Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Shedding Disguise

"Oh? Interesting, he wasn’t running away. Had he resigned himself to fate?"

"Kid, your talismans work great, hahaha!"

The two individuals stopped moving and laughed.

Yang Lingrui’s face first showed confusion, then fear.

He turned to the female cultivator from Huanghua Valley, pleading, "Friend, what’s happening? If you want talismans, let’s make a contract! I’ll go home and ask our Elder to make some immediately!"

The female cultivator answered calmly, "Don’t panic, Friend. We simply lost items during the ceremonial gathering. We need to check if you found them by mistake."

"Right! We’re missing two superior-quality mid-stage Gathering Qi spiritual treasures and a mid-stage spiritual plant," one man jeered as he walked toward Yang Lingrui. "Hand over your storage bag. If those three things aren’t inside, we’ll let you go."

Yang Lingrui’s heart jumped, but he pretended shock.

"You… how did you know…"

"Not your concern. Cooperate and avoid pain."

The threat hung in the air, but the man grew overconfident.

Though equal in cultivation level, he carelessly approached Yang Lingrui – something he’d never normally do.

Two reasons fueled his boldness: their numerical advantage against the visibly shaken target, and the knowledge that Yang Lingrui had reached the Fourth Level through elixirs.

How could a pill-fed cultivator match his own hard-trained power?

This Fourth Level weakling wasn’t worth fearing.

Fate proved cruel.

When the wind spear came, the man didn’t even blink before the technique pierced his skull.

The Crow Feather Fan boosted wind technique speed and power, while Yang Lingrui’s hidden Wind Guiding Pearl aided the strike.

Against such careless opposition, death came instantly.

The remaining pair froze in disbelief, struggling to process their companion’s corpse.

"Stop gawking! Attack!"

The Huanghua Valley cultivator yelled, hurling yellow sand. Her companion slapped the ground, awakening underground roots.

Thud! Thud!

Iron-hard roots reinforced by spiritual power shot upward, whipping toward Yang Lingrui.

Summoning protective winds, Yang Lingrui slapped a superior divine movement talisman on himself. His speed exploded as he dodged the sand barrage – only to meet the crashing roots.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A clang of metal echoed as the wooden technique cultivator gasped, seeing his attack had little effect. "Another protective spiritual treasure!"

The Mystic Iron Soft Armor lived up to its reputation as a superior-quality mid-stage Gathering Qi treasure, its defenses exceptional. Yang Lingrui simply guarded his head, effortlessly blocking the assaults.

"Don’t panic!" barked the female cultivator from Huanghua Valley. "Using two mid-stage Gathering Qi treasures at once drains spiritual power. Keep him busy to exhaust him!" She formed an incantation, morphing yellow sand into needle-like projectiles.

But as she attacked, Yang Lingrui pivoted and lunged at the wooden technique cultivator, ignoring the sand needles completely—as if trading lives meant nothing.

"Disaster!" The wooden technique cultivator paled. Without any spiritual treasures, he watched his roots get shredded by wind blades. He abandoned his spell and fled.

Yang Lingrui’s fingers flashed with another talisman. Activating it, his speed exploded, leaving even the pursuing sand needles behind.

"A superior-quality divine movement talisman!" The Huanghua Valley cultivator’s eyes widened. She redirected her attack, but too late.

Yang Lingrui reached his target. The Wind Guiding Pearl hummed, releasing four vicious wind blades that carved the fleeing man into chunks.

"Die, wretch!" The female cultivator unleashed her remaining sand needles as Yang Lingrui finished his kill.

A crystalline shield burst to life around him, deflecting the deadly barrage.

"A superior-quality spiritual shield talisman? Impossible!" Her voice shook. "The Yang Family only crafts four types of talismans!"

No time to ponder—Yang Lingrui closed in, wind blades whirling. The divine movement talisman’s power still coursed through him.

Wind and sand collided as their techniques clashed. Protected by shield and armor, Yang Lingrui attacked freely while his opponent struggled.

Her strikes useless, the Huanghua Valley cultivator staggered under his assault. After several exchanges, realization struck—his earlier weakness had been an act.

Cold dread seeped into her. Not just his deception, but what it meant about the Yang Family. Everyone thought them fools, relying on elixirs for his breakthrough.

Yet here he stood—technique mastery and cultivation depth eclipsing all peers. No drug-fueled weakling, but a true genius.

The Yang Family had schemed for this ceremonial gathering since a year ago, all to achieve their desired effect at this crucial moment. Such calculated ruthlessness chilled the female cultivator from Huanghua Valley to her core.

"This won’t work! I must save myself!"

The female cultivator mustered her strength, deflecting all four of Yang Lingrui’s wind blades in one motion as she tried to retreat.

Yang Lingrui wouldn’t let her escape. He swung his feather fan, summoning a fierce wind to block her path while regrouping the four wind blades for another assault.

Though forced to retreat, the female cultivator relied on her superior First Level cultivation to neutralize Yang Lingrui’s attacks.

Then she noticed the fading beam of light from Yang Lingrui’s divine movement talisman. Hope flickered within her – without that talisman’s speed advantage, escape became possible.

Hiss-

A cool breeze brushed her ear, its gentle touch soothing her skin.

"Wait! This isn’t natural wind!"

Her realization came too late. Yang Lingrui activated the Wind Guiding Pearl for the third time, unleashing his prepared killing move.

A gentle breeze could kill too!

Dozens of cool air currents surrounding the female cultivator suddenly sharpened into razor-thin blades, slicing into her body.

Thud!

"Argh!!"

The screaming cultivator plummeted from mid-air. She’d barely protected her vital points during the fall, surviving with severe injuries.

As she hit the ground and tried to rise, Yang Lingrui’s foot pinned her down.

"Who sold you the information?" His voice froze the air.

"Will you spare me if I talk?"

"Three breaths."

Yang Lingrui knew better than to let villains’ chatter doom their plans. When two breaths passed, he raised his arm.

"Tiangong Pavilion!" she blurted. "We bought it from Tiangong Pavilion!"

"How much?"

"Two hundred spiritual crystals!"

Swish!

The wind blade fell. Yang Lingrui decapitated her without emotion.

After looting the three bodies, he burned them to ash with fire talismans.