"How so? Are you saying that because you picked up the Yin Thunder Umbrella, it belongs to you now?" Qi Jianzhu's expression darkened.
"Of course." Wang Li glanced at Old Ancestor Tong Hui, who was not far away. "Didn't your Huayang Sect pick up the Yin Thunder Umbrella in the first place too?"
Boom!
An uproar immediately swept through the surrounding sky.
This really was too difficult to communicate with.
And yet, those words happened to make perfect sense.
The Yin Thunder Umbrella was Old Ancestor Tong Hui's famous magical treasure, but it had indeed not been forged by the Huayang Sect. Rather, Old Ancestor Tong Hui had obtained it during one of his expeditions.
Although the place where Old Ancestor Tong Hui had found the Yin Thunder Umbrella lay within a certain perilous region, strictly speaking, it truly had been an ancient cultivator's relic that he had picked up.
Still, saying such things before Old Ancestor Tong Hui, who had already successfully passed his tribulation, was far too bold.
Qi Jianzhu's expression shifted several times, but he suddenly laughed. "By your reasoning, whoever holds the Yin Thunder Umbrella owns it. Then I only need to take it back from your hands, don't I?"
"Is taking something the same as picking it up?"
Wang Li looked at Qi Jianzhu as though he were looking at an idiot. "Unless I throw away the Yin Thunder Umbrella and you pick it up afterward, only then will it be yours. Both the Huayang Sect and Profound Heaven Sect are orthodox immortal sects. As a Huayang Sect disciple, how can you forcibly seize a magical treasure from a Profound Heaven Sect disciple?"
Qi Jianzhu flew into a rage. "Didn't you forcibly snatch this magical treasure just now? And now you claim it is a magical treasure of your Profound Heaven Sect?"
"How could I possibly have snatched it?"
Wang Li looked utterly helpless. "How could a Qi Refining stage cultivator seize a magical treasure from a Nascent Soul Cultivator? Is that even possible? This magical treasure was clearly too badly damaged, so it was thrown out and I picked it up."
"..." Most of the cultivators present felt as though they were about to go mad.
This simply made too much sense.
A Qi Refining stage cultivator truly could not possibly seize a magical treasure from a Nascent Soul Cultivator, no matter where the matter was discussed.
This was not merely difficult to communicate with. There was simply no way to communicate at all.
"Hehe."
He Lingxiu had been listening with her lips pursed. At this point, she could not help but laugh.
"Lingxiu!" True Person Wu Yang had also been left dumbfounded by this crooked logic. Hearing He Lingxiu laugh, he could not help turning to glare at her.
The Yin Thunder Umbrella had originally been something He Lingxiu was determined to obtain, yet now she was standing by with folded arms and watching the show. How could that not infuriate him?
"Master."
At that moment, he heard He Lingxiu's voice transmission. "The owner of the Yin Thunder Umbrella is right here. If he is not in a hurry, what are we hurrying for?"
True Person Wu Yang froze, and his anger instantly vanished.
He truly had become muddleheaded.
With Old Ancestor Tong Hui present, how could anyone else be qualified to decide who the Yin Thunder Umbrella belonged to?
He had come to his senses, but the others from the Huayang Sect clearly had not.
Qi Jianzhu especially.
He had been wholeheartedly trying to perform before Old Ancestor Tong Hui. If Old Ancestor Tong Hui happened to be in an excellent mood today and casually rewarded him with even a little opportunity, he would benefit without end.
Now, hearing He Lingxiu laugh, he immediately felt that she was taking pleasure in his misfortune.
The rage he had already been struggling to suppress immediately blazed up fiercely.
Since words would not work, they could only let their fists do the talking.
"Fellow Daoist of the Profound Heaven Sect, it seems you truly believe our Huayang Sect has no one left?" He sneered at the innocent-looking Wang Li.
