Cultivation Level 5

He glanced at the thick smoke still billowing all around.

Without a word, Lu Wanyuan grabbed the corpse before it could fall.

Then he drove the Ghost Head Saber in again and twisted hard, churning a huge hole through the body until it was nothing but mangled flesh.

When dealing with a talented enemy like this, he couldn't afford to leave him even the slightest chance of survival. He had to pull the weeds out by the roots.

Otherwise, if he showed even a shred of mercy, he'd be the one getting hurt in the end.

If that was the case, he might as well be cruel from the start and finish the job completely.

Only after confirming that the other man was well and truly dead did he let the body fall.

With a thud, the corpse pitched face-first onto the ground.

He then swung the Ghost Head Saber toward the gray Storage Bag hanging from the man's waist. With a flick of the tip, he sliced through the belt. His left wrist moved in a smooth beckoning gesture, and the gray Storage Bag rose into the air. He snatched it out of the air and clenched it in his hand.

Only then did he walk over to Zhuge Man's corpse nearby and bend down to take his Storage Bag. After searching the body and finding nothing else of value, he stopped and stood up.

Without a word, he ran down the path beside him, ready to return to the market!

He had achieved his goal on this risky outing: he'd killed his target and even acquired several Storage Bags in the process. It was an unexpected windfall.

He didn't know what was inside the other Storage Bags, but Xiao Wanchang's couldn't be bad. The price he'd been willing to bid at the Auction had made that clear.

Of course, these had all been his cultivation resources to begin with, since everything belonged to Green Bamboo Peak. He'd merely taken them back.

Once he was strong enough, he'd definitely storm Green Bamboo Peak and kill that wretched bitch. He'd make her pay for everything she'd done.

What he didn't know was that, at the very moment he stabbed Xiao Wanchang to death—

Ouyang Tingting, in her cultivation chamber at Green Bamboo Peak, suddenly felt her heart and blood stir. Her cultivation was abruptly interrupted.

She immediately understood that it was a bloodline reaction. Remembering that her precious son had gone to Yangmei Market recently, she instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Something had happened to her precious son!

She didn't even have time to wipe away the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. With a crash, she burst through the door and flew at top speed toward Yangmei Market.

Meanwhile, Lu Wanyuan followed a small path, heading back to the market.

He soon realized that he was now incredibly far from it. The market was nowhere in sight; he had to be at least twenty miles away.

He'd been chasing his target without realizing how far he'd gone.

The distance was considerable, and he'd also lost some time along the way. Feeling the light curtain around him grow thinner and thinner, he realized that the two-hour Concealment was almost up.

That meant he wouldn't be able to remain concealed much longer. As a Qi Refining Layer Four cultivator, he'd have a hard time surviving outside the market, where chaos reigned, if he couldn't hide himself. He didn't dare take that risk.

What made matters worse was that the spiritual energy in his Dantian was nearly depleted.

Thinking back, he hadn't done anything that should have used up his spiritual energy after leaving the market. Even in the fight, he'd ended things with a single fatal blow. That shouldn't have cost him much.

That meant the spiritual energy must have been consumed by the Concealment. The concealment effect was the only thing he'd used along the way.

Damn, it looked like that Concealment Entry really was just wool from the sheep's own back.

Watching the thin curtain of light around his body fade, he began to panic.

There was barely any spiritual energy left in his Dantian. If he kept using the Entry and ran out of energy along the way, the concealment would fail, and he wouldn't be able to reach the market safely. He might run into trouble before he even got close to its outskirts.

After thinking it through, he decided to find somewhere safe to hide for a while. Once the spiritual energy in his Dantian had mostly recovered, he'd return to the market.

Of course, he had to find a hiding place before the concealment wore off. He quickly surveyed the area.

The market lay to the northeast, while a forest spread out to the southwest. Beyond either end of the forest lay a plain and a lake.

He was currently in a hilly area.

He immediately headed toward a nearby slope and stopped halfway up.

Taking out his Spirit Hoe, he set to work digging like mad.

After the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, he'd dug a cave half a person tall and a zhang deep.

He then camouflaged the entrance with branches. Unless someone looked closely, they wouldn't spot it.

The cave was also ideally situated on high ground, giving him a view of the surrounding area. He'd be able to sense any disturbance.

He hadn't expected the random spot he'd picked to offer such a perfect vantage point.

Now that he thought about it, the place seemed even safer.

Once he'd taken care of everything, he slipped inside.

It wasn't spacious, but there was more than enough room for one person, especially if he sat cross-legged.

Of course, he couldn't expect too much from a temporary shelter. Having somewhere to stay was good enough.

When he saw the thin curtain of light covering his body vanish completely, he knew the Concealment effect of the Entry had worn off.

He also realized that not a drop of spiritual energy remained in his Dantian. He had to restore it as quickly as possible.

