Chapter 241 Saving Someone, Your Starting Line Is No Lower Than Anyone Else’s

“Senior Brother, grab my hand!”

High atop a towering pine, a man hung half-suspended from a branch. His body twisted nonstop as he tried to swing himself toward the hand reaching out from the opposite side.

Yet the more he struggled, the tighter the vine wrapped around him. It bit into his flesh and blood, greedily sucking him dry.

Below his feet sprawled a swamp reeking of decay. Many people already hung from the surrounding vines, but they had all been drained, leaving only skin clinging to white bone. Some had died not long ago, their eyeballs still lodged in their sockets, staring rigidly at the vines above.

An hour earlier, he had been carried here by a Demonic Creature. He had thought he was doomed, but that Demonic Creature did not kill him. Instead, it strung him up on the tree like an offering, letting the vines slowly devour him.

Fortunately, his teammates had come to rescue him.

“These vines are too tight. I can’t reach,” he said. The constant draining had left him dizzy. He had lost too much blood and his vision was turning black.

Right now, Wen Yun was perched atop the tree, dodging the vines that whipped toward him as he tried to haul the man in.

Wen Yun lowered his head and observed for a moment. Seizing a brief gap as the vines swung aside, he drove a fist into the branch the man was hanging on, smashing it off. His talisman cultivator senior brother dropped straight down.

Wen Yun reacted quickly. He immediately channeled his body and dove after him. Just as the talisman cultivator senior brother was about to fall into the swamp, Wen Yun caught him in his arms.

But the moment Wen Yun got a hold of him, the talisman cultivator senior brother’s vision turned completely dark and he passed out cold.

Wen Yun had no choice but to hoist him over his shoulder. With a twist of his toes, he landed on a safer patch of ground.

He had barely steadied himself when Demonic Creatures, drawn by the scent of blood, came swarming over.

This part of the area was very remote, and there were many high-level Demonic Creatures moving in packs. Ever since they entered, Demonic Creatures had been pouring toward them in an endless stream.

“We’ve got him. Let’s go,” Wen Yun said to Changsun Li, who was still dealing with the Demonic Creatures.

Changsun Li retreated a few steps until he reached Wen Yun’s side. While staying alert to the Demonic Creatures, he glanced at the man on Wen Yun’s back. “Still alive?”

Wen Yun said, “Yeah.”

“Good. I’d hate to waste all that effort on a corpse. Once we get back, I don’t owe you anything,” Changsun Li replied.

He had volunteered to stay below and clear out the Demonic Creatures, letting Wen Yun climb up to rescue the man, deliberately taking on the most dangerous job.

“Have you opened a path yet?” Wen Yun could not be bothered to argue favors with him. “This place is bad to linger in.”

“No,” Changsun Li said. “There’s too much filth. It’s impossible to clear them all out. There’s probably a Demonic Creature nest nearby. They’re all gathered around the outer area, and it seems there’s something in the depths of the swamp they’re afraid of.”

But if they wanted to get out, they would have to break through the outer ring of Demonic Creatures.

Wen Yun frowned, pulled out a length of rope, and firmly strapped his talisman cultivator senior brother to his back. “Looks like we’ll just have to force our way through. Don’t you drag me down.”

“That should be my line,” Changsun Li retorted. “You’re the one hauling a burden on your back. Don’t expect me to split my attention to help you. Our cooperation ended the moment you came down. Once I see a chance, I’m leaving first. I won’t be looking out for you anymore.”

“I know. Why do you talk so much crap?” Wen Yun said.

When it came to bickering, Wen Yun never let anyone off. He snapped right back, then charged forward.

Most of the Demonic Creatures inside the swamp ring were of the same type, which made dealing with them much easier. There was no need to worry about getting ambushed by a different kind of creature. As long as you found the weak point, you could wipe out a group in one go.

Wen Yun’s movements were much faster than Changsun Li’s. His attacks were clean and decisive, every strike landing solidly with no wasted motion.

Changsun Li had barely started fighting again when he saw that Wen Yun was already close to breaking out of the Demonic Creature ring. His speed was downright frightening.

Changsun Li kicked away a Demonic Creature that had latched onto his leg. A chunk of flesh tore from his thigh. He gritted his teeth against the pain, sweat soaking through his long hair.

His brow twitched despite himself. This guy Wen Yun clearly was not entering Shifang Nether Soil for the first time.

