Chapter 628: Habitual Eradication

No one responded to Ding Huan.

Everyone had a voice in their heart: Is this really a newcomer? Fooling ghosts? Ding Huan bent down, took off Ao Bapi's ring, then stared at Ao Bapi's corpse for a long while before summoning a wisp of true flame.

The motion was clumsy, as if he had never done this before.

Otherwise, why would removing a ring take so long?

Who kills someone and then uses their hands to take the ring? Don't they just use spiritual energy to snatch it?

The key was Ding Huan's true flame was genuinely weak—the fire burned for a long time yet failed to even char Ao Bapi's leg.

That was normal, since Ding Huan was still at the Spiritual Energy stage and hadn't even completed his transformation into Divine Energy.

Ding Huan saw a short female cultivator with dull yellow hair; though her Spiritual Energy had already transformed into Divine Energy, it appeared patchy.

The correct version of this content is at 6/9 book bar read! 【6*9*s*h*u-b-】

"I understand—you were fumbling with Ao Wuhua earlier, carving a teleportation array pattern?" The nun cultivator stared at Ding Huan coldly.

The teleportation array pattern is the easiest way to get here; Fugu Shidao is the quietest way to kill these bastards.

He couldn't just follow these people here—he also couldn't let anyone know he'd come.

Otherwise, acting here would draw attention immediately.

"Is he trying to make us think he's a newbie?" This time it was the burly man who spoke.

Choosing a Divine Form in the Wangshen Ladder Sea isn't simple—it takes time, effort, and mental strain.

Blackie roared in furious rage, ignoring his life force rapidly dissolving, lunging at Ding Huan.

"Big Brother Ding, I've been to the Wangshen Ladder Sea many times—I'm about to go again. Why don't you come with me?" A soft voice spoke up.

"Ungrateful," the barkeep glared at Ding Huan, then refused to speak further.

"The wine is mediocre—not worth a single Divine Crystal," Ding Huan sighed, stepping out of the tavern.

Ding Huan smiled innocently and walked back into the tavern.

Just now Ding Huan said he'd be careful with her; she looked at him, eyes filled with disappointment: "Big Brother Ding, I…"

Two men stood before him—one extremely burly, the other as black as charcoal.

But Ding Huan said: "Luo Huan'er, could you show me the jade slip about the Wangshen Ladder Sea?"

Lying on the ground before them was Ao Bapi's corpse.

"Kill him…" The burly man barked, summoning a thunderfire club and lunging at Ding Huan.

Of course, if a cave is confirmed unoccupied, you may purchase it from the Freelancer Alliance.

"Excellent, thank you, fellow cultivator! May I ask your name?" Ding Huan beamed, immediately clasping his fists in greeting.

"You?" The four men who had just been plotting to kill Ding Huan all leapt to their feet simultaneously, summoning their artifacts.

Logically, after Ding Huan left the tavern the first time, he should never have been able to return.

Luo Huan'er stared at Ding Huan: "They told you to be careful of me—will you listen to them?"

Ding Huan saw the men rushing at him but didn't move at all.

"Ao Wuhua was killed by ambush—this means his strength is negligible, no threat to us. Should we kill him openly or report it?"

If he thought Ao Bapi was alone, Ding Huan wouldn't have survived this long.

But the moment he moved, he felt his spiritual energy slightly stall.

Ding Huan nodded: "Yes. They said you're no good, and told me to be careful of you."

The speaker was a woman in a brown dress, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

Teleporting here now means they'd already calculated these bastards were incapacitated.

Even though he'd set up a forbidden array here, the blade curtain tore through it with sharp, cracking sounds.

Ding Huan swept his hand—this time, four rings landed effortlessly in his palm.

Most were temporary lodgings for freelancers seeking Divine Forms here.

"Ding Daoist, did anyone approach you after you left just now?" Finally, someone in the tavern couldn't hold back and asked.

Luo Huan'er had said half of it when she sensed something was off.

"You're being watched," a sudden voice whispered into Ding Huan's ear—he paid no mind.

Not just him—all the others' spiritual energy also stalled simultaneously.

Anyone can dig their own cave here.

"Big Brother Ding, did someone just speak ill of me?" Luo Huan'er asked, after walking some distance away from Ding Huan.

After several bursts of flame, the corpse he'd burned for ages without burning away vanished instantly.

Ding Huan turned back, speaking with weary exasperation: "If you're this idle, why not use your free time to study brewing? Then you wouldn't have made this undrinkable sludge called Wangsha Wine—and charged a Divine Crystal for it."

"Thank you for believing…"

Less than a hundred li from the tavern, in an ancient cave, two men and two women sat, their eyes filled with cruelty and murderous intent.

But if he kept following Ao Bapi's companions here to slaughter them all, his justification wouldn't hold.

"Today I brought you out for one thing only: when the other three Bapis find you, you lead me into their caves—I must avenge my brother."

"Why?" Ding Huan stared at Luo Huan'er in surprise.

They could only become six severed corpses beneath Ding Huan's long blade.

