“Third Grandfather, a Secret Realm-wide bounty? Why?” Sun Hang was somewhat bewildered.
Sun Zhenwu pointed at the withered sapling and asked, “Do you know what this is?”
“No.”
“This is a Blue Spirit Fruit Tree. Its withering means its fruit has been plucked. Do you have any idea how precious a Blue Spirit Fruit is? It allows an Earth Spirit Realm expert to achieve Divine Sense Projection ahead of time, granting them the ability to kill with a single thought.”
“But Third Grandfather, that guy from the Three-Star Main Town said that when he arrived, Sun Cong and the others were already dead. He claimed there was nothing left at the scene.”
“And you believed that nonsense? Are you really that naive?!” Sun Zhenwu’s face was dark and cold. “Judging from the scene, there had to be a seventh person. Sun Cong and the others must have slaughtered each other, allowing this seventh person to reap the spoils while they fought.”
“Grandfather, he wouldn’t dare lie to me, would he? Besides, that woman from the Gongsun family really was hiding nearby. She suddenly launched a lethal attack on Elder Sun Yun and me.”
Sun Zhenwu replied coldly, “The woman from the Gongsun family is indeed highly suspicious, but so is that guy from the Three-Star Main Town. Even if his suspicion isn’t great—even if I’m just overthinking this—I would rather kill an innocent than let a guilty one slip away. No matter what, his Qiankun Bag must remain with us.”
“I understand, Third Grandfather. If I run into him again, I’ll kill him immediately.”
Since Sun Zhenwu had declared that it was better to kill by mistake than to let a suspect slip away, investigating whether that kid had told the truth or not didn’t matter in the slightest.
Sun Zhenwu nodded and asked, “What does that kid look like?”
“I’ll draw him for you…” Sun Hang once again used his Spiritual Qi to outline Ye Xuan’s appearance in the air.
A full beard, and a pig embroidered on his chest.
Sun Zhenwu was a bit surprised. Did anyone in a Three-Star Main Town use a pig as their totem? As far as he could remember, there wasn’t.
“Third Grandfather, what should I do now?”
“Take a thousand Golden Armor Guards and search for this man. Commander Yuan will go with you to protect you. I’ll take the rest of our men and hunt down that remnant of the Gongsun family. We must strike while she’s weak and take her life. If she doesn’t die, I’m afraid she’ll continue to ambush our clansmen. Additionally, if you run into that blood-haired woman again, crush your signal flare immediately, and we will rush over right away.”
“Third Grandfather, if I meet that woman again, she will definitely die. Her injuries must be far more severe than I thought, otherwise, she wouldn’t have given up trying to kill me. When the time comes, I’ll take her life with my own hands. I’ll be off then, Third Grandfather.”
The Secret Realm was vast; finding someone was actually no easy task. They had to sweep through it area by area.
Under the moonlight, the figures quickly dispersed.
At that moment, by a lake somewhere else, Ye Xuan was currently fishing.
Two days had passed, and his cultivation had already successfully advanced to the 3rd Layer of the Demon Spirit Realm. Since he didn’t need to hunt Beasts himself, he simply found a pond to enjoy some peace and quiet. He pondered as he fished.
This time, it only cost him three Fifth-Tier Beast Pills to push his cultivation to the 3rd Layer. This meant that as long as the Beast Pill’s tier was three levels higher than his cultivation, he only needed to consume three of them to break through. This number might not be entirely accurate, as the energy within a Beast Pill could vary in strength even among Beasts of the same tier. It was possible he might need two. Or perhaps four. But the fluctuation shouldn’t be too large.
In other words, to raise his cultivation from the 3rd Layer to the 4th Layer, he would need about three Sixth-Tier Beast Pills. Ye Xuan didn’t have any Level Five Sixth-Tier Beast Pills, but he did have Level Five Seventh-Tier Beast Pills. The energy of a single Seventh-Tier Beast Pill should be enough.
The benefit of being able to absorb one hundred percent of a Beast Pill’s energy was finally showing. Consuming Spirit Medicine indeed cost Ye Xuan a massive amount of resources, but with Beast Pills, his immense consumption didn’t seem quite so daunting. The Dragon Capturing Cauldron was practically a legendary Immortal Artifact, a Divine Artifact.
