Chapter 43: Lang Bie's Downfall, Wealthy Wang Ping

Bang!

Heaven-Overturning Seal firmly smashed into the back of the head of the wealthy patron cultivator.

The red light shield that Old Man Wu had placed high hopes on couldn't even last half a breath before Wang Ping shattered it with the Heaven-Overturning Seal.

After Wang Ping struck again, he suddenly felt an itch on his arm; looking down, he saw a roughly one-meter-long emerald-green small snake baring its fangs and madly biting his arm.

Wang Ping expressionlessly tossed the Heaven-Overturning Seal above his head and, taking advantage of the motion, grabbed the poisonous snake's head with his right hand.

A light squeeze of his palm caused the emerald-green snake's head to burst, spraying dark-red blood.

At the same time he muttered: "My first-stage body refinement, nearing great completion, is not something this little snake can bite, nor am I afraid of breaking my teeth."

While muttering and forming hand seals, the Azure Blade Sword that was locked in a struggle with the Vajra Pestle instantly split off a blade of light.

That blade of light was extremely fast; by the time Old Man Wu reacted from his shock, his longtime partner Old Man Zhang Dao had already been beheaded.

Flee!

Old Man Wu turned and fled without hesitation; the death of his longtime friend and the crushing of the small snake he had raised for years were nothing compared to his life.

His speed was extreme; in the snap of a finger he had already darted out twenty zhang, light glowing under his feet—obviously he had affixed a Swift Travel Talisman.

This reaction speed and escape speed are the secret to Old Man Wu's longevity.

What a pity! He was knocked down with a single strike, then beheaded by a sword, and none of his many skills got to be used.

What a pity, what a pity! Old Man Wu fled while lamenting the loss of a good helper.

To ordinary people it was a dead-end chasm, but Old Man Wu traversed it as if walking on level ground.

Soon he was beyond a hundred zhang; he could immediately turn around the mountain peak, and with the peak as cover his flight would become easier.

Just then, suddenly he felt a sense of danger; at the very moment the warning arose, Old Man Wu without hesitation lunged to the side.

Whoosh!

A sharp piercing sound rang out; that sharp noise almost shattered Old Man Wu's eardrum.

Before he could even react to what it was, a blue-green light appeared before his eyes.

Old Man Wu's expression turned to great alarm; he hastily raised his protective spiritual light, then tried to summon the Vajra Pestle, only to realize that, having run so hastily, he had not even retrieved it.

If he had delayed this moment, he would still have magical artifacts on him, but now there is no time.

His protective spiritual light was merely produced by a high-grade cultivation method; how could it block the sword light from Wang Ping's Three Swords United?

The sharpness of a high-grade sword artifact, the boost from the sword light—that golden protective spiritual light was almost pierced with a single poke.

At this critical moment, Old Man Wu extended both arms to block in front of his brow; but in the next instant, the three sword beams suddenly diverged—one thrust toward his dantian, the other two toward his chest and abdomen.

Ah!

Old Man Wu suddenly let out a miserable cry; his dantian was broken, and the spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated for over thirty years surged outward like water bursting from a gate.

Old Man Wu had originally taken on the appearance of a middle-aged man, but now he rapidly aged; by the time Wang Ping approached, he had become a white-haired old man.

"You… you are… from the Soul Refining Hall, right?" The white-haired old man's spiritual power was draining; at this point his speech trembled.

Wang Ping, walking up to him, calmly said: "Isn't it already irrelevant?"

"Hahaha! You're right, it's already irrelevant; even if you are the Soul Refining Hall's core member with formidable spiritual power, if it weren't for my single-minded devotion…"

Having said that, Old Man Wu suddenly lost the will to continue speaking; he was about to die anyway, so what use were these words?

From the very first time he engaged in cultivator banditry, his guide told him: either achieve Foundation Establishment, or become a ghost.

Now it seems Foundation Establishment is out of reach; he can only become a ghost.

"Fellow Daoist! Come on! Being able to die at your hand is also an honor for this old man; having killed so many cultivators, I once thought I was indifferent to life and death, but…"

Before he could finish speaking, a blue-green sword light already occupied his entire world.

