These people had pursued him all the way to the place where he had hidden for the past few years. If not for the formation he had set up here in advance, he really would have been killed by these five this time.
The opposing party consisted of three Golden Core cultivators and two Foundation Establishment disciples. The five of them had chased him relentlessly, and even the two minor Foundation Establishment disciples had been clamoring fiercely, which had given the book-boy a splitting headache from anger.
However, the enemy was numerous and powerful, so he could only flee like a stray dog. Had it not been for his abundant supply of medicinal pills, allowing him to heal his wounds while escaping, he truly would not have made it this far.
Upon reaching this valley, he had eagerly activated the grand formation. The five of them had never dreamed that a grand formation would suddenly appear in such a remote place.
Caught off guard, the five were instantly trapped within the grand formation. Subsequently, the book-boy used the formation's cover to begin picking them off one by one.
The two Foundation Establishment cultivators, in particular, were tortured to death by him. The boundless regret and terror in their eyes as they died finally vented some of the disgust in the book-boy's heart.
As the book-boy pursued and spoke, a piece of tattered, oily cloth suddenly appeared under his feet.
At the same time, the black-bearded middle-aged man in front suddenly sensed that the book-boy behind him had vanished. He was instantly alarmed.
Just a moment ago, he had abandoned his last companion. Using the full-power blow unleashed by that "dearest friend," he had managed to create a flaw in the valley's formation.
It was through this opportunity that the black-bearded man had escaped. But now, the book-boy had strangely disappeared.
The black-bearded middle-aged man felt a sense of foreboding and immediately spread his Divine Sense.
Almost at the same instant the black-bearded man's Divine Sense swept out, a figure suddenly appeared a hundred feet in front of him, treading on a piece of tattered, oily cloth.
He was seen raising his hand and flicking it. A silver light flared—it was a Moonlight Silver Plate, which flashed and arrived before the black-bearded man in an instant.
"Bu... Bu Luo, you..."
The black-bearded middle-aged man held his swords with both hands and swiftly slashed at the incoming silver light, roaring furiously.
But then, a scene he had never anticipated occurred. At the same moment the book-boy sent the Moonlight Silver Plate flying, his shoulders also shook.
From the bamboo basket on his back, a bamboo branch shot out. The branch glowed with a faint cyan light and was perfectly straight. At its tip grew four verdant bamboo leaves.
Following Bu Luo's movement, the four verdant bamboo leaves also swayed, and an invisible ripple quietly spread out.
The black-bearded man's heart clenched. He sensed that something was wrong.
He let out a loud, shrill cry as the magical power in his body surged forth. His twin swords radiated a dazzling cyan light, illuminating a vast, hazy green expanse of falling snow.
However, in the next moment, his body shuddered violently. An invisible force obstructed him, preventing him from swinging his swords any further.
"Pfft!"
With a dull thud, while a furious roar was still forming in the black-bearded man's mouth, his large head was already flying high into the air. A column of crimson blood shot skyward from his neck.
Simultaneously, the oily cloth under the book-boy's feet carved a bizarre angle through the air. As the Moonlight Silver Plate flew past, he arrived beneath the black-bearded man's headless corpse.
After the book-boy withdrew the invisible force, the headless body, still clutching its swords, slashed about wildly, setting off a series of explosions in the air.
The book-boy flashed and was already close. The bamboo branch from the basket on his back suddenly extended. With a chi sound, the branch pierced through the headless body's Dantian.
When it was pulled back out, an dark-gold Golden Core was impaled on its tip.
With his Dantian shattered, the headless corpse could no longer support itself and tumbled towards the ground below.
"Hmph! So you really knew this young master's name. And you still had the gall to say it was a misunderstanding. You bastards set this ambush specifically for me, ptooey!"
Bu Luo's face was still thick with ferocity. He spat heavily at the still-falling corpse.
This time, he had nearly been done for, a thought that filled his heart with a mix of shock and rage.
Afterward, Bu Luo quickly flew a circle around the valley. Several more storage pouches now hung from his waist, and the five corpses on the snowy ground had already been turned into flying ash by balls of flame, rising into the air.
'Can't stay here for long.'
Bu Luo felt that he was being targeted, and this place might have already been exposed. He shook his shoulders once more, and the bamboo basket on his back generated a suction force again.
Several tornado-like columns of wind instantly formed in the air and then rapidly swept through several corners of the valley. A number of formation flags and a formation plate were rolled up and flew into the bamboo basket.
In the next moment, Bu Luo's figure vanished from the valley without a trace, leaving behind only the vast, falling snow and a chaotic mess on the ground!
Not long after, everything here was re-buried under a thick layer of snow. Only the cold wind howled past...
Four days later, tens of thousands of li away from the valley, Bu Luo sat on a bed in an inn, carrying his bamboo basket and chewing on a blade of wild grass.
After setting up a formation and restrictions, he gazed with great interest at the large pile of items on the floor in front of the bed, humming a little tune.
'The few guys I ran into this time weren't exactly poor. They've let this young master make a small fortune.'
He thought to himself while sorting the medicinal pills, spirit stones, and magical treasures into different categories, a glint of delight in his eyes.