Had he been here before? Judging by the way he killed Demonic Creatures, he was even more practiced than some of their senior brothers and sisters.

Changsun Li suddenly felt a twinge of regret. If he had known, he should have let Wen Yun stay below to deal with the Demonic Creatures while he went up to pull people down.

He bit down hard and did not plan to leave together with Wen Yun. Instead, he chose another direction.

Just as he had said earlier, their cooperation was over. As sworn enemies between clans, there was no reason for them to keep traveling together. Besides, Crimson Sky Sect and Returning Immortal Sect were currently on opposing sides, and he had already suffered three defeats at the hands of Returning Immortal Sect cultivators.

He could ignore the sect’s stance, but his personal pride and his family’s face would not allow him to bow his head to someone from Returning Immortal Sect again.

Even if he lacked experience, he could not keep following behind Wen Yun.

Facing the tide-like swarm of Demonic Creatures, Changsun Li steeled himself and charged in. But the hour-long battle earlier had already drained most of his spiritual power. Now, getting out unscathed would be difficult.

Changsun Li was about to channel his body and rise into the air to look for a way out from above. He was not good at fighting midair, but there were fewer Demonic Creatures in the sky than on the ground.

As soon as he guided his spiritual power to his feet, Wen Yun’s voice carried over on the wind. “If you kowtow to me three times after we get out, I can take you with me.”

“You sick in the head?” Changsun Li snapped. “I’d rather die than kowtow to a Wen Family brat.”

He had always known Wen Yun had a foul mouth, but he had not expected him to still try to take advantage at a time like this.

Wen Yun blasted a few punches out, knocking back the Demonic Creatures around him. He looked completely at ease. Even in the face of a large number of high-level Demonic Creatures, he remained calm and unhurried.

Although he did not want to admit it, Changsun Li knew that Wen Yun would not have dared to suggest going alone to save someone if he had not been at least ninety percent confident.

Earlier, Wen Yun had been too busy hauling the man up to attack freely. Now that the two of them were fighting side by side in comparison, the difference was obvious.

This had always been a sore spot for Changsun Li. They were both from body cultivator clans, yet from childhood onward he had frequently been dragged out to be compared with Wen Yun. Almost every time, he had been judged inferior to Wen Yun by everyone else.

He had already lost completely to Wen Yun in terms of strength. He refused to lose again when it came to his pride.

“Is that so? I don’t see how you’re going to make it back alive on your own,” Wen Yun said.

Changsun Li let out a short, angry laugh. “So what? Dying in Shifang Nether Soil is nothing rare. You think you’re that much better than me? You and I both have Heavenly Spiritual Roots. I am in no way inferior to you. You can beat me for now only because you are from the Wen Family.”

Because Wen Yun was the only son of the number one body cultivator clan. Because his mother had once been the strongest body cultivator among the Four Great Sects. That was why he could be who he was today.

From the moment Wen Yun was born, he had stood at the peak. Everyone only remembered who came first. Who cared about second place?

Changsun Li could still clearly recall the first time he and Wen Yun met. The elders around them took one look at Wen Yun and immediately decided he would definitely be stronger than Changsun Li. At that time, they were still very young and had not even officially sparred.

Back then, Changsun Li could not understand. His chest felt stifled for a long time. He even lost the heart to cultivate and spent his days trailing after Wen Yun, observing him.

Later, he finally figured it out. The elders were not praising Wen Yun himself. They were praising the brilliant, dazzling first body cultivator, Wen Ya, standing behind him.

Wen Yun had been born into a world of praise and flattery. Meanwhile, Changsun Li was forever the one dragged out for comparison, pressed down so hard that he could not lift his head.

He hated Wen Yun. He disliked the Wen Family. And he loathed the people around them who pointed and whispered.

After Wen Ya died, he had thought Wen Yun would finally step out of her shadow and compete with him on equal, fair terms.

But it was already too late. The pride and confidence Wen Ya had left to Wen Yun were carved deep into his bones. Under her radiance, he had already grown into someone Changsun Li could no longer hope to catch up to.

All he had was the humiliation that had piled up over the years and festered in his heart. That humiliation had been dragging him down all the way to this very moment.

“If you weren’t Wen Ya’s son, there’s no way you’d have the strength you do today.” Changsun Li ground out between his teeth. “If you and I had started from the same place, you wouldn’t have the right to sit up there and criticize me.”

