Cheng Xia eyed the talented young man before him. While his strength didn't seem to change visibly, and his qi remained the same, he felt as if something about his mental state changed, and a mysterious aura exuded from him.
Zhang Yun Guang felt the same way, however he was more knowledgeable at what might have happened.
"A Divine Sense cultivation method huh"
Bai Hu nodded, "I chanced upon this technique a while ago"
The young man's eyes glowed as he turned his attention to the gains of his latest breakthrough.
His Divine Sense has now grown much more powerful, much more than peers at the same cultivation level. This would allow him to defend against soul and mind related attacks and possess a stronger detection ability.
Additionally, he gained some elevated abilities that can utilize his stronger Divine Sense.
His spiritual power surged towards his eyes, causing them to glimmer with a bluish light.
Weng!
His gaze pierced through the forest, sweeping past the terrain, registering dozens of magical beasts that were hidden. The world seemed fresh to his eyes, as if nothing could hide from his gaze. Every leaf on every branch, every blade of grass, every rustle of movement in the dense foliage, nothing escaped Bai Hu's senses.
Suddenly, his Divine Sense caught the scent of a foul aura, one that made his blood run cold. Murderous intent seeped out, causing his companions to turn towards him with concern.
Bai Hu recognized that aura in an instant, for he remembered it from the depths of his heart. Specifically requesting his master for items containing this aura, Bai Hu engraved it into his very being.
"Demonic Cultivators"
Cheng Xia and Zhang Yun Guang both tensed up at Bai Hu's words, fearing the worst. Bai Hu focused his Divine Sense and approached where the demonic aura had come from.
Through dense foliage, Bai Hu saw a clearing in the dense forest where the towering trees did not grow. There, the grass was withered, and no life seemed to dare come close.
Formation flags were planted in a circular pattern, forming a concealment Formation around a group of 10 young men dressed in black robes.
"There are 10 of them," Bai Hu said, his voice heavy with disgust, "All wearing the uniforms of the Blackened Soul Sect"
The Blackened Soul Sect, a sect of demonic cultivators specializing in harvesting the souls of living beings for their cultivation methods. They were one of the 5 major Demonic Cults of the Desolate Region.
Cheng Xian gripped his sword, "What are their cultivation levels?"
Bai Hu took a deep breath and focused his eyes. His Divine Sense gathering and wrapping around the demonic cultivator's Formation.
Being that it was of cheap quality, his spiritual power penetrated easily, finding that each of the young men had cultivation levels at the peak of Qi Refining. With his strengthened Divine Sense, there was no need to worry about them finding out that they were being spied upon.
He withdrew his senses, "10th level of Qi Refinement"
-
"Tsk!"
One black robed man slammed his fist down at the ground, the bare dirt devoid of vegetation.
"Why do we have to do all the work?! Anybody with their Foundation's established could finish this job in a matter of days. We are only in the Qi Refining realm, and would take weeks, not to mention risk our fucking lives!"
The rest of them were quiet, but it was clear from their expressions that they shared his sentiment.
There was an uncomfortable silence, followed by one of the young men clearing his throat.
"Ahem"
They turned to him at once, a few harboring traces of fear in their eyes. It was clear from their reactions and the more powerful treasures he possesses that he was their leader.
His pale and long face was devoid of emotion as he spoke, "Lets just get this over with, a few more days and we will be able to reach the teleportation Formation"
Before anyone could respond however, a chilling feeling came over them, causing goosebumps to pop up on their skin and their neck hairs to bristle.
The leader paled even more, "Scatter!"
The 10 demonic cultivators jumped in different directions as a streak of light descended upon them like a ballista bolt.
Boom!
The Formation collapsed immediately and the impact was great. Dirt flew in all directions, causing a dust cloud to erupt. The leader of the demonic cultivators waved his sleeve, causing a gust of wind to blow away the dirt cloud.
At the center of impact, a deep crater surrounded an ordinary looking steel sword, gleaming with sharpness.
