Chương 156: Chapter45: Chaotic Tides (2)

The cultivator's face drained of all vitality, turning a ghostly, ashen grey the moment Jin Chuanchuan fell. His left arm underwent a grotesque transformation, shriveling into a desiccated, blackened husk that resembled the petrified root of a long-dead tree. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he seized the dead limb and wrenched it violently from his shoulder. There was no spray of crimson; the exposed flesh at the stump was a bloodless, sickly white.

"Heh, Jin Chuanchuan," he rasped, binding the wound with trembling hands.

"I was destined to lose this arm regardless. Better to sacrifice it to end your life than to crawl at your feet for mercy. This was a bargain. No one witnessed the deed. Even that old hag, Granny Jin, for all her Golden Core might, will never trace your death back to me." He moved with practiced coldness, stripping the treasures from Jin Chuanchuan's cooling corpse before incinerating the remains to ash. Without a moment's hesitation, he crushed his Trial Stone.

A shimmering teleportation array enveloped his form, and he vanished from the realm. Elsewhere, nestled within a secluded medicinal valley, a single stalk of Golden Emperor Grass clung to a jagged stone wall. Standing barely a few inches tall, it radiated a faint, regal golden aura. Below it, two factions—four cultivators in total—stood locked in a lethal standoff. The air between them was thick with killing intent, a powder keg waiting for a single spark.

"What is the meaning of this, Daoists?" barked a gaunt man in black robes, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"My brother and I discovered this Golden Emperor Grass first. Do you truly intend to resort to blatant robbery?" Across from him, a man dressed in the refined silks of a yellow-clad scholar offered a chilling smirk.

"Your words lack logic, friend. This treasure was birthed by heaven and earth; it bears no man's surname. In this world, providence belongs to the strong, not the first to stumble upon it. Do you truly believe that merely seeing a treasure makes it yours?"

"Hmph! Why waste breath on these fools, Brother Wu?" the gaunt man's companion spat, his fingers twitching over his storage bag. He produced two heavy, spherical artifacts, his gaze burning with icy light.

"If they refuse to retreat, we shall simply bury them here."

"So be it!" Wu roared, his patience snapping. He thrust a palm forward, unleashing a surge of spiritual power. A torrent of black mist erupted into the valley, accompanied by the harrowing, discordant wails of vengeful spirits. The sound alone was enough to make one's soul tremble with primal dread.

"A disciple of the Huanming Sect from Jin Province!" the yellow-clad scholar shouted, his voice tinged with alarm. He dared not underestimate the necrotic fog. With a flick of his wrist, he deployed a jade butterfly artifact. Infused with his essence, the butterfly projected a translucent barrier of spiritual energy that shielded his duo from the encroaching darkness. Boom! Boom! Boom! The clash was instantaneous and violent.

All four were seasoned cultivators at the early stages of Foundation Establishment or higher, and as their various magic treasures collided, the valley shook under the weight of their destructive arts. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream tore through the chaos. The yellow-clad scholar, who had been locked in a fierce exchange with Wu, stared in horror as the black mist grazed his forearm.

In a heartbeat, his flesh turned pitch-black and began to liquefy, emitting a foul stench of decay.

"Corpse Poison! You vicious brat!" the scholar howled in agony.

"Mark my words, this debt will be repaid in blood!" Realizing the battle was lost, he and his partner simultaneously crushed their Trial Stones, their figures dissolving into the light of the teleportation arrays.

"Hmph, cowards. You were lucky to run so fast, or I would have let you experience the full extent of my poison's bite," Wu sneered, his face flushed with the arrogance of victory. Behind him, his companion stepped forward with a fawning smile.

"Brother Wu's divine arts are truly peerless. In this Trial Realm, I shall have to rely heavily on your protection." Wu's ego swelled at the praise. He nodded dismissively and approached the Golden Emperor Grass, his eyes burning with greed. But as his hand reached for the prize, a cold shiver raced down his spine. He lunged to the side, but a sharp, stinging pain lanced through his shoulder, followed immediately by a paralyzing numbness.

"Peacock Poison Feather! Zhang, you treacherous dog! How dare you!" Wu's roar died in his throat as his aura collapsed. The poison was so potent he couldn't even reach for his Trial Stone. Within seconds, his entire body dissolved into a puddle of putrid black sludge. Zhang offered a thin, predatory smile. He collected the fallen storage bags, cleansed them with a water spell, and hung them at his waist.

After carefully harvesting the Golden Emperor Grass, he cast a wary glance around the valley and vanished into a streak of light. In another clearing, four predators had cornered a single prey. Their eyes were fixed on the object in his hand with feverish intensity.

"The Mu Jade Sword is with him," a man radiating a natural chill remarked slowly.

"If he refuses to surrender it, we strike together. Once he is dead, we shall settle the ownership amongst ourselves. Agreed?" To the left, a youth in purple silks chuckled darkly.

"I find those terms acceptable." The remaining two—a bald monk and a lithe, beautiful female cultivator—exchanged a brief look of hesitation before nodding solemnly. Trapped in the center, the white-robed scholar wiped blood from his lip, his breathing ragged. His face contorted with a mix of fury and desperation.

"Four against one... fine! You want it? Then go fetch it!" He reached into his bag, pulled out the Mu Jade Sword, and hurled it toward the man who had first spoken. The cold-faced man's eyes lit up with joy as he snatched the sword from the air. Without a word, he ignited his escape light and bolted toward the horizon.

"After him!"

"Don't let that bastard escape with the sword!" The other three roared in fury, transforming into streaks of light as they gave chase. The original owner of the sword paused, swallowed several restorative pills, and then followed at a cautious distance, his eyes gleaming with a vengeful, calculating light. Across the Trial Realm, the tapestry of slaughter continued to unfurl. Sect against sect, man against beast—the land was being painted in the blood of the ambitious.

Those who survived this crucible, treading over the corpses of their peers, would emerge as the true elites, forged for the merciless path of the Great Dao. Deep within a dense forest, several streaks of light tore through the canopy at breakneck speeds.

"Heh, little beauty, why the rush?" a lewd, grating voice echoed from a pink streak of light in the rear.

"Stop and let the three of us show you some true affection." Cruel laughter erupted from the other two pursuing lights.

"Indeed! We shall make the earth our bed and the sky our blanket. Let us enjoy ourselves in this wilderness!"

"As core disciples of the Yin-Yang Sect, we have mastered many... exquisite techniques. Three brothers serving one woman—we promise to send you to the heights of ecstasy!" Ling You'er bit her lip so hard it bled, her face flushed with a mixture of shame and burning rage. She pushed her spiritual sea to its absolute limit, yet no matter what secret arts she employed, she could not shake the three predators closing the gap behind her.