After that battle, Bai Qiu was feeling somewhat fatigued.
He summoned A Yan to stand watch for the night, drank a few recovery potions, and entered a meditative state, intending to restore himself to peak condition once more.
Half an hour later, Bai Qiu emerged from his meditation.
As he stepped out of the tent, he saw that A Yan was still half-buried in the ground.
Just as he was about to praise it for faithfully keeping watch, a deep, rumbling snore rose from underground, instantly wiping the smile off his face.
“Hey, A Yan! Wake up! I told you to stand guard, and you fell asleep after only half an hour?”
Bai Qiu slapped the portion of the turtle’s shell sticking out of the ground and scolded it sternly.
He was genuinely annoyed.
How could it be so lacking in vigilance in an unfamiliar environment?
What if they had been ambushed?
Its shell might have been incredibly thick and sturdy, but that was no excuse to let its guard down like this.
He knocked on the shell several more times with considerable force, but the deeply sleeping A Yan refused to wake up.
Left with no choice, Bai Qiu rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
He would just have to wait until it woke up on its own before giving it a proper lecture.
He decided that next time, it would be better to have the far more reliable and obedient A Yuan stand watch instead.
The only reason he hadn’t summoned A Yuan earlier was because it was already sleeping soundly inside its Contract Card.
Of course, A Yan had been nodding off at the time as well.
Shaking his head helplessly, Bai Qiu recalled A Yan into its Contract Card, packed away his tent, and continued walking through the forest.
Summer forests had always been dangerous for humans.
Not only could venomous snakes and wild beasts appear at any moment, but mosquitoes were everywhere.
Fortunately, none of that concerned Bai Qiu.
Covered head to toe by the Skyward Battle Armor, not a single mosquito could pierce his defenses.
Even if he accidentally stepped on a venomous snake, he could simply ignore its bites and stroll away without a care.
After walking for roughly half an hour, Bai Qiu gathered several unfamiliar varieties of tree fruit throughout the jungle.
Their quality ranged from C to C+.
Along the way, he also casually hunted a few wild beasts.
This region could certainly be considered rich in resources.
Unfortunately, Bai Qiu wasn’t much of a gatherer.
Just as he was preparing to leave the forest and venture even deeper, a series of mysterious chanting voices caught his attention.
“The Sacred Purifying Flame Art… shall forge a new era!”
“The Sacred Purifying Flame Art… shall free us from the mortal world!”
After identifying the direction of the voices, Bai Qiu leaped into the air, burst through the treetops, and looked toward their source.
More than a thousand meters away, a circular clearing had been burned into the forest.
Judging by the burn marks, it had likely been set ablaze only today.
Within the clearing stood over a hundred people.
They danced and sang around a towering pillar of fire at its center while continuously chanting strange incantations.
Then Bai Qiu looked at the charred humanoid figure bound upon the fire pillar.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what had happened.
His brows furrowed.
What kind of evil organization is this?
He quietly crept closer, intending to find out exactly what these people were up to.
Ten minutes later…
“This is outrageous!”
Bai Qiu gritted his teeth.
This was a genuine cult.
He had once thought the term cult was difficult to define—perhaps such a thing didn’t even truly exist, and it was merely a label invented by attention-seekers.
Now he understood just how terrifying and horrifying a cult could be.
These hundred-plus people were cultivating something called the Sacred Purifying Flame Art.
Every ten minutes, one person voluntarily walked to the execution platform to be burned alive.
They claimed that doing so would summon the Holy King of the Purifying Flame, who would not only resurrect every one of them, but also rule the entire world.
The most horrifying part was that the person climbing onto the burning pillar wasn’t being forced.
As soon as the previous victim had been reduced to charcoal, the next person would behave as though hypnotized, eagerly rushing forward to take their place.
Their faces were filled with excitement as they chanted praises of the Sacred Purifying Flame Art.
Even while screaming in agony as the flames consumed them, they continued laughing hysterically.
