Cultivation begins with harvest.

As night deepened, the host informed Chen Guang that the cultivator he was to visit had returned and was waiting for him in the main hall.

"He's so arrogant, he won't come to see me."

Chen Guang snorted coldly: "When did he get back, and what did he do?"

The newcomer was puzzled. Although they were both cultivators, there was a barrier between them, making it unclear who was more noble and unapproachable. But wasn't it you who asked for a favor? I think you're the one with the bigger airs.

Of course, he wouldn't say what he really thought, so he could only honestly reply, "Distinguished Guest Lu Lasu did return quite early. He stayed in the hall for a while before sending someone over to inform us."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Jiafan continued, "He insisted on keeping me at home for a long chat, and we were delayed in the main hall for quite a while before he called me over."

Chen Guang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked solemnly, "Where are your family members?"

"Oh, my wife and child are doing some work in the market, they have to take turns working for three days..." Zhao Jiafan suddenly became nervous and at a loss. "Sir, sir, could it be...?"

"Don't go back. Just leave from here first."

Having received an affirmative reply, Chen Guang strode towards the main hall. Even though he had already walked far away, his voice still reached the ears of the Zhao family mortals: "I am Chen Guang, and I will surely repay you later."

The closer Chen Guang got to the main hall, the slower he became. In addition to the mottled blue-yellow gourd at his waist, there was also a smaller purple jade gourd inside his clothes, which was currently spewing out layers of not-too-thick purple mist, all of which stuck tightly to the inside of his clothes. When needed, it could quickly protect Chen Guang in the time it took to breathe.

At the same time, a bluish-white aura slowly appeared in his eyes, flowing beneath his pupils, eerie yet giving Chen Guang's eyes a terrifying insight.

Even though the corridor was already quite dark, the barely perceptible breeze and the tiny flight paths of mosquitoes smaller than grains of rice...

All the subtle details were revealed in his eyes, especially the main hall, where wisps of dark blue-green energy flowed under his clear vision, and Chen Guang saw every single change with perfect precision.

Even though he hadn't even mastered the first level of the Clear Vision technique, the power it displayed had already surprised and delighted Chen Guang.

"It's an array formation, with complex effects including pressure, sealing, confusion, bewitching, and concealment. Furthermore, its integration with the entire main hall is quite tight; it's a second-level Yanhuang array formation."

Chen Guang understood what was going on. He walked slowly to the front of the house and stopped. As he stopped, he seemed to "see" the people inside the house gasp in shock.

The only light inside the house was the flickering candlelight; all was silent.

Chen Guang raised his hand, and streaks of flame formed flying snakes shot out from his hand. As they approached the main hall, they suddenly became violent, turning into balls of blazing fire that splashed onto the building. In an instant, half of the building was ablaze.

Of course, it's best to strike first. To put it bluntly, as a disciple of the Qingheng Sect, Chen Guang has the power to apologize and compensate even if he guesses wrong.

As the house was set on fire, the guest named Lu Lasu could no longer remain indifferent. The array was set up around the main hall, which was itself part of the array. The destruction of the main hall would cause some of the divination objects to change positions. The weakening of the array's power was direct, but the damage to the divination objects would have long-term effects. At such a critical moment, how could he sit idly by?

"drink!"

With a long howl, a fierce figure wrapped in a long, tattered black robe rushed out of the burning house. He was short and stocky, heading straight for Chen Guang. He had thick eyebrows, a broad forehead, and a rugged face with a unique ruthless temperament.

He was enveloped by a black wind, and the blade in his hand, which wasn't very long, was almost invisible in the darkness. His clear spiritual eyes saw a thick layer of gray light, which completely confirmed his identity as the Lu La Su Sharp Point Outpost. The cultivators there liked to use poison. The abundant resources of the endless wilderness allowed them to easily extract high-concentration toxins for direct use. In some more civilized places, however, making poison was more complicated, and at the very least, one needed the skill of a pharmacist to attempt it.

Then there are combat tactics. Because of the proximity of the Endless Wilderness, this system, which allows for longer-lasting combat once a certain level of achievement is reached, is very popular among cultivators there. They either focus on body refinement or, if not, they will still increase their investment in body refinement.

Both of these habits rely on the rich resources and perilous environment of the endless wilderness, making them very distinctive characteristics of the sentry monks.

Chen Guang stretched out his hands and pointed at Lu Lasu in the black wind, striking him four or five times in succession. With each strike, a thin, two-inch-long condensed flame shot out, while a heat wave swirled around Chen Guang, and a pile of sparks rose from his feet, drifting into the sky and reflecting a red glow on Chen Guang's cheeks.

This is the Accumulated Fire Technique. Each time fire-attribute magic is cast, subsequent fire-attribute spells will have increased mana consumption and power due to the influence of the Accumulated Fire Technique. Chen Guang had already swallowed the Star Leaf Powder and was beginning to recover his own mana, clearly preparing for a protracted battle.

Enveloped by the black wind, Lu Lasu was taken aback. His Black Wind Battle Technique was good at stealth and sneak attacks, but he didn't expect Chen Guang to see through it so easily. Even if he was slow to react, he realized that Chen Guang's abnormal bluish-white pupils were a unique spell, or even a secret technique. He rolled and turned continuously in the air without using any defensive means, and forcefully broke free from the small group of spells of the Ignition Finger. At the same time, he bent down and charged towards Chen Guang headfirst.

Chen Guang frowned and waved his hand in another deserted direction. A blazing, fierce flame crashed down like a wave, immediately emanating a foul stench. More than a dozen previously unseen ferocious insects writhed in the flames and were quickly scorched into tiny black dots. Lu Lasu had unknowingly released the poisonous insects.

