King of Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 293: Chapter 291: Deterioration

’He actually got his hands on it!’

Yi Jingwen’s face filled with shock, her heart in turmoil.

’To snatch an opportunity from the hands of two Core Disciples... just how much cunning and guts does that take?’

"Luo Tian, you’re courting death!"

Han Yuan radiated killing intent. His True Qi surged forth, and the Treasure Sword in his hand glowed with a terrifying emerald light.

His hatred for Luo Tian deepened once more. He wished he could tear Luo Tian limb from limb!

"Brother Han? Are you trying to harm a fellow disciple?"

Luo Tian asked fearlessly.

Han Yuan glanced at Yi Jingwen, hesitating slightly.

"I’m not harming a fellow disciple. I’m just taking back what’s mine!"

Han Yuan snapped.

"Oh? Then come and try to take it!"

Luo Tian waved his hand, revealing the mark on its back. The three golden, circular imprints were especially striking.

Han Yuan’s pupils constricted, and his expression turned grim.

Normally, he could crush Luo Tian with ease.

But now, Luo Tian had the power of the Spiritual Pool and could unleash immense combat strength in an instant.

Injured as he was, Han Yuan didn’t dare to make a rash move.

"Hahaha!"

Luo Tian laughed heartily.

There had once been a gap between him and the top ten Core Disciples, but the power of the Spiritual Pool was enough to intimidate Han Yuan.

SWOOSH!

Luo Tian executed the Wind Manipulation Technique and gracefully departed.

"Junior Sister Yi, let’s team up and capture this brat!"

Han Yuan said to Yi Jingwen.

At this point, even if he were fully recovered, he wasn’t confident he could defeat Luo Tian. That’s why he sought Yi Jingwen’s help.

"Perhaps the power of the Spiritual Pool can be transferred!"

Han Yuan added.

"Good!"

Yi Jingwen nodded in agreement.

If they could still wrest the power of the Spiritual Pool from Luo Tian, Yi Jingwen was willing to try, no matter how slim the chance.

Her goal in the Xuankong Mountain trial was to surpass the other Core Disciples, and even Ye Feng of the Earth Element Realm.

If she obtained the power of the Spiritual Pool, she might just be able to contend with Ye Feng.

...

After putting some distance between them, Luo Tian suddenly felt like he was being followed.

’They’re still following me?’

Being tailed by two Core Disciples was not a pleasant feeling.

The two Core Disciples hadn’t made a move yet.

They were surely just biding their time, waiting for their injuries to heal or for a perfect opportunity to strike.

Luo Tian had originally planned to find a place to recuperate.

Now, he changed his mind.

Ignoring his injuries, Luo Tian pressed onward, quickly leaving the gobi region.

Under these circumstances, Yi Jingwen and Han Yuan couldn’t stop to recover either, otherwise they would lose Luo Tian’s trail.

And when it came to recovery speed, Luo Tian, as a Body Cultivator, definitely had the upper hand.

Luo Tian simply took an ordinary Healing Pill and let his own Self-Healing Power do the rest, waiting for his injuries to gradually mend.

Behind them.

"Dammit, isn’t this kid going to stop and treat his injuries?"

Han Yuan cursed.

His and Yi Jingwen’s injuries were about as severe as Luo Tian’s.

On top of that, their True Qi consumption was far greater than Luo Tian’s.

If this kept up, the situation would become even more disadvantageous for them.

Suddenly, the ground ahead trembled and split open, forming a fissure.

Han Yuan and Yi Jingwen leaped over it.

A trial of this level posed no difficulty for them.

But the trial was an omen, filling them with a sense of unease.

A moment later.

ROAR!

A Demon Beast roared from the right, and several black Steel Giant Scorpions charged toward them.

The Steel Giant Scorpions’ strength was below the Ninth Layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, so the pair dealt with them easily.

"Xuankong Mountain’s true test of survival isn’t just the natural disasters. The creatures here will also attack us relentlessly," Han Yuan said gravely.

