Chapter 31: The Thirty-First Day as Cult Leader (Part 1)

As everyone knew, when people of the jianghu went out, they never used horses. They used qinggong, as if they were showing off their qinggong on purpose, and they would even mock those who rode horses.

Qin Ming did not know how to ride a horse, so he did not have to worry about making a fool of himself there. But his qinggong… could only be called perfectly average.

Almost as soon as he and Shen Fubai left Shilian Mountain, Shen Fubai leapt lightly without his feet touching the ground, and in the next instant, he had vanished several meters away. Qin Ming froze at the sight of that exquisite qinggong. He had not expected Shen Fubai to possess such handsome qinggong in addition to his swordsmanship. Yet when a sudden impulse rose in him and he tried to chase after Shen Fubai’s back, he discovered…

He could not catch up at all!

Qin Ming: …I’m done for. I’ve embarrassed myself!

At that moment, Qin Ming, who wished he could turn back time and desperately practice qinggong, could only be described as unbearably awkward. No matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up to that snow-white figure ahead of him.

In the end, it was Shen Fubai who grew somewhat puzzled as to why Qin Ming still had not caught up. He deliberately slowed his steps and waited for him, and only then did the two finally proceed side by side.

At first, Shen Fubai found it rather strange that Qin Ming’s speed was so slow. But then, in an instant, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, making admiration well up in his heart. He flattered him at once. “The Cult Leader truly is worthy of being the Cult Leader! If we hurried along at our original speed, people would inevitably discover our traces and grow suspicious. Only by slowing our pace can we conceal ourselves from prying eyes. Cult Leader is truly farsighted. This subordinate admires you!”

Qin Ming: …

What the hell?

But Qin Ming, who had long since trained himself to be thick-skinned, hesitated for only an instant before immediately keeping his face stern and nodding. “Not bad. You truly understand my thoughts.”

“You praise me too highly, Cult Leader!” Shen Fubai was overjoyed by the praise and quickly slowed his pace by quite a bit, walking gracefully at a distance just slightly behind Qin Ming. “Then this subordinate will also slow his steps with you and enjoy the scenery of the surrounding mountains and waters.”

“…” The corner of Qin Ming’s mouth twitched slightly, and he nearly lost his composure. Shen Fubai was strolling through the mountains and waters as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard, but he was desperately using qinggong to travel! He could not relax at all!

As a Demonic Cult Cult Leader whom everyone believed to possess peerless martial arts, Qin Ming was simply suffering terribly from it. He was clearly rushing along with all his might until he was drenched in sweat, yet his face still had to show an easy expression. He could not reveal the slightest flaw.

What kind of traveling was this? It was clearly torture. It was simply bitter beyond words!

And as for Qin Ming’s earlier fantasy of casually visiting other places along the way and taking in local customs and scenery, once he truly set foot on the journey, he discovered he had been overthinking things. Their route was either through one forest or another. Not only were there nothing but trees and hills along the way, it was even hard to see the shadow of another person.

When they were hungry, they ate the flatbread they had brought with them. When they were thirsty, they drank from the streams in the forest. When they were tired, they casually lit a fire and slept in the woods. It was genuine savage living.

At first, Qin Ming still found it novel. But once everything that entered his eyes was greenery, greenery, and still more greenery, and once eating and sleeping were both extremely crude, he began to find it unbearable. He had not expected his true first experience “wandering the jianghu” to be so miserable. He might as well go back to Shilian Mountain and match wits with the disasters of the Demonic Cult.

More importantly, Shen Fubai was a clever person. With him accompanying him at his side, Qin Ming did not dare speak too much, nor did he dare expose his original personality. He had to keep up an unfathomable front the whole time. Two whole days had passed like this… Who could possibly stand it?

Help. Why had he insisted on eating that bun back then? Hurry up and let him go home!

Qin Ming’s grief practically flowed backward into a river.

