Chapter 868: Throw a Long Line to Catch a Big Fish
Snowflakes swirled around a figure standing in the snow. He was like a mountain, and his clothes flapped behind him. He exuded an unrelenting force.
The criminals stared at the figure with shell-shocked expressions. Panic and fear spread. Their martial arts grandmaster warrior leader had been thrown into the air by the man in front of them.
They never imagined that such a situation would occur from them surrounding and threatening a few youths.
Li Jiangcheng was shaking as well. He was so shocked speechless. Mo Wen was so so powerful. The aura he exuded was so strong and forceful that Li Jiangcheng could not breathe. What was even more ridiculous was that Li Jiangcheng had tried to steal Mo Wen’s points. Was he trying to seek death?!
He had thrown a martial arts grandmaster into the air with a single strike, and he was so young. Mo Wen was so talented that even Li Jiangcheng, who had always been called a genius, was shocked.
Mo Wen probably had a chance at the top ten of the Heaven list.
“Let’s go!”
The leader, who was in the martial arts grandmaster realm, almost did not hesitate at all. He turned and climbed up from the rubble he had been thrown into and fled.
The criminals who lived in the Red Stone forest all had very strong survival skills. It showed not only in their abilities but also in their awareness. They lived in a dangerous environment all year round, so they could keenly judge when there was danger.
The martial arts grandmaster knew the moment Mo Wen struck that he was no match for Mo Wen. If he did not leave, he might die in the young man’s hands.
Mo Wen frowned slightly. He did not expect the criminals to be so decisive. They had only just exchanged a blow before the criminals fled.
The moment the leader fled, the other criminals fled in all directions. It was almost impossible for Mo Wen to keep all of them there.
Mo Wen hummed and followed the leader, leaving behind the others.
Killing the criminals in the Red Stone forest granted a competitor points. Criminals of different cultivation stages brought in a different number of points.
The criminals who are locked up in the Red Stone forests were all at least in the Golden Elixir realm.
The competitors who killed a criminal at the beginning stages of the Golden Elixir realm could gain a point. Killing a criminal in the mid-Golden Elixir realm could earn three points. Killing a late-Golden Elixir realm criminal and a criminal at the peak of the Golden Elixir realm could win the competitors nine and thirty points, respectively.
The higher the cultivation levels, the more points the competitor would receive.
If they killed a warrior in the first realm martial arts grandmasters, they could gain 300 points. It was ten times the number of points awarded for a warrior at the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir realm. Competitors would get 1000 points if they killed criminals in the second martial arts grandmaster realm. If they killed criminals in the highest realm, the third martial arts grandmaster realm, they would be awarded 5000 points.
However, it was usually difficult for competitors to kill warriors in the second and third martial arts grandmaster realm. The people locked up there were all vicious and ruthless. Their combat abilities were way stronger than ordinary warriors of the same realm. Killing a martial arts grandmaster on the Savages List was much more difficult than killing an ordinary martial arts grandmaster.
In the previous Heavens List tournament, first martial arts grandmaster realm warriors were rarely killed, much less those in the second and third realm. Sometimes, there would be consecutive tournaments in which no competitors killed any martial arts grandmasters.
Mo Wen ignored the other criminals and chased after the leader, who was in the martial arts grandmaster realm, because the points he would get for killing a martial arts grandmaster was more than killing all the other criminals put together.
Li Jiangcheng was shaken from his reverie and looked around him. Everyone had gone. The criminals had all escaped and the young man had gone after the martial arts grandmaster. He could not help sighing. Fortunately, he did not crush his jade pendant immediately like the other youth. Otherwise, he would have been out of the tournament early on. He did not stay in the area for long. Instead, he turned around and walked in a direction. The criminals might be afraid of the youth, but they were not afraid of him. If they saw that he was alone, they would definitely try to surround him again.
The leader was rather fast. He was skilled at fleeing and was familiar with his surroundings, so he had run more than 10 kilometers in just a moment.
“Luckily, I’m decisive and smart enough. Otherwise, I would definitely have died in that rascal’s hands. He is young, but he is so powerful. It’s really incredible.”
The leader of the criminals thought he had managed to shake his opponent off after he ran for about 30 kilometers. He stopped and reached up to wipe his sweat.
They had only fought for a moment but he had been severely injured. The icy cold power was still swirling throughout his body, damaging his organs and tissues. Fortunately, his cultivation level was not low. He could force the terrifying cold down with some difficulty.
“The first prey that I spotted is so powerful. My luck must be terrible. In the past competition for the Heavens List, meeting just one terrifying opponent like this youth would have been difficult. What’s wrong with this year’s competition? It seems like the people who entered are much stronger than the previous competitions.”
The leader of the criminals looked terrible. Someone as powerful as the youth he met earlier would have no problems ranking in the top three amongst the competitors of the past competitions. He might even rank first. He had encountered such a powerful warrior so easily and did not know if it was because of his terrible luck…
Whoosh.