The true trial had now begun. As time went on, the difficulty would only increase.

Ahead of them, Luo Tian faced the same situation.

’From now on, searching for treasures and opportunities is going to be much harder.’

Luo Tian lamented.

The sky grew dark as a torrential downpour began, laced with thunder and lightning. The ground split open from time to time, and Demon Beasts could attack from any direction at a moment’s notice.

A stifling sense of crisis closed in from all around.

Luo Tian didn’t bother trying to deduce the location of the next Spiritual Pool.

After all, with two Core Disciples tailing him, even if he found the next Spiritual Pool, Han Yuan and Yi Jingwen would be on high alert, making it extremely difficult for him to succeed.

So, Luo Tian led the two Core Disciples on a pointless wander through Xuankong Mountain.

During this time, Luo Tian still made some occasional gains, finding a few Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

He even found an Upper Grade Treasure Artifact left behind by a Yunxiao Sect senior. Unfortunately, it was a saber, which Luo Tian couldn’t use.

But an Upper Grade Treasure Artifact would fetch a minimum price of six to seven thousand Spiritual Essence Coins.

This saber was likely worth nearly ten thousand Spiritual Essence Coins.

Han Yuan and Yi Jingwen, who were trailing Luo Tian, naturally found nothing. They were simply retracing his steps, and any treasures along the way had already ended up in his pockets.

「One day later.」

As the environment deteriorated, the threat from various natural disasters had increased by about sixty percent compared to the day before.

Midway, Han Yuan and Yi Jingwen had the misfortune of running into a Demon Beast Group and lost track of Luo Tian.

They had spent the entire day chasing Luo Tian all over the place. Their injuries hadn’t healed, no good opportunity had presented itself, and in the end, they even lost him. It was a classic case of suffering a double loss.

"Brother Han, I’m leaving."

Yi Jingwen announced her departure.

She needed to find her own opportunities and refused to be led around by the nose by Luo Tian any longer. Otherwise, her final score would likely be mediocre.

"Damn bastard, I’ll never let you get away with this!"

Han Yuan refused to give up and continued searching for Luo Tian.

But he never would have guessed that Luo Tian had returned to the gobi region.

Soon, Luo Tian found the canyon.

He remembered that there were still two treasures inside: a black spear and an ancient tome. He wondered if they were still there.

As soon as he reached the canyon entrance, Luo Tian heard a series of explosions from within.

’Someone’s here?’

Wary, Luo Tian slowly entered the canyon.

’Could it be Han Yuan or Yi Jingwen?’

Soon, Luo Tian saw a figure inside, along with two Yellow Sand Giants, bombarding an orb of light.

"Hahaha, so this is the method Luo Tian used to get the Spirit Wind Gourd!"

Ying Feihang laughed triumphantly.

When he’d encountered the sandstorm earlier, his two subordinates had crushed their Tokens to teleport out, but Ying Feihang had managed to survive.

After recovering sixty to seventy percent from his injuries, he had returned.

After some investigation, he figured out the method Luo Tian had used: borrowing the power of the Yellow Sand Giants to break through the orb of light faster.

The method was clever, but rather difficult to execute.

Harnessing the power of two Yellow Sand Giants simultaneously was already Ying Feihang’s limit!

So he changed his strategy.

Just before a third Yellow Sand Giant appeared, he would first kill the two currently in front of him.

This way, while not as efficient as Luo Tian’s approach, he could still successfully obtain the treasure within the orb of light.

"Hm?"

Ying Feihang suddenly spotted a blurry figure.

’The third Yellow Sand Giant seems to have appeared too early.’

Without thinking too much about it, he immediately unleashed his killing moves. He struck out repeatedly with his Palm Technique, engaging the two Yellow Sand Giants in a fierce battle.

Ten breaths later, he had paid a small price to slay both Yellow Sand Giants.