Wen Yun said, “How am I criticizing you? Isn’t it just the truth? You don’t actually think I care about you kowtowing to me, do you? I was just talking. Why are you so worked up? You used to badmouth me behind my back all the time. You really think I didn’t know?”

Seeing the calm, indifferent look on his face, Changsun Li’s anger flared even hotter. “Get lost. Even if I die here, I don’t need your help!”

Wen Yun clicked his tongue. “Still mouthing off.”

His figure flickered past in a blur. He drove back the Demonic Creatures that were ambushing Changsun Li from behind with a single punch, then grabbed him and hauled him up into the air.

What was what. No matter how stubborn Changsun Li’s tongue was, Wen Yun still had to bring him back.

This was Shifang Nether soil after all, and on a special day at that. Demonic Creatures were all mixed together here. It was extremely dangerous.

Changsun Li had come with him. If only Wen Yun returned, the Changsun Clan would definitely seize on that as an excuse to make a fuss. On top of that, Shifang Nether soil harbored many Demonic Creatures that could erode a person’s mind. If Changsun Li ended up tainted by them, he would become a problem for everyone else, and the first person to get caught up in it would probably be Wen Yun.

Wen Yun had always disliked complications. If something could be prevented in the simplest way, he had no intention of sitting back and letting trouble ferment.

He thought back over what Changsun Li had said just now and more or less understood what he meant. He was a bit speechless. “You spend all day blaming heaven and earth. No wonder your life is such a miserable mess.”

Changsun Li struggled twice in his grip. “Of course someone who’s gotten every advantage handed to him wouldn’t understand.”

At that, Wen Yun raised an eyebrow. “I’ve gotten every advantage? So you lost to Ying You because he has some prestigious clan behind him too?”

“Ying You has an Innate Sword Bone. You can’t lump him together with the rest.”

“And what about your Team Leader, Lu Feishuang?” Wen Yun asked. “As far as I remember, she’s someone the Lu Family took in. If we’re talking about starting points, she didn’t even start cultivating as early as you did.”

“Do you have any idea what kind of status the Lingchuan Lu Family holds among sword cultivators?” Changsun Li shot back. “How can you pretend you don’t know?”

“Then what about Lian Mu?”

Changsun Li froze. His gaze dropped and, for a moment, he was at a loss for words. “…”

“Let me tell you something. She’s been officially cultivating for not even a year,” Wen Yun said.

And that was with a shattered dantian, so poor she could barely scrape together a few coins. Even with conditions like that, Lian Mu had still pushed through on sheer grit.

Wen Yun had hunted demonic beasts with Lian Mu before. He had personally watched her fight until she was covered in wounds and could barely stand just to snatch some worthless demonic beast materials.

She had stolen bounties from others as well and had been beaten black and blue by powerful hunters. But she could handle winning, and she could handle losing. All she ever did was learn from each defeat, and she would even shamelessly ask her opponents for pointers.

Among the demon hunters at Star-Plucking Tower who had crossed blades with her, almost none dared look down on her. Instead, they could still laugh and chat with her after a fight.

“Your starting point isn’t any lower than anyone else’s,” Wen Yun said. “So stop wailing like the sky’s falling. If it were someone else, I might actually comfort them a few words. But you? Forget it. You just care too much about your pride, never learn your lesson, and you’re stubborn to the bone. If you can’t handle the stakes, then don’t play. Go home and be your Young Master. Immortal Sects aren’t the kind of place where you can claw your way to the top just by running your mouth.”

Anyone who could become the strongest Chief Disciple among the Four Great Sects was not someone who had it easy. The number of beatings they had taken was far greater than the number of complaints Changsun Li had ever voiced.

Changsun Li’s face was burning red from the tongue-lashing. He was just about to snap back when the forest around them suddenly began to tremble.

One Wood Spirit Vine after another burst up from underground, sweeping aside the Demonic Creatures that had formed a wall below. Then they shot up into the sky and coiled around the legs of Changsun Li and Wen Yun.

“???” Changsun Li stared.

“What is this thing?” he demanded.

Wen Yun came back to his senses as well. He tugged at his leg but could not break free. Feeling the spiritual power flowing through the Wood Spirit Vines, his brows drew together.

He raised his voice and said coldly, “Let go of me, Ji Xiuyuan.”