85: Chapter 85 Bamboo Forest Slaughter

Yingshui City is a cultivation city under the jurisdiction of the Luoshui Sect. It is a place where all sorts of people mingle, and outside the city, Loose Cultivators are gathered in droves.

Although it is not as strictly regulated as within the Luoshui Sect on a daily basis, it still emphasizes that "The city rules are paramount." Not to mention drawing weapons, even if a cultivator with higher cultivation bullies one with lower cultivation, if they are caught by patrolling Disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall, they will be fined dozens of Spirit Stones, and in serious cases, they will be directly expelled from the city.

Li Qing knew very well that from the moment he stepped out of the Law Enforcement Hall, those sticky gazes behind him had never ceased.

A few Loose Cultivators had followed him the entire way, and even across several alleys, he could smell the stench of greed on them.

However, Li Qing didn't take them to heart at all—these people were at most motivated by greed, but they didn't have the guts to make a move inside the city. If they really dared to make a move, once the copper whistle sounded, the patrol team would surround them in minutes.

He deliberately took a long detour, choosing to walk through these remote and deserted alleys, just to shake off those cowardly Loose Cultivators completely.

But no matter how much he calculated, he missed the people he should have been most wary of—those Disciples from the cultivation Family.

While the Loose Cultivators indeed dared not make a move within the city, Gao Ping and Sun Xiang were different.

Gao Ping was from the Gao Family, and Sun Xiang was from the Sun Family. Both of these were prominent cultivation Families in Yingshui City, each with an Old Ancestor at the Foundation Establishment Stage holding down the fort. For people like them from cultivation Families, the city rules were nothing more than a small fine.

In the eyes of Gao Ping and Sun Xiang, Li Qing was just a Loose Cultivator at Qi Refining Level 8, holding ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, simply a piece of fat meat delivered to their mouths.

Furthermore, the two were certain that Li Qing was collecting the bounty for someone else; after all, Li Qing's cultivation was plain to see.

Both of them were at Qi Refining Level 9, considered experts among Loose Cultivators, and were somewhat prominent figures in the city. Dealing with a single Li Qing was simply easy pickings.

More importantly, they planned to find a remote corner to make their move, eliminate him with thunderous speed, snatch the Spirit Stones and the Storage Pouch, and then slip away before the Luoshui Sect's law enforcement Disciples could arrive, as long as they weren't caught on the spot.

Even if it was eventually discovered, with their Family backing them, at worst they would just pay a few Spirit Stones, and in the end, they could turn a big matter into a small one.

The two followed behind Li Qing the whole way, and upon seeing Li Qing duck into a bamboo forest, they revealed sinister smiles on their faces.

This bamboo forest was the perfect place for them to make their move.

Li Qing was walking in the bamboo forest when he suddenly stopped his footsteps.

He did not turn back, but merely tilted his head to listen to the approaching footsteps behind him.

Since stepping into this bamboo forest, two auras had been accelerating toward him.

"Kid, why have you stopped walking?"

A hoarse voice came from behind, and immediately after, two figures suddenly surrounded Li Qing, blocking his path, one in front and one behind.

It was none other than Gao Ping and Sun Xiang.

Gao Ping was dressed in a gray-black Family training outfit with a small "Gao" character embroidered on his chest. He was burly and held a short blade emitting a pale cyan spiritual light, staring at Li Qing with fierce, malevolent eyes.

Sun Xiang was wearing a cyan training outfit with a "Sun" character embroidered on his chest. He held two poison-tipped silver needles in his hand, a sinister smile on his face, his gaze fixed on Li Qing like a venomous snake watching its prey.

"Hand over the Storage Pouch, and I can leave you with a whole corpse."

Gao Ping took a step forward, his short blade carving a cold light into the air, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze slightly.

Sun Xiang also chimed in, his tone full of contempt:

"Be sensible and don't force us to make a move. You, a Loose Cultivator with no background or backing, holding ten thousand Spirit Stones, are just a hot potato. You can hand this trouble over to us."

Both of them felt victory was within their grasp.

After all, Qi Refining Level 9 fighting Qi Refining Level 8—the gap was right there.

Li Qing slowly turned around, his face devoid of any fear. Instead, he swept his cold gaze over the two, his voice without a ripple: "Just based on you two?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Gao Ping and Sun Xiang's expressions instantly sank.

"Looking for death!"

Gao Ping roared in anger and was the first to make a move.

