Chapter 101 - 95: Exhausting All Means

Chapter 101: Chapter 95: Exhausting All Means

He had only been using Qi Manipulation Flight for thirty breaths when his expression drastically changed. A streak of sword light shot across the horizon behind him. Its purpose was clear—it was coming right for him.

"I didn’t shake him?" he thought. "Impossible. I used two High-Grade Earth Escape Talismans in a row, covering twenty miles in a hundred breaths. Even a Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Great Cultivator wouldn’t be able to track my aura now."

Despite the doubts in his mind, Chen Jianghe pushed his speed up by another thirty percent, flying with all his might using Qi Manipulation Flight. However, the speed of Qi Manipulation Flight paled in comparison to Sword Flight. It was nearly half as slow, and it consumed far more Magical Power. At this rate, it wouldn’t even take ten breaths before he entered the attack range of the Eight-Character Moustache Robber Cultivator.

Apart from his Spirit Talismans, he had no other means of defending himself against an enemy. Although the opponent was only using a Middle-Grade Flying Sword, Chen Jianghe hadn’t even bought a Lower-Grade Flying Sword. As for Magic Attacks, the enemy was at the Eighth-Layer Qi Refining. He was completely outmatched.

Even if he let Little Black out, it would only be good for defense, lacking the necessary offensive power. He could use the Thunder-Attracting Talisman, but what if there were other Tribulation Cultivators following behind? Once he was pinned down, his Spirit Talismans would eventually run out.

Eight breaths later.

The Eight-Character Moustache Robber Cultivator was only a few hundred meters away from Chen Jianghe. Without a single wasted word, he directly launched a rapid attack with his Flying Sword.

"Escape!"

Chen Jianghe landed and activated another High-Grade Earth Escape Talisman. The Flying Sword struck empty air and returned to Eight-Character Moustache’s feet.

"Hmph, let’s see just how many Spirit Talismans you have," Eight-Character Moustache scoffed, reaching up to stroke his upturned moustache. Seeing that Chen Jianghe only dared to rely on Spirit Talismans to flee, he guessed that his quarry didn’t possess any Magical Artifacts. Without any Magical Artifacts, he couldn’t be a scion of a Cultivation Family. How many Spirit Talismans could a Loose Cultivator possibly have? Five or six at the absolute most. After all, what normal Cultivator would spend so many Spirit Stones to keep a pile of Spirit Talismans on them?

Just as he expected, Chen Jianghe truly didn’t have many Amulets left. He had bought five in total and had already used two. However, he still had seven Five Elements Escape Talismans in his hands.

"Hm? Another high-grade Spirit Talisman!" he exclaimed.

Eight-Character Moustache immediately frowned. Through the sense of his Spirit-Chasing Talisman, he found that the Spiritual Power mark on Chen Jianghe was once again rapidly pulling away.

"This won’t do. If he uses one more high-grade Spirit Talisman, he’ll escape beyond the detection range of my Spirit-Chasing Talisman," he thought.

Immediately, Eight-Character Moustache pulled out a Divine Movement Talisman and slapped it onto his body. His speed instantly increased by thirty percent as he quickly chased in the direction of Chen Jianghe’s escape.

"One Divine Movement Talisman and one Spirit-Chasing Talisman. I’ve already invested forty-five Spirit Stones’ worth of capital on you. I hope you don’t disappoint me," he muttered.

A High-Grade Divine Speed Talisman was worth fifteen Spirit Stones. Once used, it could increase the speed of a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator by thirty percent for half a quarter of an hour.

Fifty breaths later.

Chen Jianghe once again sensed Eight-Character Moustache’s aura. This time, he was certain that the opponent had definitely left a mark on his body. Otherwise, there was no way he could still be tailing him after escaping for forty or fifty miles.

"No, I can’t keep dragging this out. Otherwise, there will inevitably come a moment when my Five Elements Escape Talismans run out," Chen Jianghe thought. "I have to get back to the river."

In the river, he could execute the Water Escape Technique. This was much faster than Qi Manipulation Flight and would also allow him to engage in a war of attrition with Eight-Character Moustache. That way, using a single Five Elements Escape Talisman would keep the opponent off his tail for two hundred breaths.

Promptly, relying on his connection to Water Element Spiritual Energy, Chen Jianghe began flying in the direction where the Water Element Spiritual Energy was the densest. When Eight-Character Moustache closed the distance to three hundred meters, Chen Jianghe activated another High-Grade Earth Escape Talisman without hesitation.

"A High-Grade Talisman Master?"

Eight-Character Moustache sensed Chen Jianghe using another high-grade Spirit Talisman. At first, a look of great joy washed over his face, but he quickly shook his head.

"He can’t be a High-Grade Talisman Master. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d be running. Even at the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining, he would have counter-killed me by now," he reasoned inwardly.

High-Grade Talisman Masters were artisans with abundant resources. They generally never lacked High-Grade Flying Swords and would even possess High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifacts. Therefore, even at the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining, they had a chance to counter-kill someone at the Eighth-Layer Qi Refining who lacked High-Grade Spiritual Artifacts. Moreover, being a High-Grade Talisman Master, would they ever be short on high-grade Spirit Talismans? If one High-Grade Attack Spirit Talisman couldn’t kill you, what about ten used simultaneously?

But in the next moment, doubts bubbled up in his heart. If the target wasn’t a High-Grade Talisman Master, how could he have so many High-Grade Earth Escape Talismans? This was already the fifth one.

A High-Grade Earth Escape Talisman was worth fifteen Spirit Stones; he had already burned through seventy-five Spirit Stones. Just thinking about it made Eight-Character Moustache’s heart ache. These were his spoils of war! Even if he had to hand over half to the village, he’d still have over thirty Spirit Stones left. That was almost enough to cover his costs for this trip.

At this moment, Eight-Character Moustache grew even more convinced that he could reap massive benefits from Chen Jianghe. No longer caring about the sharp increase in his Magical Power consumption, he boosted his speed by another twenty percent. Furthermore, according to his understanding, this fat sheep, Chen Jianghe, was very likely an Elder of some Cultivation Family. He must have come out to make purchases for his family. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to carry so many life-saving Spirit Talismans. In other words, Chen Jianghe absolutely had a ton of Spirit Stones on him.

"I hope he gives me a pleasant surprise. If so, I’ll finally be able to leave Qingfong Village," he thought.

Eight-Character Moustache swallowed a Qi Recovery Pill and continued to increase his speed as he chased after Chen Jianghe.

Dozens of breaths later.

Chen Jianghe cast a Water Avoidance Curse, leaped into the Youxian River, and executed the Water Escape Technique.

"I still have five Five Elements Escape Talismans and five Qi Recovery Pills. I refuse to believe I can’t shake you off," he thought.

Chen Jianghe calculated the distance; he had already been pursued by Eight-Character Moustache for over seventy miles, yet he hadn’t seen any other Tribulation Cultivators.