Faced with this sudden upheaval, the demonic cultivators lost interest in everything else. They pushed aside their captives and rose, keeping watch around them.
Even so, they did not take Xu Ziqing very seriously. He looked young, and his aura was not particularly fierce. A quick examination revealed that he had not formed his Golden Core.
Since he was not yet at Golden Core, surely six or seven cultivators at the same general stage could defeat him?
Thus, although they were on guard, several still imagined they might soon acquire a new captive.
Hidden among the plants, Xu Ziqing remained perfectly calm.
These criminals deserved to die, but there were too many for him to confront openly. That was why he had created the miniature forest: he could use it for concealment and attack from advantageous positions. He cared little how he accomplished it, as long as he could end their crimes.
He activated the Wood-Escape Aura-Concealment Art and immediately blended into the vegetation. Even when the Essence Transformation cultivators swept the area with spiritual sense, they could not locate him.
Xu Ziqing opened one hand, and a short length of wood slowly grew from his palm. He sharpened it into a dagger.
Then he flicked his left hand, sending out several lengths of grass stems that transformed in a blink into small, bright-green venomous snakes.
The demonic cultivators were still searching without success.
The snakes slipped silently between the plants and suddenly attacked the nearest cultivator, biting his ankle and releasing their venom.
“Ah!”
The man screamed. Black energy climbed his leg and spread across his body in an instant.
His complexion turned greenish and his body stiffened. He transformed into a piece of wood!
His companions were horrified. When they checked for life, they found none. They immediately grew much more cautious and brought out their protective treasures.
They had assumed the intruder was a foolish junior presenting himself as easy prey. Yet before they had even seen him fight, his bizarre techniques had already killed one of their number.
They did not particularly grieve for their companion, but each was very concerned about his own survival.
Having succeeded once, Xu Ziqing operated his techniques more swiftly and concealed himself more thoroughly.
The first kill had been possible because of the enemy’s carelessness. Now that they were prepared, repeating the same tactic would be difficult.
But he had no intention of stopping.
He touched his brow and released several hundred Qingyun Needles.
The needles shot out like a furious rainstorm, so thickly that they seemed impossible to evade.
The cultivators were immediately surrounded. One was struck, and the affected flesh stiffened as though turning into dead wood, ready to crumble apart. Alarmed, the others hurriedly summoned magical treasures and surrounded themselves with layers of protective spiritual radiance.
Bright light erupted around them. The Qingyun Needles struck the barriers and became locked in a contest against them.
Xu Ziqing’s gaze chilled. He quietly recited several incantations.
Green vines abruptly shot from the trees and struck toward those barriers.
The vines looked unremarkable. The cultivators sneered, merely adding another layer of protection.
But just before striking the barriers, the vines swelled a hundredfold, becoming enormous green pythons as thick as barrels. They hurled themselves forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under repeated impacts the spiritual light began to tremble, as though it could not endure much longer.
The magical treasures producing the protection flickered and dimmed with every collision. Their owners watched in distress as the radiance weakened.
Meanwhile, the Qingyun Needles continued surging forward. Each time an attack failed, the needles withdrew and struck again without pause.
If the barriers cracked, the needles would exploit even the smallest gap and pierce through.
The demonic cultivators responded with techniques of their own.
One burly man spat out a mass of black light. A ghostly howl sounded within it as a skull appeared and swallowed several green needles.
Xu Ziqing frowned. He sensed that the swallowed needles had been contaminated by demonic qi and could not be recalled for the moment.
But he could not stop attacking. He simply created more huge green pythons and continued battering the barriers.
A thin, tall demonic cultivator’s eyes flashed purple. Two balls of violet flame appeared before him, radiating extraordinary heat.
As a green python struck, the smallest touch of purple fire spread across it. It became a burning serpent and was completely consumed in a few breaths.
The tall cultivator repeated the technique. In less than eight minutes, every one of the green pythons had been burned away.
Xu Ziqing took a deep breath and flicked out a speck of green light.
In the next instant, the nearest trees transformed into majestic eagles resembling Chonghua, large and small, all extremely agile.
They circled overhead without landing and spat balls of energy downward like projectiles at the cultivators.
Some opponents dodged, and the energy struck the floor, blasting deep craters.
This display of power shocked them anew.
The thin cultivator’s face twisted viciously. He sent his purple flames after the eagles.
