Chapter 741: Evil Cultivation

A black net suddenly enveloped the two crimson fire pythons. The pythons opened their massive mouths, tearing the black net to shreds, and then lunged towards the three giant skull heads.

The three giant skull heads let out a strange roar, each spewing a gust of black gale. The two crimson fire pythons collided with the gales, as if encountering their nemesis, and were pulverized by the winds, turning into specks of firelight before disappearing.

Seizing this opportunity, Zhao Feng and Sun Jiawen were already a hundred zhang away, moving very quickly.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" A piercing whoosh echoed as a dozen black arrows streaked across the dark night, heading straight for Zhao Feng and Sun Jiawen. They instantly appeared behind them, seemingly about to pierce through their bodies.

Dozens of sparkling golden sword lights shot forth, deflecting the black arrows, and Zhao Feng and Sun Jiawen narrowly escaped.

It was Wang Tianwen who had acted. After all, Sun Jiawen had lived and eaten with him for several years, and he naturally wouldn't stand by and watch Sun Jiawen be killed by evil cultivators.

There weren't many evil cultivators: seven men and two women, comprising three Foundation Establishment cultivators and six Qi Refining cultivators. The highest cultivation level belonged to a tall, thin man in black robes, at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment.

If Wang Tianwen remembered correctly, Zhao Feng's group wasn't weak either. Why were only two of them left? Had they fallen into an ambush?

"Another Foundation Establishment cultivator. Kill him." The evil cultivators immediately split their forces in half to deal with Wang Tianwen.

Wailing cries of ghosts and wolves intensified as zombies, ghostly spirits, skull heads, and black flying forks attacked Wang Tianwen.

Wang Tianwen's expression remained calm. With a raise of his hand, a red-glowing metal sphere flew out, transforming into a red armored warrior over three zhang tall. Its body was covered in crimson spiritual patterns, and it held a crimson longsword about one zhang long.

It was a second-tier, high-grade puppet beast, capable of unleashing fire-elemental spells.

Before leaving home, Wang Qingkai, considering Wang Tianwen was traveling far, took out two second-tier, high-grade puppets from the family's storeroom for Wang Tianwen to use.

Wang Tianwen made a hand seal, and the red armored warrior swung the crimson greatsword in its hand forward, sending out a large swath of crimson light swords. At the same time, it opened its mouth and spewed a large area of crimson flames.

"Boom!" A massive roar resounded as the evil cultivators' attacks were repelled. A large swath of crimson flames engulfed several iron-armored zombies, burning them to ashes.

Wang Tianwen, unhurriedly, took out a pale golden book and imbued it with a magic seal. The golden book glowed brightly, and countless golden characters flew out, transforming into hundreds of golden flying daggers that overwhelmingly slashed towards the evil cultivators.

A young woman in a blue skirt conjured a blue shield, which instantly expanded to block in front of her.

The hundreds of golden flying daggers struck the blue shield, producing a dull thud and leaving a large area of damage on its surface.

A loud whoosh resounded as a crimson greatsword, enveloped in rolling flames, quickly slashed forth.

With a loud bang, the blue shield was shattered. A large swath of crimson flames descended from above, striking the young woman in the blue skirt and her companions.

The young woman in the blue skirt hurriedly conjured a blue orb, which emitted a protective blue aura around them.

Soon, the rolling flames engulfed their figures.

Wang Tianwen made a hand seal, and the hundreds of golden flying daggers transformed into countless golden characters. They swirled and coalesced into a golden fist several zhang in size, which slammed heavily into the sea of fire, producing a muffled thud.

The red giant opened its mouth, and specks of red light appeared within.

Amidst a series of "hissing" sounds, countless crimson flying needles shot out from its mouth, instantly vanishing into the sea of fire.

Each crimson flying needle was a low-grade magical artifact, and there were well over a hundred of them. Controllable only through puppetry techniques, their power was immense.

A series of screams erupted as the bodies of the young woman in the blue skirt and her companions fell from mid-air, their bodies riddled with countless crimson flying needles, utterly dead.

From the moment Wang Tianwen made his move until several evil cultivators were killed, less than five breaths passed.

The remaining four evil cultivators' expressions changed drastically. They knew they had provoked a formidable opponent and wanted to escape, but a golden fist several zhang in size slammed towards them, accompanied by a rushing sound of wind in its wake.