Hidden two hundred meters away, Bai Qiu fell silent.
He didn’t know what he should do in the face of people so determined to throw away their own lives.
Should he stop them?
Or simply pretend he had never seen any of this?
Neither seemed meaningful.
After all, no one could stop a person who truly wanted to die.
“…Forget it.”
Bai Qiu let out a sigh.
“You can’t save someone who’s determined to seek death. I’d better just leave.”
But at that moment, one of the cultists—a man whose body was covered in crimson tattoos—suddenly turned toward Bai Qiu’s direction and shouted,
“Who’s there?!”
“Get out here!”
“Get out here!”
The repeated shouts made the veins on Bai Qiu’s forehead throb.
Expressionless, he walked over.
“Are you one of the faithful, or are you a heretic?” the man covered in crimson tattoos asked.
“What kind of bullshit is that? Faithful? Heretic? I’m a human.”
Bai Qiu answered casually.
Instead of flying into a rage, the man actually extended an invitation.
“Since you’re not a heretic, then join us in cultivating the Sacred Purifying Flame Art. It can purify all evil and suffering, allowing you to transcend this mortal world…”
“I’m just passing through. I’m not interested in your Sacred Purifying Flame Art.”
Bai Qiu cut him off.
The man’s expression instantly darkened.
“So you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!”
“Protector Qing, deal with him!”
As soon as he gave the order, a shirtless man covered in azure tattoos charged out from the crowd.
Bai Qiu stood motionless.
When the man rushed into range and threw a punch straight at him, Bai Qiu merely raised an arm and casually blocked it with the back of his hand.
“That was soft. Didn’t you eat today?”
“How about calling out your Holy King of the Purifying Flame to fight me instead?”
Bai Qiu taunted.
His disdainful tone instantly drove the man into a furious rage.
His face twisted in anger as he roared, throwing punches and kicks at an even faster pace, determined to beat Bai Qiu into a bloody pulp.
Unfortunately for him, that was impossible.
Bai Qiu simply shifted his body slightly, lazily moving one hand up, down, left, and right, effortlessly blocking every single attack.
Not only did he remain completely unscathed, but merely defending was enough to split open his opponent’s fists.
Blood soon drenched both of the man’s hands.
“Yaaawn…”
With his free hand, Bai Qiu covered his mouth and let out a long yawn.
The gesture nearly made his opponent’s eyes burst with fury.
That was the overwhelming gap in levels.
Bai Qiu was already Level 37.
Although this man was among the stronger members of the group, he was only Level 27.
Not only was he ten levels lower, but he wasn’t even wearing any equipment.
His overall attributes were pitifully weak.
“So this Sacred Purifying Flame Art of yours is pretty mediocre.”
“A technique this weak isn’t even fit for fighting. It’s only good for wiping your ass.”
Bai Qiu continued provoking them, hoping they would wake up and face reality.
Naturally, it accomplished absolutely nothing.
The cultists erupted into curses and insults, preparing to swarm Bai Qiu in righteous fury.
But the crimson-tattooed man stopped them.
“Protector Qing, fall back.”
“We’ll use that.”
He spoke coldly, his eyes overflowing with murderous intent as he stared at Bai Qiu.
Bai Qiu, however, couldn’t have cared less.
To him, these people were nothing but trash.
The strongest among them wasn’t even Level 30.
The fact that they had managed to venture this deep into the region without being devoured by wild beasts was already a miracle.
Protector Qing could only retreat.
His eyes were bloodshot with hatred, and he limped back to the group.
The sight was honestly rather comical.
Not only was his body covered in blood after the exchange, but he had actually smashed his own fists so badly against Bai Qiu’s defenses that they were completely deformed.
“I’ll make you understand the price of provoking the Purifying Flame Cult!” the crimson-tattooed man shouted angrily.
Bai Qiu had paid him no attention whatsoever…
Until the man suddenly pulled out a thick stack of cards.
Only then did Bai Qiu’s expression change ever so slightly.
— The end of the Chapter–
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