“Not good… They’re direct-line cultivators of the Zhong clan!”
Zeng Shu sent out a book-page magic artifact to protect himself. Sensing the spiritual pressure of those white-robed figures, all at the late stage of Qi Refining, his face turned as pale as paper. “How are we this unlucky?”
His expression hardened. “Junior brothers, form the formation and hold to the death! We’re very close to the mountain gate; a Foundation Establishment master will arrive in moments!”
With Zeng Shu taking the lead, the cultivators of the Blue Sea Sect all took out formation flags. This was something they had rehearsed in advance, specifically to deal with sudden attacks by cultivators.
Buzz, buzz!
A layer of jade-green radiance lit up. Completely ignoring the fishponds outside, it sealed the cultivators’ cave dwellings within an airtight defense.
“Tier One high-grade—the Blue Wave Formation!”
Fang Qing identified it and nodded inwardly. “The cultivators are clustering together to defend themselves, giving up the fish farm and letting these cultivators plunder and destroy as they please… If the other side were even slightly softer, they could simply make a haul, complete their mission, and leave.”
Unfortunately, the Zhong clan cultivators opposite them were not merely thinking of destroying the fish farm and making off with a fortune.
The white-robed figures parted to either side, revealing a white-haired—no, a youth with a delicate, almost feminine face and a full head of white hair.
His cultivation had shockingly reached the perfection of Qi Refining. He carried a heart-palpitating spiritual pressure, and a chill that seemed capable of freezing one’s very heart permeated the air around him.
“The Zhong clan’s Zhong Lingxiu?!”
The corner of Fang Qing’s eye twitched. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and ran.
Back then, for the sake of peace and quiet, he had deliberately chosen the most remote cave dwelling. Now, it had instead become proof of his foresight.
Zhong Lingxiu formed hand seals with both hands. Layer upon layer of icy soul-chilling light emerged, transforming into an ice-crystal phoenix. Its wings spread wide, wrapped in a storm, and it raised its head to let out a clear cry.
Immediately after, the ice phoenix flapped its wings and flew toward the Blue Wave Formation.
Crash!
A great quantity of hailstones and jade-green water waves canceled each other out. The Blue Wave Formation was frozen in an instant, then burst open with an enormous gap.
Zeng Shu, Li Yusu, and the other cultivators maintaining the formation all changed expression at the same time and spat out mouthfuls of blood essence.
“Kill them all. Leave not one alive.”
Zhong Lingxiu said coldly, then glanced in the direction Fang Qing had fled. “Wufu, that man is yours.”
“As you command, Young Master!”
A Zhong clan cultivator immediately stepped forward, driving a pair of profound ice wheels as he pursued Fang Qing in the direction he had fled.
“It’s Zhong Lingxiu?!”
When Zeng Shu saw Zhong Lingxiu, a trace of despair instantly surfaced on his face…
……
“Sure enough… the thing I should have replaced most was this Green Leaf Boat.”
Fang Qing was driving the Green Leaf Boat. He had just fled the Redscale Lake when he saw a Zhong clan cultivator chasing after him on a pair of ice wheels, and he could not help cursing inwardly.
This flying magic artifact was the sect’s standard issue, a Tier One low-grade item. Previously, he had had no need for fighting or fleeing for his life, so he had not gotten around to replacing it.
But now it seemed that only by staying alive could one deal damage. Life-saving magic artifacts still had to be properly prepared.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Before he could think further, two ice spikes had already condensed in the air and shot toward him in an instant!
Crack!
Fang Qing twisted his body, bending his neck and waist to nearly ninety degrees, dodging the sudden attack of the ice spikes with an unbelievable yoga-like posture.
Although he felt that even if two ice spikes struck him, at most they would scrape a bit of skin, his trump cards still had to remain hidden.
“Hm? A seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator… ice-element spells… that pair of ice wheels under his feet looks rather good. They should be high-grade?”
With the aid of divine sense, cultivators in magical combat were practically equivalent to having opened a “heavenly eye,” occupying an enormous advantage.
