After he figured out how to progress in cultivating <Spirit Transcendence> technique, Duncan was full of energy. He wanted to head out immediately and start understanding the mysteries that gave substance to the hills.
So, Duncan didn't delay any longer. He packed up his things and ate the remaining meat with gusto, before walking out of his hidden spot. The moment he walked out of his hidden spot, Duncan stopped abruptly.
It was not because he forgot something. But his intuition was telling him that he was in danger. Duncan didn't dare to ignore it. So, he hesitated whether or not to head out or go back to his hiding spot.
That moment of hesitation cost Duncan his opportunity to avert disaster.
Just then, a female cultivator broke through the treeline in the distance and ran towards the location where Duncan had been standing in a daze, in a hurry. It was clear from her disshelved state that she was injured and was fleeing from someone.
Before Duncan could even process the situation, the woman had already neared Duncan. It was only then she saw Duncan standing by the side. The moment her eyes fell on him, her eyes lit up and she rushed towards Duncan quickly.
"Senior Brother, I am a disciple of Wind Blossom Sect. A demonic cultivator from the Nine Yin sect is chasing after me. Please, save me," the woman begged without even pausing to breathe.
Duncan blinked at the sudden change in the situation. One moment he had been wondering why his instincts were warning him of danger. Then in the next moment, a righteous sect disciple was begging him to save her.
That's right. Wind Blossom Sect was one of the numerous righteous factions that came to explore the Grotto Heaven. Duncan, who had known about the entry of righteous sects into the Grotto Heaven from his Senior Brother Chen, obviously knew the names of various righteous sects that have stepped inside.
It is not that Chen Wangjie had told him about all the righteous sects that entered. He only casually mentioned a few righteous sect names to Duncan to let him know that they were inside as well. He never even mentioned the Wind Blossom Sect to Duncan,
But, Duncan knew of the Wind Blossom Sect because of one particular reason. Wind Blossom Sect had a sect leader who was very proficient in sword techniques. It was said that she was one of the foremost experts of the righteous path currently.
When reading about the cultivation world, Duncan made note of this sect because of this reason. Even though there were many sword cultivators, only a few among them could be called experts.
For a female to claim that title, she must indeed be extraordinary. While cultivators never discriminated against females like mortals did, the path of sword can only be traversed by someone very dedicated.
What made this female sect leader special was that she created her own sword art even before stepping into the Golden Core realm. Currently, she was at the peak of the Golden Core realm and was rumored to be even go toe to toe with Nascent Soul cultivators for some time.
Not just that, the sword art this female sect leader created was also something very unique. It was called Nine Severance Sword Art. It was said to be very deadly and even capable of dealing a lot of damage.
Duncan obviously made note of this while reading about the state of affairs in the cultivation world. So, he was surprised to hear that a female from that woman's sect was running away from a cultivator from a demonic cultivator.
If there was one thing that the Sect Leader of Wind Blossom Sect hated the most, it was the existence of demonic cultivators. It was rumored that she was cheated out of her Vital Yin qi by a demonic cultivator in her youth. This caused her to be heartbroken for a while.
But, her tragedy just didn't end there. There is a speculation that the lack of her Vital Yin qi is the reason for her to still remain at the Golden Core realm. So, when it came to dealing with demonic cultivators, the Sect Leader of Wind Blossom Sect can be said to be very ruthless.
This was something every one of the disciples of the Wind Blossom Sect had inherited as well. As long as they see a demonic cultivator, they would try their level best to injure or kill the demonic cultivator.
So, for a disciple like that to run away in fear from a demonic cultivator, Duncan knew that the other party wouldn't be someone easy to deal with.
But, when he heard who the other party was, Duncan understood this female's fear. Nine Yin Sect was one of the top most demonic sects on the continent that was just below the Heavenly Demon Sect in standing. Any disciple that came out of there was really powerful.
Duncan figured that this woman ran into an iron board when trying to explore the forest. From the looks of it, it seemed as if her companions were all dead and this person was the only one left from her group. And even she was severely injured.