Before long, all the valuable items had been put away by him.
Looking at the remaining items on the ground, like jade slips, Bu Luo began a new round of inspection. He wanted to see if there were any good things like advanced cultivation methods or pill formulas among these jade slips.
But as he tossed the jade slips to the ground one by one, Bu Luo's previously happy face turned sullen.
"Dammit, cultivating such crappy methods, you deserved to go to the Western Paradise ahead of schedule!"
He did find a few cultivation methods in the jade slips, but for the current Bu Luo, they were all beneath his notice.
And the only two pill formulas were ones he already knew, which naturally infuriated him.
He had, however, overlooked one point. The cultivation methods were one thing, but as for the pill formulas, where did he come from? Those formulas, treasured by ordinary cultivators, were things he once could have looked at whenever he pleased.
Bu Luo's face was full of displeasure, and he cursed incessantly, chattering on as usual.
It was not until he picked up another jade slip, his patience wearing thin, and probed it with his Divine Sense that a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
'Li Yan is still alive? And he's holding a Nascent Soul ceremony in nine years? This... this can't be talking about that Li Yan, can it?'
In this jade slip, Bu Luo discovered a message issued by the Malevolent Spirit Sect. It was an announcement to all sects about a Nascent Soul ceremony.
It was inscribed that the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator Li Yan and Li Yuyin had both successfully formed their Nascent Souls on the same day and would hold their Nascent Soul ceremony in nine years.
Bu Luo was stunned. He read the message over and over again before finally putting the jade slip down.
'Little Bamboo Peak, it must be him! Although the Malevolent Spirit Sect is immense and has disciples as numerous as ox hairs, it's possible for two people with the same name to appear on the same peak.'
'But this is Little Bamboo Peak, where disciples have always been few. It has to be him!'
'Nascent Soul, how damn tiring. You survived, fine, you survived, but why did you have to go and get ahead of this young master again.'
'This young master painstakingly formed his Core with an unlimited supply of pills, and after all these years of constant training, I've only just reached the mid-stage Golden Core, and you've already run off again. Is there any justice in this world?'
'It's so exhausting. The young master told me not to lose to the disciples of the Four Great Sects. After years of desperate effort, I was finally catching up to the likes of Wang Lang and Qiu Jiuzhen, and now a "dead" Li Yan suddenly pops up again.'
'How could you have possibly formed a Nascent Soul? How could you! Dammit, can't you let a person rest? Can't you let a person live? Can't you let a person keep their confidence...'
Bu Luo suddenly stood up from the bed and began to speak through gritted teeth, his expression particularly agitated.
He remained this way for several dozen breaths before his emotions slowly returned to normal, his expression turning as bitter as a gourd.
'Alright, there are still nine years. This young master will see if I can break through to the late-stage Golden Core. When I go to the Malevolent Spirit Sect, at least I won't lose too much face. It'll count as shortening the distance a bit.'
'Li Yan... Li Yan, the young master was right, this kid can't be judged by common sense. Back in the Foundation Establishment stage, he already had me beat. The Golden Core stage has just been peaceful for a little while, and now here you are again...'
In the room, Bu Luo continued to chatter away, a look of utter dejection on his face!
...
Still within the jurisdiction of the Jingtu Sect, in a certain market, the streets were bustling with cultivators coming and going. It was a lively scene.
And in a rather remote materials shop in the city, a spirited, green-robed elder was speaking to a woman whose face was veiled in black gauze.
"Miss Mei, you must have gone into the Dream Marsh Gorge again this time, haven't you? The harvest must be quite good, it will surely bring a lot of color to this old man's business. May I see what demonic beasts you've hunted, and what fine spirit grasses you have?"
This shop was located in a remote part of the market. There was only the green-robed elder and a young assistant in the shop, which had a single-room storefront.
The number of cultivators who frequented this place was not particularly large, and business could only be described as decent.
Even so, the black-veiled woman had chosen to enter the shop only as night was about to fall. She did not want to interact with others.
Because the woman was veiled in black, her specific features were hidden, but her waterfall of jet-black hair and her exposed eyes, which were bright and captivating, were visible.
The small amount of exposed skin was whiter than snow, and her figure was as voluptuous as a ripe, white-and-red peach. Her chest was full and round, standing proudly.
With full hips and a slender waist, her well-rounded figure stretched her clothes taut, revealing every curve.
Upon hearing the elder's words, the black-veiled woman did not say much. She extended a snow-white hand, and with a gentle wave, a storage pouch appeared on the counter.
Her hands were not of the slender type that some women have. At the knuckles of her fair, lustrous, white hand, there were even a few shallow dimples, but this only made her entire being seem as if it were made of water.
"I'll have to trouble Elder Ge!"
The veiled woman's voice was as gentle as water, like someone whispering soft nothings in one's ear—utterly enchanting and enough to make one's spirit drift.
The green-robed elder had a respectable cultivation level and had been doing business with the veiled woman for many years. He was no longer as flustered as he had been during their first meeting.
His gaze instantly fell upon the storage pouch, the smile on his face growing wider as he immediately probed it with his Divine Sense.