The Shame of Foundation Establishment

Wang Daoyuan stopped in the valley. He had relied mainly on various evasion talismans during his frantic flight, so he had not expended much spiritual power or stamina. Still, to confuse his opponent, he put on a show of depleted spiritual power and utter exhaustion.

Zhang Dacheng panted like a dog in June, nearly sticking out his tongue. When he saw Wang Daoyuan had stopped running and was also gasping for breath, he felt much better. Otherwise, he truly would have suspected that the youth before him was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in disguise.

Zhang Dacheng circulated his spiritual power and pretended to be perfectly at ease, trying to maintain the image of having victory firmly in his grasp.

Such a petty trick naturally could not fool Wang Daoyuan. To confuse his opponent as well, Wang Daoyuan forced out a head full of sweat with spiritual power. His face was pale, without the slightest trace of color, and he gasped, "I... am not good at running. I truly... can't... can't run anymore. Kill me... carve me up... do as you please."

Zhang Dacheng circulated his spiritual power, forcefully suppressing his surging blood and chaotic breathing. With his hands clasped behind his back, he assumed the air of a lofty senior and said, "Had you known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? I had no intention of killing you. Hand over all your possessions, and I will spare your life."

"Unfortunately, you failed to appreciate my kindness and even launched a sneak attack on me. You refused a toast only to drink a forfeit. I cannot spare you this time. Hand over your storage bag at once, and I will grant you a quick death."

Wang Daoyuan wore an utterly hopeless expression. "This junior knows he has offended Senior and does not dare hope to survive. I am willing to hand over all my possessions. I only ask that Senior leave me an intact corpse, so my family can find me and bury me in the ancestral graveyard."

Zhang Dacheng pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "For the sake of your ability to mend your ways, hand over your storage bag, and I will leave you an intact corpse."

Wang Daoyuan held out a storage bag in both hands and shakily presented it before Zhang Dacheng, then slowly backed away.

Zhang Dacheng kept a wary eye on him. Only after Wang Daoyuan had retreated beyond ten zhang did he relax. The divine sense coverage of cultivators below the Qi Refining Peak generally did not exceed ten zhang. The range for using Talismans from afar was likewise within ten zhang. Beyond ten zhang, Wang Daoyuan could not threaten him.

At that moment, Zhang Dacheng eagerly opened the storage bag. Inside lay a thick stack of Talismans, more than a hundred in all.

Of course, not all of them were Talismans. Wang Daoyuan was not foolish enough to truly hand over a large number of Talismans. There were only around ten high-grade first-order non-offensive, defensive Talismans inside, along with one Low-grade Second-order Golden Blade Talisman. The rest were all Talisman Paper.

He grabbed all the Talismans in one hand, a drunken expression appearing on his face as he counted them one by one.

In truth, a sweep of divine sense would have told him how many there were. Yet Zhang Dacheng counted them one at a time like a mortal. He truly had never seen money before! A dignified Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet so shabby.

Just as Zhang Dacheng was counting with great enthusiasm, he suddenly noticed that one Talisman was different. The others were all yellow Talismans, while this one alone was purple, and the spiritual power it contained far surpassed that of the yellow ones.

He took the purple Talisman into his hand and was about to inspect it closely when it suddenly shattered. A golden blade appeared from thin air and chopped directly toward his forehead.

Zhang Dacheng had completely lowered his guard, and he had been closely examining the Talisman. There were only three or four inches between the purple Talisman and his forehead.

With such a short distance, and with one side prepared while the other was not, Zhang Dacheng had not even reacted before the golden blade embedded itself in the center of his brow.

Zhang Dacheng wore an expression of utter disbelief as he struggled to open his mouth and ask, "Wh... why?"

Wang Daoyuan finally relaxed and smiled lightly. "My divine sense far exceeds that of cultivators at the same level."

With that, he added a Golden Sword Talisman strike to Zhang Dacheng's heart. Blood continuously flowed from the wound, yet Wang Daoyuan still did not dare approach. After all, careful sailing could last ten thousand years. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator's dying strike was not something a Qi Refining cultivator like him could withstand.

Though Zhang Dacheng was the shame of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he was still a genuine Foundation Establishment Cultivator. His strength was there for all to see. Only by taking one's opponents seriously could one live longer.

