5: Chapter 5 Battle of Wits

Over the past few days, the Chen family had been sending people to keep an eye on Zhao Gang and his companion. Unsure if they had noticed something, the pair had surprisingly not left Qinghe Market at all during this time.

On the contrary, they stayed inside the market's inn every day, never stepping out.

The Chen family had sent someone to the inn to investigate, but according to the scout's findings, heavy panting sounds could be heard from the room every now and then. It was truly mysterious what two adult men could be doing in there.

"Is there anything unusual with those two families?" A beautiful woman in a green ruqun dress frowned slightly.

"No, Sixth Sister. The people we sent out to investigate acted very covertly and left no loose ends behind," Chen Yuanqing assured.

"That's good. Continue to have those Loose Cultivators keep watch, and report immediately as soon as Zhao Gang and his companion make a move," Chen Yuanjin instructed, then turned to stare blankly into a mirror.

"Yes, Sixth Sister," Chen Yuanqing responded, then left the room.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yuanjin seemed to sense something and retrieved a glowing communication Talisman from her Storage Pouch.

After she formed a hand seal with her left hand, Chen Yuanwu's voice came out from the communication Talisman.

"Sixth Sister, those two have come out, and they are now heading outside the market."

"I understand. I'm setting off now." With that, she followed the information provided by Chen Yuanqing and arrived at his side.

"Yuanqing, where are they?" Chen Yuanjin frowned slightly.

"They've already left the town. Seventh Uncle took Yuanzhi and Changtian to track them. Let's hurry over," Chen Yuanqing said urgently.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuanjin instantly summoned a qingyang sword and flew off on it, with Chen Yuanqing following closely behind.

In the blink of an eye, two green streaks of light flew hundreds of feet away.

...

"Brother Gang, it seems like someone is tailing us," Wang Hu warned Zhao Gang beside him.

"Huzi, I felt it too," Zhao Gang said coldly, a terrifying Killing Intent appearing on his scar-covered face.

The two looked at each other, both seeing the viciousness in the other's eyes.

At the same time.

A few miles behind, three figures shuttled through the woods.

"Seventh Uncle, the targets have sped up. They seem to have noticed us," Chen Yuanzhi warned.

"Mm. Changtian, when the fight starts later, remember to stay far away and be careful not to get caught in the crossfire," Chen Xuanteng turned to look at the handsome young man beside him.

Although Chen Changtian was the eldest of the 'Chang' generation, his cultivation had only just reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Facing a battle between Middle Stage Qi Refining cultivators for the first time—and against two Loose Cultivators who had carved out a formidable reputation in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining at that—his strength might be insufficient, making him an easy weak point.

"I know what to do, Seventh Granduncle," Chen Changtian responded.

The three continued flying on their swords. Meanwhile, holding a communication Talisman, Chen Yuanzhi softly conveyed information to Chen Yuanjin's side.

"Stop," Chen Xuanteng cautioned.

"What's wrong, Seventh Uncle (Granduncle)?" The other two were somewhat surprised.

"Haven't you noticed that the surrounding mist is getting thicker and thicker?"

Hearing this, the two then realized that it indeed seemed to be the case.

"The two of them intentionally lured us here," Chen Changtian suddenly realized.

Chen Xuanteng nodded. He held out one hand to form a spell seal, and a massive fireball condensed from his palm.

Instantly, much of the mist in the air evaporated, and the surrounding environment gradually became clear.

Swish!

A Talisman glowing with a brilliant red light shot toward Chen Changtian.

"Watch out, it's a burst talisman!" Chen Yuanzhi hurriedly called out as a black shield rapidly flew off his body, blocking the front of Chen Changtian.

Bang!

The black shield successfully blocked this sudden attack, though the light on the shield dimmed significantly.

By now, Chen Xuanteng and Chen Changtian had also reacted, summoning their respective Magical Artifacts to stand on guard.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three more burst talismans flew in, one after another, from three different directions.

