan, who was following the eldest patriarch, was somewhat puzzled: "Elder, why not let the three elders enter the market together? That way, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would have to think twice before trying to take advantage of us, right?"
The elder chuckled but offered no explanation.
Chen Chunan had no choice but to suppress his doubts and continue on his way.
About five miles from the valley, two figures quietly blocked their way.
One was tall and thin like a bamboo pole, and the other was short and fat like a pig.
The skinny guy chuckled, "Hehehe, this old fellow thinks he can get away with just changing his clothes. How naive!"
Fat Pig laughed heartily: "Haha, he probably hasn't even heard of such a strange creature as the 'Picking-the-Machine Bug'."
After saying this, the fat pig took out a strange whistle and blew it gently, but no sound came out. Then, a hair-like worm flew out from the elder's hair.
The elder felt a chill run down his spine. He reached up and touched the bracelet on his wrist, where a dim light flickered slightly.
"So it was the fat and thin duo! I thought it was that audacious thief!"
Hearing the elder's impolite words, the two wicked men grinned wickedly and said, "You know our names and still dare to speak like that! You're tired of living! Hand over all the spirit stones obediently, and we might spare your lives!"
The elder sneered without replying, turning to Chen Chunan and saying, "Now I'll tell you why we didn't let Daoyan and the others come along! What are you waiting for?!"
No sooner had the elder of the clan finished speaking than a large, ancient seal, the size of a stone roller, descended from the sky and struck the slender bamboo pole.
The oppressive aura sent chills down their spines: "Oh no! We've fallen into a trap! There's an ambush!"
The slender bamboo pole narrowly dodged the large seal, and when he calmed down and looked again, he saw three more figures around him.
The aura emanating from it was clearly at the eleventh level of Qi Refining.
Chen Chunan was dumbfounded: Holy crap, entrapment? So the Chen family also plays the double-crossing game!
The two villains, one fat and one thin, were no longer as calm and composed as before; their hearts were pounding like drums.
"Fellow Daoists, are you here for us two brothers? I don't recall offending you in any way before. Could you please be merciful and let us go?"
The elder clansman grinned menacingly: "Since you dared to covet our spirit stones, be prepared to have your teeth shattered! Begging for mercy now is too late!"
In the ensuing battle, Chen Chunan was completely uninvolved.
Elder Chen Heting of the Seventh Clan led the charge, wielding his flying sword magic weapon with unparalleled skill, defeating two men who could only barely parry.
Chen Heming's hand was entangled by his own mother—no, I mean by the control of the Yimu Green Vine, whose thorns were also poisonous.
A dense vine thicket left the two with no way to escape.
Chen Daoyan focused on manipulating the family's most important artifact, the top-grade magic weapon Genyue Seal, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
Chen Daoxuan was most skilled in close combat, and his bronze staff was a powerful weapon that moved with great force.
Before long, the two cultivators at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining had even had a chance to unleash their techniques before they perished on the spot.
Just as the group was about to loot the corpse, a series of crisp applause rang out.
"As expected of the three Chen brothers, their teamwork was superb, and they killed the famous fat and thin evil duo with ease."
The elders of the clan immediately felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Elder Chen Daoxuan secretly slipped two pills to Chen Chunan, then transmitted his thoughts to him, saying, "These are the Rejuvenation Pill and the Qi-restoring Pill. When you feel your spiritual energy is insufficient, take the Qi-restoring Pill and I'll give you the Rejuvenation Pill."
The three elders, their faces grim, looked at the Blood Demon and the two from the Liu family: "Blood Demon True Person? And Liu Chengzhi and Liu Qinghe? Your Liu family dares to collude with evil cultivators!"
Liu Chengzhi looked at the Chen family members with a mocking expression: "Collusion? Blood Demon True Man is my second grandfather, my own flesh and blood. What collusion? I heard from my spies that the Chen family was very dishonest and brought all the family's spirit stones to buy Foundation Establishment Pills. Chen Daoyan also took away your Chen family's top-grade magic artifact, the Genyue Seal. Seeing it today, it's really true. Hand over the spirit stones and magic artifact obediently, and I might consider leaving you with a whole corpse."
Liu Chengzhi's words made the faces of the four elders turn completely gloomy.
Blood Demon Master is a well-known Foundation Establishment evil cultivator, but I never expected him to be a member of the Liu family!
Although the Blood Demon's information in the market only indicated that he was at the second level of Foundation Establishment, his demonic skills were quite bizarre.
He has a record of killing two Foundation Establishment Stage 2 cultivators in a one-on-two battle, so he is not someone to be trifled with.
Now that the Liu family dares to reveal their relationship with the Blood Demon Master to us, they've probably already decided to silence us.
Chen Heting and Chen Heming exchanged a glance, then suddenly shouted, "Big Brother! Fourth Brother! Take Chu Nan and leave!"
Chen Daoxuan and Chen Daoyan steeled their resolve: "Running away? How could we possibly outrun a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Let's fight him!"
