Wu Ying lowered his head to look, but the vine suddenly moved, stabbing toward his brow like a giant serpent!
At the same time, hundreds of vines vibrated in unison, surging toward him from all directions!
Wu Ying leaped up and swung his blade to chop them!
But the surrounding trees all came alive too, shifting positions to block his attacks. Wu Ying roared, gripping his blade with both hands and cleaving through this forest labyrinth—
The pressure of Peak Soul Transformation poured out. Lian Yunzhi, who had been hiding in the trees, could no longer conceal his figure. Wu Ying spotted him immediately and flipped around, charging toward him at high speed!
Wu Ying had killed countless people, his methods insidious and ruthless, and his combat experience far richer than Lian Yunzhi’s. Lian Yunzhi nearly faltered midway but ultimately reverted to his original form, taking advantage of the man’s stunned daze to instantly entangle and strangle him.
Lian Yunzhi shifted back to human form and crushed the man’s fleeing Primordial Spirit just as it tried to escape, utterly severing any chance of reincarnation.
After finishing all this, he tilted his head and swallowed several Healing Pills before approaching Wu Ying to strip off his Storage Bracelet and Storage Ring, curious to see what good items he had.
…The result was a pile of bones.
“Based on what he just said, and this book, he cultivated a Man-Eating Technique.” Mu Cheng emerged from Lian Yunzhi’s Knowledge Sea, looking at the technique manual beside the bones as he spoke.
Lian Yunzhi’s face immediately twisted in disgust as he retreated two steps.
But in the end, he picked up a dry twig and poked around, digging out Spirit Stones and Magic Artifacts from the pile of bones to collect them.
“Tsk, how is this guy such a pauper? Peak Soul Transformation and he only had a little over two million Spirit Stones on him…” Lian Yunzhi said in disappointment.
“His Spirit Stones were probably all spent on Magic Artifacts. Look at that disc-like Magic Artifact sandwiched between the skull and leg bone—that’s a Lightning Avoidance Artifact, and it’s quite expensive,” Mu Cheng said.
Lian Yunzhi used a vine to roll it up. The disc-shaped artifact had a strange material, engraved not only with a Formation but also inscriptions. It indeed looked extraordinary. He asked Mu Cheng, “How do you know it’s a Lightning Avoidance Artifact?”
Mu Cheng replied, “I’ve seen a similar one at the Treasure Pavilion. That artifact could only block one bolt of Thunder Tribulation for a Golden Core cultivator, and it sold for seven million Spirit Stones.”
Lian Yunzhi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately wiped the Lightning Avoidance Artifact clean before storing it away.
This was a Peak Soul Transformation cultivator’s Lightning Avoidance Artifact—it could probably block a Void Refining stage Thunder Tribulation. How many Spirit Stones would that fetch?
What excited Lian Yunzhi even more was that the Lightning Avoidance Artifact wasn’t the only valuable item on this Evil Cultivator. In Wu Ying’s Storage Ring, Lian Yunzhi also found a bottle of the priceless Butterfly Shadow Disguise Pill. It was said that after consuming this pill, the disguise was seamless and traceless—unless a Body Integration or Great Vehicle cultivator probed with Divine Soul Force, it was hard to detect any flaws.
After confirming multiple times that it was non-toxic and harmless, Lian Yunzhi tilted his head and swallowed it, instantly gaining an utterly ordinary new face.
Lian Yunzhi looked at himself in the Water Mirror and was immensely satisfied. He casually set the corpse ablaze with fire, then turned to Mu Cheng and said, “Let’s go buy you a Pregnant Body Lotus Root!”
But before leaving, Mu Cheng turned to glance at the corpse on the ground.
The body burned in the flames, and the thoroughly shattered Primordial Spirit slowly dissipated. Yet Mu Cheng suddenly felt a long-forgotten… hunger.
.
“—What did you say?!”
Lian Yunzhi slammed his Long Sword onto the counter at the Chen Tian Auction House reception desk, his expression dark.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator at reception shrank back and whispered, “The Pregnant Body Lotus Roots are gone. Quite a few souls have returned from the Lost River lately, spiking demand for Pregnant Body Lotus Roots… Our auction house sold out all its stock.”
Lian Yunzhi closed his eyes and gnashed his teeth in frustration.
This was already the fourth auction house he had run to, and the previous one had sworn up and down that the Chen Tian Auction House still had stock, planning to auction it on the fifth…
“Weren’t they supposed to auction it on the fifth? Today is only the fourth!”
Lian Yunzhi asked unwillingly.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator explained, “Yesterday, the Refining Tool Sect Sect Master ended his seclusion and retrieved his son’s soul from the Linxian Sect. He came straight to our auction house and bought all the Pregnant Body Lotus Roots at ten times the price…”
Lian Yunzhi was about to explode with rage.
Fortunately, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator quickly added, “But, Senior, there is actually another way for you to obtain a Pregnant Body Lotus Root…”
“What way?!”
“Pregnant Body Lotus Roots grow in the Lian Wu Secret Realm, which opens every five years—and it opens in five days. With your profound cultivation, Senior, you can surely snatch one!” The Foundation Establishment Cultivator spoke rapidly while pulling out a token. “This is an Access Token. Only ten thousand Spirit Stones!”
Lian Yunzhi immediately paid and bought the token.
As he left, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator shouted after him, “One token allows only one person inside—souls cannot enter! If you grab extras, you can sell them back to us!”
Lian Yunzhi paused his steps but continued forward.
.
The Lian Wu Secret Realm was very close to Xiaoze State, so before entering, Lian Yunzhi left Mu Cheng at Jade Mountain in Xiaoze State and placed the Pure Bottle beside him. “I know you don’t like the Pure Bottle, but if you really encounter danger, hiding inside is best. It won’t break, so I’ll definitely find and retrieve you.”
Mu Cheng nodded.
Under Mu Cheng’s guidance, Lian Yunzhi set up multiple concealed Formations. He had originally wanted to lay the Ten Thousand Woods Protective Boundary Array again, but that required an “array master” to preside, which meant splitting off a small portion of his own Primordial Spirit—Mu Cheng ultimately stopped him.
“Cultivators below Void Refining can enter this secret realm, so you’ll face plenty of Late Soul Transformation or even Peak Soul Transformation opponents. Splitting your Primordial Spirit now is too dangerous,” Mu Cheng paused before adding, “If it’s really tough, don’t force a fight. Someone who grabs one will surely sell it—hasn’t that happened in past openings? Worst case, we wait another five years.”
