In this battle, Yang Shi, at the Eighth Level of Body Tempering, had shone brilliantly with the Flowing Water Sword, personally slaying two Embryonic Breath Stage immortal cultivators.
Second only to the MVP, the Iron-Spined Gray Wolf.
After all, it was a Qi Refining Realm Spirit Beast. It had taken one enemy out right away, then tied down the strongest one, Miao Renfeng, buying Yang Shi time to kill Miao Er at the Embryonic Breath Seventh Layer.
"This Middle-Grade Dharma Artifact, the Flowing Water Sword, really is a fine thing. It suits my Trace-Free Sword Technique perfectly."
Yang Shi stroked the Flowing Water Sword, utterly delighted with it.
Its built-in afterimage effect and the killing power of its water blades had greatly boosted his strength.
Without this sword, he never could have slain Miao Er. At most, he could have held him back.
Jiang Xiaobai held the Moonlight Mirror, now completely drained of spirit power, her face full of heartache.
"It'll take half a year to save up enough to use it again."
"That's still better than letting him escape. Otherwise, we won't be getting a single peaceful night's sleep."
They carried the three corpses back to the teahouse, while Jiang Xiaobai sorrowfully went to tidy up the teahouse, which had already been thrown into utter chaos.
Huzi skillfully began looting the bodies.
"Hey! Brother Shi, these three thieves had quite a lot of good stuff on them!"
Huzi arranged the spoils in a row on the ground.
A small pile of Low-Grade Spirit Stones, thirty-eight in total.
A bundle of assorted concealed weapons.
Two shattered pieces of turtle shell.
A cultivation jade slip titled "Five-Element Transfer Art."
Four Spirit-Recovery Pills.
A hard bronze dagger with Spiritual Insight flickering over it—a Low-Grade Magical Tool.
Through the Attribute Card, Yang Genshuo could see the dagger's attributes.
Spellbreaking Dagger Quality: Low-Grade Magical Tool Exceptionally sharp, with remarkable effects against defensive Magical Tools and Talismans.
"No wonder I always felt that second brother's dagger wasn't very impressive. Yang Shi had no defensive Magical Tool, and his attacks weren't strong enough to trigger the three defensive Talismans Murong Ziyan had given him."
The reason Yang Shi had dared to put himself in danger and proactively tie down one opponent was the courage those three defensive Talismans gave him. They were high-grade defensive Talismans capable of blocking the attacks of Qi Refining Realm cultivators!
Open one, and the three of them combined still could not break through its defenses.
Looking at these spoils, Yang Genshuo found it rather amusing that the man whom the Azure Wolf had knocked unconscious right at the start had carried a large number of concealed weapons. They looked quite lethal, probably no worse than pepper spray or an electric baton, yet he had died before using a single one.
Of them, the items Miao Renfeng carried were the most valuable.
Spirit-Recovery Pills were First-Grade Pills used to rapidly restore spirit power. In a clash between immortal cultivators, one pill could potentially change the entire battle.
The reason Miao Renfeng had been able to suppress the Qi Refining First Layer Azure Wolf with his Embryonic Breath Ninth Layer cultivation was that after taking this pill, his spirit power had flowed forth without end.
If sold at the market, each one would fetch at least five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Xiao Bai's current ability was too low, and taking such a good pill would be too wasteful. Yang Shi put them away for now.
Besides that, the most valuable item was that cultivation jade slip.
Jiang Xiaobai held it in her hand and used spirit power to probe it, reading the contents within.
"The Five-Element Transfer Art is a Qi Refining technique specially designed for cultivators with Five-Element Spiritual Roots. At its highest, it can be cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Realm."
"Since ancient times, Five-Element Spiritual Roots have been called useless Spiritual Roots, unable to ascend the great path of immortality. Most cultivators reach a bottleneck once they enter the Qi Refining Stage and cannot break through to Foundation Establishment even when their lifespan runs out."
"Yet a Foundation Establishment Realm senior with an astonishing Five-Element Spiritual Root believed that Five-Element Spiritual Roots were not entirely without merit. On the contrary, because all five elements were complete, they could form their own Five-Element Spirit Power cycle. Thus, he created this technique."
"As long as one spends five times the time of cultivators at the same level, one can form a Five-Element Cyclic Spirit-Power Vortex within the body, becoming invincible among those of the same realm and even fighting across realms."
