Enemies whose realm was higher than his, and on top of that, a numerical disadvantage. It was certain to be a grueling battle.

  Li Xin judged that he needed to minimize his expenditure of energy and whittle down the enemy’s strength using talismans.

  One of the three cultivators, a man as gaunt as a skeleton, moved first. He drew up his qi, formed a massive fireball, and hurled it toward Li Xin.

  The ferocious mass of flame tore through the darkness of the forest, flying straight toward him. Without hesitation, Li Xin pulled out an Ice Shadow Talisman from his robes. Blue light rippled as cold spread outward, causing the enemies to burst into laughter.

  "With just a three-stroke talisman, what do you think you can block?"

  But they did not know, Li Xin’s Ice Shadow Talisman was no ordinary talisman. Hidden within it was power of the Upper-Upper Grade, infinitely close to Extreme Grade.

  When the fireball technique and the Ice Shadow Talisman collided violently, fire and water met and triggered an explosive reaction. With tremendous heat, scorching mist spread in an instant, and visibility plummeted as everything turned hazy. Thanks to the Ice Shadow Talisman, he managed to block the fireball attack, but Li Xin did not face only one enemy. Before the hot mist had even cleared, chilling killing intent lunged straight for Li Xin’s heart.

  This woman… a sword cultivator (劍修)?

  Sword cultivators were beings who concentrated all their spiritual power into their blades, boasting extreme offensive power. Taking a sword cultivator’s strike head-on was dangerous for Li Xin. At that moment, Li Xin pulled out five talismans from his robes—Water Binding Talismans. In a situation thick with mist, it was the optimal environment to use Water Binding Talismans.

  Without delay, Li Xin poured spiritual power into them. Blue light burst forth as the surrounding mist particles began freezing into ice. She looked momentarily flustered, but soon unleashed sharp sword qi to scatter the ice. The Water Binding Talismans were merely one-stroke talismans, so their effect was weak.

  Shadow Binding Art.

  But by using that qi to activate Shadow Binding Art, her feet were bound by ice and her movements came to a halt.

  Li Xin did not miss this opening. Without delay, he pulled out two more talismans. As spiritual power flowed from his fingertips, the talismans activated in an instant, emitting a peculiar aura.

  Li Xin threw the talismans toward the sword cultivator. She stared intently at them, trying to identify what kind of talismans they were and respond accordingly. The sword cultivator’s sharp gaze attempted to analyze the fine strokes etched into the talismans. But at that moment, what burst forth from the talismans was an unpredictable, intense light— three-stroke Radiance Talisman . The blinding light emitted from the talisman instantly swallowed her entire field of vision.

  "Kyaaah!"

  While she had been focusing her mind, she let out a pained cry and covered her eyes with both hands. Li Xin did not miss this fleeting moment. He took out the flying sword he had obtained from brigands and infused it with the aura of Flame Blaze. Crimson flames wrapped around the flying sword, blazing fiercely. Then he executed Blazing Flash at the blinded woman’s neck.

  "Not a chance!"

  But just before the flying sword could reach the sword cultivator’s neck, a massive shadow suddenly leapt out and blocked its path. It was a male cultivator with bronze-colored skin, his entire body packed with bulging muscles. He brought his arms together, raising a solid defense to block Li Xin’s attack.

  Li Xin immediately recognized that the man was a body cultivator who had trained a body-tempering art. Body cultivators were beings who pushed physical toughness to the extreme. Whether Li Xin’s attack could break through a body cultivator’s defense was uncertain. Yet Li Xin grinned. Then, without hesitation, he hurled the flying sword behind the man.

  Was it that his superb dexterity applied even to throwing? Like a living creature, the flying sword precisely adjusted its direction and shot straight toward the spellcaster who had used the fireball technique. The body cultivator had been firmly guarding the spellcaster’s side, leaving no proper opening, but by stepping forward like this, he had finally exposed a gap.

  "W-what is it?!"

  Sensing the flying sword belatedly, the spellcaster hurriedly drew up his spiritual power to defend.

  A faint barrier formed around his body, but the flying sword carried the ferocious aura of an Extreme-Grade Flame Blaze Talisman, elevated through the Heart of Flame Blaze. That power tore through the spellcaster’s pitiful defense like paper.

  "Aaaaargh!"

  Along with a horrific scream, the spellcaster’s body was engulfed in flames in an instant.

  Watching this, Li Xin nodded.

  Just as expected.

  Cultivators of low realms tended to focus their training on a single specialty they excelled at. They could always compensate for their shortcomings after reaching the perfection of Tier One. Li Xin had exploited that gap, eliminating the most troublesome opponent with the weakest defense—the spellcaster—first.

  "You bastard! You dare kill my companion?! Since you allowed me to close in, you’re as good as dead!"

  When the spellcaster fell, the body cultivator sensed his companion’s death and roared in fury. His face twisted with rage, and his bulging muscles seemed to swell even further. His momentum prickled the skin. Though it felt wasteful, Li Xin took out an Extreme-Grade Flame Blaze Talisman from his robes and threw it at the opponent.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  This is precisely the situation where talismans can be used most efficiently.

  "Damn it, you coward!"

  Because he had been protecting his blinded companion, the man could not easily dodge. Flames surged from the talisman, wrapping around the body cultivator. The stench of burning flesh spread, but the aura of Flame Blaze failed to penetrate his bronze skin.

  Li Xin realized that the man’s body-tempering art had the effect of greatly hardening the skin. Even within the flames of the Flame Blaze Talisman, the man stood firm.

  "Hah! Did you think such paltry flames could burn me?!"