“I wonder how many Eighth-Tier and Ninth-Tier Beast Pills Blood Princess can manage to get,” he mused. “Regardless, the resources obtained from this Two-Star Secret Realm should be enough to elevate my cultivation to around the 6th Layer of the Demon Spirit Realm. That means I can advance by four whole layers.
“Hehe, not bad at all…”
Ye Xuan smiled. He was quite satisfied with this efficiency.
Of course, Ye Xuan knew that reaching the 6th Layer would be the easy part. Advancing beyond the 6th Layer would be incredibly difficult. His resource consumption multiplied exponentially with each level. By then, perhaps only the Beast Pills of Earth-Rank Beasts would be able to directly increase his cultivation. Otherwise, he would need at least twenty or thirty Beast Pills of the same level—which meant killing two to three hundred Beasts. A Two-Star Secret Realm definitely wouldn’t have that many high-tier Beasts.
Just as Ye Xuan was lost in thought, the sound of footsteps came from afar. Sun Hang was leading his men, coincidentally passing through this area.
“Young Master Hang, someone is fishing over there,” Commander Yuan’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Fishing? Who would be so idle?” Sun Hang frowned. A Secret Realm was a place to hunt for resources. To think someone was actually wasting their time fishing!
Taking a glance, Sun Hang’s eyes abruptly narrowed.
That profile. That full beard. The person fishing looked exactly like that guy from the Three-Star Main Town! He had just been racking his brain over where to find this kid, and the kid had simply presented himself. He had searched high and low to no avail, only for the kid to fall right into his lap.
Sun Hang sneered coldly and walked toward Ye Xuan. A thousand Golden Armor Guards followed closely behind him.
“Still fishing, kid?” Sun Hang spoke in a frigid tone upon drawing near.
Ye Xuan turned his head and frowned. Why did he have to run into Sun Hang again? Furthermore, Sun Hang’s expression was completely off this time.
Just as he was about to speak, Sun Hang’s body erupted with terrifying light. Without any warning, he clamped his hand around Ye Xuan’s throat and hoisted him into the air. Then, he violently slammed him into the ground.
With a muffled BOOM, dust flew everywhere as a deep crater appeared in the earth. Ye Xuan felt a sudden heat in his throat before he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Oh? You actually didn’t die!” Sun Hang’s eyes widened in surprise. His strike just now hadn’t snapped the kid’s neck. This kid’s cultivation didn’t seem weak at all.
As his voice faded, he raised his foot again, this time aiming squarely at Ye Xuan’s head. The imposing aura of the 8th Layer of the Demon Spirit Realm surged out without any reservation. With this stomp, he intended to crush Ye Xuan’s skull.
Ye Xuan’s expression instantly turned icy cold. The other party’s killing intent was blatantly obvious. Although he didn’t know why Sun Hang had suddenly decided to kill him, it no longer mattered. Because right now, he had no other option but to fight back.
BOOM!
The foot stomped down, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and smoke.
Amidst the dust, a twenty-meter-tall divine-demonic phantom suddenly materialized. This phantom was wreathed in raging flames. This was the Fire Divine-Demonic Overlord Body. Without using his Dragon Soul Power, this was Ye Xuan’s strongest combat form.
Ye Xuan’s cultivation was at the 3rd Layer of the Demon Spirit Realm, but by relying on his Cultivation Technique, he could easily battle experts at the 5th Layer. After unleashing the Divine-Demonic Overlord Body, his strength and defense increased by another two layers, allowing him to fight against experts at the 7th Layer. Coupled with his Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi, his current strength was in no way inferior to Sun Hang’s.
The next moment, a cold glint blossomed within the smoke and dust. Empowered by the Fire Divine-Demonic Overlord Body, Ye Xuan executed the Sixteen Sword Poem Techniques.
“A single sword dance shocks heaven and earth,
“Solitude stems solely from a loathing of parting.
“Raising my cup and sword, I ask the frigid night…”
Three sword strikes were unleashed in rapid succession, moving at blistering speeds. Those outside could only faintly glimpse the radiant brilliance of the sword flashes within.
Subsequently, clad in his twenty-meter Divine-Demonic Overlord Body, Ye Xuan rapidly sped away into the distance.
“Hmm? He’s still alive!” Commander Yuan’s pupils shrank, clearly not expecting Ye Xuan to have survived.
If he was still alive, then what about Young Master Hang?
“Oh no!”