Chapter 158

Chapter 158: Total Annihilation

Where the frost reached, everything was frozen.

All the Hehuan Sect disciples turned into ice sculptures, their blood, spiritual energy, and everything within them were frozen solid.

Liu Fu Chen, who had been in the air, fell with a crash. He slammed heavily onto the ground, shattering into pieces.

A ninth level of Qi Refinement expert had ultimately become a pile of ice shards.

The power of the treasure faded.

Zhou Luo’s body went weak. All his spiritual energy was drained. His face turned deathly pale as he slumped to the ground.

He took out a potion and shoved it into his mouth.

But facing his dried up Qi sea, how long it would take to replenish his spiritual energy was unknown.

He leaned against a tree trunk, looking around at the trees, flowers, grass, and ground covered in frost, then sat cross-legged and began breathing exercises.

Fortunately, the Hehuan Sect, trying to prevent disturbances, had forbidden other cultivators from entering this area.

Now, such a massive disturbance.

Though it would surely raise their suspicion, no one should be coming for a while.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhou Luo had finally recovered a trace of spiritual energy within him.

He struggled to stand up. The Spirit Xiyu at his chest continuously emitted a faint glow, gently soothing his mind.

The frost on the Hehuan Sect disciples had melted. Their rigid bodies lay lifeless on the ground—couldn’t be deader.

Zhou Luo let out a long sigh of relief.

This treasure truly was beyond his capability to wield normally.

Activating it once had almost cost him half his life.

He put the treasure away and, gasping for breath, walked towards Liu Fu Chen, the nearest body.

By now, the other had long become a pile of flesh and blood.

"This is the power of a treasure?" Zhou Luo’s mind shuddered slightly.

It could render a ninth level of Qi Refinement opponent utterly helpless. If facing a Foundation Establishment expert, it surely could demonstrate great might.

The key was, he had only been at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement when he activated it.

Once he raised his cultivation level further, he reckoned he might even be able to fight against a great cultivator of Foundation Establishment.

The only regret was that this treasure now only had two uses left.

If these Hehuan Sect people hadn’t suddenly attacked, giving him no chance to prepare, he definitely wouldn’t have used this treasure.

After all, he had other means at his disposal.

Such as that Second Level low-grade poison…

He pulled his thoughts back. Besides the mess of flesh and blood on the ground, there was a small blue banner — the opponent’s magical artifact.

He scooped everything into his own storage ring without a second thought.

Additionally, Zhou Luo also found a sparkling ring — precisely a storage ring.

Since storage rings couldn’t store other storage rings, Zhou Luo placed that ring into the system’s backpack instead.

Anyway, that backpack had nine slots.

Immediately after, he swiftly moved toward the bodies of other Hehuan Sect disciples.

He retrieved storage bags from the bloodied, mangled remains, cleansed them with a cleaning spell, and tossed them all into his storage ring.

Having completed these tasks, he headed toward the valley where Wang Yu Wei was.

Shortly after he departed, his mental strength detected over a dozen unfamiliar auras rushing toward the area.

Clearly, those living on the edge in the Longfeng Mountain range could no longer restrain themselves, hoping to scavenge for spoils.

Zhou Luo felt a wave of relief.

"Phew, good thing I didn’t delay and activated the treasure directly."

"Otherwise, drained of spiritual energy later, I’d have been easy pickings for them."

This truly proved how perilous the cultivation world was.

Without so many tricks up his sleeve, he’d likely be a corpse by now.

It seemed greater caution was necessary going forward.

Recalling the recent ordeal, Zhou Luo shuddered with retroactive fear.

Wandering the cultivation world without sufficient strength meant one might die without ever knowing how.

His unexpected "trickery" into joining the Lin Family might not have been misfortune after all.

At least safety wasn’t a concern there.

He resolved firmly: once this trip ended and he obtained materials for the Foundation Establishment Dan, he would not leave home again until achieving Foundation Establishment.

After this, he’d peacefully marry, raise children, cultivate through draw systems—wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Then, Zhou Luo deliberately concealed his aura, taking a full quarter-hour to reach the valley.

However, Wang Yu Wei had vanished!

It was unknown whether she had left or been abducted amidst the chaos…

After much deliberation, he decided to stop agonizing over it.

He’d already done more than enough.

As for now, leaving wasn’t urgent—while everyone’s attention was still fixed on Liu Fu Chen’s location…

He retrieved several spiritual stones and infused fresh energy into the hidden formation.

Earlier, because Liu Fu Chen’s group had been searching nearby,

replacing the stones would have exposed him, forcing a proactive strike.

Now, with new stones fitted, the formation reactivated.

Zhou Luo placed multiple spiritual stones before him, swallowed several potions, and began meditating to recover.

Much later, the once luminous spiritual stones turned dull, their spiritual energy fully absorbed by Zhou Luo.

Spiritual stones were inherently meant for practice.

This very purpose granted them monetary value in the cultivation world.

However, for most cultivators, practicing directly using spiritual stones was truly wasteful.

It was far more cost-effective to purchase some cultivation resources.

But after absorbing several spiritual stones, the spiritual energy within Zhou Luo had barely recovered by one-tenth.

There was indeed no alternative.

The use of the treasure had completely drained all his spiritual energy in a single instance.

Unless cultivating directly atop a spiritual vein, the only way to restore his peak condition was to constantly use spiritual stones.

Feeling no regret, Zhou Luo kept holding the spiritual stones and began restoring his physical strength.

Meanwhile, the arriving cultivators who saw the ground streaked with flesh and blood were all utterly shocked.

"Whoa, which Foundation Establishment great cultivator passed by here? How unlucky for the Hehuan Sect," one cultivator exclaimed in shock.

The other cultivators who had come to scavenge treasures were also profoundly shaken.

In their hearts, they thought this group of Hehuan Sect fellows was thoroughly cursed with bad fortune.

Even more dismaying to them was that all the items on these fellows had been completely ransacked, leaving not a single trace behind.

They then departed the area in sullen resignation.

Soon, news of the extermination of a group of Hehuan Sect disciples rapidly spread throughout the entire Longfeng Mountain range.

Everyone eagerly speculated about who was responsible.

A majority believed it was a Foundation Establishment strong person from the Qinyuan Sect.

Although that sect had stated they wouldn’t interfere in the Longfeng Mountain range, if they discovered anyone holding grudges against the Qinyuan Sect, casually resolving the issue was entirely possible.

Once, a Qinyuan Sect disciple acted recklessly in a marketplace, flying on a sword, and was struck down by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Though the Qinyuan Sect showed no intent to pursue the matter afterward, he was found mysteriously dead, exposed in the wilderness just five days later.

Everyone knew it was the Qinyuan Sect’s handiwork, yet nobody dared speak out, since they acknowledged the sect’s overwhelming power.

Nightfall arrived.

Mountains that had been bustling magnificently during the day now fell into complete silence.

This area was always peripheral anyway, with little of note to explore.

Since the treasures from those Hehuan Sect disciples had all been plundered, cultivators naturally felt no incentive to remain.

Under the moonlight in the valley.

Zhou Luo opened his eyes, spiritual energy surging through his entire body.

After consuming several dozen spiritual stones, he finally returned to his peak form.

Not surprisingly; to recover swiftly, spiritual stones were an unavoidable cost.

Now, it was time to start counting up the gains.