noffsinger Chapter 185: The Harvest
Chapter 185: The Harvest
After all, Zhang Jinshu dared not be careless before knowing the other party's background, for fear that a single mistake would lead to his downfall.
In the cultivation world of Chu, there are many examples of Foundation Establishment cultivators being killed in one fell swoop by Qi Refining cultivators wielding high-level talismans.
Yang Jiuli took in Zhang Jinshu's contemptuous smile.
Seeing the other party's smug and carefree appearance, a slight smile appeared on his lips.
When a person is complacent and overconfident, that's when they let their guard down and make numerous mistakes.
"This..." Seeing Yang Jiuli still smiling, Zhang Jinshu's heart skipped a beat.
But then, a talisman with shimmering light appeared beneath Yang Jiuli's feet, and yellow mist instantly swept out.
Beneath his feet, a thick earthen wall materialized, directly blocking the 'Earth Spirit Rat' below.
The earthy yellow aura swept away, even carrying Li Yourong, Huang Cheng, and Liu Hu in the air above.
This meant that the flames spewed by the Earth Spirit Rat struck the thick earthen wall and couldn't reach anyone.
Zhang Jinshu's pupils contracted, and the unease in his heart eased slightly.
He thought Yang Jiuli had some tricks up his sleeve!
It's just a mid-grade second-tier "Earth Wall Talisman".
Even if the 'Earth Spirit Rat' failed to land its attack, with its cultivation level, killing the man before it would be a piece of cake.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
But a cold wind swept past behind him.
He turned around and saw a one-eyed cultivator appear.
It was Yan Jiuming.
A Grand Master in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
At this moment, Yan Jiuming was surrounded by howling wind, transforming into a tornado that directly swept Zhang Jinshu into it.
Furthermore, he reached out his large hand and slapped Zhang Jinshu in the back.
That's incredibly fast.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Jinshu's heart meridian was shattered.
Even though he was wearing second-tier soft armor, he couldn't withstand this fatal blow.
His heart meridian shattered, and a vast power rippled outwards, destroying the immortal foundation within Zhang Jinshu's dantian.
Suddenly, he felt weak all over and his mind became confused.
He stared wide-eyed at Yan Jiuming, then looked at Yang Jiuli.
When Zhang Jinshu looked at Yang Jiuli, he showed an expression of disbelief.
Because beneath Yang Jiuli was a Flame Rat, which spewed flames and directly knocked the Spirit Rat away.
The moment the Earth Spirit Rat was knocked away, a cultivator made a hand gesture, and a green wood spear pierced through the Earth Spirit Rat's heart meridian.
Thus, the early-stage Tier 2 Earth Spirit Rat was also killed.
"That is..." When he saw the Earthflame Rat with a patch of white fur on its head, his heart was filled with turmoil.
Because this is Zhang Maoheng's Earth Flame Rat, which comes from the Outer Affairs Hall of Jinxia Gate.
As a steward of the Foreign Affairs Hall, Zhang Jinshu had naturally seen this beast before.
In fact, its Earth Spirit Rat and the current Earth Flame Rat are quite familiar with each other.
He never imagined that the Earth Flame Rat would appear here.
"Zhang..." Then, his gaze shifted, and he looked at Yang Jiuli, his eyes showing realization and shock.
And a look that says, "You're hiding something very well."
Unfortunately, he had a thousand words to say and boundless regret, but he could not utter them as his heart meridian and immortal foundation were destroyed and he perished.
Zhang Jinshu closed his eyes.
But Yang Jiuli was still not at ease, so he directly used his secret technique.
"Soul Tide..." His eyes flashed, and a vortex appeared between his brows. A vast amount of divine power surged forth like a tide, invading Zhang Jinshu's sea of consciousness and completely annihilating his soul. Only then did he truly breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhang Jinshu collapsed to the ground.
Yan Jiuming, Zhang Maoheng, and the Earth Flame Rat all vanished in a beam of light.
The cave then returned to tranquility.
With a hand gesture, Yang Jiuli caused the green wood and earthen wall carrying Li Yourong, Huang Cheng, and Liu Hu to disappear.
The three of them slowly floated down to the ground, still fast asleep.
Yang Jiuli was quite satisfied with this, as if it were all within his expectations.
Even the appearance of Zhang Jinshu was the same.
With a flick of his hand, Zhang Jinshu's storage bag and spirit beast bag flew into front of him.
After using his divine sense to investigate and identify items that might attract attention, he began to take stock of his spoils.
First, there are storage bags.
