Chapter 6: Private Duel! The Fisherman Reaps the Benefits

  Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and under the guidance of Old Beggar, Ishikawa made rapid progress, reaching the second layer of Qi Refining stage. In Old Beggar's words, this was entirely due to Ishikawa's innate spiritual roots that he had reached such a level.

  To know, that cultivator wasn't relying on a large amount of elixirs and spirit stones.

  But for outer disciples like Ishikawa, it's rare to even see dregs of medicine, let alone dan medicine and spiritual stones. These are all privileges reserved for inner disciples.

  It's said that in the past, an outer sect disciple went to the inner sect to help with burning fire and refining elixirs. He stole a Refining Spirit Elixir and was discovered. His tendons were cut off, and he was hung on the outer sect gate for seven days before dying.

  From then on, outer disciples were no longer allowed to enter the alchemy lab, and most of them were assigned to do tasks in the artifact lab.

  ……………

  Every first day of the month, he would go to see Yun Zong Lao. It was an indispensable task for Shi Chuan. However, Shi Chuan didn't have to worry about his cultivation being seen through by Yun Zong Lao, because the Tu Mu stone could conceal the earth spirit energy on him.

  Every time, Yun Lao would let Ishikawa operate the "Water Dragon Decision", but this "Water Dragon Decision" on Ishikawa's body was completely useless. This made Yun Lao very angry, but also had no way to do anything about it.

  So, the time they met each other became shorter and shorter. This time, after Ishikawa seriously performed "Water Dragon Fist" once, it still didn't have any effect. Yun Lao directly waved his hand to drive Ishikawa away.

  "This day is also nothing." Ishikawa came out from the back mountain, his face full of joy. What's different about Ishikawa compared to other outer door disciples is that on the first day of every month, he doesn't have to do anything. This was decided by Hong Baozi, the outer door attendant, and no one dared to ask why.

  So Ishikawa doesn't need to rush back now, finding a quiet place to practice his skills is the best.

  If it were a few more days, Ishikawa would be able to break through the third layer of the Qi Refining stage. However, Ishikawa was still worried that the Yuanqi provided by the Earth Mother Stone was too little and not enough for cultivation. Those so-called elixirs were also illusory objects. Ishikawa had picked a lot of herbs on the mountain, but he didn't have the tools to refine the elixir, nor did he know how to refine it, so this path of self-refining was completely impassable.

  He found a secluded spot in the grass and sat down to meditate.

  Just after vomiting for half an hour, Ishikawa suddenly heard a rustling sound. Ishikawa immediately became alert, he was wearing the uniform of an outer door disciple, if someone saw him, he would probably be suspected of slacking off here, anyway this kind of thing can't be explained clearly.

  Ishikawa concentrated his mind and held his breath, looking through the gap in the grass thicket, he saw a man and a woman walking towards him from afar, wearing the attire of inner sect disciples.

  The man had a cultivation base of six layers in the Qi Refining stage, while the woman also had a cultivation base of five layers.

  "Zhang Shimei, I think we've found such a precious spiritual herb this time. The abbot will definitely be very happy and might even take us in as honorary disciples."

  "Ah!" The woman behind the man suddenly condensed a silver light ball in her hand.

  "Could it be that this woman is going to ambush our fellow disciple here?" Ishikawa almost shouted out loud.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, the woman suddenly threw out an ice cone that hit the man right in the back of his heart.

  "Ah!" The man let out a mournful cry, turned around, and found that he was already holding a small silver sword in his hand.

  "Zhang Shimei, have you gone mad? How dare you launch a sneak attack on me?"

  "Brother Tian, I think you've gone mad. Such a good spiritual herb, take it to my Tian family's ancestors first, and your benefits won't be reduced in any way. But you insist on giving it to the Executive Elder first. Since you don't allow it, don't blame me for being ruthless."

  "You should have this skill too." The man was furious beyond control.

  "Your cultivation is only one level higher than mine, look at this symbol!" The woman pulled out a yellow talisman from her bosom.

  The man hastily threw out the silver sword in his hand to resist, "Boom!" The silver sword was broken into two pieces, and more than half of the clothes on his body were also destroyed. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and he must have suffered a serious injury.

