Bayue Weiban

Chapter 304 Two Sects' Cultivators

As Ji Yuan poured all his mystic power into the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda and the broken furnace, they both emitted an even more powerful radiance.

In just two or three breaths, all the light spots in the cave were devoured. Simultaneously, the roar of the middle-aged Daoist echoed in everyone's ears.

However, Ji Yuan seemed not to hear, and an astonishing light suddenly erupted from his eyes.

In that instant, he and the broken furnace established a solid connection. An ocean of information surged into his soul light, transforming into profound runes.

With a flash of inspiration, he formed a hand seal and gently pointed towards the broken furnace above his head. Although his body was empty, a rune still condensed at his fingertip.

As this rune descended and merged into the broken furnace, a surge of spiritual light immediately erupted, striking the middle-aged Daoist in an instant.

In just a moment, the opponent's aura solidified, and the surrounding light began to rapidly dissipate!

Even the lotus platform beneath him melted away by two to three tenths in a short time, and the immense spiritual energy decomposed into the purest spiritual qi!

In the next moment, the old man's fists, piercing through layers of light, finally landed on the middle-aged Daoist's face and chest.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

Amidst the terrifying qi and gang qi, a punch intent, capable of shattering mountains and rivers, shot towards the sky!

Under this punch intent, the entire cave began to collapse, the surrounding mountain walls cracked, and countless碎石 fell!

The deafening roar and astonishing fluctuations of power even reached the surface, shaking the entire sky.

Seeing such a commotion, 'Xu Qin' and 'Xiao Yao San Ren's' expressions suddenly changed, and they desperately wanted to dive down.

However, how could ten-odd third-realm cultivators allow them to do so? They all unleashed their techniques to intercept.

But the two seemed to have lost their minds, and even when hit by several magical artifacts, they pressed on towards the large pit with all their might!

"Get lost!"

'Xiao Yao San Ren' transmitted a divine sense filled with overwhelming rage.

But in the next moment, his aura abruptly faltered, followed by the blood threads that had already grown on the Golden Branch Jade Leaf bone quietly collapsing.

Even his entire body instantly turned dim, and the six-colored Golden Core in his chest was instantly covered in cracks.

"No!"

'Xu Qin's' divine sense filled with terror, his bony palms continuously formed hand seals, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth towards him.

He seemed to want to stabilize the abnormal condition on his body, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't change anything.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of over ten third-realm cultivators, two Golden Core cultivators from thousands of years ago turned into dust, scattering with the gentle breeze of heaven and earth.

Even their two six-colored Golden Cores, with a strange sound, collapsed into tiny fragments and fell.

Seeing this scene, the group of third-realm cultivators quickly made their moves to contend for them. Even though the Golden Cores were shattered, they still possessed astonishing value and could save them decades of hard work.

As the group scrambled for the Golden Core fragments, no one noticed that over twenty zhang away, a patch of ground loosened, and three figures crawled out.

As soon as they returned to the surface, Ji Yuan applied several talismans to himself and the two beside him, which could conceal their forms and aura.

After doing all this and confirming they had not been discovered, the three, including the old man from the Shan He Gang, quietly left with guilty expressions.

When they reached the gathering place of the cultivators, three formation masters had just opened a gap. The three quickly mingled with the crowd and silently departed.

After exiting the gap, the old man immediately transmitted a message to the disciples of the Shan He Gang, instructing them to leave the area quickly. Only then did he and Ji Yuan conceal their forms again.

It wasn't until half an incense stick later, when the talismans completely lost their effect, that their forms reappeared.

By then, they had quietly moved over twenty li away, making it difficult for even third-realm cultivators to pursue them in a short time.

"Kid, we're safe now, hurry up and take out the thing!"

Having confirmed no one was following, the old man squinted and smiled, hunching over and rubbing his hands, looking eagerly at the young man before him.

Seeing this, Ji Yuan smiled faintly, then shook the broken furnace in his hand, and a seven-colored Golden Core fell out.

Before it landed, it was snatched by the old man before him. Immediately, a stream of pure gang qi surged out, isolating the light and aura emanating from the Golden Core.

After several confirmations, the old man finally put it into his Shan He Bag, the wrinkles on his face creased into a smile.

"I am Tie Xiongxin, an elder of the Shan He Gang. I welcome young friend to visit me anytime in the future."

He coughed twice, regaining his demeanor of a senior expert: "I may not have much else, but I have plenty of fine wine. I certainly won't let young friend leave empty-handed!"

Listening to Tie Xiongxin's hearty laughter, Ji Yuan couldn't help but grin, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

With his strength, he could have taken both Golden Cores, so why did he only take one, and a seven-colored Golden Core of lower grade at that?

As for words of seniority and virtue, he would never believe them. How could someone who cultivated to the third realm possibly be so purely benevolent!

