I Pick up a Lost Godhood

Chapter 142 - 140: Besieged

On the other side of the dense forest, a voice rang out, "Everyone, stay sharp! The ones who’ve come this time are Saint Cultivators, and they’re of excellent quality. The Master is very pleased. Don’t let a single one get away! For a live capture, the reward is two Blood Soul Pills. For a dead one, one pill. For capturing a Female Cultivator alive, three Blood Soul Pills!"

"Haha, don’t worry, Senior! Saint Cultivators are total pushovers, just a flock of sheltered little lambs. We’re gonna be rich this time!"

"Good. This is a rare opportunity. With these twenty Saint Cultivators, we’ll have enough rations for an entire year!"

The Demon Cultivators roared with laughter. "Rations" was their term for cultivation catalysts.

The Demon Cultivators searched with abandon. To them, this was just a hunt—a game where they could unleash their killing intent. Any struggle was futile.

Meanwhile, Suo Ming was under furious assault from a group of Demon Cultivators. "Hit him with everything you’ve got! Capture that brute!"

Sword Qi and Talismans rained down on Suo Ming, giving him no opportunity to attack. His several attempts to break through their encirclement were repelled. Unless they possessed a special Magical Artifact, Body Cultivators were unable to fly. And even then, slow flight was useless—it would only make them a sitting duck.

"Argh, Senior, this guy’s tough!"

"I refuse to believe he’s made of steel! Just leave him barely breathing. We need him alive, and he’s not getting away!"

Suo Ming remained silent, steadily defending with his Dual Hammers. He was a true defensive Body Cultivator—incredibly formidable in team battles and strong in duels, but most vulnerable to being swarmed.

He couldn’t outlast them, and he couldn’t escape.

Suo Ming wasn’t worried about life or death. He maintained his steady defense. Killing him wouldn’t be easy for anyone, and it was clear these Demon Cultivators wanted to take him alive.

Suo Ming stumbled, and a Demon Cultivator instantly closed in, obviously looking to press the attack. A bitter Sword Qi lashed out. Instead of retreating, Suo Ming advanced, ramming his body directly into the Sword Qi. With a grunt, he swung his hammer straight at the Demon Cultivator’s head. "KILL!"

Brains splattered everywhere.

"Surround him! No one fucking rush in! Wear him down! There’s a reward for all of you!"

The leading Demon Cultivation Disciple roared the order. At the same time, he quickly pulled a red, gourd-shaped Magical Artifact from his robes and plunged it into the dead disciple’s chest. Blood flowed into the gourd as if it had found an outlet, and the man’s Elemental Power went with it. The leading disciple even looked a little regretful.

In the blink of an eye, the body shriveled into a dry husk.

This time, the Demon Cultivation Disciples learned their lesson. They had encountered their fair share of Body Cultivators, but it was rare to see one so fearless—let alone one who was also a Saint Cultivator.

The one thing the Blood Soul Hall did not tolerate was "waste." To them, all Cultivators were prey—even if they themselves were also considered resources.

Once they decided to simply trap Suo Ming, there was truly nothing he could do to break free. But the word "surrender" wasn’t in Suo Ming’s vocabulary. Even if he was just worn down, he’d make sure to take at least one more of them with him!

"We need to hurry up over here. I heard Senior already caught one—a real beauty, apparently."

"Second Senior, if he can catch one, we can catch two!"

"You idiot! There are only twenty of them total. How many women could there be? Get a move on!"

"...Ah, I’m sensing Elemental Power ahead."

"Move! Surround them! If anyone messes this up, don’t blame me for being merciless!"

Aside from five Core Disciples, the rest of the Blood Soul Hall were ordinary disciples. The power of life and death over the Core Disciples rested in the hands of their master, Wan Gu Master Liu Xiao, but the lives of the ordinary disciples were held by the Core Disciples.

Li Tianyi licked his lips and a slight smile appeared on his face. "Why even bother?"

Six Demon Cultivation Disciples already lay on the ground, each killed with a single, fatal sword strike.

"Well now, more lambs to the slaughter. This time, at least, they’ve brought a little surprise."