Blood Demon Master grinned maliciously as he approached, saying, "You're courting death!"
The Blood Demon Master was once rampant with his Blood Demon Technique, and his Blood Demon Clone was extremely difficult to deal with.
Furthermore, he possesses three superior magical artifacts, two for offense and one for defense.
Although the four clan elders were fearless and undaunted, they were still beaten and faced constant danger.
Within a few rounds, they were all injured, and the Grand Elder, caught off guard, lost an arm.
The seventh clan elder, Chen Heting, also had a large gash cut on his back, and the blood flowing out was strikingly black.
Knowing he couldn't wait any longer, Chen Chunan summoned the Five Elements Shield and prepared to use lightning magic to help.
Just as he was about to raise his hand, he felt a force locking onto him.
"You brat! You think you're qualified to interfere? I'll take your life!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a flame shot into the air and rushed towards him.
Chen Chunan frantically tried to control the Five Elements Shield and barely managed to block it.
Seeing Liu Chengzhi's sinister smile, a murderous intent surged within him: "What kind of trash dares to bare its teeth at me, Daoist Master! Take this!"
Click!
Chen Chunan attacked with resentment, and the power of this Jiamu Divine Thunder exceeded that of a full-force attack from the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Before Liu Chengzhi's sinister smile could turn into terror, it was completely swallowed up by the azure lightning, leaving not even a scream.
He never imagined that someone at the seventh level of Qi Refining could unleash a spell with power exceeding that of someone at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Chen Chunan sneered inwardly: Small fry!
The Blood Demon Master sensed a threatening aura and was instantly terrified. With a quick turn of his consciousness, he witnessed a scene that filled him with dread.
That ant, whom he had never taken seriously and who was only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, actually unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning, instantly turning his elder brother's grandson, Liu Chengzhi, into a human-shaped charred corpse.
Liu Qinghe, Liu Chengzhi's protector, turned ashen-faced: "You little thief, how dare you!"
Liu Chengzhi's sudden death threw him into a panic. Even if he went back now, he would not escape severe punishment, or even death.
He felt a moment of despair and hurriedly summoned his magical artifact, hoping to keep Chen Chunan and make amends.
Unfortunately, before he could even begin to move, Chen Chunan unleashed two more, even thicker bolts of lightning that struck his face.
The mirror-shaped defensive artifact that Liu Qinghe summoned shattered upon contact, failing to offer even a semblance of resistance before following in Liu Chengzhi's footsteps.
Seeing that both of them were dead, the Blood Demon no longer cared about getting entangled with the four old men. He directly shook off the four and turned to pounce on Chen Chunan.
"To possess such strength at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he will surely become a formidable enemy of the Liu family in the future. If he is not eliminated today, I will not be able to sleep or eat in peace!"
The three shadowy figures of the Blood Demon rushed forward in a crisscrossing pattern, making it difficult for Chen Chunan to pinpoint the true location of the Blood Demon.
Chen Chunan steeled his resolve and directly channeled his lightning magic into his palm.
It slammed fiercely towards the blood-red shadows to the left and right front.
The two bloody figures were blasted away, but the Blood Demon was nowhere to be seen, and alarm bells rang in Chen Chunan's mind.
Before he could react, he heard the Blood Demon's eerie roar beside him: "Boy, you're wrong! I'm behind you! Die!"
"Chu Nan, watch out!"
"Blood Demon, I'll fight you to the death!"
"The Seal of Genyue!"
Even though he heard the anxious voices of the clan elders, Chen Chunan still couldn't avoid them.
A bloody blade slashed fiercely at Chen Chunan's neck, and the Five Elements Shield shattered after only a moment of resistance.
It was in this brief moment of respite that Chen Chunan was able to condense a water shield to block the blood blade and use the force to roll away.
Several clan elders were also able to arrive and protect Chen Chunan behind them.
Looking at the five people before him, the Blood Demon laughed in fury: "Very well! Very well, so you're all from the Chen family! I truly underestimated you! Today, I will not spare you!"
After speaking, a blood mist rose from the Blood Demon's body, making his aura even more terrifying.
The elder's expression changed drastically: "This is bad! It's the Blood Burning Secret Technique! Everyone be careful!"
Chen Chunan also put in his best effort to deal with the situation; this time, he couldn't hold back!
The two Blood Demon clones had reached the early Foundation Establishment stage. The three figures multiplied from three to six, from six to nine, and from nine to twelve, forming an array that surrounded the group.
The rapidly spinning Blood Demon and its clones formed a human wall, with each direction showing a Blood Demon with a different expression.
At the same time, waves of demonic sounds poured into the five people's minds: "Hehehe~ It's your honor to die under my Blood Demon Soul Refining Array! Slowly wait for your death, hehehe~"
After the demonic sound subsided, streaks of blood-red runes quietly formed and slowly converged. When they were fully assembled, the formation would be complete.