Chapter 458

Chapter 458: Return to the Jinyun Immortal City

The companion’s escape lay completely beyond Zhu Zhi Feng’s expectations. Not long ago, he had seen Zhou Luo trapped within the spell formation, feeling victory was assured and the great battle about to conclude.

That was why he never imagined that so soon after, the other party had broken free with such ease, and that his two companions, acting as if they’d witnessed something terrifying, had fled without even a backward glance.

Staring at Zhou Luo who appeared completely unscathed, his face filled with astonishment, Zhu Zhi Feng recalled the warning his companions had shouted as they escaped. He asked in a low voice, "Just what is your origin?"

"No matter my origin, it grants you no justification to assassinate me."

Zhou Luo held the Cheng Sky Sword and stared coldly at his opponent.

At this moment, he was enveloped entirely by sword intent. The vast, overwhelming sword intent was so concentrated it threatened to solidify into a tangible force, making people’s eyes sting in sharp pain.

Without further words, he moved swiftly.

Those other two were merely accomplices; if they ran, then so be it, they could flee.

But he absolutely could not let this one escape.

He still held the materials for forming the Golden Core carried by his opponent in his mind.

Since the other party coveted the Xuanming Jade Essence so intensely, Zhu Zhi Feng must have already gathered a considerable amount of those materials.

Now that this person had delivered himself directly to Zhou Luo’s doorstep, letting him slip away naturally wasn’t an option.

Zhu Zhi Feng’s expression shifted dramatically. He wanted to flee, but Ye Qian pressed him hard right beside him, leaving him utterly no means of escape.

Now, Zhou Luo attacked with lethal intent.

Originally, Zhu Zhi Feng had fought Ye Qian to a standstill. Although he had held an upper hand, he couldn’t secure a definite victory.

With Zhou Luo joining the fray, the situation tipped sharply to one side.

Within merely a hundred moves, Zhu Zhi Feng was completely outmatched. He was decapitated by a single sword stroke from Zhou Luo, staining the earth with his blood before the vast canyon.

Zhou Luo instantly rushed to the corpse and swiftly stripped it of every belonging.

There was no time to examine what lay within. He called to Ye Qian, boarded the flying boat, and departed from the place immediately.

Who could know if, in this desolate wilderness, others lurked in the shadows, greedily watching?

To avoid further assassination attempts, he took decisive action.

Not long after he left, bandits drawn by the battle indeed arrived, hoping to take a share of the profits.

Regrettably, they obtained nothing.

Now a thousand li away, Zhou Luo watched the scenery flying backward past the flying boat. Only then did he settle his mind to examine the contents of Zhu Zhi Feng’s storage ring.

As a top-level Second Level Pill Master, the greatest abundance Zhu Zhi Feng possessed was naturally potions.

Large and small bottles and jars, holding an unknown number of second-level potions, one amongst even contained a small bottle of Foundation Establishment Dan.

Indeed, he lived up to being a Pill Master from the Jinyun Immortal City — he had even this many Foundation Establishment Dan.

It seemed he wouldn’t need to worry about Foundation Establishment Dan for his wives and concubines’ Foundation Establishment from now on.

Besides these many high-quality second-level potions, Zhou Luo also found a few highly valuable magical artifacts.

These magical artifacts were all high-grade Foundation Establishment magical artifacts. Judging by their appearance, they were likely payments Zhu Zhi Feng received in transactions.

Beside the magical artifacts lay some talismans.

To Zhou Luo’s surprise, there was actually a set of Second Level symbols here.

During the battle moments earlier, the opponent hadn’t even had time to use them before being cut down by a single sword strike from him.

Now this set of medium-quality symbols, comparable to top-quality symbols, had naturally fallen into Zhou Luo’s hands.

Beyond these, the ring held several jade slips, all ancient texts on pill concoction.

These were used to instruct his disciples and held no use for Zhou Luo, but selling them off later would surely bring a hefty amount of spiritual stones.

Being a second-level Pill Master, Zhu Zhi Feng had quite a few spiritual stones on him.

Zhou Luo had glanced roughly: over a hundred top-quality spiritual stones alone, and countless others like medium-quality spiritual stones.

With that calculation, the spiritual stones he had paid to win the auction for the Xuanming Jade Essence were essentially recovered.

Indeed, killing to seize treasures was the best way to grow one’s wealth.

Apart from these dazzling items, what held Zhou Luo’s concern most was the materials for forming the Golden Core.

Zhu Zhi Feng’s lifespan had nearly dried up, at best lasting only a few more decades, so he had started preparing early for forming the Golden Core.

Moreover, being a top-level Pill Master of the second level, he had always stayed in Jinyun Immortal City, earning substantial wealth by helping others concoct potions.

Thus, over these years, he had accumulated plenty of materials for forming the Golden Core.

Forming the Golden Core required five main materials and three hundred sixty auxiliary herbs.

Zhu Zhi Feng had practically gathered all the auxiliary herbs; as for the five main materials, he had secured three, leaving little needed to complete the set.

No wonder he had fought so desperately to obtain that Xuanming Jade Essence.

Sadly, he had ended up losing out rather than gaining anything, ultimately paving the way for another.

After a brief check, Zhou Luo tucked away that storage ring.

Beside him, Ye Qian had seen it through shimmering beautiful eyes, saying nothing.

She clearly understood that Zhu Zhi Feng’s storage ring surely contained many materials for forming the Golden Core; otherwise, he wouldn’t have struggled so hard for the Xuanming Jade Essence.

Still, she realized they’d gotten all this solely because of Zhou Luo.

If it had only been her, forget Zhu Zhi Feng himself—even just dealing with those two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t have been easy.

Therefore, even if he kept everything for himself outright, she wouldn’t have the slightest objection.

Things were what one must strive for oneself.

She wasn’t a little girl relying on tantrums to beg for things, so she wouldn’t do that.

Besides, Zhou Luo had helped her gather quite a few materials over the years.

The two who cultivated The Fusion of Dragon and Phoenix Technique had long been of one mind, knowing each other’s thoughts.

Even though Zhou Luo was only at the late-stage Foundation Establishment now, advancing to peak Foundation Establishment wouldn’t be too hard thanks to the dual cultivation techniques.

Thus, he needed these Golden Core materials just as Ye Qian did.

"I’ll help you find more later," Zhou Luo had sent via mental message.

For such matters, he felt it necessary to say it.

Ye Qian had shaken her head slightly: "Don’t worry; my lifespan is still long, and I’ll collect these materials eventually."

Zhou Luo growing stronger was good for her too, and after so many years, she wasn’t really feeling rushed to achieve the Golden Core stage.

In the past, she had worried that leaving her sect would make reaching the Golden Core stage harder the longer it took.

But in Qinyuan Immortal City, aside from the spiritual energy being inferior, Zhou Luo’s powerful ability had made everything else fairly comparable.

Since there were no worries, there was naturally no need to hurry.

One month later, the four had smoothly returned to Qinyuan Immortal City.

Shortly after he arrived back at Zhou Fu, Wang Lang personally came to the core district of the Immortal City.

Beaming with an air of triumph, he strode quickly into the main hall and said brightly: "Master Manager, good news—Fang Li and his group have pulled out from daily operations in the commercial district."

While Zhou Luo was still in Jinyun Immortal City, Fang Li’s subordinates had all left the shops in the commercial district.

That meant they would no longer meddle in the commercial center, just taking their yearly dividends.

For Zhou Luo, this was naturally wonderful news.

But he was a bit curious and asked: "Did something happen with the Qinyuan Sect?"