Chapter 25: Was I Overthinking It?

"How are we supposed to fight that? With so many vengeful spirits, it’s impossible." Qin Changsheng gave a wry smile. "Look at the entire caravan—everyone is gone, aren't they? Even though their cultivation levels weren't as solid as a prodigy like you, there were still Nascent Soul stage cultivators among them, right?"

As Qin Changsheng pointed out, the youth in the Daoist robe was too bizarre and too powerful. Facing him in combat offered no chance of victory.

"If that’s the case, with his strange methods, I’m afraid he’ll track us down before we even have a chance to escape. What should we do?"

"Let's get out of here first and find a place to hide. Running into something like that—we must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes." Qin Changsheng pondered for a moment before continuing, "Besides, he is already at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. If he manages to consume enough people, he might truly reach the Spirit Severing stage, or become even stronger. By then, no one in the entire cultivation world will be his match."

"We’ve offended him; we wouldn't dare show our faces again..."

"We have no choice but to spread the word about him immediately, so that the powerful masters can join forces to eliminate him. Otherwise, the future consequences will be endless."

Qin Changsheng knew clearly that the youth in the Daoist robe, Chen An, was an absolute scourge. If not removed now, he would surely become a major threat in the future.

"That’s the only way." Nangong Ruoxi, aware of the gravity of the situation, nodded without hesitation.

The two fell silent and began moving toward a specific direction. Their current goal was to find a safe place to hide, and then reach out to the powerful figures of the cultivation world to have the youth in the Daoist robe hunted down.

...

The night was as dark as ink.

Deep within a valley, Qin Changsheng and Nangong Ruoxi set up formations to conceal their auras, followed by several lethal traps, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"These formations will hide our presence and can hold off experts at the Nascent Soul stage. Unless a master of the Spirit Severing stage comes personally, it’s impossible for them to find us."

Having finished, Nangong Ruoxi finally sat down, feeling at ease. Although she was only at the Golden Core stage, her mastery of formations and talismans was formidable.

Qin Changsheng nodded with satisfaction and praised her, "As expected of a Saintess, you truly are knowledgeable. You should teach me sometime when you're free."

"Are you teasing me? You managed to block an old monster at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and you want me to teach you?" Nangong Ruoxi recalled the sight of Qin Changsheng extinguishing Chen An's attack with a single glance. She felt she could see through this man less and less. The most ridiculous part was that he seemed to think he was weak.

Back at the Kaoshan Sect, he had spent four or five years as a chore disciple. Later, he had even asked her how to use a storage ring, and how one could kill a Golden Core cultivator while still in the Qi Refining stage...

Now he was asking her to teach him again. The more she thought about it, the more Nangong Ruoxi felt Qin Changsheng was mocking her. This guy had a perverse sense of humor; he was actually incredibly powerful, yet he insisted on pretending to be useless and playing the pig to eat the tiger.

"If you don’t want to teach me, that’s fine. Just lend me your cultivation manuals to look over. I’ll ask you about anything I don't understand." Qin Changsheng realized that no matter what he said, Nangong Ruoxi wouldn't believe him, so he stopped trying to explain.

Nangong Ruoxi handed over many of the techniques and spells she had learned. She noticed that he immediately picked out the ones related to sacrifice, escape, and concealment, and began reading them with great interest.

Nangong Ruoxi felt a tightness in her chest—she was annoyed. Did this guy plan to sacrifice himself every time he got into a fight? It was simply absurd.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Changsheng finally put the books down, having mastered the various sacrificial arts.

"If we don't have time to call for reinforcements and he catches up to us, how do you plan to get rid of Chen An?" Nangong Ruoxi couldn't help but ask. By every metric, that Chen An was too strong—far beyond the power of a typical peak Nascent Soul cultivator!

"Run." Qin Changsheng spat out the word. "Once we hold out long enough for the righteous masters to hear the news, he won't have the luxury of chasing us anymore."

"Will they actually go?"

"They will. That youth in the Daoist robe is too bizarre; consuming the souls of others to strengthen himself is a truly evil technique. If he is allowed to grow, he will surely become a disaster for the entire cultivation world. Those masters won't sit idly by." Qin Changsheng said with certainty.

As he spoke, he took out an image-recording artifact. It clearly showed the scene of the youth in the Daoist robe devouring souls.

"You were prepared?" Nangong Ruoxi was stunned.

"What else? He wanted to kill me, so there was no hiding it. In reality, we were both deceiving each other. Now that the masks are off, we’re both trying to destroy the other."

"His methods and treasures are extraordinary. If I spread the news that he possesses a Demon Emperor’s divine weapon, do you think the others will sit still?"

"You really are devious," Nangong Ruoxi praised him sincerely.

"Can't help it. Cultivation is hard; I have to be careful." Qin Changsheng laughed heartily.

"Fine. Then we run. Let's try to reach Zhou City before he catches up to us."

The night grew deeper. The valley fell into silence.

...

At that moment, on a mountain peak several hundred miles away, the youth in the Daoist robe, Chen An, sat cross-legged. Beside him, that peach-wood sword emitted an eerie glow.

"Brother Changsheng, do you really think you can get away?"

"I still have a strand of your Dao companion's hair here. How do you plan to run?"

Chen An opened his eyes. A gray light flickered within them, as if he could pierce through the endless void to see exactly whom he wished to see.

"No one I, Chen An, want to kill has ever managed to escape, and you two are no exception."

"Once I consume you, I can reach the Spirit Severing stage. Then, the sky will be vast for me to soar, and I won't have to skulk around like a rat while cultivating anymore..."

Chen An laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the night sky.

In the cave, Qin Changsheng’s brow twitched. He felt a sense of foreboding, as if he were being watched once again.

"This guy, is he part dog? How can he sense us from this far away?" Qin Changsheng’s face darkened. He realized he had underestimated the youth in the Daoist robe; the man’s strangeness exceeded his imagination.

"Has he caught up?" Nangong Ruoxi’s expression changed as she looked at Qin Changsheng.

"No, but he has sensed us." Qin Changsheng said with a complicated look. "His sensory abilities are extremely powerful. Even though we concealed our auras, it’s impossible to hide them from him entirely."

"Then what do we do now?" Nangong Ruoxi began to panic. "If he finds us, aren't we dead?"

"Don't panic. Although he has sensed us now, there is still distance between us. We still have a chance..."

Qin Changsheng made a clicking sound and reached out to grab Nangong Ruoxi’s hand. Nangong Ruoxi’s expression stiffened. "What are you doing??"

"Leaving my aura on you." Qin Changsheng said earnestly.

"Leaving... your aura on me? Don't you dare... we're only fake Dao companions, I don't consent to this..." Nangong Ruoxi’s face turned bright red. When had this guy become so direct? Did he actually want to... in this cave?

"No, I’m helping you hide your aura so Chen An can’t lock onto your location. What’s the problem?" Qin Changsheng looked at her with a blank expression, his hands busy altering her aura. He stared at her, confused. "What are you thinking about, Saintess??"

"Nothing... nothing at all."

Nangong Ruoxi realized she had misunderstood and wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground. At the same time, she felt wronged—who told him to always speak with such suggestive implications? It sounded so impure... Was it her fault for overthinking?