Chapter Thirty: Drawing the Sword with Unyielding Authority

"Villain, where do you think you’re going?"

Kong Yue channeled the true energy from his dantian, unleashing the "Wind-Chasing Step," a movement technique of the Qingyan Temple. He wove through the passing crowds, leaving behind streaks of afterimages, and quickly caught up to the fleeing Jiang Bai.

"Oh no, you caught up again!"

Hearing the roar, Jiang Bai looked back to see the Taoist closing in. He hurriedly shoved aside the bystanders and sprinted forward.

Kong Yue tapped his toes lightly on a stall, vaulted into the air, and unleashed a sharp palm strike. He was half a beat too slow, however, and his palm slammed into a fruit stall, smashing numerous apples and sending them splattering everywhere.

"Run, everyone! The cultivator from Qingyan Temple is killing people!" Jiang Bai shouted, hiding within the crowd.

Suddenly, the surrounding townspeople turned pale with terror. Forget about their precious goods; they scattered in a panicked frenzy, abandoning their stalls. Cries of alarm and shrieks of terror filled the air.

The stall owner, covered in fruit pulp, knelt on the ground and wailed, "My fruit!"

"Villain, cease your nonsense and stop tarnishing the reputation of Qingyan Temple!"

Kong Yue’s aura condensed as he once again channeled the "Wind-Chasing Step." His figure became like the wind, stepping lightly over the heads of the crowd, leaping with such momentum that he was almost impossible to track.

In the blink of an eye, he leaped high and landed firmly, standing thirty feet in front of Jiang Bai, appearing like a vengeful ghost. The long street was empty, a vegetable basket tumbling by in the wind. Kong Yue spun around and roared:

"Villain, let’s see where you can run to now!"

Before the words faded, he struck a palm at Jiang Bai, who was hiding behind another stall. A golden palm print slammed into the pile of debris, shattering the stall into pieces.

Jiang Bai moved like a swallow, leaping high to narrowly avoid the Taoist's fierce attack. As his robes fluttered, a yellow talisman in his hand ignited instantly, transforming into a blade of wind wrapped in cyan spiritual energy, whistling toward the Taoist.

Seeing this, Kong Yue’s expression turned cold. His hands moved in a rapid seal, and the metal-elemental true energy around him gathered frantically. In an instant, several golden sword beams condensed out of thin air, shining with the brilliance of a dawn sword.

He swiped his hand, and the sword beams, carrying overwhelming power, pierced toward the cyan wind blade like lightning.

"Boom!"

The two collided violently, erupting with a deafening roar. A shockwave of wild energy surged outward from the point of impact, sweeping up debris from the street—tables, wooden crates, and signs flew into the sky.

Facing the shockwave, Jiang Bai stood as straight as a pine. He pulled a thumb-sized thunder pellet from his robes, engraved with red and black runes, and shouted as he hurled it at Kong Yue:

"Fine, you Taoist, since you want to silence me, I’ll fight you to the death today!"

That day, he had accidentally witnessed the Taoist and a Taoist nun ambushing and assassinating his own fellow disciple to steal a treasure map. Jiang Bai had seized the opportunity to snatch the map and fled all the way to Beigu City, where the treasure hidden by the map was said to be located.

"A mantis trying to fell a tree—how utterly laughable."

Kong Yue snorted, channeled his energy again, and conjured a golden palm print to intercept the pellet. He had learned his lesson; he would not let that pellet get anywhere near him again.

But to his surprise, the golden palm crushed the pellet with ease, and there was no massive explosion. Kong Yue realized with a jolt that he had been tricked.

Looking up, he saw the little thief holding another yellow talisman. A surge of powerful, roiling energy transformed into a ferocious flaming tiger that pounced on him. The tiger’s blood-red maw swallowed Kong Yue whole.

Jiang Bai did not relax his vigilance; instead, he grew even more solemn.

Amidst the towering flames, a dazzling golden light erupted. Kong Yue, clad in golden armor, stepped out, his invisible aura pushing back the fire and dust.

Jiang Bai braced himself against the invisible pressure, his legs bending, and he smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect this Taoist to be a cultivator of the Mortal-Transcending Realm."

Kong Yue shouted coldly, "Villain, don't think a few talismans can stop me. Today, I’ll show you that a mortal of flesh and blood cannot hope to resist a Mortal-Transcending cultivator."

