Chapter 2977: Chapter 2977
Ye Liuyun immediately absorbed the lightning energy to observe its effects.
Since he had already cultivated a Thunder Spirit within his body, the moment he absorbed the Five-Colored Lightning Source, the Thunder Spirit let out a joyful cry and pounced on it, swiftly beginning to devour it.
As for the Blood Spirit Root, Ye Liuyun had Wu Qingcheng deliver it to Lin Luoyi to refine into medicinal pills, which were then distributed among the women.
Lan Xin also promptly showed Ye Liuyun the contents of the storage rings they had recently acquired.
"Hmm? These martial cultivators actually have some decent treasures!" Ye Liuyun was genuinely surprised after inspecting them.
The resources these martial cultivators carried were of notably high quality, and many of them were perfectly suited for their cultivation needs.
Among the loot, he even discovered several attribute-based origin forces. Two of them were a murky gray color—clearly remnants of primordial world origins—while another was a golden origin force brimming with metallic properties.
Ye Liuyun let the women pick out the other attribute-based origin forces for themselves, but he kept those three for his own use. The rest of the resources were left for them to choose whatever suited their needs.
After leaving his spatial world, he shared this information with the group.
Tang Xinyao and the others, who had fought less, had fewer spoils and hadn’t paid much attention to the contents of the storage rings. The demonic beasts, meanwhile, had been too focused on battle—they simply tossed the seized storage rings to Ye Liuyun without bothering to check what was inside, knowing he would provide them with whatever resources they needed.
However, after Ye Liuyun’s reminder, they all started paying closer attention, immediately absorbing and refining anything useful they found. This newfound awareness only heightened their enthusiasm for plundering.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger took turns absorbing the metallic origin force as they traveled. Not only did it enhance their Xuan Yuan energy, but it also served to temper their bodies.
Bai Hu had already refined a significant amount of Golden Roc essence and still had plenty of metallic energy left to absorb, so Ye Liuyun held off on sharing this new resource with him for the time being.
The metallic energy from the origin force helped fill in the gaps in his previous refinements, reinforcing areas that had been insufficiently tempered. Afterward, it began systematically strengthening his entire physique, making his body even more resilient.
Once he had fully absorbed the metallic energy, Ye Liuyun further refined his body with the Five-Colored Body Tempering Stone, pushing his physical strength to even greater heights.
Meanwhile, Lin Luoyi had successfully refined the Blood Spirit Root into pills, giving one each to Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger. Both immediately sensed a significant boost in their power of bloodline—far more potent than the effects of spending half a day absorbing energy from the Blood Spirit Pool back in the Tang family.
"Never expected such a pleasant surprise!" He couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.
The others also occasionally found valuable items they needed, which further fueled their motivation to compete with the bandits in the area.
As the battles continued, some began to sustain injuries, though none were too severe. Slowing their pace slightly allowed them to recover.
However, they soon encountered a formidable enemy—a group led by a fourth-level Harmonization Realm martial cultivator, whose well-rounded strength made the fight extremely difficult. Even the Dragon Maiden struggled, forced to unleash her Rampaging Dragon Combat Technique just to barely defeat her opponent.
Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming, along with his doppelganger and the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, paired up in teams of two to take on two third-level Harmonization Realm martial cultivators. Only their formidable physical resilience kept them from getting injured.
The three Black Tortoises and the Black Tiger resorted to their Yin-Yang Light, while the Purple Kirin utilized its temporal power to eliminate several martial cultivators before they finally wiped out the entire group.
The women in their party were never even released by Ye Liuyun. This bandit group only had one cultivator at the ninth-level Sovereign Realm, who was on the verge of breaking through.
Tang Xinyao’s team of nine only faced six martial cultivators, yet two of them still ended up wounded.
After the battle, Tang Xinyao checked the storage rings of the fallen and couldn’t help but complain, "These martial cultivators fight like their lives depend on it! This battle was a total loss—barely any good loot, and two of us got hurt!"
Ye Liuyun chuckled. "That’s how these martial cultivators survive—by fighting desperately. Without risking their lives, how else would they gather resources? You’ve been too sheltered in your clans and don’t realize how hard it is for independent cultivators out here.
"You all need to adjust your mindset. Every time you strike, you must be prepared to fight for your life—go all out and eliminate your enemies decisively!"
The nine in Tang Xinyao’s group nodded in agreement. She then asked Ye Liuyun and his companions, "Did you find anything worthwhile on your side?"
Ye Liuyun’s group had already handed over all the storage rings to him. After scanning them, he shook his head helplessly. "You were right—this battle was a loss. This group of bandits was dirt poor.
"I bet they used up any resources they got immediately, which is why they were so strong."
The Dragon Maiden and the others nodded in agreement, acknowledging the martial cultivators’ formidable strength.
Ye Liuyun casually flipped through the items and pulled out a black triangular piece of metal, engraved with the shape of a fork.
"What is this?" He examined it with his golden pupils and spiritual sense but couldn’t discern its purpose. It certainly wasn’t any kind of treasure.
Tang Xinyao took it from him for a look as well but found nothing remarkable and tossed it back to Ye Liuyun.
Rather than discarding it outright, Ye Liuyun stowed it back in his Interspatial Ring, leaving it to Lan Xin to handle later.
However, the very next day, they found themselves being shadowed by two separate groups of martial cultivators.
Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils had already assessed the strength of these two groups. Each was led by a cultivator at the fourth level of the Guiyi Realm, their true essence dense and formidable.
There were also over a dozen at the third level of the Guiyi Realm and more than forty at the first and second levels. Ye Liuyun concluded that these were likely two well-organized and sizable bandit crews.
"We’ve caught the attention of two martial cultivator groups, and neither is weak," he informed his companions. "Black Tiger, Xuanwu, Xenocide, and Phantom Hand—when the fight starts, take out a few with your Black and White Light technique immediately. Otherwise, we won’t stand a chance."
"Understood!" Black Tiger responded promptly, while the Xuanwu beasts remained silent to avoid revealing their positions.
Yet, to their surprise, one of the two groups approached them directly, seemingly without hostile intent. This was the first time a group had sought conversation rather than immediate violence, piquing Ye Liuyun’s curiosity.
The leader of the group clasped his hands in a courteous greeting and asked, "May I ask for your name, young master? Among those you killed yesterday, was there a man named Wang Mang?" He then conjured an image of a man using his true essence.
Ye Liuyun studied the image—it was the leader of the bandit crew they had struggled against the day before. He countered, "I’m Ye Liuyun. Why? Were you allied with him? Here to avenge him?"
Upon hearing this, the leader immediately broke into a smile. "No misunderstanding, Mr. Ye. We have no ties to Wang Mang. We’re a squad from the Shouxing Bandit Group. I’m the captain, Peng Lei."
