Daoist Qinglong leaned forward slightly, his eyes shifting as a trace of seriousness surfaced in his otherwise emotionless gaze.
If he had intended to spare the young cultivator's life a moment ago, after seeing the numerous artifacts of significant origin she possessed, Daoist Qinglong had now made up his mind to silence her.
There were only two possibilities for a young cultivator with a common background and no apparent lineage to possess so many exotic treasures.
First, she had a truly extraordinary master who valued her immensely, even going so far as to expend vast resources to nurture her.
To have so many medicinal pills and artifacts at the Foundation Establishment stage, this little cultivator was certainly not as masterless as she claimed.
Whether she belonged to the Qingjing Sect or the Wuwei Sect did not matter.
Second, she was someone possessed of heaven-defying luck, with a destiny so strong that heavenly treasures and fortuitous opportunities were always within her reach.
If it were the former, a sect seeking revenge would be an endless trouble—she had to be killed.
If it were the latter, if she achieved great cultivation in the future and sought retaliation, it would also be an endless trouble—she had to be killed.
Daoist Qinglong’s brow twitched. For the first time, he truly looked at this small cultivator. After a long moment, he took out a fiery red pill and tossed it into the air.
The aura of this pill was overwhelming, seemingly even more powerful than the Hundred Ghosts Heart Demon Pill from before. As soon as it appeared, Nan Zhi felt the surrounding air temperature soar several times over, as a surging heat wave rushed toward her!
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—”
The pill swayed, and two orange fire pythons of extreme temperature erupted from it. Flames flared everywhere with intense heat. Wherever the two snakes coiled, even the massive stones and yellow sand on the ground began to burn.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Nan Zhi hurriedly retreated. The Bronze Shield rose from the ground before her, transforming into a twenty-foot-high bronze barrier that firmly protected her.
Heat surged as the fire pythons exhaled long breaths, spitting out two clusters of slightly purplish-red flames. The pill fire was incredibly potent; the moment the flames touched the stone mounds, they melted into sluggish magma that flowed toward the hollows.
The air around her shimmered with heat, as if all moisture had vanished. Her throat felt painfully dry, as if she would be scorched to a crisp in the next second. Even the mist from the Mirage Pearl that Nan Zhi used to hide herself was burned away completely!
Nan Zhi’s figure was now fully exposed in mid-air.
Five Elements techniques!
She immediately chanted a formula, summoning two water dragons to fight back. However, she didn't expect this fire to be the pill fire Daoist Qinglong used for alchemy. Ordinary water could not extinguish it; instead, it only fueled the flames!
“Whoosh! Whoosh!!”
The purple pill fire suddenly flared up, attempting to surround Nan Zhi. She immediately raised the small shield in her hand to resist, but a corner of the Bronze Shield was melted through, forming a crack!
The Bronze Shield was destroyed!
The gap between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul was not something that could be bridged by the number of artifacts alone!
Nan Zhi used the wind to flee several miles, but the fire followed her all the way. Wherever it passed, the pavilions and halls were burned to ruins, leaving them in a wretched state!
Reaching a certain point, Nan Zhi suddenly noticed the fire behind her weakening. Her eyes lit up, and she spun around, throwing the Purple Bamboo Dragon-Carved Brush Pot from her hand!
The brush pot gradually enlarged, and a Five Elements spiritual energy formation descended from the sky, firmly trapping one of the fire pythons. Before the python could escape, she suddenly threw a Thunder Bomb. The greedy fire python raised its head to swallow it!
In the next second, Nan Zhi appeared a hundred yards away, shield in hand, standing atop the spectral image of the Demon Suppression Tower!
“Boom!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
“Boom!”
The Thunder Bombs were incredibly powerful. The pill that hosted the fire pythons was blown to pieces, and both pythons exploded. Even the Purple Bamboo Dragon-Carved Brush Pot was completely destroyed in the process!
The Purple Bamboo Dragon-Carved Brush Pot was destroyed!
Before Nan Zhi could catch her breath, a shadow suddenly loomed over her. Daoist Qinglong stood proudly in the sky, his gaze growing colder.
“Wretch, you dare harm Xia Niang. You truly deserve to die.”
A massive, invisible hand suddenly appeared in the sky, locking onto Nan Zhi. Her scalp tingled, but she was suppressed by his divine sense and could not move at all!
