Let's Wait Him Out

He originally came for the Spirit Vein, but he never expected that this man surnamed Shen would have such a spiritual beast.

In fact, he had already taken a liking to the two flying horses while watching the fight from afar—one that could unleash lightning and the other that could freeze, clearly second-tier Demon Beasts that had awakened their Innate Divine Abilities.

He sensed it and thankfully, it must have just awakened, only at the early stage of the second tier; otherwise, it would have been really difficult to deal with.

Moreover, that kid is only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, so it's impossible for him to contract three horses. There's no chance.

Seeing how fast the horse was flying, he could no longer suppress his greed.

But the horse was too fast. He tried his best, but he could only barely hold on, and it looked like he was about to be thrown off.

As they chased after him, the Pegasus vanished into thin air; the man in front of them also plunged into the forest below and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When Tian Chengye caught up to the place where the mark disappeared, he scanned the area with his Divine Sense several times, but found nothing. He had a bad feeling; had he lost track of the mark? So he decided to land in the woods and search for it.

After quite some time, the two sword lights finally arrived in haste.

Tian Zheng and Tian Ming sheathed their swords and landed, quickly following behind. Looking at the empty dense forest all around, and then at Tian Chengye's expression, they hesitated before speaking.

Fifth Elder, where is he?

Tian Chengye stood in the dense forest, silent, his face ashen.

He pushed his Divine Sense to its limit, searching inch by inch, leaving no stone unturned, not even the ground or the treetops.

That kid, however, was like a drop of water falling into the ocean, leaving no trace whatsoever.

In the cultivation world, there are only a few possibilities for a living person to disappear into thin air.

One option is to tear through space and leave directly. But only a Nascent Spirit Transformation could use such Divine Ability power; even Nascent Soul Cultivator couldn't do it. It's simply impossible for a junior at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

Secondly, there's the Instant Teleportation Talisman. The moment this talisman is activated, the fluctuations in Spiritual Power are impossible to miss. He had been using his Divine Sense to lock onto it, and he didn't detect the slightest sign of using the Instant Teleportation Talisman to teleport.

That leaves only the third option.

To hide.

It's either a concealment talisman or a concealment formation. Tian Chengye narrowed his eyes, making a judgment in his mind.

But talismans and formations alike have time limits; they can hide for a while, but not forever. He wanted to see how long this kid could keep hiding.

He pondered for a moment, then remembered that he was carrying a formation-breaking talisman.

His hand was already near the Ring when he stopped. This thing was precious, and he really couldn't bear to part with it unless absolutely necessary. He patiently circled the woods a couple more times, changing his position to investigate.

We still couldn't find anything.

Now that Tian Chengye had a foothold, he had no choice but to use a formation-breaking talisman. With half First-Tier Spirit Vein, three spirit beasts, and the fact that this kid was definitely hiding other good things, all of it was worth at least tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

His array-breaking talisman was only a first-tier one, costing only a few hundred Spirit Stones. He didn't believe that a junior at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer could possess any high-level concealment talismans or arrays. A first-tier array-breaking talisman was more than enough to deal with them.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.

Tian Chengye took out a formation-breaking talisman from his Ring, activated it with his Spiritual Power, and it was instantly activated.

The talisman ignited spontaneously without fire, transforming into a beam of clear light that spread in all directions.

He held his breath and stared intently, waiting.

When the light passed by, the wind and waves subsided, and the forest remained the same. Not only were there no formations, but not even a hidden shadow was revealed.

Tian Chengye's face was so dark it could drip water.

Hundreds of Spirit Stones were just thrown away like that, without even a sound.

He stared at the spot where the talisman ash had scattered. It seemed that this kid was not using an ordinary talisman. It was most likely a high-level concealment array plate, or at the very least a second-level invisibility talisman. No wonder the first-level array-breaking talisman couldn't detect him.

But so what?

Tian Chengye snorted coldly, no longer in a hurry.

He simply stood still, hands behind his back, his divine sense constantly covering the surroundings. That kid was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer; even if he couldn't hold back and jumped out of his hiding place to attack him unexpectedly, he wouldn't take it to heart at all.

With his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, even if he stood still and let that kid hit him, he wouldn't be able to get hurt.

Shen Jingchuan entered the space, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, Xian'er floated over.

She hovered in front of him, a smile in her eyes; she had seen everything that had just happened outside.

"How about it?"

