Chapter 2039: Maze Town
Zhao Hai’s defensive region became smaller and smaller and finally he could only block the attacks of nine people. By this time, the attackers’ eyes were red. They began to get desperate as they attacked Zhao Hai.
At this time, one of the attackers yelled and fell to the ground. Just as the others were stunned, two more cultivators fell.
The remaining attackers quickly recovered themselves and discovered the Earth Monarch Cultivator that Zhao Hai killed. Now, the Earth Monarch was standing up with an indifferent expression, his sword had blood on them showing that it was him who attacked.
The cultivators attacking Zhao Hai stared. As he looked at his attackers, Zhao Hai laughed and said, “Your courage is indeed not small. You dared to attack without knowing about my abilities. I’m a Dark Mage, I can turn dead people into obedient Undead.” As he said that, Zhao Hai waved his hand and turned the three recently killed cultivators into Undead. Then the three Undead immediately attacked.
Before long, Zhao Hai’s attackers were reduced by half. Finally, the attackers began to panic. Although they discovered that the Earth Monarch Cultivator wasn’t as strong as before and had been heavily demoted to the start of the Soul Fusion Stage, they were still afraid. They no longer wanted to get entangled with Zhao Hai. They didn’t know what other methods Zhao Hai had. If they didn’t leave, then they would only die.
After fighting for a couple more rounds, one of the attackers roared, “Disperse!” As he said that, he received his sword and ran away. In a blink of an eye, he was already gone. The other attackers were similar. After driving the enemy away, they immediately disappeared.
Zhao Hai smiled faintly but he didn’t pursue. He waved his hand and received the Undead. In his second sneak attack, Zhao Hai didn’t only use the Earth Monarch Cultivator but also his other dao avatar clone. However, when the dao avatar clone succeeded, Zhao Hai immediately received it. Therefore, the attackers never noticed it. They only thought that it was the Earth Monarch Cultivator who attacked.
Moreover, as for the Earth Monarch’s decrease in strength, it was Zhao Hai’s deliberate ruse. He did this because he couldn’t let other people know about the advantages of his Undead. It was beneficial to Zhao Hai for his enemies to think that his Undead would be demoted once they were resurrected.
The reason Zhao Hai didn’t chase the cultivators was because he knew very well that he wasn’t strong enough to make them stay. So it was better for him to let them go. Moreover, being able to eliminate half of them was enough to explain his strength.
From this moment on, Zhao Hai knew that this trial wouldn’t be easy. Now that he drove his attackers away, he would be attracting more people to chase him down.
Zhao Hai glanced at his temporary camp. The camp has been fully destroyed and it was full of broken arrows. It was no longer suitable to live in.
Zhao Hai wasn’t distressed by these things. The reason he discovered these people was these arrows. The arrows were created by a talisman called the Rain Arrow Talisman. It was an offensive metal-element talisman.
Originally, Zhao Hai had no information regarding the talismans of the True Spirit Realm. But later on, he traded a jade slip from the Miscellaneous Hall. The jade slip contained information about talismans as well as how to make them. The most common talismans of the True Spirit Realm would be peak talismans in the Great Realm of Cultivation.
Talismans would cause fluctuations when they were used. Although it was activated far from him, Zhao Hai was still able to detect it. This allowed him time to block and defend against the attackers.
After looking at the surroundings, Zhao Hai shook his head. He didn’t clean the scene and instead walked into the forest. Then they entered a big tree to rest.
The next day, Zhao Hai walked out from the big tree after a refres.h.i.+ng rest. Then he continued his travels. He ate his rations while also keeping his guard.
For the next three days, Zhao Hai didn’t suffer any attacks. However, Zhao Hai didn’t dare lower his guard. He was now in the light while his enemies were in the dark. He doesn’t know when the other party would make their move.
Now, the Sword Hegemon Sect attacked him, and it was possible that the Imperial Beast Sect would join in later. On the other hand, Zhao Hai couldn’t count on the Tyrant Blade Sect. He was now in his trial, so he could only depend on himself. He has no other choice but to be careful.
Unknown to Zhao Hai, less than a day after he left his temporary camp, the Tyrant Blade Sect received information. While some disciples were doing missions outside, they saw Zhao Hai’s attacked camp. They felt that it was unusual because the location wasn’t that far from the central region of the Tyrant Blade Sect. Someone actually attacked in this area. This wasn’t a simple matter, so they immediately reported it.
When the higher-ups of the Tyrant Blade Sect received this information, they were enraged. They didn’t expect attackers to exist right under their noses. Moreover, after further investigation, the person attacked was a disciple of the Tyrant Blade Sect. It was impossible for the sect to ignore this matter.
It was darkest underneath the lamp! The Tyrant Blade Sect understood this point. The other party knew that the area was close to the central area of the Tyrant Blade Sect. This was the most strictly controlled area of the sect. Only a few people would dare cause any trouble. Therefore, after so many years, the sect became complacent which caused a few holes to appear.
The elder responsible for this surveillance was immediately removed from office. At the same time, the Tyrant Blade Sect sent out a huge number of people to conduct a large-scale sweep around the central region of the sect.