But, what puzzled Duncan was why this woman was asking for his help. After all, he wasn't from a righteous sect. So, logically this woman should be running away from him or even attacking him.
Asking a disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect to help a righteous cultivator, is this a joke?
Duncan's lips couldn't help but twitch.
But, he also understood why this woman was acting so outrageously. The Nine Yin Sect had a reputation on the continent. The disciples they churn out was the most perverted bastards that could ever become a cultivator.
When it comes to atrocities committed towards the opposite gender, even the Heavenly Demon Sect must stand aside when it was compared to Nine Yin Sect. One of the signature techniques of the Nine Yin Sect was to refine the yin qi present in the body of female cultivators.
If it was just that, it wouldn't be bad.
Female bodies naturally produced more yin qi compared to male bodies. So they were always at risk when it came to practitioners who cultivated yin qi. Stealing vital yin qi was only a small method. But, the methods used by Nine Yin Sect were really ruthless.
Those maniacs from the Nine Yin Sect wouldn't even leave the corpse alone. After sucking the females dry of yin qi, they would reanimate the corpse of the female and refine the corpse yin qi present in them as well. As for what they do to female corpses, Duncan didn't even want to speculate.
In short, if a female cultivator fell into the hands of a disciple from the Nine Yin Sect, even her body wouldn't be spared the humiliation. So, female cultivators all over the world had an innate fear and disgust towards any Nine Yin Sect disciples.
As Duncan recalled these things, he figured out the ins and outs of the situation. This female and her companions must have come across a Nine Yin Sect disciple. And when they did, they must have initiated a fight.
However, the fight went poorly for them and she fled the region to escape from being used by the Nine Yin Sect disciple for cultivation. When she came across Duncan, she thought of him to be a disciple of a righteous sect and implored him to help her out.
Figuring this out, Duncan couldn't help but curse the female inwardly. It was not that Duncan didn't want to help a beautiful woman and play the hero. But there were several reasons that it was a bad idea.
One, he himself was a demonic sect disciple. Why the hell should he save this woman? Duncan wasn't someone who stuck his nose in other's business. And if the woman later realized who he was, considering what sect she came from, she would kill him off as well.
Who knows, she might even find some righteous excuse as to why she did it. She would even accuse him of trying to trick her and kill him off without much worry. Duncan didn't have the confidence to bet his life on that.
Furthermore, if she and her companions could not defeat this guy with all their might combined, what makes her think that Duncan could do it? She was just simply dragging him into her troubles. There was no consideration for his well-being at all.
Duncan was the one with the least cultivation in the Grotto Heaven. Duncan knew this well. He had always been mindful of this fact. That was the reason he never went outside of this forest region.
Asking him to take care of someone who was in a higher realm was really laughable. Duncan wasn't an almighty genius who has cultivated mysterious techniques and could fight above levels. So far, including <Spirit Transcendence>, he had only cultivated three techniques.
In that, both <Absolute Cut Sword Arts> and <Wind Chasing Steps> were just normal techniques. Only the <Spirit Transcendence> can be said to be somewhat mysterious in nature. Even that, Duncan has only started to cultivate.
So, no matter how he thought about it, Duncan knew that he was no match for this woman's pursuer. If he stepped in now to help this woman, who could probably stab him in the back, against someone who was stronger than him, Duncan will become the ultimate fool.
As these thoughts passed through Duncan's mind, his face became ugly to behold. By now, the woman had already reached his side and was looking at him anxiously.
Just as Duncan was thinking about what to do, the woman exclaimed suddenly.
"Ai, there is a hidden region here," the woman said in surprise.
Before Duncan could even turn and look at her, the woman had already stepped inside the hidden region and entered Duncan's hiding spot.
"Senior brother, I am currently in a bad state. I have been infected with the despicable Nine Yin Poison. I won't be able to help you. Let me clear this poison out first. You take care of that despicable demonic cultivator. I will thank you later," the woman said in a hurry from inside.
Hearing this, Duncan felt like vomiting blood.