Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 124 - 123 Exotic Treasure (Seeking Monthly Pass)_1

Chapter 124: Chapter 123 Exotic Treasure (Seeking Monthly Pass)_1

Pfft!

The blood-red sword light encountered a large hand covered with white jade armor, much like waves crashing against the rocks, shattering in an instant!

"Little girl, you’re still too green to fight me!"

The eldest son of the Kou family sneered, his tone mocking.

Ruan Dan was only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining and neither her red ribbons nor her mirror-type spiritual instruments could inflict the slightest injury on him, protected as he was by the White Turtle Armor.

As for that flying sword which had taken him slightly by surprise?

The eldest son of the Kou family grabbed the blade with his left hand and flicked it gently, causing the short sword to emit a mournful cry as it was shot away.

Ruan Dan was about to dodge, but a sudden excruciating pain erupted from her right hand.

The next moment, she saw the Silver Armored Demon standing beside her, grasping her right hand.

With a mere twist, her right hand was warped into the shape of a twisted doughnut.

Pfft!

Ruan Dan struck back with a sword qi from her other hand, severing her own arm and retreating in defeat.

"Not bad, girl, you’re ruthless, which I like!"

The eldest son of the Kou family, holding the severed hand, praised her calmly without panic, "Your teacher holds a deep grudge with me; I must torture you severely and then spread the word so everyone knows, hahaha, let’s see if she will still come back..."

"Don’t think about it!"

Ruan Dan’s eyes were blood red as she clutched the wound on her arm.

A severed arm is relatively easy to heal; many spiritual pills can do the job.

But when twisted into a knot, with all meridians severed, it’s much more difficult to restore, unless one has some rare tier-two Spiritual Pill, or a Core Formation elder personally intervenes.

With such a severe injury, even if she could still cultivate to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, the difficulty of passing through the Blood Qi Realm during Foundation Establishment would skyrocket!

It’s fair to say, her Taoist path had been almost entirely cut off!

"Hehe..."

The eldest son of the Kou family sneered coldly as flames ignited in his palm, turning Ruan Dan’s arm to ashes, "Next, I will destroy your Dantian Qi Ocean, making you a cripple! Don’t think of suicide; in front of me, you won’t even be able to do that..."

Ruan Dan’s beautiful face turned deathly pale!

"Oh? When did I, your concubine, ever make an enemy of you?"

In the next instant, petals danced through the sky!

A figure arrived lightly on her feet, radiating the powerful magic power of the Great Perfection of Qi Refining!

"Master!" Ruan Dan was both elated and regretful...

Elated for the unexpected rescue, but regretful...

"Haha, you still haven’t succeeded in Foundation Establishment!"

The eldest son of the Kou family laughed heartily, "The vengeance for my second brother will finally be settled today!"

"Second brother, and that voice, are you the eldest son of the Kou family?!"

Ruan Xingling’s Escape Light halted, and just from a few words, she had guessed the identity of the Silver Armored Demon.

"So what if you know? Go to hell!"

The magic power of the eldest son of the Kou family surged as he wielded a black gigantic sword instrument in one hand and released the Gold Dragon Hammer with the other!

Suddenly!

Pfft pfft pfft!

The ground cracked, and tendrils sprouted like tentacles, binding the limbs of the eldest son of the Kou family.

"Fairy Taoling, I am a bit late; please forgive me!"

Amidst laughter, Fang Xi arrived on the Black Feather Boat with Lu Guo and others.

"It’s the Island Master!"

Hua Chanjuan and the others, having seen Ruan Xingling arrive, gained confidence and clashed fiercely with the cultivation-robbers below.

"Another late-stage Qi Refiner?"

The eldest son of the Kou family frowned.

The difference in magic power between the mid and late stages of Qi Refining is nearly double; it’s much more significant than the mere twenty to thirty percent increase from the seventh to the eighth layer!

This was a huge variable!

