Xiao Chen forced himself to enter meditation despite the excruciating pain coursing through his body. It took him a full quarter-hour to calm his mind and steady his breathing. As dawn's faint light broke over the horizon, the first threads of icy spiritual energy began circulating sluggishly through his damaged meridians. Opening his eyes, he sighed with relief. Using what little spiritual power he could muster, he retrieved several bottles of pills from his storage pouch. Though the ancient treasures he'd acquired in the sealed land could rapidly heal his injuries, he hesitated to use them. Such rare herbs, over ten millennia old, were far more valuable when refined into potent elixirs.
"With these pills, my wounds should recover soon enough," Xiao Chen muttered. He carefully unsealed one of the bottles and swallowed several pills.
The pills dissolved instantly, unleashing a flood of potent energy that coursed through his ravaged meridians.
"Ugh!" A muffled groan escaped his lips as a pale sheen swept over his face. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead as the overwhelming energy tore painfully through his body. His meridians, severely damaged, throbbed with an unbearable ache. Yet, despite the agony, the energy gradually repaired his internal injuries. Clenching his teeth, Xiao Chen endured the torment as the restorative process continued.
Eventually, the pain subsided, replaced by a soothing coolness that spread throughout his body.
For hours, Xiao Chen sat cross-legged, cycling the pills' energy through his system. Slowly but surely, his injuries began to heal.
Meanwhile, a wandering rogue cultivator named Li Xun stumbled upon the aftermath of Xiao Chen's battle. Once an ordinary drifter, Li Xun had embarked on the path of cultivation after obtaining a fragmentary jade slip detailing Five Elemental Arts. Over the years, through cunning schemes and ruthless tactics, he had clawed his way to the seventh layer of the Qi Refining stage. Yet his progress had stagnated, leaving him desperate for a breakthrough.
A fateful encounter with a severely injured Two-Eared Monkey—a Tier-2 beast—had allowed him to harvest its core. Selling the core at auction had earned him a bottle of Spirit Refinement Pills, which propelled his cultivation forward. Now, with only one step left to reach the eighth layer, Li Xun dreamed of joining a prestigious sect, where a Foundation Establishment Pill could pave the way to greatness.
Half a day earlier, while traversing the wilderness, Li Xun sensed the overwhelming clash of two mighty auras—both at least mid-Foundation Establishment level. The sheer intensity of the battle promised devastation, but also opportunity.
When two tigers fight, one is bound to fall. Gritting his teeth, Li Xun decided to risk it all. He raced toward the source of the battle, his mind brimming with visions of treasure-laden storage pouches. As he neared the site, the spiritual turbulence grew fiercer—until it abruptly ceased. Both presences vanished.
Could they have perished together? His heart pounded with excitement at the thought of plundering the spoils. Yet, as he arrived at the scene, his brow furrowed. The area showed no signs of combat—no scorched earth, no shattered trees.
"Strange. Did they flee?" Frustrated, Li Xun expanded his spiritual sense, combing the terrain for clues.
Then, his gaze landed on a bloodied heap in the distance. His heart leapt. A storage pouch!
Hurrying over, he found a gruesome, mangled corpse. Though unrecognizable, the fallen figure's tattered robes and the undamaged storage pouch hanging at its waist hinted at immense wealth.
"Jackpot!" Li Xun wasted no time, seizing the pouch and sending a thread of spiritual sense inside. What he saw made his face flush with excitement.
"I've struck gold! With these treasures, reaching Foundation Establishment is within my grasp! With enough luck, I might even achieve the Golden Core stage!"
As a rogue cultivator with decent aptitude and relentless ambition, Li Xun's heart burned with dreams of ascension. But greed clouded his judgment. His eyes drifted to a nearby figure sitting motionless amid the grass.
The man was bloodied and still, as though teetering on the edge of death.
"If I take his storage pouch as well, nothing will stand between me and immortality." Clutching the first pouch tightly, Li Xun crept toward Xiao Chen. His spiritual sense swept over the man's body. No spiritual fluctuations. Barely a flicker of life.
Perfect.
"Truly, the heavens favor me today," Li Xun muttered, suppressing a gleeful laugh. Still, his cautious nature demanded he verify the man's vulnerability before making a move.
"Go!" Li Xun spat, summoning a fiery red dagger. The spirit weapon, painstakingly nurtured in his core, streaked through the air like a burning comet, aiming for Xiao Chen's skull.
Just as the blade was about to strike, a woman clad in white appeared beside Xiao Chen. With an elegant wave of her hand, she halted the blade mid-flight, diverting its trajectory.
The sudden arrival startled Li Xun, but his initial fear melted into a lecherous smirk as he noticed her ethereal beauty.
"A mere ghost servant? At only the fifth layer of Qi Refining? And you dare challenge me?" he sneered. "Once I deal with your master, I'll make sure you serve me properly in the afterlife."
Yu Ji's expression darkened, her gaze icy. "Insolent fool! You court death!"
"Death? Let's see who dies first!" Li Xun snarled, weaving several incantations. The flaming dagger trembled, blazing brighter as it slashed toward Yu Ji.
Though Yu Ji remained composed, her brow furrowed. Once a powerful cultivator, she was now reduced to the fifth layer of Qi Refining. She could only rely on remnants of her former strength.
"Demonic Flame, Ignite!" she chanted. Black flames erupted around her, forming a protective shroud. Cold and oppressive, the flames emitted ghostly wails that chilled the soul.
"Demonic arts?" Li Xun's pupils shrank. Though tempted to retreat, his greed won out. Retrieving a small, unassuming Buddhist bead from his pouch, he infused it with spiritual energy. The bead released radiant light and faint chanting, forming illusory Buddhas that hovered in the air.
"A Buddhist treasure," Yu Ji muttered, her expression grim. Even in her prime, Buddhist artifacts posed a significant threat to demonic cultivators. Now, in her weakened state, the bead was a grave danger.
As the bead flew toward her, Yu Ji's fingers traced intricate patterns. "Demonic Flames, Transform! Devour!"
The black flames coalesced into a vortex, releasing shadowy figures that charged at the bead.
Sizzle!
The spectral figures dissolved upon contact, their anguished screams filling the air. Yet, with each spirit destroyed, the Buddhist light dimmed slightly. Yu Ji's complexion paled further as her spiritual energy drained rapidly.
Li Xun smirked triumphantly. "You're finished, ghost woman. After I take your master's treasures, I'll deal with you."