  Ishikawa didn't even dare to breathe heavily. The two of them were far more powerful than him, and they also had spiritual artifacts and talismans in their hands. Ishikawa was completely powerless to fight back, and he could only hope that the two would resolve their feud quickly and leave soon.

  "Good, good, good! You're really generous with your money, the power of the Heaven-Shaking Seal is indeed fierce!" The man said three "good"s in a row. "I'd rather die here today than let you be my scapegoat."

  "Senior brother, I think you should spare yourself. If you give up now, I can still let you live." The woman said coldly, pulling out a thick stack of talismans from her hand "My cultivation may be lower than yours, but I've already heavily injured you, and you're currently unable to get close to me. Just these talismans alone are enough to turn you into dust."

  "I'd rather die than let you have your way!" The man muttered an incantation under his breath, and a thick mist of water vapor surrounded him, instantly freezing into ice.

  "Ice Armor! Is this all you've got?" The woman sneered and tossed the talisman in her hand as if it were worthless.

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" One after another, the Heaven-Shaking Talismans were thrown out, and although the sound was not loud, the power was indeed not small. Ishikawa had already felt a strong shock from far away.

  "This is the power of a Cultivator!" Ishikawa couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, let alone dozens of Heaven-Shaking Talismans, even just one, Ishikawa wouldn't be able to withstand. And that man, despite being injured, had used his Ice Armor Technique to forcibly endure dozens of blows, his strength was indeed impressive.

  Half a time later, the two of them ended their fight, and four or five pieces of their spiritual instruments were damaged. The spiritual instruments used by both of them were almost evenly matched, but the woman relied on her large number of talismans to gain an advantage at one point.

  If this man hadn't been ambushed and still had the strength to escape, but now it's a different story.

  "Zhang Shimei, we both entered the Water Spirit Gate at the age of eight. Now that we have been friends for over a decade, considering our many years of friendship..." The man lying on the ground was gasping for air, clearly exhausted.

  "What's the point of emotional ties, humph!" The woman was completely unmoved, letting out a cold laugh. In her hand, an ice cone the size of a chicken egg condensed and shot into the man's skull, ending his life instantly.

  After killing the man, the woman immediately began to search his body. In a moment, she pulled out a small box the size of her palm and laughed loudly: "I've finally succeeded! The ancestor of our family will definitely reward me heavily! Haha!"

  Ishikawa's forehead was sweating, and he patted his chest, the previous fight had really opened his eyes.

  The duel was not just about cultivation, the spiritual instrument and talismans also played a huge role. If that woman didn't have so many talismans today, it would be difficult to win.

  Through this battle, Ishikawa also felt the ruthlessness of the Xiu Zhen world. For a spiritual herb, even fellow disciples who had been together for over a decade would turn against each other and kill without hesitation.

  "But fortunately, I wasn't discovered!" Ishikawa hoped that this fierce senior sister would leave quickly, so he could hurry back to the outer gate. This good place for cultivation, it seems like I won't be able to come here again in the future, lest I get entangled with this fight.

  At that moment, the Zhang woman was dragging a corpse towards the bushes, seemingly intending to throw the man's body into the lush undergrowth.

  "What a person!" The woman found that there was actually another person in the bushes.

  Ishikawa leaped out of the thicket in a single bound and ran wildly into the woods.

  The woman's face was initially shocked, but then she saw that Ishikawa was wearing only the uniform of an outer disciple, and a cold smile appeared on her face. "You think you can escape, it's not that easy."

  Outer door disciples, basically cannot cultivate, at most have one or two Qi Gong first layer, and will not learn any Kung Fu.

  So killing an outer sect disciple is simply a trivial matter.

  "Glacial Cone!" The woman shouted lightly. However, there was no silver light ball appearing on her fingertips.

  "The spiritual energy has been exhausted." The woman's face changed slightly, muttering to herself in a somewhat annoyed tone. Upon checking her pocket again, the talismans had also been used up during the previous battle.

