Chapter 463: I Beg You, Don’t Kill Me

Regardless of who was coming or what their business was, the top priority at a time like this was to stay clear.

Thus, Lu Sangjiu didn’t hesitate for a moment. After covering her tracks, she immediately turned and headed in the opposite direction.

She walked for a bit and spotted the mouth of a cave. To avoid the High-level cultivators behind her, she ducked right inside.

She had only intended to find a place to hide, but upon entering, she discovered the cave was a complex maze, extending from a simple entrance deep into the volcano’s interior.

There were several forks in the path. With no particular destination in mind, Lu Sangjiu simply picked one at random and kept walking.

She could clearly feel that as she went deeper, the temperature around her was gradually rising.

’Should I keep going and take a look?’

She wasn’t really in the mood for an adventure right now, nor did she have any particular goal. Her curiosity was satisfied just by coming this far.

’Besides, those High-level cultivators outside have probably left by now, right?’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when her Divine Sense suddenly detected people entering the cave.

And... damn it. It was the very same High-level cultivators she had just been hiding from.

There were four of them in total. Two seemed to be Earth Immortals, same as her. The other two had stronger auras, but not overwhelmingly so—they were probably Heavenly Immortals, a Level higher.

They weren’t making any effort to conceal their auras, so even though their cultivation was higher than Lu Sangjiu’s, she could still sense them clearly.

Conversely, thanks to her Thousand Faces of Life, if she actively concealed her aura, even a Heavenly Immortal likely wouldn’t be able to discover her.

Lu Sangjiu cursed her bad luck. ’I can’t believe the random cave I picked just happens to be their target.’

’It’s too late to turn back now. Maybe... I’ll just wait here a bit. With so many forks in the path, they might take a different one.’

’Once they’re far enough away, I can just retrace my steps. Everything will be fine!’

With that in mind, Lu Sangjiu stopped moving and sat down on the spot. While keeping a careful watch on the group with her Divine Sense, she took the opportunity to sort through her recent spoils.

The three Cultivators had all used storage rings, and when she opened them, she was surprised to find they were packed.

After taking inventory, aside from various Elixir Pills, talismans, and a few Magic Treasures, she had reaped a total of one hundred eighty-two top-grade spiritual stones, plus several thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Lu Sangjiu felt like she had struck it rich overnight, jumping from a pitiful fifteen top-grade spiritual stones to almost two hundred.

’Robbery really is the fastest way to get rich. No wonder so many people can’t resist straying from the proper path. The Spirit Stones come in so fast.’

Besides the Spirit Stones, she had two other excellent finds. The first was Feng Yulin’s Elixir Recipe—the one for the pill that seems harmless on the outside but can lock an opponent’s Spiritual Power after they take it.

The Elixir Recipe wasn’t for some advanced pill, but if she could succeed in refining a higher-quality version, it would be effective even against Heavenly Immortals.

It was, one might say, the perfect aid for murder and plunder.

’I should refine a few to carry with me,’ Lu Sangjiu thought. ’They might come in handy.’

The other prize was Fang Ling’er’s Beast Taming Secret Manual. It detailed the method she had used to temporarily boost the Snow Leopard’s strength, along with cultivation methods for Ice and Snow System Spirit Beasts.

Coincidentally, all of these techniques could be used on Duoduo, giving Lu Sangjiu a new ace up her sleeve.

As for the other Elixir Pills, talismans, and Magic Treasures, they were all of a low Level and weren’t of much use to Lu Sangjiu.

’Luckily, there’s a decent amount. If I sell them all, I could probably get another one or two hundred Spirit Stones?’

’Add in the materials from the Weaving Flame Beast and the Snow Leopard, and that’s probably another seventy or eighty Spirit Stones. This trip has been a massive haul.’

Lu Sangjiu suddenly realized her previous way of thinking was too conservative. ’How long would it take to become strong enough to help Xie Ningyuan by just ’working’ for a living?’

’Robbery is so much faster.’

’Yes, I must have been playing the part of a proper sect cultivator for too long. I’ve completely forgotten how I clawed my way up back when I was a Demon Cultivator.’

Of course, she couldn’t bring herself to go around robbing innocent Cultivators. But if someone else tried to rob her first, she would have no psychological burden whatsoever in turning the tables and killing them.

Lu Sangjiu felt that she had just found her new path for getting stronger...

Just as she was basking in the joy of her huge haul, she suddenly had a bad feeling... ’Wait, what’s going on? Why are those four heading straight this way?’

’Good grief. Of all the forks in the path, they picked the exact same one I did. What kind of twisted fate is this?’

Her expression was indescribable. This was going to be tricky.

’If I just wait here, it’ll be hard to explain myself when they find me. And if they’re the unreasonable type, they might just attack on sight.’

’But if I go deeper, I know for a fact they aren’t here for sightseeing. There’s probably some danger up ahead that even I’d struggle to handle.’

’Even if I could handle it, I have no interest in clearing the path for them. I’d end up getting hurt while they waltz in safely behind me to collect the rewards. Am I a complete idiot?’

For a moment, Lu Sangjiu was at a loss. After a brief hesitation, she had an idea. ’Maybe I should fall back on my old profession?’

This was the first time Duan Yiyi had come out for training with her senior brothers and sisters since her cultivation broke through to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Unfortunately, they had come to a desolate backwater. The Spiritual Energy was so thin it felt like her skin was cracking, and she was thoroughly uncomfortable.

It was even worse here in the volcanic zone—not only was the Spiritual Energy thin, but it was also searingly hot. Though she used Spiritual Energy to ward off the heat, she was still in a terrible mood.

Just as she was complaining to Senior Brother Tang Ming again, she suddenly heard Senior Brother Lie Rufeng, who was at the head of the group, say warily, "Careful, there’s someone up ahead!"

’Someone? Who else would be in this godforsaken place?’

Duan Yiyi frowned. "Who could possibly be in a godforsaken place like this? Senior Brother, you must be mistaken."

Ruxin, her senior sister from the sect, spoke up from beside her. "Senior Brother Lie wouldn’t be mistaken. It’s always best to be cautious out here."

Duan Yiyi shot Ruxin a look of displeasure. ’You’ve been cultivating for so many years and you’re still just an Earth Immortal,’ she thought contemptuously. ’I call you Senior Sister out of courtesy, and you really start acting like one?’

’I’m a genius who reached the Heavenly Immortal realm at a young age. Who does she think she is, lecturing me like that?’

Although displeased, she was in the habit of acting sweet in front of Senior Brother Tang Ming, so she didn’t retort directly. Instead, she said with a hint of passive-aggression, "Senior Sister Ruxin’s cultivation isn’t that high, so it’s true that *she* should be careful."

"After all, if something were to happen and we didn’t have time to save you, that would be terrible, wouldn’t it?"

Ruxin, of course, caught the passive-aggressive jab. She frowned, glanced at Duan Yiyi, and was about to say something when a loud CRASH echoed from up ahead!

It was Lie Rufeng. He had made his move. With a single slash of his sword, he split a massive boulder on the path ahead. Lu Sangjiu, who had been hiding behind it, was suddenly exposed with nowhere else to run.

Lu Sangjiu clutched her chest, a look of pure terror on her face as she crumpled to her knees. Her eyes, fixed on them, were filled with fear and panic.

"Who... who are you people?" she stammered. "Please, don’t kill me! I’m just lost! I’m begging you, please don’t kill me!"