Just like that, after they had traveled for who knew how long—in Qin Ming’s eyes, it felt as long as a century—the environment around them finally changed into vast stretches of purple bamboo. Shen Fubai suddenly said, “Cult Leader, it seems we have arrived at the agreed location one day early!”

…They could arrive early even like this? Then had they only been traveling for two days?

Qin Ming felt somewhat dazed. He had not expected two short days to feel so endlessly long in his heart. Realizing that tomorrow would be the day they dealt with the master of the Blood Blade Sect, his nerves instantly tightened. His whole person seemed to come alive as he said calmly, “Mm. We will make camp nearby tonight. Tomorrow, we will formally go meet that sect master.”

“Yes.” The rosy color of sunset had already appeared on the horizon. Shen Fubai skillfully started a fire in an open space, then casually caught a pheasant and began roasting it.

As for Qin Ming, he seemed to be sitting off to the side in meditation, eyes closed and mind focused, aloof and indifferent to everything around him. In reality, he was desperately adjusting his inner force, maintaining his breathing so it would not become disordered.

Almost every time he used qinggong, his inner force bottomed out, so he would take the chance to meditate, focus his mind, and regulate his breathing as hard as he could. Combined with secretly swallowing a few medicinal pills purchased from the System every now and then to recover his inner force, he had managed not to lose his disguise along the way, appearing as if the journey took no effort at all.

This was also thanks to his cultivation speed being several times faster than other people’s. An ordinary person would not even have time to rest during this interval.

But when this scene fell into Shen Fubai’s eyes, it was anything but ordinary. His original intention had been to exhaust the Cult Leader’s inner force, achieving an outcome where he and the Blood Blade Sect’s master would both suffer heavy losses. That was why Shen Fubai had worked so hard to use qinggong nonstop the entire way.

But when Shen Fubai’s own breath grew unstable and his inner force bottomed out, he turned his head only to discover that the Cult Leader’s face was not red, his breathing was not rushed, and he did not look tired at all. The cold glance he cast over seemed to be saying—why are you so weak?

Shen Fubai could only grit his teeth and force himself to persist. After finally dragging things out until rest time, he recovered a little inner force and then rushed on desperately again. After two days of this, he had already been tortured until his face was pale, his lips dry, and even his mind somewhat dazed. Yet when he looked again at the Cult Leader beside him, Qin Ming remained just as calm and steady as before, his aura extraordinary.

Only now did Shen Fubai truly admire the Cult Leader from the bottom of his heart. This person was young, yet his martial arts were not only outstanding, even his qinggong was this powerful. Shen Fubai was truly far inferior. Compared with him, what kind of genius was Shen Fubai?

His plan to make the Cult Leader expend his inner force had failed. Shen Fubai was not particularly surprised, but the feeling in his heart grew even more emotional, so he gave up on the idea.

The two sat quite far apart as they warmed themselves by the fire and ate the pheasant meat, facing each other in silence.

This was not anything especially unusual. Every time Qin Ming and Shen Fubai spent time together, Shen Fubai was the one who spoke endlessly while Qin Ming occasionally responded with a line or two. But now that they were together day and night, Shen Fubai naturally could not think of that much flattery. Mutual silence was the normal state.

Strangely enough, Qin Ming did not find this silence very awkward. It was completely different from when he had gone out alone with Zhou Ji last time.

As he silently ate the chicken, however, his mind kept thinking over tomorrow’s plan. His appointed duel with the Blood Blade Sect’s master was at noon tomorrow. In other words, he had an entire morning to set traps.

But Shen Fubai being here was a problem. He had to think of a way to send him away before he could move freely.

Thinking of this, Qin Ming leisurely ate the last bite of chicken, then said to Shen Fubai, “Tomorrow morning, go farther away. Do not get caught up in our battle.”

Shen Fubai hurriedly expressed his loyalty. “I am willing to advance and retreat together with the Cult Leader!”

Qin Ming deliberately said with disdain, “You will only hold me back… Or do you wish to personally meet the Blood Blade Sect’s master? I can give you that chance.”

