Chapter 100 - 76 : Bounty Hunters Or Free Resources (1)

Chapter 100: Chapter 76 : Bounty Hunters Or Free Resources (1)

Several hours had passed since Ethan left the settlement.

The night had slowly given way to the early morning as he continued east. The road had grown quieter, with only the occasional cart or lone cultivator appearing in the distance. The darkness was beginning to thin, and a faint gray light was spreading across the horizon behind him.

Low hills now rose on either side of the road, their slopes covered with dry grass and scattered trees. The cool air of the night still lingered, though the first signs of dawn were beginning to reach the land.

Ethan kept an unhurried pace, his thoughts returning to the route ahead. The map showed several paths leading toward Lunar Echo territory, but the farther east he traveled, the less familiar the land became. Some roads were clearly maintained, while others were little more than lines drawn across the map. He had already learned that a road marked on a map didn’t necessarily mean it was still there.

When he reached a fork in the road, Ethan slowed. One path continued directly east, while the other curved around the hills before eventually joining the same route farther ahead.

He glanced over both paths. Fresh wheel tracks marked the eastern route, and the grass along its edges had been pressed down recently, while the other path looked almost abandoned. Ethan chose the eastern one.

He had taken only a few steps when his Blood Perception stirred. Ethan stopped, his attention shifting toward the road behind him as four distinct presences entered his awareness. The strongest belonged to an Early Qi Refining cultivator, while the other three were weaker, all at the Body Tempering stage. They were moving in his direction.

That alone wasn’t enough to draw a conclusion. The road still connected several settlements, and cultivators traveled it for all sorts of reasons. It wasn’t as if the entire cultivation world revolved around him, with every person he encountered somehow connected to his problems. Not every group on the road was coming for him.

Then Ethan sensed something else close to presences, a faint spiritual disturbance that he recognized almost immediately.

The tracking talisman.

So they had found him.

Ethan glanced ahead. The road was empty, with no carts, travelers, or cultivators in sight. That made things easier.

He stepped off the road and crossed through the dry grass toward the low hills. A shallow hollow ground lay between two rises ahead, partially hidden from the road by a line of trees. Ethan entered it, taking in the uneven ground, the patches of exposed stone, and the dry streambed winding through the center. There were enough trees and rocks to break the line of sight, though not enough to completely conceal movement.

More importantly, the hollow was far enough from the road that anyone passing by would have little reason to notice what happened here.

Ethan stopped beside a broad, weathered stone and waited.

The four cultivators emerged from the trees several moments later, their figures appearing between the branches as they made their way toward the hollow. The man at the front held a small piece of paper between two fingers, the tracking talisman giving another faint tremor in his hand. His eyes moved across the area before settling on Ethan, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

"There."

His voice carried a quiet excitement, as though he was trying not to sound too eager but couldn’t quite hide it.

The three cultivators behind him followed his gaze. One looked Ethan over from head to toe, his eyes moving from the hood to the dao at his waist before settling on his face.

Young.

Pale.

Traveling alone.

The description matched closely enough.

"It really is him."

The words came with barely contained excitement. Another cultivator glanced toward their leader, then back at Ethan.

"Looks just like the notice."

The leader lowered the talisman, his fingers tightening around the paper as the thought of the reward settled in. A hundred and fifty spirit stones. The excitement in his eyes was no longer something he bothered to hide, and the other three seemed to feel the same pull.

They weren’t looking at Ethan like people who had stumbled across a dangerous cultivator.

They were looking at him like they had just found a fortune.

Ethan watched them descend into the hollow, and the confidence in their steps was easy to understand.

The notice had identified Ethan as an Early Qi Refining cultivator, and their leader was at the same realm. Three Body Tempering cultivators stood behind him, while the tracking talisman had led them straight to Ethan. From their perspective, the four of them had come prepared.

Ethan reached into his storage pouch and withdrew his short dao. The blade caught the faint morning light as he held it loosely at his side. He looked at the four cultivators for several seconds before speaking.