"Don't overthink it—whether he's pretending or truly a newbie, we must avenge this, or how will we survive here?"

"Stop—" The burly male cultivator spoke only one syllable when Ding Huan's long blade split his forehead. Luo Huan'er bowed her head in anguish, silent.

Outside, Ao Bapi's corpse was gone—and so was the person who carried it away.

Luo Huan'er looked around the empty space and shook her head: "Don't bother looking."

Though Ding Huan looked like a newbie, no one dared underestimate him anymore.

And if we don't kill Ding Huan now, once the poison fully erupts, we won't get another chance.

They were momentarily stunned—why was it Ding Huan who had come?

Ding Huan nodded: "Mm, I will."

"Listen to the madam's advice—don't believe everything others tell you," the tavern woman whispered to Ding Huan.

Luo Huan'er took a deep breath: "I've killed many, but today I have no intention of killing you. My brother was also killed by Wu Baipi; my grudge against him runs deep as the sea."

But Ding Huan would not wait for these men—he swept his long blade, summoning waves of slashing light.

His spiritual sense swept out—no trace remained.

Would Wu Baipi let Ding Huan go?

When he took the ring, he had already begun inscribing the teleportation array and the Fugu Shidao poison.

The blackened man seated beside her shook his head: "Don't you find it strange to kill your opponent, then kneel down and pick up the ring with your bare hands?"

"Even a Bai Chi wouldn't think he's a novice. He must have some other reason for doing this," spoke the female cultivator dressed like a nun.

Whether he was inscribing array patterns or retrieving the ring and igniting flames to burn the corpse, no one in Wangshen Land could match his mastery.

But as these men drew near, Ding Huan's long blade swept out a second time.

"Madam, a cup of Wangsha wine," Ding Huan walked to the counter and pulled out another divine crystal.

"I'm Luo Huan'er. I've been here over a hundred years," Luo Huan'er replied, stepping out of the tavern.

He could kill Wu Baipi at the tavern entrance because Wu Baipi attacked him first—he had ample justification.

He knew someone was whispering to him, but none of it fell within Ding Huan's sphere of thought.

The two women both looked quite refined, yet one of them was dressed as a nun.

There were hundreds of thousands of such cave dwellings in this area.

The others rushed at Ding Huan in frenzy. Though they knew the faster and more violent their movements, the quicker the poison would take hold and their vitality vanish.

"Not only must we seek revenge—we must establish dominance. We'll kill him where there are many witnesses," the blackened man declared.

This area of cultivator cave dwellings was meant for rest.

He had read the Wangshen Land introduction jade slip.

Cutting the grass without removing the roots was not Ding Huan's way.

…

When Ding Huan reappeared at the tavern entrance, everyone inside stared at him in shock.

Luo Huan'er's dao aura was mottled and chaotic—a woman with a messy personal life, perhaps even practicing dual-cultivation techniques.

"Madam, do you have a summary of the Wangshen Stair Sea? Sell me one," Ding Huan walked to the counter again.

Ding Huan did not move—only watched Luo Huan'er.

Ding Huan opened his hand; the grotesque long blade appeared in his grip: "What do you think?"

Anyone entering the Wangshen Stair Sea must eventually descend to find a place to rest.

The beautiful woman behind the bar smiled at Ding Huan—perhaps a flirtatious glance, perhaps not.

The crowd fell silent. You don't stir up trouble? In all these years, no one has dared kill within this tavern—you're the first.

At that moment, the space suddenly rippled, and a figure abruptly solidified.

But not killing Ding Huan, they could not swallow this humiliation.

Yet Ding Huan seemed like a wooden fish—utterly oblivious.

This newcomer is ruthless—smiling sweetly, yet leaving no mercy.

The woman behind the bar glared at Ding Huan: "You're the only one who ever said my wine is bad. Why should I sell it to you?"

Ding Huan looked at the asking cultivator in surprise: "I'm just a newly arrived solitary cultivator. I get along with others and don't provoke trouble—who's after me?"

Ding Huan activated the teleportation array disc and vanished from the cave in a few breaths.

As Ding Huan drained the Wangsha wine, Wu Baipi's corpse had already disappeared.

"Young brother, I quite like being called 'madam.' What do you think of my wine?" the madam smiled at Ding Huan.

But after excavating a cave dwelling, cultivators only have the right to reside—the ownership belongs to the Solitary Cultivators' Alliance.

It was genuinely pulled out—he had fumbled inside his robe for a long while before retrieving it.

Puff! Blood exploded—three men charged forward, but midway their spiritual energy and spiritual sense were corroded by the Fugu Shidao poison.

"Fine." Ding Huan did not hesitate.

Because the other four Baipi would never come after him again.

"To prove you're sincere, Brother Ding, swallow this pill," Luo Huan'er pulled out a pink pill.

Ding Huan did not take the pill. His domain suddenly surged out, locking Luo Huan'er in place, while his hand reached out and seized her ring.

(Comrade, good night. If you have monthly votes, please cast one—I'm not asking, I'm begging.)

(End of Chapter)