  The body cultivator roared in rage, shouting once more that he would kill him. But Li Xin remained calm. Without hesitation, he stepped in and, channeling the power of Shattering Mountain Fist, unleashed a single punch toward the man’s chest.

  Shattering Mountain Fist was an attack that destroyed the inside rather than the outside. No matter how tough a body cultivator’s skin was, his heart could not have been tempered to the same extent.

  With a dreadful impact sound, the man’s body staggered violently. But Li Xin frowned slightly as he withdrew his fist.

  "Was that a bit weak? Again."

  When he used Shattering Mountain Fist once more, blood gushed from the man’s mouth, and with a thud, he collapsed on the spot, motionless.

  He really is tough, though.

  Li Xin let out a short breath as he looked down at the fallen body cultivator. Now only one remained. All of this had happened within mere seconds. When the woman’s vision finally recovered, what greeted her eyes was her companion collapsed on the ground, blood spilling from his mouth. Fear instantly filled her eyes. The three of them had failed to handle a single opponent—there was no way she could overcome this situation alone. She dropped her sword, slumped to her knees, and began begging.

  "Please spare me! Please, just spare my life!"

  She pleaded desperately, but Li Xin approached in silence and sliced through the tendon at her ankle.

  "Aaah!!!"

  Even as she writhed in agony, she continued to beg in a hoarse, frantic voice.

  "Please… just my life… please!"

  Li Xin sighed as he watched her.

  "If you act like that, doesn’t it really make me look like a brigand?"

  There was a trace of self-mockery in his voice. Rather than guilt over taking innocent lives, what weighed heavier was the bitterness of how things had turned out.

  "I’ll spare your life if you answer a few questions."

  "Y-yes! I’ll answer anything!"

  "How you detected my presence, what you were searching for, and where you’re affiliated."

  Groaning in pain yet driven solely by the will to survive, the woman answered obediently.

  "The detection… it’s the effect of a sensing artifact I possess. We belong to a merchant group called the Yangcheon Association, and we came here to gather White Dew Danhua!"

  "White Dew Danhua?"

  At Li Xin’s curiosity, she explained the herb in detail.

  "White Dew Danhua is a spirit herb useful to cultivators with strong water-qi affinity. It’s a transparent white flower that looks as if it’s holding dew, with a red core embedded at its center. The most distinctive point is… when the sun rises, the flower withers, so harvesting is only possible at dawn."

  Li Xin fell into thought as he listened.

  White Dew Danhua…

  He judged that this spirit herb could also be beneficial to his cultivation.

  "Fine. I’ll spare your life. In return, help me recover the spoils."

  The female cultivator repeatedly exclaimed, "Thank you!" and bowed again and again on the surface.

  But within her pain-twisted face, a flash of malice was hidden.

  I’ll kill you. I’ll repay this humiliation, no matter what!

  Dragging her injured leg, she gathered her companions’ corpses in one place and began organizing the loot.

  Seeing that they carried ordinary packs rather than Dusk Pouches, Li Xin was once again reminded of just how precious his own Dusk Pouch was.

  Unfortunately, the spellcaster had been completely incinerated by Flame Blaze, leaving no worthwhile spoils. But from the body cultivator, he obtained two or so body-tempering medicines in the form of ‘paste,’ as well as several demonic beast cores from previous hunts. When Li Xin asked about the medicine’s use, she forced a smile and explained.

  "This is a medicine called Donghuang Paste, used to temper the skin. It has the side effect of intense pain, but its effects are excellent."

  Li Xin nodded, collected the spoils, and then looked back at the woman.

  "Now, yours."

  From the woman, he obtained a palm-sized sensing artifact. She explained that it was a low-grade artifact capable of detecting spiritual energy signatures within a radius of twenty zhang. Though low-grade, it would be useful in the forest to avoid ambushes. He also acquired the sword and several flying swords she had used, along with close to three thousand jeon.

  Li Xin did a brief mental calculation. Though he had used many talismans in this battle, it was at least not a losing deal.

  "That’s everything!"

  She neatly arranged every item and brought them before Li Xin, but Li Xin could not shake the feeling that she was hiding something. Fixing her with a cold stare, he said,

  "Take off your clothes."

  In an instant, her face flushed red as she showed extreme panic.

  "W-what do you mean…! I…!"

  She stammered, but Li Xin’s expression remained cold and unchanged. Without hesitation, Li Xin raised his sword and tore through her clothes.

  What was revealed beneath the torn garments was an identity token astonishingly similar to the one Xu Yul had given him. And that token was emitting a faint blue glow, sending a weak signal somewhere.

  Cornered, she had secretly been requesting reinforcements. Realizing her ploy had been exposed, the woman glared at Li Xin with a fierce expression. In her eyes, despair mingled with blazing hatred.

  "You…!"

  But Li Xin hesitated no longer. The cold blade flashed like lightning, and her head flew up. Blood spurted, scattering into the darkness.

  Li Xin looked down at the fallen corpse without any change in expression.

  I need to erase the traces.

  Without delay, Li Xin used the Art of Tracking Fragrance.

  After locating the traces of the aura he had used in battle, he drew up demonic qi and covered them over. Black, sticky demonic qi possessed a violent nature, quickly devouring his spiritual energy traces and subtly altering them.

  Afterward, Li Xin tossed the demonic beast cores he had obtained from the body cultivator onto the corpses. When human cultivator blood and flesh mixed with the intense aura of demonic cores, it would draw other demonic beasts like madness. In the process, the faint traces Li Xin had left would naturally disappear.

  Time to go.

  After finishing the cleanup, Li Xin left without a shred of attachment. His next objective was to find the spirit herb the woman had mentioned—White Dew Danhua.