As the giant hand drew closer, the artifacts on Nan Zhi’s body began to break one by one—
The Eight-Treasure Necklace Shirt was destroyed!
The Bronze Soul-Chasing Bell was destroyed!
The defense jade rings shattered!
“Bang!”
“Crack!”
“Thud!”
As her artifacts shattered, the young female cultivator let out a muffled groan. Blood stained her lips, and spots of red trickled from the corners of her eyes, her nose, and behind her ears. Yet, under the immense pressure, she held on stubbornly, refusing to bow her head.
“You deliberately lured the fire pythons to chase you just now because you wanted to test the location of the formation eye of this Two-Form Inversion Formation.
You have some brains, guessing my intention in using Junior Brother Mo to set the formation. You hoped to break the formation to draw down a heavenly lightning tribulation, using the power of the Heavenly Dao to kill me.”
Daoist Qinglong paused his grasping motion for a moment, making no effort to hide the sneer on his face.
“Unfortunately, you have still fallen short at the final step. Today, I shall teach you a lesson: the gap between our cultivation levels can never be filled by artifacts. This Venerable crushing you is no different from crushing an ant.”
He paused, his eyes cold, seemingly wanting to mock her further, when someone shouted:
“Master, I beg you, spare Fellow Daoist Nan! Do not add more to your killing karma!”
Both of them turned their heads simultaneously. In the bamboo pavilion, Shen Luohe was holding his folding fan against Immortal Danxia’s neck. His eyes were conflicted, and his voice was tragic.
“Master, stop this madness! In her current state, Immortal Danxia would be better off dead!
Daoist Mo is dead, and the Qingjing Sect will surely sense it. Going against the natural order and trying to change fate will only lead to eternal damnation!
Fellow Daoist Nan is a close friend of mine and Xijian’s. I already wronged her by deceiving her and trading her life for Xijian’s. I absolutely cannot... I cannot watch her die before my eyes!”
“You dare threaten your master?”
A flash of sorrow passed through Daoist Qinglong’s eyes, which then turned into a snarl.
“Rebellious disciple! Rebellious disciple! Do you really think I didn't notice your little schemes?! I simply turned a blind eye!
The Great Dao is not solitary, yet you would defy your master for an outsider. Have you truly forgotten the kindness I showed you in the past?!”
Shen Luohe was only at the Qi Refinement stage. Holding a hostage in front of a Nascent Soul cultivator was a joke.
Qinglong merely let out a cold snort and blew a breath. Countless bamboo leaves transformed into sword qi and fell, pinning Shen Luohe’s limbs to a massive rock.
“Master! I would never dare forget your great kindness for a single day, but since childhood, you taught Xijian and me that those who cultivate must adhere to their original hearts and not be trapped by heart demons!”
Shen Luohe’s body was covered in bloody holes, and he was a mess of tears and mucus, though it was hard to tell if it was tears or blood.
“I am truly a coward who only knows how to flee. I dare not tell the world of your deeds, yet I am unwilling to continue helping a villain do evil. I have failed my master’s kindness and have no face to meet my friends. It is better that I die.”
Qinglong looked up, expressionless. He merely waved a hand, and a bamboo leaf pierced through Shen Luohe’s right chest, leaving a fist-sized wound.
Now is the chance!
“!”
Nan Zhi retracted her divine sense just as she witnessed this scene. Without time to think, she threw two Thunder Bombs. Taking advantage of the moment Daoist Qinglong was distracted, she used a substitution technique, leaving a paper figure in her place as she turned and rushed toward Immortal Danxia in the bamboo pavilion!
“Wretch!”
Qinglong roared. He moved as if taking a leisurely stroll, yet he was Shrinking the Earth. In the blink of an eye, he landed in the bamboo pavilion, reaching out to seize the green-robed female cultivator’s neck and giving it a forceful twist—
The Foundation Establishment cultivator’s aura vanished instantly. In the next moment, a limp body fell to the ground. Qinglong immediately felt something was wrong. He looked down, only to see a paper figure with red cheeks and red lips lying on the ground.
Another paper figure!
Not good!
Qinglong suddenly realized something and snapped his head up. Toward the Demon Suppression Tower within the monastery, he saw Nan Zhi holding high a chubby, rosy infant corpse-like artifact, smashing it down heavily upon a certain spot!!
“Crack...”
It was only a very slight sound, yet it caused Daoist Qinglong’s expression to change completely.
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