Chapter 142: Chapter 141: Not Human

Xue Hongling knew Wu Chen had never considered himself a member of the Demon Sect.

But she never imagined he didn’t even consider her human.

Of course, she knew Wu Chen was just talking, but she was still so angry her fingertips trembled.

But she quickly suppressed this inconvenient anger.

SHING!

She drew her blade, took a few steps forward, and watched the hostile crowd warily.

As she made her move, the disciples who had heard Wu Chen’s earlier remarks—and were left chilled and speechless by them—all took a silent, unanimous step back. The only ones who held their ground were the three Mid Stage Jade Bone Realm cultivators at the front.

Then they stared intently at the figure behind Xue Hongling.

Some among them had been robbed by him two or three times and naturally knew that Wu Chen was the most dangerous one.

"Useless trash! It’s just two people, what are you so scared of!"

"No matter how strong he is, he’s only at Jade Bone Realm Perfection. He’ll die if he gets cut, too. What’s there to be afraid of!"

The leader heard the movement behind him, glared askance at the group, and yelled to bolster their courage.

The twenty or so people behind him heard this and figured it made sense.

They had been so thoroughly beaten by him these past few days that they’d forgotten the rules of the secret realm.

Even if you were at the Organ Refining Realm, you’d still have to keep your head down in here!

Besides, in terms of numbers, their side held an absolute advantage!

Moreover, the story of the Elder who was killed in the secret realm by his own Direct Disciples wasn’t just famous in the martial world.

Within the Blood Slaughter Sect, it was a tale told with relish, and those disciples were seen as role models.

"If those disciples in the sect could kill an Elder, we’re no worse than them!"

"If they can do it, so can we!"

"..."

The disciples all started shouting and hollering, pushing the already tense atmosphere to its peak.

The leading disciple’s fighting spirit was now surging. He looked at Wu Chen and roared:

"So you want a piece of me, kid? Fine, I’ll oblige!"

Before his voice had even faded, he raised his blade and charged at Wu Chen.

THWUMP!

He went out fast, but he came back even faster.

No one even saw it clearly. All they saw was his body flying back through the air, curled into a ball as he sprayed a bloody mist, leaving a faint red trail behind him.

He finally slammed into a tree, his body slowly sliding down its trunk.

The crowd was instantly silenced, their shouts caught in their throats.

They stared at their senior brother, who was slumped at the base of the tree, bleeding from all seven orifices, his limbs twitching occasionally.

He clearly wasn’t going to make it.

Their gazes shifted to the figure slowly lowering his foot. He raised his leg again slightly, casually flicking the dust from his boot, and a chill crept up their spines.

’A single kick sends a Meridian Passage Realm cultivator flying.’

’A single kick kills a Jade Bone Realm cultivator!’

’How are we supposed to fight this?!’

The Blood Slaughter Sect disciples looked aghast. They dropped their weapons on the spot, their legs gave way, and with a series of THUDS, they knelt on the ground.

They knew that kneeling might be their only chance to survive!

"This is bad."

"Retreat!"

The remaining two Jade Bone Realm cultivators, who had been called in for backup, saw this and cursed their luck. They knew they had run into a tough opponent.

’This person’s strength is far beyond our own!’

’Perhaps only those senior brothers at Jade Bone Realm Perfection, or maybe a Steward, could deal with him in this secret realm.’

The thought of retreating filled their minds. They couldn’t bring themselves to kneel, nor did they dare to bet that kneeling would spare their lives, so they immediately turned to flee.

SWOOSH!

But before they could even take a single step, a figure drifted over and appeared before them.

The two men’s vision blurred. The figure that had been dozens of feet away just a moment ago was now less than a foot from them, appearing like a phantom, his hand reaching for them.

The two tried to dodge, but it was impossible. They could only let the hands fall upon them.

BANG!

CRACK!

As Wu Chen’s palms landed, two distinctly different sounds rang out.

One disciple’s neck snapped, and his head lolled to the side as he fell.

The other’s shoulder blade was grabbed and instantly crushed to dust.

The pain of the shattering bone seared straight to his marrow. The disciple’s face twisted into an inhuman mask.

"AGH—UUH!"

The intense pain made him let out a wretched howl, but the sound was cut off abruptly.

Wu Chen grabbed the throat of the Mid Stage Jade Bone Realm disciple whose right arm was now crippled, and tossed him in front of Xue Hongling like a piece of trash.

"You have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to kill him. Bring me back his head!"

Then, he hooked a blade with his foot and kicked it in front of the disciple, who was staggering to his feet.

"As for you, whether you can escape or not depends on your own ability."

"You’re... you’re letting me go?"

A flash of disbelief crossed the eyes of the Blood Slaughter Sect disciple, whose face was a mess of tears and snot from the pain. He froze for a few breaths before finally understanding Wu Chen’s words.

