Chapter 250: Seven Nails Slays Golden Core

"Oh no!"

"Just thinking about it gets me excited… I've lived this long, but I've never played such a thrilling game!"

"Hehehe…"

"Boy, you're in luck!"

"Hahahaha…"

Bai Shangli laughed triumphantly.

He hoped to see despair—or even pleading—on He Pingsheng's face.

Or submission on Qiao Hui Zhu's face.

But there was none.

Both of them were unnervingly calm.

"You seem quite confident?"

Bai Shangli's smile vanished as he stared at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng said nothing, only slowly pulled a talisman from his storage bag.

Top-grade, Crush-Thunder Talisman.

Though unactivated, the immense power within it—and the faint threat of death—made Bai Shangli's brow twitch.

"What… what is this?" Bai Shangli scrambled back two steps, his spiritual sense slamming onto the talisman, then shouted: "Third-rank talisman—top-grade third-rank talisman…"

"Good heavens, how do you even have this?"

As a Golden Core cultivator, Bai Shangli understood better than anyone.

Once activated, this talisman would kill him without fail.

Top-grade talismans were just that powerful.

"Hehehe…" After his fear, Bai Shangli laughed again: "Boy, your spiritual sense isn't strong enough…"

"With your Foundation Establishment third-layer spiritual sense, activating this talisman would take at least ten breaths!"

"In ten breaths, I could crush you eight times over!"

"If you don't believe me, try it!"

He Pingsheng still said nothing, only shook the talisman in his hand.

Then, within his spiritual sea, a technique activated—seven spiritual nails instantly coalesced.

More precisely, they were formless spiritual-nail projections.

Seven spiritual nails slipped silently from He Pingsheng's spiritual sea.

Had he been able to see their true forms, he'd have noticed they resembled the Big Dipper.

That was the origin of the technique's name: Formless Big Dipper Nails.

"Ah…"

The moment the first spiritual nail slammed into Bai Shangli's spiritual sea, he screamed in agony.

Then the second, then the third, pierced his spiritual sea in succession.

He stopped screaming.

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Puff… puff… puff…

He Pingsheng directed the spiritual nails to keep drilling into Bai Shangli's spiritual sea.

The seven spiritual nails utterly shattered his spiritual sea.

Bai Shangli, dead.

It was that simple.

After unleashing his strongest spiritual strike, He Pingsheng swayed, his face pale as ash.

There was no choice—his spiritual sense depletion was too severe.

To guarantee a one-hit kill, he'd drained his entire spiritual sea.

And the third-rank talisman he'd just drawn? He never intended to detonate it.

He'd only used it to distract Bai Shangli, buying time to cast his Formless Big Dipper Nails.

"Husband!"

Seeing He Pingsheng staggering, Qiao Hui Zhu rushed to support him.

Beside them, Mi Rong had just pissed herself.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator had killed a Golden Core.

Could you believe it?

Worse, she still had no idea how he'd done it.

But it didn't matter.

What mattered was running—now.

She moved to flee, but suddenly realized thorns had sprouted from the ground, tightly coiling around her ankles.

"You think you can run after betraying me?" He Pingsheng's face was pale, yet he smiled faintly, stirring his remaining spiritual sense.

Pfft…

The thorns entwined around Mi Rong's ankles suddenly burst apart.

One thorn shot out, piercing deep into her skin.

With poison infused, Mi Rong collapsed instantly.

"Huh…" Seeing this, He Pingsheng exhaled deeply.

"Husband… how are you?"

"Why is your face so pale?"

Qiao Hui Zhu's worried, anxious expression made him smile.

He said: "I'm fine."

Still, for safety's sake, he pulled an elixir from his storage bag.

Third-rank Soul-Returning Pill—top-grade.

This elixir specifically mended spiritual sense injuries.

His spiritual sense wasn't injured, but taking it would instantly restore it to full capacity.

In this wasteland, he must always remain combat-ready—no room for slack.

It was just one top-grade elixir wasted.

He had plenty of Soul-Returning Pills.

After about half a stick of incense, He Pingsheng finally regained his strength.

He stood, waved his hand, and dragged Mi Rong over.

Then he flicked his wrist, sending out a Fire Crow.

It ignited Bai Shangli's corpse.

After burning the Golden Core's body, only ash remained—and a crimson ring.

He recognized it: a Golden Core cultivator's storage treasure, similar to a Foundation Establishment cultivator's storage bag.

He took it without hesitation, then activated his Cloud-Piercing Boat, streaking away as a streak of light.

"Slap…"

"Slap slap slap…"

He Pingsheng slapped Mi Rong several times and said: "Stop pretending!"

"That poison only knocks you out for a moment!"

"Get up!"

Mi Rong remained motionless.

He Pingsheng said: "If you don't move, I'll cut you down."

At that, Mi Rong scrambled to her feet.

On the small flying boat, three people.

Qiao Hui Zhu piloted from the front; He Pingsheng sat beside her.

Mi Rong knelt before He Pingsheng.

Fear filled her face: "I'm sorry, I was wrong… I was wrong!"

"You weren't wrong," He Pingsheng said coolly. "You were afraid."

"But don't worry—I still need you."

"I need you to help me find Tianxiang Doukou."

"Yes… yes!" Mi Rong hurriedly said. "I'll find it for you!"

He Pingsheng said: "Tell me—what happened? Why betray me?"

Mi Rong recounted everything.

He Pingsheng's brow furrowed slightly: I was careless… this time, I truly was careless.

After He Pingsheng left the Skull Mountain gathering, Bai Shangli failed to pursue him, returned to the Skull Mountain Jiaoyi Society, and that night captured Mi Rong.

Under threats and bribes, Mi Rong revealed her agreement with He Pingsheng to search for Tianxiang Doukou.

That's how the events that followed came to pass.

Mi Rong lured He Pingsheng out of the city, then Bai Shangli suddenly appeared.

A perfect plan.

Unfortunately, they all overlooked He Pingsheng's combat power.

He Pingsheng also reflected deeply.

He should have anticipated this situation—how could he have missed it?

All he could say was that, on one hand, his experience was still lacking, and on the other, ultimately, he had simply not been careful enough.

"Lead the way!" He Pingsheng nodded toward Mi Rong. "Don't even think about running—I can kill you with a single thought."

"If I obtain Tianxiang Doukou, I might spare you."

"We'll see how you perform."