Chapter 1308: He Is Really Too Much of a Bully!

In the emerald-glazed palace, eternal silence fell once more.

The smile on Mud Swamp True Venerable's face gradually faded into indifference, his gaze tinged with thought.

One could tell he did not usually enjoy smiling, nor was he particularly bold and uninhibited—it was merely a merchant's warmth toward a customer, though such warmth was not unpleasant either.

"Croak!"

"Croak croak croak!"

The emerald toad on his shoulder called out several times, somewhat agitated, and spoke in human tongue, greedily saying: "A mere Soul Transformation junior who wields Void Refinement talismans, yet possesses so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures—shall we make a move?"

This emerald toad was named the Heaven-Cyan Treasure-Fishing Toad, an ancient exotic species, its greatest ability being the detection of treasures.

When Mud Swamp True Venerable rose to prominence in his youth, it was because he had chanced upon a heavily wounded Heaven-Cyan Treasure-Fishing Toad, formed an equal contract with it, and from then on turned every danger into fortune, encountering one lucky break after another to obtain treasures, becoming a legendary figure of the Thunder Flame Domain.

"It actually made your heart flutter this much?"

Mud Swamp True Venerable was somewhat surprised.

Since advancing to Void Refinement, he did not know how many years it had been since his old partner had been this agitated—even when they had encountered the Nine Heavens Ancestor of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect in the past, he had never been this stirred.

This emotion infected him as well, making him recall the years of his scattered cultivation.

Back then, there were no taboos, killing freely; even those from prestigious clans with deep backgrounds were paid no heed, dancing on knife's edge day and night, becoming rich overnight at the slightest opportunity.

That kind of life, though dangerous, now seemed to evoke a faint sense of nostalgia.

"... Not appropriate."

Mud Swamp True Venerable deliberated for a moment: "A Soul Transformation cultivator who possesses Void Refinement items—this should be someone with deep backing... Croak!"

His words were interrupted by a croak.

"Deep backing?"

"Mud Swamp, have you forgotten that in this Thunder Flame Domain, you yourself are the backing!"

The emerald toad's voice was utterly greedy and fervent: "In Laozi's view, behind this junior there should be a Void Refinement cultivator; such a Void Refinement cultivator crossing over from another domain must have Suffered Heavy wounds, so they sent a junior to do their work."

"Or perhaps, it's a prodigy from an even stronger sect—"

"That's even better!"

His voice twisted somewhat: "The reason our two brothers made our fortune back then was precisely because we seized the right opportunity and directly robbed a Void Refinement direct disciple of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect, only afterward did we advance to Void Refinement—otherwise, where would we be today?!"

"Such prodigies are not only weak in strength, they're also extremely wealthy!"

"Mud Swamp, you're not scared, are you?"

The emerald toad urged vigorously.

Mud Swamp True Venerable hesitated, unable to decide.

He knew that the Heaven-Cyan Treasure-Fishing Toad's talent was treasure detection, and that its instincts held a powerful greed toward treasures—this instinct was both a blade and a source of danger; everything depended on

how one wielded it.

"Where would opportunity come from without risk?"

"You've been stuck in the Mud Swamp lands, still at early-stage Void Refinement after ten thousand years. Though Mud Swamp Demon City is hailed as the number one merchant hub of Dao Xian Gao Jie, alas, the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect and Blood Lake Bone Mountain—these two colossi that monopolize all the mineral resources, heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and spirit veins of the Thunder Flame Domain—simply refuse to trade, acting like miserly landlords. What can be done?"

"If this continues, you'll spend your entire life at early-stage Void Refinement!"

The emerald toad sneered.

To many Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun, Mud Swamp True Venerable was an unimaginable colossus, but to the two great true sects, he was nothing more than a beggar by the roadside.

Though both were human like himself, the difference was as vast as cloud and mud.

"Haha, old friend, early-stage Void Refinement is pretty good too."

"Early-stage Void Refinement is still a Void Refinement True Venerable—one can live thirty thousand years."