  Ishikawa sprinted wildly, and in just a few breaths, he had already run several hundred meters. Since entering the Water Spirit Gate, Ishikawa had been cultivating the Tuna Jue breathing technique and had never practiced any other skills. This Tuna Jue was simply an introductory-level skill that didn't have any attacking or defensive techniques, but it could strengthen one's body and improve physical fitness. Currently, Ishikawa's running speed was even faster than when he used the Divine Speed Symbol.

  Moreover, Ishikawa was extremely familiar with the terrain of this place, so his speed increased even more. He turned left and right in the forest, using up all his strength.

  However, Ishikawa still underestimated the speed of a 5th layer cultivator in the Qi Refining stage. In an instant, the woman had caught up to him.

  Ishikawa mentally calculated that at his current speed, he would definitely be caught up by the woman within half an hour. So Ishikawa passed through a dense forest and stopped on a small open space.

  "Do you still want to run?" The woman sneered, also holding a silver sword in her hand. The other spiritual instruments on her body had been damaged during the battle, and only this one instrument issued by the sect was left intact.

  "Spare my life, sister! I didn't see anything!" Ishikawa's face was filled with terror as he begged for mercy, slowly backing away towards a nearby tree.

  "Is that so?" The woman saw Ishikawa's terrified face and was very satisfied, as if Ishikawa's life was already in her hands.

  The girl walked step by step towards the front.

  "Sister, no, don't..." Ishikawa shouted loudly, his body slowly crouching down as if he had been scared out of his wits.

  "Hahaha......" The woman couldn't help but share this feeling, a sly smile spreading across her face.

  For a spiritual grass, a senior fellow apprentice who has been together for ten years can be killed, let alone an outer door disciple who has never met before? In her eyes, an outer door disciple is nothing at all.

  "Die! There is no second road to choose."

  "Look at the sword!" The woman raised her hand, and the silver sword stabbed towards Ishikawa, hitting him right in the chest. There was no hesitation whatsoever, it's clear that this person had no intention of leaving Ishikawa a single thread of life.

  Ishikawa's face was gloomy, he had already seen the viciousness of this woman. Today is a matter of life and death, it will be decided in this one move.

  Ishikawa turned around and rolled behind a tree, feeling for a rope and pulling it with force.

  "What incredible speed!" The woman exclaimed, an ordinary mortal would never have such speed.

  A large net fell from the sky and enveloped the woman, just in time to block the silver sword that was thrusting towards Ishikawa.

  This ordinary large net couldn't withstand the cutting of the spiritual tool and was torn open in an instant.

  Ishikawa gritted his teeth and pulled with all his might, and suddenly a large hole appeared on the ground.

  "No!" the woman cried out, for here was a hunter's trap, now sprung by Ishikawa, and she fell like a trapped beast.

  "Pffft! Pffft!" The bamboo strips, sharp as knives, were inserted into the woman's chest and abdomen. After a few mournful cries, the woman died instantly.

  The woman still tightly grasped the silver sword in her hand, and until death, she couldn't understand how things would take such a turn. She had originally thought that with enough talismans and spiritual tools on her body, after killing Tian Shixiong of the sixth layer of Qi Refining, she could retreat unscathed. But unexpectedly, she would die at the hands of an outer sect disciple. And it was an outer sect disciple who wasn't even looked upon by her.

  After a long time, Ishikawa finally poked his head out from behind the tree and looked at the woman who was already dead beyond recognition. He let out a soft sigh of relief, thinking that if he hadn't been familiar with the terrain here, or if there hadn't been a trap set specifically to catch wild beasts, it would have been him who died here today.

  What's more important is that the woman had exhausted her talismans and spiritual energy in their previous battle, otherwise, Shi Chuan wouldn't have been able to escape to such a faraway place.

  Through this matter, Ishikawa felt even more that in the Cultivation Realm, the strong were revered. If he wanted to survive for a long time, then he must increase his own strength.

  Moreover, hiding one's true strength is also crucial. Today's victory was largely due to the fact that this woman underestimated Ishikawa's strength, thinking he was just an ordinary outer disciple. She had no idea that Ishikawa's current cultivation had already reached the peak of the second layer of Qi Refining, and would soon break through to the third layer.