Passed Away Peacefully

Passed Away Peacefully

A grand immortal, yet he was this poor—just an axe and a storage magic treasure...

Sure enough, Qi Refiners scraping by in the Mortal World were mostly bottom-feeders in this line of work...

Amid drifting black ash, Li Changshou placed the ring-shaped storage magic treasure and the broad axe into Heavenly Character Storage Bag No. 4. He then put away the Soul-Capturing Bead, leaped to the cliff's edge, and crouched before the Three Immortal-Resolving Grasses.

He took out two jade boxes prepared in advance, tucked two Detoxification Pills he had refined himself beneath his tongue, wrapped both hands in eighteen layers of dharma power, and swiftly yet carefully uprooted the two older poisonous herbs. He quickly placed them in the jade boxes and sealed them.

Harvest herbs without wiping them out, and Good Fortune will suffer no loss.

At last...

Li Changshou revealed a faint smile.

He rose swiftly, not daring to linger here, and worried that Yuwen Ling might have other accomplices.

He first rushed to the severed head of the Three-eyed Green Wave Snake, which had rolled away. Taking the storage bag marked "Earth Character No. 2" from his robes, he directly packed away the snake head, sealed it with talismans, and placed it into Mysterious Character Storage Artifact No. 4.

This thing should yield some decent poisons, useful for his little junior sister's self-defense against wolves. The snake's body was too large and too sturdy to collect in haste, so he could only settle for the next best thing.

The thick snake venom still lingered around them, while the corpses of those masked men had long since been burned clean by the three "main combat" paper effigies.

For targets below the immortal level, the Nether Cold Profound Fire burned without effort. The tiny remnants of ash from those men had now merged with their general, waiting to drift away upon the wind...

Afterward, Li Changshou and the four paper effigies worked together, scattering two bottles of medicinal powder across the area.

The human blood on the ground immediately ignited, giving rise to patches of green ghost fire that made the bloodstains vanish in the blink of an eye.

Mm, purifying the Primordial Wilderness's environment and protecting the Northern Continent's ecology—this was an obligation Human Qi Refiners could not refuse!

After collecting several more Storage Magic Tools, Li Changshou swept his gaze around while extending his spiritual awareness to examine every rustle within ten li. His hands began forming magic incantations.

After confirming that nothing had been missed, the several figures around him turned into paper effigies and slipped back into Li Changshou's sleeves.

He put away the umbrella, sank into the rock layer, and silently departed.

Once the formation dissipated, poisonous fog and miasma surged in from all directions, bringing with them a faint breeze.

Beneath the cypress tree remained only a headless snake corpse, several pools of highly toxic snake blood, crisscrossing cracks across the ground, and a cliff on the verge of collapse...

The Old Cypress Tree, newly gifted with a different hairstyle, gently swayed its few remaining branches in the wind, as though bidding a lingering farewell to Li Changshou hidden within the earth.

Using Earth Evasion, Li Changshou quietly approached the place where two junior fellow disciples were fighting.

Youqin Xuanya was controlling flying swords to batter Yuan Qing wildly. Yuan Qing was already unable to fend her off; his body bore countless wounds, and blood had soaked his robes.

This Yuan Qing...

His Void Returning Realm cultivation had probably been piled up with pills, hadn't it?

This was the so-called second-ranked member among the disciples of his generation?

If the people on the current generation's ranking list were all at this level, then in the immortal sect competition a few years from now, if he prepared Ling'e with a few more pills and some self-developed magic tools, she could probably bulldoze her way into the top hundred...

Li Changshou stealthily reached the outskirts of their battle, calculated Youqin Xuanya's attack rhythm, stretched one hand out of the ground, and forcefully hurled a porcelain bottle at Yuan Qing.

—it was precisely the porcelain bottle that had contained the Superior Soft Immortal Powder and was now empty.

A faint whistling sound came from behind him. Yuan Qing, who had just knocked away two flying swords, casually slashed backward. His sword move was handsome and precise, instantly shattering the porcelain bottle.

