Chapter 143: Explosion of ten thousand waste Jade Marrow beads, instant kill

"Eighth-layer Qi Refining!"

Gao Tingyuan stared fixedly at Luo Chen, saying these words almost through gritted teeth.

Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.

Sure enough, when the spiritual power fluctuation was too great, the Great Perfection-level Concealment Technique could no longer hide his true realm.

He had been disguising himself as a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator, hoping to catch the other side off guard.

It was a pity that this Gao Tingyuan was determined to have him; as soon as he made a move, it was a fierce strike, leaving no room for error.

Gao Tingyuan carefully sized up Luo Chen, his expression filled with shock and suspicion.

Top-grade offensive magic tool, top-grade defensive magic treasure, and the top-grade Daoist robe he was wearing.

Just the wealth displayed on the outside was enough to make ninety-nine percent of ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivators envious.

How long had Luo Chen been cultivating?

"No wonder Wang Haichao is determined to have him; being able to earn this kind of wealth in such a short time is probably thanks to his identity as an alchemist."

"He must never fall into Wang Haichao's hands, otherwise I have no hope of revenge!"

With this thought, the two short halberds in his hands began to flicker with spiritual light.

However, Luo Chen’s movements were faster than he had imagined.

The spear tip spat out, and a sky full of fire rain bloomed.

Gao Tingyuan took a deep breath, and a round bead emerged from his chest, then turned into a light barrier, wrapping him inside.

The sky full of fire rain landed on the light barrier, making a hissing sound.

The scorching high-temperature steam permeated the air, blocking his vision.

"Wrong!"

*Whoosh!*

Gao Tingyuan’s ears twitched, and he dodged to the side.

He waved his large hand, and large swaths of raindrops were scattered, pushing away the fire rain in front of him.

At this moment, looking closely, where was Luo Chen’s figure?

"Such fast speed!"

"Where did he go?"

Suddenly, he turned his head back.

A person was acting crazily, firing large swaths of black light, suppressing two eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivators.

"Shan Xiu, be careful!"

Shan Xiu was stunned and subconsciously wanted to turn his head.

However, it was already too late.

A strange bell sound rang out abruptly.

The sound wave entered his ears, making him pause slightly.

In a life-and-death battle, a moment of distraction was enough to decide life and death.

"It's that little bell of Lu Huaiben's!"

Just as he regained his senses, in his eyes, he only saw a black light mixed into the night sky, arriving in an instant.

He only had time to activate the defensive light barrier on his magic robe; as for other actions, it was already too late.

"This is..."

He looked down at his chest, where his heart should have been, now pierced by a long iron nail.

Shan Xiu tried to use his spiritual power to force it out, but as soon as he mobilized his spiritual power, it began to collapse.

Soul-Breaking Nail! Spirit-Disrupting Powder!

Luo Chen smiled slightly, the Jade Blade flew in front of him, and with a circular cut, Shan Xiu’s head fell into his hand.

"Go help Hall Master Murong, kill that blue-clothed one first."

He gave an order to the pale-faced Zhou Yuanli and the other, then Luo Chen turned around, holding the head.

"Brother Gao, when this Shan Xiu led people to intercept and kill me, you must have had a hand in it too!"

Looking at the head that died with eyes wide open, Gao Tingyuan only felt a chill rising in his heart.

He was about to speak when his gaze suddenly fell on Shan Xiu’s corpse that had fallen to the ground.

On the chest, that large black nail was so glaring and conspicuous.

"Soul-Breaking Nail! Soul-Breaking Nail!"

"You are the one who killed my younger brother!"

Luo Chen was stunned, and with a pulling technique, the black nail flew back into his hand.

He had indeed used this top-grade magic tool to pierce Gao Ting’e’s defense back then.

But it was just a magic tool; how did Gao Tingyuan figure it out?

Gao Tingyuan’s eyes were spitting fire, and infinite anger erupted.

"My brother carried an Earth-Defense talisman; ordinary top-grade magic tools couldn't have killed him instantly, and he could have held on until help arrived."

