Chapter 196: Fierce Clash in the Fourth Eldritch Realm, A Bountiful Harvest (2)
Finally, Jin Qing is dead. The scales on Wu Yuan's head receded, unveiling his weary face. However, his eyes were bright with elation.
So what if his opponent was a quasi-Heavenly Rankings or was equipped with spirit battle armor? If he said he would kill someone, then he would kill them.
His strong soul had long detected the lurking presence of Li Yan and Song Guang during the battle. But it mattered little to Wu Yuan. Even Jin Qing was no match for him, let alone these two Grandmasters.
With Jin Qing eliminated, the military might of Great Jin is greatly weakened.
Perhaps, in the not-so-distant future, he would no longer fear qi refiners. But if a qi refiner decided to deal with a bunch of mortals? Given a chance to prepare, even those at the early stages of the Qi Sea phase were capable of wreaking havoc for kilometers around with a single arcane art.
Now, let's see what treasures I’ve got. With a mental command the now ownerless spirit battle armor, detached from Jin Qing's body and hovered in mid-air.
It should be one of the lower three grades of spirit equipment. Wu Yuan deduced as he examined the armor. As he ran his hand across its surface, he felt fine cracks already marring it.
Spirit equipment was divided into nine grades, with a qualitative difference every three grades. Ninth-grade, eighth-grade, and seventh-grade equipment could be damaged in clashes with Qi Sea phase cultivators.
Grandmaster Fang Xia is an eighth-grade Qi Sea cultivator. I’ll hand this armor to him after leaving the Fourth Eldritch Realm, perhaps he has a way to repair it. Wu Yuan pondered. If it cannot be repaired, I’ll leave it with Grandmaster Bu Yu. In fights with other Grandmasters, she’ll no longer have to worry about defense.
With a thought from Wu Yuan, a belt, two rings, and two storage artifacts flew into his grasp. His Soul Force surged into them, and he began searching through them.
Millions of silver notes? Useless! After reaching his current level, silver was no longer valuable. Cultivators like him did not trade with such currency.
Thousands of catties of etherstone? Wu Yuan was shocked to discover a pile of sparkling jadestone within a storage ring. Though their quality seemed inferior to his Heavens Heir Token, the sheer amount of spiritual energy contained within these ordinary etherstones was astonishing.
This is quite heavy. Wu Yuan remembered the books Bu Yu had provided him, mentioning that a cubic meter of etherstone weighed more than 100,000 catties. While thousands of catties of etherstone might appear significant, their actual volume was comparatively small.
If converted into silver, one catty of etherstone could fetch 100,000 silver taels. Wu Yuan’s lips curled upwards. I guess I’m now a millionaire in terms of silver taels. Unfortunately, silver held little value to him now.
There are also books. Wu Yuan scanned the large stack of books and scrolls. From their titles alone, only a few were worth reading. Most were of little use to Wu Yuan.
He also found some natural treasures, third-grade divine weapons, second-grade divine weapons, and even first-grade divine weapons. For instance, Chu Ping's first-grade divine sword and Tie Tuo's wolf’s tooth club.
Wu Yuan's gaze swept past the weapons and armor belonging to Chang Dong, Tie Tuo, Chu Ping, and the others, before finally settling on a pile of spirit fruits. Among them, two types of spirit fruits floated within the storage artifact.
One was a round red spirit fruit, about the size of half a fist. It bore a resemblance to a red apple, but with far tougher skin. The other fruit was of a similar size and appearance, but entirely purple in color. Both types of fruits emitted a peculiar aura, and merely looking at them aroused a deep desire to consume them.
Eleven Redwood Spirit Fruits. Five Purplewood Spirit Fruits. A wide smile stretched across his face. Compared to silver and etherstone, these were the true treasures! These fruits alone were enough to significantly enhance the strength of the Cloudstride Sect's top echelons.
Wu Yuan quickly sorted the various treasures. After that, he turned and greeted the two figures making their way towards him with a faint smile. "Brother Li Yan, Brother Song Guang, it's been quite some time.”
Li Yan and Song Guang instinctively shivered. They hadn't anticipated Wu Yuan to be so courteous.
