Chapter 109 Fierce Battle of Giant Spiritual Essence
"That's... spiritual essence?!"
Are you crazy?! How could there be such a large amount of spiritual essence?!
A massive piece of spiritual marrow, comparable in height to an adult, and judging by its age, it must be several thousand years old!
No one could remain unmoved before such a large piece of spiritual essence, no one!
Song Yin's heart pounded, and all her thoughts seemed to connect into a single line.
The fragments of the evil cultivators' memories showed that they had cooperated with the deceased city lord of Dingfeng City. However, the fragments did not mention the name of what the city lord wanted, but now it seems that it was probably this spiritual marrow.
"We don't yet know the full extent of their strength, so we must proceed with extreme caution," Song Yin said calmly, catching her breath.
Although I have killed Nascent Soul cultivators before, there are differences even among those at the same realm.
In short, we must not underestimate our opponents or be careless.
"Boss! Boss! The wine is here! Burp!" Sister Mei exchanged a lot of spirit stones for monster pelts, and she used them all to buy wine. She drank a small jar on the way, and stood on the sword, swaying left and right.
Boss Zhao: "Drink less! What about the remaining spirit stones?"
"Spirit stones?" Sister Mei asked in confusion, taking a moment to realize what Boss Zhao meant. "Oh, Boss, you mean the spirit stones you got from trading monster pelts? I used them all to buy wine."
Boss Zhao: "...You bought all of it as alcohol?"
Mei Sanjie: "Yeah, hiccup! Why do you look so pale? Didn't you get any wine?" She took a small jar of wine from her storage bag and handed it to Zhao Laoda, "Here you go, drink! There's plenty more!"
Veins bulged on Zhao Laoda's forehead. "Are you a pig-brain? Don't you know to buy less? Don't you know how many spirit stones it costs to set up a one-way teleportation array?"
Mei Sanjie, slightly drunk, placed her hand on Zhao Laoda's shoulder. "We already have ten one-way teleportation arrays, enough for our men to send a steady stream of cultivators here. Don't worry, Boss."
"Besides, such a large amount of spiritual marrow, even a piece the size of a fingernail could fetch a lot of spirit stones."
Old Zhao slapped the drunkard's hand away. "Want to sell spiritual marrow? I think you've gone mad. Aren't you afraid that righteous people will follow the trail to our lair? If you continue like this, it's only a matter of time before Second Brother surpasses you, and then the Bell of Vengeance will belong to Second Brother."
Upon hearing the keywords, Sister Mei immediately sobered up, and stopped hiccuping. "That won't do. I'll go and catch people in other places right now."
Suddenly, Boss Zhao's sharp gaze turned to one spot. "Who?"
The young man approached from the darkness, possessing the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment stage, and was dragging three unconscious people behind him with his spiritual energy.
"Senior Zhao, Senior Mei, I've brought the new person over." The young man's face was somber, and he didn't look at the two people in front of him.
Mei Sanjie: "Hmm, not bad, the number is acceptable." She turned to look at Zhao Laoda, "I've been helping to raise Liu Ming, so the heads he brought back are on my payroll."
Old Zhao, the eldest, gave in to the third brother: "Alright, it's on you."
Mei Sanjie and Yu Lao Er were responsible for arresting people and contacting other evil cultivators to help with the work, while Zhao Lao Da was only responsible for guarding the spiritual essence.
Zhao Laoda has always been laissez-faire about the competition between the two. Competition is good, as it can bring in more people and transform their life force into energy to nourish the spiritual marrow, thus enabling the spiritual marrow to become ten-thousand-year-old spiritual marrow in the shortest possible time.
Ten-thousand-year-old spiritual essence...
Using it for cultivation, I can't even imagine how quickly my cultivation level would advance!
Old Zhao took the wine and turned back into the cave. "Alright, take him to the dungeon." With the spiritual essence, he'll definitely have a place in the cultivation world.
After Zhao Laoda went inside, Mei Sanjie, who was left outside, said to Liu Ming, "You've done a good job these past few years, much better than your useless mother."
Liu Ming looked at Mei Sanjie with expectant eyes, "Then my mother's belongings..."
