Whoosh
The golden light dimmed as it rode the wind, speeding away from the relentless roars and explosions behind it and the two Foundation Establishment cultivators hot on his heels!
"Despicable scum of Jiuding Valley! Your sect has fallen! There's no place left for you in the Four Nations Cultivation Realm! Where do you think you're running?!"
"Surrender now! Maybe... maybe we'll show you mercy and spare your life!"
Hearing their words, Zhuang He sneered inwardly.
Spare my life?
If I even slow down for a second, I'm pretty sure you two will chop off my head on the spot and bring it back for a reward!
We've all been cultivators for years who are you trying to fool with that nonsense?
But the thought flashed and faded quickly. He knew that ever since the sect's great formation was broken, he'd burned through almost every trick just to break out. And he wasn't exactly in the best shape seriously wounded too.
In his current state, it was highly doubtful he could shake off the two Foundation Establishment cultivators tailing him!
Judging from the earlier roar of that third-rank black flood dragon, someone had beaten them to the punch and looted the sect's treasure vault.
And when he thought about those "stones" vanishing so mysteriously...
It might sound absurd, but in his gut, he was pretty sure this had to be the work of Li Ye from Pingyang Mountain!
What a pity… He'd once signed a soul-binding contract with Li Ye, one with serious restrictions. The moment he broke it, his soul would be torn apart if not outright killed, then left crippled or turned into a mindless husk.
Otherwise, he'd have used this information as leverage to buy his life.
Li Ye had cleared out Jiuding Valley's treasure vault, and yet he, who'd helped in a big way, was now the one being hunted like a dog. The injustice of it nearly made him explode with frustration!
As he continued fleeing, the wind talisman on his body lost its power, and his speed dropped sharply.
No matter how he urged his flying tool forward, it couldn't change the fact that the two cultivators behind him were closing in fast.
"Hmph! No more talismans to boost your speed I'd like to see you run now. Stop right there!"
One of the pursuers, clearly growing impatient, gave a furious shout and summoned a spider covered in faint purple markings an upper-tier first-rank spirit beast.
With a flash of a spell, he spat out a mouthful of blood essence, which landed on the spider and caused its aura to surge. In the blink of an eye, it broke through its rank and reached the second tier!
The purple-patterned spider let out a screech. In an instant, thick, sticky webs shot through the air carrying a sweet and sickly scent as they expanded into a massive net.
Caught off guard, Zhuang He was instantly entangled. He managed to blast away part of the web with his golden ring, but more came right after, pinning him down and slowing him to a crawl.
It was enough for the two cultivators to catch up!
"I'm finished…"
Zhuang He could have used his ring to rip through the web in another moment, but with two Foundation Establishment enemies attacking at the same time, escape was no longer an option.
Whoosh
Suddenly, a flash of emerald-green light burst into view, blinding Zhuang He and completely erasing the spells and flying tools the two attackers had just unleashed.
They blinked, stunned.
In the next instant, the green light faded and Zhuang He had completely vanished from where he stood.
"What… what kind of technique was that?!"
The two cultivators exchanged glances, both visibly shaken.
They looked around carefully but found nothing no residual aura, not even the faintest trace left behind.
They knew they'd just crossed paths with someone very powerful.
Not daring to linger, they immediately turned around and fled back toward the main army.
...........
Zhuang He slowly regained his senses and realized that the spider silk wrapped around him had completely dissolved. Even the toxins had been neutralized by a pill that had somehow entered his system.
Stunned, his eyes darted around, searching for that figure in the green robes but he found nothing.
Just then, a faint voice echoed in his ear:
"You helped me with a small matter. I saved your life. We're even now..."
"Surely you understand what can be spoken of and what must never be mentioned, right?"
Zhuang He's body trembled. He immediately got to his feet and bowed deeply.
"Thank you… senior, for saving my life! I, Zhuang, will uphold the contract and keep my mouth shut!"
But after waiting a few moments, no reply came. Instead, the sounds of battle seemed to be drawing near again. He quickly stood, picked a direction, and fled without a second thought.
As for the idea of using this as leverage to gain favor? He didn't even dare to think about it anymore.
That Li Ye from Pingyang Mountain always hiding away in the mountains, only known for his skills in pill and formation arts had somehow cultivated such a terrifying divine ability without anyone noticing!
If things kept going this way, Li Ye might very well be the next person in the Four Nations Cultivation Realm to reach the Golden Core stage!
And if Zhuang He ever found himself truly out of options… he might have no choice but to seek out Li Ye for refuge.
Casually saving Zhuang He's life, Li Ye withdrew the final wisp of greenwood divine light he had left on him and returned straight to the Chidi Mountain Range.
"I didn't expect the Jiuding Valley treasure vault to contain something like the Transformed Spirit Root, a third-rank spiritual herb…"
"The main ingredient for my Golden Core breakthrough is now in hand!"
Back at Pingyang Mountain, Li Ye sat beneath the Voidrealm Tree, sorting through the spoils of war once more.
Jiuding Valley, as a long-standing Golden Core sect, had amassed tremendous wealth over the years. Even though they'd depleted a great deal of resources in recent times first to seize control of Thousand Island Water City, to slay the black flood dragon for its core, and to acquire Frost Condensate Water, and later, in bolstering their defenses after their army's collapse there was still much left.
Although the vault wasn't quite as packed as Li Ye had hoped, it still held a considerable fortune. Even if he used it freely, it would support a Golden Core cultivator's needs for quite some time.
But the part that pleased Li Ye the most was this: among the few remaining third-rank spirit materials, he had found the Transformed Spirit Root a vital ingredient!
He examined the twisted root in his hand inky black, laced with faint purple spiritual patterns.
Even just holding it, he could feel the divine wood power circulating near his palm start to fade ever so slightly, as if being dissolved.
Given how condensed and pure his current cultivation was, the fact that it had this effect with mere contact spoke volumes about its potency. The impact on other cultivators would be even more dramatic.
The Transformed Spirit Root was normally classified as a toxic spiritual plant for cultivators capable of dissolving spiritual energy and weakening one's combat ability.
It even had a minor effect on the true essence of Golden Core cultivators, depending on its age and potency.
If refined into a poison pill and used properly, it could strip a Foundation Establishment cultivator of nearly half their power, rendering them nearly defenseless. Against a Golden Core, it could still sap a decent chunk of their essence for a short time.
Li Ye's plan for using it in his Golden Core breakthrough was based on this property its ability to dissolve. If his core formation failed and resulted in a flawed or unstable core, he could use this root to break it back down into liquid spiritual power, minimizing the backlash of failure as much as possible.
Medicinal herbs, after all
Whether they heal or harm depends entirely on how they're used.
Even poison, in the right hands, can save lives.
"Though, this root only really affects spiritual power. It's barely effective against the demonic energy of spirit beasts. Using it against demonkind would just be a waste…"
"Which is probably why it survived until now, unlike the Dragon-Subduing Wood, which was consumed in the fight against the black flood dragon."
At that thought, Li Ye felt a bit lucky.
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