Xiao Fengyuan glanced at the thousand-hand centipede, his eyes showing surprise, and then he clasped his hands and said, "Junior Brother Su, are you alright?"
"I’m fine, eliminating a strong enemy is not a wasted trip."
Su Jie coughed dryly twice, discreetly remaining on alert as he observed Xiao Fengyuan.
If the other party showed any sign of taking advantage of the situation, Su Jie would immediately have the thousand-hand centipede carry him away.
Luckily, Su Jie was overcautious—Xiao Fengyuan seemed to guess Su Jie’s thoughts, voluntarily stepped back a few steps, and said, "Don’t misunderstand; I came to see the situation. The noise of the fight here was too loud, and I hurried over when I heard it. It’s good that everything is fine."
"Thank you for your concern, Brother Xiao."
Su Jie stood up from the ground, patted the thousand-hand centipede, and smiled, "Lately, I’ve been overly aggressive. The Righteous sects specifically sent masters to target and assassinate me, but luckily, my poisonous insects are quite powerful, I’ve killed one and let another escape."
The thousand-hand centipede shook its body, its ferocious and fierce appearance made several other Demon Cultivators, besides Xiao Fengyuan, pale; their movements became extremely gentle, afraid to stir up loud noises and be swallowed by this massive creature.
Xiao Fengyuan had also heard of Su Jie’s style and knew that he had killed many recently. It wasn’t surprising that the Righteous sects would send a special team to target him.
"I wonder who initiated the attack."
With this thought, Xiao Fengyuan directly asked the question.
Su Jie pointed at a corpse covered by human-faced moths. As the moths took flight, Du Shaochang’s corpse was also exposed.
"A man named Du Shaochang, who claimed to be a disciple of Zhuang Liangru, and a woman named Mo Shiyao, both are first-class fierce fighters."
Su Jie rubbed his still aching head and said with lingering fear.
"Jade Sun True Body, Du Shaochang, Qingyin Fairy, Mo Shiyao."
At the sight of Du Shaochang’s corpse, Xiao Fengyuan’s composure was shaken, he was utterly astonished and even found it hard to believe.
"Are these two very famous?"
Su Jie asked, having the human-faced moth bring over Du Shaochang’s body.
"Both of them are well-known young talents amongst the Cultivators in Qingzhou, especially Du Shaochang, whose Jade Sun True Body is exceptionally domineering and divine power is unmatched, reputed to be invincible in close combat under the Qingzhou Secret Realm."
Xiao Fengyuan’s spirit was shaken, and as he looked at Su Jie, shock mixed with a trace of admiration emerged in his eyes.
"This man indeed possesses divine valor in close combat."
Su Jie nodded, it was fortunate that he had not let his opponent close the distance; otherwise, the outcome would still be uncertain.
"To speak the truth, even if I faced this man, the chances of victory would at most be fifty-fifty. I can’t imagine that tonight you managed to strike him down, Junior Brother Su. Haha, those Righteous sects definitely couldn’t have anticipated this; this act will greatly boost the morale of our Ghost Ridge Palace."
After overcoming his shock, Xiao Fengyuan couldn’t help but get excited.
For the currently besieged Ghost Ridge Palace, the emergence of this news would be a strong tonic, boosting the spirit of the entire sect.
The others, upon hearing Su Jie and Xiao Fengyuan’s conversation, also came to understand that the person Su Jie had slain was such an important figure.
"Brother Xiao, don’t praise me too much. Look at me; I was almost killed by him. I managed to kill him only because he underestimated me and was careless. It was merely a stroke of luck."
Su Jie didn’t show much happiness on his face.
Having heard what Xiao Fengyuan said, Su Jie figured he was probably on the blacklist of the Righteous sects now, which wasn’t good news for him.
However, things having reached this point, Su Jie had no regrets about killing Du Shaochang.