Certainly, his team of cultivation-robbers included a number of experts, but the second-in-command had gone to Gemini West Peak, and Mo Qingyu had headed for Jadeite Valley... yet now there was no word from them!

"It’s him?!"

Gazing at Fang Xi’s figure, especially his surging late-stage of Qi Refining magic power, Ruan Dan felt like she had become a joke!

"Damn it, another old enemy from those days! Is Mo Qingyu an idiot, or is he already dead?"

The eldest son of the Kou family roared in anger, activating a talisman already affixed to his chest.

His figure suddenly swelled up, almost splitting the White Turtle Armor as he transformed into a small, armored giant.

The special tendrils around his hands and feet also snapped.

Pfft!

The eldest son of the Kou family swung his black heavy sword, which flew like a bolt of lightning, quickly reaching Fang Xi!

Bang!

The hydro-shield of the Green Turtle Shield instantly shattered, followed by the shell itself which was smashed to pieces.

But by doing so, the momentum on the blade slowed down significantly.

Fang Xi bent over slightly and slapped the body of the heavy sword.

Clang!

The black heavy sword was sent flying, with even a slight crack appearing on its surface.

’Looks fancy, but it’s far inferior to my Dark Iron Sword!’ Fang Xi thought. If it weren’t for the need to hide his identity, he would have quite liked to draw his Dark Iron Sword and slash this trash.

It was about time to settle his complicated history with the three brothers of the Kou family!

In mid-air, Ruan Xingling stood on her flower basket instrument, wielding a flying sword that fought evenly with the Gold Dragon Hammer, and even seemed to slightly overpower it.

Back then, she had to rely on special instruments, but now that her cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, she could fight evenly with the eldest son of the Kou family even without help.

Not to mention, there was Fang Xi, a late-stage Qi Refiner, restraining the enemy beside her.

"Mr. Fang, could you help me restrain that man..."

Ruan Xingling took out an ancient bronze sword covered with rust and an antiquated design, even bearing some earth stains as though it had recently been unearthed.

"Certainly!"

Fang Xi nodded and drew his Peach Wood Sword, holding it in his hands as he charged forward.

Having recently broken through the late Qi Refining Stage and then the third layer of body refining, it made perfect sense.

With such dual cultivation, even if his cultivation was slightly lacking, he was still able to restrain the eldest son of the Kou family for a time.

Originally, he had not planned on caring about whether Ruan Dan lived or died.

But after noticing that Ruan Xingling had rushed back, he naturally came to the battlefield to pitch in.

Whoosh!

In Fang Xi’s hand, the Peach Wood Sword was like a trail of dark green light, never missing the vital points of the eldest son of the Kou family.

The eldest son of the Kou family dared to hard-block Ruan Dan’s Flying Sword assassination, but he truly did not dare to meet Fang Xi’s Sword Light head-on, and could only hastily dodge the vital spots.

Spurt!

A shallow mark suddenly appeared on the White Turtle Armor under the Sword Light.

The next moment, Fang Xi’s figure flashed, dodging a thunder-attribute Talisman from the eldest son of the Kou family.

"Damn... this man is too fast!"

The eldest son of the Kou family tried several times to take Fang Xi down first but was evaded by Fang Xi’s nimble movements, which infuriated him.

At that moment, Ruan Xingling was chanting under her breath while her bronze ancient sword absorbed a massive amount of spiritual energy and unleashed a terrifying might!

"Is this... an Exotic Treasure?!"

Fang Xi, who had been observing the battlefield with his Divine Consciousness, slightly narrowed his eyes.

Qi Refining Stage cultivators use magical instruments!

Foundation Establishment cultivators use Spiritual Instruments!

Core Formation ancestors use magical treasures!

Exotic Treasures, however, belong to a special category outside of this system!

Their most significant difference is that anyone can refine them without a fixed owner. After seizing them, there is no need to erase the magic power imprint within, nor can they be stored within the body like magical treasures.

