Scum Of The Demonic Sect

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Five Elements Sword

"Senior Sister Xie, if I don't agree, the consequences will be dire, so I think if I want to live, I can only continue to compromise!" Lin Haoming said, seemingly helplessly.

"A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm. Junior Brother Lin, I have high hopes for you! As long as you sincerely follow me and work hard, even if your aptitude is poor, I will find a way to help you enter the Foundation Establishment stage!" Xie Ruolan threatened, then offered a glimmer of hope.

Lin Haoming felt that Xie Ruolan's words were her true feelings, especially after he had sworn a blood oath.

A blood oath is a very special vow for cultivators. Once sworn, reneging on it can lead to anything from a cultivation mishap to immediate death. While there are legendary treasures that can resist blood oaths, they are all extremely rare and only mitigate a portion of the oath's effects; complete elimination is impossible, at least in this realm.

Xie Ruolan quickly put away the two people's storage bags again, then put some useful items into her own bag, tossing the rest to Lin Haoming. She continued to squeeze the last remaining value from the two corpses.

"Senior Sister, you killed this fellow disciple because you were afraid he would reveal your true strength, right?" Lin Haoming guessed.

"You're very clever?" Xie Ruolan, busy with her work, casually admitted.

"Aren't you afraid I'll reveal it?" Lin Haoming countered.

Having squeezed every last drop of value from her fellow disciple, Xie Ruolan glanced at Lin Haoming and said with disdain, "If I were to reveal even a hint that I have some feelings for you, what do you think your fate would be?"

Lin Haoming smiled bitterly, realizing that no blood oath was necessary; he was completely under her control.

After squeezing out the remaining value from the Tianjian Mountain disciple, Xie Ruolan suddenly tossed a set of flying swords to Lin Haoming, saying, "Keep this. You have the aptitude of five spiritual roots; you can use this Five Elements Sword set until you reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

Lin Haoming caught the Five Elements Swords from Xie Ruolan, then caught a jade slip. He pressed the jade slip to his forehead, immersing his divine sense within it. He discovered it was a technique for controlling the Five Elements Swords; even a cursory glance revealed that if he truly mastered it, its power would be considerable.

However, after Lin Haoming withdrew his divine sense, he carefully examined the Five Elements Sword in his hand and said with some helplessness, "This is a high-grade magic weapon, and a complete set at that. It's probably worth no less than a thousand spirit stones!"

"Good that you know that. How about it? Following me will surely bring you benefits!" Xie Ruolan said smugly.

Lin Haoming, however, smiled wryly and continued, "This flying sword set is excellent, but it consumes a great deal of mana. It's probably only suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators. I'm only at the eighth level of Qi Refining; I probably can't even unleash half its power, and I can't sustain it for long!"

"That's true. Here, this will save your life!" Xie Ruolan then took out a small bottle from her storage bag and tossed it to Lin Haoming.

Lin Haoming caught it, opened it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Recovery Pills!"

"That sword-wielding kid from Tianjian Mountain had three left.

One of these will quickly replenish your spiritual power. No wonder he could use the Five Elements Sword set without regard for mana earlier," Xie Ruolan explained.

"These things are quite valuable, costing over a hundred spirit stones each. They're used by Foundation Establishment cultivators. I can use Qi-restoring pills!" Lin Haoming said as he put them away.

"When you're fighting, even high-grade Qi-restoring pills won't quickly replenish your spiritual energy. Besides, while high-grade Qi-restoring pills aren't very expensive, they're rare. Those three are for your survival," Xie Ruolan said.

Lin Haoming understood Xie Ruolan's meaning, but glancing at her, he realized she had so many ways to protect him; she truly didn't want him to die easily.

Xie Ruolan then cast a spell, and several array flags and an array plate suddenly flew from under the tree roots and behind the vegetation into her hand.

The array flags and array plate were clearly part of a magic array. Recalling how the Heavenly Sword Mountain disciple couldn't use the Earth Escape Talisman to escape, it was likely due to this array. This array could even affect the effectiveness of the Earth Escape Talisman, indicating it wasn't cheap. No wonder she was so slow this time.

"Put everything away and follow me!" After storing the magic array equipment, Xie Ruolan said, and began searching along the traces of battle.

Lin Haoming knew that Xie Ruolan was probably looking for the other two companions from her fallen sect.

Sure enough, they found the two about three miles away. One appeared to have been ambushed and killed, while the other's defensive magic artifact was shattered, indicating he had been forcibly killed by the Heavenly Sword Mountain disciple. This showed the Heavenly Sword Mountain disciple was indeed powerful; if Xie Ruolan were to confront him head-on, it certainly wouldn't be so easy.

However, on the other hand, Xie Ruolan's ability to easily kill such a formidable opponent demonstrated her extensive experience in killing.

"Senior Sister Xie, when did you start hunting here?" Lin Haoming asked curiously, putting away the storage bag she had tossed him.

Hearing this question, Xie Ruolan's mind conjured up an image of a little girl whose body hadn't fully developed, holding two mid-grade talismans, clenching her teeth to suppress her fear, cautiously searching for Crimson Sun Ginseng in the mountains.

Xie Ruolan seemed unwilling to recall that image, trying hard to banish it from her mind, and snapped irritably, "Why are you asking so many questions? To tell you the truth, when I first came here, I wasn't even as good as you are now, so stop being so dramatic!"

Lin Haoming, seeing the displeasure in her eyes, realized his question had touched a nerve, and then stopped asking.

The Red Leaf Mountain Range was vast, stretching three thousand miles east to west and eight hundred miles north to south, all within the borders of three kingdoms.

Lin Haoming knew that one li (a unit of distance) here was roughly equivalent to half a kilometer on Earth. A careful calculation revealed that this area covered a full 600,000 square kilometers, equivalent to six Jiangsu provinces. Therefore, although hundreds of cultivators from the three sects frequented this area year-round, encounters were not common; at least, they hadn't encountered anyone else in the next two days.

While they hadn't met anyone, they had harvested two more Crimson Sun Ginseng roots, though both were only twenty or thirty years old—better than nothing.

Xie Ruolan came here almost every month, but usually for no more than three days.

So, on the third day, the two began their return journey.

Of course, Lin Haoming traveled back alone. Although he knew Xie Ruolan was beside him, he didn't know her exact location. Her cloak was incredibly powerful; even with his divine sense, which he estimated to be no less than that of a Qi Refining stage cultivator at the Great Perfection level, he couldn't detect her at all.

"Alright, we've left the border area between the three factions!" After walking for an unknown amount of time, Xie Ruolan's voice suddenly rang in his ears, and then his slender figure appeared in front of him.