Li Tianyi waited right where he was. ’It wouldn’t do to wander off. What if they can’t find me?’

Huang Hong was stunned when he saw the bodies littering the ground. "You killed all of these men?"

Li Tianyi shrugged helplessly. "Well, it wasn’t you, was it?"

Huang Hong cautiously waved his hand, signaling his men to be on high alert. ’How did an expert of this caliber get in here?’

"Who are you? Why have you trespassed on the Blood Soul Hall’s territory!"

Li Tianyi sighed. "You’re really unprofessional. Aren’t people who practice Forbidden Magic supposed to be arrogant and direct? So, are you going to start, or shall I?" He channeled Elemental Power into the tip of his sword.

Huang Hong’s grave expression instantly broke into a maniacal laugh. "Brat, you brought this on yourself! Watch out for his Magical Artifact! Get him! Chop off his arms and legs, just make sure he’s left breathing!"

The Demon Cultivation Disciples immediately swarmed forward, while Huang Hong took out his Soul-Devouring Spiritual Artifact to absorb the Essence Blood from the corpses on the ground. They had been dead for a little while, so most of their Elemental Power had already dissipated, and only about half of their Essence Blood remained. Still, it was better than nothing.

He was halfway through the process when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder, startling him so badly that he scrambled backward.

The five disciples who had come with him had already fallen silently to the ground, each with a single red dot on their forehead.

Huang Hong was horrified. ’His Elemental Power is at the Sixteenth Layer, at most. How is this possible...?’

A single drop of blood finally formed and dripped from the tip of Li Tianyi’s sword. This left Li Tianyi slightly disappointed. ’It seems my Sword Technique still isn’t perfect,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, the blade wouldn’t have been bloodied.’

Huang Hong stared at the way his men had died, and a name suddenly flashed in his mind—the Nine Heavens Separation Fire Sword!

"You... you’re from the Holy Hall Li Family?"

Li Tianyi was a little amused. "You’ve heard of it?"

Li Tianyi hadn’t expected the man to figure out his identity just from the state of the corpses. ’Looks like the fame of the Holy Hall Li Family really is known everywhere.’

"Heh heh, you’re way too arrogant, kid. The Li Family is nothing special!" Huang Hong had been startled by the family name, but on second thought, this brat was just a member of the younger generation. With his own Twenty-Fifth Layer of Elemental Power, crushing a kid at the sixteenth or seventeenth layer should be child’s play.

He spread his hands, and a stack of blood-red Talismans appeared. "Let’s see if the Li Family’s Sword Technique is all just hot air—Endless Sea of Blood!"

Rows of Talismans shot out, instantly turning an area of several dozen meters blood-red.

A Technique Cultivation Array.

Huang Hong’s figure vanished within the red glow. Li Tianyi simply stood where he was, unmoving.

’A descendant of the Li Family... His Essence Blood and Elemental Power must be exceptionally pure. If I capture a Li Family disciple alive, not only will the Master be ecstatic, but it will be a major contribution to report back to the main sect.’

’This is my lucky day.’

The Endless Sea of Blood was filled with a tyrannical aura that confounded not only one’s sight but all of one’s senses. It was the perfect tool against a keen young expert like him.

Huang Hong had already circled silently behind Li Tianyi, a Yin Thunder Pill at the ready. Many Demon Cultivators lacked the patience to practice Skill Techniques, preferring Hidden Weapons like the Yin Thunder Pill. They thought Saint Cultivators were a bunch of fucking idiots for wasting all that effort. Why bother, when you could just steal Elemental Power from others, then figure out how to craft or snatch some high-damage Hidden Weapons and Magical Artifacts? That was how you could rule the world. Now *that* was satisfying.

Huang Hong smiled sinisterly, preparing to launch the Yin Thunder Pill. He didn’t intend to kill Li Tianyi, but he had to at least cripple him. ’The little bastard killed more than ten of our brothers. He’s a ruthless one.’

SHING...

Li Tianyi rubbed his nose. "Why even bother?"