His figure flickered as he lunged with the short blade toward Li Qing's chest. The blade wind was sharp, accompanied by the whistling sound of breaking wind; he had clearly practiced his Family's close-combat Cultivation Technique, with every strike being lethal.

Sun Xiang was not idle either. Taking advantage of the moment Gao Ping distracted Li Qing, he flicked his wrist, and two silver needles, carrying a faint sound of breaking air, shot precisely toward Li Qing's eyes—this was meant to destroy Li Qing's eyes, a truly sinister and vicious method.

The surrounding air instantly tightened.

But at this critical moment, Li Qing moved.

Since they had come to kill him, Li Qing would not sit and wait for death.

Besides, with Luo Bing's token, even if he were caught by the Luoshui Sect's law enforcement Disciples, Li Qing didn't think they would do anything to him.

The Earth Spirit Shield surrounded him, and the Flying Sword Liuyun flew toward Gao Ping's neck.

Gao Ping dodged the Flying Sword and slashed his blade against Li Qing's Earth Spirit Shield.

The expected scenario of the Earth Spirit Shield shattering did not occur. Gao Ping was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting that his Qi Refining Level 9 cultivation could not break the spiritual shield of someone at Qi Refining Level 8.

Li Qing did not hesitate; the Flying Sword struck again. At the very moment Gao Ping was stunned, it kissed the back of Gao Ping's neck.

"Puchi—"

With a crisp sound, accompanied by the sound of blood gushing out, Gao Ping's head was instantly severed from his neck, his eyes still wide open, full of disbelief.

The headless body stiffened for two seconds before collapsing to the ground with a thud, and blood instantly stained half the alley red.

Everything happened too fast, so fast that Sun Xiang hadn't even reacted.

The silver needles in his hand were still suspended in mid-air, and looking at the scene of Gao Ping being instantly killed, his mind went blank.

He had originally thought that his side was holding the winning hand, but in the blink of an eye, his companion had become a corpse. This huge contrast left him instantly dazed.

"Gao... Gao Ping?"

Sun Xiang's voice trembled, his legs shaking uncontrollably. The silver needles in his hand dropped to the ground with a "clatter," a crisp sound that was exceptionally jarring in the silent bamboo forest.

Li Qing didn't pause in the slightest. After dealing with Gao Ping, the Flying Sword didn't stop at all, charging directly toward Sun Xiang.

The Flying Sword was still stained with Gao Ping's blood, its spiritual light still sharp, like the sickle of death.

Only then did Sun Xiang snap out of it, terrified out of his wits, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Where would he dare to make a move? He turned around and wanted to run.

But he was only at Qi Refining Level 9, and Li Qing was at Qi Refining Level 8, yet the speed of the Flying Sword was more than a notch faster than him.

"Don't... don't kill me!"

Sun Xiang ran while begging for mercy with a crying voice, his tone full of fear.

"I was wrong, I shouldn't have coveted your Spirit Stones. I'll leave right now, I won't follow you ever again, please spare my life!"

He spoke while turning back to kowtow; the sinister look on his face had long since been scared away, leaving only terror on his face.

He never expected that this seemingly unremarkable Loose Cultivator would be so ferocious, killing Gao Ping, who was at the same cultivation level, in a single move. This was simply not someone he could deal with.

But Li Qing had no intention of letting him go.

From the moment Gao Ping and Sun Xiang followed him, their fate had already been sealed.

In this cultivation world where the weak are prey to the strong, being soft-hearted toward an enemy is being cruel to oneself.

Moreover, these two had a Family backing them. If he let him go today, he would definitely seek revenge in the future, and there would only be more trouble then.

Sun Xiang was so scared that his whole body went stiff, and he didn't even dare to move. Tears and snot smeared his face as he knelt on the ground, kowtowing incessantly:

"I... I am from the Sun Family. If you kill me, my Family won't let you off! I will compensate you with Spirit Stones, I will give you all my Spirit Stones, please spare me!"

"It's too late."

Li Qing's voice was cold and bone-chilling, without a hint of hesitation. With a flick of his finger, the Flying Sword instantly slashed through Sun Xiang's throat.

"Hee... hee..." A gurgling sound came from Sun Xiang's throat, and blood gushed from the wound. His eyes were wide open, full of unwillingness and fear. His body twitched a few times before he collapsed straight down, completely devoid of breath.

Having dealt with the two, Li Qing lowered his head to look at the two corpses on the ground, as well as the short blade and silver needles scattered nearby, his eyes showing no fluctuation whatsoever.

He cleaned up the battlefield, thought for a moment, and took away Sun Xiang's corpse.