As he spoke, a golden palm print, a yard wide, condensed in the air, radiating a sharp, suffocating pressure.

The townspeople hiding under eaves and in corners were terrified. The kind-hearted among them closed their eyes, unable to bear the sight of the impending bloodshed.

"Go!"

Kong Yue pointed at Jiang Bai. Spiritual energy surged around him, forming a golden palm print that blotted out the sky, descending with the force of ten thousand mountains.

Jiang Bai looked up, facing it head-on. There was no fear in his eyes, only a trace of annoyance. He murmured to himself, "In the past, at the height of my cultivation, I could have extinguished this Mortal-Transcending Realm ant with a single finger. Now, I am being hunted by such vermin."

***

In an instant, the palm print crashed down. The long street erupted with a sound like the earth cracking and mountains collapsing. Rolling dust surged like a tidal wave, and within it, a mysterious light flickered.

"Dissipate!"

Kong Yue stepped forward, his aura manifesting as a wave of air that swept away the smoke and dust of the street. Where the palm print had struck, there was no body, not even a drop of blood!

Had the thief been vaporized by the golden palm?

Clearly not.

Kong Yue looked up, grinding his teeth. "Villain, don't think you can escape again."

He took a step and gave chase once more.

At the end of the long street, Jiang Bai was fleeing with all his might. The two tufts of his mustache twitched, his face flushed, and he was panting heavily.

He complained to himself, "Sigh, when will these days of being hunted ever end?"

At this moment, he appeared unscathed, his white robes clean and intact. But suddenly, his brows furrowed, and his handsome face twisted in agony.

"Damn it, why did it have to flare up now?"

Jiang Bai stumbled, the color draining from his face. Beads of sweat as large as peas rolled down his skin. Every inch of his flesh felt as if it were being pierced by thousands of needles, and his internal organs felt as though they were being churned by an invisible hand.

He clutched his abdomen tightly, his body spasming uncontrollably, his legs giving way until he was half-crouched on the street.

He frantically reached for the wine gourd at his waist, his hands trembling like leaves in an autumn gale, hoping to drink and suppress the pain of the poison gnawing at his insides.

A golden ray flashed like a shooting star, instantly piercing the gourd. The wine spilled out like broken beads, vanishing into the dirt in an instant.

Jiang Bai smacked his lips, having not tasted a drop, and instinctively licked the mouth of the gourd.

However, this tiny movement could not alleviate the tidal wave of pain within him.

Just then, a figure drifted down from the eaves and landed steadily on the street like a legendary hero—it was Kong Yue.

He walked up to Jiang Bai, looked down at him, and said coldly, "Villain, you must have committed countless evils to suffer such retribution. You deserve this."

"Shut… shut up!" Jiang Bai roared through gritted teeth.

Kong Yue kicked Jiang Bai over and stepped on his slender, fair hand. "Hand over the treasure map you stole from me, and I’ll give you a quick death to spare you the pain."

"That… treasure map… I don’t have it on me. Even if… you kill me, you… won’t get it," Jiang Bai said intermittently, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Do you think I’d believe your ghost stories?"

A cold light flashed in Kong Yue’s eyes, and a mocking sneer curled his lips. Before he finished speaking, he moved like lightning, delivering a swift kick laced with sharp force into Jiang Bai’s abdomen.

With a muffled "thud," Jiang Bai flew away like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into a massive boulder with a dull, jarring sound.

"Pfft!"

Jiang Bai spat out a mouthful of blood, the red spray scattering in the air. His face turned as pale as paper, his breath fading to a thin thread, yet he still stubbornly cried out, "Give me… wine!"

"You're at death's door and you're still thinking about drinking!" Kong Yue’s gaze was cold as frost. With a wave of his hand, a golden sword beam ripped through the air like lightning, racing toward Jiang Bai’s thigh.

With a "squelch," the sword beam struck true, then slowly dissipated. Blood gushed from the wound, quickly staining his pristine white robes and forming a shocking pool of red on the ground.

"Speak! Where did you hide my treasure map?"

Kong Yue walked toward Jiang Bai step by step, each footfall firm and powerful. An invisible force emanated from his palm, instantly seizing Jiang Bai by the throat and lifting him high into the air.

"If you want me to tell you… give me… wine to drink first." Jiang Bai squeezed out the words, his eyes filled with a desperate longing for drink.

