Chapter 62: Battle

Li Zhen’s eyes sharpened, grasping the opponent’s intentions at a glance.

He unsheathed a mid-grade Xingrui D13 longsword from his waist, while simultaneously producing two Iron Thread Vine seeds in his other hand. These were his last remaining seeds of this prized vine.

The fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, far from showing alarm at the sight of Li Zhen’s mid-grade Xingrui D13 longsword, actually felt a surge of delight. Based on his experience, he could roughly guess Li Zhen’s identity.

Xingrui D13 longswords were primarily supplied to the prestigious cultivation schools, which lent them to their most promising elite students. While he couldn’t pinpoint Li Zhen’s exact cultivation level through spiritual energy aura alone, knowing that Li Zhen was still a student put the cultivator at ease.

Even if Li Zhen were a mid-Qi Refinement expert, no school student could compare to someone who had endured numerous life-and-death battles.

Not to mention, the cultivator had five low-level allies by his side. While individually weak, their combined efforts would surely disrupt Li Zhen during combat.

In short, the fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator felt victory was within his grasp as he greedily eyed Li Zhen.

Li Zhen’s hidden treasures, including items for invisibility and concealing spiritual energy, coupled with his mid-grade first-rank magical artifact, were just the tip of the iceberg of his capabilities.

“Kill him and distribute the spoils according to custom!” the fourth layer Qi Refining cultivator waved his hand, giving the order.

However, Li Zhen was faster. He tossed two Iron Thread Vine seeds and activated the ‘Wrapping Technique’ rune on the Dragonheart Space barrier. At the cost of a small amount of spiritual energy, he triggered the growth of the two Iron Thread Vine seeds.

The two seeds landed at the feet of the third layer Qi Refining cultivators, instantly transforming into two dark green vines that securely bound the two cultivators.

Li Zhen charged towards the fourth layer cultivator. With a slight flick of his finger, the cultivator sent the mid-grade flying sword hurtling towards Li Zhen.

The battle commenced. Although Li Zhen’s preemptive strike had trapped two of the enemy cultivators, the remaining three swiftly activated their talismans. Three fireballs flew towards Li Zhen in an instant.

As the flyingsword bore down on him, Li Zhen met it with his own swing, holding nothing back. His full strength from the intermediate stage of body refinement poured into the strike.

With a deafening boom, the mid-grade flying sword’s spiritual energy dimmed as it was sent spinning through the air by Li Zhen’s strike.

In a swift motion, Li Zhen directed two fireballs towards the incoming pair. Four balls of flame collided in mid-air, exploding in a brilliant display.

By then, Li Zhen’s spiritual energy was running low, not yet replenished from the strain of his flight.

Unfazed, he closed the gap with the fourth-layer cultivator shortly after dispatching the flying sword.

The cultivator’s face was ashen—clear evidence of the spiritual damage inflicted by the deflected blade.

In a split-second response, he activated a mid-grade Diamond Talisman for added defense. His options were limited; Li Zhen was already bearing down on him.

As Li Zhen’s sword arced towards the cultivator, he could sense the spiritual energy within the strike—an unmistakably third-layer aura.

This puzzled the cultivator. How could Li Zhen’s single blow send his flying sword spinning and cause such spiritual harm? He knew full well that only a full-power attack from the middle stages of Qi Refining could achieve such devastation.

Alas, he would never learn the truth. At this level of confrontation, a masterfully executed sword technique was all but invincible.

The mid-grade Diamond Talisman blocked only one sword strike. Li Zhen’s second sword pierced through the talisman, ending the life of the fourth-layer qi refining cultivator with a swift, despair-inducing throat slash.

By the time the fourth-layer cultivator lay dead, the other three had just prepared their second wave of attacks.

They hesitated, the sight of their comrade’s death sapping their will to fight. Turning to flee, they found their escape blocked by Li Zhen.

Li Zhen unleashed his Dragon Might, enveloping the battlefield in a faint aura of pressure. The five cultivators at the initial stages of Qi Refining, including the two still entangled in vines, stood frozen in place.

Seizing the moment, Li Zhen stepped forward, dispatching each cultivator with a swift, lethal strike. He showed no mercy; his experience had taught him that his enemies would show none in his place.

With the entire six-member squad now dead, silence fell over the battlefield.

A wave of Li Zhen’s will, and his Dragon Heart Space locked onto all the magical items, swiftly assimilating them into his space.

