Chapter 447

Chapter 447: Not Mine

Seeing that the River God was about to speak again, Ji Yang directly interrupted, "No need to say anything more; I didn’t drop any of these treasures."

Ji Yang’s words stunned the River God, who then glanced at the treasures in his hand. "Really not yours?"

Ji Yang shook his head but then looked at the River God’s form and added, "While I didn’t drop these treasures, I did lose a certain essence of the Way. I wonder if you’ve seen it?"

Upon hearing Ji Yang’s words, the smile on the River God’s face vanished instantly, and his gaze turned cold.

"Hmph, I’ve seen through your inner greed; surrender!"

With that, the River God stopped speaking. The iron pick in his hand suddenly unleashed a fierce attack toward Ji Yang.

Though he wasn’t the owner of the iron pick, he could still wield the treasure.

Despite his surprise, Ji Yang easily dodged the attack.

As he battled the River God, Ji Yang gradually realized that the figure before him was not simply an embodiment of the essence of the Water Way, but rather a manifestation of another essence.

During the fight, every time Ji Yang struck, a strange sense of greed would arise in his heart, causing him to act irrationally.

Without a doubt, this was the essence of greed.

While others might find it difficult to detect, Ji Yang’s primordial spirit was keen. Once he recognized the true nature of this essence, he began to suppress his greedy thoughts.

Even so, this essence remained quite troublesome; all of Ji Yang’s attacks were effortlessly dissipated by the River God’s flowing form.

In defense, it bore a remarkable similarity to the essence he had faced before; perhaps it was a natural ability of theirs.

However, as long as he identified the essence’s true nature, victory was simply a matter of time.

Wanting to learn more about the essence, Ji Yang did not use any spiritual treasures, and in the absence of triggering his own essence of the Way, he truly had no other means to subdue it.

Aside from these two options, there was one other way to counter the essence: using the powerful technique he had just charged, Thunderous Power.

The absorption of the power of lightning calamity had increased the strength of this technique, while the absorption of world-destroying thunder elevated its might to the peak.

The power of lightning calamity surely would be no weakling in countering the essence.

Yet, Ji Yang also had no intention of using it; instead, he planned to passively trigger his own essence of War during the battle to take it down.

But perhaps due to bad luck this time, after a lengthy fight, Ji Yang had yet to enter that state.

Seeing that he could not make any headway, the River God raised his right hand, and suddenly, a glowing lamp rose from the river water.

The wick of the glowing lamp shone brightly, and in a moment, this treasure-level glowing lamp unexpectedly elevated itself, exhibiting qualities of a spiritual treasure.

The River God activated the glowing lamp in his hand, and the next moment, flames from the wick surged toward Ji Yang.

Ji Yang remained calm as numerous illusory feathers suddenly appeared before him, a defensive technique he had just obtained when he advanced to the Void Refinement stage.

While this technique was not particularly effective against Calamity Clouds, it had formidable defensive capabilities and should suffice against the flames.

However, Ji Yang was soon astonished by what unfolded before him. The flames emerging from the glowing lamp unexpectedly pierced through the illusory feathers he had deployed and directly entered his body.

This caught Ji Yang off guard; his Ji Light Protection Feathers were no ordinary spell, but a technique linked to True Immortal-Level Techniques. He never expected that it would be unable to stop what seemed like ordinary flames.

Quickly, Ji Yang sensed something unusual.

Though the flames entered his body, Ji Yang felt no heat and experienced no burning sensation. This wasn’t due to the strength of his physical body; instead, it seemed as if the flames did no harm.

As Ji Yang puzzled over this, his emotions began to shift.

His eyes turned red, and he suddenly glanced at the glowing lamp in the River God’s hand, a glimmer of greed flashing in his gaze.

He had to obtain that item!

As this thought crossed his mind, Ji Yang felt his magical energy rapidly diminish, while the River God’s form seemed to gradually grow larger and taller.

Noticing something was off, Ji Yang quickly activated the Huang Ting Dao Jing. With the vibrations of his primordial spirit energy, he soon regained his clarity.

Upon feeling the remaining flames within him, Ji Yang’s expression changed to one of understanding.

The flames of greed! This was the power of the essence! No wonder his earlier technique had no effect.

Though it all happened in an instant, by the time Ji Yang realized it, he had lost more than twenty percent of his magical energy, all of which had transferred to the River God.

The River God could absorb the greed in a cultivator’s heart and convert it into strength, all while subtly stealing the cultivator’s magical energy.

This essence was even stronger than the previous Essence of Fear.

But there was nothing to be done about it.

Every cultivator harbored fear and greed.

Fear was relatively easy to overcome, but greed was much harder to suppress. Even Ji Yang, upon seeing something desirable, couldn’t help but think about claiming it as his own, which naturally left him susceptible to this essence’s influence.

As he watched the River God grow stronger, Ji Yang abandoned the idea of relying on the battle to enter the state of his Essence of War. Instead, he summoned his spiritual treasure staff, preparing for a swift resolution.

Just as Ji Yang was about to strike, two unusual magical fluctuations suddenly surged from afar.

Ji Yang looked over and saw two figures rushing toward him at incredible speed.

Sensing their cultivation levels, Ji Yang frowned slightly.

"Brother, it’s ahead! I can feel it; it must be the essence!"

As the voice rang out, the two figures quickly appeared before Ji Yang.

As they came into view, Ji Yang’s face displayed a hint of surprise; he never expected them to be two familiar faces.

The newcomers were none other than the two from the Four Symbols Sect, who had previously confronted Ji Yang—one was a late Void Refinement stage cultivator, and the other was a Mid Void Refinement cultivator.

Earlier, when Ji Yang entered the residence, they were outside fighting over the essence. Who would have thought they came in so quickly? It seemed the battle outside must have ended.

"It’s you!"

The two who arrived halted, staring at Ji Yang with suspicion, exclaiming in surprise.

But soon, their expressions brightened with joy. The late Void Refinement stage cultivator chuckled and said, "Hmph, kid, you tricked me once; let’s see how you escape this time!"

After speaking, the two glanced at the staff in Ji Yang’s hand, their eyes showing disdain.

Ji Yang had previously used this spiritual treasure to deceive them once, and now he thought to use the same trick again? Did he really think they were fools?

Having been fooled once, the two would not be intimidated by the staff’s power again!

Quickly, their gazes passed over Ji Yang and settled on the River God behind him.