The Myriad Path Sect was located in the northern part of the Myriad Valleys province. Traveling there from the Celestial Sword Sect’s territory required walking across countless miles. At least, for those on foot.

  Cultivators in Foundation Establishment and above could use flying artifacts to shorten the time spent traveling. However, Yue Xing was not in Foundation Establishment. Not only that, but he was just a body cultivator at the moment.

  While this meant he had unparalleled battle prowess compared to other kinds of cultivators in the same realm, that was all he was good for.

  Body cultivators paid for their strength in battle with a lack of versatility. They couldn’t control artifacts, cast spells, set up advanced formations, etc. For this reason, many body cultivators also became spiritual energy or soul cultivators if they could.

  Of course, Yue Xing didn’t have to travel on foot. He had other options. Transportation services existed in the cultivation world. If he spent enough spirit stones, he could arrive at the Myriad Path Sect within a matter of days. However, he chose not to.

  Yue Xing didn’t mind traveling on foot. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. It gave him a new appreciation for winter. When he first woke up, after the Celestial Sword Sect expelled him, he found the snow-covered landscape barren and desolate.

  However, after going through a rebirth and becoming a cultivator again, he saw that winter had its own beauty. Snow blanketed the land as far as the eye could see. It made everything look pristine and pure.

  As Yue Xing traveled, he sometimes felt as if he were the only living being still awake in the world. Nothing else stirred. Not plants, not animals, not people. It was just him, with the wind and the snow for company. Despite this, Yue Xing didn’t feel alone. Rather, he found the solitude peaceful and quiet.

  So much so that he went out of his way to avoid civilization and traveled through the wilderness. While this slowed him down somewhat, he found the trade-off more than worth it.

  Besides, as a cultivator, it was best to avoid interacting with the mortal world too much. There were exceptions of course, such as protecting mortals from rampant spirit beasts or demonic cultivators, but they were just that, exceptions.

  As for cities and towns for cultivators, Yue Xing decided to avoid them as well. Both because he wanted to enjoy his journey, and because he wanted to minimize his chances of running into someone from the Celestial Sword Sect.

  Of course, Yue Xing made sure to diligently cultivate everyday. Thanks to the seed of the Divine Vitality Lotus, and the cultivation pills his mother gave him, he progressed by leaps and bounds. Soon, he reached the second layer of the Verdant Spring Art.

  While each small realm took longer to reach than the last, Yue Xing estimated that he would reach peak Qi Refining within a few short years. This speed astonished him. Last time, it took him nine and a half years to reach that point, with half a year spent on breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

  Yue Xing traveled like this for a couple of weeks, until he saw a thin plume of black smoke in the sky. He stopped for a moment to observe it, before he headed towards the source of the black smoke.

  While Yue Xing wasn’t the most righteous of cultivators, he wasn’t one to turn a blind eye to those in need. If he witnessed injustice and could do something about it, he would. This had been true before the Celestial Sword Sect expelled him, and it remained true now.

  When Yue Xing drew closer to the source of the black smoke, he slowed his steps and moved with caution. He wanted to observe the situation first before making a move. Otherwise, he might end up in trouble himself, making it more difficult to help others.

  Soon, a small village came into view, situated at the bottom of a large hill. At least, what remained of it. Most of the buildings were nothing more than burnt and charred ruins. Corpses laid in the snow, covered in soot and blood. Yue Xing counted a few dozen of them, which accounted for most of the village’s population. He didn’t know if there were any survivors.

  Nothing stirred in the burnt village. Everything remained cold and silent. The only hint of movement came from the thin plume of smoke rising in the air. From what Yue Xing observed, there were no living beings left in the village. Only the dead remained.

  Yue Xing took a few moments to make sure of this, before he headed into the village itself. The smell of blood and ash lingered in the air, mingling with the stench of fear and despair.

  A thread of anger wrapped around Yue Xing’s heart. However, he reminded himself to remain cool and collected. As angry as this all made him, he couldn’t let his anger control him.

  Composed once more, Yue Xing examined the bodies. It soon became clear that this hadn’t been the work of mere bandits. The people of this village died at the hands of cultivators. Yue Xing recognized the traces of artifacts and spells. Not only that, but he sensed the presence of demonic energy.

  Yue Xing’s lips curled with disgust.

  Demonic cultivators were vile and evil. They used heinous methods to support their cultivation, from blood sacrifices to refining people into pills. They had no bottom line. No method was too profane, too evil, for them. If it suited their purposes, they used it.