Yang Genshuo had been listening with great interest, but that final sentence made him lose it.
"What kind of idiotic technique is this!"
"Only five times the time?"
"Good lord, other people with Five-Element Spiritual Roots take twenty years to reach Qi Refining, and you're planning to reach Embryonic Breath Great Perfection and advance after a hundred years? Death is always one step faster than your cultivation, huh?"
"That's complete nonsense."
Yang Genshuo could also open the cultivation technique himself and view its description.
Beyond what Jiang Xiaobai had read, this technique was not entirely without merit.
If one did not pursue the Five-Element Cyclic Spirit-Power Vortex, it was not much different from an ordinary technique. It came with one spell from each of the five elements: Golden Sword Technique, Divine Movement Art, Fire-Spitting Technique, Spirit Rain Art, and Entanglement Technique.
They were precisely the spells the three Miao brothers had used in the recent battle.
"No Light-Bending Art or Empty-Handed Theft? Looks like those are their Lineage inheritances."
At a glance, both skills were clearly excellent helpers for thieves.
As for the Miao Family, Yang Shi had heard Liu Wuhen mention them once. They were called the vermin Lineage of the Great Nai Dynasty, with thieves in every household and an extremely foul reputation. Yet no one had ever found the Miao Family's Lineage residence. Otherwise, cultivators would surely have banded together to retaliate.
After putting away all the spoils, the group went to rest.
Yang Genshuo, meanwhile, stared at Yang Shi's Character Card.
"His talent... upgraded again."
After the market incident had ended last time, Yang Genshuo had gone to sleep and let them develop freely for several months. Back then, after Yang Shi advanced to the Seventh Level of Body Tempering and took the Marrow Cleansing Pill, he had immediately risen to the Eighth Level of Body Tempering.
As one of the essential pills for all immortal cultivators, the Marrow Cleansing Pill could improve one's Spiritual Root aptitude somewhat.
Yang Shi had used its medicinal power to temper his body and forcibly break through a realm. Unexpectedly, it had also improved his aptitude a little.
Lifespan: 22/77 Comprehension: 30 Talent: Mirth-Seeker (Mortal Grade), Neither Laughing Nor Crying++ (Mortal Grade) Neither Laughing Nor Crying++ (Mortal Grade): Work efficiency fluctuates greatly according to mood. When cheerful, +30%; when depressed, -30%. (Affected by the Mind Illumination Formula)
"His lifespan increased by five years, his comprehension went up by ten points, and his talent upgraded again."
He checked yesterday's event Record system.
"The Marrow Cleansing Pill increased his lifespan and comprehension, while as he kept breaking through realms, the Mind Illumination Formula upgraded this talent of his again."
"This internal-breath mental technique is actually rather interesting."
Yang Genshuo even wanted to practice it himself.
But after giving it some thought, he realized that he seemed to have no talents at all!
"Right, what would happen if Xiao Bai practiced the Mind Illumination Formula too? Could her Earth Grade talent, Wood Affinity, evolve as well?"
"This world never said immortal cultivators couldn't practice internal arts, did it?"
"Use internal arts to strengthen talents, then use talents to strengthen cultivation speed and spell power."
Yang Genshuo felt as though he had found a linkage between Martial Cultivators and immortal cultivators.
At the same time, Yang Genshuo felt that the Marrow Cleansing Pill was a good thing. When the market opened next year, he would need to buy two more—one for himself and one for Xiao Bai.
He pressed the time acceleration button.
Year 4, Day 2: Three headless cultivator corpses were thrown outside Yang's Board Game Teahouse, shocking the few loose cultivators staying in Bluestone County. The Iron-Spined Gray Wolf squatted outside the teahouse every day, intimidating those with impure intentions.
Jiang Xiaobai began practicing the Mind Illumination Formula.
Huzi broke through to the Body Tempering Sixth Layer, gained entry into the Overbearing Qi Formula, and acquired the new talent "Overlord (Mortal Grade)."
Year 4, Day 46: After Spirit Beast Little Flame consumed a Magma Fruit, its aura surged explosively, and it advanced to the Embryonic Breath Fourth Layer.
Year 4, Day 87: During sparring practice with Liu Wuhen, Yang Shi entered a state of sudden enlightenment. His proficiency in the Trace-Free Sword Technique surged, reaching "mastery born of long practice."
Year 4, Day 97: Jiang Xiaobai turned eighteen.
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