Magic Artifacts (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

With the intent of striking first, Ling Pengyun's expression hardened as he fired three Water Arrows in succession at "Shen Hu," who had just stood on the same side as him to kill the demonic cultivator.

He had not forgotten that Shen Hu had harbored killing intent toward him just moments ago.

If he had not used the Flame Blade Talisman Ling Ruda had left him to save his life and turned the tide of battle, Shen Hu might very well have abandoned him to hold back the demonic cultivator alone while he escaped.

Ling Pengyun had never held much goodwill toward such rogue cultivators.

Now that the demonic cultivator had been killed, it was naturally time for a life-and-death battle between Ling Pengyun and Shen Hu.

Shen Hu had long been wary of Ling Pengyun as well. He swiftly raised the damaged magic shield in his hand and blocked the three incoming Water Arrows.

Although the magic shield stopped the three Water Arrows, the countless cracks across its surface widened further, and its spiritual glow dimmed even more.

Seeing this, Shen Hu's expression gradually darkened. He hurriedly sent the Golden Flying Sword flying at Ling Pengyun, hoping to kill him before the magic shield was shattered.

Yet Ling Pengyun had no fewer than three Water Shields protecting him. The Golden Flying Sword would find it difficult to break them in a short time.

Instead, under the bombardment of more than ten Water Arrows Ling Pengyun fired in succession, the already damaged magic shield in Shen Hu's hand shattered into pieces, losing every trace of spirituality.

Shen Hu also took out three Water Shield Talismans to withstand the torrent of spells Ling Pengyun unleashed.

But when it came to talismans, Ling Pengyun had nothing to fear. He had as many as six Water Shield Talismans on him. Five had been purchased recently at Cloud Mist Market, while the other had been given to him by Ling Ruguo years ago.

Relying on his advantage in the number of Water Shield Talismans, coupled with the formidable attack that could fire a Water Arrow in an instant, as well as the Thorn Vine seeds hidden within his spells to catch his opponent off guard—

Before long, Shen Hu was entangled from head to toe by Thorn Vines. A Water Arrow swung out by Ling Pengyun smashed his head apart, taking his life and killing him at Ling Pengyun's hands.

Ling Pengyun looked at Shen Hu's bloodied, mangled head and merely frowned slightly, feeling no discomfort whatsoever.

Back when he was young and studying at the Clan School, the clan elders had forced him to watch quite a few Image Recording Discs documenting "bloody" scenes.

Forget a shattered head—even slowly dissecting corpses was something Ling Pengyun had seen before.

This was also one method the clan elders used to cultivate the psychological resilience of the younger generation in advance.

"Serves you right."

Ling Pengyun cursed under his breath, then strode quickly to Shen Hu's body. After searching it, he found two Storage Bags and picked up the small golden sword that had fallen to the ground.

Ling Pengyun also searched the demonic cultivator's corpse. Whether they were magic artifacts or Storage Bags, he stuffed them all into his robes.

Even the long needle that had pierced through the demonic cultivator's head was found by Ling Pengyun and placed into a Storage Bag.

To destroy all traces, Ling Pengyun summoned two fireballs and burned Shen Hu's and the demonic cultivator's corpses to ashes. He then used spiritual power to conjure a fierce wind, scattering the two piles of ashes. Only then did he cast the Light Body Technique, deliberately take a long detour, and race away from the area toward Azure Stone Mountain.

Less than half an hour after Ling Pengyun left, a blue-robed middle-aged man riding a roc bird appeared above the place where Ling Pengyun, Shen Hu, and the demonic cultivator had fought.

This middle-aged man was Wen Xianren of the Wen Clan, the Qi Training Late Stage expert stationed at Cloud Mist Market.

He lowered his head and swept the battlefield with his divine sense. Sensing two lingering traces of spiritual energy and one trace of demonic qi, he frowned slightly.

"Nianqing sent word that a demonic cultivator had launched a surprise attack on the village he guarded. It seems the lingering demonic qi here was left by that demonic cultivator."

