Wherever the two cultivators wearing Kongshan Sect daoist robes walked, the originally noisy streets would fall silent wherever they went.
Li Haowen walked slowly through the small town, his gaze searching all around.
Every single cultivator in the town who made eye contact with Li Haowen would hurriedly avert their gaze.
Whether it was "Li Godslayer" or "Li Dog," neither were exactly titles of praise.
In fact, over the past two-plus years, especially after the Anjin Mountain incident, Li Haowen's reputation within the Qingque Kingdom could be described as notorious.
Even though the Kongshan Sect's reputation and prestige tended to be positive among the cultivation sects around Shengyuan Mountain, these nearby cultivators' perception of Li Haowen as an individual leaned more towards fear.
After all, no one knew just how many rogue cultivators with even the slightest connection to Ding Qiu had died under Li Haowen's orders.
Finally, Li Haowen's gaze settled on a Martial Spring Realm cultivator in the town.
He was the highest-level cultivator Chen Yan and Li Haowen had seen since arriving in this town, at the late stage of the Martial Spring Realm.
Li Haowen gave a slight upward tilt of his chin towards that Martial Spring Realm cultivator, signaling him to come over.
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator first showed a panicked expression, then with an ingratiating smile, slowly walked towards Li Haowen's direction:
"This junior pays his respects to Manager Li..."
Although this Martial Spring Realm cultivator was nearly sixty years old, much older than Li Haowen, once one reaches a certain level of cultivation, the principle of "those who achieve more come first" must be observed.
Cold sweat trickled down the back of this Martial Spring Realm cultivator's neck. As he walked towards Li Haowen, his mind kept replaying whether he had ever in his life colluded with any of the Ding Bandits.
Could it be that the unfamiliar fellow daoist he coincidentally met at the town's inn two weeks ago and shared a drink with was a remnant of the Ding Bandits who had fled to Shengyuan Mountain from within the kingdom?
Thinking this, this nearly sixty-year-old Martial Spring Realm cultivator who had already weathered many storms in his life almost burst into tears on the spot.
My life is over!
Chen Yan glanced at that trembling Martial Spring Realm cultivator, then looked somewhat playfully at the Senior Brother Li beside him, who was once famous throughout the Chenping Continent for his noble and righteous spirit, but now struck terror into people's hearts.
"..."
Li Haowen's expression also looked slightly awkward.
Then he handed the copy of the Shengyuan Mountain map in his hand to the Martial Spring Realm cultivator before him, saying:
"Are you very familiar with Shengyuan Mountain?"
"In reply to Manager Li, this junior, forty years ago when he was still in the Body Forging Realm, followed his sect's senior brother into Shengyuan Mountain to hunt demonic beasts. Up until today, I have entered the mountains almost ten times every year."
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator said.
"Good."
Li Haowen nodded, then pointed to the location of True Person Minghua's Dao Basis on the map:
"Do you know how to get to this place?"
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator examined the place indicated by Li Haowen for a while, muttering under his breath:
"Manager Li, this map of yours looks a bit strange..."
"That's because this map wasn't drawn in recent years. It's an ancient map."
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator thought for a moment, then showed an expression of sudden realization:
"So that's it. Could this be that legendary map drawn when the founding ancestor of the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect followed the immortals of the Kongshan Sect to traverse Shengyuan Mountain?"
Li Haowen raised his eyes to look at the Martial Spring Realm cultivator before him, then slowly said:
"You know quite a lot."
Hearing this, the Martial Spring Realm cultivator suddenly shivered. He carefully pondered the true meaning contained within Li Haowen's words just now.
Could it be that this Li Godslayer thought he knew too much?
"T-this junior will definitely forget all things he shouldn't know. I beg Manager Li to spare my life."
Pfft.
Chen Yan, watching the flustered appearance of the Martial Spring Realm cultivator not far away, let out a laugh.
"Senior Brother Li's reputation, ah..."
Li Haowen forcefully ignored Chen Yan's teasing, then continued speaking to the Martial Spring Realm cultivator before him who was already drenched in cold sweat from fear:
"Answer my question. How do we get to this place?"
"This junior truly doesn't know."
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator shook his head repeatedly:
"This place is too deep, too dangerous. It has always been recognized as a forbidden zone by cultivators near Shengyuan Mountain. It's very likely that fourth realm or even fifth realm demonic beasts appear there..."
Logically speaking, with the cultivation levels of Chen Yan and Li Haowen, they should be able to traverse Shengyuan Mountain with ease.
But Shengyuan Mountain's terrain is extremely complex, and ten thousand years have passed. The reference value of this Demon-Slaying Sword Sect map is no longer very great. Only under the guidance of a cultivator with thorough knowledge of the current interior of Shengyuan Mountain could they most quickly find the specific locations marked on this ten-thousand-year-old map.
Hearing this, Li Haowen looked around again. Currently in this small town, he couldn't find any other cultivator who seemed more experienced than the Martial Spring Realm cultivator before him.
So he glanced in Chen Yan's direction.
Chen Yan also understood.
"Five high-grade spirit stones. You lead Manager Li and me to find the place marked on the map."
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator's gaze fell on Chen Yan for the first time, then he said:
"This senior, it's really not a matter of spirit stones..."
"Ten, how about that?"
This amount of high-grade spirit stones was like a drizzle to Chen Yan, who once controlled one of the three major ferries in the Northern Region.
"This junior's cultivation is shallow. Though spirit stones are good, one still cannot lose one's life for the sake of spirit stones. I hope this senior understands..."
"Is that so?"
Before the Martial Spring Realm cultivator could finish speaking, Li Haowen beside him spoke coldly.
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator immediately shivered again, then repeatedly bowed and cupped his hands towards Li Haowen's direction:
"But the Kongshan Sect is the leader of the immortal path in the northwest of our Chenping Continent! As a cultivator of the Northwestern Region, I would go through fire and water for the Kongshan Sect without hesitation!"
That's right, compared to spirit stones, life is definitely more important.
But the person beside him wearing white daoist robes, with one black and one white long sword hanging at his waist, was the famously ruthless, never-batting-an-eye Godslayer, Li Haowen.
If he went for a stroll deep in Shengyuan Mountain, there was still a possibility of coming out alive.
But if he offended Li Godslayer, killing him would be the work of an instant for him.
This Martial Spring Realm cultivator already believed he had just walked right up to the gates of the underworld.
"However, to enter the forbidden zone of Shengyuan Mountain, this junior still needs to gather manpower. Please give this junior some time, Manager Li and this senior."
He continued.
"How long do you need?"
Li Haowen asked.
"Half a day."
The Martial Spring Realm cultivator replied.
"One hour."
Li Haowen's voice was cold and merciless.
"...Yes, Manager Li."
And that Martial Spring Realm cultivator simply didn't dare to argue.