Bottles of pills floated in the air.
Tier 1 Supreme Grade: Beast Spirit Pill.
……
Second-tier elixir: Jade Spirit Pill. (Restores mana)
Second-tier elixir: Mind-Clearing Pill. (Strengthens spiritual consciousness)
Second-tier elixir: Spirit Protection Pill. (Protects the spiritual root)
"There's actually a second-tier 'Heart-Clearing Pill'..." Upon seeing this, Yang Jiuli's mind stirred.
This second-tier Cleansing Pill can help people quickly restore their depleted spiritual power.
It can also clear away the erosion of consciousness by evil miasma.
"This pill is extremely useful to me."
Yang Jiuli put the three bottles of pills into his storage bag with considerable satisfaction.
Then he looked at the other spoils of war.
A jade box.
There was also a sticker on it with the name written on it.
"'Cold Moon Flower,' this is a second-tier spiritual object, which can be used as the main ingredient for the 'Taiyin Soul Cleansing Pill,' the pill I need to break through to the middle stage of the second level of the 'Taiyin Divine Evolution Technique'..." Yang Jiuli murmured, his current spiritual sense being at the early stage of the second level.
To further enhance it, in addition to condensing the power of the Taiyin Moon Essence, a large number of spiritual items and elixirs are also needed.
This "Taiyin Cleansing Soul Pill" is indeed the most suitable elixir.
However, refining this pill requires nine types of second-tier spiritual essence with the Taiyin attribute.
This "Cold Moon Flower" is clearly one of them.
They are rarely seen in major markets and neighborhoods.
"This is quite an unexpected bonus!" Yang Jiuli smiled slightly and put the jade box into his storage bag.
Then, he looked at the jade box next to him.
"One Tier 2 Flaming Tiger Demon Core..."
"This item can be used to refine a second-tier 'Blood Reversal Pill' for the little sable... to help it break through to the next tier."
Yang Jiuli whispered.
In fact, the second-tier fire-attribute demon core is even more precious than the 'Frosty Moon Grass'.
Because this is the main ingredient for refining second-tier breakthrough pills, it is highly sought after by Foundation Establishment cultivators who keep spirit pets.
With the demon core, gathering the necessary ingredients for the second-tier 'Reverse Blood Pill' becomes much easier.
Of course, in ancient times, some human cultivators also used second-tier demon cores as the main ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills.
However, there are many potential drawbacks.
such as:
First: The violent demonic energy within the demon core will reduce the success rate of pill formation, wasting a batch of medicinal materials.
Second: Even if it is refined into a pill, the residual demonic energy within the pill will affect the cultivator's mind during the Foundation Establishment stage.
This caused his foundation building to fail, severely damaging his spiritual root.
Third: Even if one successfully establishes a foundation with this pill, it will be difficult to condense a suitable immortal foundation for a human cultivator.
Fourth: Even second-tier demonic beasts do not all condense a demonic core, making them extremely difficult to find.
Therefore, this pill formula was gradually abandoned by human cultivators.
Yang Jiuli would naturally not use this demon core to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill.
As for Xiaobing...
Its bloodline is extraordinary, and Yang Jiuli plans to find a suitable spiritual item to refine the corresponding attribute "Reverse Blood Pill" for it.
Or perhaps a high-level Foundation Establishment spirit object.
Besides these few most important spiritual items, the rest are second-tier spiritual artifacts and some second-tier talismans.
There is also a book called "Tips on Raising Spirit Beasts".
Afterwards, Yang Jiuli checked Zhang Jinshu's spirit beast pouch.
There were also nine late-stage Tier 1 Earth Spirit Rats inside.
Seemingly sensing their owner's passing, they were all calling out anxiously.
"A late-stage Tier 1 Earth Spirit Rat... does have some value and can sell for a considerable amount of spirit stones."
Yang Jiuli whispered.
He doesn't plan to keep too many spirit pets.
Firstly, cultivating low-level bloodline monsters is a complete waste of time.
Secondly, it requires a lot of resources.
Concentrating resources to raise Xiao Bing and the two little minks is no easy task.
Instead of wasting resources, we should use them on ourselves.
Besides elixirs.
There are also magical artifacts.
Formations, talismans, and many other treasures.
"This is a second-tier, low-grade 'Netherworld Mist Bewitching Array,' capable of concealing one's aura and shielding Foundation Establishment cultivators from divine sense detection!"
"Even ordinary cultivators risk having their minds pulled away from their bodies if they rashly use their divine sense to probe!"
