Chapter 216: One Should Not Be Too Greedy

"Thief, how dare you!"

Seeing Xia Daoming suddenly strike with his blade, Che Fei was shocked and let out a sharp cry. A flying knife shaped like a crescent moon shot out, aiming for Xia Daoming's back in an attempt to force him to turn and defend.

However, Xia Daoming had already calculated this.

The Ten Thousand Snakes Soul-Chasing Banner hovering above his head suddenly rattled.

Instantly, a cold wind swept across the sky above the sea, and black mist billowed and surged.

The black mist enveloped Che Fei and the flying knife.

Countless shadow snakes lunged forward, entangling the flying knife.

The Silver Moon Blade possessed immense power, resembling a bright crescent moon, its cold silver light flashing in all directions.

Wherever it passed, the shadow snakes were severed, and the rolling black mist melted like snow, vanishing one after another.

On the other side, seeing his flying sword pinned in place, Long Bingkui felt his hair stand on end.

Without a second thought, he unleashed his true qi and magic power to the limit, attempting to force the flying sword to break free from the mysterious binding force.

But in that very instant, the Black Tiger Blade arrived through the air.

There was no help for it; the distance between them was too short.

Xia Daoming's strike was unexpected and executed with extreme speed.

A mirror shot into the sky, scattering specks of starlight in an attempt to protect Long Bingkui's physical body.

The Black Tiger Blade, however, pierced through the hastily descending starlight like a bolt of black lightning.

A cold, sharp blade aura pierced through his body.

"No!" Long Bingkui's pupils dilated, and he let out a shrill scream.

But it was already too late.

The disparity in their strength was too great.

Had Long Bingkui stayed far away and remained fully vigilant, he might have had a slim chance of survival.

Instead, he had been negligent in his defense and had allowed the distance to close.

Xia Daoming, meanwhile, was experienced in ambush and had calculated every detail with precision.

Long Bingkui's body was split in two.

Fresh blood gushed out, staining the sea red.

Before the body could even hit the water, Xia Daoming grabbed it from the air and tossed it onto his flying boat.

Long Bingkui's body had barely landed on the boat when Che Fei burst out of the rolling black mist.

Che Fei was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator; Xia Daoming had never intended to trap her with the Ten Thousand Snakes Soul-Chasing Banner.

It was merely to buy himself a moment of time.

As Che Fei emerged, the sky above the sea was empty, permeated with the scent of blood, and her husband was nowhere to be seen—only Xia Daoming and his boat remained.

It was clear her husband had been killed.

Che Fei's face turned deathly pale, and she was so terrified she nearly lost her soul. Without a second thought, she whipped up a streak of silver light and prepared to flee.

Her husband was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator; even if he had been careless, it would have taken a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator considerable effort to ambush and kill him.

Yet, this man before her had killed her husband in just a few breaths. She knew his strength was terrifying and far beyond her ability to resist.

But just as Che Fei whipped up the silver light, she saw a hazy mirror-light shine upon her.

The magic power she was using to drive the Silver Moon Blade stiffened for a split second.

In that brief moment, she saw a point of black blade light expanding in her pupils.

"Spare..." Che Fei shrieked.

But before she could finish the word "my life," the Black Tiger Blade pierced through her chest and out her back.

"Who... who exactly are you?" Che Fei's eyes widened, filled with horror, disbelief, and unwillingness.

"Didn't you already know? A disciple of the Profound Origin Sect," Xia Daoming said indifferently, withdrawing the Black Tiger Blade and sheathing it.

"Profound..."

Che Fei breathed her last, her body falling downward.

Xia Daoming grabbed her corpse from the air and placed it on the boat.

Yin souls drifted out from the two corpses, hovering in the air.

Before he could even collect them, the Ten Thousand Snakes Soul-Chasing spirits, which were still churning in a black mist above the sea, seemed to smell blood like sharks. Without needing Xia Daoming to urge them, they roared forward on a cold wind, swallowing both souls.

The souls of late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators were quite powerful.

When Xia Daoming retracted the rolling black mist into the banner, the surface of the banner became even more profound, as if one look would draw a person's soul right out.

Suddenly, the sea churned, and powerful auras surged up from the depths.

Xia Daoming didn't have time to check the changes in the banner or his spoils; he steered his boat and fled through the air.

Just as he departed, dozens of tentacled, octopus-like monsters emerged from the sea.

Xia Daoming had encountered this type of monster two days ago; they had little value, liked to appear in groups, possessed great vitality, and were very troublesome.

Therefore, the moment he sensed their auras, he had left immediately.

Standing on the boat, looking back at the hideous monsters emerging from the distant sea, Xia Daoming recalled what Long Bingkui and his wife had said, and fell into deep thought.

"The northern sea area is indeed dangerous. No wonder that couple saw me alone and assumed Mo Zhanglao and the others had perished in the Dragon Fish Sea, and even thought we came here to seek the True Dragon Blood Pearl!"

