Chapter 690

Chapter 690: Complete Victory

The two great Demon Kings escaped, while the Human Tribe Semi-Immortals grinned wickedly. Don’t think that escaping means they are safe; in truth, the real trouble for the two great Demon Kings was just beginning.

Though the Human Tribe Semi-Immortals were unwilling to fully provoke the Sea Demon Tribes at the Dragon Palace Deadly Area, they secretly employed the most insidious tricks.

Especially the Blood River Emperor and the White Bone Divine Demon from the Demonic Path, one used the Blood God Curse, and the other used the Bone Erosion Curse.

The Blood God Curse lurks deeply within the opponent’s blood essence, continuously draining their life force. Its greatest feature is its stubbornness; while the surface symptoms are easy to remove, the root is impossible to locate, making it equally hard to eliminate. To completely eradicate it, one would need to be several times stronger than the Blood River Emperor.

The Bone Erosion Curse is a similarly insidious divine skill. It burrows into the marrow, corroding the opponent’s bones, making them brittle and soft, accompanied by waves of excruciating pain, as if someone were scraping their bones.

Such underhanded tactics can only be temporarily suppressed and are extremely difficult to eradicate. With these two hidden poisons affecting them, the two Sea Emperors might spend the next few thousand years in endless pain.

As for the others, their methods were equally sinister. Several sword cultivators didn’t directly unleash the power of their sword energy but rather forced it into the bodies of the two great Demon Kings, letting it hide within, surfacing only occasionally to cause trouble.

With just one trace of sword energy hidden inside, it would already be hard to expel. However, with several Semi-Immortal sword cultivators present, each Demon King possessed two or three traces inside them, working together along with other poisonous divine skills to restrain them; getting them out would not be easy at all!

Conservatively estimating, the Iron Shark Demon King and the Malice Demon King should at least need a thousand to two thousand years to recover some combat power. Without a special fortuitous encounter, these injuries might even plague them for life, remaining unresolved until their deaths.

This was the consequence of being ambushed by the Top Ten Semi-Immortals. Had they known so many masters were hidden here, they likely wouldn’t have dared to come here flaunting their strength!

After driving off the two Sea Tribe Semi-Immortals, many Human Tribe cultivators couldn’t contain their joy, even the two ancestors of the Ximen family felt much more at ease.

However, they quickly fell into gloom as Fang Lie smiled at them and said, "Now, do you have anything to say?"

"Hmph!" Both the Blue and Purple Ancestors snorted in unison, falling silent and clearly at a loss for words.

"Hey!" The Sword Ancestor of Penglai and the Blood River Emperor exchanged delighted laughs, then all focused on the Sword God, eager to see what he would do next.

The Sword God felt frustrated, regretting that he should have stopped Ao Jianzi from gaining the leader position. Not only did he offend the Overseas Three Immortal Mountains, but he also lost face here—truly not worth it.

But at this point, pretending to be confused was impossible. He can only give Ao Jianzi a look; although he didn’t speak openly, his intention was clear.

Even if Ao Jianzi was unwilling, he wouldn’t dare go against the Sword God’s will. Reluctantly, he took out a three-foot-long Purple Jade Flute and threw it to Fang Lie, coldly huffing, "Consider yourself lucky!"

Fang Lie couldn’t be bothered with him, catching the Purple Jade Flute and examining it. He suddenly exclaimed, "It really is made from Yingzhou Purple Bamboo! They truly made a sacrifice this time, even pulling out their ancestral treasures!"

The Overseas Three Immortal Mountains each have their special products. The Penglai Sword Sect offers the Penglai Immortal Liquid, which can greatly enhance one’s divine sense, worth its weight in gold. The Penglai Sword Sect acts like unscrupulous merchants, selling diluted versions, still thriving and gathering a massive amount of spirit stones for the sect.

Abbot Mountain produces the rare Abbot Stone. Although the output is low and cannot be sold, it is indeed excellent material for forging treasures, and half of Abbot Mountain’s Eighth-Rank Treasures are made from Abbot Stone. Thus, its importance to Abbot Mountain is immense.

As for the Yingzhou Taoist Sect, their specialty is the ninth-rank material, Purple Bamboo. This item grows only an inch every thousand years, taking at least tens of thousands of years to mature. Luckily, they have a grove of Purple Bamboo, so its production is decent.

Like the Abbot Stone, the Purple Bamboo is also Yingzhou Taoist Sect’s greatest reliance, with more than half of their Eighth-Rank Treasures crafted from it.

However, Purple Bamboo is merely a material, and while it produces a fair amount, it doesn’t involve sect secrets, so management isn’t overly strict, and they occasionally sell some.

Nevertheless, treasures crafted from Yingzhou Taoist Sect’s eighth-rank Purple Bamboo are never sold outside, and this time would likely be the first time it lands in someone else’s hands.

Do not be fooled by its elegant appearance; in practice, it is extremely fierce. Though it is a musical instrument, it does not charm enemies with sound but releases special invisible sword energy, striking with incredible power and utter silence, making it exceptionally troublesome.

Thus, this treasure is famous in the whole cultivation world, perfectly catering to the tastes of Ao Jianzi, the sword cultivator.