"Only the Soul-Breaking Nail personally refined by the Soul-Refining Rogue Cultivator could ignore the five-element defense and forcibly injure the enemy."

"Back then, the Soul-Refining Cave Mansion was broken open by me and Li Da, and most of the legacy was obtained by us, but only this Soul-Breaking Nail was missing."

"Later, I found out that it was secretly taken by those guys, Li Zixiong and Chen Xiao."

"As far as I know, they all died at Wang Yuan’s hands!"

"That’s it, that’s it!"

Gao Tingyuan became more and more frantic as he spoke, all the confusion lingering in his heart rushing out like a dam breaking.

For a moment, it surged and flowed, crystal clear.

"Wang Yuan has a close relationship with you; if it were an ordinary top-grade magic tool, you wouldn't have been able to use it at your realm back then."

"But the Soul-Breaking Nail is a one-way trip; there's no need to consider too much about control."

"If you had this treasure, killing my younger brother back then would have been like adding wings to a tiger."

"And the realm!"

Gao Tingyuan stared fixedly at Luo Chen, his aura rising constantly.

"You were concealing your true realm just now; it's impossible for one person to advance from the third layer to the eighth layer of Qi Refining in one year."

"Therefore, you have always had a method to conceal your realm."

"Back then, you must have also hidden your realm, and in a sudden burst, killed my younger brother."

"No wonder you, a loose cultivator, dared to live in such a remote place; you really were bold because of your high skills!"

Listening to these words, Luo Chen’s mouth twitched.

The previous speculations were all somewhat plausible.

Even if not entirely correct, they were nine out of ten correct.

He had two Soul-Breaking Nails, and one of them did indeed come from Wang Yuan.

Li Zixiong and Chen Xiao were indeed two of the three who besieged Wang Yuan back then.

But the matter of hiding his realm was too exaggerated.

He was at the fourth layer of Qi Refining back then; how could it be as exaggerated as Gao Tingyuan said?

"Luo Chen, the evidence is conclusive; are you going to admit it or not!" Gao Tingyuan shouted angrily.

Luo Chen was helpless: "At this point, is there any meaning in saying these things? Besides..."

Looking around, he realized that seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators had unknowingly surrounded him.

"Brother Gao has good methods, setting a trap for me without me noticing."

Seeing the encirclement complete, Gao Tingyuan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

He was still filled with rage, but his heart was calm.

"The speed you exposed in such a short time before made me have to do this!"

As he spoke, a ferocious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Today I will send you to hell to avenge my younger brother!"

With a wave of his large hand, the seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators immediately manipulated their magic tools and struck at Luo Chen.

The surging and complex spiritual power almost lit up the entire night sky.

Luo Chen let out a long breath of turbid air, holding the Fire-Tip Spear, and flew toward the sky like an arrow from a bow.

Gao Tingyuan looked at this scene and sneered.

Fly?

How high can you fly!

The wind whistled, and a white cloud suddenly appeared, supporting Luo Chen.

Gao Tingyuan’s eyes widened. Riding a cloud? A Foundation Establishment method?

The next moment, he was horrified, the bead on his chest shrinking crazily, turning into a close-fitting light barrier to protect him tightly.

"Retreat quickly!"

However, it was already too late.

Luo Chen stepped on the white cloud, his hands pressing into the void, and he shouted lightly.

"Explode!"

The seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator closest to Luo Chen looked in surprise at the small black dot in front of him.

Was that a bead?

Green, like jade or glaze.

What was this?

The next moment, the bead in his pupils exploded just like that.

The cultivator frowned and pushed out a wave of spiritual power.

Was that all the power it had?

However, a surging giant wave rolled in from all around.

The explosive giant force blasted his body into powder.

The waste Jade Marrow beads originated from the failed products during Luo Chen’s refining of Jade Marrow pills.

For every failed batch of raw materials, twenty waste beads would be produced.

So, how many times had Luo Chen failed since he started refining Jade Marrow pills?

The specific number could not be calculated.

But the initial failure rate was extremely high; even with Grandmaster-level proficiency, there was still a fifty percent failure rate.