Thud! Old Man Wu's head had already fallen to the ground.

The Lang Bie group that had dominated the Wan Ning area for twenty years were beheaded in a single day.

Wang Ping expressionlessly retrieved the Azure Light Sword, gestured with his hand, and the old man's storage bag appeared in his grasp; then he launched a fireball technique, incinerating Old Man Wu's corpse.

Although his fireball technique was not as domineering as that of cultivators who specialized in fire arts, its power, backed by pure spiritual energy, was still extraordinary.

In just a few breaths, Old Man Wu soon ceased to look human.

Throughout the process Wang Ping said not a word; after checking that the most important item in his storage bag—the Spirit Insect Cultivation Notes—lay quietly inside, he immediately turned and flew away.

For Wang Ping, the most important thing in Old Man Wu's storage bag was precisely that notebook.

Three days later, some people at the Treasure Gathering Workshop suddenly discovered that the Lang Bie group had not reappeared at all.

Soon a shocking piece of news arrived: someone had found traces of Lang Bie on Myriad Peace Mountain; they were likely slain and their corpses burned to erase evidence.

When this news spread, it caused quite an uproar in the surrounding area; as for what Lang Bie had been up to three days prior, some people already knew the answer.

Now they might have been slain, and unanimously everyone thought of that young cultivator in blue robes; those cultivators who had refrained from acting out of fear of Lang Bie that day secretly rejoiced.

In the Treasure Gathering Workshop, where Wang Ping and his companions had participated in the auction, Old Master Bai, upon hearing the news, the one who painstakingly studied the Elixir Classic in his hand blinked slightly, then sighed: "Surely he's dead?"

His own feeling that day had not been mistaken; that young cultivator possessed something capable of threatening him.

It might be talismans, or magical artifacts, but these hold no allure for him now.

Immediately afterward he returned to painstakingly studying the Elixir Classic, though he gave a light instruction:

"Has the latest batch of medicinal ingredients arrived?"

"Replying to Master, there are still about three days left."

Old Master Bai furrowed his brows: "Make them hurry!"

"Yes, Master!"

The Vast Wave River is the greatest river of the Song State; its source lies in the Barrier Dark Strange Mountains of the Western Cliff region.

This mighty river, stretching a thousand li, unknown how many mortals it has nurtured.

Its widest point spans thirty li, its narrowest ten li; the stretch flowing through the Song State is the gentlest part of its current.

The river surface is also the widest, about thirty li wide.

Wang Ping was sitting cross-legged on a small fishing boat, leisurely sipping tea brewed from tea leaves of unknown variety, occasionally flipping through a yellowed notebook in his hand.

Occasionally gazing at the river, he admired the grand and expansive scenery unique to the Canglan River.

After killing the two Old Wu, he did not rush urgently toward the vicinity of the Song Kingdom's capital; instead, he bought a small boat and went downstream.

Drinking tea, reading, enjoying the scenery — a picture of leisurely ease.

Originally he was supposed to rush to the cultivation city established by the Gathering Treasure Pavilion in the Song Kingdom's capital to speedily refine magical artifacts.

But when he opened the storage bags of the two Old Wu, he was instantly stunned.

The two's storage bags together contained 23,000 spirit stones, eighty low-grade magic artifacts, twenty middle-grade magic artifacts, and five high-grade magic artifacts, among which was that Vajra Pestle.

There were one hundred middle-grade talismans of various kinds, five high-grade talismans, also five-attribute elixirs, and not a few materials for forging artifacts.

Wang Ping estimated that the value of those items in the storage bags would not be less than 20,000 spirit stones; adding the spirit stones they themselves possessed, the combined net worth of the two amounted to about 40,000.

Wang Ping couldn't help but wonder just how many people they had robbed.

But now it turned out to be a bargain for Wang Ping.

It is precisely because of this wealth that he can proceed to the auction unhurriedly.

At this speed, he will reach the cultivation city built by the Gathering Treasure Pavilion in one month.