After identifying the spoils, he made a hand gesture, and a 'Past Life Talisman' flew out from between his eyebrows and imprinted itself on Zhang Jinshu's brow. Then, he activated the 'Past Life Talisman' and used his divine sense to observe the trajectory of this person's life.
Only in this way can he know the situation outside.
And the layout of Jinxia Gate.
A little while later.
Yang Jiuli regained his composure.
"So this person went to my and You Rong's residence in Black Wind City through the 'Earth Spirit Rat,' remembered our scent, and that's why he chased after us." When he regained his senses, Yang Jiuli had a look of realization on his face, finally understanding why this person had chased after him.
It turns out that his target was himself and Li Yourong.
"Li Jun has been targeted by another Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Golden Cloud Sect... I'm afraid his chances of survival are slim."
"People also visit Yunmeng Lake!"
Meanwhile, Yang Jiuli learned from Zhang Jinshu's life that the Jinxia Sect had also sent people to Yunmeng Lake.
Even the Azure Flame Immortal Sect has made moves.
"In the cultivation world, the major sects may seem like reputable and righteous sects... but in reality, there are turbulent undercurrents... and the battle for Core Formation is a life-or-death struggle..." Yang Jiuli felt this deeply. He took a deep breath and murmured with a touch of emotion.
"The formation of a single core involves far more than it appears on the surface; it relates to the interests and power dynamics of various major forces."
Whether Li Hongtai succeeds this time depends not only on the elixir... but also on his mental fortitude!
Yang Jiuli's mind was as clear as a mirror.
In his view, Li Hongtai was a remarkable person.
The probability of forming a false elixir is extremely high.
As for Xu Dan, we'll see if he's affected by this turmoil!
However, Yang Jiuli quickly regained his composure.
No matter how turbulent the outside world is, his Dao heart remains unchanged, and he will not deviate from the path he has set for himself.
He glanced at the corpses of Zhang Jinshu and the Earth Spirit Rat, then unleashed his Green Wood magic from his palm, drawing them to his side.
Xiao Bing obediently opened its mouth and spat out a wave of icy demonic energy, freezing the two corpses.
As long as their corpses remain immortal, Yang Jiuli can summon their heroic spirits using the second-tier 'Past Life Talisman'.
The bodies were then placed in a separate storage bag.
There, too, were Yan Jiuming, Zhang Maoheng, and the Earth Flame Rat.
In this way, Yang Jiuli now had the corpses of five Foundation Establishment level experts around him!
His confidence had also been strengthened without him even realizing it.
Then.
Yang Jiuli rolled up Li Yourong, Huang Cheng, and Liu Hu, and led them away from the underground cave.
As he left, he had two ferrets breathe fire to destroy the body and cover up the crime.
As for future investigations, if someone detects any fluctuations of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it can be excused by claiming that a second-tier talisman was used.
Yang Jiuli was able to deal with the Golden Cloud Sect cultivators so easily this time because he already knew their lineup.
And their plans.
In response, Yang Jiuli devised corresponding countermeasures.
First, he pretended to be poisoned and used a second-tier talisman to kill Ding Moling and the others.
Although it revealed some of his trump cards, it also served to lull Zhang Jinshu, who was following closely behind, into a false sense of security.
When Zhang Jinshu arrived, they pretended to engage in conversation and cooperated with his secret plan to launch a surprise attack by the second-tier 'Earth Spirit Rat'.
With his powerful divine sense, Yang Jiuli naturally sensed that Zhang Jinshu had already driven the "Earth Spirit Rat" underground before entering the tunnel, preparing to launch a sneak attack.
He decided to turn the tables and strike when the other party was at their most triumphant.
That's how he was able to kill Zhang Jinshu so easily.
As for Li Yourong and Huang Cheng...
Previously, Yang Jiuli had given them "Detoxification Pills" and "Miasma-Avoiding Pills".
That "antidote pill" is genuine.
The "Miasma-Avoiding Pill" is actually a pill called "Bewitching Intoxication".
Taking this pill can make a person feel confused and drowsy, like someone who is drunk and falls into a deep sleep.
This is a pill that Yang Jiuli specially refined after his last trip to the Black Wind Mine.
This is precisely to prevent such scenarios.
Yang Jiuli then checked the storage bags of Ding Moling and the others.
The only valuable items inside are a few second-tier talismans.
Apart from this, there are no other spiritual objects for foundation building.
Yang Jiuli had anticipated this.
After all, Foundation Establishment spiritual items are extremely rare and seldom circulated in the market, far surpassing second-tier talismans.
……