Chapter 60: Two Possible Path

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Two Possible Path

Before he could destroy the monster core, his attention was drawn to the sky ahead.

Two cultivators wearing silver robes were flying toward him on their qi swords.

Far behind them, two enormous scorpions were chasing after them.

Ye Xuan stored the monster core and manifested his lightning sword once more.

"Fellow Daoist! Please help us!"

Ye Xuan examined the two cultivators with his Myriad Eye Technique.

Nothing seemed unusual about them, aside from the unstable qi fluctuations in their bodies caused by their depleted spiritual energy.

Both of their cultivation bases were still at Early Foundation Establishment.

He formed hand seals with both hands, activating the combat technique he had recently learned from Yan Jin.

"Sea of Fire Serpents!"

A red rune appeared beneath Ye Xuan, transforming the ground into a turbulent sea of molten lava that radiated intense heat.

He pointed toward the two scorpion monsters. Two medium-sized fire serpents emerged from the sea of flames and charged forward with loud roars.

The two fire serpents collided with the scorpions, triggering a powerful explosion accompanied by fierce gusts of wind.

Ye Xuan raised one hand in front of his chest, manifesting a qi barrier to prevent the explosion from affecting him or the two cultivators.

The two scorpions were sent flying, their bodies crashing into nearby trees and causing quite a few of them to fall.

Ye Xuan prepared another attack in case the scorpions decided to attack again. However, they seemed frightened and began retreating.

With the immediate threat gone, Ye Xuan deactivated his formation rune and turned around to look at the two women.

"Scarlet Moon Forest is a dangerous place. Why are you here?" Ye Xuan asked.

"We’re carrying out a sect mission to search for Ye Xuan. Apparently, he’s still hiding somewhere in the forest."

"Thank you for your help, Senior," one of the women said, bowing her head.

"Do you know what the man named Ye Xuan looks like?" Ye Xuan asked.

"Yes," the woman replied.

Her eyes narrowed as she realized that the cultivator who had saved them looked remarkably similar to the description provided by their sect.

"Y-You... You’re Ye Xuan?!" they exclaimed in shock.

Ye Xuan acted decisively, releasing his cultivation pressure against their bodies.

Both women immediately fell to their knees, no longer able to remain on their flying swords. They spat out blood.

"You haven’t answered my question."

"The sect... provided us with a description of you," one of them said. "All the information is stored in this token."

The woman took an information token out of her bag of holding and handed it to Ye Xuan.

The young man immediately sent his spiritual qi into it, examining the information stored inside.

Within the token, Ye Xuan saw a clear image of himself.

It had been taken from the memories of a White Peacock Sect disciple whom he had fought and who had managed to escape.

His appearance was clearly displayed in the information token, from his face and hair to the distinctive serpent around his neck.

The only difference between the image and his current appearance was his clothing.

When he had fought the White Peacock Sect disciples, he was still wearing the robes of the Sky Cloud Sect.

However, the two women had recognized him immediately because of Qingyu coiled around his neck.

"Dao Sword Sect... So you really do want to kill me."

Ye Xuan clenched his palm, crushing the information token until it turned to dust. His eyes remained fixed on the two women.

"Now that you’ve found me, what are you going to do?"

"W-We were assigned to kill you. If we couldn’t, we were allowed to return and report that we had found you," one of them answered.

"You two struggled against those scorpion monsters just now, yet you’re so confident that you can kill me?"

"You certainly have some courage!" Ye Xuan remarked.

The young man continued observing them carefully before letting out a brief sigh and slowly waving his hand to the side.

The cultivation pressure pressing down on them disappeared, freeing them from its suffocating restraint.

"I have no personal grudge against either of you, so I won’t kill you."

"In the end, they’ll find out where I am anyway," Ye Xuan replied before glancing at them again. "Go back and tell them that I’m still in this forest."

The two women were utterly shocked. They exchanged a brief glance before asking Ye Xuan to confirm what he had just said.

The young man nodded. He had already become an enemy of every cultivator in the Xiao Empire.

There was no point in hiding, since he was certain his identity would eventually be discovered anyway.

"Scarlet Moon Forest is dangerous. Leave before a stronger monster comes along and kills you."

Hearing Ye Xuan’s command left them with no choice.

They had indeed been assigned to kill him, but the young man’s cultivation base was higher than theirs, and their spiritual energy had already been depleted.

Forcing themselves to fight him would be no different from offering their necks to be chopped off.

At the very least, they could return to their sect and report the latest information about Ye Xuan’s whereabouts.

The two women bid farewell and left in another direction. Qingyu turned her head to look at Ye Xuan.

[Are you sure you want to let them go? If they reveal your whereabouts, every cultivator will come after you.]

That’s fine. Besides, I wasn’t planning to stay in this forest for much longer anyway.

By the time the allied sects arrive, they’ll realize I’m no longer here.

[If you want to kill them easily, you could use the same escape method you used in Northern Ridge.]

That’s too risky. I know that method should only be used in an emergency.

Ye Xuan explained that he was at least much stronger than before.

It was time for him to leave Scarlet Moon Forest and look for an opportunity to advance to Golden Core.

Only then would he have an absolute advantage over the other sect disciples and be able to fight the sect elders on equal footing.

[All right. Where should we go?]

Ye Xuan took out a map scroll and examined it.

He also began marking several places that could potentially be dangerous to visit, such as Sword Graveyard Desert, Sky Cloud Sect, and, of course, Scarlet Moon Forest.

His attention settled on two locations, corresponding to the two complete maps he possessed apart from the map of the Xiao Empire.

The first was the Eastern Mist Mountains.

The second was the Red Desert Plains of Xuejong.

The Eastern Mist Mountains are famous for their demonic sects. Although I might be safe from the pursuit of righteous Daoist sects there, they could pose an even greater threat to me.

As for the Red Desert Plains of Xuejong, they’re associated with the Great Flame Emperor’s Palace. It suits my fire elemental affinity, but I don’t know much about that place.

The Eastern Mist Mountains were located outside the Xiao Empire, specifically within a free territory known as the Sea of Mist Realms.

Meanwhile, the Red Desert Plains of Xuejong lay south of the Xiao Empire.

Where should we go?

[We’d be better off going to the Eastern Mist Mountains. You might get an opportunity to learn the Demonic Finger Manifestation technique.]

If I want to learn that technique, I’ll need to obtain a Soul-Possessing Demon Pill.

Perhaps I can find some clues in the Eastern Mist Mountains.