"There are so many people in your Huayang Sect. How can you say there is no one?" Wang Li glanced at him, as well as True Person Qingyang and the others around him. "Besides, what does having more or fewer people have to do with me picking something up?"
That sentence alone was already speechless enough, but then he muttered softly, "So many of you still couldn't pick it up before I did. Is that my fault?"
A golden blaze lit up before Qi Jianzhu.
Amid rhythmic spiritual energy fluctuations, the golden blaze split into three, transforming into three tiny golden flowers the size of fingernails.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, I will advise you one last time. With your cultivation, even if our Huayang Sect allows you to leave, keeping a treasure like the Yin Thunder Umbrella on you will only bring disaster. You absolutely cannot protect it." Qi Jianzhu narrowed his eyes at Wang Li, murderous intent surging within them.
"You make a lot of sense." Wang Li smiled. "But you need not concern yourself with what happens after I leave. I do not need to keep it on me either. I will immediately go to Blackwater Market and sell it."
"..." Every cultivator present felt their scalps go numb. He had even thought through how to dispose of the Yin Thunder Umbrella?
Qi Jianzhu could no longer endure it. The three tiny golden flowers before him emitted strange buzzing sounds and flew about like three venomous bees.
The targets of these three tiny golden flowers were clearly Wang Li. Their speed through the air was astonishing, yet their flight paths were exceedingly bizarre, as though they were leaping about chaotically, making their trajectories impossible to catch.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Yet when the three tiny golden flowers were still dozens of zhang away from Wang Li, they suddenly seemed to strike an invisible crystal wall and exploded.
"What, bullying my junior brother?"
His signature spell had been instantly broken, and Qi Jianzhu's expression changed drastically. He instinctively knew Wang Li had not acted, but before he could truly react, a female cultivator had already appeared like a ghost not far behind Wang Li.
"His senior sister is here too?"
"Is that Lü Shenliang of the Profound Heaven Sect, the one who wants to self-detonate her Golden Core whenever anyone disagrees with her?"
Those who watched a spectacle never feared it growing too big. Seeing this female cultivator make her entrance, most of the tribulation chasers immediately perked up.
Qi Jianzhu's breathing abruptly caught.
This female cultivator was breathtakingly beautiful. At first glance, she was stunning; upon closer inspection, her features became increasingly exquisite, flawless in a way where even one fraction more would be too much and one fraction less too little.
Yet beyond that astonishing beauty, what suffocated him even more was the deep, crystalline chill she carried, the innate and overwhelming spiritual pressure that high-level cultivators exerted upon low-level cultivators.
"My junior brother risked his life amid the tribulation lightning to pick up this Yin Thunder Umbrella. You all saw how dangerous it was just now. What, now that the tribulation lightning has vanished, you want to force my junior brother to hand over this magical treasure? Are you bullying our Profound Heaven Sect because you think we have no one? Are you forcing me to self-detonate my Golden Core?" Lü Shenliang looked at the Huayang Sect members with frost-covered features, then continued.
Boom!
Another wave of strange noise erupted from the surrounding sky.
When all the watching cultivators heard most of what she said, they involuntarily felt that her words made perfect sense. But upon hearing her final two sentences, their scalps went numb again, and they all thought, Here it comes, just as expected.
"You..."
Qi Jianzhu was too stunned for words.
The absurdity in his heart could not be described with words.
What was this even supposed to be?
They had only exchanged a few sentences. How had it suddenly turned into self-detonating a Golden Core?
She was clearly only a Qi Refining stage cultivator herself. No matter how forcefully a Qi Refining stage cultivator acted, before a high-level cultivator like her, the difference was that between an ant and a colossal beast. Why was she talking about self-detonating her Golden Core already?
"You think you can bluff me?" True Person Qingyang sneered.
His disciple's mind was filled with countless questions, but he had not been intimidated by these two strange cultivators from the Profound Heaven Sect.
Qi Jianzhu was his most prized direct disciple and had originally been meant to put on a fine performance before Old Ancestor Tong Hui. The worse his performance now, the less glory True Person Qingyang had on his own face.