"The True Dragon Blood Pearl—a good treasure! It seems the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Yue Kingdom must have come for this. Fortunately, Mo Zhanglao and the others didn't know, otherwise, they would surely have risked coming to the northern sea area."

"However, even the best things require one to be alive to enjoy them. I am still far from Core Formation; there is no need to risk my life for something that isn't even confirmed."

Xia Daoming withdrew his gaze, looked at the corpses of Long Bingkui and his wife, and began to search them skillfully.

A coiled dragon jade pendant hung from Long Bingkui's waist; it was not just an ornament, but a mid-tier defensive magic treasure of decent quality. Unfortunately, he hadn't had the chance to use it, and Xia Daoming took it without hesitation, hanging it on his own belt.

Che Fei had a dangling hairpin with six jade beads in her hair; it looked elegant and exquisite, and was also a mid-tier defensive magic treasure of decent quality. Alas, events had moved too quickly, and Xia Daoming had struck too fast for her to use it.

Of course, even if she had used it, it would have been in vain.

Long Bingkui and his wife clearly had great ambition, as each of them wore two storage rings on their fingers.

However, compared to Xia Daoming, they were still lacking.

He had even greater ambition this time, carrying six storage rings on his person.

Xia Daoming took them all off and put them on his own fingers.

In this way, all ten of his fingers were filled.

After the search, Xia Daoming pressed his palms together and bowed to the two corpses, muttering to himself, "I was prepared to spare you, but you insisted on chasing me, so do not blame me. Rest in peace."

With that, he separated his hands and flicked his right hand gently. A gust of wind rose, lifting the two corpses and tossing them directly into the sea.

As soon as the bodies hit the water, the sea monsters smelled the blood, swam over rapidly, and tore into them with their ferocious maws.

Soon, the sea was stained blood-red.

"One should not be too greedy!"

Xia Daoming glanced at the blood-red sea, shook his head, sighed, and began to count the items in the storage rings.

Since the sea was vast and he had nothing but time, he might as well.

Two of the storage rings were empty, clearly prepared specifically for this trip to the Dragon Fish Sea.

As for the other two, after counting them, Xia Daoming couldn't help but complain.

"Aren't these two supposed to be cunning and treacherous, fond of betrayal? And they are disciples of a Core Formation ancestor—how can their wealth be so meager?"

"Aside from a Core Formation pill and a few valuable magic treasures, there is nothing else of worth. The total spirit stones they carried only amounted to twenty thousand—not even a fraction of my spare change..."

Xia Daoming grumbled to himself, not considering that late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, in pursuit of the Core Formation path, consumed massive resources. Without strong backing or stable, substantial income, it was very difficult to accumulate savings.

Even if they had large amounts of spirit stones, they were saved to purchase necessary elixirs or higher-quality magic treasures.

As disciples of a Core Formation ancestor, Long Bingkui and his wife had a slim hope of reaching Core Formation; they were desperate to save every single spirit stone to accelerate their cultivation, so how could they leave large resources idle?

However, grumbling aside, a Core Formation pill, several magic treasures, and other scattered resources, plus the twenty thousand spirit stones, actually amounted to over three hundred thousand spirit stones—a significant sum even for a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

——

After flying for half a day, Xia Daoming saw in the distance a group of thirty-two islands forming a semicircle.

This was the sign of the outer perimeter of the forbidden zone.

Dozens of miles beyond that island group lay the true forbidden zone. Once entered, it was highly likely to provoke an attack from the Dragon Fish, which was equivalent to a Core Formation ancestor.

Although Xia Daoming considered his strength comparable to a False Core ancestor and capable of exchanging a few blows with a Core Formation ancestor, he still dared not be careless.

Seeing the semicircular island group from afar, he suppressed his aura, landed quietly on one of the islands, and began to search carefully for the Blood-Lin Dragon Breath Grass.

Xia Daoming's strategy was correct.

In the outer perimeter of the forbidden zone, around this island group, he searched carefully for two days and actually found a stalk of Blood-Lin Dragon Breath Grass, though it was only two thousand years old.

The stem of the Blood-Lin Dragon Breath Grass had dragon-scale-like patterns, much like the growth rings of a tree; each pattern represented a hundred years, making it easy to judge the age.

Besides the Blood-Lin Dragon Breath Grass, he also discovered two young Dragon Fish.

However, Xia Daoming did not dare to strike.

Since an adult Dragon Fish inhabited this forbidden zone, these young ones were most likely its descendants.

Xia Daoming was very worried that killing the young would provoke a pursuit from the adult, which would be troublesome.

Although he hadn't found a stalk over three thousand years old in the vicinity of this forbidden zone, Xia Daoming was not discouraged; on the contrary, he was quite pleased.

On the third day.

Xia Daoming left the semicircular island group and headed toward the nearest other Dragon Fish forbidden zone.

(End of chapter)