Fang Qing took out the Sea-Transforming Pearl and formed a hand seal with one hand.
The Sea-Transforming Pearl instantly turned into a streak of blue light, like a shooting star. In a flash as quick as lightning, it arrived before the Zhong clan cultivator.
“Hm?”
Seeing a “sixth-layer Qi Refining” cultivator suddenly erupt with power and even skillfully control a high-grade magic artifact, the Zhong clan cultivator could not help being startled.
He hurriedly sent a white-scaled shield flying out of his storage pouch, blocking it in front of himself.
Bang!
The Sea-Transforming Pearl slammed into it, but only made the White-Scale Shield tremble slightly. Apart from that, it achieved nothing.
Seeing this, the Zhong clan cultivator could not help feeling smug.
Both the “Profound Ice Wheels” under his feet and this “White-Scale Shield” were high-grade magic artifacts, into which he had sunk more than half his wealth.
A mere sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, even with a high-grade magic artifact, could forget about breaking his defense… Wait, what was this?
Before the Zhong clan cultivator could react, it was as if a small lake had appeared above his head. One hundred thousand jin of seawater came crashing down.
Within the seawater, several Water Arrow spells were mixed in as well.
“Trifling seawater.”
He was startled and subconsciously wanted to cast an ice-element spell, but in the end, he was rich in combat experience. He immediately suppressed the thought and formed a Water-Repelling Art.
‘Trying to make me freeze myself? Heh… Am I that stupid?’
‘If it were those bloodless novices in the clan, they might really panic for a while, but I’ve killed plenty of cultivators.’
Puff, puff!
The water arrows struck the White-Scale Shield, likewise unable to break through its defense.
Just as the Zhong clan cultivator was preparing to counterattack, a black shadow suddenly appeared before his eyes—it was Fang Qing!
He had released the seawater mainly to conceal his own figure, allowing him to approach in secret.
‘It’s best to end this quickly. Otherwise, if that Zhong Lingxiu catches up, it’ll still be somewhat troublesome.’
With a thought, the illusory “Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle” shot out from Fang Qing’s sea of consciousness and blasted into the Zhong clan cultivator’s brow, making him feel as though he had been struck by a heavy hammer. He did not even have time to activate the talisman in his hand.
Fang Qing’s vital blood surged violently throughout his body. A layer of body-refining spiritual light covered him as his five fingers suddenly closed together, turning into a fist.
Within his sea of consciousness, the seed character representing the “Great Vajra Divine Strength” abruptly blazed with light!
Bang!
The Zhong clan cultivator only felt as though he had been struck head-on by a mammoth giant elephant. An enormous dent appeared in the White-Scale Shield, and it was sent flying far away. His protective spiritual light shattered instantly.
Puff!
He spat blood, his face filled with disbelief. “A second-tier… body refiner?”
Crack!
Fang Qing lunged forward, spread his five fingers, seized the man’s head, and pressed it into his chest.
“I’m not second-tier, after all. I only have the strength for one strike… This Great Vajra Divine Strength is truly useful.”
He let out a long breath, swiftly cleaned up the traces, and looted the spoils.
Then he secretly sensed within himself and discovered that even the “seed character” in his sea of consciousness could likewise be dissolved by the Dao Birth Pearl. He could not help letting out a long sigh of relief.
“The Redscale Fish Farm has suffered a great calamity. I just happen to be wandering outside for a period of time… I’ll wait until the great battle has a clear outcome before making further plans.”
Fang Qing drove the Green Leaf Boat away, deciding in his heart to head to ancient Shu and lie low for a while.
……
The ground was silent.
A moment later, a streak of white light flashed, and Zhong Lingxiu pursued to this place.
“Young Master, Zhong Wufu is dead…”
Two Zhong clan cultivators exchanged a glance, secretly shaken.
Their strength was roughly on par with Zhong Wufu’s. If they had been the ones to pursue, would they not also have lost their lives?
“Useless trash! He couldn’t even delay him for this short while!”
Zhong Lingxiu frowned. “But he was, in the end, trash of my Zhong clan. If an outsider dares kill him, he’ll pay with his life!”
