Chen Chao had naturally jumped levels to fight more than once before. In his previous battle with that middle-aged daoist nun in Tianqing County, he battled the Great Beyond Realm nun with a Divine Trove cultivation realm. Although victory or defeat was related to cultivation realm, it was not entirely dependent on cultivation realm. However, they were two cultivation realms apart after all, so right from the start of that battle, Chen Chao's goal was not to defeat the opponent, but to inflict as much damage as possible and buy time.
When he fought with that skinny man in the alley earlier, that was his first time leaping across cultivation realms to kill someone in the true sense. It was not because Chen Chao was strong enough, but because that skinny man was too weak. Although he was a cultivator at the Bitter Sea Realm, he had no combat experience. Therefore, in the face of life and death, he lacked a lot of experience, while Chen Chao who was standing opposite him was stronger than him in terms of experience and temperament, among other things, except for his lower cultivation realm.
That was why Chen Chao was able to easily kill that man.
But now, the old man who appeared on the street was emanating an extremely powerful aura from head to toe. The difference in realms made it inevitable that no matter how hard Chen Chao tried, the outcome would remain the same.
Sweat already seeped out from his palms and the hand gripping the saber turned white from exertion. His face became even paler, not because of fear, but because the aura released by that old man had already locked onto him. Furthermore, he was intentionally or unintentionally oppressing him. He was currently situated in the middle of that powerful aura and his movements became extremely difficult too.
Struggling to squat down, he put down the young girl behind him. Chen Chao opened his mouth and asked, "Senior, if I hand her over to you, will you spare me?"
Upon hearing this, the girl was stunned: What was going on?
The old man stood on the street and slowly walked towards the alley. He did not answer the question, but simply said indifferently, "Are you that young commander who stole the show at the imperial banquet? It's only natural for someone like He Yi to lose to you."
He Yi was a young genius on the Latent Dragon List. Logically speaking, he should not have lost on that night. At least, in many people's eyes, that was what they thought.
Chen Chao was extremely humble as he said, "It was just luck that night. He Yi is truly remarkable, I only won by a fluke."
The old man shook his head and smiled, "So-called geniuses like him only have a bit of talent in cultivation, but they're not actually strong. Rather, what you've exhibited in battle is very much like those guys in the North. But you're too shameless as a person."
Chen Chao frowned and asked, "Why do you say that, senior?"
The old man continued walking forward and said calmly, "When you fought with that junior earlier, you didn't say anything unnecessary because you thought it was a waste of time. You needed to kill him in the shortest time possible. But now, you're talking so much nonsense because you think you can't kill me. So you want to buy some time."
"Senior truly has discerning eyes like burning torches, how admirable."
Chen Chao replied extremely seriously. There was really some admiration on his face too.
"Not entirely, right? Perhaps at this moment, you've cursed this old man ten thousand times in your heart. It's not honorable for an old man to bully a youngling, but this has to be done and there's nothing to say about it. In fact, if it weren't for you, this old man wouldn't have to take action myself."
As the old man spoke, he had already arrived at the entrance of the alley. He was already less than a hundred feet away from Chen Chao.
Chen Chao smiled and said, "In my view, senior doesn't bother with trifles. In order to achieve great things, how can one care about these trivial matters?"
The old man nodded in agreement, "Indeed, to achieve great things, how can we care about these trivial matters? Your understanding is excellent, young man. If you were this old man's descendant, I'd definitely nurture you well."
Chen Chao said sincerely, "Then is it too late for me to abandon darkness and join the light now, and join Senior's sect?"
The old man smiled but did not say anything. He had already slowly arrived in front of Chen Chao and there was only about a distance of ten feet between them. "Young man, your qi is circulating and your hand holding the saber has also tightened its grip. How is this wanting to abandon darkness and join the light? You clearly want this old man's head."
How could a cultivator at the old man's cultivation realm not perceive Chen Chao's abnormality? It was just that the gap between cultivation realms was too great. He actually did not pay much attention to this matter.
Before the old man finished speaking, Chen Chao already rushed out like an arrow leaving the bow. A distance of ten feet was extremely short. It only took an instant for Chen Chao to come into close contact with the old man's body. Presumably, no matter how high the old man's cultivation realm, his physique would not be too strong either. Although it was not certain that this collision would yield great results, it should at least have some effect.