Seeing a human weapon in a forest where only powerful beasts should reside, the demonic cultivators grew vigilant and drew their weapons.
Whoosh!
A shadow descended, much too fast for any of them to react, and reached the sword in an instant.
The leader's expression twisted, "It's an attack!"
All 10 demonic cultivators launched ranged attacks towards the center of the small crater. Black mist surged in from all sides, carrying afterimages of ghoulish faces.
A voice came from the center of the crater.
"Hundred Sword Slash!"
Time seemed to freeze as the black mist halted suddenly. The demonic cultivators looked on in fear for a moment before each jumping back farther, for they sensed a danger that threatened their lives behind the mist.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The sound of a sword whistling through the air rang clearly, cutting and dispersing the black mist with ease. At the center of the crater, Cheng Xia revealed himself, his sword in his hand as the wind blew through his hair and robes.
He opened his eyes and scanned the demonic cultivators. Cheng Xia took one look at the cultivator's necks and a look of resolve appeared in his eyes.
On each of the 10 Qi Refining Cultivators of the Blackened Soul Sect's necks was a black snake tattoo, wrapped around with almost lifelike detail.
The young man raised his sword, "Since there won't be any useful information coming out of you guys, I'll spare the talking and kill you all"
His aura surged, showcasing the full might of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Most of the demonic cultivators shrunk back in fear, but the leader merely furrowed his brows.
"He's a newly advanced one, we can take him"
Hearing this, his companions regained a bit of courage and raised their magic weapons at Cheng Xia. Their leader made a hand seal with one hand, and the others followed suit in quick succession.
Weng!
A burst of qi exploded forth from each of the demonic cultivators, rising up as black mist and forming a domelike structure around Cheng Xia. The young swordsman looked on with mild interest, as if amused by their efforts to defeat him.
The demonic cultivators knelt down and placed a palm on the ground, ""Black Entanglement Formation!""
Cheng Xia felt a mild pressure on his body as the dome solidified around him. The mist hardened like the black carapace of an insect, and afterimages of ghoulish faces appeared periodically across its surface.
He snorted at their attempts, lashing out with his sword.
Clink!
The young man's face contorted for a brief moment when his sword was bounced back by a repelling force.
A voice from the outside sneered, "You've only recently established your foundation, and you think you can take on 10 cultivators at the peak of Qi Refining?"
Cheng Xia smiled at the taunting and merely raised his sword above his head. His aura soared, with sharp metal qi gathering at the tip of his sword. After a moment, he brought down his blade with terrifying force.
"One Sword Splits The Heavens! Split The Earth!"
BOOM!
A powerful force cleaved cleanly through the barrier, shattering the dome as if it were made of glass. Cheng Xia's sword strike traversed through the dome, tearing up the ground and leaving a deep gash that ran for several meters.
As the dust settled, he turned towards the demonic cultivators, who had regrouped into a sort of battle formation while he was trapped. Their auras seemed to combine into one powerful force, but the fear was evident on their faces.
The leader, who stood in the center of the battle formation, had a contorted expression etched onto his pale face. He had not expected Black Entanglement Formation, which had easily trapped early Foundation cultivators in the past, to fail on someone who had merely just advanced.
Gritting his teeth, he prepared to yell out something when a black shadow shot down from the trees above, tearing through the wind and dispersing all of the falling leaves in its path.
Bang!
A sound akin to a watermelon bursting rang clear, and droplets of crimson rain fell upon the faces of the demonic cultivators. Each of them turned to their leader, only to find that where his head was supposed to be, nothing remained.
An imposing black spear was planted deeply into the ground, blood dripping down, barely visible against the dark surface.
Bai Hu jumped down, his imposing aura of a Foundation level cultivator. He reached out his hand, condensing spiritual energy to grab his spear and bring it back into his hands.
The headless corpse fell, blood staining the dirt ground.
He smirked, "Still think you can take us on?"