Chapter 37: Ling Xue's First Kill of a Master-Realm Expert

The Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator was feeling smug about his decisive maneuver when two arrows whistled toward him, startling him into dropping flat onto the ground.

The arrows missed, but Qin Anyu was not disappointed. He stowed his bow and sprinted toward his opponent. This body had never used a bow before; the last time he had managed to kill an opponent at Huaishan, it was only because those two fools had been so terrified they ran in a straight line, making them essentially stationary targets. While the Qin clan possessed formidable archery techniques, the quality of this bow was abysmal, and he hadn't practiced with it, so its power remained lackluster.

Seeing him fire, the Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator slammed both hands against the ground and propelled himself backward. Though the Toad Technique was meant only for advancement, his ability to retreat was quite impressive. However, his retreat was slower than Qin Anyu’s approach. Once closed in on, he resorted to a "lazy donkey roll" to evade Qin Anyu’s strike. This tactic proved troublesome for Qin Anyu; as long as the man kept rolling on the ground without rising, it was difficult to land a clean attack.

Glancing sideways at Qin Lingxue’s battle, he saw she was in no danger, though she hadn't finished off her opponent either. While her opponent was only an Eighth Realm practitioner and she was a Ninth, her shorter reach and lack of raw strength forced her to rely on agile footwork to stall. Still, defeating her opponent entirely would take time. Seeing she was safe for the moment, he turned his focus back to his own fight.

He drew another arrow and fired, not caring whether he hit or how the man rolled. Eventually, the man would tire or make a mistake—he treated it as archery practice. Finally, on the fifth shot, he found his rhythm, and an arrow buried itself into the man's thigh. With that injury, Qin Anyu didn't give him a chance to pull it out, quickly landing two more hits.

Having lost the initiative, the cultivator desperately slammed his hands down to shift his body laterally. His posture was too overextended, and he underestimated Qin Anyu’s speed; just as he was about to land, an arrow pierced his flank. He let out a piercing scream, his strength vanished, and he fell to the ground in a parabolic arc. The impact was brutal. The first arrow had transfixed his thigh, and the one in his calf tore through flesh and muscle, causing him to collapse in agony.

Qin Anyu did not miss this opportunity, firing one more arrow into the man’s throat. Seeing the fountain of blood, he knew the man was finished and turned his attention back to his younger sister.

Qin Lingxue was still locked in combat. Despite her disadvantage in reach and strength, she was a Ninth Realm practitioner trained in a major sect, and her footwork was vastly superior. The Eighth Realm opponent, panicked by seeing Qin Anyu slaughter his companions one after another, was only looking for an escape, and she had been pinning him down to prevent his flight.

Now that her strongest companion had been killed, the man panicked further, leaving opening after opening. When the third such opening appeared, she seized it, driving her sword into his thigh. This turned the man feral; knowing he was doomed, he launched a frantic assault that forced her to retreat, causing her to panic as well.

"Stay calm, little sister," Qin Anyu said coolly. "He’s the one who should be panicking."

Qin Lingxue let out a long breath. "That's right, why am I panicking?"

Her mindset stabilized instantly. Returning to her standard training and applying the insights she had heard from Qin Anyu over the past two days, she turned the tide from a disadvantage to a stalemate. The Eighth Realm fighter, spent in both spirit and stamina, eventually collapsed. After she slashed his abdomen, she finished him off by decapitating him.

Once the deed was done, she retreated a few steps, sat down on the ground with a thud, and took deep breaths before pulling out a piece of red ginseng to bite into. Qin Anyu let her be as he went about his own business. It was clearly her first time killing someone. Such a first experience was difficult for anyone; it required a psychological adjustment. Whether she could adapt would determine if she could become a true cultivator; if not, she would have no future to speak of.

He went to check the other opponents, but they were all dead—some from blood loss, others from the impact of his earlier strikes. He realized they were only at the Qi Refining or Nourishing stages, no different from mortals, and in this barren realm, there were no high-level medicines to stop their bleeding—even if there were, they wouldn't have possessed them. It was a pity; he wouldn't be able to trace who was targeting him, and the trail went cold.

A moment later, he chided himself: Qin Zhuo and Dai Linglong had already been sent to the Dali Kingdom, so why worry about this? His current task was to level up quickly and head for Dali; as for these people seeking death, he would simply kill them as they came.

Having cleared his mind, he felt much lighter and began collecting their belongings. He couldn't waste their "good intentions." In the Immortal Realm, he wouldn't have bothered with such trifles unless they were great treasures, but here, the girl often fretted about not having enough silver, so he couldn't pass up this unexpected windfall.

He searched them one by one, emptying their pouches and bundles, gathering all the gold, silver, and medicinal herbs. Seeing him rummaging through their things, Qin Lingxue finished her ginseng and stood up. "Big brother, let me help."

"Adapted already?" Qin Anyu asked with a smile.

"I have," she replied. "If I didn't kill him, he would have killed me. They came here to kill us in the first place."

"Little sister," Qin Anyu said with a laugh, "if you want to be a cultivator, you must be prepared for this."

"Big brother, what is a cultivator?"

Hearing her question, Qin Anyu was momentarily stumped. After a long pause, he replied, "Why did you join the sect?"

"To improve my combat skills and protect our family."

Hearing this, he realized that perhaps the level of this plane was too low, or her standing was too humble for her to know the concept of a "cultivator." He asked, "Do you know what comes after the Qi Refining stage?"

Qin Lingxue shook her head blankly. Qin Anyu proceeded to explain the stages before immortality: Nourishing Qi, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Void Refinement, Dao Integration, and Great Ascension, describing the characteristics of each.

After hearing the list, she asked in astonishment, "Big brother, there are so many stages? How do you know all of this?"

He coughed to cover his tracks and replied, "I’ve had a few fortuitous encounters, that's all." In truth, in the Immortal Realm, one was born at the Qi Refining stage; the Nourishing Qi stage was something only found in the lower realms.

As they chatted, they finished collecting the loot. He was disappointed to find that the mid-stage cultivator’s storage ring was only three feet in size, and apart from some gold and silver, it contained no medicinal herbs worth keeping. While he found it lackluster, Qin Lingxue was overjoyed. "Wow, this cultivator is so wealthy! This is at least three hundred and fifty taels of gold."

When they were ready to leave, she gathered the horses that hadn't fled. "Big brother, these horses are worth a few taels of gold, too!"

Qin Anyu ruffled her hair. "Are you really that desperate for gold?"

She nodded vigorously. "Without Mom and Dad to provide resources, we have to save every copper coin."

He was speechless. Could she not grow up so fast? He said nothing more and joined her in herding the horses. After reaching the city, they found a horse market. Qin Anyu was inexperienced in such matters, so he let Qin Lingxue handle the negotiations. After some haggling, they sold the horses for ninety-five taels of silver. Though it wasn't even a full tael of gold, it made her beamingly happy. Qin Anyu didn't take the silver; he let her keep it all.