31: Chapter 31 Pursuit

Once the remaining shockwave of the explosion fully dissipated, almost all the Cultivators who had surrounded and attacked Zhang Huahu's group lay on the ground, their fates unknown. Some unfortunate souls were blown back tens of zhang by the shockwave, clearly beyond saving.

Now, apart from the Cultivators of the Zhao Family and the Zhou Family, most of the other Loose Cultivators were dead. Only a dozen or so had not been blinded by greed like the others; they had used escape talismans in time to flee far from the spot, thereby surviving the Talisman Treasure.

Chen Changqing was not lucky either. Upon noticing Zhang Huahu taking out the Talisman Treasure, he had been looking for a chance to leave. However, the Talisman Treasure's blast radius was too vast. Even though he had fled tens of zhang away in time, he inevitably sustained injuries.

The survivors saw Chen Changqing, but didn't pay much attention to him, assuming he was also there to besiege the Zhang Family.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, we can make our move now as well," Zhao Huaian said, looking deeply at Zhou Minghong beside him to remind him.

"Mm. No matter how deep the Zhang Family's foundation is, after being drained so many times, there surely isn't much left," Zhou Minghong nodded in agreement.

At their signal, the Cultivators of both the Zhao and Zhou families struck together. Seeing this, the remaining Loose Cultivators put their minds at ease and joined forces to attack as well.

On the other hand, among Zhang Huahu's trio, not only had they lost a Late Qi Refining Stage Cultivator, but the Talisman Treasure in his hand had also dimmed completely, drained of all Spiritual Qi.

"You forced my hand!" Zhang Huahu shouted fiercely.

This harsh shout instantly intimidated everyone. Apart from the Zhao Family, the rest hesitated and dared not step forward. The lethality of the previous attack was still fresh in their minds, and who knew what other trump cards the Zhang Family might have? Even the Zhou Family was the same; as a newly promoted Foundation Establishment Family, how could they know the true extent of an established Foundation Establishment Family's reserves?

"Don't worry, this old beast is just intimidating us. No matter how vast the Zhang Family's reserves were, they've long been exhausted. Now is the best time to kill them," Zhao Huaian said, undeterred. He was the first to drive his Magical Artifact to attack Zhang Huahu, and the other Zhao Family Cultivators attacked in unison alongside him.

Zhang Huahu's expression darkened. He had indeed been bluffing, but he had been exposed by the Zhao Family. Damn it, Heaven wants to destroy my Zhang Family!

The Zhou Family and the Loose Cultivators followed the Zhao Family's lead. Since the Zhao Family had no misgivings, it meant the Zhang Family really had just been trying to intimidate them.

The thought of almost stepping back earlier filled Zhou Minghong with shame, so he vented all his rage onto the Zhang Family.

Another chaotic melee ensued. Chen Changqing did not join them, instead setting his sights on the Storage Pouches of the fallen Loose Cultivators. While the others were engaged in battle, he swiftly looted the pile of Storage Pouches on the ground.

The Zhao Family and Zhou Family only glanced at him, thinking nothing of it.

However, Chen Changqing's actions inspired the remaining Loose Cultivators.

They had originally come to earn Spirit Stones anyway. Since besieging the Zhang Family was so dangerous, why not just pick up the Storage Pouches of the dead Loose Cultivators on the ground? Even if each individual one wasn't worth many Spirit Stones, many a little makes a mickle.

As more and more Loose Cultivators followed suit to gather Storage Pouches, the Zhao and Zhou families began to grow somewhat irritated. However, it was hard for them to say anything. These Loose Cultivators had only gathered because of the bounty in the first place; now that there was a lower-risk option with decent returns, they naturally wouldn't care about the Zhao and Zhou families' affairs anymore.

Besides, if the Cultivators of the two families couldn't handle those three later on, they could still step in and reap the benefits. After all, the bounty only required the targets' deaths, not that they personally drive them to a dead end.

Yet because Chen Changqing was the one who started this, the Zhao and Zhou families directed much of their resentment toward him.

Swish!

As Chen Changqing bent down to pick up a Storage Pouch, a whip-shaped Magical Artifact whipped fiercely toward him.

Chen Changqing had long been on guard, pinching an earth escape talisman to flee ten zhang away.

When he emerged from the earth, the ground where he had just stood was cracked open by the iron whip. He looked up and saw a burly man grinning savagely at him. Bursts of Late Qi Refining Stage aura erupted from the man as he drove the iron whip toward Chen Changqing once again.

"Does he think I'm an easy target to pick on?" Chen Changqing thought to himself. However, he couldn't blame the guy for taking him for a soft persimmon; his disguised aura was currently only at the Qi Refinement 4th Layer level, and with over a dozen Storage Pouches hanging off him, it was hard not to attract attention.

Seeing this, the others also joined the chaos of scrambling for Storage Pouches. Out of the original tens of Storage Pouches, Chen Changqing had taken nearly ten, while the five Late Qi Refining Stage Cultivators had taken one or two each. The remaining Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators either got none or only grabbed one or two, so they naturally all targeted Chen Changqing.

After all, a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator carrying over a dozen Storage Pouches—how was that any different from a young child carrying gold through a busy market?

"Hand over those Storage Pouches obediently and I might still spare your life! Otherwise, suffer the consequences!" the rough man said viciously. The reason he hadn't struck again immediately was that the other Late Qi Refining Stage Cultivators were also surrounding them.

The other Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators did not get involved. Rather than charging in now, it was better to wait until those Late Qi Refining Stage Cultivators had fed their fill before going in to pick up the leftovers.

"If you have the ability, come and take them," Chen Changqing said calmly. He wasn't worried about what these Loose Cultivators could do; after all, the highest among them was only at the Qi Condensation 7th Layer Perfection, making their strength vastly inferior to his. However, he didn't plan to fight here because both the Zhao and Zhou families were present. If he fought here, anyone could guess he was from the Chen Family.

With that thought in mind, he immediately turned and ran, summoning a shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact from his Storage Pouch to make a swift escape.

"Halt!" shouted the Cultivators behind him in outrage. One by one, they summoned their own Magical Artifacts to give chase to Chen Changqing. They couldn't possibly let such a fat sheep slip away, as they might not encounter such good luck next time.

Chen Changqing ignored the curses of the Cultivators behind him and simply fled all the way.

Seeing that group of Cultivators closely pursuing him, the corners of Chen Changqing's mouth curled up. Since they wanted to kill him, he certainly wouldn't let them leave alive.

Therefore, while heading toward the cave where the Black Bear Demon had originally been, he kept glancing backward. Whenever they drew close to catching up, he immediately accelerated his speed; whenever he was about to lose them, he feigned exhaustion of his Spiritual Qi. In this way, he baited them for a full two hours.

"How does this Daoist have so much Spiritual Qi? He's clearly just at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, yet his speed hasn't completely dropped off even now. Could it be the Magical Artifact under his feet?" a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar mused in confusion.

By the time they chased him this far, quite a few Cultivators had given up. Originally, all the surviving Loose Cultivators had pursued Chen Changqing in hopes of obtaining his Storage Pouches, but after realizing they couldn't catch up, many quietly departed. Those still in pursuit were mostly Cultivators who hadn't gotten enough Storage Pouches.