Li Jixun's followers, having arrived at San Yuanli behind him, were pinned to the ground by the Array Power of the Five Gates Lock Jade Array, unable to move.
Yang Jing had layered the Five Gates Lock Jade Array over the Fog Concealment Array, rather than placing the Fog Concealment Array on the outside to shield the Main Array as most Cultivators would. Based on convention, these Tribulation Cultivators assumed there was only a Fog Concealment Array outside the Cave Mansion. They carelessly walked right into the range of the Five Gates Lock Jade Array. Caught completely off guard, all of them were suppressed by the activated array.
The reason he had gone to such lengths to deal with Li Jixun was his fear that the Mingyi Dog would detect the aura of the Five Gates Lock Jade Array. That was why Yang Jing had completely shut down the Grand Array beforehand, leaving only the Fog Concealment Array active.
The time he'd bought with the Wind-controlling Talisman was more than enough to reactivate the Grand Array after finishing off Li Jixun.
Yang Jing wasn't about to waste another Cyan Thunder Talisman on these ordinary Innate Martial Artists and Early Stage Qi Cultivation Independent Cultivators. Instead, he formed the hand seal for the Golden Light Qi Sword Spell and unleashed Sword Qi, beheading every last one of them.
A few of the Martial Artists and Independent Cultivators with transplanted Demon bloodlines tried to go berserk, but they were powerless against the Five Gates Lock Jade Array. They could only await their slaughter.
Yang Jing searched their bodies. Since Martial Artists couldn't use Storage Bags, the loot from them was limited. He found only some loose Spirit Stones and Spirit Crystals, amounting to just over twelve pieces in total. Aside from that, there were only a few worthless weapons.
He did, however, find two Storage Bags on the bodies of the two Independent Cultivators.
Yang Jing cast the Red Fire Spell, summoning a raging inferno that burned the corpses to ash.
For the past two years, he had made a habit of practicing his Magic around the Cave Mansion and creating loud noises. His neighbors simply assumed he was practicing his Thunder Technique again, so no one came to investigate.
Besides, he had already gathered evidence proving that Li Jixun was a wanted criminal of the Li Family of Wei. Even if he were to be discovered, he had a justifiable excuse ready.
After tying up the loose ends, Yang Jing entered his Cave Mansion without hesitation, carrying the Mingyi Dog in his arms.
After passing through the Fog Concealment Array, he saw neat plots of Spirit Fields surrounding a stone house. In front of the house was a small spring, its water tinkling gently as it flowed into a nearby pond.
Yang Jing filled a small bowl with water from the Spiritual Spring and placed it in front of the Mingyi Dog.
The Mingyi Dog was very thirsty. It bared its teeth at Yang Jing, then hesitated for a long while before finally approaching the bowl. It stuck out its little pink tongue and took a few licks.
Upon sensing the abundant Spiritual Mechanism in the water, it plunged its entire head into the bowl and began to drink greedily from the Spiritual Spring.
A man like Li Jixun would never have wasted resources on a dog; this was the first time the Mingyi Dog had ever tasted water from a Spiritual Spring.
Yang Jing pinched the iron chain around its neck. With a burst of Metal Qi from his fingertips, the chain snapped and fell to the ground with a CLANG.
[Affinity]: 8
The Mingyi Dog was just a puppy, after all. Under Yang Jing's barrage of sweet gestures, its Affinity quickly rose from negative to positive.
According to *Beast Taming Battle*, there were two ways to form a contract with a Guardian Beast: either by force, or by raising its Affinity to sixty.
Forcing a contract was not only extremely difficult—allowing one to contract only Demons with a much lower Cultivation—but it also left hidden problems. Afterward, building Affinity would be nearly impossible, and it would drop at the slightest provocation.
Therefore, besides cultivating the Five Talisman Scripture, Yang Jing planned to focus all his energy on raising its Affinity.
He placed the Mingyi Dog on his lap and began building its Affinity, occasionally scratching its belly and chin or squeezing its little paws. While doing so, he took out the Storage Bags from the dead Independent Cultivators to inspect his haul.
Cultivators at the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation are unable to project their Divine Sense, so there were no Restrictions on the Storage Bags. Yang Jing sent a surge of his Magical Power into them, and they opened easily.
