Thunder Bead Kill, Obtaining Treasure

The defensive light screen of the Indeterminate Ring was shattered, and Xu Yang reacted instantly. He pushed the Indestructible Golden Body Art to its limit, his blue-black Iron Body manifesting immediately as the Iron Wall ability appeared before him.

First came the metallic clang of a strike, followed by a dull thud. Xu Yang was sent flying backward as the flying sword pierced his chest. Simultaneously, Xu Yang raised his left hand and threw a purple Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl toward the now-unguarded Xue Meng.

Seeing the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl flying toward him, Xue Meng's expression shifted drastically, and he immediately retreated. It was too late; the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl flashed with purple light and exploded, instantly turning the five-meter radius into a sea of thunder that trapped Xue Meng within.

Within that five-meter radius, bolts of divine thunder danced wildly. In just a moment, seven or eight bolts struck Xue Meng. Seeing this, Xue Meng's face turned grim as he summoned a blood-colored spirit pearl, casting a blood-red light screen to shroud himself.

Bolts of divine thunder slammed into the blood-red screen, causing it to fluctuate violently. Xue Meng tried to seize the chance to escape the sea of thunder, but the sea erupted once more, pinning him in place, unable to move.

With no other choice, Xue Meng had to channel all the demonic power within his body into the Blood Spirit Pearl to resist the divine thunder. Ten minutes later, Xue Meng let out a desperate, unwilling scream as his defense was shattered by the thunder. The bolts struck his body, and he collapsed to the ground, charred black and lifeless.

With both Xu Yang and his opponent heavily injured and collapsed, the scene fell silent, save for the flickering remnants of lightning. After a while, Xu Yang's fingers twitched, and he finally struggled to crawl up from the ground.

Xu Yang looked around in a daze. Upon seeing the state of the battlefield, his expression changed, and he looked toward Xue Meng. Seeing him lying on the ground, charred and motionless, Xu Yang let out a long breath and finally relaxed.

Afterward, Xu Yang looked down at the black-red flying sword embedded in his chest with lingering fear. Fortunately, his reaction had been swift, and he had deployed the Iron Wall ability in time; otherwise, he would have been run through.

Thinking of this, Xu Yang focused his divine sense, manipulating the Sky-Severing Sword that had fallen nearby to strike at Xue Meng. With a soft thud, Xue Meng's head was severed, and he was thoroughly dead.

Seeing that Xue Meng was dead, Xu Yang finally relaxed completely. He sat on the ground and raised his left hand to pull the flying sword from his chest. Blood immediately spurted out, and Xu Yang quickly pressed his right hand against the major acupoints around the wound to stop the bleeding.

After tending to his wound, Xu Yang retrieved his artifacts into his Qiankun Bag, walked over to Xue Meng, and took the man's Qiankun Bag into his own possession. Then, enduring his injuries, he mounted his sword and quickly departed the area.

Not long after Xu Yang left, a black-red sword light arrived at high speed. After landing, the man quickly surveyed the scene. Upon seeing Xue Meng's corpse, his expression changed drastically. He stepped forward to examine it closely, then, with a grim face, he collected the body and flew away on his sword.

Halfway there, this man encountered the ninth-level Qi Refining disciple. Pale-faced, he said to him, "Junior Brother Liu, something terrible has happened. Senior Brother Xue Meng has been killed by a disciple from the Bailian Pavilion."

"What? That's impossible! Senior Brother Xue Meng is a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator. The Bailian Pavilion disciple he was chasing only had seventh-level Qi Refining cultivation. Senior Brother Zhang, don't talk nonsense," Junior Brother Liu said, his face full of disbelief.

"It's true. Senior Brother Xue Meng's body is in my Qiankun Bag. What are we to do? How can we explain this to Elder Xue Wuya? Senior Brother Xue Meng was his son!" Senior Brother Zhang replied, his face filled with despair.

Hearing Senior Brother Zhang's words, Junior Brother Liu's face turned as pale as paper. He said in terror, "This matter is beyond repair. You and I must go to Elder Xue to plead for mercy and recount the details of what happened. Let us hope the old man will show some leniency!"

After hearing this, Senior Brother Zhang said bitterly, "Let us hope Elder Xue spares us both." Having said that, the two accelerated their flight, returning to the Blood Refining Sect.

On the other side, Xu Yang was unaware of the disaster he had caused. He flew cautiously on his sword the entire way, only landing when he reached the vicinity of a large mountain. He then moved swiftly, darting into the dense mountain forest.

Finding a hidden spot in the forest, Xu Yang sat cross-legged and began to circulate his cultivation technique to heal his injuries. Fortunately, his internal injuries were not too severe; most of the force from Xue Meng's flying sword had been blocked by the Iron Wall, and the remaining power had only pierced his chest.

After just three days of treatment, Xu Yang's injuries were fully healed. Once recovered, Xu Yang calmed his mind to take stock of the gains and losses from the battle. The battle had cost him dearly; his mid-grade artifacts, the Breeze Sword and the Indeterminate Ring, were both destroyed.

