51: Chapter 51 The Chase

Inside the array screen of the Canghu Market, the lights were bright and the voices of the crowd surged like a tide.

Outside the array screen, there was only the chirping of insects and the mountain breeze.

A few old trees leaned over the hillside, perfectly suited for concealment.

Zhu Laosan crouched behind the tree roots, his eyes fixed on the exit of the Canghu Market.

Beside him were two others, one thin and tall, the other short and stout.

All three were rogue Cultivators who were accustomed to doing dirty work outside.

On days when the Canghu Market held large auctions, everyone coming and going was a fat sheep; if they could catch someone alone, it would be enough for them to hide away and live well for years.

Zhu Laosan watched for a long time before suddenly whispering, "She's out."

At the end of the forest shadows, Jiang Yuhe walked over from the direction of the Canghu Pavilion.

Her aura was suppressed to an extremely low level; had the three of them not been watching from outside the market, at a single glance, they would likely have mistaken her for an ordinary female Cultivator.

The short, stout Cultivator chuckled.

"This little girl has methods to conceal her Qi; without some skill, one really wouldn't be able to tell."

Zhu Laosan nodded, though his gaze was far more cautious than the other two.

"Robbing her is one thing, but if we can spare her life, we should."

"Didn't you hear? That Young Master Gu just publicly asked to marry her at the tea stall."

"If we actually kill her and Young Master Gu Xingzhi goes mad, none of us will be able to escape."

As he transmitted this, a glint of greed appeared in his eyes.

"Take the items she has, then hold her captive; later, we can still demand a ransom from the Gu Family."

The short, stout Cultivator's smile immediately widened.

"That Young Master Gu looks like the type who doesn't even blink when spending Spirit Stones."

The three watched as Jiang Yuhe walked step by step toward the market exit.

The array screen of the Canghu Market hung in the forest like a layer of faint, watery light.

The moment Jiang Yuhe stepped across the barrier, her figure seemed to be dipped in the night, and she suddenly faded away.

Zhu Laosan's eyelids twitched.

The next instant, she was gone.

The three rogue Cultivators landed almost simultaneously where she had just been standing.

The short, stout Cultivator reached out to touch the ground, rubbed his fingertips in the dirt, and his expression immediately turned ugly.

"The aura is broken."

The thin, tall Cultivator frowned and said, "An escape technique?"

Zhu Laosan looked around, still unwilling to give up on this job.

"She just left the market; she can't have gone far. Spread out and search, but don't stray too far."

The three of them scattered into the forest.

At the market entrance, the gatekeeping Cultivator remained lying on his chair, a book covering his face, his breathing steady, as if he were truly asleep.

Jiang Yuhe was traveling rapidly through the forest.

From the moment she stepped out of the Canghu Pavilion, she understood that she had already been targeted.

When Listening to Rain was spread out, there was more than one gaze landing on her; some looked at the Storage Pouch at her waist, some were curious why Young Master Gu Xingzhi had taken a fancy to her, and others simply wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kill and plunder.

There were at least a dozen of them.

Therefore, the moment she stepped across the market barrier, she activated the Hidden Cloud Concealment Talisman.

Cloud Qi clung to her body, her aura dissipated into the night, and immediately after, the Catalyzing Green Technique was activated repeatedly.

With a dip of the grass leaves, she was already dozens of feet away.

As the vine shadows swayed, she shifted into the deeper parts of the forest.

This technique was especially useful in the mountains and forests; it created no sound of wind and left few traces of Spiritual Qi.

In just a few breaths, she had left the market far behind.

However, no matter how exquisite the technique, it consumed true energy.

Jiang Yuhe had swapped positions dozens of times in a row, and the consumption was not insignificant.

Fortunately, the Grain Rain Spirit Register made her true energy dense, with a capacity nearly double that of others in the same realm; even with such frequent use of escape techniques, she had used less than a quarter of her true energy.

She held a Spirit Stone in each hand, absorbing Spiritual Qi as she moved.

The spiritual power flowed through her palms into her meridians, bit by bit replenishing what she had consumed.

But soon, someone caught up from behind.

That aura was not that of the three rogue Cultivators from earlier; the approach was extremely fast.

The opponent seemed to be stepping on a line of wind, constantly trailing behind her, and even when she used Catalyzing Green to swap positions, she couldn't completely widen the distance.

It's a flying Magical Artifact, the thought flashed through Jiang Yuhe's mind.

She had already suppressed her aura to an extremely low level and used the Hidden Cloud Concealment Talisman the moment she left the market.

Even if an ordinary Late Stage Cultivator had detection techniques, it would be difficult for them to hold onto her trail.

The way she was being pursued now felt more like someone had already left a mark on her.

But the Canghu Pavilion had been operating for many years, and the chamber maids were supposed to have sworn spiritual oaths not to reveal the whereabouts of guests.