Mei Sanjie's expression was indifferent: "Once I get the Bell of Vengeance, your mother's belongings will be given to you. So you have to bring me more people so that I can outdo the second brother, understand?"
Liu Ming looked disappointed. "I understand, Senior Mei."
Mei Sanjie: "Take the person to the dungeon. I also need to cultivate tonight, so don't disturb me unless necessary."
Liu Ming: "Yes."
Song Yin clearly saw that after Mei Sanjie entered the cave, her gaze instantly turned ruthless and filled with hatred, and she no longer showed the timidity she had shown in front of Mei Sanjie.
It seems that even those who practice heretical cultivation are not very united.
Of course, this excludes Zhao Laoda, Yu Laoer, and Mei Sanjie. Even if Mei Sanjie wanted to compete with Yu Laoer, she didn't seem to have any intention of killing him.
Therefore, the nature of their relationship remains to be seen.
Shi Heming made a throat-slitting gesture to Song Yin. Liu Ming couldn't be allowed to go to the dungeon, otherwise he would discover the change in the dungeon's formation.
Song Yin nodded, and the two acted simultaneously.
Shi Heming quickened his pace, reaching the area with the dead tree trunks first, and set up an isolation array. After isolating the space, no movement within the array could be transmitted out.
Liu Ming led the three men for a few minutes to the entrance of the dungeon. He placed his hand on a dead tree trunk, and then felt a piercing pain in his wrist.
Liu Ming was shocked, watching helplessly as his left hand fell to the ground, the cut surface of the wound clean.
He didn't understand why his hand had suddenly been severed.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Ming's body trembled.
The figure that suddenly appeared stood behind him like a ghost. Liu Ming dared not move, because the cold, sharp blade was pressed against his neck.
Liu Ming's lips trembled with pain, and his forehead was covered in sweat. He dared not turn his head, but could only roll his eyes to look behind him.
"Who are you?"
"Shh, I'll ask you a question, you answer. Don't try anything funny, or I'll send you flying with one sword."
Liu Ming: "Okay, okay..."
Song Yin: "When did you start capturing people alive?"
Liu Ming gasped in pain, trying to stop the bleeding by channeling his spiritual energy, but for some reason, he couldn't relieve the pain. "As far as I know, it was more than two hundred years ago."
Song Yin: "How many heretical cultivators are there in total?"
Liu Ming: "The number of people is uncertain. Some died along the way, and some joined later, but the leaders have always been Zhao Laoda, Yu Laoer, and Mei Sanjie."
Song Yin: "What are the real names of the three leaders?"
Liu Ming: "N-I don't know."
Song Yin: "Do you know what's inside their cave?"
Liu Ming paused for a moment, then said, "I don't know."
Song Yin chuckled, and when her voice reached Liu Ming's ears, he felt as if the person behind him was about to send him to his death.
"It seems they know about it and are interested in what's inside the cave. What's their purpose in capturing people alive?"
Liu Ming: "...Use secret methods to quickly transform the spiritual marrow in the cave into ten-thousand-year-old spiritual marrow, and also refine magical artifacts."
Song Yin: "There was no concealment."
Liu Ming burst into tears on the spot: "Please, senior, spare my life! I was forced into this situation. My mother's belongings are still with Mei Qian and Mei Sanjie. The belongings are very important to me, and I can only do things for her."
Song Yin: "How many people in your heretical cultivation organization have reached the Nascent Soul stage?"
Liu Ming endured the pain, his back soaked with sweat: "There's only Boss Zhao. They don't dare recruit people with higher cultivation levels, for fear of being killed and robbed."
That makes sense... Song Yin gained a general understanding of this heretical cultivation organization.
Liu Ming swallowed hard and asked tentatively, "Senior, can you let me go now? I have answered all your questions truthfully."
He said that, but his eyes were like a venomous snake, ready to strike at any moment.
Before Song Yin could answer, Liu Ming thrust the short knife in his right hand toward Song Yin behind him.
The short knife aimed behind him but couldn't advance an inch.
Song Yin struck Liu Ming on the back with a palm, her powerful spiritual energy sending Liu Ming flying.
"I told you not to try anything funny, but you wouldn't listen." Song Yin drew her sword and walked step by step toward Liu Ming. "You think I didn't prepare beforehand?"