If they didn’t clean up, then they would still be kept in the dark. After their sweeping operation, the Tyrant Blade Sect finally knew how many people were hidden around the sect’s central region. In total, there were 500 to 600 spies. This number wasn’t small. Some of the spies have even married locals. In the end, they were discovered by the Tyrant Blade Sect. Naturally, these people didn’t have a good end. The att.i.tude of the Tyrant Blade Sect was very clear, all spies were killed! There was no mercy. For a while, dark winds swept through the central region of the Tyrant Blade Sect. Even the spies who haven’t been discovered were scared and ran away.
Zhao Hai didn’t expect his battle with the Sword Hegemon Sect to cause such a huge movement. At this time, Zhao Hai entered a small town. This town was also controlled by the Tyrant Blade Sect, but it was clear that the sect didn’t place any importance on it. The branch hall of the Tyrant Blade Sect in this town wasn’t large. At most, it was staffed by 50 people. Its hall Master was an Elder at the Teleportation Stage.
Zhao Hai has no plans of visiting the branch hall. He’s currently undergoing a trial and couldn’t get in contact with the Tyrant Blade Sect. This included the branch halls. Therefore, Zhao Hai looked for a small inn to rest.
After a night of rest, Zhao Hai was fully recovered. The next day, he didn’t immediately leave town. He went out of the inn with his blade on his back and strolled around.
To Zhao Hai’s surprise, his small town had plenty of cultivators roaming around. The weapons these cultivators carried were varied, this meant that majority of them don’t belong to the Tyrant Blade Sect. This was strange since a town like this wouldn’t have such a large concentration of cultivators.
Zhao Hai entered a restaurant and ordered a couple of dishes as well as a pot of wine. After his food was served, Zhao Hai added a gold coin before asking the waiter, “Waiter, how come there are a lot of cultivators in this town? Did something happen?”
The waiter was naturally appreciative of Zhao Hai’s tip, so he immediately opened up. He looked at Zhao Hai and asked, “Mister, you aren’t from the area?”
Zhao Hai nodded, “I’m just pa.s.sing by. It’s my first time in this town. Is the town’s martial spirit strong? Is that why there are a lot of cultivators?”
The waiter smiled and said, “Mister doesn’t know this, but our town originally didn’t have its current name. There wasn’t even a Tyrant Blade Sect branch hall here. But later on, during a trial, a disciple of the Tyrant Blade Sect accidentally came upon a cave around fifty kilometers northeast of our town. In this cave are a lot of demon beasts as well as special moss that they said is a good medicinal ingredient. Because of this discovery, the Tyrant Blade Sect established a branch hall in the town. The town was also named Maze Town because the cave was like a labyrinth. n.o.body knows how big it is. Because of this, cultivators began coming into the town.”
Speaking up to here, the waiter paused, he looked at the cultivators who were eating their meals, then he lowered his voice and said, “Actually, everything good in the cave has already been taken away by the Tyrant Blade Sect. Even if you go in now, you won’t be able to find much green-rock moss. Despite this, cultivators still want to try their luck. As more and more cultivators come in, more of them die inside. This means that there are a lot of good items left inside the cave. Later on, cultivators no longer come for green-rock moss. Instead, they would look for the treasures left behind by the dead cultivators.”
“As more and more people got rich from looting, even more cultivators came. Then the Tyrant Blade Sect set a rule that allowed only a thousand people to enter the cave every month. Because the slots are limited, the bids to enter the cave were very high. If there are less than a thousand people in a month, then each person only needs to pay 100 jade essences to enter. It should be time to enter the cave, that’s why there are so many cultivators.”
Zhao Hai nodded and then he waved his hand. As the waiter left, Zhao Hai continued to drink his wine as he thought about the underground cave.
To be honest, nothing in the cave could make Zhao Hai move. However, from what the waiter said, the underground cave was a land of killing where riches and wealth coexist. The att.i.tude of the Tyrant Blade Sect was also very obvious. They kept managing the cave in order to collect money. They didn’t care that the underground has become a lawless land where fists speak the loudest.
Zhao Hai’s most important goal in this trial was to fight different people to gain experience. An unruly place like the underground cave was just the perfect place for him.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hai’s eyes shone. He looked at the surrounding cultivators as he drank his wine. His expression was becoming more and more happy.
After eating his meal, Zhao Hai left the restaurant and walked around the streets. He also found an interesting phenomenon. With so many cultivators present, groups would naturally form. And when these groups meet each other, conflicts would happen. And during conflicts, it was inevitable for weapons to fly out. However, a chaotic scenario didn’t happen in Maze Town. Instead, conflicting groups would set appointments and settle it outside the town. Violence couldn’t be seen in the town.
Zhao Hai wondered about this in the beginning. But later on he understood. This should be the rule that the Tyrant Blade Sect has established. Although this town wasn’t in the range of the Tyrant Blade Sect’s central region, strictly speaking, it wasn’t that far. A flying mount could reach this town in just a day. Because of this, no cultivator dared to violate the rules of the town. Only rogue cultivators or small clans would dare offend the Tyrant Blade Sect in Maze Town. So if there were any small-group conflicts, they would be resolved outside.
To be honest, Zhao Hai approved this approach. If the town was chaotic, then no mortal would live here. And if that happens, the cultivators wouldn’t be able to get supplies. At the same time, the peace of a territory was related to the reputation of the Tyrant Blade Sect.
After roaming the town for a day and getting familiar with the surroundings, Zhao Hai returned to the inn he stayed in. The inn was called the Pleasant Stay Inn. It was the best inn in Maze Town. And Zhao Hai could admit that the inn embodied its name.