In the blink of an eye, a sharp icicle appeared before the fair-faced man. The mottled sunlight shone down, causing the icicle to refract a rainbow of colors!
Lu Ye immediately sensed something was amiss.
Just a moment ago, he had gathered his spiritual energy in his eyes, allowing him to see the spiritual light on the attacker's body and determine that the opponent was a cultivator at the third level of the Spirit Stream, but not yet at the fourth level.
The opponent's cultivation was higher than his own, and from the situation where he had been mysteriously struck by the opponent's blade, it was clear that the opponent's combat experience also surpassed his.
Lu Ye had been cultivating for a short time and had not undergone any rigorous training, nor had he received guidance from a master. The long sword in his hand was used for the simplest slashes and thrusts, with no particular techniques or methods.
With inferior cultivation, inferior skills, and the other party possessing magical techniques... the situation was already extremely dire.
As the icicle formed in the opponent's hand, Lu Ye planted his foot on the ground and used the rebound force to dash forward.
Lu Ye's reaction left the fair-faced cultivator stunned. He had expected the opponent to flee immediately, but this adversary advanced instead of retreating.
His figure drifted backward again, and at the same time, he launched the icicle, which moved at incredible speed.
The sharp icicle struck Lu Ye, but it was blocked by the golden light on his body. Although it didn't injure him, the rebound force made his chest feel stifled, slowing his forward momentum and dimming the golden light on his body.
After launching one icicle, the fair-faced man gathered more spiritual energy in his hand, clearly intending to form a second icicle. Lu Ye's eyes twitched; in a battle between low-level cultivators, the one who could use magical techniques had a significant advantage.
"How many can you block?" The fair-faced man taunted while maintaining a safe distance from Lu Ye. In the short time they had been engaged, Lu Ye had already been hit by three icicles, and the golden light on his body was almost extinguished. Yet, he couldn't even touch the other's clothing.
This kind of battle made him feel frustrated, and he wished he could take out a Fire Snake Talisman to teach the other a lesson.
However, he suppressed this impulse. He wasn't sure if a single Fire Snake Talisman could kill the other. This was a cultivator, not one of the wolves he had killed when he first came to the battlefield. There was also no advantageous terrain like when he had fought Da Hu.
He already had a vague plan in mind, but whether it would work smoothly depended on luck.
After a short while, when Lu Ye was hit by another icicle, the golden light on his body finally disappeared. The repeated impacts of the icicles had left him with internal injuries, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. The cold enveloped him, and he couldn't help but shiver.
He glared at the fair-faced man with a look ofδΈη (reluctance) and spoke the first words since the battle began: "What grudge do we have?"
The fair-faced man chuckled: "No grudge, no enmity."
Lu Ye remained silent, waiting for more.
Sure enough, the fair-faced man continued: "But if you can tell me where you found so many minerals, I can spare your life!"
A flash of determination appeared in Lu Ye's eyes. He had identified the problem. This encounter was not a coincidence; the other party had come specifically for him! The cause was the minerals he had sold.
To be honest, Lu Ye had always been very cautious. On his three trips to the Tian Ji Merchant Alliance, he had transacted with different people each time. He only took a small portion of the minerals to sell, never selling too much to avoid drawing attention. He even took detours on his way back to ensure no one was following him.
But the facts proved that someone had harbored ill intentions, and no matter how careful he was, it was useless unless he stopped going to the Tian Ji Merchant Alliance.
However, he needed spirit pills for cultivation. Where else could he go if not to the Tian Ji Merchant Alliance?
What was clear now was that this was not orchestrated by the Merchant Alliance. A large organization that prided itself on honesty and fairness had no reason to target a small cultivator like him.
So this was likely a private action by some individuals within the Merchant Alliance. Lu Ye recalled the three Merchant Alliance cultivators he had transacted with but couldn't figure out which one had targeted him.
The three transactions were all ordinary. The only unusual thing was the hint from Liu Ruyin during the first transaction, but that didn't explain much.
From the fair-faced man's words, it was clear that the other party suspected he had discovered a vein of various minerals and wanted to find out the location of the vein.
He had no idea that Lu Ye didn't have any mineral vein. His minerals were all brought out from the Evil Moon Valley.
Seeing that Lu Ye was silent, the fair-faced man's expression darkened: "You refuse the wine of respect and choose the wine of punishment!" He decided to beat Lu Ye half to death and then force him to reveal the location of the mineral vein.
Saying this, he charged at Lu Ye with his blade.
He didn't use the icicle technique again, mainly because it was too energy-consuming. With the Golden Body Talisman broken, he was confident he could handle Lu Ye easily.
However, the Lu Ye who had been so defiant a moment ago suddenly turned and ran, moving at incredible speed.
The fair-faced man was amused and laughed, looking at Lu Ye's back: "Can you run away?"
He pursued at a leisurely pace, taking out a spirit stone from his storage bag and slowly recovering his energy.
He saw that Lu Ye was terrified, and such a desperate escape would only accelerate the depletion of his spiritual energy. Once a low-level cultivator ran out of spiritual energy, they were no different from ordinary people. The Yang Manager, who had been killed by Lu Ye, was a prime example.
So he just needed to make sure he didn't lose track of Lu Ye.
The two chased and fled through a rocky forest, crossed a small river, and finally reached an open area. The fair-faced man found Lu Ye standing there, panting heavily, his face as pale as paper, and not moving.
So quickly out of spiritual energy? The fair-faced man sneered and slowly approached, his long sword making a flourish: "Why aren't you running anymore?"
He stood ten paces away from Lu Ye, a mocking look on his face.
But soon he realized something was wrong. Lu Ye's expression was one of extreme terror, and he was staring at something, his sword hand trembling violently.
A gust of wind swept by, and a low growl echoed. From behind a large tree, a massive, snow-white tiger emerged, walking leisurely.
Its amber eyes turned to the fair-faced man, making his heart skip a beat. He suddenly remembered a rumor he had heard in the market two days ago.
Could it be this bad? He wailed inwardly.
But then something even more despairing happened. The tiger opened its mouth and spoke in a human voice: "You dare to disturb the Great King's sleep? I see you want to die!"
Sweat instantly broke out on the fair-faced man's forehead. He finally understood why Lu Ye was so terrified.
The source of the terror was not him, but this tiger!
Just as he was at a loss, he heard Lu Ye say: "Great Tiger King, spare our lives. We didn't know this was your territory. We'll leave right away!"
The fair-faced man nodded frantically.
The tiger roared in anger: "You come and go as you please. Do you think this is some place for you to do that?"