132: So Zhang is actually my junior brother.

The gale whipped sand and gravel, stinging the face.

On the narrow official road, the atmosphere was frozen to the extreme.

The white-robed Cultivator who called himself the leader of the "Righteous Army" held a broken sword, his gaze patrolling the crowd like a hungry wolf.

Every time his gaze swept over someone, that person felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, trembling as they took out their remaining silver scraps and jade pendants and threw them onto the ground.

"Hurry up! Haven't you eaten?"

The white-robed Cultivator kicked over an old man who was moving a bit slowly. The old man screamed and rolled into the ditch by the roadside, unable to crawl out for a long time.

In the crowd, Gu Changsheng hunched his back. The black cat "Coal Ball" in his arms seemed somewhat unsettled by the murderous atmosphere and nudged against his chest.

Gu Changsheng reached out and gently pressed the cat's head. In those cloudy eyes, a trace of hard-to-detect playfulness flashed.

[Target: Zhao Si (Outcast of the Taiqing Sect).]

[Cultivation: First Level of Qi Refining Stage (Unstable aura, suspected of using a 'Blood-Burning Pill' to force an increase).]

[Status: Extremely excited, strong fluctuations of killing intent.]

"So it's Junior Brother Zhao."

Gu Changsheng's heart was completely unruffled.

Back then in the Sect, this Zhao Si would bow and scrape whenever he saw an Inner Sect Disciple. Now that the Sect had fallen, he was putting on airs.

This is the Cultivation World.

When order exists, he is a sheep; once order collapses, he becomes a wolf.

Zhao Si's gaze finally swept toward Gu Changsheng.

Gu Changsheng didn't dodge; he just timely covered his mouth, letting out a heart-wrenching cough. His body slumped, leaning against a nearby freight cart, looking as if he might stop breathing at any moment.

Zhao Si's Divine Sense swept over.

"What bad luck."

Zhao Si looked away in disgust and pointed at the fat manager, cursing, "Fatty, is this the cargo you're bringing? You're even hauling a sick ghost with one foot in the grave?"

The fat manager clutched his swollen cheek and said with a fawning smile, "Immortal Master, please calm your anger. Although this poor scholar has no money, if his flesh and skin are useful..."

"Get lost! I don't eat human flesh!"

Zhao Si interrupted impatiently, his eyes greedily staring at the several carriages covered in black cloth at the back of the caravan. "Uncover those carriages! I smell Spirit Medicine!"

The fat manager's expression changed drastically.

That was his entire fortune for this trade trip and the foundation for his future in the Eastern Sea.

"Immortal Master, this... this cannot be..."

"You're looking for death!"

A fierce light glinted in Zhao Si's eyes. The broken sword in his hand hummed, and a pale green Sword Qi was about to strike.

Just then.

[Intelligence Refresh:]

[Three hundred zhang to the north, a Tier 2 Early Stage Yao Beast, the 'Iron-Backed Azure Bear,' has been attracted by the smell of blood and is in a state of hungry frenzy. Estimated to arrive at the battlefield in ten breaths.]

[Extremely sensitive sense of smell, has no resistance to 'Beast-Attracting Powder.']

Beneath Gu Changsheng's lowered eyelids, a sharp light flashed.

Ten breaths.

Enough.

He began to cough violently again. Using his trembling body as cover, he flicked his right hand hidden inside his sleeve.

A wisp of colorless and odorless powder drifted silently through the valley wind toward the swaggering Zhao Si.

Wind direction, wind speed, distance.

Everything was under the precise calculation of a Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.

The powder landed lightly on the back hem of Zhao Si's white robe, instantly merging into the fabric and disappearing.

"Since you won't give it, I'll take it myself!"

Zhao Si was still blustering, preparing to kill someone to assert his dominance.

"Roar—!"

A deafening beast roar, like a sudden thunderclap on level ground, abruptly exploded above the valley.

Rocks tumbled down, and the earth trembled.

Everyone looked up in terror.

A giant bear the size of a house appeared, covered in iron-like black fur, eyes blood-red, with long trails of saliva dripping, as it leaped down from the cliff.

Boom!

The giant bear landed, crushing a carriage instantly. Two Bandit Cultivators who couldn't dodge in time were turned into meat paste on the spot.

"A... A Tier 2 Yao Beast?!"

Zhao Si's Soul Flew Away and Spirit Scattered in fear, nearly losing his grip on the long sword.

This level of Yao Beast was equivalent to an Early Foundation Establishment Stage human Cultivator. Moreover, it was thick-skinned and tough, definitely not something a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator like him could handle.

"Run! Run fast!"

Zhao Si gave a strange cry, turning to flee by riding the wind.

However.

The Iron-Backed Azure Bear seemed to have locked onto him, ignoring the Mortals and horses fleeing in all directions. Its blood-red beast pupils were fixed on Zhao Si's back.

That was the scent of the "Beast-Attracting Powder."

In the Yao Beast's perception, Zhao Si was currently a walking piece of braised meat radiating ultimate temptation.

"Roar!"

The azure bear roared, its limbs exerting force. Its massive body was surprisingly lightning-fast, catching up to Zhao Si in just a few leaps.

"No! Why are you chasing me?!"

Zhao Si roared in despair, turning back to slash a beam of Sword Qi.

Clang.

The Sword Qi struck the azure bear's iron back, failing to cut even a single hair, only triggering a series of sparks.

The next instant.

A massive bear paw slapped down with a whistling wind.

Splat!

Just like swatting a fly.