Due to the disparity in their cultivation realms, Chen Chao could only find the weakest point of the old man, which incidentally happened to be his strongest point.
His qi circulated frenziedly within his body, and in an instant, all of it burst out. Chen Chao's hand tightened his grip on the saber.
He was already prepared for anything.
Except, in the next second, Chen Chao froze. Despite his qi continuing to circulate, his feet were firmly stuck to the ground as if glued. No matter how much he exerted himself, both his feet seemed to be firmly stuck to the ground, unable to lift them off the ground.
The old man looked at Chen Chao and smiled. "You're a good kid, but you've taken the wrong path. Why did you become a martial artist? The most useless cultivators in the world are martial artists."
He had simply cast a trivial spell and the young man in front of him could not move anymore, which made the old man very pleased.
Chen Chao's expression was ugly. This kind of gap in their cultivation level could not be compensated for by anything.
The old man could not be bothered to look at Chen Chao and instead looked at the young girl behind him. The girl had been standing there without saying a word since the beginning and the curtain was still on her head. The three holes on it looked rather cute.
The old man frowned and waved his hand, causing a gust of wind to blow.
The curtain on the girl's head was lifted by the wind, revealing her face.
It was indeed the saintess from the Myriad Heavens Palace.
The old man nodded and was about to speak when suddenly, his expression changed dramatically!
A fiery red talisman appeared in the alley at some unknown time.
Extremely complicated runes were engraved on that talisman, it was extremely exquisite in craftsmanship.
Judging by its appearance, this talisman was not an ordinary item.
There are many schools of cultivators in the world and the path of talisman was highly favored by many people. The reason was that talismans were excellent items. Strong cultivators would imbue them with powerful qi and seal it within, handing them down to their juniors. It would be as if they had a powerhouse accompanying by their side at all times.
Once activated, their power was immense.
As the talisman hovered in front of the old man, the runes on it began to glow.
The temperature around them suddenly rose. It was already hot enough in the middle of summer, but now, there was an additional sense of dryness in the alley.
A fierce flame suddenly surged out of the talisman, like a fire dragon roaring as it rushed forward!
In an instant, the towering flames covered the entire alley!
The whole place was filled with fire.
The old man's expression became solemn. The aura qi within his plain robe surged out. Soon, a storm appeared in front of him.
Flames and winds collided, emitting a hissing sound. Endless white mist rose, obstructing the view.
The girl took the opportunity to grab Chen Chao's hand and pulled him over.
The old man was now preoccupied and the secret technique he had used on Chen Chao had long since lost effect.
Chen Chao took the opportunity to carry the girl and ran forward without any hesitation.
He knew before that he could no win, but he did not run because he had no opportunity to do so. Now that he had the chance, of course he had to run away without any hesitation.
At this moment, following the old man's clear yell, a storm suddenly surged in the alley. It was overwhelming and it suppressed the fire dragon in an instant..
The old man's figure suddenly disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Chen Chao.
At this moment, the old man no longer had the indifferent demeanor from before. His hemp robe had been burned in several places, there was smoke emitting from his white hair, and his expression was ugly.
The cultivator who injected qi into the talisman might be stronger than him, but he did not descend in person after all. He paid a price, but he could break it open.
The old man looked at the girl Chen Chao was carrying and said indifferently, "What a calm girlie, worthy of being the saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace of this generation."
The girl snorted coldly and did not say anything.
She grasped the timing of activating the talisman very well. But unfortunately, her cultivation realm was too low and she could not fully unleash the power of the talisman.
Chen Chao put the girl down again and drew his saber again, remaining silent.
He felt very helpless about the current situation.
The old man did not speak anymore. At this point, he did not want to do anything unnecessary anymore. He just wanted to kill the girl in the shortest time possible.
Countless murderous intent suddenly arose in the alley.
And it disappeared in an instant.
The old man looked towards the entrance of the alley with some bewilderment.
A breeze blew past, the smoke dissipated, and an ordinary scholar walked out.
He looked at the alley and was silent.