Some powerful Exotic Treasures can even benefit Core Formation ancestors.

However, Ruan Xingling’s bronze ancient sword obviously wasn’t of that caliber; it was at the lowest tier, suitable for showing off power among those in the Qi Refining Stage!

Even so, her control of the bronze ancient sword Exotic Treasure at this moment wielded destructive force perhaps only lower than that of ’Talisman Treasures’ that needed to reduce some of their powers for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to refine.

Noticing that Ruan Xingling had activated the Exotic Treasure, Fang Xi took a punch from the eldest son of the Kou family on purpose, using it to retreat a good distance.

His Divine Consciousness also sensed that the eldest son of the Kou family might be hiding a powerful trump card, just not wanting to waste it on himself!

If Fang Xi continued to entangle with him during a life and death crisis, that would be a different story!

After all, he had already done what an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining plus body cultivator could do; the rest was up to Ruan Xingling to resolve.

"Go!"

Mid-air, Ruan Xingling extended her right hand, and the bronze ancient sword hovered above her palm, bursting with intense spiritual light.

Subsequently, the Sword Light moved, like an Azure Dragon wildly dancing, instantly arriving at the chest of the eldest son of the Kou family.

The eldest son of the Kou family quickly threw out Talismans one after another.

Flames!

Ice Rain!

Lightning!

Numerous spell lights flickered, but were pierced straight through by that bronze Sword Light, stabbing into his chest.

"Spurt!"

The eldest son of the Kou family spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, yet his eyes revealed a smile of triumph.

Under the cover of the exploding lights of countless spells, a pitch-black thunder bead silently appeared beside Ruan Xingling, suddenly bursting with a bang!

Boom!

Terrible Thunder Light engulfed everything, swallowing Ruan Xingling into its midst.

"No!"

Seeing this scene, Ruan Dan couldn’t help but scream out in grief and anger.

"Ha ha... finally... finally... revenge is mine!"

The eldest son of the Kou family murmured to himself, looking at the bronze ancient sword embedded in his chest, with its blade piercing through the White Turtle Armor and deeply into his body, continuously dripping fresh blood.

Boom!

His whole body fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Revenge?"

A soft murmuring voice echoed, revealing itself as Ruan Xingling!

She gracefully walked from another side, her dress perfectly intact, not at all akin to someone who was wounded.

"Island Master... Are you alright?"

Fang Xi feigned surprise.

In fact, his Divine Consciousness had long discovered that, after summoning the bronze ancient sword to attack, Ruan Xingling had secretly used an ’Illusion Body Talisman,’ creating an identical illusion to take her place and bear the brunt, while she herself had floated away to a distance with an invisibility technique.

"This man had an unknown but deep-seated hatred for me; naturally, I had to be careful."

Ruan Xingling answered straightforwardly, then coldly said, "The Silver Armored Demon is dead, will you not surrender quickly?"

"This is bad, the boss is dead!"

"Run for it!"

...

The group of cultivation-robbers suddenly scattered in all directions, with many falling to the cultivators of Peach Blossom Island in pursuit.

Ruan Xingling merely watched calmly and didn’t go after them.

She approached the body of the eldest son of the Kou family, pulled out the bronze ancient sword, then said to Fang Xi, "This man was killed jointly by Mr. Fang and myself, how about we split the spoils equally?"

"Island Master’s strength is extraordinary; I only helped restrain him a bit..."

Fang Xi picked up the eldest son of the Kou family’s Storage Bag and handed it over to Ruan Xingling.

Ruan Xingling used her magic power to erase the imprint from inside the Storage Bag, then tossed it back to Fang Xi, "You choose first..."

Fang Xi took it, swept it with his Divine Consciousness, and found that the inside space of this Storage Bag was incredibly large, even housing a flying boat over ten zhang long!

Unfortunately, the items inside were of no use to him.

After considering, he looked at the gold-hammer that had fallen without its wielder: "I’ll take this top-grade magical instrument then!"