He formed hand seals with both hands, and specks of white light suddenly appeared in midair.
The other two cultivators both recognized it. This was a tracking spell.
With the Young Master’s escape speed, as long as the other party had not run too far, he should be able to catch up before the man fled back to his mountain gate, then torture him viciously before killing him.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Zhong Lingxiu stopped the spell in his hands and looked at the spiritual light as it went out. “It failed? Is that person too far away? Or was there a Foundation Establishment cultivator who used divine sense to remove the mark on Zhong Wufu?”
……
The land of ancient Shu.
“How sinister…”
Fang Qing took out Zhong Wufu’s storage pouch and poured out a pile of spirit stones.
He picked up one of them, and his own divine sense sensed a tiny divine sense brand on it.
If one were not also a cultivator who had cultivated divine sense, it would be impossible to see.
“As expected of a genius of the Zhong clan. He really did cultivate divine sense while still in the Qi Refining stage…”
Fang Qing waved his hand, destroying the mark on this spirit stone. He could roughly sense that its aura was identical to Zhong Lingxiu’s from earlier!
“But if you want to track me? Unless you can traverse worlds too!”
He sighed, then began inspecting the other spoils.
“A Tier One high-grade flying magic artifact—the Profound Ice Wheels? Mm, and this Tier One high-grade White-Scale Shield. Although it’s somewhat damaged, it can still be used after repairs… In this way, my flying, defensive, and offensive artifacts are all high-grade magic artifacts. I can be considered a wealthy man among the sect’s late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.”
Although the Profound Ice Wheels were best used by cultivators practicing ice-attribute cultivation methods, it was the same as with the five-element spells: everyone could practice them, at most with differences in the level of execution.
Fang Qing then looked at the other miscellaneous items and found that aside from spirit stones, there were only a few bottles of pills, a stack of talismans, and several booklets.
“Hm? The Ice Art? It seems to be an advanced cultivation method of the White Water Art?”
Thinking of the White Water Art, Fang Qing could not help thinking of Zeng Shu, as well as Li Yusu, in whom he had invested.
Judging from the situation, those two were likely doomed.
However, investments carried risks. He had already prepared himself for the possibility of losing everything, so he did not feel particularly heartbroken.
At this time, he looked at the other booklets and found that they were miscellaneous books, account ledgers, and the like.
“Eh?”
Fang Qing took out a page tucked inside one of the books and looked at the mnemonic formula written on it. “This is… a formula for condensing ‘Ice Soul Spiritual Water’?”
His spirits lifted, and he hurriedly studied it for a while, discovering that it was indeed so.
This “Ice Soul Spiritual Water” was a renowned type of spiritual water, extremely cold in nature, and could be used in many processes of water-method alchemy.
Moreover, its main use was still for cultivating spells.
For example… the Zhong clan’s famous “Ice Soul Cold Light”!
“This should have been prepared for Zhong Lingxiu? His subordinates were collecting and refining ‘Ice Soul Spiritual Water’ for him to improve his cultivation?”
“This Ice Soul Cold Light is also a famous spell in the hands of the Zhong clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators, having killed countless foes… I’ve even heard that the Zhong clan’s Core Formation ancestor has already cultivated the divine ability ‘Ice Soul Profound Light.’ Even though our sect’s patriarch is at a higher realm, he still finds it difficult to do anything to him…”
This page of mnemonics was clearly only a page torn from some cultivation manual.
Obtaining the formula only allowed one to condense the spiritual water. It was utterly impossible to cultivate the Ice Soul Cold Light spell with it, let alone any later upgrades.
“At a glance, it’s a measure to prevent leakage… But that’s fine. I only need the Ice Soul Cold Water, the spiritual water itself. I can use it for alchemy in normal times, and at critical moments, I can even use it against enemies. Its effects aren’t bad.”
Thinking of how he had previously asked Li Yusu to collect something for him, only for her to find him a commonplace “Hundred Poisons Water” pill formula, Fang Qing felt that he had made quite a profit this time.
For cultivators, sure enough, killing and arson were the path to the golden belt.