The Transmigrator's Cultivation

Arc 16: Tai Gu Desert | Chapter 308: Xu Ziqing's Battle

Suddenly encountering this turn of events, the demon cultivators lost all interest in seeking pleasure, throwing aside the individuals beneath them and standing up, becoming alert.

However, they didn’t regard Xu Ziqing as a serious threat. First, he was quite young, so they assumed he didn’t have many powerful techniques. Second, Xu Ziqing’s aura wasn’t particularly fierce; with a glance, they could tell he hadn’t yet formed his core.

Since he hadn’t formed his core, could they not defeat just one person of the same realm?

Thus, while they remained cautious, they were still thinking that before long, they would have a new source of energy to siphon.

Xu Ziqing hid among the many plants, feeling extremely calm.

He knew these were all demons that must be killed, but there were too many of them, and facing them head-on would likely lead to defeat. However, if he could create this forest, he could use it as cover and wait for an opportunity to act. At this moment, he wouldn’t hesitate in his methods; as long as he could kill these beasts, that was enough!

With this thought in mind, he activated the “Wood Escape and Breath Concealment Technique,” successfully hiding his traces and merging with the plants. Even if the Core Formation stage demon cultivators scanned him with their divine senses, they wouldn’t be able to perceive where he was.

Then, Xu Ziqing opened his hand, and a short piece of wood slowly emerged from his palm, which he quickly sharpened into the form of a dagger.

He shook his left hand, sending out several stalks of grass, which in an instant transformed into a few small snakes, entirely green but venomous.

As those demon cultivators searched for Xu Ziqing’s trace, they remained oblivious to his presence.

The small snakes slithered through the foliage and, in an instant, pounced on the nearest demon cultivator, biting his ankle and injecting all their venom!

“Ah!”

A scream erupted from the demon cultivator as a stream of black mist began to snake up from his feet, quickly enveloping his entire body.

His complexion turned pale, and his body stiffened, transforming into a piece of wood!

The other demon cultivators were shocked, reaching out to sense him, only to realize that his life force had vanished; he was already dead. They immediately became extremely cautious, each conjuring defensive artifacts and behaving more carefully.

Originally, they thought he was just some young junior who had stumbled upon them, but unexpectedly, his techniques were quite strange. Without even making contact, he had already killed one person.

Though they didn’t feel any particular affection for their fallen comrade, they were all extremely concerned for their own lives.

Having succeeded with his first strike, Xu Ziqing accelerated the activation of his spells, hiding himself even deeper.

While he could kill one person by taking advantage of their underestimation, doing it again would be impossible. However, he wasn’t about to back down.

Xu Ziqing flicked his brow and released hundreds of Qingyun Needles.

The needles rained down like a torrential storm, densely packed and impossible to evade.

Immediately, the demon cultivators were surrounded by the Qingyun Needles, and one unfortunate individual was hit, instantly freezing in place, as if he was turning into dry wood, on the verge of shattering. The others were greatly alarmed upon seeing this and hurriedly summoned their magical treasures to shield themselves.

In an instant, brilliant light enveloped them, and the Qingyun Needles struck against this protective light, momentarily becoming locked in a stalemate.

Xu Ziqing’s gaze turned cold as he recited a few incantations.

Suddenly, several green vines erupted from the trees and shot toward the area of light.

These vines didn’t seem particularly strange, and the demon cultivators looked at them with disdain, merely augmenting their protective light by another layer.

However, just as the vines reached the light, they suddenly expanded a hundredfold, transforming into a giant green python the size of a water barrel, crashing forward—

“Boom—Boom Boom!”

With repeated collisions, the protective light began to tremble, as if it wouldn’t withstand much longer before shattering.

The treasure radiating spiritual light also flickered with brilliance. However, each time the green python crashed into it, the light dimmed a little, causing the demon cultivators to feel deep anguish.

Yet the Qingyun Needles continued to surge forward; although they couldn’t penetrate the protective light in one go, they would relentlessly attack again and again.

If the protective light were truly broken, even a tiny gap would allow the Qingyun Needles to slip through and strike again.

Seeing this situation, the demon cultivators also began to use their techniques.

One burly man spat out a ball of black light, which seemed to contain wailing ghosts, transforming into a skeleton that opened its mouth and swallowed several Qingyun Needles.

Xu Ziqing furrowed his brow, realizing that the needles had been tainted by demonic energy and, for the time being, could not return. However, he couldn’t hold back and simply transformed several more giant pythons, charging toward the protective light.

A thin, elongated demon cultivator’s eyes sparkled with purple light, and two balls of purple fire suddenly appeared before him, radiating incredible heat.

As the green python collided, it was tainted by a bit of purple fire, which quickly engulfed it, transforming the green python into a fire python that was incinerated in an instant!

Then, the thin demon cultivator repeated this technique, and in less than half a moment, he had burned all the green pythons.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Ziqing flicked his fingers, releasing a point of blue light.

In an instant, the nearest trees to the demon cultivators transformed into majestic eagles resembling the legendary Chonghua. Whether large or small, they were all incredibly agile.

These eagles circled in the air without landing, spitting out air blasts like projectiles, smashing down onto the heads of several demon cultivators!

