Chapter 22: Hunting a Golden Core

No one expected that, when faced with a Golden Core expert’s interrogation, Xu Gu—who was only at late-stage Qi Refining—would choose to suddenly lash out.

Even more shocking, Huan Caiyi, Li Shaobai, and the other four didn’t hesitate at all. They followed right behind him and struck with full force.

The entire scene stunned all the demonic cultivators present.

Even the leading Golden Core cultivators were briefly taken aback, frozen in place.

They absolutely couldn’t figure it out.

What was going on? Since when were Qi Refining brats this fierce?

Did they just shut themselves away for a few years and come out to find the world completely changed? Were Qi Refining cultivators now daring to attack Golden Core experts?

Had some sort of cultivation revolution happened, or was there suddenly an explosion of heaven-defying demonic techniques?

“Courting death!”

Meng Qingxi, the Golden Core demonic cultivator who’d just rebuked Xu Gu and was now being besieged by him and the others, erupted in fury. His killing intent surged as dense baleful light spread across his entire body, making him look like a reaper walking out from hell itself.

He was a dignified Golden Core expert—how could he allow a few measly Qi Refining ants to provoke him?

If he didn’t torture these six little brats to death today and refine them into resentful spirits, he would become a laughingstock among the Golden Core realm.

As he spoke, he cast a demonic technique. Six wailing ghosts wreathed in black smoke manifested around him, faces twisted and vicious as they pounced toward Xu Gu and the others like they were going to swallow heaven and earth.

“That’s it?”

Sword cultivator Li Shaobai let out a cold laugh, his tone indifferent.

As his voice fell, the longsword in his hand left its sheath. The sword light was icy and sharp, containing endless sword intent as it swept across dozens of meters, shining blindingly bright.

This slash was purely righteous and purely yang. It cleaved straight through the ghosts rushing at him.

“So this is a Golden Core? He’s way too weak.”

Huan Caiyi’s silk ribbons fluttered in her hands, stirring up ripples of spiritual power and weaving them into layers of mental illusions.

The specter that had originally been lunging at her suddenly turned midair, baring its fangs with a vicious snarl—only to hurl itself back at its summoner, Golden Core Meng Qingxi.

“Yeah, he really is too weak.”

Monk Mi Suhui and scholar Kong Haoran had it even easier. Their paths naturally countered all evil spirits and monsters; even simple attacks were enough to scatter the ghosts into nothing.

Zhao Jingang’s performance was the roughest. As a body cultivator, he actually traded a few rounds of blows head-on with a ghost. He didn’t get hurt, but it definitely looked pretty unsightly.

The other four couldn’t help shaking their heads at him.

“This…”

All the demonic cultivators were dumbfounded.

“How is this possible…” Meng Qingxi’s eyes shrank to pinpoints, a storm raging in his heart.

Were these people really Qi Refining cultivators? Was this a joke?

He might only be at first-layer Golden Core, but he was still Golden Core. Even a casual strike should have been enough to crush countless Foundation Establishment cultivators—yet that casual strike had just been brushed aside like it was nothing.

No. It hadn’t been completely brushed aside.

There was a weak point.

He jerked his head around and locked his gaze on Xu Gu.

“…,” Xu Gu felt a bit numb.

Those five righteous infiltrators really lived up to being terrifying monsters with the strongest physiques and the strongest backgrounds in the world.

Forget fighting across one major realm—just the five of them combining forces and effortlessly blocking a Golden Core’s attack was apparently no big deal.

He wasn’t exactly surprised, but standing next to them was a ton of pressure.

Qi Refining battling a Golden Core should have been the moment to steal the spotlight in any other story, and yet here he was—the flaw in the formation, looking like trash in comparison.

“Senior Brother Xu, be careful!”

Huan Caiyi didn’t hesitate. After dealing with the attacks on her side, she immediately moved closer to Xu Gu to cover him.

The other righteous infiltrators reacted the same way.

They all knew perfectly well: while Xu Gu’s schemes were frightening and his sense of justice was sky-high, and while he also came from some mysterious hidden sect, his talent and foundation weren’t on the same level as theirs. His ability to fight above his realm was comparatively weak.