Beneath the black cloak lay the new robe Elder Wen had just given her, which ordinary short knives could not pierce.
"Pfft, cough cough!" Liu Ming spat out a mouthful of blood. "We have a common enemy. I also want to kill Sister Mei. Why don't you cooperate with me, senior? I know Sister Mei's background, and you happen to be very strong. If we join forces, we can definitely annihilate them in one fell swoop."
Song Yin: "I'm sorry, but I've never liked disobedient people."
"Senior! Senior! You must believe me!"
Seeing that Song Yin did not stop, Liu Ming gritted his teeth and his voice, imbued with spiritual energy, rang out in the darkness: "Senior Mei, Senior Zhao! Enemy attack!"
Song Yin walked up to Liu Ming, stepped on his chest, and slapped his face with the blade of her sword. "I already told you, did you think I came to kill you without any preparation? There's a formation set up here, so your voice can't get out."
What? !
Liu Ming's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
With a flick of her wrist, Song Yin sliced through Liu Ming's neck with a sharp blade. His eyes widened, and he quickly fell silent.
Liu Ming's soul flew out of the corpse, trying to escape, but was sucked in by a huge gravitational force.
Song Yin closed the small gourd, saying, "One evil cultivator's soul can be exchanged for contribution points when I return to my sect."
Looking at the three people on the ground, one of them was pregnant. What a tragedy.
Song Yin took out the Rejuvenation Pill and gave it to the pregnant woman first.
If these three were to wake up, they might become a problem, so she fed them other pills that would put them into a deep sleep for a few days.
"Let's move them underground first, just place them next to the steps. As long as they're not locked in cages, the formation won't absorb their spiritual energy and life force."
Song Yin opened the steps and put on her hood. She used her spiritual energy to send the three of them underground, then came back up and closed the steps.
Song Yin's trip to the underground rekindled hope in the scarred female cultivator; perhaps they could be saved, and those two were definitely not evil cultivators!
She turned around, trying to shake Bi Jiangxue awake, but Bi Jiangxue was still unconscious due to serious injuries.
...
Zhao Laoda, who had been cultivating in the cave, felt inexplicably uneasy, making it difficult for him to enter a meditative state.
"Third brother, stop cultivating for now. I've been feeling uneasy all night. Come with me to check around the area."
Mei Sanjie: "Boss, you're overthinking it. This valley has no spiritual herbs, no demonic beasts, and no cultivation resources at all. Why would anyone come here?"
Boss Zhao: "Such a large amount of spiritual essence is right next to you, and you still say you don't have any cultivation resources!"
Mei Sanjie: "No one else knows there's spiritual essence in the valley, so you can rest assured. I brought people back first, and then I went back and forth to buy you wine. I already discovered that there was someone there."
The third brother makes a good point. She's a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator; perhaps she really is overthinking things...
Zhao adjusted his posture and returned to meditation.
After some time had passed.
"Cough cough cough." Old Zhao sniffed, waking up from his meditation again.
"Why is there dust in the cave?" He looked towards the cave entrance, where a fierce wind was blowing and lightning was flashing.
"So it's a downpour. Looks like it's just dust blown up by the wind." Old Zhao got up, stood at the cave entrance, and felt the unique dampness of a rainy day.
"Boss, I'm back!" Yu Lao Er ran over in the rain, carrying the newly captured man in his hand.
Yu Lao Er entered the cave, cast a dust-removing spell, and instantly became dry again. "I'm lucky today, I caught another one. Oh, is Lao San cultivating? Didn't she drink tonight?"
Old Zhao laughed and said, "It's already finished. Do you think it's possible to make a drunkard go a day without drinking?"
Yu Lao Er took out several packets of pastries from his storage bag, gave one to Zhao Lao Da, and placed the rest next to Mei San Jie, who was in meditation.
"This was a gift from a pastry shop owner I helped out when I was passing through a town."
Boss Zhao: "You're helping out at the pastry shop late at night? The sun must have risen in the west."
Yu Lao Er smiled slyly and kicked the unconscious little fat boy on the ground. "Who told me to be so kind? I caught his son and helped him out, and he kept thanking me."