  Demonic cultivation offered quick and easy access to power. That was why most demonic cultivators practiced it. However, this resulted in unstable cultivation bases and unsteady mental states.

  Most demonic cultivators often lost themselves to madness, becoming little more than rabid beasts that needed to be put down. Many even became victims to their fellow cultivators.

  Of course, these weren’t the most dangerous ones. No. The most dangerous demonic cultivators were the ones that maintained their sanity and stabilized their cultivation bases. These demonic cultivators were true threats.

  After half an hour, Yue Xing finished searching through the whole village. The demonic cultivators had killed almost every living being, including the animals. However, he found traces of some kind of wagon or cart.

  The demonic cultivators hadn’t looted the village of its mortal valuables, which suggested that they needed the cart to carry prisoners. Yue Xing didn’t know why the demonic cultivators had bothered taking prisoners, but he knew it couldn’t be for a good reason.

  Thankfully, the snow made it easy to track them down. Some of the buildings were still warm, meaning the demonic cultivators left not too long ago. They were also burdened with prisoners, which slowed them down. If Yue Xing hurried, he’d be able to catch up to them.

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  A part of Yue Xing felt tempted to ignore this whole situation altogether. After all, this had nothing to do with him. He didn’t come from this village, nor did he know any of its residents. Why risk his life for the sake of strangers?

  Yue Xing ignored that part. He vowed to live a life without regrets, and he knew that he would regret it if he did nothing. If this resulted in his death, so be it. Besides, it was the duty of every righteous cultivator to hunt down and eliminate demonic cultivators. Turning away now meant betraying his principles.

  With that, Yue Xing followed the demonic cultivators’ tracks and chased after them.

  It took Yue Xing the rest of the day to track down the demonic cultivators. By the time he caught up with them, they had already settled down for the night.

  The demonic cultivators camped at the edge of a small forest. They set up a ring of leather tents around a campfire. A wooden cart sat just outside the ring of tents.

  To avoid being seen, Yue Xing observed the demonic cultivators from a distance. There were about a half a dozen or so of them, all men, dressed in matching outfits. They must’ve all belonged to the same sect or group.

  As for the prisoners, Yue Xing couldn’t tell for sure. He saw some movement in the cage, but the darkness and the distance made it impossible for him to see how many people were in it.

  His senses were sharper than most, since he was a body cultivator, but that didn’t mean he could see in the dark. Not yet at least. Later, when he reached higher realms.

  Yue Xing guessed that the demonic cultivators were all in early or mid Qi Refining, though it was impossible to tell for sure. One of the downsides of being just a body cultivator was the inability to use soul sense, the soul’s ability to perceive and affect the world. This would’ve allowed Yue Xing to know the demonic cultivators’ exact realms, assuming none of them used techniques or spells to conceal themselves.

  For the first time since leaving his childhood home, Yue Xing regretted not practicing the Soul Nourishing Sutra. Even the first layer would’ve proved useful in this situation.

  Oh well. Despite this, Yue Xing felt confident in his ability to handle this band of demonic cultivators. Thanks to the seed of the Divine Vitality Lotus and the Verdant Spring Art, he was stronger than the average mid Qi Refining cultivator.

  He was also proficient with the Way of the Blade. While he lost his previous cultivation, he hadn’t lost his skills. Altogether, he felt confident in facing even late Qi Refining cultivators. However, peak Qi Refining cultivators still remained beyond him. He could only flee from them, nothing more.

  However, Yue Xing was worried about the prisoners. If he charged into the camp and started killing the demonic cultivators, he feared that one of them would take the prisoners hostage. He wanted to avoid that if possible.

  So, Yue Xing chose to wait before making his move. He observed as the demonic cultivators celebrated their “victory”, eating and drinking with abandon. Raucous laughter echoed across the area. Yue Xing clenched his fists in anger, but remained in place.

  The demonic cultivators must’ve felt confident after destroying the small village. They hadn’t bothered setting up a defensive formation or even some kind of watch rotation.

  Yue Xing snorted. Fools. Well, at least this made things easier for him.

  Hours passed as Yue Xing observed the camp. His enchanted robes kept him warm and comfortable. As the night deepened, the demonic cultivators crawled into their tents one by one. As cultivators, they needed less sleep than mortals, but they still needed to sleep.