Some demon cultivators took the opportunity to dodge, and when the air blasts landed on the ground, they instantly exploded into deep craters.

Such power startled the demon cultivators.

The thin demon cultivator’s face twisted with a hint of ferocity as he directed the purple fire straight at the eagles!

Another demon cultivator also grimaced, unleashing a multitude of black mist that transformed into black birds in the air, engaging in combat with the eagles.

Each demon cultivator employed their techniques, but unfortunately, lacking mutual trust and working independently, their efforts, while numerous, weren’t very effective.

Even as Xu Ziqing utilized the Ten Thousand Woods Transforming Spirits Technique, he did not stop there. He raised his hand to plant more vegetation, moving through the air like blue smoke. Then, approaching one of the demon cultivators, he thrust his dagger, piercing through the cultivator’s skull! Blood splattered, blooming into a flower of crimson.

The sudden, acrid smell of blood spread. The demon cultivators within the protective light saw their comrade die, yet not one noticed how Xu Ziqing had entered the protective light, nor could they respond in time to assist; they only saw the fallen corpse.

“Damn it! This is so strange!”

“Where the hell is that guy? I can’t see him!”

“With so many of us, are we all blind?”

“What techniques is he using?”

After two deaths, such a bizarre situation caused the demon cultivators to feel an uncontrollable sense of panic rising within them.

For a moment, they could no longer maintain their composure.

After Xu Ziqing struck, he immediately fled, not pausing for a moment. At this time, he hid within another tree, disguising himself to blend in like the surrounding vegetation.

In his heart, he calculated: Two had died, and five remained; it was essential to settle this quickly.

He had never realized that when he killed, his heart remained so undisturbed.

This showed the saying that the world is full of evil; even someone as calm as Xu Ziqing felt only exhilaration when punishing such villains.

The remaining five dared not delay even a moment. Several of them spat out demonic swords, which spun and hovered protectively before them.

One of the demon cultivators summoned a powerful force in his palm, striking a deep grove, causing a loud explosion.

After the loud noise, that area of trees collapsed, but soon green energy surged forth, and more vegetation began to grow again.

Seeing this, the demon cultivators pointed their demonic swords at the trees and began to chop away recklessly.

The demonic energy was vigorous, and every time a tree was severed, black mist spiraled from the cut, preventing it from regenerating for the time being.

The demon cultivators’ expressions brightened, and one exclaimed, “It works!”

The others followed suit, raising their demonic swords again, urging their power, determined to annihilate all the vegetation to force the ambusher to reveal himself!

Xu Ziqing watched this without panic.

It was indeed challenging to dispel the demonic energy emitted by those at the same realm, but he could just plant again.

Then, he pointed his finger, and the blood-red leaves on the wall drew out fine blood threads, transforming into a massive red net that descended upon one of the demon cultivators!

Unfortunately, that demon cultivator, overly delighted at having chopped the trees, did not notice the danger from behind. In an instant, he was ensnared, and his flesh and blood gradually dissolved within the net… In a blink, a pool of blood pooled on the ground, melting even the bones.

This red leaf was something Xu Ziqing obtained from ancient seeds, originally used in alchemy to fuse opposing attributes. However, before it was refined, it was extremely poisonous and favored true essence. Once touched, it would completely dissolve flesh and bone.

However, while the poison was indeed lethal, it primarily affected cultivators below the Golden Core level; those who had reached that stage could burn away the poison using alchemical fire.

All the demon cultivators in the room were at the Core Formation stage, and among them was one who possessed purple fire, quite formidable.

To prevent that person from interfering, Xu Ziqing only targeted one demon cultivator; otherwise, if he gave others the chance, it would be troublesome.

In that fleeting moment, with another death, the demon cultivators were horrified.

The one with the purple fire took out a bottle, poured out a pill, bit it to shatter, and then his face turned purple as he opened his mouth, spewing forth a massive torrent of flame!

The purple flames instantly spread over the surrounding trees, burning quickly, and the many red leaves on the wall turned into a sea of purple fire.

However, after unleashing this attack, the demon cultivator appeared extremely weakened, seemingly out of energy to continue fighting.

Xu Ziqing swayed slightly, and a bamboo pipe appeared in his hand. He brought it to his lips and blew.

In the next moment, a profound and mysterious flute sound resonated, creating ripples that expanded outward in waves.

The demon cultivators were caught off guard, their flying swords hesitated for a moment.

Xu Ziqing seized the opportunity to rush over, flicking his wrist and causing another demon cultivator’s head to explode. He did not pause, leaping in front of the weakened demon cultivator, unleashing purple fire. The demon cultivator was already somewhat sluggish, and under the interference of the flute sound, he became even drowsier. In Xu Ziqing’s grip, he couldn’t even summon back the purple fire and met his demise.

At this point, only two demon cultivators remained.

Now that the purple fire had dissipated and the trees had all been burned, Xu Ziqing was completely exposed.

Yet Xu Ziqing stood there quietly, no longer hiding.

The two demon cultivators glared fiercely at Xu Ziqing, truly eager to devour him.

Xu Ziqing paid them no mind. He raised his arm, and spread his five fingers—sixty-four demonic vines shot up into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, they had engulfed the two demon cultivators.

Translator: Lynn

Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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