If they couldn't even keep this rule, the Canghu Market would have long since become a laughingstock.

She did not intend to continue fleeing endlessly.

Although Catalyzing Green was fast, it would constantly consume true energy.

The longer this chase and flight dragged on, the more disadvantageous the situation would become.

She needed to test the depth of her opponent as soon as possible; if she could make the opponent understand that continuing the pursuit would come at a price, she would have a chance to escape.

Jiang Yuhe landed in a clearing in the forest.

The grass and leaves around her were covered in dew, and the mountain breeze passed over the treetops, causing the shadows of the leaves to sway.

She put away the Spirit Stones and waited quietly.

A moment later, a cyan-white light of escape landed outside the forest.

The person who arrived was wearing a cyan-white Daoist robe and standing on a long sword.

The sword body floated three inches off the ground, spiritual light flowing over it, carrying a very faint sound of wind.

He did not conceal his cultivation; the aura of a ninth-layer Perfection Cultivator pressed down like a thin blade.

Jiang Yuhe was not surprised.

Daring to chase her here alone, even if he were a tenth-layer Perfection Cultivator, was within her expectations.

She was not thinking of killing the opponent, only of demonstrating enough of a threat to make him retreat in the face of difficulty.

The Cultivator raised his hand, and the Flying Sword rose from beneath his feet, returning to circle around his body, rotating slowly.

He looked at Jiang Yuhe, his tone calm: "Apologies, Miss."

"You will not survive three rounds in my hands."

Before his words had even faded, the Signet of Seal within Jiang Yuhe's Dantian suddenly jolted.

Listening to Rain gave a warning; killing intent was on her left.

A Sword Qi was born silently in the wind, so close it almost grazed her shoulder and neck, too fast to form a technique to block.

Jiang Yuhe flooded her true energy into the Rain Screen of Perception, and a layer of watery screen appeared out of thin air on her left.

The Sword Qi struck the Rain Screen of Perception; the water light immediately indented, and cracks spread layer by layer.

The rain screen teetered on the verge of shattering, but it ultimately blocked the strike.

Finally, a hint of surprise appeared in the Cultivator's eyes.

The next instant, Sword Qi appeared from all directions.

The wind in the forest seemed to suddenly sprout blades, with a wisp of fine Sword Qi hidden within every strand of wind.

Jiang Yuhe heard the sound of the Sword Qi coalescing, as dense as countless threads of rain born against the wind.

She continued to pour true energy into the Rain Screen of Perception, the water light expanding to block the first round of encirclement, then a flash of green Qi flickered beneath her feet, and using Catalyzing Green to swap positions, she retreated outside the encirclement of the Sword Qi.

The Cultivator seemed to have expected her to retreat.

He had already come to kill, wielding his sword.

The long sword was wreathed in countless fine Sword Qi, like a layer of cyan-white scales.

This was not an ordinary sword-controlling technique, but the sharp edge of Sword Qi truly honed to Perfection.

The three realms of the Sword Cultivator: Sword Qi, Sword Essence, and Sword Intent.

This person had reached the end of the Sword Qi realm.

Thoughts flashed rapidly through Jiang Yuhe's mind.

The categories of the Dao are numerous; beyond the Five Virtues, there are many more types.

Lightning has the three branches of Profound Thunder, Sky Thunder, and Origin Thunder, while Qi has twelve separate types.

Clear Qi, Cold Qi, and Evil Qi are all among them, each with its own manifestation and each following its own method.

This person's Sword Qi was neither dry nor fierce, nor did it have the bone-chilling intent of Cold Qi, much less the sinister cruelty of Evil Qi that corrupts the body and erodes the bones.

That Sword Qi was too clean, like a pure wind, leaving behind only a single sharp edge.

It was most likely Clear Qi.

It was just that he used the sword to drive the Clear Qi, borrowing the wind to hide his sharp edge, which was why the Sword Qi seemed to be born from the wind in all directions.

The surrounding Sword Qi suddenly changed direction.

They no longer solely sought to kill, but instead cut off Jiang Yuhe's path of retreat, forcing her to contract toward the front.

And the main sword in the Cultivator's hand had already descended.

Jiang Yuhe raised her hand, and the Rain Screen of Perception condensed into a single line before her.

This time, the rain screen did not hold.

The sword light slashed down, and the water screen shattered in response.

The sword tip pierced through Jiang Yuhe's body, directly slicing her in two.

Only a patch of water-bubble-like light dispersed.

The Cultivator frowned.

"A false body?"

His gaze swept across the surroundings.

"Using concealment techniques to hide the true body, then using a false body to receive the sword; no wonder I didn't detect another aura."

He raised his hand and tapped his fingertip against the sword's edge.

The sword body chimed softly.