Outside the Silent Bone Forest.
The young man narrowed his eyes, watching the surging blood qi rolling ahead. Opposing it was a somewhat dark, turbid, and peculiar spiritual energy.
Was Dong Gua being pushed so hard that she'd activated her origin power?
Hadn't he already sent a message to Dong Gua two days ago, telling her to be careful? Had the message not been delivered?
The situation was somewhat strange, but the young man wasn't in a rush to go reinforce her.
No matter how you looked at it, Dong Gua was an early-stage Deity Transformation cultivator. She held an absolute advantage in cultivation realm.
Besides, if she truly couldn't win, it wasn't a big deal. Dong Gua wasn't stupid—if she couldn't beat them, couldn't she at least run?
Right now, the one in true danger was himself, who appeared to be safe.
After all, whether the Spirit Evil Cult envoy's words were true or not, nobody knew. They might be lying in wait somewhere right now, watching for his reaction.
If he charged in recklessly to support, the list of evil cultivators to be eliminated would probably include him.
Moreover, if they really had to kill this newly emerged evil cultivator, then so be it. It wasn't like he was one of their own.
He could still tell which matters were more important.
The young man lifted his head to look at the sun, mentally calculating the time. The Spirit Evil Cult envoy was already late by a few moments.
But rather than tardiness, he was more inclined to believe they were observing him from a distance.
"My, what a commotion. If you're going to fight, fight—why did you have to mow down all the grass too?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind the young man, causing his steady gaze to jolt. He quickly turned around, his eyes falling upon the leisurely-looking Chen Xingchen and the perpetually indifferent Xie Lingyu beside him.
He hadn't sensed a thing. They had simply slipped behind him that effortlessly.
The young man naturally knew Chen Xingchen's cultivation was far above his own. Anyone whose cultivation he couldn't see through at first glance was invariably a senior. But Xie Lingyu was different—he could still roughly sense Xie Lingyu's cultivation: around the Nascent Soul realm, and quite stable at that.
What was terrifying wasn't that Chen Xingchen could silently appear behind him. It was that he could bring Xie Lingyu along and still silently appear behind him.
Could it be... a Body Integration cultivator?!
The Spirit Evil Cult had cultivators of this caliber?
And such a cultivator was willing to serve as an envoy for the Dark Crow Bishop? What a joke—this cultivation was enough to serve as a Grand Elder in a minor sect in the Central Plains. Why come here and serve under someone else?
Soon, a thought surfaced in the young man's mind, and the more he considered it, the more likely it seemed!
Or perhaps... this so-called envoy was the Dark Crow Bishop himself!
After all, no one had ever seen the Dark Crow Bishop's true face. Whenever he appeared, he was draped in a black robe that blocked all detection, completely concealing his form, and wearing a specially crafted Black Crow Mask artifact on his face.
After all, the most important thing when running away was not letting anyone know what you looked like.
The young man stared intently at Chen Xingchen's face, trying to see through him completely.
Though it might be a disguised face, a person's general temperament and subconscious behaviors had a unique repetitiveness.
Chen Xingchen glanced down at him. "What are you looking at me for? What, are you making me your target?"
The young man quickly clasped his hands in salute:
"I wouldn't dare. I was simply awaiting your orders."
Chen Xingchen nodded. "The orders were given long ago. Go eliminate that evil cultivator."
"With a two-on-one advantage, we won't need to intervene personally. We'll just watch your back."
"Make sure they don't escape, or there'll be more trouble."
The young man froze at these words.
Two-on-one?!
Did this person know that Dong Gua and he were on the same side? Or did he simply figure that even without knowing Dong Gua, sharing a common enemy was reason enough to cooperate?
But before the young man could think further, Chen Xingchen urged:
"What are you still waiting for? Go help!"
"Yes..." The young man continued thinking, but his body didn't stop. He transformed into a streak of rainbow light and shot toward the center of the battle.
Watching the surging blood qi growing ever closer, watching Dong Gua's origin power erupting ever more fiercely.
The young man quickly made his decision.
He'd handle things first, and conveniently deliver a message to Dong Gua, telling her to flee early.
He could afford to fall here, but Dong Gua couldn't. She still needed to manage the mission at this location.
The young man raised his hand slightly. A black light flashed from his waist, and a black scythe as tall as he was materialized in his grip. Both hands tightened around it, and without hesitation, he pressed toward Li Xingtian who soared through the air controlling his blood qi power.
Li Xingtian shifted his gaze and quickly noticed the uninvited guest's arrival. However, behind this uninvited guest stood his own master, wearing a strange smile.
Was this an ally?
Had Master detected his situation and come to reinforce him?
It was kind of Master to go through the trouble, though this opponent was merely a somewhat useless Deity Transformation cultivator.
But very quickly, Li Xingtian watched as this supposed ally charged at him with the giant scythe raised, carrying an apocalyptic momentum.
This didn't look like backup coming to support him at all. It looked more like someone coming to chop his head off.
Li Xingtian frowned slightly.
What was wrong with this world? His spiritual energy was just a little red—why did everyone insist on branding him an evil cultivator and treating him like a villain?
Dong Gua also shifted over but didn't spot Chen Xingchen's figure. She only saw the young man charging at Li Xingtian with a death-defying stance.
She was momentarily confused.
She hadn't coordinated with Watermelon on this operation. By all rights, he shouldn't have known her whereabouts...
But never mind. He'd arrived just in time. She'd deal with this troublesome brat first.
Before the young man's scythe could reach Li Xingtian, he heard an angry voice transmission:
"Who are you attacking?! Don't you know blood qi is mainstream in our cult?!"
"Are you from the Spirit Evil Cult or not, you can't even recognize your own people?! Besides, isn't this person operating under the Spirit Evil Cult's name out there?!"
The young man's charging figure abruptly halted. He stood at a distance holding the scythe, glanced at Li Xingtian, then shifted his gaze to the even more shocked face of Dong Gua.
So this newly emerged evil cultivator was a chess piece personally placed by the Dark Crow Bishop? That's why inquiries to the Spirit Evil Cult all indicated they didn't know this new group.
A blood qi evil cultivator with a proper inheritance, appearing suddenly and strangely, expanding rapidly without fear of making enemies.
Thinking about it this way, it actually made sense.
The young man changed direction and charged toward Dong Gua. He raised the scythe and slashed down without any courtesy, his spiritual energy erupting wildly without reservation.
Dong Gua looked at the young man now charging at her with an expression that was hard to describe.
Watermelon hadn't come to support her—he'd come to support the enemy?!
Dong Gua struck back to disperse the incoming blood qi, then raised her soft-bone longsword to block the young man's scythe.
At the moment their attacks clashed, apart from the explosive sounds of violent spiritual energy, Dong Gua clearly heard the young man's urgent voice transmission:
"This is the real Spirit Evil Cult, and they're the Dark Crow Bishop's people. The Bishop himself is already here, his objectives unknown, but you've been exposed. The Dark Crow Bishop might personally be watching from the sidelines."
Dong Gua held off the young man's attack—impressive in display but moderate in force—while listening to his rapid-fire words, momentarily unable to process it all.
What was he even talking about?
What did any of this have to do with the Dark Crow Bishop?
The young man looked at Dong Gua's questioning eyes and could only shout through voice transmission:
"You idiot! Can't you at least run?!"
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