Chapter 451: The Final Curtain

Qin Ming raised his hand and swept all of Bai Gu True Person's belongings into his storage pouch.

To be honest, killing this ancient demon filled him with a faint thrill.

In the past, during Bai Gu True Person's prime, even the two Senior Envoys of Li Huo Palace, armed with fourth-rank talisman treasures, might not have been able to seriously injure him.

Fortunately, Bai Gu True Person had shifted to cultivating the Ghost Dao, and Qin Ming's life treasure strongly suppressed him, giving Qin Ming a significant advantage.

"That old bastard is finally dead."

"Honestly, his gaze was kind of terrifying."

"Master's really hit the jackpot this time—I bet that bone sword is no ordinary item, probably has quite a pedigree."

Shi Tian Shu, Xuan Shui E, and Yin Yi Shuang Feng returned to Qin Ming's side.

Qin Ming retrieved the Mu Huang Ding and then erased all traces around him.

He then took his spiritual pets and swiftly flew away from the place.

Half a day later.

Qin Ming contacted Wei Wuyan and the others via a message talisman and learned they were all recuperating in Xuan Xi Valley.

After some thought, he decided to meet them in person—otherwise it would seem suspicious.

When Qin Ming arrived, Qing Xuan Laozu and Wei Wuyan and the others had already been waiting a long time.

"Hehe! Qin Daofriend has arrived."

Qin Ming walked over and exchanged pleasantries with them.

After this incident, Qin Ming's standing in the eyes of the ancient ancestors of the three kingdoms' major sects had risen sharply.

If he hadn't come to save the day, the outcome might have been very different.

Qin Ming glanced around the group and asked curiously, "Qing Xuan Daofriend, where are the two Senior Envoys of Li Huo Palace?"

He planned to travel to Da Jin after this, and wanted to take this chance to get to know them better and gather information about the region.

But after the Taihu battle, the two had simply vanished.

"Uh, this…"

At this question, Qing Xuan Laozu's expression turned grim.

At that moment,

Wei Wuyan stepped forward and explained the full story to Qin Ming.

After hearing his account, Qin Ming was stunned.

He had thought Zhou Yu and He Kang had been willing to fight Bai Gu True Person to the death out of noble intent.

Turns out they'd been used as cannon fodder in the underground palace.

No wonder the two Li Huo Palace Senior Envoys didn't show up after the battle—they returned directly to Da Jin.

Besides that, it probably had something to do with Senior Envoy He Kang—he used a talisman treasure beyond his realm, so even if he didn't die, he was left with only half a life and had to rush back to his sect for treatment.

The southern wastelands had no means to treat a Gao Jie-level Senior Envoy.

"No wonder—I thought that He Senior Envoy was going all out because he meant to die alongside Bai Gu True Person."

"Turns out he was just trying to save his own skin…"

Shi Tian Shu, sipping from his own wine cup, sighed deeply.

The several Jin Dan elders present could only chuckle awkwardly.

Qin Ming's spiritual pet had played a crucial role in this battle—killing Li Laogui and driving back the demonic Jin Dan elders—and the elders were deeply grateful.

Shi Tian Shu had gotten to know them through conflict, and now they'd made peace.

"We are deeply indebted to you, Qin Daofriend."

"If you hadn't used your astonishing power to slay that Golden Toad Ancestor, we wouldn't even know what state we'd be in now."

Qing Xuan Laozu found Qin Ming's strength increasingly inscrutable.

They were even beginning to suspect that Qing Mian Du Jiao had also been killed by Qin Ming—after all, among them, only Qin Ming had the power to do it.

"Now that the Taihu battle is over, peace has finally arrived."

"With Li Laogui dead, the Jin Kingdom has been reclaimed." "But it's a pity—we let that Bai Gu Old Devil escape."

"Still, this demon was severely wounded by Senior Envoy He of Li Huo Palace—he won't be causing trouble for a while."

Qing Xuan Laozu analyzed the current situation.

Qin Ming couldn't help sneering—what did "for a while" mean? He'd never be causing trouble again—Bai Gu True Person's soul core was now resting in his storage pouch.

…

Two days later.

The overall situation in the southern wastelands was settled; Qin Ming and Na Lan Xi bade farewell to the ancient ancestors and returned to Canghai Xiancheng.

During this time, Qin Ming inventoried his gains.

Li Laogui's storage pouch contained several low-grade magic treasures, two hundred superior-grade spirit stones, tens of thousands of middle-grade spirit stones, and a large quantity of demonic resources.

Even pills made from cultivated cultivators were included.

Then came the storage pouch of the Golden Toad Ancestor—this ruthless old devil had plenty of good items.

Probably because he'd long lured cultivators into ruins and gathered many spiritual materials afterward.

Although Bai Gu True Person's storage ring held few items, each one was an irreplaceable treasure.

"No wonder—he's lived over ten thousand years; he's got some real wealth."

Qin Ming glanced briefly through Bai Gu True Person's collection—spirit stones, cultivation techniques, elixirs, spiritual materials—all were present.

He also found a jade slip containing Bai Gu True Person's main Ghost Dao cultivation technique.

"The Yin Ming Tian Shi Gui Ti."

"Why does this sound familiar?"

A flash of insight struck Qin Ming—he remembered that the "Yuan Sha Zhong Mo Zhen Jing" he possessed contained references to this technique.

"Why would Bai Gu True Person cultivate such a pig-fattening method of draining cultivation?"

Among all his possessions, the Nine You White Bone Sword was by far the most valuable.

This magic treasure was forged over tens of thousands of years from one of Bai Gu True Person's own spinal bones, refined by Nine You Cold Fire, and had developed an extremely strong spiritual awareness.

Among high-grade magic treasures, it was among the finest.

The soul cores of Bai Gu True Person and the Golden Toad Ancestor were also rare materials.

After returning to Canghai Xiancheng, Qin Ming visited Jing Xue Ge and learned from Huang Fu Qi that Gu Qingzhao's injuries had nearly fully healed.

After recovering, she rented a cave dwelling on Canghai Peak and began long-term seclusion.

Qin Ming guessed she was preparing to break through to Jin Dan.

"By the way, Qin Qianbei."

"Before she entered seclusion, the sect mistress asked me to give this to you."

Huang Fu Qi said, then pulled out a storage pouch from his robe and handed it to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming took the pouch—it contained the spirit stones he had promised Gu Qingzhao when trading for her Jin Dan breakthrough.

He glanced inside and found over one hundred and fifty superior-grade spirit stones.

Thirty more than originally agreed upon.

Qin Ming silently tucked it away.

After bidding farewell to Huang Fu Qi, he left Canghai Xiancheng.

The beast tide and ghost disaster in the southern wastelands had been quelled; peace seemed to be returning.

But Qin Ming knew the four kingdoms were only outwardly calm.

When facing the southern wastelands' existential threat, the three kingdoms' sects could unite.

But as the cultivation world shifted and competition for resources intensified, those who had once cooperated wholeheartedly might turn into enemies overnight.

But none of this concerned him anymore.

(End of Chapter)