The conflict between factions was indeed a matter of life and death; if Du Shaochang hadn’t been killed earlier, it would have been Su Jie who died.
At this moment, Chen Yun, who had left earlier, also returned with Yin Wenwen to this place. Seeing the chilling battlefield, her heart was stricken with fear.
If she had stayed here just a moment ago and had been accidentally caught in the battle, she wouldn’t even know how she died.
"This is not a place for discussion. Junior Brother Su, seeing that you are seriously injured, you should return to the mountain gate to recuperate first."
Xiao Fengyuan took the initiative to speak up. The commotion of the previous battle had been great, but whether it was the Righteous Disciples or the Demon Cultivators, those who saw the skirmish from afar didn’t dare come near. Xiao Fengyuan’s boldness to approach was purely due to his exceptional skills and courage.
Now that Su Jie had killed Du Shaochang and Mo Shiyao had fled, who knew if there would be any retaliatory actions. To prevent other Righteous Sect disciples from rushing here, it was wise to retreat first.
Su Jie unleashed his Corpse Hands, numerous pale corpse hands emerged from his trouser legs, quickly crawling around to collect broken Flying Swords, dead insect remains, etc., and also took Du Shaochang’s Storage Bag.
As expected, there were no Magic Artifacts and talismans in this Storage Bag. Du Shaochang had not used them before, seemingly afraid that using these items would affect his cultivation mindset of proving his path through power.
Although there were no Magic Artifacts, there were various elixirs and Spirit Stones, roughly estimated to be worth about twenty thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones, which could be considered a massive harvest.
After collecting the spoils of battle, Su Jie, along with Chen Yun, Yin Wenwen, and Ning Xinyue, mounted the thousand-hand centipede and soared towards the mountain gate.
With Xiao Fengyuan escorting nearby, riding the Four-eyed Illusion Demon Fox, he ensured no mishaps occurred.
In this manner, one leading and the other following, by the time Su Jie returned to Ghost Ridge Palace’s mountain gate, dawn had arrived, and a red sun was slowly rising on the horizon.
Flying arbitrarily within the mountain gate was not allowed, as there were various lethal formations here. Su Jie quickly landed on the steps in front of the mountain gate.
Dozens of stationed members of the Law Enforcement Team immediately surrounded them.
In a short while, when Du Shaochang’s body was displayed, almost half of the Ghost Ridge Palace was stirred.
Disciples ran over one after another, crowding around to view the Jade Sun True Body and praising each other.
"That is Brother Su. He’s the one who killed the Jade Sun True Body. This man was a grand cultivator of the Taoist Platform Realm, a direct disciple of Zhuang Liangru, yet he still got bitten to death by the centipede controlled by Brother Su."
"Mid Grade Four Refinement poisonous insect. How is it cultivated? My own poisonous insect can’t even break through Low Grade. I can’t imagine how strong such an insect is; no wonder it could kill Du Shaochang."
"Brother Su is powerful!"
"Brother Su is powerful!"
A chorus of noisy discussions echoed around, the disciples’ expressions excited, eventually escalating into chanting Su Jie’s name in unison.
"Su Jie, you did very well this time, very well indeed!"
Master Zuo, Zuo Xiping himself, stepped out of the mountain gate and welcomed Su Jie at the steps, his face beaming with a radiant smile.
"Master Zuo, fortunately, I have completed the mission without any mishaps."
Su Jie felt Zuo Xiping’s unprecedented warmth.
Zuo Xiping laughed heartily and said, "Ha ha, you, you’re still so humble at this time. Don’t worry, after I report this victory to our Sect Master, he will definitely reward you generously. Now go and rest to heal your injuries."
Su Jie nodded and returned to his own residence.
Meanwhile, behind him, Ghost Ridge Palace had become buzzing with activity. Du Shaochang’s body was paraded through the streets, and soon, Su Jie’s name was known in every corner of Ghost Ridge Palace, truly known by everyone.