He didn’t dare delay any longer. Ignoring the pain radiating from his arm, he snatched up the blade on the ground and dashed toward the edge of the woods.

’My sword hand is crippled, but there’s nothing wrong with my legs. How could a cultivator with the physique of a Mid Stage Jade Bone Realm possibly fail to outrun Xue Hongling, who’s only at the Mid Stage of the Meridian Passage Realm?’

’In fact, relying on my superior realm, I feel I have a good chance of turning the tables and killing Xue Hongling if she catches up.’

SWOOSH!

Seeing the figure dash dozens of feet away, Xue Hongling finally gave chase, her own speed not slow at all.

Watching Xue Hongling’s back as she chased—after that slight, initial hesitation—Wu Chen shook his head, a little exasperated.

’Why bother with martial ethics? She should have just stabbed him while he was bending over. That would have finished it.’

’No... I should follow them and see.’

After all, the man was a full major realm higher than Xue Hongling. Even with his sword hand crippled, Wu Chen was still a little worried about leaving him to Xue Hongling just to train her Body Technique.

He collected the heads of the two Jade Bone Realm cultivators into his storage bag, quickly looted their corpses, and prepared to follow Xue Hongling to check on the situation.

But then he saw the group of Blood Slaughter Sect disciples still kneeling on the ground, trembling in fear. He couldn’t help but scold them:

"What are you still gawking at? Go gather herbs!"

"Yes, yes!" The group nodded hastily, grateful to have escaped with their lives again. Not daring to linger, they fled deeper into the forest.

"..."

Wu Chen quickly followed in the direction Xue Hongling had gone. In just six or seven breaths, he caught up to the two figures.

He watched from a distance as Xue Hongling fought her opponent.

Although this disciple’s realm was higher, one of his arms was crippled, so his combat power was less than half of what it usually was.

But since it was a matter of life and death, he was still exceptionally vicious, even when wielding the blade with his left hand.

Fortunately, though the fight was a bit difficult, Xue Hongling ultimately took his head without any real danger to herself.

"Not bad."

Wu Chen nodded and commented before collecting the head.

He glanced into his storage bag. There were now twenty-four heads of various sizes, most of them from Mid and Late Stage Jade Bone Realm cultivators.

That added up to nearly two thousand Contribution Points.

"The hundred or so people in this forest have pretty much picked all the herbs clean. It’s time for us to move on to the next place."

Wu Chen patted the storage bag full of heads with satisfaction, then pulled out the secret realm map from another bag and unfolded it.

He looked for their next destination.

"Hmm, the closest place is ’Wushan Cold Pool.’ Let me take a closer look."

Wu Chen stared at the area on the map depicting a mountain peak and a pool of water, as well as the few lines of small text next to it.

’Gray-Scaled Fish, five Contribution Points each’

’Black-Scaled Fish, eight Contribution Points each’

’Cyan-Scaled Fish, sixteen Contribution Points each’

’Yellow-Scaled Fish, twenty-five Contribution Points each’

His eyes lingered on the last entry, the Yellow-Scaled Fish. He then looked at Xue Hongling and clicked his tongue in amazement.

"A single Yellow-Scaled Fish is worth almost as much as the head of a Meridian Passage Realm demonic cultivator?"

"That’s nearly three hundred taels of silver! Those aren’t fish swimming in the cold pool, they’re gold bars!"

"The Yellow-Scaled Fish in that cold pool are no ordinary creatures."

Xue Hongling explained, touching her fair neck.

"A five-inch Yellow-Scaled Fish, in the hands of a ranked Alchemy Master, can be refined into five top-grade Body Nourishing Pills. They are of great help to Martial Artists who haven’t broken through the first four gates."

"An adult Yellow-Scaled Fish, seven inches or longer, is full of vital essence. A single one can be refined into a Qi Nourishing Pill, which is highly beneficial to the five viscera of an Organ Refining Realm Martial Artist, the fifth gate of Martial Arts."

Only the pills refined by a ranked Alchemy Master can be considered true acts of Alchemy. Those below that rank can only concoct what are known as medicinal pellets or decoctions, a far cry from the real thing.

A single word’s difference, yet a world apart.

It didn’t affect Wu Chen, though. He didn’t need pills.

’Highly beneficial to the Organ Refining Realm, you say!’

Wu Chen’s interest was piqued.

He knew these Yellow-Scaled Fish were different from the high-grade Blood Stones in the Blood Stone Ore Vein.

Blood Stones would inevitably become scarcer with mining, until they were all gone.

But the Yellow-Scaled Fish could reproduce.

Even if they couldn’t grow to their adult size in four years, there were sure to be plenty of smaller ones.

Besides, the map marked nearly twenty cold pools.

’That’s got to be a huge number of Contribution Points!’

"Wushan Cold Pool, let’s go!"

At Wu Chen’s command, the two of them set off for the Wushan Cold Pool.

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