She tilted her head and glanced at him, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice, "This time, we've met our match."

Shen Jingchuan remained calm, patting off non-existent dust from his body.

"I expected this. If things really don't work out, I can just teleport back over there. Do you think he can stop me then?"

"Sister Xian'er, let me ask you, if I just teleport away like this, will that guy outside be able to detect it?"

Xian'er scoffed without even thinking.

"He's just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, far too weak. Let alone him, even Golden Core cultivator wouldn't be able to detect it. Unless one is at the Nascent Soul or higher, and possesses exceptionally strong Divine Sense, perhaps there's a chance."

Shen Jingchuan nodded, feeling more at ease.

Xian'er stopped smiling and looked at him.

"But you can't just keep hiding like this. Hiding inside all the time isn't a long-term solution."

"Then let's just wait and see."

Shen Jingchuan shrugged, looking completely indifferent.

"I'm cultivating here without wasting any time, while he's just waiting outside. Let's see who can outlast whom. If he's so capable, let him stay there for a year."

Xian'er was amused by him and floated in mid-air, but suddenly changed the subject.

"By the way, why didn't you take that Soul-Seizing Nail and give him a good whack?"

Shen Jingchuan touched his nose, his expression becoming more serious.

"To be honest, I was actually tempted to try it just now. But I didn't want to take the risk; what if it didn't work?"

The smile in Xian'er's eyes turned into approval.

"You're doing the right thing. The most important thing on the path of cultivation is to be cautious and prudent. Don't take risks you're not confident about; that's the right path, and that's how you go further."

Shen Jingchuan simply stopped thinking about what was happening outside. Now that the man surnamed Tian couldn't find him, he felt at ease.

He first went to the spirit field, taking Qingshu and Qinghua with him, to check on the growth of the grass seeds after they were planted, and then fed the three horses.

Shen Jingchuan opened each of the five Rings one by one.

The owners were all dead, and the mark on the Ring came off easily with a single wash, requiring no special effort.

The most eye-catching items were the Spirit Stones. He roughly counted them and found there were more than 80,000.

This was the money the Wang Household had scraped together to bid for the Spirit Vein. They failed to secure the Spirit Vein, but the money was still with them, and now it's ended up benefiting them.

Then, he took out a small jade box.

Inside the box lay a pill, round and plump, with a rich medicinal aroma.

It's the low-grade Longevity-Extending Pill that Wang Household just bought; it can extend one's life by ten years.

It looks like it was just received and hasn't been returned to the ancestor on the mountain yet.

The rest of the items were nothing new, just ordinary pills and odds and ends.

Shen Jingchuan kept the Spirit Stones for himself, and took out all the rest at once. With a thought, he sent them into the light sphere to upgrade them.

Then, he calmed himself down, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

Now, this space contains Spirit Vein, Spiritual Qi is becoming increasingly abundant day by day, even surpassing that of the Spirit Creek Market.

He alternated between Qi Condensing Pills and Cultivation Method Spirit Concentrating Pills, cultivating his Spiritual Power and Divine Sense simultaneously, and continued this practice until the next day.

His Spiritual Power accumulated more and more, and it was faintly touching the barrier of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

Shen Jingchuan exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly finished his practice.

Looking up, not far away, Xian'er was instructing Qingshu and Qinghua on cultivation, talking about various common knowledge in the cultivation world, and the two little girls were listening attentively.

He got up and walked over.

"Sister Xian'er, I think I've reached the barrier of the Qi Refining Late Stage."

"What's going on outside? I feel like those people outside have already disappeared."

Xian'er glanced at him and shook her head.

"The absence of breath doesn't mean the person is gone. You should stay inside for a couple more days; he might be hiding somewhere, waiting for you to come to him."

Shen Jingchuan thought about it and agreed.

"Alright, you guys continue. I'm going to break through that barrier; maybe I can reach the Qi Refining Seventh Layer in the next couple of days."

Seeing his excited expression, Xian'er, unusually, didn't tease him but instead gave him serious instructions.

"Don't underestimate this level. Once you break through, you'll advance from the Middle Stage of Qi Refining to the Qi Refining Late Stage. Solidify your foundation, and by then, there won't be many in the Qi Refinement Realm who can defeat you."

Shen Jingchuan: "Sister Xian'er, you think so highly of me?"

Xian'er rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course. Did you think the Cultivation Method you've been practicing was just a freebie?"