Spirit Control Token

Seven days later, Shen Long and his three companions appeared in a vast green bamboo forest, moving slowly and with faces full of vigilance.

A gentle breeze blew, causing some of the bamboo to sway softly.

A piercing sound of something breaking through the air rang out as dozens of two-foot-long green wind blades descended from the sky, heading straight for the four of them.

Shen Long reacted quickly, immediately casting his Mystic Water Umbrella to release a curtain of blue water that shielded him.

Several green wind blades struck the blue water curtain in succession, causing ripples to spread across its surface.

Xu Lei and the others also cast spells to block the wind blades, and two green mantises, each about a zhang in size, descended from the sky. Their forelimbs resembled two green sickles, flashing with a cold light; they had tiny heads, bloated abdomens, and green eyes.

"A late-stage first-rank Green-Eyed Wind Mantis!"

Shen Long recognized these demonic insects, which were known for being quite troublesome.

One Green-Eyed Wind Mantis lunged at Shen Long, who flicked his sleeve, sending a water-vat-sized Crimson Fireball flying out to meet it.

The Green-Eyed Wind Mantis crossed its pair of mantis arms and swung them forward, firing over a dozen two-foot-long green wind blades that shredded the Crimson Fireball. The remaining wind blades struck the blue water curtain, producing a series of muffled thuds.

As the Green-Eyed Wind Mantis pounced, Shen Long hurriedly cast his Azure Moon Shears to intercept it.

A massive explosion rang out, followed by a faint, shrill screech. Shen Long turned his head to see the other Green-Eyed Wind Mantis being slain by four flying blades flickering with yellow light.

Xu Lei held one of the yellow-glowing flying blades in his hand, his expression cold.

"Parent-Child Blades!"

Shen Long exclaimed in surprise.

Most Qi Refining cultivators could control at most two magic tools at once. The Parent-Child Blades were a set; holding the parent blade allowed one to control the child blades. Strictly speaking, it counted as controlling one magic tool, but the Parent-Child Blades were expensive, and the average Qi Refining cultivator could not afford them.

Having dealt with one Green-Eyed Wind Mantis, the yellow flying blades in Xu Lei's hand shone with a blinding yellow light. The four blades flew toward the remaining Green-Eyed Wind Mantis, while Sun Yang and Qin Qing also launched attacks.

Sensing danger, the Green-Eyed Wind Mantis crossed its arms to swing them forward, firing over a dozen green wind blades to meet the attack, then flapped its wings to fly toward the high sky.

A massive Crimson Fireball descended from above, slamming into its body as rolling flames engulfed the Green-Eyed Wind Mantis.

The four yellow flying blades shattered the incoming green wind blades, their spiritual light flaring before they plunged into the flames. Shen Long and the others also controlled their magic tools to attack, and a pile of minced meat fell from the sky.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, I didn't expect you to have a set of Parent-Child Blades. I've never seen you use them before!"

Qin Qing's face was full of wariness.

"I just bought them recently, and this is the first time I've used them. That is also the reason why I didn't invite other fellow daoists."

Xu Lei explained.

They collected the carcasses of the Green-Eyed Wind Mantises and continued forward.

Half an hour later, they walked out of the bamboo forest. Not far away stood a steep, high peak with dense vegetation covering the mountainside.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, where is the Purple Apricot Tree?"

Shen Long asked. He didn't see any caves; could it be on the other side of the peak?

Xu Lei cast his Parent-Child Blades, and the four yellow-glowing blades slashed at a patch of ground.

With a thunderous roar, the ground shattered, revealing a cave entrance about a zhang wide.

It appeared that someone had deliberately covered it up.

"What is going on? Fellow Daoist Xu, why did you block the entrance?"

Qin Qing asked, puzzled.

"There is no Purple Apricot Tree; this is an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. I blocked the entrance so other cultivators wouldn't discover it," Xu Lei said, his eyes burning with greed.

The fundamental reason he didn't invite other cultivators was that he didn't want to share the treasure. With four people treasure hunting, it was easier for him to manipulate the others and ensure he took the lion's share.