Accumulated over nearly a year, Luo Chen’s number of failures must have reached several thousand.

In other words, the waste Jade Marrow beads he had on hand numbered in the tens of thousands!

Even though practicing the "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers" technique consumed many, his stock only seemed to increase, not decrease.

Just now, Gao Tingyuan used words to disturb his mind and set up a net to cut off his retreat.

Wasn't he also playing along, secretly using his own methods?

Silently, he used the "Seven-Night Star" hidden weapon technique from the "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers," borrowing the night sky to bury ten thousand waste Jade Marrow beads that had been tampered with.

Now, the ambush was complete!

The final step was actually simple.

Just use the "Primordial Bead" technique to detonate them.

With Luo Chen’s shout of "Explode," ten thousand waste Jade Marrow beads detonated simultaneously under the guidance of his spiritual power.

Perhaps the power of each waste Jade Marrow bead was mediocre, not even comparable to a strike from a low-grade magic tool.

But ten thousand of them were enough to form a qualitative change!

Luo Chen stood above the clouds, and although they were far apart, the massive shockwave still pushed him several *li* away.

If it weren't for the Four-Image Tripod protecting him, even Luo Chen, the caster, would have suffered a huge blow.

However, everything was worth it!

The surging spiritual power turbulence swept through the surroundings.

The sky full of dust turned into raging flames in the explosion, illuminating the entire battlefield.

A crater several hundred meters wide remained conspicuously in place.

All the cultivators on the battlefield looked over in shock.

They looked at that scene in fear; who below Foundation Establishment could withstand such a terrifying strike?

Was this still a method that a Qi Refining cultivator could perform?

Luo Chen, the Hall Master of the Pill Hall, was actually this powerful!

*Gulp!*

The sound of swallowing saliva, which should have been slight, sounded so clear in the silent night.

Luo Chen’s face was slightly pale; detonating so many waste Jade Marrow beads at once consumed more spiritual power than he had expected.

Naturally, he couldn't control every single waste Jade Marrow bead.

The reason he could achieve this level was by taking a shortcut.

He left a strand of spiritual power in every hundred waste Jade Marrow beads and then detonated them.

In this way, the other waste Jade Marrow beads that had been tampered with would also explode simultaneously.

"This was originally prepared for escaping Dajiang Workshop and dealing with demonic beasts, but I didn't expect it to be used on these people."

"Fortunately, the power did not disappoint me."

Luo Chen let out a sigh of relief; under such an attack, even the "Mixing River Dragon" Gao Tingyuan couldn't survive, right!

Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow.

"Brother Gao, where are you going?"

In the sky full of dust, a blue spiritual dragon, wrapping a short, stocky figure, stumbled and flew toward the distance.

Luo Chen withdrew the floating cloud, deployed the "Carefree Wind-Riding," and swooped down from the clouds like a giant roc.

The Fire-Tip Spear in his hand hummed.

Then it turned into a fire phoenix and broke through the air!

Not only that, two Soul-Breaking Nails accompanied it, turning into black light, piercing through clouds and the moon.

The fire phoenix arrived first, and the blue dragon was extinguished instantly.

A round bead full of cracks also turned into powder.

The spear tip revealed itself, piercing through the top-grade magic robe, barely stopping on Gao Tingyuan’s back.

But immediately, two black lights pierced through Gao Tingyuan’s chest simultaneously.

*Puff! Puff!*

Gao Tingyuan fell to the ground, turning into a rolling gourd, tumbling constantly.

He stood up forcibly, couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood, and looked at Luo Chen with panicked eyes.

"Luo Chen, do you really have to kill them all?"

"Yes!"

Luo Chen mobilized his spiritual power again, and the Fire-Tip Spear on the ground immediately flew toward Gao Tingyuan.

Gao Tingyuan couldn't dodge in time and was immediately pierced through.

He looked in astonishment at the large hole in his chest, then collapsed with a *boom*.

Seeing this, the heavy stone in Luo Chen’s heart finally fell.

Shan Xiu was dead, and Gao Tingyuan was also dead.

Even if he left Dajiang Workshop now, he would have no more worries.

