Chapter 96: I Really Want to Keep a Low Profile [Please vote with your monthly tickets!]

Song Ce saw the situation on the battlefield and had no choice but to make a decision.

If things continued like this, they might not capture a single person.

"Don't bother with the ones in the front! Catch the ones behind! Cut their formation in half!"

Song Ce roared, ordering his men to change tactics.

The moment Song Ce finished shouting, the members of the Mad God Cult instantly adjusted. They directly opened up the passage ahead, and everyone began intercepting and slaughtering the rear half. The entire group was suddenly split into two sections, with the weaker portion successfully trapped behind.

Faced with such a scene, the people in the rear half panicked outright.

"Hey! Brothers up front! Don't run! Come back and save us!"

"You can't do this!"

"Don't abandon us!"

Despite the frantic shouting from those behind, the people ahead completely ignored them, as if they hadn't heard a thing. When life and death were on the line, where was there room for such lofty righteousness? They were no heroes, nor did they have the capital to be heroes.

Lu Sheng likewise paid them no mind. He could barely escape with his own life; how could he possibly have the strength to save these people?

Zhang Haoran saw that Xiong Zijie had already charged out, and he too prepared to fight his way out with all his might.

Song Ce, however, showed no intention of continuing to fight Zhang Haoran.

"If I'm not mistaken, your master is the Mad Old Daoist of Python Mountain, isn't he?"

Zhang Haoran paused for a second. "That's right."

He had never intended to invoke his master's name when he came out, preferring to keep a low profile. But since the other had guessed it himself, it wasn't Zhang Haoran who had said it—he was only acknowledging the fact.

Xiong Zijie: You'd better change your clothes first before saying anything about keeping a low profile!

A puff of hot air burst from Song Ce's nose, and he stopped making a move against Zhang Haoran.

"Fine, you can go. I don't want that old lunatic fixing his eyes on me."

People had already escaped anyway; one fewer wouldn't make a difference. And precisely because others had fled, if he killed Zhang Haoran, the Mad Old Daoist would inevitably find out. Besides, it wasn't certain he could even finish Zhang Haoran off—after fighting him for so long, he had a good measure of Zhang Haoran's strength.

And so Zhang Haoran left as easily as that.

But the ones who had been left behind were in dire straits. Deprived of the elite fighters in the front, these people had absolutely no strength to resist. Even going all out, they accomplished nothing. One by one they were knocked unconscious, bound hand and foot, strung up on long poles, and carried away from the place.

...

The escapees exchanged brief greetings and then scattered in all directions. Having been through such a harrowing ordeal, none of them were in the mood to linger around.

The burly man with the door-sized blade brought the other two from before over to Lu Sheng. "We owe you a favor for this. Consider our debt for the Desert Giant incident settled. When we meet again in the wilderness, we'll settle who's stronger."

The other two said nothing. The three of them were old acquaintances, and since the big man had spoken, they saw no need to add anything. After saying this, the three each led their own groups away.

In the end, only Lu Sheng and Xiong Zijie remained.

With no one else around, Lu Sheng seized the opportunity to speak. "Brother Zijie, are you from Heroes' Stronghold?"

Xiong Zijie turned around. "That's right. Though I can't place where Brother Lu hails from. To pull out so many fifth-rank monsters without a care for losses—such a lavish display, I truly can't think of any force in the surrounding area that's so wealthy and bold."

Lu Sheng smiled. "I'm just from a small settlement. It's only natural you wouldn't have heard of it."

Xiong Zijie naturally didn't believe a word of it. Would a small settlement be able to produce so many fifth-rank monster cards?

"If Brother Lu doesn't wish to say, then don't. Identity and background are things that shouldn't be easily exposed anyway."

Lu Sheng gave a wry smile. These days, telling the truth was precisely what made people the least willing to believe you.

"Alright then. There is something I'd like to ask of Brother Zijie. Would you be willing to help?"