"I presume you came for the reward?"

The leader’s expression shifted slightly, as though he hadn’t expected Ethan to be the one starting the conversation.

Ethan continued calmly, "If that’s what you’re after, I’d advise you to turn back."

One of the Body Tempering cultivators gave a short laugh.

"We came all this way. You think we’re leaving because you told us to?"

The leader’s expression hardened as he looked at Ethan. "We know exactly what we’re doing."

Ethan studied them quietly. He had no desire to kill them. He didn’t know any of them, and they had simply seen an opportunity and decided to take it. That alone didn’t mean they had to die.

"You don’t know what you’re walking into."

The leader’s eyes narrowed.

"We know exactly what we’re doing."

Ethan shook his head slightly.

"No. You don’t."

The man’s face tightened, but he didn’t answer.

For a moment, neither side moved. The only sound was the dry grass shifting beneath the wind.

The man’s hand moved toward his weapon.

"We found you first. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be."

Ethan let out a quiet breath. His grip on the short dao tightened slightly.

"Last chance."

The only reply Ethan received was the sudden movement of the three Body Tempering cultivators.

They came at him from different directions, their movements quick and coordinated. One rushed in from the left while another charged straight toward him, forcing Ethan to deal with the attack head-on. The third circled around the side, trying to cut off his escape and close in from behind. Their formation was simple, but it was fast enough to catch an ordinary cultivator off guard.

Ethan moved before they could complete it.

The cultivator on the left swung first. His blade cut through the space where Ethan’s body had been a moment earlier, missing by inches. Ethan stepped past the strike, his movement carrying him inside the man’s guard. His short dao flashed once, and the blade passed cleanly across the man’s throat. The cultivator’s eyes widened as he staggered forward, one hand rising instinctively toward the wound before his legs gave way.

Ethan didn’t stop.

The second cultivator had already turned toward him, swinging his weapon with both hands. Ethan slipped beneath the attack and moved to his side. His dao flashed again, cutting through the man’s arm and forcing the weapon from his grasp. Before the cultivator could recover, Ethan stepped closer and struck again. The blade passed through his chest, and the man collapsed into the grass.

The third cultivator finally realized what had happened. His two companions were already down, and the figure he had been trying to surround was now standing directly in front of him.

His face changed.

He tried to raise his weapon, but Ethan was faster. The short dao flashed a forth time, cutting across his body. The man stumbled backward, his weapon slipping from his fingers as he fell heavily into the grass.

Ethan stood still for a moment, the dao held loosely at his side. The three bodies lay scattered across the grass, and the hollow fell quiet again.

The Early Qi Refining cultivator stood alone, his hand still resting on his weapon. He hadn’t drawn it. His eyes moved from the bodies scattered across the grass to Ethan, then back again. His breathing grew heavier as the realization settled in.

"This..." His voice came out hoarse. "You’re Mid Qi Refining."

Ethan said nothing.

The cultivator’s face tightened. His gaze dropped to the bodies once more before returning to Ethan, and his fingers slowly tightened around the tracking talisman.

"The notice..."

He stared at Ethan for a moment, disbelief giving way to anger.

"That damn sect."

His voice was filled with spite now.

"They deliberately gave us the wrong information."

He looked at the three fallen cultivators, his expression darkening.

"Can’t trust them at all."

"The notice said Early."

"It was wrong."

The man’s face tightened. The confidence that had filled his expression moments ago was gone, replaced by unease as his eyes moved between Ethan and the three bodies lying in the grass. His fingers twitched around the tracking talisman, and he swallowed before taking a slow step backward.

Then another.

Ethan didn’t pursue. He simply watched him, his dao hanging loosely at his side.

The cultivator’s breathing grew heavier. Fear was beginning to show in his eyes now, but he still seemed unwilling to accept what was standing in front of him. His gaze flicked toward the road, then back to Ethan.

Suddenly, he raised both hands.

Spiritual energy surged around his body.