Chapter 110 - 81 : The Wrong Lesson (1)

Chapter 110: Chapter 81 : The Wrong Lesson (1)

The warning worked.

Not in quite the way Ethan had intended, but the change was there. In the days that followed, the bounty began to feel different whenever it came up in conversation. The one hundred and fifty spirit stones were still enough to make people interested, but the stories surrounding Blood Demon had given the reward a weight it had not carried before. It was no longer simply a matter of finding a wanted demonic cultivator and collecting the payment. Anyone considering the bounty now had to wonder what they were actually walking into, how much they knew, and whether the information they had was enough to keep them alive. Some still believed the reward was worth the risk. Others decided they would rather wait until they knew more.

Along the roads leading east, that caution began showing itself in small ways. Cultivators asked merchants about travelers they had seen, lingered around crossroads before choosing which way to go, and quietly compared what they had heard with what others knew. Groups that might once have followed the first promising lead now took their time, while some simply abandoned a route when the details stopped adding up. The bounty was still drawing people in, but the easy confidence around it was fading. Like a some groups even changed their routes after hearing where Blood Demon had last been seen, while others stopped at settlements to ask merchants and passing cultivators which roads they had traveled.

Blood Demon was no longer just a name on a bounty notice. He was someone people now wanted to learn more about before deciding whether the reward was worth pursuing. They were no longer looking only for a pale young man traveling alone. They were also trying to figure out where he might go next, what route he might take, and whether approaching him was worth the risk.

Those who carried tracking talismans had a clearer way of narrowing their search. Once Ethan came within range, the talisman could detect the spiritual signature Azure Cloud had recorded from him and guide its holder toward his general direction. Even if it could not pinpoint his exact location or track his movements continuously, but it was enough to give hunters a direction to follow instead of searching the eastern roads blindly.

But a spirit stone was not something every cultivator could casually spend. Some pooled their resources with companions, while others had no choice but to rely on rumors, roads, and chance. Among Qi Refining cultivators, however, a few could afford the cost, allowing them to search more carefully and prepare better than those who had to depend on whatever information happened to reach them. For those already willing to spend, the cost of gathering information was simply another part of pursuing the bounty.

Communication talismans made that investment even more useful. A cultivator who learned something worth sharing did not always have to wait for another meeting or traveler to carry the news. For the right price, information could reach someone farther along the road while it was still useful.

Most information still traveled the old-fashioned way. A cultivator heard something in a teahouse, passed it to someone on the road, and that person carried it to the next settlement. By the time the news reached someone who could actually act on it, the details might have already changed.

The information was never perfect.

A sighting became a likely location. A direction became a route. A rumor passed through enough mouths could lose half its truth and somehow gain twice its certainty.

Yet the important part may not survived.

Communication talismans changed that. When someone was willing to spend the spirit stones, information could reach another cultivator directly instead of making its way through several people first, it helps preserve what mattered. When information reached someone directly instead of relying entirely on word of mouth, there was less room for the details to change before they could be acted upon.

Blood Demon was dangerous.

That realization affected the stronger cultivators differently from the weaker ones. Mid Qi Refining cultivators were strong enough to consider the bounty, but most had not reached that realm by treating every risk as something to be ignored. The survivor’s account had raised too many questions, and one of them had little to do with Blood Demon’s current strength.

There had been an old story among rogue cultivators about a demonic cultivator who had narrowly escaped a purge by several groups working together. Everyone involved had assumed the matter was finished. The cultivator disappeared for years, and eventually the story faded into something people rarely bothered mentioning. Then he returned.

By then, he was stronger.

He did not go after the people who had hunted him alone. He found their allies, their associates, and eventually the families of those who had taken part. Whether every detail of the story was true had never been settled, but the lesson had remained.

A cultivator who survived an attempt on his life could become someone very different by the time he returned.

That was the kind of possibility experienced cultivators considered before making a move. If Blood Demon truly possessed strength beyond the Early Qi Refining realm, then killing him was no longer the only question. What happened if they failed? What happened if he escaped wounded, disappeared, and came looking for them later?