Boss Zhao: "Alright, let's lock them up in the dungeon. Judging from the current state of the spiritual marrow, if we capture another hundred people, it will probably become ten-thousand-year spiritual marrow. With ten-thousand-year spiritual marrow, the three of us will definitely have a smooth path of cultivation and become the first evil cultivator to ascend, hahaha."
"Really? That's great!" Yu Lao Er exclaimed happily.
He tugged at his collar. "But boss, the air in the cave feels off tonight. I can't seem to breathe."
Old Zhao's smile gradually faded. "Maybe it's just the wind and there's dust in the air?"
Yu Lao Er took a deep breath: "But this doesn't happen even when it rains normally."
"puff--"
The stench of blood quickly filled the cave, and Zhao Laoda and Yu Laoer's expressions changed.
"Third brother, what's going on? Third brother?"
"Why are you vomiting blood? Wake up, Third Brother!"
Mei Sanjie opened her blood-red eyes, her expression pained. "Wine, give me wine!"
Old Zhao helped Mei Sanjie up, placing his palm on her back and channeling a steady stream of spiritual energy into her. "Damn it, it's her inner demons acting up. Forget about the wine and focus on regulating your breathing."
"No, you know, my inner demons are related to alcohol. When they flare up, I have to drink." Mei Sanjie pushed Zhao Laoda away. Seeing that the wine she had given Zhao Laoda tonight was still unfinished, she immediately crawled over, picked up the wine jar, and drank it down in one gulp.
Zhao Laoda felt the killing intent surging within him, and now he only wanted to go on a killing spree. His heart trembled, this was a sign that his inner demons were about to erupt!
"Something's wrong! Something's not right tonight! Get out of the cave!"
Both of them were experiencing inner demons flare-ups simultaneously, and the second brother also felt short of breath after entering. This situation clearly indicates they've been tricked by someone!
He glanced back at the spiritual marrow, then gritted his teeth and flew out of the cave, hovering in the air to unleash his divine sense.
"Who dares to frame me in secret!"
The overwhelming pressure of a Nascent Soul level cultivator spread out, causing birds, beasts, and insects to scatter and flee in all directions.
At the same time, lightning flashed and thunder roared, illuminating Zhao Laoda for a brief moment, his divine sense striving not to miss an inch.
"Found it!"
Song Yin knew something was wrong and quickly flew away from her hiding place, where a sharp spirit sword was stuck.
"So that's where the rat was hiding. I was wondering why I was feeling uneasy all night, and why both Third Brother and my inner demons were acting strangely." Boss Zhao stretched his neck, and with his hand pointing towards the spirit sword, the spirit sword that had been stuck in the ground was instantly pulled out and flew back into Boss Zhao's hand.
"Boss!" Upon hearing the commotion, Yu Lao Er also flew out, and as a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, he instantly spotted the enemy.
The two invading enemies gave him a sense of familiarity. Yu Lao Er didn't move, and kept thinking about who these two people were.
"Damn it, we've gone too far." Song Yin never expected that Boss Zhao's inner demons were related to killing. She could now clearly feel Boss Zhao's combat power rising steadily.
Having used the Illusionary Heart Demon Pill to ambush so many high-level cultivators, Song Yin suffered a severe setback tonight.
The old tricks are no longer effective; this battle can only be fought head-on.
At this moment, Song Yin and Shi Heming were completely exposed, and a battle was about to break out.
Mei Sanjie, carrying a wine jar, staggered out of the cave and looked up at the four people flying in the sky.
"You're the ones who triggered my inner demons?" Upon hearing the leader's words, Mei Sanjie quickly realized that her inner demons had flared up because they had plotted against her.
She gave a drunken sneer, her eyes seemingly glazed over, but in reality, she locked onto two enemies as soon as she stepped out of the cave.
The rain was getting heavier.
The raindrops fell on the leaves and the ground, changing from a soft "drip-drip" sound to a continuous "splash-splash" sound.
Zhao Laoda made a move instantly; his jet-black sword blended seamlessly with the night and flew towards Song Yin's vital spot.
Song Yin dodged with agile movements, but Boss Zhao's sword relentlessly pursued her. With another dodge, Song Yin drew her sword, and the two blades clashed, producing a resounding clang!