For a cultivator, spiritual energy was like the money in a man's pocket.

If a man could stand tall, it was because he had plenty of money in his pocket.

By the same token, if a cultivator could stand tall, it was because he had plenty of spiritual energy in his Dantian.

Fortunately, he still had four "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries in his mind. He immediately activated one.

Before long, rich spiritual energy appeared inside him, wandering about. He began cultivating.

Thankfully, ever since he'd abandoned that common-as-dirt Cultivation Technique and switched to the Minor Five Elements Art, things had improved. At first, the technique had been obscure and difficult to understand, and it had taken him a long time to get the hang of it.

But once he'd mastered the basics, he realized it was far stronger than that common-as-dirt Cultivation Technique.

All he had to do now was circulate the technique. It handled everything else automatically: refining the spiritual energy, tempering his body and bloodline, and, most importantly, converting the different types of elemental spiritual energy.

Normally, the type of spiritual energy a cultivator could absorb was determined by their elemental roots.

So they could only absorb the corresponding type of spiritual energy from outside. For example, someone with earth roots was generally best suited to absorbing earth spiritual energy.

But what if there wasn't enough earth spiritual energy around? Then they'd have to absorb energy from another element.

Metal spiritual energy, for example. But absorbing it directly would cause problems, so during the absorption process, the earth roots would convert the metal spiritual energy into earth spiritual energy. The conversion wasn't very efficient, though, so cultivators avoided doing this unless they had no choice.

But with the "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entry, he didn't need to worry about any of that. This spiritual energy was exactly what his body needed, so he could refine it much faster.

Before long, a trickle of spiritual energy had gathered in his Dantian.

Seeing that, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he pressed on and used up the other three Entries.

By the time he'd finished refining them all, it was already morning.

He hadn't expected his single-minded cultivation to bring about another breakthrough. His Cultivation Realm had now reached Qi Refining Layer 5.

It made sense. His Dantian had never before been completely drained of spiritual energy. Who would have thought he'd reach that point this time? It was truly terrifying.

And since he'd been in such extreme danger, his potential had naturally been pushed to its limits. It was only to be expected that his cultivation would advance.

Feeling the abundant spiritual energy in his Dantian, he finally had some confidence. A man needed to stand tall.

Now he didn't have to worry so much. He had plenty of spiritual energy, and there were still two "Concealment 2 Hours" Entries in his mind.

Unless his luck was truly terrible, he should be able to return safely to the market and get home.

He'd spent the entire night cultivating and had only just relaxed. Of course, he wanted to take a good look at the Storage Bags he'd been thinking about all night.

He'd wanted to inspect the several Storage Bags he'd taken as soon as he got the chance, to see what was inside them.

The first Storage Bag he opened belonged to Xiao Wanjian. There wasn't much inside: twenty-eight Spirit Stones, a battered sword, a copy of the common-as-dirt Evergreen Cultivation Technique, and some everyday items.

Seeing this, Lu Wanyuan was speechless. He hadn't expected this guy to be even poorer than him.

He immediately tossed all the everyday items into the cave.

He put everything else in his own Storage Bag, freeing up this one to take home for his family.

Then he eagerly took out Xiao Wannian's Storage Bag and turned it upside down.

A clatter rang out.

Items poured from the Storage Bag: Spirit Stones, magical artifacts, pills, ores, Cultivation Techniques, Spiritual Medicines, and more.

There were also some everyday items, which he tossed aside.

The whole cave was suddenly filled with a rich aura. A small pile of Spirit Stones appeared before him—at least six or seven thousand. Just as he'd expected.

At the Auction, that guy had been willing to compete with others over the bidding. He must have had plenty of resources.

He just might not have had enough backing, since he'd still lost out to someone else, and the item had been won by another bidder.

At least all those Spirit Stones had ended up with him. He really ought to thank the person who'd won the item at the Auction; without them, he wouldn't have gotten his hands on so many Spirit Stones.

He immediately put all the Spirit Stones into his Storage Ring.

There was also a copy of the Blazing Flame Art. Looking it over carefully, he realized it was a low-grade Earth-rank Cultivation Technique that turned fire into blades.

If he mastered it, its power would be unimaginable.

It was fire itself, forged into a razor-sharp blade. Surely nothing could withstand its attack: it would either be burned to ash or cleaved apart.

The fire required to cultivate this technique came from Earth Fire deep in the leylines. To cultivate it, he'd first have to withstand the heat of the Earth Fire.

And the thing that could make that possible was, of course, the "Ice Spirit Grass."

No wonder Xiao Wanchang had tried so hard to bid for the "Ice Spirit Grass" at the Auction. Unfortunately, he hadn't had enough Spirit Stones, and someone else had won it for nine thousand.

The value of this Cultivation Technique was impossible to estimate.