"Brother Shadow Blade, it's been a while indeed," Li Yan spoke up, unable to resist stealing a glance at Jin Qing’s corpse on the ground. "Shadow Blade, you must be truly powerful to have slain Jin Qing."
"I was just lucky," Wu Yuan replied casually.
Li Yan and Song Guang could only offer bitter smiles. Luck? They were well aware that the two had been locked in a brutal battle for hours. Jin Qing was pushed to the brink of exhaustion by Wu Yuan's relentless onslaught. Yet, there stood Wu Yuan now, serene and unperturbed, showing no signs of exhaustion.
"Gentlemen, Jin Qing has fallen. With him gone, no one else from Great Jin’s team can pose a threat to you," Wu Yuan said with a faint smile. "So, what brings you here? If there are no pressing matters, why not take the remaining time to search for spirit fruits? Surely, there are still some remaining in the Fourth Eldritch Realm."
Due to their previous assistance, Wu Yuan held a positive opinion of Li Yan and Song Guang. Hence, he didn’t consider killing them and looting their treasures.
"Shadow Blade, we naturally have a reason for coming to meet you," Song Guang said hastily. After a brief pause, he continued, "After slaying Jin Qing, you must have obtained a considerable number of spirit fruits. Would you be open to a trade with my Starcom Consortium?"
"Indeed!" Li Yan chimed in. "Shadow Blade, whether it's the Starcom Consortium or my Pleiades Guild, we can offer a generous price. Cultivation methods, top-tier divine weapons, or a plentiful supply of etherstone—they are all up for negotiation."
Wu Yuan chuckled, realizing their true intentions. It seemed they had come to trade with him.
"Gentlemen, the spirit fruits I possess are barely enough for my own needs," he replied, shaking his head. "I have no intention of trading them at the moment. However, after departing from the Chu-Jiang Immortal Realm, I will inform you if I ever decide to sell the spirit fruits."
"Very well, time is short. I must continue my search for treasures." Wu Yuan didn’t wish to waste any more time with them. In a swift motion, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished from sight.
Li Yan and Song Guang exchanged a helpless glance.
"Jin Qing must have reaped huge rewards from the Grandmasters he slew as well as the Eldritch Chamber. Yet, they all ended up in Shadow Blade’s hands. He must now possess a substantial number of Purplewood Spirit Fruits." A trace of reluctance crossed Song Guang’s features as he clenched his jaw. "If he were willing to trade those Purplewood Spirit Fruits with me, my chances of breaking through would skyrocket.”
Li Yan glanced at Song Guang and chuckled, "What are you thinking? This attempt to trade with Shadow Blade is just us trying our luck."
Li Yan shook his head. "Considering his current strength, he's already showing us kindness by not killing us for our treasures."
Among the strong, who cared about the rules? Even though Tie Tuo represented the Ninedeaths Circle, he was still killed by Jin Qing after crossing paths with him. Great Jin wouldn’t care if the news spread either.
"Yes, you're right. This could be the moment when the Cloudstride Sect rises to power." Song Guang replied.
Li Yan shrugged, "It's hard to say. The secret of the Eldritch Chamber cannot remain hidden forever. Great Jin will surely launch an investigation into Jin Qing's death. And when they find out it was Shadow Blade, they will undoubtedly wage war against the Cloudstride Sect. It might even escalate into a battle between Heavenly Rankers.”
Song Guang shook his head. "No matter how strong Shadow Blade is, he is still just a Grandmaster. Once Great Jin’s Heavenly Rankers arrive, the outcome cannot be certain."
Song Guang was startled, "Will Great Jin violate the treaty of the Heavenly Rankers?"
Li Yan scoffed, "Treaty? It's just a piece of paper!" He lowered his voice, “In the past, Great Jin was willing to bide its time because it had an absolute advantage in terms of combat prowess. They were confident but didn't want to pay a high price."
"But with the Cloudstride Sect's rise, the situation has become unpredictable. They may not continue to wait," Li Yan warned.
"Let's get going, the matters of the Heavenly Rankers are not our concern. We should focus on finding ways to obtain more Purplewood Spirit Fruits." With that, the two Grandmasters swiftly departed.
...
Whoosh! Wu Yuan raced across the earth at astonishing speed. His eyes swept in every direction, his soul sense taking in his surroundings.
