Chapter 176: Leaps And Bounds

　　Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: – –

　　When the tall cultivator entered the spirit stone quarry, his face immediately changed.

　　“What’s wrong?” Honest Qi said softly, he had already seen the change of the tall cultivator’s expression. It looks like his previous sense of foreboding was not wrong. He had finally found the Celestial Sunflower Gold with much difficulty, but it actually got stolen away? He wanted to cry but no tears could come out.

　　The tall cultivator had tears all over his face as he said, “Someone had come, and he even dug away that Celestial Sunflower…”

　　Honest Qi’s hand instantly formed into a fist, green veins were revealed along his arms, and his arms were slightly trembling. Ostensibly, one can see the rage and frustrations he had in his heart.

　　It wasn’t just Honest Qi, even that veiled woman exhaled softly. She was also clearly very angry.

　　“Besides the three of you, does anyone else know of this place?” After some time, Honest Qi finally spoke again.

　　The tall cultivator shook his head, “No, it’s only the three of us.”

　　If Mo Wuji was here, he would definitely call this fella an idiot. If he was the one to answer the question, he would definitely say that they weren’t the only ones who knew of this place. He would even claim that he knew where this other person was. That way, Honest Qi wouldn’t immediately kill him, but get him to continue guiding the way.

　　Honest Qi and the veiled woman gave each other knowing glances; they could tell that this tall cultivator wasn’t lying. Honest Qi casually sent two slaps out.

　　The poor pair had yet to enjoy the fortunes from this spirit stone quarry before they were squashed by Honest Qi.

　　…

　　Somewhere not more than a thousand miles away from this swamp, Mo Wuji was taking a breather from digging an immortal cave. He had been lugging this huge object on his back for a long time. Even a Spirit Building cultivator like him would get tired.

　　Fortunately, this place was suitable for hiding; it was a dried up river. In the river, the river bed could get over ten meters deep, or it could even get tens of meters deep. It was like a canyon, but it was clearly not a canyon as the spider weblike scars on the dried river bed were still very clear.

　　Ostensibly, this river had not been dried up for a long time. Otherwise, these scars would not be present.

　　Mo Wuji picked a good spot – the middle of the river embankment – and started to dig an immortal cave. It was similar to digging an immortal cave by the side of a cliff; it was safe and sturdy. Furthermore, there were some dried shoots and roots in front of the cave, making it look inconspicuous.

　　Mo Wuji even moved the newly dug soil far away; he was planning to stay here for a considerable amount of time.

　　He had a few reasons for saying here. Firstly, he had such a huge thing on his back, he wouldn’t be able to run far. Now, he could safely bury it in a secure place in this dried river. Secondly, he had just built his spirit and he had plenty of spirit stones on him. This was the best time to cultivate.

　　Most importantly, Mo Wuji did not dare return. Even though he had already built his spirit, he might be slaughtered the moment he returns to the Heaven Seeking Palace.

　　Since his wanted poster could already turn up in the Lost Sky City, it showed that Jin Jiuzhen truly had an expert behind him. Furthermore, this expert suspected his involvement in Jin Jiuzhen’s death. If he also had a backer, as long as he kept his guard up, there was no need to fear other’s suspicions.

　　However, he did not have a backer.

　　There was one more point: this dried river was not very far from that swampy spirit stone quarry. If he had run out of spirit stones, he could return to get more at any time.

　　This was just Mo Wuji’s ideal situation. If he knew that Honest Qi had come looking for him, even if he left a runic imprint outside the spirit stone quarry, he would not dare cultivate at such a close proximity to it.

　　But this might actually be a blessing in disguise.

　　Mo Wuji did not know of Honest Qi’s arrival, so he dared to stay and cultivate so close to the spirit stone quarry. At the same time, Honest Qi did not expect that the person who took the Celestial Sunflower to not run far away, but cultivate nearby.

　　Thus, Mo Wuji minded about his cultivation, while Honest Qi and that veiled woman minded about their search.

　　…

　　Albeit a cultivator or a researcher, time was always the most valuable thing. Since Mo Wuji was both a researcher and a cultivator, he lost all distractions the moment he started cultivating. At this state, he might only awake if someone went into his immortal cave and ransacked everything.

　　This was also another reason why Mo Wuji didn’t dare cultivate at that spirit stone quarry. If he stayed there and cultivate, his corpse would already have dried up.

　　The spirit stones in Mo Wuji’s storage bag had all been poured out; his 100 meridians started on the circulation technique and absorbed spiritual energy at an extremely astounding rate. Moreover, the surrounding spiritual energy was especially dense, Mo Wuji seemed to increase his cultivation at every second.

　　Two months later, he had charged past the Spirit Building Stage Level 1 and advanced into Spirit Building Stage Level 2. Five months later, Mo Wuji advanced into Spirit Building Stage Level 3. Eight months later, Mo Wuji had broke through the initial levels of Spirit Building and advanced into Spirit Building Stage Level 4. With 100 open meridians, he did not meet with any bottlenecks while cultivating in this low stage.

　　At this moment, Mo Wuji awoke from his cultivation. He had no choice; he had run out spirit stones.

　　Mo Wuji really wanted to bring over some spirit stones from the quarry and continue cultivating. But, he had a sense of longing towards Yan’Er. Eight months had passed, there shouldn’t be any problems with visiting Yan’Er, right?

　　Mo Wuji knew that he was simply comforting himself; as long as he returned, the danger would still be there. However, Mo Wuji did not feel at ease if he didn’t see Yan’Er.

