Chapter 167
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Chapter 167: Shortening the Earth
Clang!
The Fire Crow Sword slid back into its sheath.
Wang Chen approached the headless corpse and deftly retrieved the storage bag from the body.
He rummaged through it and discovered the copper seal.
Earlier, Wang Chen hadn’t noticed that Du Yuan Kui had dropped a magical artifact when he was slain.
Moreover, a loose cultivator from Wuhuzhai had been lurking nearby!
If not for Wang Chen’s soul being far stronger than that of his peers, he might not have detected the prying gaze of the hidden observer.
This cultivator’s hiding ability was truly remarkable; even with a faint sense of his presence, Wang Chen couldn’t accurately locate him.
Thus, Wang Chen chose to feign ignorance.
He first collected the other two corpses and then quietly slipped back to the vicinity.
In terms of stealth, Wang Chen, who had mastered the Breath Concealment Technique, was no less skilled than any Qi Training cultivator.
He also possessed an abundance of patience.
Sure enough, he waited until the mouse emerged from its hole.
With a single sword strike, he ended its life!
Having neutralized the potential threat, Wang Chen placed the head into his storage bag.
He then cremated the loose cultivator’s body along with the bodies of the two Sunset Peak disciples, reducing them to ashes.
He performed the rites to guide their souls, ensuring they would not be lonely on their journey to the underworld!
At the same time, on the first layer of the Yunyang flying ship,
a Purple Palace master sat cross-legged on a cloud couch.
Before him lay a star map.
The star map shimmered with countless stars, roughly estimated to number four or five hundred.
Yet these stars were not constant; some would abruptly vanish, as if they had never existed!
The Purple Palace master observed this with an indifferent gaze, his eyelids not even flickering.
Though each star on the map represented a Sunset Peak disciple,
the disappearance of a star signified the death of a disciple!
Yet, no matter how many stars faded, the Purple Palace master’s emotions remained utterly unshaken.
The children of others could die endlessly.
For inner sect branches like Sunset Peak, the number of fortunate aspirants was far too great.
If this campaign could weed out a few true elites, then the loss of dozens or even hundreds of ordinary disciples would be entirely justified!
The thoughts of this Purple Palace master were clear, and the plans of the upper echelon of the Yunyang Sect were even more elaborate!
Half an hour later.
In a temporary hidden cave that had been excavated, Wang Chen began to tally his gains for the day.
He had killed seven cultivators in total, gaining 45 points of Heavenly Merit.
His total Heavenly Merit now increased to 71.
To add 1 more point to his root bone or comprehension, he still needed 29 points of Heavenly Merit!
Compared to Virtue,
the Heavenly Merit gained from killing was truly not easy to obtain.
But Wang Chen was quite satisfied.
In addition to Heavenly Merit, he also collected five heads that could be exchanged for rewards.
Although Wang Chen had only eliminated three loose cultivators,
he had found two more heads in Du Yuan Kui and the others’ storage bags.
This would be enough for a good report!
He had acquired six storage bags in total, and one he had completely destroyed with the Fire Crow Technique, taking both the person and their belongings.
The power of the perfect mastery Fire Crow Technique was so strong that sometimes it became a drawback.
From the six storage bags, he extracted over two thousand spirit stones.
There were thirteen magical items.
A pile of various elixirs and talismans!
Wang Chen couldn’t help but exclaim.
This truly was a golden belt of killing and arson!
Even though most of the Dan symbols were of low-grade, together they amounted to a considerable sum.
Among them, the biggest gain undoubtedly came from Du Yuan Kui.
This guy had three magical items, including the copper seal, which seemed to be a top-grade magical item.
But the copper seal was not the biggest surprise.
The greatest joy also came from Du Yuan Kui; Wang Chen found a Jade Slip in his storage bag.
A Jade Slip!
This was almost like winning the lottery.
Because disciples of the sect usually exchanged contribution points at the library to learn techniques and spells, or they bought them with spirit stones from merchants like the Four Seas Trading Association.
Whether exchanging or purchasing, everyone would practice to condense the method seed on the spot, then go back to ponder it slowly.
Some Jade Slips were one-time use only, shattering after learning.
Others could be used multiple times.
But regardless of the type, very few cultivators carried them around.
There was no need for that.
Wang Chen had already eliminated quite a few cultivators, collecting over ten storage bags.
But it was his first time encountering a Jade Slip!
He immediately pressed the Jade Slip against his forehead, infusing it with spiritual energy to sense its contents.
As a result, Wang Chen discovered that this Jade Slip contained a technique called "Shortening the Earth."
Unlike the Shadowless Divine Movement he had mastered,
"Shortening the Earth" was primarily used for sudden bursts of speed, allowing one to escape danger in an instant.
Although the distance covered in a single burst was not extensive, it could be repeated multiple times to evade an enemy’s pursuit until one’s spiritual energy was depleted!
This was a highly sophisticated escape technique that perfectly complemented the Shadowless Divine Movement.
Wang Chen couldn’t help but recall how swiftly Du Yuan Kui had fled earlier.
It was evident that Du Yuan Kui had mastered this technique.
However, Du Yuan Kui likely had not cultivated "Shortening the Earth" to a very high level; otherwise, even with the Fire Crow flying sword, Wang Chen might not have been able to intercept him.
From this, Wang Chen deduced that the Jade Slip containing the "Shortening the Earth" technique was a treasure Du Yuan Kui had acquired through his own fortune.
It seemed that Du Yuan Kui either did not want to give others an advantage or feared revealing his secret, which was why he had kept the Jade Slip with him all this time.
Now it had fallen into Wang Chen’s hands.
"Shortening the Earth" was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the day, yet what left Wang Chen speechless was that he also found a magical item in Du Yuan Kui’s storage bag.
To be precise, it was a set—the Dual Mirrors!
These Dual Mirrors were the very ones Du Yuan Kui had given to Wang Chen for monitoring Zhao Huai’an.
After Wang Chen persuaded Zhao Huai’an to leave, Du Yuan Kui had demanded the return of the Dual Mirrors.
Wang Chen had once thought that Du Yuan Kui intended to return them to Lu Hong.
Now it seemed very likely that Du Yuan Kui had kept them for himself!
With such greed, who would not meet their end?
After sorting through all the spoils and organizing them, Wang Chen picked up the Jade Slip once more and began to refine the method seed for "Shortening the Earth."
Moments later, the Jade Slip in his hand cracked loudly, completely shattering!
It was now utterly destroyed and could not be used again.
But within Wang Chen’s Sea of Consciousness,
a radiant method seed had formed!
Deciding to remain in the cave, he focused intently on grasping the key points of this movement technique.
It wasn’t until the sky outside gradually darkened and the horn of the flying ship echoed in the distance that
Wang Chen pushed aside the large stone blocking the cave entrance.
He summoned the Willow Leaf Flying Boat and flew toward the source of the sound!
The horn on the Yunyang flying ship was crafted from the colossal horns of a Kui Niu, and its sound could be heard for hundreds of miles, conveying simple messages.
The Purple Palace master stationed on the flying ship was summoning all disciples to return!