The Fourth Eldritch Realm only opens for five days. There’s fewer than two days left. Wu Yuan's eyes turned icy cold. Of the five Grandmasters from the Great Jin Empire, Jin Qing and Dong Jiu are dead. I wonder how many of the remaining three are still alive.
Zhong Jun was pursued by The Rain Hierarch. The outcome of their battle is unknown. Yue Shanzhong who hid in the canyons is likely still alive. As for Tang Jin, I’m not sure about her status. However, before my battle with Jin Qing, she was alive. I have not encountered her since then.
With the limited time remaining, Wu Yuan's plan was simple: find more Spirit Fruits and eliminate the remaining Great Jin experts.
...
A few hours later, in a dark canyon.
Roar! Roar! The sky filled with the thunderous roars of massive beasts that resembled black panthers. They charged towards the figure entering the canyon, scaling the steep slopes with ease.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Blades of red blade rays flashed, and the beasts tumbled back down into the canyon.
An earthy-yellow silhouette advanced towards a protruding outcrop of rock on a slope of the canyon, mercilessly slaughtering the beasts attacking him.
Another Redwood Spirit Fruit. Wu Yuan collected the spirit fruit and placed it into his storage artifact.
These demonic beasts are not real creatures. They are essentially the same as those redsoil assassins. Wu Yuan observed, his gaze fixed on the dissolving panther corpses.
Even their blood quickly faded away.
With a single powerful leap, Wu Yuan launched himself into the sky, leaving the canyon below.
...
In one day, Wu Yuan covered around 600 li, scanning his surroundings with Soul Force and soul sense. Whether it was due to luck or some other reason, he managed to find three more spirit fruits. However, they were all Redwood Spirit Fruits, and he couldn’t find any Purplewood Spirit Fruits. Soon, the closure of the Fourth Eldritch Realm was approaching.
From the vantage point of a towering mountain, Wu Yuan gazed out across the land.
This entire time, I’ve yet to encounter another expert, including The Rain Hierarch.
Suddenly, Wu Yuan's eyes narrowed, and a flash of killing intent arose. Yue Shanzhong!
Slightly more than ten li away, a figure clad in black armor emerged from a shadowy valley, pursued by a horde of demonic snakes. It seemed they were guarding a spirit fruit in the valley.
Haha! Purplewood Spirit Fruits! With three of these fruits, I have a chance to enter the Heavenly Rankings! Yue Shanzhong was beyond ecstatic.
After risking life and limb, he finally obtained a Purplewood Spirit Fruit. He only dared fight his way through the demonic beasts after donning spirit battle armor. Without it, even a Great Grandmaster would tread cautiously.
But in the next moment, Yue Shanzhong's joyous expression transformed into one of sheer terror. From a distance, an earthy yellow figure bolted towards him with incredible speed.
Shadow Blade!
Run! Yue Shanzhong's emotions churned within him, a mix of shock, rage, and despair. He fled, his cries ripping through the air. "Shadow Blade, spare me! Spare me! I'll give you all the treasures I possess!"
As his pleas echoed, Yue Shanzhong hurled his storage artifact off to the side, hoping to lure Wu Yuan into retrieving it. But Wu Yuan did not take the bait. Eight li and nine breaths later, they clashed.
Clang! Clang! Metal screeched. As a blade ray flashed by, a lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
Yue Shanzhong was dead!
After killing you, your treasures will be mine anyway. Wu Yuan collected the equipment on the corpse, then backtracked around 10 li. There, he found the discarded storage ring.
In that short span of time, no one else had come by.
Two Redwood Spirit Fruits and three Purplewood Spirit Fruits? Wu Yuan's eyes lit up as he examined the contents of the storage artifact. Looting others was indeed the most efficient method of earning treasures.
Onwards, to the next area.
...
Time flew by. Wu Yuan searched diligently, but in the remaining time, he did not find any more spirit fruits, nor did he encounter any other opponents.
And finally, the five-day deadline was up.
“Wu Yuan, prepare to depart from the Fourth Eldritch Realm.” The cold voice of the realm master echoed in his mind.
Wu Yuan's face split into a grin as an unseen energy wrapped around him. An instant later, he vanished.
...
"Young Master, at long last." Before Wu Yuan could fully shake off his drowsiness, an exuberant voice reached his ears.
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