The leader of the criminals breathed in deeply. He patted his chest and spat out a pool of blood forcefully. The blood had a startling cold Qi within it. The hard red stone on the ground immediately turned into powder upon encountering the cold Qi. It had been frozen into little solid bits immediately.
“What a terrifyingly cold Qi.”
The leader of the criminals breathed in. He had seen quite a few martial arts grandmasters who cultivated in the Cold Technique but had never seen someone who had such cold Qi. Had such a cold Qi entered his body in large amounts, he would have turned into dust immediately.
The young man’s cultivation was not scarily high. He was on par with him. However, the cold attribute powers in his inner Qi were terrifying.
If such a Cold Qi had entered one’s body, even a martial arts grandmaster would find it hard to eliminate it from his body in a short period of time. He was going to find a secluded area to heal. However, he only took two steps when he suddenly froze. He suddenly realized that there was a figure in front of him. He did not know when the person had appeared. There had not been any signs. It was as if it had suddenly materialized.
“You… how did you do that…”
The leader of the criminal suddenly felt cold, and his voice was dry and brittle. He had not sensed the youth appear at all. There had not been any signs. He had thought earlier that he had managed to leave the young man completely behind. If the young man had attacked him secretly earlier, he feared that he would not even have the chance to dodge.
Mo Wen looked at the leader of the criminals indifferently. A martial arts grandmaster who had once been on the savages list would be slightly more powerful than ordinary martial arts grandmasters. However, he was only a first realm martial arts grandmaster. Mo Wen did not think that he was a threat.
The leader of the criminals was dressed shabbily. He had a piece of leather draped over him, but did not have much else. He was not much different from a primitive human.
The criminals who were banished there had their things taken away by Huatian Palace. Even clothes were rarely found, much less treasures and weapons.
In the Red Stone forest, fights were all based on ability. The only weapon that they had was their hands.
Of course, it was no different for the competitors.
“Let me off.”
The leader of the criminals understood then that it was impossible for him to escape the youth. Even though he was a martial arts grandmaster, there was nothing he could do in an encounter with such a terrifying person.
“Let you off? I would lose out on 300 points for no reason. How would that benefit me?” There was a slight curl on Mo Wen’s lips.
The only way for a competitor to take points off a criminal was to kill them.
There was a crystal on the forehead of every criminal in the Red Stone forest. It was not an ordinary crystal, but a special item made by Huatian Palace. It was embedded in the criminal’s forehead and was linked to the criminal’s soul. Once the crystal was taken away, the criminal’s soul would disperse and turn into nothingness.
As such, when competitors and criminals met, it was most likely a kill or be killed situation. There were rarely any cooperative efforts. It was also a way for Huatian Palace to stop competitors from cheating.
“If you don’t kill me, I can be your subordinate. You want to find criminals in the Red Stone forest, but that is no easy task. I understand the people here, and they are adept at hiding. It will be hard to find them through ordinary search methods.
“But I have been locked up in the Red Stone forest for more than 20 years and I am very familiar with this place. At least, I know the gathering points of quite a few of the other criminals. If you have my help, it will be much easier for you to find prey in the Red Stone forest than other competitors. If you kill me, you will gain only 300 points, but I can help you to get thousands of points. Furthermore, a bunch of people work for me and I can give them to you, My Lord.”
The criminals were crafty. They were cruel and heartless. The leader of the criminals could betray his subordinates without any hesitation to survive.
The Red Stone forest was cruel and dangerous. The criminals fought daily to survive. There were deaths every day. Those who survived were either very powerful cultivators or were very lucky.
“I am quite interested in what you are saying. I can let you go but if I find that you are not as valuable as I thought, I will kill you,” Mo Wen said lightly.
He realized that it was not easy for foreigners to move around in the Red Stone forest. The criminals living in the Red Stone forest were not good people and were highly powerful cultivators. There were powerful powerhouses who were in the second and third martial arts grandmaster realm.
Furthermore, Mo Wen had also realized during his chase after the leader of the criminals that the Red Stone forest was not simple. It looked like a large Red Stone forest on the surface. However, after he had traveled a certain distance, he realized that there were quite a few dangerous spots. Those areas could threaten his life.
“My Lord, please rest easy. You will not be disappointed.”
The leader of the criminals bent his waist slightly, looking like a servant. However, a flash of odd light that was difficult to detect glowed in his eyes when he lowered his head.
…
Mo Wen left with the leader of the criminals, whose name was Bao Xun. With Bao Xun leading the way, he would be able to save a lot of energy finding the criminals during his future hunt.
The two had only just left when a figure emerged from a rock. The rock remained unblemished. There wasn’t a single mark on it. It was as if the figure had melded with the rock.
“That youth is really quite daring to work with a criminal. He is throwing a long line to catch a big fish. But he best be wary that the fish might drag him into the river.” The figure was hazy, as if it was enveloped in a layer of fog. It looked like an illusion, a figure in a dream. However, the voice was really soothing, gentle and soft as water.