Xiong Zijie didn't agree outright. He asked, "What does Brother Lu need? As long as it's within my ability, I won't refuse."

Not to mention that Lu Sheng had done them all a favor this time—just the depth of resources Lu Sheng had revealed was enough to make Xiong Zijie want to build a connection.

"I need some high-grade gravity iron, the more the better. I can trade spirit fruits for it."

Xiong Zijie agreed readily. "That's no problem. However, Python Mountain doesn't allow outsiders in. If you want it, you'll have to wait at the foot of the mountain and I'll bring it out to you."

Seeing that there was hope, Lu Sheng was pleased. "That's perfectly fine with me."

The two had just finished their discussion when Zhang Haoran, dressed in his Taoist robe and looking travel-worn, hurried over.

Xiong Zijie turned to him and said, "Little Taoist, are you alright? How did it feel fighting a sixth-rank powerhouse?"

Zhang Haoran broke into a grin. "What could happen to me? A sixth rank is a sixth rank after all. Even for someone like me, who's unmatched among my own rank, crossing that crucial boundary to fight such an opponent is still extremely difficult."

"But the next time I run into him, the result won't be the same."

Xiong Zijie was a bit peeved. "Little Taoist, I'd agree with anything else you say, but when you claim to be unmatched among your rank, that I refuse to accept."

Lu Sheng rubbed his nose, rather tempted to find an excuse to teach this fellow a lesson. Dressed like some ethereal immortal, yet he didn't hold back in the slightest when it came to bragging.

...

The three continued on together, and Xiong Zijie also filled Zhang Haoran in on Lu Sheng's purpose.

Originally, Xiong Zijie and his group hadn't planned on returning so soon when they came out of the mountain. But after this ambush, they had keenly smelled the scent of crisis and decided to head back and see what was going on. Training could happen anytime, but a life was something you only had one of. It wouldn't be too late to go back, get a clear picture of the situation, and then decide their next move.

Lu Sheng rode his White Cloud Horse, advancing alongside the two toward Python Mountain.

Meanwhile, the people who had escaped from the Backflow Desert region were frantically spreading the story of what had happened. Along with the Mad God Cult's deeds, three names also began to circulate: Lu Sheng of the White Horse, the Heavy Sword Taoist, and Xiong Zijie of the Overlord Blade.

According to the rumors, Lu Sheng of the White Horse owned a fifth-rank White Cloud Horse and possessed countless fifth-rank monsters, earning him the nickname "Monster Chief." The Heavy Sword Taoist was mysterious, his name unknown; the only striking thing about him was the heavy sword strapped to his back. He was on good terms with Xiong Zijie, the young master of Python Mountain, and was extremely powerful—a fifth-rank perfection cultivator who could clash with sixth-rank experts without falling behind.

Xiong Zijie of the Overlord Blade was the young master of Python Mountain. People in the wilderness knew of Xiong Zijie, but he hadn't appeared in the wild for quite some time. Previously, Xiong Zijie hadn't possessed such strength; no one expected that this time out he would display such formidable power. The image of his savage, crushing dominance had been witnessed firsthand, and as it spread, it naturally earned him the name "Overlord Blade."

At the same time, as word of the Mad God Cult spread rapidly, similar incidents of the cult abducting people broke out in many other places. For a time, fear gripped the hearts of the people. What had once been a fairly normal force was suddenly branded with the label of an evil demonic cult. Quite a few people from top-tier forces in the surrounding regions had also been abducted by the cult. Under the leadership of these powers, an allied army formed, their stated purpose being the complete destruction of the Mad God Cult.

Of course, these were all things happening out in the wilderness. Lu Sheng, currently on his way to Python Mountain, knew nothing of them. It would take a little more time for the matter to fully ferment.

At the same time, the entire Mad God Cult in the wilderness was operating at high speed, carrying the captured people across various parts of the wasteland, scheming in secret over who knew what.