Mud Swamp True Venerable was not angered, paying no heed to the emerald toad's words.

Jiang Ding went once more to the Mud Demon Puppet Tower established by Mud Swamp Demon City to purchase some things—certain books, a rough overview of intelligence on events in Xian Gao Jie over the past ten thousand years—and then immediately left the city.

After leaving the city, he passed through multiple hidden teleportation arrays, transferring repeatedly, jumping again and again, erasing traces and karmic ties.

Thus, after several hundred jumps, he had moved far, far away from Mud Swamp Demon City, arriving at the edge of a small lake as smooth as a mirror.

There, a youth whose appearance resembled his own was fishing for Soul Transformation-grade fish demons in the lake with a thin wisp of sword qi, occasionally twitching the fishing line.

Hearing the movement, Jiang Ding turned around.

"Did it fail?"

"Mm, it failed."

Mud Swamp Jiang Ding nodded.

He took out three portions of Void Refinement-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures and handed them over—Molten Yang Crystal Jade, Overflowing Water Jade Liquid, Withering-Flourishing Branch—all treasure materials imbued with the power of rules. Among them, the Molten Yang Crystal Jade was what he needed; the other two were not wasted either, as the vast market of the immortal gate could absorb them.

In fact, reselling them at ten times the price was an understatement.

It was not that Jiang Ding was black-hearted; it was simply that such heavenly materials and earthly treasures were priced this way in Jiao Jiao Mingyu—that was the market.

"No,"

"It wasn't a complete failure."

Jiang Ding's Materialist Solar Sword Soul swept through, finally settling on the Molten Yang Crystal Jade.

It was a fist-sized crystal stone, covered in golden starry specks, with the power of the Solar Rule flowing within it, containing an aura of scorching heat and destruction.

Among them, one particular tiny golden speck looked completely identical to the others on the surface, with identical material composition and energy composition.

However, it possessed one additional thing.

"What the heck is this thing?"

Jiang Ding carefully compared the spectrum obtained from the scan of his Materialist Solar Sword Soul.

"It's not the Space

Rule—it's somewhat similar to Karma, carrying a faint trace of greed for wealth, somewhat like the aura of the legendary Innate Divine Ability... If not for my Materialist Solar Sword Soul being too special, even a Dao Merging Divine Monarch might not necessarily have been able to detect this little thing."

"Not bad, not bad."

Jiang Ding's face lit up with joy.

"Worthy of someone who fought his way up from the very bottom — he really does have his tricks."

"You old devil, Liuzhi Liuzhi Laomo!"

"How unreasonable!"

Jiang Ding's face suddenly changed; he slammed the table and flew into a rage: "I shop here in good faith, creating profit for you, earning you spirit stones — what do you mean by planting a tracker on my goods?"

"Huh?"

"Is it because I look young, so you think I'm easy to bully?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

"He's really bullying people far too much!"

Jiang Ding of Liuzhi said indignantly, sharing the same grievance.

Immediately after, he added: "How about setting up a formation here? We're traveling alone out in the world — setting up a formation for self-defense is perfectly reasonable, right?"

"Indeed reasonable."

Jiang Ding said calmly.

The Materialist Sword Soul activated, the Mortal Dao Sword Art activated, and the surrounding environment grew hazy, rapidly shifting.

A scene appeared.

A severely wounded mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator, his face tinged green, clearly no light injury — Jiang Ding of Liuzhi was attending at his side, handing over the many heavenly materials and earthly treasures he had purchased.

This was not a fabricated person.

In the memories of the deceased Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect ancestor, the Green Thunder True Lord, this person was named Molten Fire Liuzhi Laomo, a Void Refinement elder of the Golden Sea Region's great sect, the Jin Chong Guang True Sect, located beside the Thunder Flame Region. He had always been elusive in his movements, living in deep seclusion.

In fact, the whereabouts of any Void Refinement True Lord were uncertain — especially for sect cultivators like this. Even if you saw the person in front of you, unless you probed, no one could tell whether it was the true body.