Annihilation

Yin Lang, who had provided Lin Junjie with intelligence, was currently lying low in a patch of shrubbery, observing everything from afar.

He was a sinister and vicious man who often dealt in business without capital. Those who knew him had given him the nickname Yin Lang.

He had a blood brother. Two or three years ago, that brother had invited him to join him in robbing a group of mortals, supposedly a fat sheep.

At the time, he felt that a group of mortals could not have much profit to squeeze from them, and he also had other matters to attend to, so he did not participate.

Who would have thought that his blood brother would never return? After investigating through many channels, he learned that his brother had been killed by Wang Hong's group.

From then on, he secretly kept an eye on this group and discovered that they truly were fat sheep. They had set up more than a dozen stalls and even owned a shop. Their assets were worth at least several thousand Spirit Stones.

It was just that this group had always withdrawn into the city like turtles in their shells, leaving him no chance to strike.

This time, he had finally waited for an opportunity. Yet seeing their imposing manner, he had lacked confidence and thus egged Lin Junjie on to come.

Lin Junjie was merely from a collateral branch of the Lin Family. Each month, he received only two Qi Gathering Pills and twenty Spirit Stones for expenses.

Normally, he occasionally robbed Rogue Cultivators as well. Upon receiving Yin Lang's information, he immediately led people out in pursuit.

Yin Lang had found an excuse to slip away midway, hiding in the shadows to observe.

If Lin Junjie won, he could go over afterward and add a few finishing blows, taking a share of the benefits while he was at it.

If Lin Junjie lost or died, then this group would have offended the Lin Family. The Lin Family was a mid-level force, with even Foundation Establishment cultivators among them. Would crushing these people not be as easy as crushing ants?

Yin Lang was secretly relieved at this moment. Down below, Lin Junjie had been ambushed and killed in a single exchange.

Among those remaining, the Qi Refining Layer Five cultivator had been tied down by Wang Hong. The other ten fought against the more than forty soldiers.

Those soldiers split into three waves and attacked in rotation. Their attacks rolled on like tides, ceaseless and unbroken. Every attack targeted the same person until that person was killed.

The soldiers worked together flawlessly. Before one wave had ended, another had already arrived. The Golden Light Talismans, spiritual energy barriers, and other protections deployed by the cultivators could withstand only one or two waves before shattering, after which several long spears pierced through them.

In that short time, three cultivators had already lost their lives.

Moreover, these soldiers only attacked; they did not defend at all. Whether it was spell attacks or talisman attacks launched by the other cultivators, they could not even be bothered to spare them a glance. All were blocked by the two Qi Refining cultivators among the soldiers, who threw out defensive talismans by the handful.

The mutual trust between them and the seamless coordination were plain to see.

Watching this scene, Yin Lang could not help cursing them as wastrels. In just this short while, they had used dozens of spirit talismans worth several hundred Spirit Stones, wasting them for nothing. If these mortal soldiers died, they could simply find more. Mortals numbered in the thousands upon thousands; there were as many as they wanted.

On the other side, Wang Hong was fighting the Qi Refining Layer Five cultivator.

That cultivator deployed a Black Flying Sword, slashing it toward Wang Hong. Wang Hong did not yield in the slightest, deploying his long spear to meet it. The two weapons collided in midair with a ringing crash.

In an instant, they clashed several times in the air. Wang Hong took out a bottle of Spirit Wine and quickly poured it down his throat. Tossing aside the empty bottle, he immediately took out another and drained it.

His spiritual energy was being consumed too quickly. Qi Refining Layer Four was still not truly suited to controlling magical artifacts.

The cultivator opposite him also took out Spirit Wine and took a small sip, and his spiritual power had already recovered. His Spirit Wine was likely of a higher grade than Wang Hong's.

Seeing that he might suffer if this continued, Wang Hong took out several Fireball Talismans and hurled them at the cultivator opposite him.

The other cultivator dodged several Fireball Talismans in a miserable state, even scorching his hair. He cursed loudly, "Kid, what a waste! I've never seen anyone start a fight by throwing Spirit Stones at people like this. Those are all mine!"

Their magical artifacts continued colliding against each other. Wang Hong drank another bottle of Spirit Wine and said, "Your grandpa here just likes throwing Spirit Stones at people. If they're yours, then catch them!"

As he spoke, he threw out several more talismans. Without even looking to see the results, he immediately tossed out another handful.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within the sea of flames formed by the Fireball Talismans, the Qi Refining Layer Five cultivator had nowhere to run under the relentless talisman bombardment. In the end, he was completely swallowed up and turned to ashes.