Chen Guang knew the fighting style of the Sentinel's cultivators, who were accustomed to using poison and had extensive use for collecting baskets of poisonous insects. His clear spiritual eyes scanned the battlefield non-stop, just to guard against this tactic.

When Lu Lasu saw that the poisonous insects had no effect, he turned and ran. Even his seemingly desperate charge at Chen Guang was just a feint. Seeing that the poisonous insects had failed to restrain Chen Guang, he fled without hesitation.

Only then was a sharp whistle piercing the night sky. The Zhao family's defense mechanism was still activated. A battle had broken out in their own residential area, and their reaction was incredibly fast. Chen Guang even had time to calculate that it was slightly faster than the Zhao family's advertised reaction time of thirty breaths.

Lu Lasu was even faster at escaping. If he was a swift cultivator when he pounced on Chen Guang, then he was a mad dog when he fled.

This wasn't just a description; Lu Lasu really did seem to have transformed into a black dog, enveloped in layers of black wind. His entire body became somewhat ethereal, like a gust of wind, and his speed increased dramatically, disappearing from Chen Guang's sight in the blink of an eye.

"It's the 'Wind Dog Form', a companion spell of the 'Deceitful Death Scripture,' which means he was not only born in the Sentinel Village but also has some connection with demonic cultivators." The bulbous-nosed cultivator landed beside Chen Guang, only sighing and showing no intention of pursuing. "He must have noticed that I was right next to him. He didn't use any proper killing moves and didn't reveal any weaknesses. Realizing that you're not so easy to deal with, he ran away very decisively."

"This is the Deceitful Black Scripture?" Chen Guang was not surprised by the appearance of the bulbous-nosed cultivator, but rather by the fact that it was such a cultivation technique.

The "Deceitful Death Black Scripture" is quite famous because it is a cultivation method that has been modified by a demon. It can absorb the corpse energy from the corpses of cultivators to increase one's cultivation level. Although it has many drawbacks, its great power and fast progress have made it popular among many independent cultivators.

The Qingheng Sect does not completely prohibit the spread of some unorthodox and bizarre cultivation methods such as those involving poison, blood, ghosts, and corpses. The risks of most of these types of cultivation methods are controllable. For example, the cultivation of the Panxue Scripture does not require the acquisition of cultivation resources from other cultivators, and there is nothing that would harm others or benefit oneself after cultivation, so it can be spread.

However, there is absolutely no leniency towards certain cultivation techniques, such as the Deceitful Black Scripture, which can easily breed evil individuals who hunt other cultivators. In particular, there is no reason not to prohibit cultivation techniques and secret arts that can directly obtain cultivation resources from other cultivators. Anyone who cultivates such techniques will be wanted by the Qingheng Sect.

This is also the significance of the existence of the Road Hall. The Road Hall collects intelligence, and in many cases, it exists because of these heretical practitioners.

Therefore, Chen Guang did not recognize the technique at first glance.

"He used a battle technique to disguise himself, and the Black Scripture of Deception is a forbidden book, so it's not that easy to recognize him. You don't have much combat experience either, do you? With the way you're putting up this fight, under normal circumstances, not many cultivators would fight you to the end," the bulbous-nosed cultivator shrugged. "We can't push him too far. The capture will probably take place outside of Dongdu Plain. It would be too bad to cause trouble in the residential area. But I also have to pass on the news. This kind of evil cultivator should be wanted."

"Zhao Qiushi and Zhao Li ran away immediately after meeting you, without even returning home. It's possible that he colluded with the Zhao family's cultivators to allow such an evil cultivator to enter the Zhao family's territory. Lu Tang and the Zhao family are both to blame. I can't stay any longer. You should go back to the market town quickly; it's safe enough there."

When the rosacea-nosed monk arrived, Chen Guang was unable to find out how he left.

Putting aside Zhao Qiushi and the others, Chen Guang was more concerned with the details of the duel.

Purple mist enveloped Chen Guang as he headed towards the market. He acknowledged the assessment of the bulbous-nosed cultivator; he had indeed fought too conservatively. Not to mention his signature moves like Kui Yan, Mian Huo Zhen, and Yin Huo Dan, he hadn't even used his more powerful fire-attribute spells much. He had fallen into a "gradual" fighting rhythm. Looking back, he realized that he could have used Mian Huo Zhen to launch a sneak attack immediately after using Fiery Finger.

"A sneak attack doesn't necessarily have to be effective immediately. It can force him to reveal his position, his trump cards, and so on. I didn't realize it during the fight, but now that I think about it, I probably missed many opportunities right from the start. Although I didn't reveal any weaknesses, I also failed to seize the moment."

Chen Guang carefully savored the battle just now. Otherwise, if a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from a sentry post were to go all out, he wouldn't have been able to dominate the battle like that, and the opponent hadn't even been able to touch his defensive methods. A heretical cultivator who could use cultivators' corpses to cultivate indeed showed that he didn't have much killing intent from the beginning.

Turning one's hand on oneself might be a way of testing the waters, sensing someone's presence; there might also be a predetermined timeframe in mind, which one will then use to escape.

I don't know if I'm just being overly suspicious or if that's what he really thinks.

Perhaps from the moment he figured out the opponent's formation, Lu Lasu began to consider giving up.

Chen Guang sped along, and when he encountered the Zhao family cultivators, he simply explained a few words, proved his identity, and continued on his way. He also gave a ride to the Zhao family mortal, since his family had been burned down by him.