Chapter 68: Showing My Cards

I originally wanted to get along with you all as a Qi Refining cultivator, but all I got in return was your harm.

I am done pretending. I am showing my cards!

With a Foundation Establishment cultivator driving a top-tier ritual implement at full power, and an unbroken barrage of firepower pouring down, the emerald-green cage proved unbreakable, standing firmly on the ground.

Clang, clang, clatter. It was all thunder and little rain. Only a few scorch marks and frostbitten scars were left on the cage’s surface.

A wave of azure light appeared, and the marks soon vanished without a trace. The emerald-green cage returned to its flawless state.

When quite a few cultivators saw this, those who still had clear heads made an immediate decision and retreated.

Most of the cultivators who were still drawn in by the Sword-Nurturing Gourd could not resist the temptation and raised a fresh frenzy of attacks.

With a soft hiss, blue-black brambles suddenly drilled out from within the emerald-green cage. Like venomous snakes, they lunged fiercely and swiftly toward the crowd of cultivators.

Streaks of dark green cut across the air. With lightning speed, the brambles pierced through one cultivator’s body after another.

The pierced cultivators died on the spot. Their entire bodies turned green from head to toe, and their stiff corpses fell to the ground with hollow thuds, like logs.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight Qi Refining cultivators failed to react in time and were killed by the brambles.

Lu Yuan was inwardly astonished by the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Qi Refining cultivators before him were like clay chickens and pottery dogs, unable to withstand a single blow.

Only a handful managed to block a few exchanges, but all of them were holding on bitterly and were clearly about to lose.

He had raised the death rate inside the cave abode by ten or twenty percentage points all at once. Lu Yuan could not help but sigh.

The delicate-looking cultivator who had entered the cave abode earlier was lucky enough to dodge one strike, only to be entangled by the brambles again.

Gray light surged from the hazy gray mirror in his hand, greatly slowing the brambles. Only then did he barely avoid attack after attack that struck like lightning.

Just then, a snow-white ribbon of light met the brambles head-on, its speed no slower than the dark green brambles.

The two clashed point against point. The snow-white ribbon of light gradually turned green, while the brambles were constantly pierced through by countless fine white sword lights.

“I was wondering who had hidden their cultivation. So it is Steward Wang of Hundred Treasures Pavilion. What, does entering a secret realm require sneaking around?”

A handsome cultivator carrying a black sword case on his back walked up to the delicate-looking cultivator.

“Steward Wang, Wenxuan is a junior of mine with close ties to me. Earlier, he did not know your identity and offended you. I apologize on his behalf.

“Steward Wang has killed quite a few fellow cultivators, so I imagine most of the resentment in your heart has already been vented. Why not give me some face and let the matter end here?”

The snow-white ribbon of light returned to the handsome cultivator and circled twice around Li Wenxuan, taking a firm stance of protecting him.

“So it is the Li family’s guest elder, Bai Kun. I have heard that you have spent many years diligently cultivating the path of sword implements and have considerable attainments. Today, I have finally witnessed it for myself.

“It is inconvenient to fully stretch our hands and feet in this secret realm. When there is a chance, I would like to exchange pointers with Fellow Daoist Bai.”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from Hundred Treasures Pavilion picked up the Sword-Nurturing Gourd beside his foot and weighed it in his hand. Sensing the incomparably sharp, ready-to-erupt sword qi inside the gourd, he stored it in his storage bag with satisfaction.

“Of course, of course. May I ask whether Steward Wang has any other objective in coming to this secret realm, so that the two of us can avoid unnecessary conflict?”

Seeing Steward Wang withdraw the dark green brambles back into his body, Bai Kun the sword cultivator asked curiously.

“I only happened to obtain a mysterious paper slip and followed its guidance here to this secret realm. I am not familiar with anything in this secret realm.

“So there is no objective to speak of. So long as I can preserve my life, I will simply wander around the secret realm as I please. If we encounter a treasure that both of us want, then each of us can rely on our own ability.”