After waiting a long while, until all Zhang Dacheng's blood had drained away, Wang Daoyuan pasted five Golden Armor Talismans onto himself and slowly walked over. The anticipated final desperate strike never came. Zhang Dacheng was thoroughly finished.

He had thought this move might not work. If it failed, he would throw out every offensive and Defense Talisman he had. If he still could not kill him, he would use a Second-Order Mid-Grade Divine Movement Talisman to flee. That fool probably would not be able to catch up. He had never expected it to succeed so easily; even Wang Daoyuan found it a little hard to believe.

He mocked, "What a disgrace to Foundation Establishment Cultivators. He was finished off by a single Low-grade Second-order Golden Blade Talisman, without even a struggle before death."

If Zhang Dacheng could have heard him, he likely would have cursed aloud. Was I merely a little poor? How did that make me a disgrace? I wanted to drag you down with me before dying, but you were too cowardly. You only came near after I had bled dry. What could I have used to struggle?

Naturally, Zhang Dacheng would never hear him again. Wang Daoyuan began searching the corpse. He removed the storage bag and Spirit Beast Bag from Zhang Dacheng's waist, and also found a white jade token. One side bore the words "Myriad Spirit Sect," while the other bore Zhang Dacheng's name.

Wang Daoyuan immediately felt his teeth ache. He had truly stirred up trouble on the head of the Grand Duke of the Year. What sort of force was the Myriad Spirit Sect? It was one of the Three Great Sects of the Zhao Kingdom, ranked first in strength. It had seven or eight Golden Core Cultivators, thirty or forty Violet Mansion Cultivators, no fewer than five hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and countless Qi Refining disciples.

And that was only its strength in the open. No one could say how much power it hid in the shadows.

Even a single hair from the Myriad Spirit Sect was thicker than the Wang Clan's waist! Had he failed to consult the imperial almanac before going out? How had killing one idiotic Foundation Establishment Cultivator ended with that man being a disciple of the Myriad Spirit Sect? Then again, immortal cultivators did not consult imperial almanacs.

Wang Daoyuan did not panic. Zhang Dacheng was such a poor bastard that he surely had no great background. Within the Myriad Spirit Sect, he was merely an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and one at the very bottom at that.

In a great sect like the Myriad Spirit Sect, it was not uncommon for Foundation Establishment Cultivators to go traveling and vanish without a trace. Unless they were descendants or disciples of Golden Core Cultivators, the sect would not conduct a massive search. At most, a few old acquaintances and friends would voluntarily search for them.

Therefore, as long as no one caught solid evidence that he had killed Zhang Dacheng, no one would come looking for trouble specifically because of it.

After all, the Wang Clan was on Netherworld Sect territory, and Wang Daoyuan had only provoked this trouble because the Netherworld Sect had conscripted him. By reason and sentiment alike, the Netherworld Sect could not allow Myriad Spirit Sect members to openly come and make trouble.

As for covert retaliation, the Wang Clan was in the state of having too many debts to worry about and too many lice to feel their bites. Their ancestor had killed several Golden Core elders of the Crimson Sun Palace; that was far more serious than this. Yet was the Wang Clan not still standing?

Even so, he still had to handle the aftermath properly. Wang Daoyuan put Zhang Dacheng's corpse into an empty storage bag, then placed that storage bag into the Spirit Pearl Space. Zhang Dacheng's storage bag, Spirit Beast Bag, token, and even the soil from the scene, dug out to a depth of one foot, were all thrown into the space in one go.

He carefully examined the surroundings for any traces left behind. Then he threw out a Rain Transformation Talisman, and a torrential downpour began in the valley. Every trace was washed away by the heavy rain, vanishing without a shadow.

Rather than continue toward Jade Spring Peak in the southeast, Wang Daoyuan turned northeast to confuse any possible pursuers.

He traveled several hundred li using a Swift Travel Talisman. When he came upon a mountain stream, he activated a Water Evasion Talisman and entered the water, drifting downstream along the creek toward the southeast.

Among the Five Elements Evasion Techniques, earth evasion was the most practical because earth could be found everywhere; fire evasion was the fastest, but also the most conspicuous—after all, anyone could see a giant fireball shooting past. Water evasion, meanwhile, was the hardest to track, because water constantly flowed. The traces left by the Water Evasion Technique flowed away with the current and soon became impossible to follow.

Wang Daoyuan escaped through the stream. Unless someone was following directly behind him at this very moment, the aura and other traces he left behind would vanish shortly afterward.