Song Yin flew backward a distance in the air and regained her footing, while Zhao Laoda's sword was also knocked away.
Old Zhao's greedy gaze fell on Song Yin's hand. "A sixth-order spirit sword, and it's a sixth-order spirit sword that hasn't been contracted to become a natal sword. It's a pity to give you such a good thing."
He suddenly felt that his sixth-tier spirit sword was no longer appealing; it would be much better to steal someone else's sword.
Shi Heming flew toward Song Yin, his finger techniques constantly changing.
Yu Lao Er and Mei San Jie stood in front of Shi Heming at the same time.
"Kid, your opponents are the two of us."
Shi Heming glanced at Song Yin, and then several talismans floated in front of him.
Yu Lao Er: "Kid, you have a lot of spirit stones! You bought so many talismans, but do you even know how to use them? Why don't you give them to us?"
Mei Sanjie's voice was light and airy: "It could also be a talisman cultivator."
"Yo! A talisman cultivator!" Old Yu's smile widened as he looked at the storage pouch at Master Heming's waist. "You must have a lot of talismans and spirit stones on you."
Mei Sanjie, still clutching the wine jar, drunkenly said, "Why waste so much breath on him? This person is clearly not a heretic. Let's finish this quickly and kill him."
Before Sister Mei could finish speaking, sand and stones flew upwards with unstoppable force, like a barrage of arrows covering the sky.
All the flying sand and stones were blocked by Shi Heming.
Mei Sanjie scratched her head with one hand, "Why is there a defensive formation? Second brother, go and snatch his formation too."
Yu Lao Er looked closely and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. This kid's formation isn't a ready-made formation that can be bought and sold; it's something he set up on the spot."
Mei Sanjie: "It seems he's an array cultivator, not a talisman cultivator. He must have bought the talismans."
As Sister Mei was speaking, she launched another sneak attack.
Shi Heming focused intently on observing the two's movements. Based on their techniques, he deduced that Mei Sanjie was a magic cultivator, while Yu Lao Er had not yet made a move, so he did not know what he cultivated.
Just as Shi Heming was pondering Yu Lao Er, Yu Lao Er finally moved, holding two large hammers in his hands, his shirt bursting open to reveal large muscles.
Yu Lao Er slammed his hammer into Shi Heming's defensive array, and cracks immediately appeared in the second-tier defensive array.
He was actually a cultivator.
The three leaders of the evil cultivators were a sword cultivator, a body cultivator, and a magic cultivator. None of them knew how to set up formations, so those one-way teleportation arrays were not set up by them, but by someone else hired with spirit stones.
But who set up the underground and cave formations? More importantly, where did the person who set up these insidious formations come from?
While he was thinking, Yu Lao Er swung his hammer at Shi Heming again.
"You're distracted during the fight? You brat, go and die!"
The second-tier defensive array was destroyed in an instant by Yu Lao Er's two hammer blows.
As if the talismans in front of Shi Heming had grown eyes, they all flew towards Yu Lao Er and Mei San Jie, causing a violent explosion.
As the talisman flew out, Shi Heming also flew away from the two of them.
Two iron hammers flew out from the explosion and blocked Shi Heming's way again.
He dodged the hammer attack and looked at the location of Yu Lao Er and the others. The two had escaped the explosion with only minor injuries.
The commotion attracted the attention of Boss Zhao and Song Yin.
Boss Zhao glanced at it casually, "They've already started fighting over there. It seems I have no choice but to get serious."
After exchanging blows with Boss Zhao a few times, Song Yin truly experienced Boss Zhao's strength. Such powerful attacks were not even considered serious attacks for him.
Song Yin gripped the spirit sword tightly, but wait, her tiger's mouth had already been shattered and was bleeding.
Zhao Laoda appeared in front of Song Yin in a few flashes, his moves swift, accurate and ruthless.
Song Yin blocked every attack he made, but she was still hit by one of them and flew heavily towards the trees below.
She turned around and saw the huge tree. Instead of colliding with it, she used the momentum, pushed off the branch with her foot, and flew out like a cannonball, her long sword aimed straight at Zhao Laoda's chest.