"Hmph!"

Kong Yue snorted, and with a flick of his arm, Jiang Bai was thrown away like a shooting star once more.

"I can give you wine," Kong Yue said coldly, "but you must kneel. Crawl over on your knees, and only then will I give you this jar of wine."

***

With that, he flipped his hand, and a jar of wine appeared. He stepped heavily onto the jar, his lips curling up as he beckoned with a look of disdain.

"Bah! You want me to kneel? Never."

Jiang Bai struggled to stand, and as he did, a small object wrapped in a scrap of golden cloth fell to the ground.

Kong Yue’s expression brightened. A giant claw made of true energy snatched the golden object back. He grabbed it and unfurled it—it was indeed the stolen treasure map.

"It was on you all along! You tried to trick me. This time, I’ll kill you, villain."

Kong Yue looked up, a murderous intent flashing in his eyes. He condensed a golden light around himself, clearly intent on finishing Jiang Bai.

After all, the other had seen things he shouldn't have. If the masters of Qingyan Temple found out, he would surely be stripped of his cultivation and expelled.

It was fortunate that the villain was currently incapacitated by a strange illness, unable to use his life-saving tricks. Killing him would not only net him those talismans but also the protective artifacts the thief possessed.

He knew that if it weren't for those protective treasures, the thief could never have escaped his grasp so many times. Thinking this, he looked at Jiang Bai with pure greed.

"Evil Taoist, aren't you curious about my background? Do you really think a mere mortal would possess such talismans and thunder pellets?"

At this moment, Jiang Bai’s poison was flaring up, leaving him unable to use his myriad tricks. In this life-or-death moment, enduring the agony of the poison, he spoke tremblingly.

"Oh! Are you truly a disciple of the Refining Sect?"

Hearing this, Kong Yue’s expression shifted, his brows furrowing. As far as he knew, the Refining Sect was a secretive sect in the cultivation world, whose disciples were masters at crafting talismans, thunder pellets, and magical artifacts. Yet, for decades, he had never heard of a disciple entering the secular world to cultivate.

He looked at the handsome young man sprawled on the ground and thought, *Could he really be a novice disciple of the Refining Sect? But how could he be a mere mortal?*

Jiang Bai gritted his teeth against the pain, slowly climbed to his feet, and said proudly, "I am the secular disciple of this generation of the Refining Sect, Jiang Bai. If you kill me, the Refining Sect will grind your bones to dust and destroy your Qingyan Temple in the process."

*Heh!*

Kong Yue curled his lips in a sneer of utter mockery. "Hmph! I have cultivated for thirty years, weathered countless storms of blood and rain—what haven't I seen? You think you can fool me with these little tricks?"

He stomped heavily on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. His aura surged violently, his eyes overflowing with murderous intent. "Even if you are a disciple of the Refining Sect, so what? Once I kill you, how will they ever find out it was me?"

"Go!"

Kong Yue roared, and the golden sword beam, fueled by his full strength, tore through the sky as it slashed toward Jiang Bai with lightning speed.

*Damn it!*

*This Taoist truly isn't stupid; he really intends to take my life!*

Jiang Bai cursed inwardly, his teeth clenched, the illness twisting his face into a mask of agony.

He stared at the sky-splitting golden sword beam, knowing he was hanging by a thread. But fear did not make him retreat in the slightest. He looked up, an indomitable light flashing in his eyes. His spine straightened like a sword drawn from its scabbard—even under the shadow of death, he would not bow his head.

His other hand quietly gripped a black talisman, his fingertips trembling slightly, yet filled with a desperate resolve to burn his bridges.

At the same time, the rapid, powerful sound of hoofbeats thundered from the end of the long street, like the beating of war drums.

A youth dressed in jailer’s attire leaped from his galloping horse, his robes fluttering violently in the wind. The long blade at his side was already unsheathed, its cold light reflecting his determined face.

The youth spun in the air, using the momentum to swing his blade in a single, fluid motion, without the slightest hesitation.

*Clang!*

A tremendous sound echoed through the street as the long blade struck the golden sword beam precisely, sparks showering the air.

The youth was sent flying ten feet away, but he slowly stood up, looked up, and held his blade at his side.

He declared with an imposing aura, "If you want to kill the little thief, you’ll have to ask my blade first."