"However, Nianqing did not die here, and neither of the two lingering traces of spiritual energy belongs to him."

"Most likely, some unlucky people also ran into that demonic cultivator."

Wen Xianren's expression darkened. Following the guidance of the Message Talisman in his hand, he found Wen Nianqing's corpse.

Looking at the body, Wen Xianren was overwhelmed with grief.

Wen Nianqing was the grandson of his blood-related clan brother, and thus his own grandson as well. He had watched him grow up since childhood, yet now he had died miserably outside, and his murderer had not been caught...

Holding Wen Nianqing's body, Wen Xianren's eyes brimmed with hatred as he gritted his teeth.

"Nianqing, I will surely find that demonic cultivator and avenge you."

After saying this, he continued onward toward the village Wen Nianqing had guarded.

The moment Wen Xianren arrived at the village, riding his roc bird and holding Wen Nianqing's corpse, he beheld a scene straight out of hell on earth.

The entire village ground was covered in skin-and-bones corpses—at least two thousand of them. The stench of blood filled the surrounding area.

The surroundings were deathly silent, permeated by an aura of death.

Looking at the tragic state of the village before him, Wen Xianren's expression was filled with fury. With a savage look on his face, he muttered to himself.

"You killed a cultivator of my Wen Clan and slaughtered two thousand mortals of my Wen Clan."

"Our Cloud Mist Clan may have declined, but I never imagined even demonic cultivators would dare squat and shit on Wen Clan territory."

"Do you really think the Cloud Mist Wen Clan is so easy to bully?"

"Just you wait. Anyone who dares slaughter members of my Wen Clan will not meet a good end."

At midnight.

After racing several hundred li, Ling Pengyun finally returned to Azure Stone Mountain.

Along the way, Ling Pengyun had been on edge, terrified that some misfortune would befall him and drag him into another battle.

The moment he returned to Azure Stone Mountain, his heart settled considerably.

After calming himself for a while, Ling Pengyun took four bulging Storage Bags from his robes. From the Storage Bag at his waist, he summoned Shen Hu's small golden sword, the silver long needle, the demonic cultivator's demonic shield, demonic banner, and Red Long Shuttle, laying them on the ground.

The four Storage Bags had been found on Shen Hu's and the demonic cultivator's corpses, with two from each person.

These were all the gains Ling Pengyun had obtained from the battle at midday.

Because the four Storage Bags still bore their former owners' divine sense imprints, they could not be opened in a short time. Only by spending time in the future continuously using his own divine sense to scour away the imprints inside could he retrieve the items within.

Thus, Ling Pengyun set them aside first and turned his gaze toward the two magic artifacts and three demonic artifacts.

"Shen Hu's golden longsword and Armor Piercing Needle are both of decent quality. The small golden sword can be kept as a spare, while the Armor Piercing Needle can be refined first to increase my combat strength."

"These three demonic artifacts are rather troublesome. They cannot be used, so they can only be destroyed."

Demonic artifacts were refined using the blood and souls of humans. They contained immense demonic baleful power, and if used rashly, that power would surely affect one's mind and turn one into a bloodthirsty monster.

Having made up his mind, Ling Pengyun activated the little spiritual power remaining within him and summoned two extremely high-temperature flames, burning the demonic banner, long shuttle, and demonic shield on the ground.

These three demonic artifacts were perhaps of relatively high quality. Ling Pengyun had to burn them with high-temperature flames for nearly an hour before destroying them into scrap metal.

After finishing this task, Ling Pengyun waved his hand and stored the golden longsword in his Storage Bag. Then he took out a First Rank Low Grade spirit pear he had bought during this trip to Cloud Mist Market and began eating it.

Once the pear had been completely eaten and he discarded the core, Ling Pengyun immediately closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation technique, refining the pure spiritual power contained in the pear flesh within his stomach and sending it into his nearly dried-up Dantian to replenish its spiritual power.