　　No, I have to go back. This trip already took close to a year, and I’m not sure about how Yan’Er is doing. Besides Yan’Er, there’s still Fei Bingzhu and co., I promised to visit them in the Heaven Seeking City.

　　For the entire year in Heaven Seeking Palace, Mo Wuji had yet to visit Fei Bingzhu.

　　As Mo Wuji made his decision and was about to leave, he suddenly heard a piercing shrill in the air. That shrill landed on the dried river bed. Mo Wuji cautiously looked out of his immortal cave and discovered that the sound originated from a chipped sword.

　　At the very next instant, a blood covered young man rushed into the river bed and picked that sword up.

　　Another person charged in after him; this person had a head full of silver hair, and his skin was especially white, he had the potential to be a great gigolo. [1] The magic treasure in his hand was a dragon claw; the five glossy blue claws struck fear into people’s hearts.

　　“Ren Tianxing, if you tell me where the place is, I will grant you a swift and easy death.” The silver haired man landed in front of the blood covered young man and said coldly.

　　“Ha ha ha!” The young man, Ren Tianxing, laughed ruefully. “Shao Guangjing, what are you? I, Ren Tianxing, will not be threatened. Not just you, even if your Jade Net Sect Head came over, I would not surrender.”

　　Mo Wuji was familiar with this Jade Net Sect. He had enmity towards a fella called Shao Feng from that sect. Now, this fella was also from the Jade Net Sect, and he even shared the same ‘Shao’ surname, he might be related to that Shao Feng.

　　After the Jade Net Sect’s Shao Guangjing said a name, Mo Wuji subconsciously turned towards the blood covered young man.

　　Ren Tianxing? That name also sounds familiar.

　　Oh! Mo Wuji finally remembered. Before he left the Heaven Seeking Palace, he visited the Assignments Hall. At the entrance, there was the Heaven Seeking Board; the board wrote the rankings of the experts who climbed the Heaven Seeking Palace. He remembered that there was a fella called Gou Zihan in the first place, while this Ren Tianxing was third.

　　Heaven Seeking Palace’s third place should be very strong ah. He can’t beat this Jade Net fella?

　　Shao Guangjing coldly said, “Since you wish to die, then I’ll grant that wish.”

　　With that, he raised the dragon claw in his hands, that horrifying cold light brought with it a faint aura of death.

　　Mo Wuji started having doubts, Shao Guangjing was clearly facing that Ren Tianxing, why was he able to feel that deathly aura? Did his abilities and senses improve to such a huge extent after advancing into the Spirit Building Middle Stage? He could even feel the killing intent Shao Guangjing had towards Ren Tianxing?

　　Ren Tianxing remained dauntless; he raised his hand to wipe a trail of blood off the corner of his lips and said disdainfully, “Shao Guangjing, wait till I advance into the Yuan Dan Stage. I could easily destroy a whole nest of trash like you.”

　　Mo Wuji instantly made sense of the situation: This Ren Tianxing had yet to advance into the Yuan Dan Stage, but Shao Guangjing was already a Yuan Dan Stage expert. Ren Tianxing should be in the Transcending Mortality Late Stage; for a Transcending Mortality cultivator like him to fight to such an extent against a Yuan Dan cultivator, he wasn’t incapable, but the very opposite. He was truly impressive.

　　“Die for me…” The dragon claw in Shao Guangjing’s hands emanated a few trails of horrifying light, and it shot forward.

　　At this instant, Mo Wuji knew what was going on; this Shao fella wasn’t going to kill Ren Tianxing, but him. No wonder why he felt that killing intent; it wasn’t directed at Ren Tianxing but Mo Wuji.

　　Mo Wuji secretly rejoiced over detecting the killing intent early, and celebrated his advancement into the Spirit Building Middle Stage. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly die at the very next instant.

　　Mo Wuji’s body shifted to the side as he pumped elemental energy into his Tian Ji Pole. He was clear of the terrifyingness of the dragon claw, and dodging would not help him. This was because the dragon claw still had a boomerang effect, and would turn back to strike him if he dodged it. He might as well take the initiative to strike the dragon claw and block against the attack.

　　“Dang!” The Tian Ji Pole smashed out a flower of fire and crazed elemental energy came surging over, sendind Mo Wuji flying. He crashed against the wall of his immortal cave and immediately coughed out a mouthful of fresh blood.

　　The Yuan Dan Stage was truly strong. Mo Wuji did not bother wiping the blood off his lips as he lifted his Tian Ji Pole again to strike against the returning dragon claw.

　　“Dang!” The clash of elemental energy crazily spalshed out in all directions, destroying a good half of Mo Wuji’s immortal cave. Mo Wuji was stuck thigh-deep in the soil, and at the same time, the dragon claw lost a portion of its power.

　　Seeing the dragon claw fly back to Shao Guangjing, Mo Wuji did not do the obvious, but charged after it. Swinging his pole, he smashed it agaisnt the dragon claw. You think you can get away so easily after ambushing me?

　　At the instant Shao Guangjing made his move, Ren Tianxing also took action. Shao Guangjing saw Ren Tianxing making his move and laughed coldly in his heart. A mere Transcending Mortality cultivator dared to act against him? After killing that ant, his dragon claw would fly back and still have the power to destroy this Ren Tianxing.

　　[1] The direct translation of gigolo is Small White Face. The author is playing on the fact that this person’s skin is extremely white.