Previously, it had taken more than forty Qi Refining cultivators to restrain the skeleton. Now, facing Zuo Hu, whose strength was nearly equal to the skeleton’s, the Spirit Snake Gang was naturally no match for him.
Wu Chao could only lead his gang toward the skeleton’s position, attempting to use the creature to tie Zuo Hu down.
The effect of Zuo Hu’s Explosive Flame Pill had a time limit. At this moment, his only thought was to hack his arch-rival to death as quickly as possible, and he paid no attention to the movements around him.
While Wu Chao was running toward the skeleton at the cost of several of his gang members' lives, the surviving members of the Raging Fire Gang were also fleeing toward Zuo Hu.
Just as the two sides were about to converge and the attacks from both the skeleton and Zuo Hu were about to fall on the Spirit Snake Gang, Wu Chao suddenly pulled out a Swift-Walk Talisman, slapped it onto himself, and zipped away from the encirclement.
“Leader!”
Desperate cries rose one after another.
Wu Chao did not look back.
The skeleton’s hand bones clashed with Zuo Hu’s axe, and the impact simultaneously shattered the internal organs of the last few of Wu Chao's close confidants.
As they lay dying, their bodies went limp on the ground, their eyes fixed on the distant, retreating figure of Wu Chao.
Meanwhile, the few remaining members of the Raging Fire Gang failed to escape in time and were severely injured by the shockwaves of the clash.
Gu Ningyun was silently hiding in the safest spot in the mass grave—a place both Zuo Hu and the skeleton were deliberately avoiding—directly beneath the Soul-Nourishing Flower.
While she observed the maturation of the Soul-Nourishing Flower according to the records in the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》, she also watched the Foundation Establishment battle, analyzing their strength and combat methods.
Since a Stealth Talisman could not hide one's divine sense and Gu Ningyun was positioned at the center of the battlefield, Wen Xuan and the others had not kept their divine sense fixed on her.
However, after obtaining the Yin-Gathering Pearl, Gu Ningyun had unexpectedly discovered that she could use its yin energy to hide her own divine sense within the ambient yin energy of the mass grave.
To facilitate communication and coordination, she unilaterally fixed her divine sense on her four companions.
Consequently, the four of them heard Gu Ningyun’s real-time commentary, transmitted from her prime viewing position.
“Even if Zuo Hu wins, his future is bleak. The Explosive Flame Pill’s drain on one’s potential is quite significant, isn’t it, Wen Xuan?”
“I’ve seen methods in the library for restoring potential in the cultivation world, but the materials are all from the ancient era. They’re probably almost extinct by now.”
“That skeleton is a genuine Foundation Establishment creature, after all. Even if its cultivation is unstable, it shouldn't be weaker than a counterfeit Foundation Establishment cultivator like Zuo Hu. Why does it look like it’s struggling?”
“A temporary breakthrough really is inferior. It has the spirit energy of the Foundation Establishment stage but lacks the corresponding techniques. It can’t even exert half of its true power.”
“If you ask me, these Explosive Flame Pills are hardly worth it. The boost is short-lived, you can't even use the power properly once you have it, and the permanent side effects are terrible. Rather than pinning one's hopes on a pill that only provides a hollow increase in realm, it’s better to prepare more life-saving items. Greed truly is a bottomless pit. If a chance is beyond your reach, don't force it. Isn't it better to use your wits? And if you can't win by wit, why not just run away? Why insist on a head-on confrontation?”
“That Wu Chao is quite clever. Although he ran away this time and didn't get the Soul-Nourishing Flower, he didn't exhaust his potential. With his status as the leader of the Spirit Snake Gang, his cultivation will eventually surpass Zuo Hu’s one day. No matter how precious a Soul-Nourishing Flower is, it’s just an external object. It’s nowhere near as important as one’s potential. As for Wu Chao’s arm, he seemed to have retrieved it when it was cut off. He can just take a Bone-Regenerating Pill to reattach it later. Although that pill is a bit expensive, as a gang leader, he should be able to scrape together enough to buy one.”