Because of this, Ao Jianzi was willing to break others’ unspoken rules, even offending the Three Immortal Mountains to claim this treasure.

If he could refine this item and merge it with his own sword energy, his strength would absolutely skyrocket. Not to mention, his already razor-sharp sword energy would suddenly become invisible, a nightmare for anyone!

Unfortunately, while Ao Jianzi had good intentions, he didn’t anticipate the subsequent developments, indirectly benefiting Fang Lie instead of himself.

To be clear, under normal circumstances, Fang Lie would never compete for first place and would not acquire this treasure. After all, he wasn’t crazy enough to offend the Overseas Three Immortal Mountains.

Yet now, thanks to Ao Jianzi, Fang Lie not only obtained the Purple Jade Flute but also didn’t incur the wrath of the Three Immortal Mountains. Once he returns, he might even gain a great favor— indeed, he really pocketed all the benefits!

With the misunderstanding cleared, no one else came forward to cause trouble, and instead, many praised Fang Lie’s formidable strength.

Especially the people from the Overseas Three Immortal Mountains and the Demonic Path side seemed to excessively extol Fang Lie, so much so that he felt embarrassed.

The intention of the Three Immortal Mountains was clear: to establish a good relationship with Fang Lie and see if they could trade back the Purple Jade Flute. After all, Fang Lie was not a sword cultivator. Even within the whole Mo Sect, there are not many sword cultivators, and having this object in Fang Lie’s hands would be a waste. Offering some price and favors could make this work.

As for the Demonic Path cultivators, they had ulterior motives. While praising Fang Lie, they would undoubtedly harshly criticize East Kunlun and Ao Jianzi, making their intent to cause discord painfully obvious.

Despite this, they achieved their goal. The Mo Sect was all smiles, while those from East Kunlun and the Ximen family seethed with anger, wishing they could swallow Fang Lie and the Mo Sect whole.

There was no way around it; this was a very open maneuver. Anyone who was publicly insulted like this wouldn’t feel good, especially when it was compared with their enemies. Could they not be enraged?

It was only with the Dragon Palace Deadly Area set to open that they could barely hold back. If it were a different time, they likely would have already caused a scene.

Fang Lie was well aware of this but wasn’t inclined to explain. After all, he was already at odds with these two families. Even without this incident, they could never be friends. He may as well take the opportunity to annoy them; it counts as a small revenge.

With this thought, Fang Lie completely let go, enjoying food and drink with the Three Immortal Mountains’ members, while he remained indifferent to the Demonic Path group.

The banquet lasted a full day and night before finally winding down. Fang Lie arranged for everyone to rest at various inns, and after they all recuperate for three days, they would set off to the Dragon Palace.

After sending everyone off, Fang Lie barely had time to catch his breath before a figure with an Immortal-Style Appearance, Thunder Tribulation Immortal, blocked his path.

"I am Mo Qian from the Yingzhou Taoist Sect, seeing Benefactor Fang!" Mo Qian clasped his hands in greeting.

"Ha ha, too kind!" Fang Lie returned the gesture with a smile, "Greetings, senior!"

"Hehe!" Mo Qian smiled slightly and said, "You must know why I am here, right?"

"Hmm, I can guess!" Fang Lie smiled and replied. "Is it about the Purple Jade Flute?"

"Sigh, I am ashamed to say!" Mo Qian smiled ruefully, "My disciple accidentally lost to Ao Jianzi, allowing our sect’s treasure to leave our hands. I am truly anxious! If you are willing to return it, I would greatly appreciate it. Of course, we will not take it for free, and can provide an equally valuable treasure in exchange."

Upon hearing this, Fang Lie frowned. He clearly didn’t want a one-for-one trade. The Purple Jade Flute was a top product of the same rank; there were few eighth-rank treasures that could compare. Though he might gain a favor, it was insignificant and hardly useful.

However, outright rejection would be too dismissive. So, Fang Lie smiled and said, "Senior, this matter is not for me to decide. Eighth-rank treasures are important to our sect, so any exchange must be approved by the sect. How about this: when we return, I will accompany you to find the Sect Leader, and we can persuade him together. As long as he agrees, it will be fine!"

"That… sounds good!" Mo Qian chuckled and replied, "In that case, I will trouble Benefactor Fang!" He then took his leave.

Though Fang Lie didn’t state it explicitly, Mo Qian understood that he had likely turned down the offer because he deemed their conditions too low. However, considering how hard it was to find an equal treasure to rival the Purple Jade Flute, his thoughts were rational.

To trade lesser treasures for the purple flute would mean a clear loss for Fang Lie, and it was obvious he wouldn’t want that. Consequently, to retrieve the Purple Jade Flute, they might need to add a bit more incentive.

Fortunately, Fang Lie had not outright rejected the possibility of an exchange, suggesting that he did indeed have a willingness to negotiate, assuring Mo Qian significantly. He quietly resolved to send a message via Flying Swords to his sect, urging them to quickly come up with a new offer for an exchange, so that once the treasure hunt at the Dragon Palace was over, they could immediately trade, to avoid lengthy delays!