"Heh, what are you waiting for? Come and help me!"

A smirk played on Ying Feihang’s lips as he spoke to the newly appeared Yellow Sand Giant in a commanding tone.

"Help you go to Hell?"

a cold sneer rang out.

"What?"

Ying Feihang’s expression froze in shock.

Yellow Sand Giants couldn’t speak.

And that voice was chillingly familiar—Luo Tian!

Ying Feihang’s face went deathly pale as terror erupted within him.

Before, Luo Tian had easily defeated the three of them. Now that he was alone, he stood even less of a chance.

With no one else around, a deadly sense of crisis washed over him.

Ying Feihang immediately took out his trial Token, preparing to crush it and teleport away!

Although he was extremely reluctant—having neither achieved his desired results nor obtained many treasures—his life was more important!

But in the next instant, a flash of cold, swift light shot toward him.

"Aargh!"

Ying Feihang screamed. With a splash of blood, one of his arms fell to the ground, and his trial Token dropped beside it.

He immediately dropped to his knees, his remaining hand reaching to pick up the Token.

SWOOSH! THUD!

But Luo Tian was there in an instant. A single kick to Ying Feihang’s head sent him flying.

Ying Feihang slammed into the canyon wall and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was ashen.

"Luo Tian, killing fellow disciples is forbidden in the Xuankong Mountain trial!"

Ying Feihang cried out in a panic.

"Don’t worry. No one will know."

Luo Tian said with a faint smile.

He’d had several chances to kill Ying Feihang before but had held back. It wasn’t out of mercy, but simply because the timing hadn’t been right.

Now, Luo Tian had no such reservations.

"I’m the Third Elder’s disciple! If you dare to kill me, my master will never forgive you! You’ll die a horrible death!"

Ying Feihang continued, his expression turning savage and crazed.

"You talk too much."

With an icy expression, Luo Tian thrust his Ice Trace Sword forward.

"Aargh! I’ll take you down with me!"

Ying Feihang went berserk. The True Qi in his body erupted like a volcano as his left hand shone with a dazzling silver light, unleashing an immense and powerful Palm Force!

But with only one hand left, even this desperate outburst posed little threat.

In less than ten moves.

Ying Feihang’s head rolled to the ground.

’He’s finally dead.’

A wave of relief washed over Luo Tian.

That Ying Feihang was a venomous schemer who had tried to murder him countless times, only to fail at every turn.

Now, Luo Tian had finally killed him with his own hands.

WHOOSH!

From behind, a Yellow Sand Giant lunged, smashing forward with a huge, dim fist of light.

Luo Tian dodged with ease. His figure flickered and reappeared before an orb of light containing an ancient tome.

This had been Ying Feihang’s target.

Ying Feihang had already depleted over forty percent of the orb’s Energy.

Next.

Luo Tian used the same method as before, taking advantage of the witless Yellow Sand Giant to assist him.

Before long, with the Yellow Sand Giant’s help, the orb of light shattered, and the ancient tome fell into Luo Tian’s hands.

After a quick glance, Luo Tian discovered it was an Earth Level Upper Grade Martial Skill, but it was a Spear Technique.

’This Martial Skill and that spear would be a perfect match.’

For a disciple who practiced a Spear Technique, obtaining all three treasures here would be a massive opportunity.

Unfortunately, Luo Tian wasn’t about to switch to a Spear Technique, so he could only sell this Martial Skill for money later.

Next, Luo Tian’s gaze fell on the final orb of light.

That spear would also fetch a good price.

But just then.

RUMBLE!

The ground trembled, and a massive quicksand vortex suddenly appeared.

The two Yellow Sand Giants were swallowed by the vortex. Ying Feihang’s corpse fell in as well, and the orb of light was not spared.

’The natural environment has deteriorated even further!’

Luo Tian hurriedly left the canyon, feeling a slight pang of regret. He felt as though he had just lost a huge sum of Spiritual Essence Coins.