“Don’t you all agree?”
“Oh, I almost forgot you can't transmit back to me.”
Wen Xuan: “...”
Jiang Yao: Suddenly, my hands feel a bit itchy.
Mu Chenze: Deep breaths, deep breaths. This is the little strategist of our Ruiyu Pavilion. I must endure, I must endure.
Jun Luo: If we need to act later, which angle would be best for a sword strike? Why did the breathing of those three suddenly become so heavy? Are they too nervous?
While Gu Ningyun was transmitting to her companions, her hand was already pressed against the earth beside the Soul-Nourishing Flower.
Just as the skeleton and Zuo Hu were locked in another stalemate, the Soul-Nourishing Flower released its first trace of an aura that could soothe even one’s primordial spirit.
The Soul-Nourishing Flower had fully matured.
Before the second trace of the flower's aura could spread, Gu Ningyun waved her hand and swept the matured Soul-Nourishing Flower and its two seeds into her space.
As she took the flower, she felt a slight breeze.
The flower’s cavity was underground; where could a breeze come from?
Judging by the shape of the air movement, it was clearly another hand!
Without a moment's hesitation, Gu Ningyun stuffed a withered flower—one that was completely useless without its seeds—into that hand’s path.
At the same time, she controlled a wisp of wind spirit energy, hiding it within the draft created by that hand, and sent it darting toward the arm.
Following the spirit energy pathways of the Stealth Talisman and the earth-tunneling talisman, she disrupted the talisman’s connection points.
The talismans immediately burned out as if their spirit energy had naturally exhausted itself.
Stripped of the earth-tunneling talisman and the Stealth Talisman, the person was suddenly stuck in the dirt, caught in the middle of reaching for the withered flower.
This scene naturally fell into the eyes of both Zuo Hu and the skeleton.
The skeleton let out a silent roar, abandoning Zuo Hu to pounce toward the original location of the Soul-Nourishing Flower.
“Zhou Fei, you actually dare to steal my prize!”
Zuo Hu’s eyes were already blood-red with hatred. He let out a scream of rage and, along with the skeleton, hacked at Zhou Fei, who was still trapped in the ground.
Gu Ningyun had already retreated behind a tree to regroup with her companions.
“Mission accomplished. The Soul-Nourishing Flower and the seeds are all in hand.”
Since Zuo Hu’s divine sense did not reach the perimeter of the mass grave, Mu Chenze transmitted, “According to rumors on the World Forum, that Zhou Fei is the current City Lord of Border City, with a cultivation at the twelfth level of Qi Refining.”
“It’s his own bad luck. To have his talismans fail at such a moment—he tried to steal the prize but ended up as our scapegoat instead,” Wen Xuan’s transmission sounded somewhat gleeful.
“If he’s the type to play the oriole, would he really be so careless as to not replace his talismans before they ran out? Besides, for both the earth-tunneling talisman and the Stealth Talisman to fail at the same time, trapping him and exposing his presence... that’s too convenient.”
Following his divine sense, Mu Chenze looked suspiciously toward Gu Ningyun. “That guy’s miserable state... Ningyun, that wasn't your doing, was it?”
Gu Ningyun gave a mischievous giggle. “I haven't spent this past year just meditating and practicing my sword.”
Besides learning new talismans and the methods for making yellow-rank talisman paper and ink, she had also spent time deconstructing and studying the talismans she already knew.
This was why today, she was able to find the connection points and destroy the talismans using only the clue of that person's hand.
However, this was limited to yellow-rank talismans; she was still unable to handle the mysterious-rank talismans used by those at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Hearing Gu Ningyun’s transmission, Wen Xuan gave her a thumbs-up, even though Gu Ningyun couldn't see it.
Jiang Yao: “When it comes to setting people up, no one does it like Ningyun.”
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