Hm? Where did this porcelain... bottle...

Yuan Qing's eyes rolled back. Before he could even retrieve his sword, his body swayed, and he pitched forward.

Just then, four flying swords tore through the air from ahead!

And as Yuan Qing fell forward, he nearly spread his arms wide, "actively" welcoming the incoming flying swords!

Youqin Xuanya had not intended to kill Yuan Qing here. No matter how vile and shameless he was in her eyes, he was still a disciple of the sect and had to be brought back to the mountain gate for their masters to judge.

But now, Yuan Qing had suddenly stopped resisting...

Just as Li Changshou had calculated, Youqin Xuanya had not truly mastered this Sword Control Technique. She had no time at all to withdraw her swords. The four flying swords instantly pierced Yuan Qing's throat, forehead, chest, and abdomen.

The strikes were so precise—destroying his three souls, piercing his dantian, clean and decisive, leaving no chance of life.

"This..."

Youqin Xuanya froze, then seemed to realize something and sighed softly.

She descended from midair, jumped off her flying sword, and quickly walked toward Yuan Qing's corpse...

Yuan Qing had passed away peacefully.

Truly, very peacefully. He had not sensed the slightest threat of death. He had fallen into a dream in an instant, and even being pierced through could not wake him. A faint smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

Even a mere trace of Superior Soft Immortal Powder was far beyond the dose Yuan Qing could endure at present.

And that smile of Yuan Qing's, in Youqin Xuanya's eyes...

"Even someone as evil as you has a shred of remorse?

Were you, too, forced by someone else?"

A trace of pity appeared in Youqin Xuanya's gaze. She shook her head. The flying swords swiftly returned and fitted together, bursting into blazing flames and melting into that greatsword, which hung itself across her back.

Hearing her mutter to herself, Li Changshou underground could not help giving a thumbs-up.

Poisonous Junior Sister, worthy indeed of Poisonous Junior Sister. She actually had such extraordinary skill at feeding herself chicken soup!

Still, when you were uncertain of the surrounding environment, after killing your opponent, shouldn't you hurry up and leave instead of standing here mourning and sighing...

Clearly, she had never been beaten by life. Her heart was far too big.

At this moment, Youqin Xuanya raised her head and glanced toward the cliff, where all movement had ceased. She could not detect even the slightest aura of a living person there, and that terrifying poisonous beast, the demon snake, had also gone silent...

I wonder how Senior Brother Changshou is doing. I should take Yuan Qing's corpse and hurry over to check.

At once, Youqin Xuanya took two steps toward Yuan Qing. Just as she was about to use dharma power to wrap up Yuan Qing's corpse, her eyes suddenly rolled back and her body slowly toppled backward.

With a clang, the greatsword crashed to the ground...

Almost at the same time, faint ripples appeared in the earth beneath Yuan Qing. Those porcelain fragments silently melted into the ground;

The ripples swiftly spread toward Youqin Xuanya. When they reached beneath her, a hand extended out and casually grabbed Youqin Xuanya by her long hair.

That merciless iron hand gave a hard tug, dragging the unconscious Youqin Xuanya directly underground...

The ripples on the ground trembled a few times before vanishing, restoring the earth to its former flatness and solidity.

A Qi Refiner's defenses were extraordinary from head to toe, and their scalp and hair follicles were no exception. Though this method was inelegant, it was exceedingly convenient, provided a firm grip, and would not give rise to unnecessary misunderstandings. Nor could it truly yank a Void Returning Realm cultivator bald.

When Li Changshou acted, he had only wanted to drag her away quickly and leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

As for Yuan Qing's corpse...

Li Changshou had not killed him, so there was no need to insist on scattering his ashes. Cleaning up the porcelain bottle fragments was enough;

Soft Immortal Powder was merely a sleeping drug. After a person had been dead for two days, it would completely dissipate, leaving traces difficult to detect.

Besides, when the immortals of the sect came searching later, it would be even harder to explain if they found no trace of the corpse.