As if sensing his thoughts, Tie Xiongxin stopped his laughter and said very seriously, "The path of a pure martial artist is a domineering snatch from heaven and earth. If one were to take everything, they would likely face heavenly punishment before becoming an immortal."

If cultivators' cultivation is a deception of heaven in the early stages, and a theft of heaven after condensing the Golden Core, then attempting to become an immortal is an act of defiance against heaven.

Conversely, pure martial artists neither deceive nor steal from heaven, but rather forcibly seize the power of heaven and earth, taking advantage of the creation of heaven and earth to strengthen their physique and ultimately transcend.

It is precisely for this reason that martial artists at higher realms are rare and find it difficult to withstand the hardships along the way, facing calamities from heaven and earth just by walking.

Seeing that he spoke so sincerely, Ji Yuan could barely believe him… one tenth!

"Hahahaha, if there's an opportunity in the future, young friend can come find me at the Shan He Gang in Luoxia County. I'll be sure to have plenty of wine!"

Tie Xiongxin laughed heartily and then turned to leave with great洒脱, seemingly unconcerned about the five-colored Golden Core in his hand.

Only after the old man's aura completely disappeared from his senses did Ji Yuan frown and begin to inspect himself repeatedly, searching for any hidden traps.

Beside him, Li Buwei also performed various techniques, inspecting himself over and over.

However, after a long while, both of them found nothing, and could indeed confirm that the other party had not set any traps.

"Could it be that we really met a senior expert?"

Li Buwei muttered to himself with a frown.

Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan immediately shook his head. The few previous encounters were enough to confirm that this old man was by no means a pure and honest person.

At least, he had never seen any senior expert who would lead the charge in acting like a thief.

"When things are out of the ordinary, there must be a reason. We should leave this place as soon as possible."

Ji Yuan pondered for a moment and then said.

Regardless of what Tie Xiongxin was planning, their objective had been achieved, and there was indeed no need to linger here.

Now that they had obtained a five-colored Golden Core, the priority was to get as far away from this place as possible, lest any trouble arise.

Not long after, the two applied Light Body Talismans, leaving as little trace as possible, and headed towards their originally planned destination.

According to their plan, they were supposed to fish in troubled waters, and then, relying on their arrangements along the way and the cultivators Li Buwei had contacted, quickly leave with the obtained Golden Core.

However, a series of unexpected events had disrupted their plan, rendering many of their original arrangements unusable.

But fortunately, the final outcome had not changed; the two had actually obtained a five-colored Golden Core from under the noses of the third-realm cultivators!

With this, they had the main ingredient for refining the spiritual spring. All that remained was to return to the Nine Xuan Sect's Void Crossing Warship to begin preparing the remaining spiritual items.

However, upon thinking of this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but hesitate, wondering whether to hand over the broken furnace in his hand.

Previously, in the cave, he had unexpectedly established a connection with the broken furnace and received a vast amount of information, which was now stored as runes in his soul light.

He had no doubt that if he could thoroughly comprehend it, he might even discover a method to refine the broken furnace.

A broken furnace that the Nine Xuan Sect would have to take seriously, even willing to exchange a forbidden area spot for it, must be of an extremely high grade.

Based on Ji Yuan's estimation, if this broken furnace were complete, it would certainly be a precious treasure with thirty or more restrictions!

Even in its current damaged state, its value was immeasurable, and it was not entirely irreparable. At least, as far as they knew, it only needed the missing furnace body to be found for it to restore itself.

"Do you have a… strange feeling?"

As they traveled through the forest, Li Buwei suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Ji Yuan was first stunned, and then a feeling arose, as if he was being stared at by countless eyes.

He immediately released his spiritual sense to its maximum and then felt several extremely subtle auras from both sides quietly approaching them.

With a thought, he immediately took out dozens of zhang of talismans and, with his hard-won magic power, constructed a simple talisman array.

Within a few breaths, the two leaped up and hid in a towering tree, using the dense foliage to conceal their forms.

At the same time, they applied several talismans to conceal their auras and quietly circulated their cultivation techniques, minimizing all their fluctuations to the extreme.

In the silent stillness, several sounds suddenly came from afar, and soon, two groups of over ten people each appeared in their original location.

"It's the Jingxin Hall and the Qingyang Sword Sect!"

Ji Yuan's gaze narrowed, and he muttered to himself.

In his sight, the two groups that appeared were the disciples of the other two sects who had joined forces with the Shan He Gang to plot for the Golden Core.

He didn't know why, but these two groups had appeared here together. It was clear they were targeting them, and it seemed they were aware of their movements.

However, fortunately, there were no third-realm elders among these two groups. The highest cultivation level was only around four or five late-stage Spirit Refining realm cultivators, with the rest being at the early to middle stages.

As a result, although the pressure was still not insignificant, it at least did not feel hopeless.