The Long Sword had pierced his heart with unerring precision. Huang Hong stared, dumbfounded, at the blade protruding from his chest. The Elemental Power that erupted from the sword instantly shattered his Life Mark. With two vital points suffering fatal blows simultaneously, not even the strongest Secret Technique of a Demon Cultivator could save him.

"You... you bastard... you’re even more... ruthless... than we are."

Huang Hong hung limp on Li Tianyi’s sword.

SHINK...

Li Tianyi withdrew his sword and shook his head in resignation. "A bunch of losers. So unsatisfying. Aren’t there any decent opponents at all?"

Huang Hong had been far too careless, blindly trusting that his Magic could deceive Li Tianyi. Of course, he wouldn’t have been so complacent if he’d known who Li Tianyi really was. But alas, there is no such thing as a Regret Pill in this world.

Li Tianyi decided waiting around was no longer an option. ’I have to go find them. It’d be a shame if someone else killed them all. An opportunity like this to practice my sword is hard to come by.’

There was one thing the Demon Cultivators had misunderstood. The Li Family’s Sword Technique could never reveal its true strength in a sparring match. In the eyes of Demon and Evil Cultivators, Li Xiuwen was a harbinger of death, not the gentle Ancestor Master Li his own disciples knew.

While Li Tianyi was hurrying to find more Demon Cultivators, the others were not nearly as fortunate.

Even Mingren had to kill three Demon Cultivators before breaking out of their encirclement. Of course, Mingren was more composed; he had no desire to get entangled and wanted only to find his junior brothers as quickly as possible.

It was in moments like these that Li Tianyi’s overwhelming power and dominance were on full display.

Liuu Mei and Zhou Qian looked miserable. They had both tried to break out, but neither had escaped. Both were captured alive. Several Demon Cultivation Disciples stared at Liuu Mei as if they wanted to swallow her whole.

Although they were practically drooling, none of them dared to make a move. These "rations" belonged to the Master. Only after the Master had enjoyed his share would they get the leftovers. No matter how much they craved her, they would never dare act before their Master.

"This is awesome! We’ve already nabbed two. I thought we were out of luck, but then we stumbled upon another one!"

"Haha, the Master himself likes things in twos; pairs are auspicious. He’ll surely toss the extra one our way."

The Demon Cultivators’ words made Liuu Mei’s face drain of color. She felt the urge to kill herself, but a curse had been placed on her body, which was tightly bound with ropes. She didn’t know if they had done it intentionally, but the bindings were particularly tight in a certain area, accentuating her figure.

"This chick has an incredible body."

"I heard the other two they caught are nice as well. Saint Cultivator girls are the best. Their skills are crap, but their Elemental Power is pure—perfect for plundering Yin to supplement Yang!"

The group continued to ravage Liuu Mei with their gazes. Zhou Qian, however, was doing everything he could to calm himself down. ’I have to stay calm. I have to stay calm!’

When they reached their destination, Liuu Mei and Zhou Qian discovered they weren’t the most unfortunate ones after all. Three people from Lingyin Hall had been captured as well.

The male disciple among them was gravely wounded, but the guarding Demon Cultivation Disciples paid him no mind. As long as he wasn’t about to die on the spot, it didn’t matter—he was just "rations," after all. The two beautiful female disciples, however, had only sustained minor injuries and looked terrified.

Liuu Mei had been terrified, but seeing the others, she suddenly felt a bit braver than she’d thought. She glanced at Zhou Qian beside her, who also seemed to be composed.

Suddenly, a whistling sound echoed from outside. The expressions of the Demon Cultivators, who had been laughing and joking inside the room, changed dramatically, and they all scrambled out.

"Everyone, we must remain calm. Wang Meng and the others will surely come to rescue us," Zhou Qian said, finally letting out a breath of relief.

The two female disciples from Lingyin Hall just wept. Helpless, Zhou Qian glanced at Liuu Mei, who, despite her pale face, seemed relatively normal. "Senior Sister, don’t do anything rash. We have to stay calm."

Liuu Mei bit her lip. "If I don’t make it... get a message to Fatty for me."

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)