“…” Thinking of the strange martial art attributed to the Blood Blade Sect’s master that had been spreading everywhere, Shen Fubai’s expression turned serious. He immediately cupped his hands and bowed. “This subordinate will withdraw first tomorrow morning and await the Cult Leader’s triumphant victory!”

Qin Ming rolled his eyes inwardly, but he also let out a small breath of relief. Since Shen Fubai had been sent away so easily, his actions tomorrow were secured.

Little did he know that Shen Fubai was also hiding his own schemes. He could hide in the shadows and secretly observe the battle. If both sides suffered heavy losses, perhaps he could seize the chance to launch a sneak attack. Taking either one of their wretched lives would be fine!

Yet at this moment, Shen Fubai’s gaze involuntarily fell on the young man beside him, who was silently meditating. A little hesitation actually surfaced in his heart. He still did not understand where this hesitation had come from, so he could only force his emotions back down and begin irritably packing his luggage.

“Congratulations, you have safely arrived at the Purple Bamboo Grove.”

“Mission Reward: You have obtained one designated one-time golden trait. Reward has been issued.”

As Qin Ming closed his eyes and prepared to regulate his breathing, he heard the System’s notification sound. Only then did he realize there had been a mission like this. Very soon, an ordinary white card appeared in his hand. The front was completely blank, with only one line written on the back: “Say the golden trait talent you wish to obtain and tear this card apart to gain that talent for fifteen minutes.”

Qin Ming’s mood grew tense, with a hint of excitement. This was another major killing move. He could designate a golden trait! Even though it was only one-use.

And he barely needed to consider before deciding which attribute he wanted to raise. “Choose speed attribute!”

His plan was simple. If he could not beat the opponent, he would run! Then speed was absolutely essential, so this was the one!

Very quickly, the blank portion of the card displayed the trait he needed:

Divine Movement for a Thousand Li: Blessed by the heavens, your speed will increase greatly—threefold!

It worked!

The corner of Qin Ming’s mouth curved slightly upward. He began admiring this card from left and right as though it were a treasure. If Shen Fubai had not been beside him packing his luggage, Qin Ming would have wanted to kiss it directly.

But at that moment, Shen Fubai, who had appeared very busy, suddenly reached vigilantly toward the sword at his waist. His sharp gaze shot toward the deep forest not far away, and he called loudly, “Who’s there?”

Qin Ming was startled. He subconsciously hid the card in his sleeve and also noticed the sound of footsteps coming from the deep forest nearby.

After being discovered, that person’s originally faint footsteps suddenly stopped. Then they sped up and rushed toward them. One look was enough to tell that the newcomer did not come with good intentions.

“Hah, seeking death!” Shen Fubai had already been in an irritated mood, and now he was even more enraged by this person who did not know whether to live or die. His left hand swiftly drew his sword, his toes tapped forward, and he lightly thrust ahead.

The sharp blade pierced through layer after layer of dense forest, accurately stabbing toward the chest of a human figure. But after reacting half a beat late, that person merely tilted their body and dodged the strike at a strange speed. At the same time, they drew a sword as well.

Shen Fubai’s brows furrowed. From the martial art just now, he could already guess that the person opposite him definitely had strong martial arts. But he likewise did not think his own swordsmanship was inferior. Borrowing the faint light beneath the moon, his eyes narrowed, his left foot stepped forward three times, and a familiar Yaoguang Sword Art shot toward the opponent three times with lightning speed.

This Sword Pavilion martial art, originally unmatched beneath the heavens and something very few people could break, was intercepted by the figure opposite him with a sword the moment it was thrust out. Where the two blades met, a ringing clang of sword-song instantly sounded.

Shen Fubai was somewhat surprised. This person had clearly seen Yaoguang Sword Art for the first time, yet he could block in all directions at extreme speed. Even though his movements were full of openings, each time, he could withstand the force of the sword art.

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