I Refuse

Wang Li was not merely talking.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—amid his shouts came the sounds of air being torn apart. In just moments, he had slapped several dozen talismans onto Lü Shenliang.

Those several dozen talismans came in every variety. There were Calming Heart Talismans and Spirit Stabilizing Talismans to steady the mind, Blood Slowing Talismans and Meridian Expanding Talismans to slow the flow of blood and qi, and even talismans that released pleasing fragrances or made one feel cool and refreshed.

Unleashing several dozen assorted talismans in an instant was already enough to leave people dumbfounded. Yet at the same time, Wang Li scattered more than ten puffs of medicinal powder in succession. He even pulled out a somewhat battered little bell and flicked it with his fingers, producing crisp, pleasant notes that soothed the heart and calmed the spirit.

Even Golden Core cultivators themselves found it exceedingly difficult to reverse the process of self-detonating a Golden Core. Yet under Wang Li's repeated measures, the terrifying aura of destruction around Lü Shenliang was forcibly suppressed. The dreadful patterns of light across her skin also dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"It was actually suppressed?"

"Just how many times had this boy experienced this female cultivator self-detonating her Golden Core to become so practiced and effective at handling it?"

An uproar swept through the skies once more.

True Person Qingyang and the others were drenched in cold sweat, even feeling as though they had survived a disaster.

"Fellow Daoist, please calm yourself."

At that moment, an aged voice rang out.

Every sound ceased at once.

The voice came from Old Ancestor Tong Hui's direction.

It was a very gentle voice.

Gentle as spring wind and rain, it even gave everyone a sense of being cared for.

It seemed that as long as Lü Shenliang calmed down, there was room to negotiate over the Yin Thunder Umbrella for her and Wang Li.

"I refuse!"

Yet to everyone's surprise, Lü Shenliang loudly spat out those three words.

Because heaven and earth around them had fallen completely silent, her voice was especially clear at that moment.

Boom!

The violent aura within her began to stir once again.

"..."

All the cultivators watching the show were rendered speechless again.

What the hell was this?

What kind of conversational logic did these two Profound Heaven Sect disciples have?

Wang Li's earlier exchange with the Huayang Sect had already made people feel that he did not play by the rules and was difficult to communicate with. But compared to this senior sister whose mind was damaged, he was simply a petty shaman before a great wizard. They were not even on the same level.

"..."

Old Ancestor Tong Hui had clearly not expected Lü Shenliang to react this way either. He seemed choked for words, but after only a breath of silence, his voice sounded again. "Since you are here, it is fate. This Yin Thunder Umbrella shall belong to your junior brother."

"What!"

The unrelated spectators had sensed something coming, but when these words reached True Person Qingwu and the Five Elders of Huayang behind him, they were like a bolt from the blue.

Yet what was even more unexpected was that, upon hearing Old Ancestor Tong Hui's words, Lü Shenliang said aggressively, "My junior brother picked this up with great difficulty. It was ours to begin with. What does that have to do with whether we have fate or not?"

"..." Old Ancestor Tong Hui was choked again. Just when everyone thought this newly advanced Nascent Soul Cultivator would lose face and fly into a rage, they instead heard something inconceivable. "Little friend, you are right."

"Mm!"

Only then did Lü Shenliang seem satisfied.

Satisfied she might have been, but her self-detonating Golden Core seemed beyond her control.

The terrifying aura of her Golden Core being on the verge of total collapse did not weaken in the slightest. Only after Wang Li, standing not far from her, struck her with another dozen or so talismans in succession and launched several clusters of differently colored medicinal qi did the violent, heart-palpitating aura within her gradually subside.

Now True Person Qingyang and the others did not even dare breathe loudly around her.

What if they said one word too many and she suddenly decided to self-detonate her Golden Core again?

Other people used self-detonating a Golden Core as a last-resort method of mutual destruction, only when left with no other choice. But this female cultivator from the Profound Heaven Sect truly was just as the rumors said—if a word displeased her, or if the mood struck her, she would self-detonate her Golden Core.

Who could possibly provoke her?

Meanwhile, most of the cultivators watching looked at Wang Li with sympathy in their eyes.

Across the entire Lesser Jade Continent, who knew how many people could rival his ability to suppress a self-detonating Golden Core?

For a Qi Refining stage cultivator to suppress a self-detonating Golden Core, just how many such detonations had he needed to experience to develop such skill?

It truly was not easy.

"Let's go."

Lü Shenliang waved at Wang Li, seemingly no longer interested in staying. But after Wang Li had taken only a few steps toward her, she suddenly seemed to remember something. Turning toward Old Ancestor Tong Hui, she said, "Since you just said we had fate, I see that your method of refining fish-bone Dharma Swords is quite good. It seems to come from True Lord White Bone's White Bone Dharma. Why not give that Dharma to me?"

Most of the cultivators present thought the matter had been settled. Quite a few cultivators chasing the tribulation had already flown away on their flight treasures, but upon suddenly hearing this, several nearly lost control of their flying artifacts from sheer shock.

She had just said fate had nothing to do with it, and now she was directly using the word fate to demand something?

"Fine."

But what astonished them even more was that Old Ancestor Tong Hui agreed immediately and readily. Moreover, the simple word "fine" even seemed to carry a trace of delight.

After only a breath, a streak of white light descended toward Lü Shenliang.

With a stretch of her hand, not only did the white light vanish, but even the Yin Thunder Umbrella in Wang Li's hand disappeared abruptly. Clearly, she had placed them both inside her Treasure Pouch.

The dust settled.

True Person Wu Yang's expression was somewhat unsightly.