The speed was too fast. Even though Zhao Laoda quickly dodged, his arm was still cut and blood trickled out.
The stench of blood, combined with his own sense of sympathy, completely ignited the killing intent that Zhao Laoda had been suppressing. Now, all he wanted was to kill! To kill relentlessly! Just like when he killed his own master!
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Song Yin's heart sank lower and lower. She was caught in a fierce battle, and Shi Heming was also having a hard time fighting two opponents at once.
If they don't win tonight, they'll both die here.
Boom!
Another thunderclap exploded in the valley, making people's eardrums hurt.
Zhao Laoda struck first, his sword energy sweeping across the sky. At this moment, all he could think about was killing—killing the people in front of him, killing everyone!
"I don't care how you got here. You dared to ambush us, so you must have designs on the Spirit Essence. Now that you've discovered the secret of the Nine Turns Valley, I have no choice but to send you to your deaths! Hahahaha!"
Song Yin was finding it increasingly difficult to fight, ultimately suffering from the disadvantage of being at a lower cultivation level. For cultivators, the Nascent Soul stage is a watershed moment; those before the Nascent Soul stage are all low-level cultivators.
"Who will die is still uncertain!" Damn it, she had never heard of the Nine Turns Valley, and she still didn't know where this area was.
Zhao Laoda is very strong. His swordsmanship is chaotic and disorderly, as if it is a combination of various different swordsmanship techniques, or as if it is his own creation. His moves also tend to be aggressive.
Song Yin kept changing her moves to defend, but the opponent's attacks were too dense, and she couldn't even find an opening to counterattack!
With a clang—
The sword in his hand was knocked away, breaking into two pieces and falling to the ground.
Song Yin thought to herself: This is bad!
Following Zhao Laoda's sword move was a full-force kick from him, which landed squarely on Song Yin.
In an instant, Song Yin fell to the ground with the broken spirit sword, making a loud noise.
"Tsk, what a pity that such a fine spirit sword was broken by my carelessness." Boss Zhao descended from the sky and stood back on the ground, looking at the sword that had been broken into two pieces, his eyes full of regret.
"We are both sword cultivators. My sword has been honed through countless battles. How can you inexperienced sword cultivators compare?"
Rain splashed, landing on her eyebrows and eyes. Song Yin clutched her chest, kneeling on one knee, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, trying to suppress the taste of blood in her mouth.
"Wait!"
Boss Zhao stopped what he was doing and looked at Song Yin. "Want to beg for mercy?"
The broken spirit sword, which had been knocked away, heard the summons and attacked from behind.
Without turning his head, Zhao Laoda lightly raised his hand to block the sneak attacking spirit sword.
"So it was a sneak attack, huh? Too bad you failed. A swordsman without a sword, let's see what you have to fight me with. Heh, so-called righteous path, nothing more than this. I'll use your blood to consecrate my sword."
He saw that Zhao Laoda's sword was about to fall on him.
Song Yin quickly swallowed several pills, took out the Qingyang Sword, and blocked the oncoming sword strike.
The pills repaired Song Yin's internal injuries, and her spiritual energy was quickly replenished.
Song Yin forced a smile: "It was my miscalculation. I didn't expect your inner demons to actually enhance your combat power. But if you want to kill me, it won't be that easy."
"Another sword?" Boss Zhao looked at the new sword that Song Yin had taken out.
To be honest, it's nothing special, just a third-tier sword. It probably wasn't bought from some random corner.
Old Zhao sneered, "We're both sixth-tier spirit swords, but your sword was just cleaved in two by mine. You think you can continue fighting me with your broken third-tier sword? Dream on!"
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Author's Note: Old Zhao: It's just a broken third-tier sword. [Sunglasses]
Boss Zhao: It's tier three, right? [Question mark]
Boss Zhao: Right? [Cracks open]
Song Yin: Guess what [milk tea] is?
Babies, I've thought about adding more chapters, but I'm already exhausted from updating 6k+ chapters a day [please], and I can't keep up with the 3k+ chapters I used to update daily [please].
Xiao Rui will try to maintain a consistent daily update schedule and write more, and maybe even add more updates later [please!].
Shaking off a few pigeon feathers, and there's not a single chapter left! [pigeon]
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