"But Brother Gao, you still owe me five spirit stones, so I'll accept your storage bag with a smile."

He walked to a place quite far from Gao Tingyuan, his gaze falling on that dusty storage bag.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and his whole body stiffened.

Gao Tingyuan, who should have been completely dead, suddenly sat up.

A pair of green, ghostly eyes stared fixedly at him.

They were far apart, but under the gaze of those green eyes, Luo Chen couldn't move at all.

"Damn it, what kind of evil technique is this!"

Luo Chen shouted in his heart, feeling that he had completely lost control of his body.

In his vision, Gao Tingyuan just sat there, staring at him.

The two stalemated simultaneously.

"A spell targeting the soul?"

Luo Chen calmed down instantly; he didn't feel anything wrong, he just couldn't move.

And he couldn't move.

Gao Tingyuan couldn't move either.

"I want to see how long you can stalemate with me!"

"Besides, I’m not without a way!"

Subconsciously, the "Bright Spirit Breaking Evil" method flowed through his heart, and a powerful will rose up.

This will was strong; although it hadn't reached the level of a soul, it could already mobilize the spiritual power usually hidden beside various acupuncture points.

With a thought, thirty-six major acupuncture points all over his body were injured simultaneously.

A sharp pain, from his body, from his soul, exploded instantly.

"Ah!!!"

Luo Chen screamed in pain, his steps staggering, and he retreated backward.

And opposite him, Gao Tingyuan seemed to have suffered a severe backlash, his mouth mumbling, and finally, he collapsed powerlessly.

Luo Chen’s face was extremely pale; the pain of fully operating the "Bright Spirit Breaking Evil" was something no ordinary person could withstand.

Since he started, he had only completed it a few times.

He didn't expect that this time it would be used in battle.

Looking around, he was stunned to find.

It felt like a long time had passed, but outside, it seemed like only an instant.

"This Gao Tingyuan has too many methods; I still wasn't careful enough."

Luo Chen asked himself if he had been careful enough.

Two Soul-Breaking Nails pierced through his left and right chest, and the Fire-Tip Spear pierced through his body.

If you add the explosion of ten thousand waste Jade Marrow beads earlier, such injuries would be fatal for any Qi Refining cultivator.

He didn't expect Gao Tingyuan to still have the strength for one final strike.

It could only be said that he was worthy of being the powerhouse who killed Xu Renke on the Dao-Discussion Platform.

Without a substitute puppet, he was still so tenacious.

"Fortunately, that thing was destroyed by Xu Renke, otherwise killing him today would have taken some effort."

Luo Chen reached out and summoned, the Fire-Tip Spear picked up Gao Tingyuan’s storage bag and flew out, and the two Soul-Breaking Nails also flew out instantly.

Then, a fireball technique was thrown down directly.

"Second Brother!"

A sharp, shrill cry rang out in mid-air.

Luo Chen was stunned; that blue-clothed cultivator was still alive?

He looked up and saw Murong Qinglian and Gu Caiyi, plus Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang, four great experts surrounding and attacking, and the blue-clothed cultivator was still barely holding on.

"Are Sister-in-law and the others too weak? Or is this person too strong?"

While Luo Chen was puzzled, a green flag slipped from his hand.

A vague sense of danger made the blue-clothed cultivator’s pupils shrink.

He glared fiercely at Luo Chen, then let out a low roar.

A talisman was taken out.

Then, wave after wave of ripples spread out, forcibly pushing the four people back.

He withdrew, his gaze still fixed on Luo Chen.

"I, Lan Tianyun, will remember this grudge!"

After leaving these harsh words, he accelerated and was about to leave.

However, the next moment, a sword tip emerged from the void.

Vaguely, the sound of waves in the river and sea rang out.

Lan Tianyun clutched his neck in astonishment, then fell headfirst from the sky.

"Sorry, I’m late."

A figure as straight as a sword landed beside Luo Chen.

He reached out and summoned, and a flying sword returned to his hand.

Luo Chen looked at Duan Feng and grinned.

"Not late, there are still many prey here."