Chapter 45: "Surprise

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: "Surprise

Over the past ten days, Yi Xiaoyao knew Qi Yue and his group had been searching for him. Jin Sanbao’s Spirit Stones and Xuan Mo’s insects were nearly depleted, meaning their old tricks wouldn’t work if they were discovered.

That’s why, before leaving, Yi Xiaoyao had told the other disciples not to reveal his whereabouts, hoping to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Xiaoyao, you’re getting scarily good! You got two second-rank Demon Cores just like that!"

Jin Sanbao said cheerfully as he accepted the Demon Core Yi Xiaoyao handed him.

Yi Xiaoyao just smiled without replying. After so many days of hunting and Cultivation, he was on the verge of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. The Source of Sword Qi and his Spiritual Energy Sea had become far more condensed, and his power had grown immensely.

Take the two second-rank Cyan Qilin Pythons from just now, for instance. Before, Yi Xiaoyao would have had to expend considerable effort to kill them one at a time.

But now, all it took were two effortless slashes.

That was something even an ordinary cultivator at the First Realm of Foundation Establishment couldn’t accomplish.

Thus, in those same ten days, the number of Demon Cores Yi Xiaoyao had hunted and acquired far surpassed that of any other participant.

And since Yi Xiaoyao considered Jin Sanbao and Xuan Mo his companions, he naturally split the Demon Cores equally among the three of them.

Even so, the number of Demon Cores each of them now possessed was more than enough to pass the assessment.

"We have more than enough Demon Cores, and the assessment ends in just five days. Do we really need to keep pushing on?" Jin Sanbao asked.

Yi Xiaoyao shot him a glance. "Of course. They’re going to rank us by our number of Demon Cores when this is over. Why shouldn’t we aim for first place?"

"First place?"

Jin Sanbao’s eyes widened in shock. Before meeting Yi Xiaoyao, he and Xuan Mo would never have dared to even think about those two words.

But now...

...

「Meanwhile, back where Yi Xiaoyao had killed the two Cyan Qilin Pythons.」

The group of disciples stared in the direction Yi Xiaoyao had gone, frozen in a daze for a long moment before finally coming to their senses.

"Wasn’t that guy just now Yi Xiaoyao? The one who screwed over Qi Yue and killed Zhao Fei?"

"That’s him, all right. Who else but Yi Xiaoyao could slay a second-rank Demon Beast while only at the Ninth Realm of Qi Condensation?"

"And he dealt with two second-rank Cyan Qilin Pythons so easily! I think he’s even stronger than when he killed Zhao Fei!"

The group looked at the grisly python corpses on the ground, each of them swallowing hard.

One of them, a young woman in a yellow robe, swooned, her eyes glazed and her face flushing. "That Yi Xiaoyao... he’s just so captivating! He’s handsome and powerful... If only I could marry him!"

"Hmph! You can tell just by looking at him that he’s no good. We’d be better off staying far away from his type."

A red-haired youth standing beside her, who clearly had a crush on the girl, retorted with a grim face thick with jealousy.

"That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? After all, Yi Xiaoyao did save us," a few of the others chimed in.

The yellow-robed woman added, "Exactly! We haven’t even had a chance to thank him, and here you are speaking ill of him. How ungrateful can you be!"

The corner of the red-haired youth’s mouth twitched, and he let out another heavy snort.

Just as the group was about to leave, four arrogant-looking young men emerged from the dense forest nearby. It was Qi Yue and his companions.

Qi Yue’s group had caught the thick stench of blood nearby and followed it to this spot, where they found the python corpses.

Disciples in the assessment would typically address those in the Foundation Establishment Realm as "Senior Brother." Seeing Qi Yue and his group approach, the yellow-robed woman and her party quickly called out in greeting.

"Senior Brother..."

"Did you kill these second-rank Cyan Qilin Pythons?" Qi Yue asked, eyeing them with some astonishment.

The disciples instantly fell silent, stammering amongst themselves. They knew Qi Yue was hunting Yi Xiaoyao; how could they betray the man who had just saved them?

"I’m not going to steal your Demon Cores. What are you afraid of?"

Qi Yue snapped with a frown before changing the subject. "Forget it. Have you seen Yi Xiaoyao and his two companions?"

With only five days left in the assessment, Qi Yue still hadn’t found Yi Xiaoyao to exact his revenge. He was growing anxious, asking everyone he came across if they had seen him.

The yellow-robed woman shook her head vigorously, saying she hadn’t, and the others quickly agreed.

Qi Yue sighed. He hadn’t held out much hope to begin with. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a sudden shout came.

"I’ve seen Yi Xiaoyao!"

It was the red-haired youth.

Qi Yue and his three companions whipped around.

"You’re sure you saw Yi Xiaoyao?"

The yellow-robed woman was alarmed. She grabbed the red-haired youth’s arm and whispered, "Didn’t Yi tell us not to reveal his whereabouts before he left?"

Hearing the yellow-robed woman refer to Yi Xiaoyao so familiarly as "Yi" only fueled the red-haired youth’s jealousy and resentment.

He turned to Qi Yue and said, "Not only have I seen him, but he’s the one who killed these two second-rank Cyan Qilin Pythons!"

Qi Yue was overjoyed. After so many days of searching, he finally had a lead on Yi Xiaoyao.

But just in case, Qi Yue narrowed his eyes and threatened, "If I find out you’re lying to me, you will die a very painful death."

"Yi Xiaoyao just left. I know which way they went. I can lead you to them,"

the red-haired youth said, thinking to himself, ’Yi Xiaoyao, you’re the one who charmed the woman I like. You can’t blame me for this.’

...

Yi Xiaoyao was chatting and laughing with Jin Sanbao when Xuan Mo, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "We’ve been sold out. Qi Yue’s group is catching up."

Yi Xiaoyao’s expression hardened. Over the past few days, he had come to understand some of Xuan Mo’s abilities.

Besides controlling insects to attack and surround enemies, Xuan Mo would also secretly have his bugs crawl onto any other disciples they encountered.

This, of course, included Qi Yue and his three companions.

The only reason Yi Xiaoyao had managed to evade Qi Yue for so long was that Xuan Mo could sense all the insects within a radius of dozens of miles, using them to track their enemies’ locations.

"Looks like one of the people we just saved has a big mouth."

Yi Xiaoyao nodded, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Correct. It seems they have a guide. Their direction of movement matches ours perfectly," Xuan Mo said.

This time, however, there wasn’t a trace of worry on Yi Xiaoyao’s face.

In truth, all they had to do was change direction. With Xuan Mo’s insects serving as their "eyes," the three of them could easily evade Qi Yue’s group once again.

But Yi Xiaoyao, it seemed, had no intention of doing so. He found this game of hide-and-seek to be incredibly dull.

A strange smile played on Yi Xiaoyao’s lips. "Since they’re so eager, why don’t we share that little ’surprise’ we discovered earlier?"

"Xiaoyao, you’re devious!"

Jin Sanbao let out a wicked chuckle. Even Xuan Mo, who always wore a cold expression, couldn’t help the corner of his mouth from twitching.

Hearing Jin Sanbao’s "compliment," Yi Xiaoyao gave a sheepish grin. "Well, if it’s a ’surprise,’ it should be shared with as many people as possible. Let them enjoy the ’surprise’ too!"

"Makes sense. Shall we start preparing our ’surprise’ now?"

The three of them exchanged a smile and began their preparations, waiting for Qi Yue and his group to arrive.