46. With My Spirit Stones Outnumbering Yours

"What?!"

"What do you mean!?"

Xiang Pichi stared at the two low-rank cultivators who remained unmoved, and for some reason, a sudden panic seized his heart.

His Spiritual Sense jolted sharply as he looked up at the sky.

From a massive tree above, Huzi dropped ten Array Stones linked end to end.

Jiang Xiaobai's hands glowed white as he activated the stones.

"Spirit Sealing Array!"

Hum!

The ten Array Stones descended from the sky with a vast spiritual pressure, trapping Xiang Pichi and his giant puppet firmly within.

Boom!

Xiang Pichi's two earth arms fell limply to his sides, and the triple-combined giant Earth Puppet collapsed to its knees, the light in its eyes dimming as it lost its spiritual power support.

"You actually have a Spirit Sealing Array!"

Xiang Pichi now felt every strand of Spiritual Power in his body weigh heavily, sluggish to command, and both of his spells—which required massive spiritual support—had failed.

The Corner of Yang Shi's mouth lifted slightly. Thanks to the Old Ancestor's warning, he had long known all of Xiang Pichi's techniques, and naturally understood what his trump card feared.

Immense power, both offensive and defensive, long duration but extremely draining on Spiritual Power!

That was why his most precious treasure was the Earth Essence Stone embedded in his chest—it could store twice his own Earth Spiritual Power and circulate it at will, as easy to use as his own energy.

And the Spirit Sealing Array, bought for 35 Spirit Stones, was prepared just for him!

It could suppress a Qi Refinement stage cultivator for the time it takes to burn one incense stick!

Now, the Divine Arm on his back, lacking sufficient spiritual power, could no longer move effectively, becoming instead Xiang Pichi's greatest burden.

"Who are you?! How do you know my techniques so well?!"

Xiang Pichi felt like a man stripped bare. Watching Yang Shi approach, he shouted:

"I, Xiang, consider myself to have few enemies. Who exactly are you, sir? Can you tell me the reason?"

Yang Shi sneered: "Still trying to stall for time? Huzi, kill!"

From the towering tree, Huzi leaped down, raising his great blade to strike at Xiang Pichi.

"Gale Blade Technique!"

The great sword swung, whipping up a fierce blade wind that slashed viciously at the hampered Xiang Pichi.

Bang!

Xiang Pichi decisively abandoned the Divine Arm on his back, condensing a thread of Earth Spiritual Power in his left hand into a shield that blocked Huzi's attack, sparks flying from the point of impact.

He used the momentum to try and flee.

Xiaobai's fingers shifted, and the Spirit Sealing Array raised a barrier, trapping Xiang Pichi inside, forcing him into a true man-to-man 1v1 battle with Huzi.

"Great Eight-Level Gale!"

Huzi unleashed his ultimate move directly. The talent granted by the Dominating Aura Art swelled his muscles, each swing of his blade summoning a gust of wind. Eight gales stacked together, this strike swept toward Xiang Pichi like a tornado.

This mortal blade technique—if Xiang Pichi hadn't been sealed, he could have dispelled it with a single casual spell.

Even an Earth Puppet could break all techniques with raw force.

But now, most of his Spiritual Power was locked away, leaving him with less than a tenth. He could only defend clumsily.

Though the Earth Essence Stone was also suppressed, it still sputtered out small streams of Earth Spiritual Power to replenish Xiang Pichi.

"Earth Armor Technique!"

A simple yet effective spell protected Xiang Pichi's entire body, fending off the gale blade qi.

Xiang Pichi's right hand reached to his waist and pulled out the White Bone Disk.

Clang!

A wisp of black light burst from the disk, blasting Huzi backward. He landed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"A Demonic Artifact!"

On the bone-made disk, strands of black souls writhed and struggled, faint, piercing cries of agony barely audible.

Unless facing life-or-death crisis, Xiang Pichi had never brought out his Demonic Artifact.

This White Bone Disk required the bones of a living cultivator, taken whole and refined.

Then, different cultivators' souls were refined and merged into it to strengthen the artifact's power.

Extremely sinister!

Any righteous cultivator would kill him on sight!

Xiang Pichi let out a cackling laugh: "Since you've seen my Trump Card, today you'll become part of my White Bone Disk."

He was certain that the disk could protect him until the formation ended.

"Xiaobai, break his demonic artifact!"

Xiaobai nodded, pulling a red talisman from his robes. Its surface was covered in intricate, flowing runes—completely different from the ones he had thrown earlier.

The moment Xiang Pichi saw it, his face filled with terror.

"No!"

"Heavenly Thunder Slash!"

Boom!

A red lightning blade slashed out from Jiang Xiaobai's hand, its terrifying pressure making Xiang Pichi's scalp tingle.

He barely managed to raise the White Bone Disk above his head. The two collided, erupting in a blinding flash.

Aaaaaah!

The wisps of black souls were purified under the thunderous light, letting out sounds of release.

