Slaying a Formidable Foe and Counting the Spoils

At that moment, Zhou Chun, caught between two First-grade High-tier talismans attacking him from front and rear, was startled at first, but quickly came up with a response.

He poured more magic power into driving the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel, instantly splitting the magic tool in two and transforming it into a pair of semicircular moon blades, then sent them crashing separately toward the fire serpent and golden spear.

At the same time, his thoughts stirred, and the Rock Earth Turtle beside him suddenly slammed its tail against the ground and sprang into the air, transforming into a flesh-and-blood turtle shield that blocked the way in front of him.

In midair, the moon blades collided and clashed with the fire serpent and golden spear. After consuming most of the power of the two spells, they exhausted their strength and fell to the ground.

The fire serpent and golden spear, greatly weakened after that, landed on the Rock Earth Turtle's back and Zhou Chun's protective shield, but failed to cause master or servant any substantial harm.

The change left the triangular-eyed man and the red-veiled woman dumbstruck, their expressions changing drastically.

Zhou Chun and the Rock Earth Turtle, which had landed again, seized this excellent opportunity to launch a swift counterattack.

With a flick of his sleeve, Zhou Chun sent the silver short sword magic tool shooting out, aimed directly at the triangular-eyed man ahead.

The Rock Earth Turtle slammed its palm against the ground, and sharp stone spikes instantly rose around the triangular-eyed man, battering the golden light shield around him until its radiance thrashed chaotically and it shook without cease.

Only then did the triangular-eyed man recover his wits. He hurriedly drove the earth-yellow circular shield magic tool to block the silver short sword while shouting in panic, "Damn it, this one's tough! Wifey, you go first. I'll hold him off and cover your retreat!"

At his words, the red-veiled woman's pretty face changed at once. After hesitating briefly, she nodded and replied, "Then be careful, husband. I'll wait for you at the old place."

After saying that, she recalled her water-blue long sword magic tool, turned, and quickly retreated into the mountain forest.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun did not try to stop her. He simply infused magic power into the two semicircular moon blades on the ground, sending them into the sky, where they merged back into one and transformed into a silver-black wheel.

As he watched the silver-black wheel spinning and dancing through the air, a trace of fear flashed through the triangular-eyed man's eyes.

He nervously swallowed, then said to Zhou Chun in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist, Yang admits defeat today. So long as you let Yang leave, Yang can leave his Storage Bag for you!"

A strange glint flashed through Zhou Chun's eyes at that. He softly replied, "Really? You're not trying to trick me, are you?"

"It's absolutely true! If Yang deceives you, then Yang isn't human!"

The triangular-eyed man thumped his chest as he spoke, his tone filled with certainty.

"Then put the Storage Bag on the ground and leave by yourself."

Zhou Chun lowered his head and considered it for a moment before stating his condition.

The triangular-eyed man's eyes lit up with joy. He hurriedly cupped his fists toward Zhou Chun and said, "Many thanks for your magnanimity, Fellow Daoist. Yang bids you farewell."

After saying that, he reached down and untied the Storage Bag from his waist, tossing it into a patch of grass nearby. Then, without even withdrawing the golden light shield around his body, he turned and walked toward the mountain forest with the shield atop him.

But just after he had turned and taken a few steps, the silver-black wheel magic tool spinning through the air let out a howl as it tore through the air and slashed toward him.

"You broke your word!!"

The triangular-eyed man's furious roar rang out. His face twisted with exasperation as he hurriedly turned around and sent the earth-yellow circular shield magic tool to block in front of him.

"Who said I broke my word? Didn't I let you leave and allow you to walk a few steps first?"

A faintly mocking smile appeared on Zhou Chun's face as he watched the earth-yellow circular shield magic tool rapidly disintegrate and shatter beneath the repeated cuts of the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel.

Before the triangular-eyed man could use any other means, the silver-black wheel magic tool, which Zhou Chun had driven with concentrated magic power, spun once in the air before smashing down toward him again.

This time, he finally could not withstand it. One blow shattered his shield and killed him on the spot.

"This is what it means when evil deeds bring about one's own ruin!"

In the mountain forest, Zhou Chun formed hand seals and gathered water vapor into rain, washing the bloodstains from the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel. Then he looked at the mangled corpse lying in a pool of blood and gave a cold, mocking laugh.

Toward these bandit cultivators who specifically ambushed other cultivators to commit Murder and Treasure Seizing, Zhou Chun felt not the slightest trace of sympathy or pity.

The crimes they had committed would not be repaid even if they died a hundred times over.

It would have been one thing if he lacked the ability to do anything about it normally. But now that he could leave a bandit cultivator dead, how could Zhou Chun refuse to perform such a good deed?

Moreover, he was certain that the Storage Bag the triangular-eyed man had left behind earlier was merely a decoy. It definitely did not contain his true wealth and possessions.

Sure enough, while searching the corpse on the ground, Zhou Chun soon found another Storage Bag inside a pocket hidden in the man's sleeve.

He sent a little of his spiritual sense into this Storage Bag, and a smile immediately spread across his face.

Next, Zhou Chun burned the corpse on the ground, put the Rock Earth Turtle into its Spirit Beast Pouch, and swiftly used the Wind Riding Technique to leave the battlefield.

Only after Zhou Chun had been gone for half an hour did the red-veiled woman who had departed earlier return to the scene.

When she saw the magic tool fragments on the ground, the traces of blood, and the ashes left by the corpse-burning, she instantly understood the outcome.

Her pretty face went deathly pale. Her legs weakened, and she collapsed onto the ground, clutching her head and covering her face as she began to sob bitterly.

"Wuwuwu, husband, how could you just leave like this? You promised you would grow old together with me. How could you abandon me and leave just like that..."