Another cultivator produced streams of black qi, which formed dark sparrows that fought the eagles in midair.
Every demon used his own methods. Unfortunately for them, they did not trust one another and could not coordinate. Though they had numerous techniques, the combined result was unimpressive.
Xu Ziqing did not stop after deploying the Myriad Woods Spirit-Transformation Art.
He scattered more seeds, moving among the plants like a wisp of green smoke.
Then he approached a demonic cultivator, thrust with his wooden dagger, and pierced his skull.
Blood sprayed, blossoming like a crimson flower.
The sharp scent of blood filled the air. Those behind the protective barriers saw their companion fall, but none understood how Xu Ziqing had slipped inside the light. They had not even had time to assist him.
“Damn it! What kind of strange trick is this?”
“Where is he? I can’t see him!”
“Are all of us blind?”
“What technique is he using?”
Two men had already died. The incomprehensible nature of the attacks finally shook the survivors’ composure.
Fear was beginning to take hold of them.
Xu Ziqing disappeared as quickly as he had attacked, immediately merging with another tree.
He counted silently. Two dead. Five remaining. He needed to finish this quickly.
He had never expected that his Dao heart would remain so unmoved while killing.
So the saying about people burdened with countless evils was true. Even someone as gentle as Xu Ziqing could feel satisfaction when eliminating such criminals.
The remaining five no longer dared underestimate him. Several spat out demonic swords that hovered before them for protection.
One gathered great power in his palm and hurled it into a shadowy part of the forest, causing an explosion.
When the noise cleared, the trees there had been shattered. Yet green qi soon appeared, and even more vegetation sprang back.
At the sight of this, the cultivators pointed their demonic swords and began hacking at the trees indiscriminately.
Their demonic qi was dense. Each severed tree was left with black energy surrounding its stump, preventing it from regrowing immediately.
One cultivator brightened. “It works!”
The others copied him, summoning their swords and pouring power into the attack. They were determined to cut down the entire forest and expose the hidden intruder.
Xu Ziqing remained unruffled.
Demonic qi from cultivators at his own stage was indeed hard to dispel immediately. He would simply plant more trees.
Then he beckoned with his fingers. The red leaves climbing the walls released fine crimson threads that wove into a huge net, descending over one of the men.
The unfortunate cultivator was so delighted by the success of cutting down the trees that he failed to watch his back. The net caught him and its lethal poison dissolved his body, leaving only a pool of blood.
The red leaves came from an ancient seed Xu Ziqing had obtained. They were normally useful in alchemy to combine substances of opposing attributes, but before refinement the leaves themselves were profoundly poisonous. It was particularly attracted to true essence. Upon contact, it could dissolve a victim entirely.
The poison was effective mainly against those below Golden Core. Once a cultivator had formed a Golden Core, core fire could burn it away.
All the demonic cultivators in the hall were at Essence Transformation. One possessed extremely powerful purple flames.
To guard against him, Xu Ziqing had directed the net at only one enemy. Attacking too many at once would have risked giving the others an opening.
Another man had died in an instant, and the survivors were terrified.
The cultivator with purple flames took out a bottle, poured a pill into his mouth, and bit down. His face flushed violet as he spat an enormous stream of fire.
Purple flames spread across the forest, consuming trees and turning the crimson leaves along the walls into a sea of violet fire.
But after releasing that attack, the cultivator appeared badly weakened, with little strength left to continue fighting.
Xu Ziqing shifted position, brought a bamboo flute to his lips, and blew.
An exquisite, mysterious melody rang out. Ripples of sound spread outward in widening circles.
Caught unprepared, the cultivators’ flying swords froze for an instant.
Xu Ziqing seized the opportunity, darted forward, and struck one opponent down with his dagger.
He did not stop. He lunged at the exhausted fire cultivator, who had been slowed by his own technique and dazed by the flute’s melody. Unable even to summon back his flames, the man fell to Xu Ziqing’s next strike.
Now only two remained.
The purple fire dissipated, but the forest had been burned away, leaving Xu Ziqing completely exposed.
Xu Ziqing stood quietly where he was and made no attempt to hide.
The remaining two cultivators glared at him with murderous hatred.
Xu Ziqing ignored them. He raised his arm and spread his fingers.
Sixty-four demonic vines surged upward, engulfing the two men in the blink of an eye.