Deep underground, Li Changshou dragged the sleeping Youqin Xuanya and headed straight southeast, the two of them swiftly vanishing like fish swimming through water.

"Ah! This damned formation is driving me to death!"

As Jiu Jiu shouted furiously, the earth beneath her bare feet trembled incessantly. The poisonous insects and poisonous beasts within the mist-shrouded land quivered in terror and unease.

Sealed by the great formation, this stretch of earth remained sturdy and did not crumble apart beneath Immortal Jiu's feet...

In a corner off to the side, Wang Qi and Liu Yan'er leaned against each other, looking listless and drained.

Having been trapped here for so long, their mental states were naturally poor. Yet it was precisely such an environment that had rapidly warmed their feelings in a short time. They had now become each other's "Senior Sister Yan'er" and "Junior Brother Qiqi."

By the way, the Qi in Wang Qi was not the qi from strange...

Half of Jiu Jiu's irritability was also due to being provoked by these two little dao companions...

After venting the frenzy in her heart, Jiu Jiu folded her arms and sat cross-legged in midair, three feet above the ground, continuing to ponder a solution.

Liu Yan'er slowly walked over and said gently, "Martial Uncle Jiu, please do not worry too much. Auspicious people are blessed by Heaven. Junior Brother and Junior Sister may already have gone to the town to wait."

Jiu Jiu snorted. "It's been so long. Their corpses might already be gone!"

"Martial Uncle..."

Liu Yan'er continued to persuade her. "Didn't Martial Uncle say yesterday that, judging by the time, the sect should already have sent people over?

Perhaps we'll soon escape this predicament."

"Ah!" Jiu Jiu wildly scratched through her medium-length hair with both hands. "Who knows whether those three brats are dead or alive!

If something really happened to Li Changshou, how am I supposed to explain it to his master!

If those two precious Immortal Seeds die young, a hundred years of my wine money will be gone!"

Several black lines appeared across Liu Yan'er's forehead. Though she knew Martial Uncle Jiu was somewhat soft-hearted beneath her harsh words and truly cared about them, she could not help feeling that Martial Uncle Jiu...

Really cared more about her wine money...

Suddenly, a faint breeze blew through the great formation, and a sigh sounded from every direction.

Following it came an aged voice, utterly devoid of emotion:

"Little Jiu, do you know your sin?"

Jiu Jiu could not help shuddering. She lowered her slender legs and bare feet, then softly replied, "M-Master?"

Liu Yan'er was also startled. "Venerable Wangqing came personally to find us?"

The surrounding white mist began to retreat swiftly. At last, the immortal awareness and spiritual awareness of the three broke free of the trapped formation and spread unobstructed in every direction...

At that moment, two figures flew over from afar and crashed down before Jiu Jiu.

They were two gray-haired old men dressed in black. Both possessed Primordial Immortal cultivation, yet both were heavily wounded and unconscious, each bearing a sunken palm print on his body.

Wang Qi shouted excitedly from the side, "Martial Uncle Jiu, it was those two! They were the ones who attacked Senior Sister Yan'er and me!"

Jiu Jiu did not hesitate any longer. Her legs bent, and she knelt directly on the ground, pressing her forehead to the earth as she spoke in deep dejection:

"Master,

This disciple was plotted against and has lost contact with three young juniors.

This disciple is willing to accept every punishment, but I beg Master to swiftly search for those three and see whether any have survived!"

Just then, the white mist around them had already vanished, and several figures appeared in the distance.

The leading Daoist was less than five feet tall. Seeing Jiu Jiu kneeling so earnestly, he felt somewhat awkward. He could not help lowering his head to cough, then said with a smile:

"Our master didn't come. It's me, cough, your resourceful, handsome, and elegant... Fifth Senior Brother..."

"Hm?"

Killing intent!

The short Daoist immediately shuddered. Just as he was about to salvage the situation, the little junior sister in coarse hemp robes stamped her foot fiercely and shot across the ground!

She was as fast as an arrow loosed from a Divine Bow, kicking up wave after wave of sonic booms!