The haul wasn’t significant: a single mid-grade flying sword of the first rank, six inferior-grade magical artifacts (including the five rope-type), and a handful of talismans.

Li Zhen never had high expectations, so he wasn’t surprised by the modest haul.

His eyes fell on the magnetic levitation car, which hovered nearby.

The magnetic levitation car was originally property of the hunting squad. However, after all the cultivators perished, its binding to the squad’s identity rings automatically dissolved.

Identity rings were bound to a cultivator’s life; once the life ceased, the ring became inactive. This mechanism prevented malicious use of someone else’s identity ring while also ensuring the safekeeping of a cultivator’s credit point legacy.

Even if a cultivator met their demise outside, stripped of their possessions, their family could still access the credit points stored within the identity ring.

Li Zhen unlocked the abandoned magnetic levitation car and immediately encountered a pungent odor. His gaze fell upon a massive pile of frozen spirit meat and a large cache of demonic mouse hides.

The spirit meat, merely frozen, hadn’t deteriorated much. In fact, it exuded a faintly fragrant aroma. The overpowering smell emanated from the demonic mouse hides, which, despite simple processing, still retained their intense odor.

Li Zhen carefully collected the spirit meat and monster rat hides, storing them all in his Dragon Heart Space. This was the bounty from slaying hundreds of monstrous rats.

Even with his formidable strength, it would have taken him days to dispatch such a horde alone.

The spirit meat was for his own consumption, while the spirit rat hides could be sold for credit points—both products of lawful origin.

“Please bind your identity bracelet and confirm your identity!” As he finished collecting the treasures, a female voice echoed in his ears—an automated reminder from the magnetic levitation vehicle’s smart assistant.

Li Zhen hesitated, wondering how other cultivators would handle this situation. While a magnetic levitation vehicle would be convenient, he feared it might also bring unwanted trouble.

After some thought, he used his identity bracelet to send a message to Curator Zhang, explaining the predicament he’d encountered.

His decision to venture outside the city had been inspired by Curator Zhang’s suggestion in the first place, so it made sense to consult him now.

When Curator Zhang received Li Zhen’s message, he wasn’t at all surprised by the troubles the young man had encountered beyond the city walls.

In truth, when Director Zhang sent Li Zhen out of the city to hunt monsters, he had planned to give Li Zhen a chance to master fighting with cultivators.

Either way, considering Li Zhen’s master swordsmanship, facing cultivators who hunted monster rats posed no significant danger.

Any cultivator who resorted to rat hunting couldn’t be all that powerful.

Moreover, fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivators with higher ambitions would choose the more perilous front lines of the Yao Kingdom over the mundane task of exterminating rats.

Director Zhang’s response put Li Zhen at ease.

Duels between cultivators outside the city were not subject to the legal constraints of the Xian Kingdom. Unless someone had prior recorded footage of the conflict, serving as evidence of criminal misconduct, such battles would generally be ignored.

In essence, once a cultivator left the safety of the city, they acknowledged the existence of inherent risks.

Li Zhen could now safely claim his spoils of victory. This was precisely why the magnetic levitation car was programmed to automatically select a new master upon its original owner’s death—a convenient feature that had allowed Li Zhen to take control of the vehicle.

Following the intelligent assistant’s prompts, Li Zhen authenticated the magnetic levitation car using his identity bracelet.

As he became the master of the magnetic levitation car, he finally realized why this hunting squad had discovered him.

It turned out that the magnetic levitation car was equipped with a life scanning instrument. This was not a means of immortal cultivation but rather a technological tool.

The clothes on Li Zhen’s body, along with the stealth and invisibility provided by the ‘Invisible Jade’, were all cultivation techniques. These could not escape detection when scanned by technological instruments.

He couldn’t help but remind himself to be mindful of this in the future: I must be more careful around high-tech devices.

Li Zhen returned the enhanced flesh and demon rat skin to the car’s interior, making it easier to explain their origin.

The magnetic levitation car was indeed impressive, but it consumed spiritual energy blocks. Currently, the car’s reserve stood at 81%, so there was no immediate need to recharge.

For other cultivators, the cost of spiritual energy blocks was substantial. However, Li Zhen had access to another world where he could freely recharge these blocks using his fighter armor.

When leaving the city, he had relied on a flying magical artifact, but now he would return driving the magnetic levitation car, brimming with newfound treasures.