"Protect yourselves," Chen Xuanteng said to the two, and then holding his qingyang sword, he strided toward one direction.

Hiss! Bang!

The qingyang sword in Chen Xuanteng's hand burst forth with a surge of Sword Qi, slicing the burst talisman in front of him into two halves, causing it to detonate several feet away in front of him.

He continued forward, slashing out another arc of Sword Qi.

Hiss!

A tree was sliced in half, and Wang Hu, who was hiding behind it, hurriedly scrambled away from the spot.

"Villain, don't even think about escaping!" In just a few steps, Chen Xuanteng reached Wang Hu, raising his qingyang sword to slash at Wang Hu's head.

Seeing this, Wang Hu immediately summoned a silver Flying Sword to block in front of himself.

Crackle!

Because Wang Hu was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining while Chen Xuanteng had already reached the fifth layer, Wang Hu fell completely into a disadvantage in the very first clash.

A gap of a minor Realm was indeed difficult to overcome.

Wang Hu thought to himself.

Chen Xuanteng commanded his qingyang sword to continue slashing at Wang Hu, and the Flying Swords of the two engaged in a thrilling battle in midair.

"Galloping Fire Palm!" Chen Xuanteng's eyes glared as his hands gathered a vast amount of fire elemental Qi, forming two giant palms that rushed out.

Wang Hu pulled out a Talisman with a pained look in his eyes. Nevertheless, he quickly threw it out, and the Talisman formed a barrier of golden light around him—a Tier-1 Medium Grade Talisman, the golden light talisman.

Just as Wang Hu tied down Chen Xuanteng, Zhao Gang on the other side also made his move.

The moment he moved, he deployed two Magical Artifacts—one was a blood-red flying dagger, and the other was a needle-type Magical Artifact.

As soon as he appeared, the two Magical Artifacts instantly shot toward Chen Changtian and Chen Yuanzhi. Fortunately, the two were already prepared, so they weren't caught in a panic.

However, Zhao Gang seemed to know this approach wouldn't do much, so he immediately pulled out several burst talismans and threw them all together.

It had to be said that for two Loose Cultivators to possess so many Talismans, they could definitely be considered quite wealthy.

Chen Yuanzhi controlled his xuanjia shield to block the two Magical Artifacts, after which he and Chen Changtian each took out several Tier-1 Medium Grade Talismans and threw them as well.

All at once, around a dozen Talismans exploded in midair. Fortunately, Chen Changtian and Chen Yuanzhi had brought out defense Talismans to protect themselves.

Once the dust completely settled, both sides looked at each other—unharmed—with surprise in their eyes.

After a moment of hesitation, they resumed their fierce battle.

A few more breaths of time passed.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed from Chen Xuanteng's side.

The three looked over.

It turned out that Wang Hu had an arm sliced off by Chen Xuanteng during their battle.

"Huzi!" A flash of distress passed through Zhao Gang's eyes. He then glanced at Chen Changtian and Chen Yuanzhi, threw out another Talisman, and rushed over toward Wang Hu.

"Thinking of backing him up? No way!" Chen Yuanzhi shouted angrily. After blocking a burst talisman, he immediately controlled a qingyang sword to slash at his opponent.

However, the battle-tested Zhao Gang managed to dodge it.

Chen Xuanteng also noticed the situation over here and struck even more decisively, but unfortunately, the two still managed to regroup.

Once the two joined together, black and white energy surged around their bodies, reaching the level of the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

"As expected, the intelligence wasn't wrong. The Cultivation Techniques they Cultivate can complement each other," Chen Yuanzhi exclaimed in surprise.

"Heh, you three can die now!" Zhao Gang looked at Wang Hu beside him, who was missing an arm, his eyes filled with bloodlust.

"Yin and Yang Finger!" he shouted furiously, poking a finger out.

Chen Yuanzhi swiftly commanded his xuanjia shield to block in front of the three, after which each of the three crushed a Talisman in their hands, forming three water walls to shield themselves.