The two Storage Bags contained a total of 150 Spirit Stones, six bottles of Blood Circulation Pills, and fifteen manuals on Innate Martial Arts.
Perhaps because only Cultivators could use Storage Bags, Li Jixun's group of Tribulation Cultivators had stored the majority of their wealth inside these two.
One hundred fifty Spirit Stones was a rare fortune, even for Yang Jing. After buying Talismans and setting up the Five Elements Lock Jade Formation, he had barely any Spirit Stones left.
The Blood Circulation Pills were a sacred medicine for Martial Artists. They could replenish consumed qi and blood without side effects, allowing more time to convert it into Innate True Qi. Moreover, Li Jixun's Blood Exchange Secret Technique required these pills to mitigate the corrosive effects of his Demon bloodline.
The six bottles held sixty Blood Circulation Pills in total. The Restriction from the Celestial Treasure Tower on them was still intact, and they were worth two hundred Spirit Stones.
Ordinary Cultivators wouldn't dare to rashly consume a Spirit Pill if its origins were unknown. For that reason, reputable merchants placed a unique Restriction on their Elixir bottles. Once the bottle was opened, the Restriction would be broken.
As for the Innate Martial Arts, while they might cause a bloodbath among mortals, to a Cultivator they were worth only a few Spirit Crystals—with the sole exception of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship manual.
This Sword Mantra was far from simple. Li Jixun had created it in his early years, before his obsession with Spirit Root transplantation, by adapting the Li Family of Wei's Secret Clan Method: the True and False Five Elements Sword Scripture. It was his attempt to achieve the Dao through martial arts.
The founding ancestor of the Li Family of Wei had come from the Inner Sect of the Five Elements True Spirit Sect. For rendering great service to the sect, he was permitted to take a Sword Cultivation Technique—the True and False Five Elements Sword Scripture—with him when he left. This scripture shared the same origin as the Five Talismans Book.
Though Li Jixun was treacherous and had the heart of a wolf, his Talent for Martial Arts was undeniable.
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship simplified the abstruse True Meaning of the Five Elements into the changing of the seasons, drastically lowering the difficulty of practice. While its power was significantly reduced, it compensated with exquisite Sword Techniques.
Furthermore, this Sword Technique could aid in cultivating the Five Talismans Book. If the Magical Power of any one element grew too strong, one could use the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship to draw that power back out from the True Talisman and use it for Body Forging. This would use the body's own hidden potential to balance the Five Elements and raise the upper limits of one's qi and blood.
This Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship could also purify one's Magical Power, and it had countless ingenious applications in combat.
Yang Jing had assumed the Cyan Thunder Talisman had turned this Sword Mantra to ash, but now it was his. The manual was worn and frayed, its pages filled with annotations. 'He must not have sold the original,' Yang Jing thought. 'The one for sale was probably an abridged copy.'
Suppressing his excitement, he netted two Spirit Fish from the Spirit Pool by the door, scooped two bowls of Spirit Rice from his rice jar, and began cooking them with fresh water from the Spiritual Spring.
To reach Foundation Establishment, a Cultivator had to overcome three major hurdles: the Qi-and-Blood Barrier, the Magical Power Barrier, and the Divine Sense Barrier. If a Cultivator's physique wasn't strong enough, their body would crumble under the immense Magical Power during the Foundation Establishment process.
Regularly eating Spirit Rice strengthened and nourished the body. Thus, ever since he had an income, Yang Jing had never gone without it. Combined with the gentle water of the Spiritual Spring and the Spirit Fish, his physique, while no match for a Body Cultivator's, was far more robust than that of an ordinary Cultivator.
Yang Jing took out a dog bowl he had prepared long ago. He filled it with a heaping serving of Jade Essence Rice, poured fish broth over it, placed a palm-sized Spirit Fish on top, and slid it in front of the Mingyi Dog.
Having already drunk from the Spiritual Spring, the Mingyi Dog had lowered its guard around Yang Jing. It pounced on the food bowl and buried its whole little face in the meal.
In just a few minutes, the entire bowl of Spirit Rice and the Spirit Fish had been devoured. Not wanting to waste a drop, it licked the bowl until it gleamed.
[Affinity]: 35