The red armored warrior changed direction and swiftly charged towards them.

The man in black robes was scared out of his wits. With a flick of his hand, a black talisman flew out, transforming into a black tornado over ten zhang tall, which swiftly swept towards Wang Tianwen.

"Boom!" The golden giant fist shattered the black tornado, and the golden giant fist itself transformed back into countless golden characters.

At this moment, the man in black robes manipulated a black cloud, flying back the way he came at a very high speed.

Wang Tianwen put away the second-tier high-grade puppet beast and instead released four second-tier low-grade puppet beasts, making a hand seal.

With a flash of spiritual light, dozens of blue flying needles, dozens of golden flying swords, dozens of red flying daggers, and dozens of yellow spears appeared almost simultaneously, aggressively striking towards the man in black robes.

Spiritual lights of four different colors—blue, red, gold, and yellow—lit up the dark night, subtly mixed with a series of shrill screams.

After the spiritual lights dispersed, the four evil cultivators lay in pools of blood, their bodies a mangled mess.

Wang Tianwen cultivated Confucian path techniques; however, he hailed from a cultivation family and had received combat training, possessing relatively rich combat experience.

There were reasons why he was able to eliminate these evil cultivators. Firstly, the evil cultivators had expended considerable spiritual power fighting Zhao Feng and his group. Secondly, he possessed many second-tier puppet beasts; without them, it would have been quite difficult for him to eliminate these nine evil cultivators.

Wang Tianwen so easily eliminated the nine evil cultivators, leaving Zhao Feng and Sun Jiawen dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief.

Zhao Feng had originally intended to divert the danger, hoping Wang Tianwen would help share the burden, but he never expected Wang Tianwen to eliminate the evil cultivators so quickly.

He made a hand seal and descended in front of Wang Tianwen.

Zhao Feng cupped his hands towards Wang Tianwen and said gratefully, "Fellow Daoist Wang, thank you for your assistance. I cannot repay this life-saving kindness. Should you ever need my help in the future, I, Zhao, will not refuse."

"It was merely a small effort," Wang Tianwen replied. "Fellow Daoist Zhao, weren't you going to eradicate evil cultivators? How did it turn into them chasing you?"

Zhao Feng gave a bitter smile and said, "Several Qi Refining cultivators from the county yamen were controlled by them and turned against us during the battle, resulting in two fellow Daoists being killed. If I hadn't been fast, I would have been killed too. This time, since you eliminated these evil cultivators, I will definitely report it to the Myriad Immortal Division and request commendation for you."

The Myriad Immortal Division is the institution of the Great Yan Dynasty that manages cultivators serving the imperial court, and it is said to have Nascent Soul cultivators.

Immortals and mortals are distinct; officials are responsible for governing a region, while cultivators are responsible for slaying demons and devils—a dual-pronged approach.

Wang Tianwen smiled and nodded, then stepped towards the bodies of the evil cultivators.

He searched for and took the evil cultivators' belongings, giving Zhao Feng and Sun Jiawen each a storage bag. This was called sharing the benefits.

Wang Tianwen enjoyed reading, but he was not pedantic.

Zhao Feng didn't forget to take Sun Jiawen with him even while escaping. Sun Jiawen's family had at least produced a county governor.

Zhao Feng didn't stand on ceremony, thanked him, and accepted the storage bag.

The sounds of explosions woke up many villagers. Liu Xian had already been woken up earlier; as a mortal, he couldn't see the specific details, only knowing that cultivators were fighting.

"Fellow Daoist Wang," said Zhao Feng, "I must rush back to report, so I won't stay any longer. If you have time another day, you can come to the county yamen to find this old man for tea and discussion. Farewell."

Zhao Feng left with Sun Jiawen, moving extremely quickly.

Wang Tianwen turned and walked back, seeing Liu Xian at the doorway.

"Brother Tianwen, what happened?" Liu Xian asked somewhat nervously. "Did something happen to Brother Jiawen?"

Wang Tianwen smiled and said, "There was a small incident, but everything is fine now. Go back to sleep!"

Returning to his dwelling, Wang Tianwen took out the storage bags he had acquired and poured out the contents.