Chapter 79: Who Has the Last Laugh?

While Jiang Xu looked on in horror, Zhao Qian and Shu Xitao had already come to blows.

The fight was intense.

But neither of them noticed the green, poisonous gas dissipating into the air.

The poison was difficult to detect in the first place.

And once the two of them started fighting, their attention was focused solely on each other.

They paid no mind to anything else.

And so, as a matter of course...

They were both poisoned.

By the time they realized what had happened, the toxin had already invaded their meridians, spreading to their Qi Sea and internal organs.

It was already too late to take an Antitoxic Pill.

The toxin had sealed most of their Magical Power, leaving their bodies sore and weak. They collapsed to the ground, unable to rise, clearly bereft of any fighting strength.

Ji Shengliang, who had been playing dead for some time, slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

In his effort to be convincing, Ji Shengliang had sustained real, grievous injuries. He had just enough strength left to release the deadly poison and kill the two now-helpless Tribulation Cultivators.

Amidst Zhao Qian and Shu Xitao’s terrified gazes and wails for mercy, Ji Shengliang strenuously summoned two fireballs.

BOOM! BOOM!

Fierce flames engulfed the two Tribulation Cultivators.

At this point, Ji Shengliang had annihilated every last Tribulation Cultivator who had come for him, leaving no one alive and destroying their bodies completely.

He sat stunned on the ground, a feeling of emptiness washing over him as he stared at the bloody carnage.

"Life is a grand play, full of ups and downs, hardships, and endless twists. But in the end, who gets to be the one left standing on the stage, laughing?"

The corners of Ji Shengliang’s mouth slowly curled upward into a massive grin, and his laughter shook the heavens.

"Hahaha! In the end, it was I who won!!!"

WHOOSH—!

Several gusts of bone-chilling wind swept past, and Ji Shengliang’s body was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.

BANG!

Several fireballs shot out and collided with the ice sculpture.

The ice sculpture instantly shattered into a million pieces.

Ji Shengliang’s body dissolved into ice crystals, dissipating into the air.

...

Jiang Xu cast the Light Body Spell, moving like the wind to quickly clean up the scene, but only after making absolutely certain that everyone was dead.

Only then did he collect all the Storage Bags and the Magical Artifacts scattered on the ground before making a hasty retreat.

As he fled, Jiang Xu felt a rush of excitement. It was his first time reaping the rewards of a conflict he’d instigated from the shadows.

But besides the excitement, Jiang Xu also felt a strange sense of unease.

After a moment of thought, he understood the source of his anxiety.

What had happened to the man—Ji something, Jiang Xu didn’t know his full name—could just as easily happen to him.

As he continued his escape, Jiang Xu debriefed himself on the operation.

’In the future, to avoid becoming someone else’s prey, I need an outstanding Investigation Technique. I have to be sure there are no enemies nearby that I can’t detect.’

’And I absolutely must learn to secure my kills, to make sure every enemy that appears dead is truly dead.’

’Otherwise, I’ll end up just like those two Tribulation Cultivators—a cautionary tale!’

In truth, Jiang Xu had nearly failed this time himself.

If his Cangmu Skill hadn’t possessed a detoxifying effect, there was a small chance—maybe five percent—that he could have been in mortal danger, even from a distance.

Jiang Xu could have chosen to stay away from the battle and remain in the Marketplace.

But in order to stay on top of the situation and respond effectively, he had decided to follow them.

And it turned out to be the right call.

After all, Ji Shengliang had been the last man standing among the Tribulation Cultivators.

If Jiang Xu hadn’t intervened, Ji Shengliang would have taken all those resources, and given his severe injuries, he certainly wouldn’t have returned to the Marketplace. He would have fled, gone into hiding to recover, and used the resources to improve his Cultivation.

It would have been a huge problem if Ji Shengliang managed to reach the Qi Cultivation Great Perfection stage.

Even if Ji Shengliang never found out that Jiang Xu was behind it all, Jiang Xu wouldn’t have been able to rest easy.

This incident gave Jiang Xu a much clearer understanding of his own survival capabilities.

He had made the right choice with the Cangmu Skill. Increasing its Skill Level didn’t boost its power much, but its life-preserving aspects improved dramatically.

The Concealing Breath Spell was also worth its weight in gold. His Spiritual Eye Technique, on the other hand, was starting to fall behind.

This time, for instance, even though the enemy had released poison into the air, his Spiritual Eye Technique could only vaguely detect it.

’I need to save up another ten Limit-Breaking Points as soon as possible and upgrade the Spiritual Eye Technique next!’

Jiang Xu flew on.

He continued until he was far from the scene, then found a remote cave to hide in. Inside, he laid out the Storage Bags he had collected.

There were ten Storage Bags in total.

Six from Qi Cultivation Middle Stage cultivators.

Four from Qi Cultivation Late Stage cultivators.

GULP. Jiang Xu swallowed hard and picked up a Storage Bag from one of the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage Tribulation Cultivators.

His heart filled with anticipation, Jiang Xu opened the first Storage Bag.

Inside were some daily supplies, about twenty Spirit Stones, a bottle of Grain Avoidance Pills, two bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills, a Gold Attribute Qi Refining Technique called *Golden Yuan Skill*, and a few handwritten manuals on Magic.

That was all.

Jiang Xu’s brow furrowed deeply.

’No way... he was a Tribulation Cultivator, how can he be this poor? Was he a rookie who hadn’t saved up any Spirit Stones yet?’

But Jiang Xu was being unfair to the bag’s previous owner.

How many Spirit Stones could a Loose Cultivator—even one who resorted to robbery—really have?

Prices for everything in the Marketplace were high, and the number of Spirit Stones required for regular Cultivation was substantial.

Just living in the Marketplace cost Spirit Stones, not to mention all the other resources needed for Cultivation.

Saving up twenty-odd Spirit Stones was already quite an accomplishment!

Disappointed, Jiang Xu opened the other five bags.

They were basically the same as the first, with the addition of a few Talismans, a bottle or two of Qi Condensing Pills, and some miscellaneous materials for artifact forging, Alchemy, and Talisman Making.

There wasn’t a single Magical Artifact among them.

They must have all been destroyed in the fighting.

The total haul of Spirit Stones came to one hundred and twelve.

The loot from the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage cultivators was a thorough disappointment, so Jiang Xu pinned his hopes on the bags from the Qi Cultivation Late Stage Tribulation Cultivators.

This time, Jiang Xu opened all four remaining Storage Bags at once to inspect them.

In terms of Spirit Stones, there were nineteen Middle Grade Spirit Stones and over two hundred thirty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

Due to the intense Magical Combat, only about ten unused Tier One Middle Grade Talismans remained.

There were over a dozen bottles of Qi Condensing Pills, two bottles of Essence Pills potent enough to rapidly advance the Cultivation of a Qi Cultivation Late Stage Cultivator, three bottles of Qi Blood Pills, four or five porcelain vials containing something like poison, and other Elixirs whose purpose Jiang Xu couldn’t identify.

There was a large, messy pile of Spirit Medicines, Spiritual Materials, and some Demon Beast bones and pelts.

There were also some Secret Techniques and manuals for Tier One Middle Grade and Upper Grade Magic.

Of course, the most important items were the Magical Artifacts Jiang Xu had picked up from the scene, as well as those found inside the Storage Bags.

Jiang Xu laid them all out.

Judging by the fluctuations in Spiritual Pressure, there was one Tier One Upper Grade Attack Spiritual Artifact and three Tier One Middle Grade Attack Spiritual Artifacts.

There were also two Tier One Middle Grade defensive Magical Artifacts.

As for Tier One Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, there were about ten of them in total.