So some waited. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Others went first.

They wanted to see whether Blood Demon could actually be pushed to the point where he had no choice but to fight for his life.

Meanwhile each failed attempt left something behind for the next.

Those who rushed in recklessly revealed the danger of facing Blood Demon unprepared. Those who kept their distance learned that he was not someone who could be approached casually. And those who survived long enough to escape carried away details that others could question, compare, and build upon. None of the information was enough on its own, but together, the picture was slowly becoming clearer.

The cultivators searching for Ethan were beginning to learn from one another, even without ever meeting.

"I would rather watch the hundred and fifty spirit stones disappear than split them with you."

The cultivator standing across from him laughed coldly. "You’d rather lose the bounty entirely?"

"Yes."

The huge man behind the table slammed his palm down hard enough to make the wooden boards groan. The war hammer strapped across his back shifted with the movement.

"One hundred and fifty spirit stones," he growled. "You think I’m going to spend weeks chasing Blood Demon just to hand half of it to someone who happened to arrive at the same time?"

The argument had been going on for some time beneath the trees.

They had chosen an open patch of forest well away from the main roads, where the thick canopy concealed them from passing travelers and the surrounding trees gave enough warning if anyone approached. Several Early Qi Refining cultivators stood around a rough wooden table, with a few others scattered farther back among the trees. They had not come here by chance. Each represented a separate group that had been pursuing the same bounty, and each had brought people waiting nearby for whatever decision came out of the meeting.

"Then what do you suggest?" another cultivator asked. "We keep doing this separately and hope the next group gets lucky?"

"If you can’t afford to lose your share, don’t come."

"Don’t twist my words."

"I’m not twisting anything. You want everyone here to take the same risk, then divide the reward afterward."

"Because there’s a difference between taking the bounty and throwing people at him one group at a time."

The war-hammer wielder gave a cold laugh.

"And what exactly do you think we’ve been doing?"

"Failing."

The answer came without hesitation.

His expression darkened.

"Careful."

"Why? Did I say something false?"

"You’re acting as though joining together guarantees the bounty."

"No. I’m saying going alone hasn’t worked."

"And you think I should bring what I have, put it on the line, and then split the reward with everyone sitting here?"

"If you want the entire bounty, go take it yourself."

The war-hammer wielder stared at him for several breaths before scoffing.

"I’d rather watch the hundred and fifty spirit stones slip away than make things that convenient for you."

Another cultivator frowned. "So your solution is to keep doing nothing?"

"My solution is not to hand over my share just because you suddenly discovered cooperation."

"No one is asking you to hand anything over."

"Then what are you asking?"

"That we stop acting like idiots."

The air around the table seemed to tighten.

"You should watch your mouth," the war-hammer wielder said.

"And you should watch your greed."

A few cultivators shifted where they stood, but none stepped between them. There was no friendship holding them together, only the bounty that had brought them to the same place. If they could not agree, there was nothing stopping them from walking away and competing against each other again.

The war-hammer wielder leaned forward.

"We don’t have to."

The other cultivator’s eyes narrowed.

"We don’t have to what?"

"We don’t have to share anything. We all brought people. We all know what it costs. If you want to take your chances alone, do it."

His voice remained cold.

"But don’t expect me to spend what I have just so someone else can have an easier time collecting the reward."

"Then perhaps you should stop complaining about the same problem everyone else is trying to solve."

The war-hammer wielder’s hand tightened around the edge of the table.

"Perhaps you should stop assuming everyone here is interested in solving it with you."

The man with the war hammer snorted. "And what exactly have the others done? Gone after him like throwing their lives away, then another group does the same, and now we finally have a lucky bastard who survived long enough to tell us what happened. I heard he even got a decent number of spirit stones just for selling the information. Meanwhile, we’re still sitting here trying to figure out how to deal with Blood Demon without becoming the next group that disappears."

No one answered immediately.