Chapter 118: Central Domain Rogue Cultivator
“What arrogance!” The other three charged toward Song Yan the moment they saw the situation.
However.
At that very moment, a sudden change occurred!
A black-robed figure burst out from an unknown location.
A kick landed squarely on the chest of one of the sixth-level Qi Refining cultivators.
“Ugh…”
To everyone’s astonishment, the protective spiritual robe was shattered by this single kick?!
The mysterious black-robed figure moved without hesitation, immediately pressing forward and grabbing his head…
The horizontal blade left its sheath.
Pfft.
Sixth level of Qi Refining, beheaded in a single strike.
The head soared high into the air, fell to the ground, rolled several times, and struck a broken stone. In those eyes that had already gone still, there was shock, fear, and a trace of confusion.
“What?!”
The black-robed figure casually tossed the head aside, his fingertips forming a strange seal.
The bleeding corpse slowly began to wither, its essence blood condensing into a single blood bead that fell into the black-robed figure’s palm.
“Who are you?!”
The leader’s voice trembled, his heart filled with horror.
This person had not revealed a single trace of aura from beginning to end. He did not even know when the other party had appeared here.
“You’d better… worry about yourself.”
Song Yan’s calm voice came from behind.
Hummm–
The instant he regained his focus, incomparably condensed sword energy had already pierced through his protective spiritual robe.
The small gong magical tool shattered with a boom.
“How is this possible?!”
He knew this operation had already failed, but how could the opponent be so strong that he didn’t even have time to think about why?
Nine white sword lights, carrying wind and thunder, circled around him.
Under the violent sword energy, the protective spiritual robe struggled to take shape. The moment it formed, it was torn apart by the wind and thunder sword energy.
Tsk.
Tsk.
Tsk.
Six sword shadows gave him no chance to beg for mercy, piercing through his body one by one.
In his final gaze, the remaining three sword shadows had already converged in midair before suddenly descending.
Boom–
Sword energy surged like waves in all directions.
Simultaneously, the black-robed figure’s powerful hands had already seized the collar of the remaining sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
With a mighty yank, he pulled the man in front of him, executed a reverse blade technique, pressed the horizontal blade against his throat, and then withdrew it instantly.
“Pfft.”
Blood gushed forth.
The fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator, seeing the situation turn dire, fled toward the mountain behind them.
The black-robed figure casually wiped the horizontal blade, flipped his hand, and hurled it with great force.
The blood light on the blade pierced through the man instantly. The tremendous force carried the mangled flesh several feet forward, pinning the corpse against the cliff face.
The corpse swayed unsteadily.
“…”
From beginning to end, it had only been a matter of breaths.
The so-called Five Demons of Cold Mountain—none survived.
Song Yan walked over calmly.
Several white sword shadows descended from the air, returning one by one to the sword case behind him.
He pulled the blood-stained horizontal blade from the cliff face and casually tossed it to the man.
“Why are you here?”
The black-robed figure caught it smoothly.
He stepped through the pools of blood, walking over at an unhurried pace.
His tone was light: “I was going to ask you the same thing—why are you everywhere I go?”
It was Sheng Nian.
“Doctor Song, you’ve entered the immortal sect’s path, but your killing is no more merciful than mine as a demonic cultivator.”
He casually flicked the blade, and the blood gathered rapidly along its edge before splashing onto the ground.
Then he wiped it with his arm and sheathed the sword.
Song Yan chuckled coldly: “Aren’t these your colleagues?”
Sheng Nian seemed somewhat dismissive.
“Demonic cultivators—what colleagues are there?”
He wiped his face again, concealing his features once more. His voice was muffled: “This is no place for catching up.”
“Cold Mountain Market, at the Cloud Drinking Tower. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Watching Sheng Nian’s figure disappear into the forest, Song Yan raised an eyebrow and began cleaning the battlefield. Xiao He had already collected all of their Cosmos Bags, saving her the trouble of searching.
Sheng Nian had somehow made his fortune somewhere—he didn’t even glance at any of these Cosmos Bags. Truly wealthy and extravagant.
He severed each of their heads one by one, storing them in a dedicated Cosmos Bag.
These were items that could be exchanged for merit.
With a casual flick of his fingers, he shot out several spiritual flames, turning each demonic cultivator’s remains to ash.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he continued toward Little Cold Mountain.
After roughly half an hour, he arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Although it was called Cold Mountain Market, the market was actually hidden within the valley.
From outside, the cloud waterfall shrouding the mountain presented a unique scenery.
In reality, it was merely an illusion formation used to isolate mortals.
He walked slowly into the valley.
The scene before him opened up dramatically.
The secluded valley was surrounded on three sides by mountains. Directly opposite the entrance stood the highest peak of Little Cold Mountain.
The steepness on both sides gradually leveled off.
The red leaves on the mountains were like blood.
A rough glance revealed that this market spanned over a hundred acres.
Along the edges, many building complexes were built against the mountainside.
The market was not lacking in people. A rough assessment showed that the spiritual energy fluctuations were all around the Qi Refining Stage.
“Let me find Sheng Nian first.”
To be honest, Song Yan didn’t know where the so-called Cloud Drinking Tower was.
This was his first time visiting Cold Mountain Market.
He hadn’t asked Sheng Nian earlier, mainly because asking would have made him look foolish.
Fortunately, the Cloud Drinking Tower was not in a remote location. Following the main road through the market, he soon spotted its sign.
A small tavern.
Not large, but reasonably clean. Inside, there were quite a few cultivators.
He stepped inside, and a waiter quickly approached.
“Sir, you are…”
“Someone is waiting for me.”
The waiter paused, then seemed to remember something: “Ah, I understand. Please follow me.”
Following the waiter upstairs, he pushed open the door to a private room and saw Sheng Nian, still hiding his face.
“Doctor Song is truly bold…”
The waiter closed the door and left. The soundproofing formation slowly took effect.
Only then did Sheng Nian remove his concealment methods.
Song Yan sat down across from him: “Isn’t that what you said? I’m a righteous cultivator. There’s no need for me to wrap myself up like a zongzi like you.”
In reality, it was because he no longer had any means of disguise.
The only human skin mask he had was taken away by little Xiang Zhaoling.
Since then, he hadn’t found a suitable replacement.
Not wanting to waste words, he immediately asked: “What are you doing here?”
Sheng Nian took a deep breath: “I was sent here to wade into these murky waters.”
“Sent? By whose orders?”
“It’s a long story, so I’m too lazy to explain.”
Song Yan didn’t press further. Instead, he went straight to the point, switching to a question he was more eager to know.
“Why did those demonic cultivators come here? Do you know?”
Sheng Nian nodded: “Yes. It has something to do with a rogue cultivator who fled from the Central Domain.”
“Central Domain…”
A very distant place.
“Correct.”
“I heard this through rather secretive channels.”
“In fact, right now in Changping, I’m afraid most demonic cultivators don’t know the real reason.”
“They were simply lured here to serve as cannon fodder.”
Sheng Nian recounted everything he knew, one piece at a time.
“It’s said that not long ago, a major uprising occurred in the Central Domain’s Great Tang.”
“Although it was quickly suppressed, some unexpected events still occurred.”
“A demonic rogue cultivator managed to escape by a twist of fate.”
“His name is Jin Tianya.”