"What? An ancient cultivator's cave dwelling?"

Qin Qing said in surprise.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you can't break the restriction either?"

Shen Long asked suspiciously. Given Xu Lei's character, if he could take it all for himself, he wouldn't be sharing it with them.

"I can't open it. Even using the Parent-Child Blades is useless, otherwise I wouldn't have invited you. The old rules: we break the restriction, I take the lion's share, and you take the smaller portion. How about it?"

Xu Lei said.

"No problem, we'll listen to Fellow Daoist Xu," Sun Yang agreed readily; he had always stood with Xu Lei.

After a moment of consideration, Shen Long and Qin Qing also agreed. If they refused, Xu Lei would surely kill them to silence them. Of course, even after breaking the restriction, Xu Lei might still kill them to keep the treasure for himself.

Xu Lei and Sun Yang walked in front, with Qin Qing and Shen Long following behind.

Shen Long flicked his wrist, and a yellow light flew from his sleeve into the ground—it was the Iron Tail Scorpion.

The Spirit Beast Bag was tied to his right wrist, and the mouth of the bag had been left open. As soon as he gave the order, the Iron Tail Scorpion would fly out and burrow into the ground to ambush.

Shen Long had trained for this many times, specifically to guard against Xu Lei, hoping that Xu Lei wouldn't turn on them.

The cave was not large, and before long they reached the end, appearing in a cavern about a mu in size. The stone walls were uneven, and there were no spiritual herbs or medicines; it looked unremarkable, just an abandoned cave.

Xu Lei manipulated the Parent-Child Blades, sending four flying knives flickering with yellow light toward a stone wall.

After a series of muffled "thuds," a dense yellow light barrier emerged, and behind it, a human skeleton could be seen.

"Don't hold anything back, everyone. Break the restriction as quickly as possible."

As soon as Xu Lei finished speaking, the spiritual light of the four yellow flying knives surged, striking the yellow light barrier.

Shen Long and the other two each brought out a Mid-grade Magical Tool to attack the yellow light barrier.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the yellow light barrier shattered, revealing a simple stone chamber about a hundred feet in size, with a human skeleton in the center.

The skeleton was draped in a tattered cyan robe, with many bones broken and some blackened; a cyan storage bag was tied around its waist. Judging by the blackened bones, this person had likely died from poison.

Xu Lei lunged forward, rushing into the stone chamber, and snatched the storage bag, trembling with excitement.

Xu Lei turned the bag opening downward and gave it a light shake. After a sweep of cyan mist, a pile of items appeared on the ground: magical tools, spirit stones, ores, jade slips, and more.

His gaze landed on a token flickering with cyan light, with the characters "Spirit Control" engraved on the front.

Xu Lei felt he had seen this token somewhere before. Just as he was trying to recall, a figure flew past, reaching out to grab the cyan token.

"How bold!"

Xu Lei's expression turned cold. His four yellow flying knives shot straight toward the figure, striking a blue water curtain and producing a muffled sound.

It was none other than Shen Long!

He had grabbed the cyan token, and the Mystic Water Umbrella floated above his head, casting down a blue water curtain to protect him.

"Shen Long, hand over the token, and you can take your pick of the other items."

Xu Lei said with a gloomy face.

"Sorry, I want this token too. I don't want anything else."

Shen Long's expression remained calm.

He was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, Qin Qing and Sun Yang were both at the sixth level, and Xu Lei was at the eighth level.

"The Spirit Control Token—that is a reward given by the Spirit Control Sect to cultivators who have performed great deeds. With the Spirit Control Token, one can join the Spirit Control Sect directly, regardless of aptitude or age."

Qin Qing also recognized the origin of the token; it was no wonder the two were fighting over it.

"Shen Long, are you looking for death?"

Xu Lei's expression turned icy.

"Heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves. In the past, when we hunted demonic beasts, you always took the lion's share, and I had no objections, but not this time."

Shen Long said.