“Ahem.”

Xu Gu coughed lightly. It wasn’t like he was actually a burden to the group. If he dared to suddenly attack a Golden Core, he definitely had his own trump cards.

His eyes flashed, and a golden streak shot out from his sleeve.

That golden streak whistled through the air, detonated once, then suddenly accelerated, its power surging skyward.

“This…”

All the demonic cultivators were shocked again by the sight before them.

What kind of spell was that?

They couldn’t see through it at all. They had no idea how Xu Gu had unleashed that kind of might. The power felt like it had appeared out of thin air—it clearly didn’t come from Xu Gu himself.

Xu Gu’s expression remained unchanged. He ignored the reactions of the onlooking demonic cultivators, his face still stern as he flung out several more streaks of light.

These were not spells he’d cultivated.

They were a talent effect.

Before leaving his previous sect, he had accumulated three white word-talents. Aside from [Strength of Nine Bulls and Two Tigers], there were also [Most Poisonous Is a Woman’s Heart] and this one—[Four Taels Move a Thousand Jin].

[Four Taels Move a Thousand Jin] was simple: four taels could move a thousand jin.

After some experiments, he discovered what it really meant: throw out four taels of gold, and it would explode with the force of a thousand jin.

It was quite something.

Unfortunately, using it required paying in actual gold. Four taels for one shot. For a Qi Refining cultivator, that was kind of pricey. Even now, he was casting it with gritted teeth, heart bleeding as each chunk of gold left his hand.

“Not good!” Meng Qingxi realized that things were going sideways. He wanted to use other techniques to compensate.

The six ghosts were connected to his heart meridians. Having them destroyed like this was a massive blow.

But it all happened too quickly. In just a blink, there were still two breaths of “lag” after casting his technique. He could only watch helplessly as the last ghost hurtling at Xu Gu met the incoming streaks of gold head-on.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Several explosions went off in quick succession, and the ghost attacking Xu Gu was blasted apart into fine dust.

“Pfft!”

Meng Qingxi, who’d unleashed the ghost technique, went pale. His face turned pitch-black and he was struck hard by the backlash, spitting out a mouthful of black blood.

The duel had been decided in mere moments.

Some of the demonic cultivators hadn’t even processed what had just happened.

“You little shits are asking for death! You deserve to die!”

Badly wounded, Meng Qingxi’s eyes went bloodshot, his face twisting into something feral as his hair flew wildly about. Rage and demonic energy surged sky-high as he glared at Xu Gu and the others, wishing he could tear them into pieces.

Because of his carelessness and contempt, he’d only struck out casually—yet he’d been countered and suffered a huge loss.

Now he was utterly murderous, ready to unleash his strongest killing move.

He could faintly sense these six weren’t ordinary people—they were very likely the so-called “descended demonic prodigies” of prophecy. But at this point, he could only cut the grass by the roots.

However—

Before he could finish venting his roar, before the killing move in his hand could be unleashed—

“What are you shouting about? Just now you didn’t feel a thing, and now it suddenly hurts? Go die.” Xu Gu snorted coldly. The longsword in his hand turned completely black, dark light sizzling along its blade as he lunged for Meng Qingxi first.

The poison he’d coated the sword with came from his third word-talent, [Most Poisonous Is a Woman’s Heart].

This talent’s description was just as simple: a woman’s heart is the most poisonous.

At first, Xu Gu had been completely confused. But after experimenting, he discovered that using a woman’s heart as an ingredient produced a vicious, terrifying poison.

“Sword Opens Heaven’s Gate!” “Diamond Body!” “Heavenly Immortal Riot!” “The Sage Once Said!” “Buddha’s Light Shines on the World!”

The five righteous infiltrators were overjoyed to see that not only was Xu Gu fine, he was launching a counterattack. Their offensive flipped completely as they each unleashed their strongest killing moves at Meng Qingxi.

They made it very clear, with their actions, to every demonic cultivator watching:

In this battle, Golden Core demonic cultivator Meng Qingxi was the weaker side.

He was the prey being hunted.

(End of this chapter)