Slap!

The red lightning blade vanished, and the White Bone Disk shattered into pieces on the ground.

Xiang Pichi's hair was disheveled, his shock turning into sheer horror.

"A high-grade Qi Refinement talisman!"

And a Lightning Talisman at that—the very bane of demonic artifacts!

He couldn't believe the other party had something of this level.

A single talisman like this cost over a hundred Spirit Stones!

"Die!"

"Traceless Sword Technique!"

With the artifact broken, Yang Shi charged into the Spirit Sealing Array, flanking Xiang Pichi alongside Huzi. The two of them hacked at the now-defenseless Xiang Pichi, leaving him battered and utterly disheveled.

Xiang Pichi relied on the Earth Essence Stone's spiritual energy to keep his Earth Armor up, swallowing two Healing Pills as he struggled to hold on.

"Wood Spear Technique!"

Xiaobai flung talismans as if they cost nothing, a barrage of wooden spears shattering Xiang Pichi's Earth Armor.

"You can't kill me! The Xiang Family won't let you go! Blood Soul Valley won't let you go!" Xiang Pichi screamed, his hair wild, his eyes filled with terror and dread.

"Wild Goose Across the Sky!"

Yang Shi seized the moment. The Flowing Water Sword cut through the air like a swift goose, tracing an elegant arc before piercing Xiang Pichi's heart.

Xiang Pichi clutched his chest, his face full of unwillingness as he fell.

"Why... why?!"

Yang Shi stepped on his bleeding body, his expression cold.

"Because I have more Spirit Stones than you."

Xiang Pichi, deceased.

"Phew... finally, I can breathe."

Yang Genshuo had been unconsciously holding his breath through the entire fight, nearly suffocating himself.

From start to finish—aside from the preparation phase—he hadn't intervened. Yang Shi and his team had successfully taken down Xiang Pichi, a Qi Refinement Layer 1 earth-element cultivator.

If Yang Genshuo had to sum up this battle in eight words, it would be:

"Steady and methodical, every step a killing blow!"

From beginning to end, every move Xiang Pichi made had been anticipated.

In fact, the Iron Spine Azure Wolf and Little Fire they had ambushed on Xiang Pichi's retreat path never even got a chance to act.

If Xiang Pichi had pulled out some trick to escape the Spirit Sealing Array, those two spirit beasts would have delivered the finishing blow on his escape route!

Inside the scene, Yang Shi and the other two let out a long sigh of relief.

"A Qi Refinement cultivator... truly hard to kill. Even at just Layer 1, their methods are far beyond ours. If not for the Old Ancestor's help, we could never have slain this Xiang Pichi."

Yang Shi felt a bit emotional. The Old Ancestor had scouted out Xiang Pichi's techniques and weaknesses, and they had bought talismans and Array Stones accordingly, keeping him suppressed the entire time.

"Thank goodness Senior Sister Murong gave us that attack talisman. Otherwise, all our preparations would have been for nothing."

Jiang Xiaobai had unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Slash talisman, one strike breaking the demonic artifact—easily the coolest moment of the fight.

Huzi sat on the ground, chuckling.

"I never thought I'd kill an immortal... feels like a dream."

He felt like he could brag about this battle for the rest of his life.

The Black Ghosts, who had been cowering in the bushes, crept back trembling.

They had witnessed the entire duel, terrified to the core. Now, they had no will to resist Yang Shi and the others—they only begged to be spared.

The only Black man with a spiritual root, Hash, felt a hidden thrill beneath his fear.

"Is this what immortals are like? Could I really become one?"

He trembled forward a few steps and knelt on the ground.

"Master! Hash is willing to lead the tribe in following you for generations!"

Yang Shi swept a majestic glance over the Black Ghost tribe; not a single person dared to meet his gaze.

"From today on, you will cultivate the spirit fields for me. Understood?"

The Black Ghosts hurriedly agreed.

Yang Shi then spoke to Hash: "Hash, you will manage this spirit field for me. If the harvest is bountiful next year, I will teach you the cultivation method. If there's even a single mistake, you'll end up like that cultivator."

"Yes, Master!"

Hash replied with a tremble.

Yang Shi looked at the lake, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

A spirit lake, six acres of spirit fields, and several spirit fruits—from today onward, they fell under the Yang Family's domain.

"That'll be easier than listening to Xiang Pichi. With this spirit lake, there's no need to use the Spirit Rain Technique for watering. Much more convenient, and Little Bai won't have to shuttle back and forth through the dangerous Demon Wind Forest."

"If I plant all six acres with spirit wheat, that's an extra 3,000 jin of spirit wheat per year, which yields 9,000 packs of Grain-abstinence Biscuits. If the Xuan Shi Sect buys them, that's 1,800 Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Shh—I'm rich."

While Yang Genshuo was calculating the land's profits, Huzi had already finished looting the corpse with practiced ease.

"Brother Shi, come quick! There's something good!"