In the mountain forest, the woman's sorrowful, grief-stricken sobs drifted on the wind, lingering without end.

Meanwhile, after Zhou Chun hurried away from the Red Rock Mountain Range, he found a secluded place to stop and sat in meditation to recover his magic power.

A First-grade High-tier magic tool was indeed useful, but the amount of magic power it consumed was truly tremendous.

That battle, which had lasted less than half a shichen, had consumed nearly sixty percent of Zhou Chun's magic power.

And this was only a single First-grade High-tier magic tool.

It was easy to imagine that if he did not break through to the late Qi Refining Stage, then even if he had two First-grade High-tier magic tools, he probably would not be able to use them more than a few times before his magic power was drained dry, leaving him at the mercy of others.

Compared with that, spirit pets were still better. They had a wide range of uses and did not consume their master's magic power.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chun glanced at the Rock Earth Turtle standing guard beside him. Before entering meditation, he deliberately took a bag of dried meat from his Storage Bag and fed it to the turtle as a reward.

More than two shichen later, Zhou Chun woke from meditation, his magic power finally restored to more than eighty percent.

He then took out the Stone Jar and drank a large mouthful of Purifying Spirit Water to dispel the Turbid Fiendish Energy within his body. After that, he took out the Storage Bag he had found on the triangular-eyed man and began counting the spoils.

There were quite a few things in the triangular-eyed man's two Storage Bags. The one used as a decoy contained more than twenty Spirit Coins and talismans, clothes, books, and other items, making it look fairly convincing.

The other Storage Bag, which Zhou Chun had found inside the pocket in his sleeve, contained more than one hundred and sixty Spirit Coins, two bottles of pills, several jade and wooden boxes holding precious spiritual objects, and several cultivation manuals and secret texts.

In addition, Zhou Chun had also recovered the Flame Spear magic tool and copper gourd magic tool that the triangular-eyed man had used earlier.

The Flame Spear magic tool was covered in cracks and would probably be ruined after a few more uses, so it had little value.

The copper gourd magic tool that could release fire pellets, however, had been preserved perfectly, giving Zhou Chun another usable magic tool.

Zhou Chun examined the two magic tools a few times, then put them away for the moment, intending to refine them after returning to the Lineage.

He then turned his gaze toward the jade bottles containing the pills, as well as the jade and wooden boxes.

When he opened the two jade bottles, he found that one contained a purplish-red powder.

Zhou Chun recognized it as the healing spiritual medicine Blood Coagulating and Muscle Regenerating Powder, which had an extremely powerful effect on stopping bleeding and healing external wounds.

The other jade bottle contained three yellow-brown pills he did not recognize. He would have to return and ask his elders to identify them before he could learn what they were used for.

The remaining two jade boxes contained two spiritual medicines. One was Red Earth Ginseng with an age of more than a hundred years, while the other was the spiritual herb Seven-Leaf Purple Star Orchid, whose value was somewhat higher than that of century-old Red Earth Ginseng.

Both spiritual medicines were wild-grown. Most likely, the triangular-eyed man had obtained them by robbing them from someone else.

The final wooden box contained an oval, earth-yellow ore.

The earth-yellow ore was very heavy. Zhou Chun had to use both hands to lift it out of the wooden box.

Just as he was examining it and trying to determine its origin, the Rock Earth Turtle suddenly stretched its head in front of him and sniffed it, conveying a strange emotion to him.

"You're saying this thing can be eaten?"

Zhou Chun stared at the Rock Earth Turtle in astonishment, finding it utterly unbelievable.

However, with the Rock Earth Turtle's intelligence, it could not understand those complex emotions that were difficult for it to comprehend. It merely nodded, then conveyed a new thought to him.

"Oh, you're saying that you feel this thing would benefit you if you ate it, but you can't eat it yet?"

Zhou Chun nodded slightly, now understanding the Rock Earth Turtle's meaning.

The earth-yellow ore should have the effect of promoting bloodline evolution in the Rock Earth Turtle clan, but it also required a certain level of strength from the Rock Earth Turtle.

His Rock Earth Turtle was currently only a First-grade Mid-tier Demonic Beast. Its own bloodline potential had yet to reach its limit, so it would find the ore difficult to digest if it ate it now.

It would probably have to wait until the Rock Earth Turtle had fully developed its bloodline potential and reached a cultivation level comparable to that of a twelfth-level Qi Refining cultivator before it could eat the ore to promote its bloodline evolution.

In that case, this ore should be a rare resource. Zhou Chun wondered where the triangular-eyed man had obtained it.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chun looked at the Rock Earth Turtle and said, "Since that's the case, I'll store this for you first. I'll give it to you when you can eat it in the future."

Then he turned his gaze toward the books and secret texts.

After flipping through several of the manuals and secret texts, Zhou Chun quickly found what he wanted.

In a book called Feng Zhen's Miscellaneous Talks, its owner, Feng Zhen, had recorded a disguise and breath-concealment secret art called the Forest Hidden Cicada Breath Art. It was a practical secret art that could both conceal one's movements among vegetation like the Forest Hidden Art and restrain one's breath and aura, suppressing fluctuations in magic power.

Moreover, unlike the Forest Hidden Art, which made it difficult to move freely after being cast, the Forest Hidden Cicada Breath Art allowed one to move through the mountain forest after activation, while still achieving a fairly good disguising effect during movement.

However, the book also stated that while moving, the disguising effect of the Forest Hidden Cicada Breath Art could basically only deceive the naked eye and had little effect against spiritual sense, so its applications were still rather limited.

Even so, Zhou Chun immediately realized that this Forest Hidden Cicada Breath Art secret art was likely his greatest gain this time!