Of the ten cultivators on the other side, only five were still struggling to hold on.

Wang Hong did not rush to join the battle. Instead, he stood some distance away and watched.

Seeing that the tide had turned, one cultivator tried to flee, only to be bound by Wang Hong's Entangling Spell.

Seeing this, Zhang Chunfeng shouted, "Trap them!"

The original three-wave attack formation transformed into five small squads, closing in from both sides and surrounding the remaining four men completely.

During this time, some tried to escape, but Wang Hong drove them back. He still needed them to temper his men.

A quarter of an hour later, the battle ended. All twelve were slain. After gathering the spoils, they burned the corpses with a single fire.

After dealing with the battlefield, the group returned to the city overnight. Who knew whether Lin Junjie had any backup plans left?

Yin Lang, lying hidden in the shrubbery, only let out a long breath after seeing Wang Hong and the others disappear into the distance.

That group had placed far too much pressure on him. He had never seen a group of mortals, together with a few Qi Refining Layer One and Two cultivators, possess such combat strength. His brother truly had not died unjustly.

There had been more than forty of them, the overwhelming majority mortals, with the highest cultivation only at Qi Refining Layer Four, yet they had slaughtered more than ten immortal cultivators. That even included Lin Junjie, a Qi Refining Layer Six cultivator.

He had originally thought that even if Lin Junjie failed to gain an advantage, at most three to five people would die. He had never expected them all to die here.

He himself was only at Qi Refining Layer Five. Had he not slipped away beforehand, he would probably now be part of that pile of ashes.

Those mortals had always been ants he could crush at will. Whenever they saw cultivators like them, which one did not prostrate themselves in worship and revere them as gods?

This battle had shaken him too deeply. He secretly resolved that enemies like these had to be eliminated.

Wang Hong's group returned to their residence and divided up the spoils.

These twelve people had possessed only a little over three hundred Spirit Stones in total. They had obtained ten magical artifacts, several pills, and several spiritual herbs.

"Two of them actually did not even have magical artifacts. What were they joining in the fun for?" Wang Hong laughed as well.

Among them, Lin Junjie's magical artifact was unexpectedly a Mid-grade Flying Sword. There was also a copy of Alchemy Basics, containing pill formulas for three kinds of pills and some fundamental knowledge of alchemy. Wang Hong took those two items, leaving everything else for his soldiers to distribute.

By this calculation, they had suffered a huge loss in this battle. The talismans used alone had been worth more than a thousand Spirit Stones.

This victory had looked beautiful, but in truth, they had simply smashed their enemies to death with Spirit Stones.

Without talismans, victory or defeat would have been difficult to predict. Even if they won, they would have suffered grievous casualties.

It seemed he needed to speed up his progress in learning talisman crafting.

"There is truly so much to learn in immortal cultivation—alchemy, talisman crafting, spell cultivation, meditative cultivation." Wang Hong could not help sighing.

In truth, he was overthinking it. Other people focused primarily on cultivation, learned one or two spells, then went outside to hunt Demonic Beasts and seek spiritual medicines in exchange for cultivation resources.

The next day, Wang Hong found a shop called the Myriad Laws Tower.

The moment he stepped inside, the first thing that met his eyes was row after row of redwood shelves filled with books, jade slips, and other items.

A maid dressed in white approached, bowed, and said, "Fellow Daoist, this way, please."

With a gesture of her hand, she led Wang Hong to a tea table, had him sit down, and brewed him a pot of Spirit Tea.

Wang Hong lightly took a sip. The tea was fragrant and refreshing, making him feel as though even his spirit had relaxed.

Only then did the maid in white ask, "Our shop specializes in all kinds of books and jade slips. What do you need, Fellow Daoist? This little woman will find them for you."

Wang Hong pondered for a moment before saying, "I want books on alchemy, spiritual herbs, talisman crafting, Spirit Wine brewing, spirit cooking, and spell cultivation. Bring them all for me to look over."

The maid in white was dumbfounded. It was the first time she had seen someone buy books from so many categories at once. Could he even learn all of them?

Many people spent their entire lives mastering just one of them, and that alone would let them thrive in the cultivation world.

Learning these crafts required not only time, but also the support of enormous resources.

Even an ordinary cultivation Lineage, despite possessing abundant resources, could support only a single craft.

Some families practiced alchemy, some were renowned for formations, and some refined artifacts. That was precisely the reason.

Not to mention an individual.