Not far away, Ma Mingyuan, who had been hiding in a corner all this time, quietly retreated a little.

He did not believe a single word from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion Foundation Establishment cultivator. Happened to obtain a paper slip? How could there be that many coincidences in this world?

It was very likely that Hundred Treasures Pavilion had found out information about the secret realm, or that the high-priced sale of the paper slips Ma Mingyuan had consigned had drawn their attention. It was even possible that they had privately swallowed one of the five paper slips.

The conflict came quickly and ended just as quickly. While the two Foundation Establishment cultivators were conversing, the Qi Refining cultivators on the scene who had been lucky enough to survive looked regretfully and reluctantly at the four Sword-Nurturing Gourds fluttering in the wind on the vines, then swiftly left.

Bai Kun and the Hundred Treasures Pavilion steward did not stop them. After all, seizing the Sword-Nurturing Gourds right before their eyes was the urgent matter. What if one of them went to chase down the others, and the other grabbed the third-rank treasures and ran?

The two chatted amiably, but their eyes did not move even half a step away from the Sword-Nurturing Gourds.

After all the Qi Refining cultivators had left, the two negotiated how to divide the gourds.

Apart from the Sword-Nurturing Gourd that had rolled up in front of Steward Wang, the remaining four would be split evenly between them.

The two left satisfied, leaving behind only the corpses of cultivators who had failed to seize treasure and had instead been instantly killed.

Lu Yuan controlled the Blood-Devouring Vine and the others with his divine sense, sending them over to clean up the aftermath.

As for the two taking away all five Sword-Nurturing Gourds, he held an indifferent attitude.

The main reason was that the rewards from the light orbs the two had brought were worth far more than the Sword-Nurturing Gourds. For the time being, he would treat the gourds as a small return.

After all, a secret realm where treasures could be obtained would naturally attract even more cultivators to come explore it.

Moreover, for him, who had become a cave abode, the Sword-Nurturing Gourds were not very useful. At most, through Ma Mingyuan, he could exchange them for some low-grade spirit stones or some spirit seeds and materials.

Of course, if the cave abode expanded in the future and he cultivated his own force, then keeping them would indeed allow them to be put to use.

Inside the cave abode, the cultivator from Black Jade Tower who was gathering information on the secret realm was continuously recording notes.

He absolutely would not allow the same situation as last time to happen again, where there had been major errors in the secret realm information, causing his credibility within the organization to drop sharply and earning him a scolding from a Foundation Establishment senior.

Although he knew that the information he had recorded before was perfectly accurate, the secret realm laid out before his eyes was reminding him everywhere that the information had been wildly wrong.

He could only grit his teeth and swallow it, carrying his unwillingness with him as he came to the secret realm once more.

“This time, I absolutely will not be wrong!”

As the Black Jade Tower cultivator strengthened his resolve, he carefully explored and recorded.

“The spirit energy contained in the pond is much denser than before. A rough estimate puts it at the level of a spiritual spring. It can be drunk directly to increase the cultivation speed of low-level and mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.”

He took out a slender white jade bottle and scooped up a bottle of spiritual spring water from the pond.

“This slender bottle has Spirit-Solidifying runes arranged on it. Once the spring water is placed inside, the spirit energy can remain undispersed for a long time. When I return, I can directly measure the concentration of spirit energy inside.”

Suddenly, his spiritual sense detected a terrifying aura approaching him, so he hurriedly hid himself.

Two big-headed strange fish held up white bones and bounced along, hopping all the way to the edge of the pond.

They tossed the white bones into the pond, then followed close behind, jumping into the water and swimming back and forth in excitement.

The Black Jade Tower cultivator was so envious that his eyes nearly popped out. This was spiritual spring water that other people used for cultivation, yet these two strange fish were using it to bathe?

This was simply the height of extravagance, utterly inhuman!

And yet, I really want to join them too.

Watching the big-headed strange fish swim happily in the pond, the Black Jade Tower cultivator’s heart filled with wave after wave of sour envy.

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