Chapter 162
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Chapter 162: Lurking and Striking
Inside the time chamber, Xu Fan, with a grim expression, was controlling a special Nascent Soul Stage puppet. He had transported it from Lin Sen Fairy City to Black Sea Fairy City using one of Li Xingci’s Rebirth Servants.
"Whoever hurt my disciple, Xu Yuexian, will pay dearly, no matter who they are," Xu Fan muttered angrily.
"A Void Refinement stage cultivator dares to steal the treasure my disciple worked so hard to find. You think you’re so tough? Does your mother even know what you’re up to?"
"Since I’m bored with my divination techniques, I might as well have some fun with you."
"I don’t have much else, but I’ve got plenty of time to waste."
A month later, about 30,000 miles from Black Sea Fairy City, a high-quality, unclaimed spirit ore deposit was discovered. News spread quickly, and cultivators from all over rushed to the site.
Near the spirit ore deposit, a Void Refiner and a Transformation Stage cultivator were hiding together.
"Brother, these Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage cultivators don’t have much to offer. Why are we even here?" asked the middle-aged Transformation Stage cultivator, dressed in a black robe.
"Who said we’re here to rob them?" replied the Void Refiner with a sly grin.
"We’ll just stay here and wait. Whoever robs them, we’ll rob that person instead."
"And if we run into someone with higher cultivation, we’ll just make a quick exit," the Void Refiner added, clearly in a good mood.
A month earlier, he had ambushed a female Nascent Soul cultivator. To his surprise, she was incredibly wealthy. Her space ring contained a drop of wood essence, and her other treasures were all custom-made. Just those two items alone were enough to sustain his cultivation for a hundred years. Unfortunately, she managed to escape.
Though she got away, her injuries were severe. Without treasures like wood essence, there was no way she could recover. He knew her background wasn’t simple, but he wasn’t worried. He had robbed sect prodigies before and gotten away with it. He just needed to be more careful this time.
After this job, he planned to take his younger brother to a remote fairy city and go into seclusion for a hundred years to lay low.
"Second brother, once we finish this job and exchange the loot for cultivation resources, we’ll find a secluded fairy city and go into seclusion for a hundred years," the Void Refiner said.
"Is this because of that female cultivator? Don’t worry, brother. She’s probably dead by now," the black-robed Transformation Stage cultivator replied confidently.
"Besides, with your hiding skills, unless the Elder Council uses the Causality Mirror to track us, no one in the cultivation world can find us," he added, clearly proud of his brother’s abilities.
For years, they had relied on the Void Refiner’s exceptional hiding skills to live carefree lives.
"Still, it’s better to be cautious," the Void Refiner said calmly.
Not far from the spirit ore deposit, hidden deep within a forest, was an invisible palace. Inside, a group of puppets was assembling a cultivation-grade laser cannon.
Five hundred kilometers above the spirit ore, a fifth-grade precious artifact satellite had entered attack mode. Its original super-hard alloy rod had been replaced with a massive crystal rod that crackled with purple lightning. Surrounding the crystal rod were six superconductive alloy rods.
Inside the invisible palace, Xu Fan controlled the puppets. Once the laser cannon was fully assembled, he smirked and said, "This time, I’ll just take a little interest from you. But once I reach the Golden Core Stage, it’ll be your end." A sharp glint flashed in Xu Fan’s eyes.
Normally, with his current divination techniques, Xu Fan wouldn’t be able to locate the Void Refiner’s position. But he had his own special tracking method. When crafting treasures for his disciples, Xu Fan always inscribed an obscure rune on them. These runes emitted a unique energy wave that only he could detect.
This rune was also engraved on Xu Yuexian’s space ring. When the spirit ore was discovered, Xu Fan picked up the signal the very next day, though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.
"Trying to hide, huh? If you’re so tough, don’t show yourself," Xu Fan muttered through gritted teeth in the time chamber.
Xu Yuexian’s injuries were severe. While she was no longer in immediate danger, a strange power continued to erode her vitality. To fully recover, she would need ten years of rest and a steady supply of spiritual herbs infused with life energy to counteract the destructive force.
As time passed, the spirit ore deposit became a graveyard for many cultivators.
At first, wandering cultivators at the Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage mysteriously vanished after mining in the spirit ore for over a month.
This incident scared off all the wandering cultivators.
Then, a small faction from the Black Sea Fairy City, led by a Transformation Stage cultivator, took control of the area. But a month later, all their cultivators in the spirit ore also mysteriously disappeared.
Xu Fan observed the spirit ore coldly from the sidelines.
It wasn’t until three months later that Xu Fan finally saw his chance.
The area had been taken over by a nearby third-tier small sect, which had been mining destructively for two months without any issues.
When Xu Fan noticed the small sect preparing to leave, he became alert, realizing his identity as the lurking demon could no longer be concealed.
As the Void Refinement elder of the small sect proudly led his disciples away, a masked Void Refiner appeared behind the elder. With just one strike, he killed the elder, not even allowing the Nascent Soul to escape.
The Void Refiner then struck out with a palm in mid-air, instantly killing all the disciples around the elder.
At that moment, Xu Fan activated the Precious Artifact Satellite in the sky.
“Bang~”
From hundreds of miles above, the satellite first launched six superconductive alloy rods, followed by a sudden release of the central lightning crystal.
After deploying all the rods, the satellite disintegrated in the sky, turning into meteors that rained down on the area below.
“Taste my latest creation,” Xu Fan muttered, his eyes fixed on the scene of the crime not far away.
At that time, the Void Refiner was tidying up the battlefield, while a Transformation Stage cultivator tens of kilometers away was cautiously scanning the surroundings.
“I’ll take a little interest from you first; there’s a big meal waiting for you later.”
As soon as Xu Fan finished speaking, the Void Refiner, who was inspecting the spoils, suddenly looked up at the sky and then disappeared.
“Did you think you’d be safe in the spatial turbulence?” Xu Fan sneered, watching the disappearing Void Refinement stage cultivator through his puppet.
The six superconductive alloy rods formed a circle, covering an area of fifty miles around.
“Boom~~~”
The area hit by the rods erupted into a massive wave of earth, creating a thousand-meter-high tide of soil, followed by a giant rod flashing with lightning that exploded in mid-air.
The endless flashes of lightning turned the surrounding area into darkness; at that moment, the sky was dominated by a single color.
In the lightning-covered zone, numerous space cracks appeared, and a disheveled figure emerged from one of them.
The lightning had penetrated space, forcing the Void Refiner hiding in the spatial turbulence out into the open.
Meanwhile, Xu Fan, who had been lying in wait, fired a cannonball at the Void Refinement stage cultivator who had just escaped from the spatial turbulence.
A light column shot through the Void Refinement stage cultivator.