Although Old Ancestor Tong Hui had successfully passed the tribulation and had not perished, which was tremendous good news for the Huayang Sect, the Yin Thunder Umbrella had fallen into the hands of these two Profound Heaven Sect disciples for nothing rather than landing in He Lingxiu's hands. He still found that difficult to accept.

He Lingxiu, on the other hand, wore a calm expression. She quietly watched Wang Li and Lü Shenliang's departing backs, her gaze flickering faintly as no one knew what she was thinking.

"This senior sister and junior brother..."

True Person Baixi looked at Wang Li and Lü Shenliang with an exceedingly complicated gaze.

He had originally feared that the might of this Heavenly Tribulation would leave an adverse psychological shadow upon the Immortal Seedlings behind him. Yet after Old Ancestor Tong Hui's successful tribulation crossing and the appearance of these two Profound Heaven Sect cultivators, what worried him most now was instead that their conduct would lead this whole group of Immortal Seedlings completely astray.

Moreover, he had noticed an important point: judging from the direction the two were currently traveling, they really did seem to be heading toward Blackwater Market.

Could it really be as Wang Li had said? Were they truly going to sell the Yin Thunder Umbrella directly?

He could not help but smile bitterly.

Everyone had clearly seen the Yin Thunder Umbrella's power just now, but its true value lay in the fact that it was a Spirit Treasure!

Once ordinary magic treasures were successfully refined, whatever rank they were made at was the rank they remained. Spirit Treasures were different. They possessed spiritual roots capable of growth. In a sense, they were like cultivators: as long as they were given suitable methods to cultivate their growth, they possessed limitless potential for advancement.

Even if a Spirit Treasure's treasure embryo was damaged, as long as its spiritual roots remained, it would absorb spiritual energy and repair itself like a cultivator. Even without outside intervention, returning to its original state was merely a matter of time.

Only unique spiritual materials that formed spiritual roots could possibly be refined into such Spirit Treasures.

And heavenly materials and earthly treasures containing spiritual roots had been exceedingly scarce in every era throughout cultivation history. As a result, Spirit Treasures of any rank were rare commodities that could be hoarded for profit.

Within the entire Lesser Jade Continent, most sects did not even possess a single Spirit Treasure. As for a Spirit Treasure of the Yin Thunder Umbrella's level, there absolutely could not be more than twenty in all of Lesser Jade Continent.

From this perspective, although it was a pity that the two Profound Heaven Sect cultivators chose to sell this Spirit Treasure directly, it was a very wise choice.

With their strength, keeping such a treasure in their hands would only bring disaster.

But such a Spirit Treasure was also a hot potato for Blackwater Market. Though Blackwater Market would not be too afraid to accept such a hot potato in haste, it would certainly heavily discount its purchase price, considering that it too would need to dispose of the hot potato as quickly as possible.

He naturally wanted this Spirit Treasure as well. But if it truly reached Blackwater Market, he would likely have no hope of winning it through bidding there. Better not to take the initiative and invite such trouble.

At first, Wang Li and Lü Shenliang merely relied on some low-grade wind talismans to skim across the ground. But after traveling just over ten li from the mountain, Lü Shenliang's right hand moved slightly within her sleeve, and a dark gold streak of sword light appeared beneath their feet, carrying her and Wang Li away at high speed.

That dark gold sword light was the Profound Heaven Sect's Profound Heaven Sword Qi Escape. Though it appeared utterly unremarkable, it flew at astonishing speed. Moreover, Lü Shenliang did not guide it into the sky, instead weaving wildly through the mountain forests. Within moments, she and Wang Li vanished from the sight of most cultivators.

Others merely thought that this mentally unstable female cultivator from the Profound Heaven Sect was incredibly swift while flying close to the ground. But Wang Li, the only one who knew Lü Shenliang's true circumstances, knew that she had deliberately slowed down.

"What, are you deliberately trying to let someone catch up?" He was not stupid and immediately guessed at a possibility.

"Mm." Lü Shenliang nodded.

"Senior Sister... Now everyone thinks you are mentally unstable, and you do not even need to pretend to be a mushroom anymore. Could you not always speak so briefly?" Wang Li said gloomily upon receiving yet another one-word answer from her.

"Mm!" Lü Shenliang nodded again. "Among those people, two are not cultivators from our Lesser Jade Continent. One of the fragments from another magic treasure that I had you collect at the start should be very useful to one of them. Once we reach Blackwater Market, we will list those fragments at a high price and have Blackwater Market sell them on our behalf. If I am not mistaken, they will definitely purchase them immediately."

"Not from our Lesser Jade Continent?"

Wang Li's brow furrowed slightly. "Senior Sister, you are finally willing to say more, but could you make it clearer? What cultivation do those two have, and what are their origins?"

"I do not know either."

Lü Shenliang shook her head. "The two are skilled at concealing their qi, but one should be at least a Golden Core cultivator, while the other may be in the Foundation Establishment Realm... The treasure embryo of that magic treasure was made from Fire Clam Jade unique to our Lesser Jade Continent. The Dharma cultivated by that Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator should require this Fire Clam Jade."

This time, she had said enough—clearly enough. Yet Wang Li was even more confused. Looking at the strands of his senior sister's hair dancing in the wind before him, he asked, "Senior Sister, did you not say their qi-concealment techniques were exceptional, and that you were not even fully certain of their exact cultivation? Then how can you be certain that this Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's Dharma requires Fire Clam Jade?"

"Intuition," Lü Shenliang said.

Wang Li was immediately choked. "Just intuition?"

"Mm."

Lü Shenliang said, "Do they not all say that a woman's intuition is very accurate?"

Wang Li was instantly speechless. His head hurt.