Zhao Si's protective spiritual light shattered instantly. He was smashed into the mud, blood and organ fragments splashing everywhere.

Until the moment he died, he didn't understand why he was so unlucky.

The scene instantly fell into chaos.

Seeing their leader instantly killed, the remaining dozen or so Bandit Cultivators didn't dare stay. Each wished they had two extra legs as they fled in all directions, crying for their parents.

The azure bear swatted Zhao Si to death and was about to lower its head to enjoy this "feast."

In this moment of extreme chaos.

A dusty figure flashed past in the smoke and dust like a ghost.

Gu Changsheng used the Floating Light Fleeting Shadow Step, appearing as if he were fleeing in panic, just "passing by" Zhao Si's corpse.

With a swipe of his hand.

The bulging Storage Pouch at Zhao Si's waist instantly vanished.

Immediately after, he crouched down and rolled into the nearby bushes. Using a giant rock as cover, he completely concealed his aura.

The taiyin submerging spirit jade began to operate again.

The feeding azure bear twitched its nose and looked around in confusion.

It seemed to have felt something just now, but sniffing carefully, there was nothing besides the smell of blood and that alluring fragrance.

"Roar..."

The azure bear let out a low growl and lowered its head to continue tearing at the corpse.

In the distance.

The fat manager crawled out from under a carriage. Looking at the feeding giant beast, a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"Quick! While that beast is eating, let's get out of here!"

He climbed onto an uninjured horse, cracking his whip to flee for his life.

"Manager, what about the refugees?" a worker asked tremblingly.

"Let them die! Leaving them there is just right to fill that beast's stomach and buy us time!"

The fat manager roared, whipped the horse's rump, and sped away with his trusted subordinates.

The abandoned refugees cried out in despair, scurrying around like headless flies.

In the bushes.

Gu Changsheng watched this scene with cold eyes.

He was not a Saint; he couldn't save everyone.

Once that azure bear finished eating Zhao Si, it would soon look for its next target.

"Over there! Run toward the mud pit!"

A low, raspy, yet exceptionally clear voice suddenly reached the ears of the mother and daughter closest to the bushes.

The mother was shivering while holding her five or six-year-old daughter. Hearing the voice, she subconsciously glanced at the bushes.

No one was there.

But her survival instinct left her with no hesitation. She picked up her daughter, gritted her teeth, and rushed toward the foul-smelling mud pit not far away.

That was the territory of the Bone-Rotting Crocodiles, but it was also the only place the azure bear loathed and refused to approach.

As for whether they could survive, it would depend on their luck.

Having performed this sole "act of kindness," Gu Changsheng stayed no longer.

His figure was like a wisp of green smoke, staying close to the ground and moving against the wind, silently leaving this slaughterhouse... Three days later.

What the wind brought was no longer the smell of blood, but a salty, damp scent.

Gu Changsheng stood at the edge of a cliff, gazing as far as his eyes could see.

At the end of his vision was a boundless expanse of azure blue.

Waves crashed against the reefs, churning up thousands of snow-white peaks. Sea birds soared in the clouds, letting out crisp cries.

The Eastern Sea had been reached.

"Finally out."

Gu Changsheng took a deep breath, feeling much of the pent-up frustration in his chest dissipate.

Traveling this path, he had seen much slaughter and betrayal; the vastness of this ocean truly invigorated his spirit.

He found a leeward grotto, set up a simple warning Formation, and then took out the Storage Pouch from his robes.

Those were Zhao Si's remains.

His Divine Sense forcibly wiped away the residual imprint on it and tipped the pouch's opening downward.

Crash.

A pile of miscellaneous items tumbled out.

A few hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, several bottles of low-quality Medicinal Pills, a few unsightly Dual Cultivation art books, and... Gu Changsheng's gaze landed on a palm-sized, entirely jade-blue token.

The token's material was like jade yet not jade, cold as ice to the touch. On the front was carved a pavilion standing firm amidst stormy waves, and on the back were two ancient seal characters—

[Listen to the Sea].

"Ting Hai Pavilion?"

Gu Changsheng's brow twitched slightly.

He had seen this name in the miscellaneous records of the Taiqing Sect.

This was a mid-sized merchant association power on the edge of the Eastern Sea, starting with the sale of sea beast Materials and intelligence, its sphere of influence covering dozens of coastal islands.

Most importantly, the Ting Hai Pavilion was famous for "recognizing the token, not the person."

"Is this what they call 'sending a pillow just when one is getting sleepy'?"

Gu Changsheng picked up the token, his fingers tracing the patterns on it.

With this token, he could blend into the Eastern Sea Cultivation World with a legal identity, and even use the channels of the Ting Hai Pavilion to slowly launder the illicit loot in his hands.

"Junior Brother Zhao, although your character wasn't great, your delivery was quite punctual."

Gu Changsheng tucked the token into his robes, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He turned and walked out of the grotto. Facing the sea breeze, his originally hunched body gradually straightened.

He shed that sickly disguise.

Replacing it was an unremarkable yet deep-eyed young face.

"The Eastern Wastelands are already a land of death. This Eastern Sea..."

Gu Changsheng looked at the several immortal islands faintly visible on the distant sea surface, a golden light swirling in his eyes.

"I hope it allows me to quietly lay low until I reach the Purple Mansion."

He patted the black cat on his shoulder.

"Coal Ball, let's go. I'll take you to eat fish."

One man and one cat transformed into an inconspicuous streak of light, vanishing between the vast sea and sky.