At the same time, Xu Yang had also lost a Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl. Even so, his victory in this battle was extremely lucky. Fortunately, he had obtained Xue Meng's Qiankun Bag; surely there would be some good items inside!

Thinking of this, Xu Yang reached into his robe and took out Xue Meng's Qiankun Bag. After wiping away the residual divine sense imprint, Xu Yang's own divine sense entered it. At first glance, he saw quite a few items stored inside.

Xu Yang took them out one by one to examine them carefully: two bottles of top-grade Zengyuan Pills, one bottle of Spirit Sprout Pills, a black-red top-grade flying sword, a golden high-grade flying sword, a red bracelet, a cracked Blood Spirit Pearl, a blood-colored talisman, and over a hundred low-grade Spirit Stones.

Looking at these treasures, Xu Yang was quite excited. There was nothing to say about the Spirit Stones and pills, so he casually stored them in his own Qiankun Bag. The Spirit Sprout Pills were spirit pills for Foundation Establishment cultivators to increase their cultivation; with Xu Yang's Qi Refining cultivation, he could not withstand the medicinal power and would explode and die.

The black-red flying sword was a top-grade artifact called the Blood-Flying Sword. It was incredibly sharp and powerful. Although Xu Yang liked it very much, the sword was blood-attributed and did not suit him at all, so he had to reluctantly give up on using it.

However, he could control the golden high-grade flying sword with ease. Although this Golden Wing Sword was gold-attributed and also did not perfectly match Xu Yang, he could still control it to unleash most of its power, much like he did with his Golden Blade.

The red bracelet was called the Blood-Transforming Bracelet. Like the Blood-Flying Sword, it was a blood-attributed treasure, so Xu Yang naturally could not use it and had to set it aside with the sword.

The cracked Blood Spirit Pearl was a top-grade defensive artifact, but unfortunately, it had been damaged by the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl and could no longer be used. Even if it were intact, Xu Yang could not use it, as this top-grade artifact was also blood-attributed.

Xu Yang put the Blood Spirit Pearl aside with a look of disappointment and picked up the final blood-colored talisman to examine it. This talisman was called the Blood-Burning Talisman. It could burn the user's essence blood to increase their strength for a short time. After the effect wore off, the user would suffer severe damage to their vitality and be unable to fight again for a short period. It was purely a last-resort item for life-or-death situations.

Seeing that the talisman had such an effect, Xu Yang solemnly stored it in his Qiankun Bag. Although the side effects were extreme, it was a treasure that could save his life in a critical moment.

After counting the spoils, Xu Yang felt a bit depressed as he packed everything into his Qiankun Bag. He hadn't expected that he wouldn't be able to use any of the top-grade artifacts, which greatly dampened his excitement.

After finishing, Xu Yang stood up, mounted his sword, and flew above the forest to look down. He needed to see where he was to determine the direction back to his sect.

After some observation, Xu Yang realized he had reached the borders of Wu Mountain. In his panicked flight, he had actually ended up within the territory of Fengcheng Prefecture. Now, Xu Yang was in no rush to leave.

Because, as far as Xu Yang knew, there was a marketplace in the Wu Mountain area. He could take this opportunity to visit the market and also dispose of the items he couldn't use.

A marketplace was a trading hub. Various shops were set up there, selling everything from artifacts and pills to cultivation jade slips and spirit herbs—it could be said to contain everything one could imagine.

Even major powers like the Bailian Pavilion in Yue Province had shops in the marketplace, both to sell their own sect's treasures and to earn Spirit Stones and other urgently needed resources.

Moreover, fighting was forbidden within the marketplace, and violators were considered enemies of the entire cultivation world, to be hunted down by all. Thus, the marketplace was very lively, with a large number of rogue cultivators gathering to trade resources or sell them to the shops.

Since entering the cultivation world, Xu Yang had never been to a marketplace. Now that he was in the Wu Mountain area and there was one nearby, he naturally wanted to see it. After thinking it over, Xu Yang turned his flying sword and flew toward the market.

A short while later, Xu Yang arrived at a secluded valley. He landed his sword and, without hesitation, walked straight into the valley. The air rippled like water, and Xu Yang felt himself pass through a thin barrier.

He didn't pay it much mind, knowing this was an illusion array set up by the marketplace to block ordinary mortals who might wander in by accident. The power of this illusion was not great; anyone with at least first-level Qi Refining cultivation could pass through it.

After passing through the illusion, Xu Yang's eyes lit up. Ahead, not far away, shops stood in rows, and people were coming and going in a bustling, prosperous scene. Xu Yang watched for a moment before stepping into the marketplace.

Upon entering, Xu Yang discovered that the marketplace was divided into three sections, planned quite reasonably from left to right. The left side was an area of simple stalls. These stalls were numerous, and cultivators only needed to pay one Spirit Stone to use one. Most of the people buying, selling, and walking here were rogue cultivators without a sect.

The central part was a luxuriously decorated five-story building. Hanging above the entrance was a plaque with the words "Myriad Treasures Pavilion" written on it.

The right side consisted of various shops. The shops established by the major powers of Yue Province were located here, along with others opened by various cultivation families and rogue cultivators. The cultivators walking here were a diverse mix, with all kinds of people present.