  However, even after the last demonic put out the campfire and went to bed, Yue Xing remained in place. He waited until it was the dead of night, when the entire world seemed to sleep, before he made his move. Even then, he inched forward little by little, to avoid making noise. He kept his footsteps light, to keep the snow from crunching beneath his feet.

  Aside from the small forest, the area around the demonic cultivators’ camp was flat. If any of them exited their tents and looked, they might be able to see him. However, he had one advantage working in his favor. The moon was only showing a sliver of her face, so there wasn’t much ambient light.

  It took Yue Xing about an hour to reach the first tent. Faint snoring came from inside. He drew his blade, before slicing a slit in the tent’s side. The tent was made from mundane leather, so his sword had no difficulty cutting through.

  Inside, he found the demonic cultivator curled up in a sleeping roll. This close, the man reeked of demonic energy. With a cold expression on his face, Yue Xing crept forward and sliced the demonic cultivator’s throat.

  The man woke up just as the blade touched his neck, but Yue Xing was prepared for this. He clamped a hand over the demonic cultivator’s throat and pinned his body to the ground. The demonic cultivator struggled, to no avail. Soon, his struggles weakened and he fell still.

  One down, five more to go.

  Yue Xing continued his grim work, succeeding two more times. Was this fair and honorable? No, of course not. When it came to protecting innocents from villains, Yue Xing discarded any notion of fairness. Saving lives took priority.

  Besides, few cared about fighting fair against demonic cultivators. There were times when underhanded means were necessary. There were lines that Yue Xing wouldn’t cross, but other than those, everything was on the table.

  However, things took a turn for the worst when Yue Xing reached the fourth tent. Maybe this particular demonic cultivator hadn’t gone to sleep, maybe he had heard his companions dying struggles, or maybe he was just paranoid.

  Regardless of the reason, as soon as Yue Xing started cutting into the tent, he sensed movement from inside. He dodged to the side without hesitation. A moment later, a spear emerged from the tent, stabbing the air where he had been. If he hadn’t dodged it, it would’ve pierced his chest.

  “Intruder!” the demonic cultivator shouted from within the tent.

  His voice rang out and Yue Xing heard the man’s companions stirring. With stealth no longer an option, he grabbed the spear’s shaft and pulled. The demonic cultivator yelped and tried to fight back, but his strength was no match for Yue Xing’s.

  Yue Xing dragged the other man forward, before stabbing his blade into the tent. The blade’s tip pierced through the tent’s leather and met flesh. Harsh gurgling reached Yue Xing’s ears. He stabbed forward two more times, to ensure the demonic cultivator’s death, before he turned to face the remaining two.

  They managed to exit their tents. One of them, upon realizing that none of the others had stirred, ran towards the cart with a panicked expression on his face. The other one started forming hand seals in order to cast a spell.

  Yue Xing took the spear and hefted it, before throwing it at the demonic cultivator running towards the cart. The other demonic cultivator shouted a warning, but it was too late. The spear flew through the air, embedding itself in the demonic cultivator’s side and knocking him to the ground. His body twitched for a moment, before falling still.

  However, this delay allowed the final demonic cultivator to finish casting his spell. Blood red demonic energy coalesced in the air to form a pair of wicked looking claws. They raced towards Yue Xing, ready to tear him to pieces.

  Rather than avoid the claws, he charged forward, right towards the final demonic cultivator. The blood-red claws tore through his robes and left deep gashes in his flesh. However, Yue Xing felt his wounds start to close right away thanks to the Verdant Spring Art.

  At first the final demonic cultivator wore a confident expression when he saw Yue Xing charge towards him. However, panic replaced the confidence when the blood-red claws barely slowed Yue Xing down.

  The final demonic cultivator formed hand seals to cast a new spell, but he never got the chance to finish it. Yue Xing swung his blade, cutting off the demonic cultivator’s head. The body collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from its stump of a neck, while the head tumbled off into the distance.

  All this took place within the span of a few moments. Silence fell over the campsite. The smell of blood hung thick in the air. Nothing moved or made a sound, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

  Yue Xing broke the silence by walking up to the other corpse, the one impaled by the spear, before cutting off its head. While it was likely unnecessary, he didn’t see the point in taking chances. By the time he finished, all of his wounds had already healed.

  Afterwards, Yue Xing cleaned his sword and sheathed it, before he turned his attention towards the cart. It was time to deal with the prisoners.

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