"Self-detonate your Golden Core?"
He looked provocatively at Lü Shenliang, making no effort to conceal the contempt in his eyes. "If you have the ability, self-detonate one for me to see."
"Fine."
Lü Shenliang suddenly smiled.
Her expression had originally been too cold, but when she smiled, it was like peach blossoms blooming across ten thousand mountains, exceptionally radiant and captivating.
Judging from her expression, she was not angry at all because of True Person Qingyang's provocation. Instead, she seemed somewhat excited, even eager with interest.
True Person Qingyang's expression suddenly stiffened.
He instantly sensed that something was wrong.
Everyone else sensed that something was wrong as well.
Boom!
A terrifying, destructive pressure burst forth from around Lü Shenliang.
Her body suddenly lit up. In the next instant, her entire body seemed to begin swelling outward, and horrifying translucent streaks of light instantly appeared across her skin.
"Hiss... hiss... hiss..."
Amid sounds like venomous snakes hissing, threads of visible golden crystalline light continuously emerged from the translucent streaks on her skin.
The instant these crystalline lights left her body, they erupted with terrifying might, becoming streaks of dreadful golden radiance that bloomed outward.
Wave after wave of strange, lawless, chaotic Vital Energy fluctuations spread continuously around her.
"Ah!"
Qi Jianzhu and the others cried out in terror.
One breath ago, she had been like an immortal maiden untouched by the dust of the mortal world. Now, however, she resembled a terrifying Demonic Beast.
"Are you..."
True Person Qingyang's face instantly turned incomparably pale. In horror, he controlled the flying magical treasure beneath him and retreated rapidly.
He was a Golden Core cultivator himself, so naturally he could tell whether the other party was putting on a show or truly intended to self-detonate her Golden Core.
He had instinctively wanted to shout, "Are you insane?" But the moment the words reached his lips, he remembered that there was already something wrong with her mind.
"Uncle-Master Qingyang, you provoked her into self-detonating her Golden Core with just a sentence or two. That truly is impressive. It is only that the Old Ancestor's Nascent Soul has just condensed, so I wonder whether her self-detonating Golden Core might interfere with Old Ancestor Tong Hui." At that moment, he heard He Lingxiu's voice.
True Person Qingyang and the flying magical treasure beneath him abruptly stopped in midair. He and the Five Elders of Huayang behind him broke out in cold sweat all at once.
Self-detonating one's Golden Core was originally the final means by which Golden Core cultivators perished together with their opponents. Even a crippled Golden Core possessed the power to injure those above its level. Although Old Ancestor Tong Hui had successfully passed his tribulation, he was currently at the crucial moment of stabilizing his Nascent Soul. If this female cultivator from the Profound Heaven Sect self-detonated her Golden Core now, Old Ancestor Tong Hui might not even be able to withstand it.
If Old Ancestor Tong Hui were injured and his foundation affected because of this, they of the Huayang Sect would be unable to bear the consequences.
"I truly have a problem. Why did I have to provoke a lunatic?"
True Person Qingyang regretted it so deeply that his intestines turned green.
"Senior Sister, don't act rashly! Stay calm!"
"You people are unbelievable. You know my senior sister cannot take provocation, yet you deliberately provoked her!"
"For a damaged magical treasure like this, you actually resorted to such methods. Aren't you afraid of implicating your Old Ancestor?"
"If you truly want this damaged magical treasure, just wait until I sell it to the market and then buy it back. No matter how much spiritual sand it costs, can it compare to the safety of a Nascent Soul Cultivator?"
"Senior Sister, stay calm. You absolutely have to stay calm! They are harming others without benefiting themselves, but self-detonating your Golden Core will not do you any good either."
Wang Li's voice rang out again and again.
Most of the cultivators listening felt that these words all seemed to make a great deal of sense, but the more they considered them, the more something seemed terribly off.
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