The tiger-shaped masked cultivatorâs eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he turned and walked away.
"Huh? Heâs packing up?"
Lin Changâsheng finished selling all his Dragon Blood Pills, closed his stall, and headed toward the tiger-masked cultivatorâs booth, only to find the guy was already gone. He searched around for the one selling Qi Condensing Pills but came up empty.
He did spot someone selling magical artifact blades â those blades looked much sharper than Dawn, by who knows how much. He also saw some cultivation techniques and spirit medicine, but he didnât have any spirit stones to buy.
He saw Black Line Flood Dragon Blood too, but they wanted spirit stones for it. Didnât seem worth it, so he let it go.
"Forget it, Iâll deal with it later!"
After searching the trade market for a while, Lin Changâsheng realized everyone was masked up and couldnât find Zhu Zhishan, so he decided to head back.
Just thenâ
Cultivators were still coming and going at the market.
This trade marketâ
It opens all day at mid-month and at the start of the month, letting low tier cultivators trade what they need.
Lin Changâsheng left the market and unleashed the Wind God Leg, rushing away at top speed.
Fifteen miles from the valley, after crossing a river, he was about to enter a patch of forest up ahead, when suddenly a sense of danger pricked his nerves. He glanced toward the woods, narrowed his eyes, twisted his body, and bolted toward the distance.
"Hey, kidâwhere do you think youâre going!"
A deep shout rang out, and a flaming sword aura, dozens of yards long, slashed at Lin Changâshengâs back!
"Qi Refining Third Layer! Itâs that tiger-masked guy who was selling elixirs!"
Lin Changâsheng drew Dawn, his eyes cold and grim, and unleashed Thunderous Slash â blasting out wave after wave of flaming blade aura, each more savage than the last!
The tiger-masked cultivator lashed out with a sword aura, but Lin Changâsheng erupted with magical power in a split second, slashing out nine waves of blade aura, each stronger than the one before â coming down like nine crashing breakers!
Boom, boom, boom!
Lin Changâshengâs first blade collided with the sword aura. The impact thundered, shaking the earth, echoing for miles!
At the same time, his other eight blade auras slashed out like a sweeping tidal wave!
"Urgh! You... Qi Refining Third Layer!"
The tiger-faced cultivator hadnât expected his target to hide his cultivation, to also be at the Qi Refining Third Layer. Plus, the counterattack was ferocious â the blade aura came wave after wave, leaving him no time to react!
Facing life-or-death, his pupils shrank. He slapped on a palm-sized Golden Armor Talisman stuck to his chest and leaped back as fast as he could!
Instantly, a golden armor glow enveloped his body!
But Lin Changâshengâs Thunderous Slash burned through a ton of magical power for a rapid nine-strike assaultâthe tiger-faced cultivator was blasted into the woods by the ferocious sword force!
Boom, boom, boom!
Boom, boom, boom!
The wild qi force swept out, turning everything for twenty yards around into dust!
A crater, fifteen or sixteen yards wide, opened up on the spot!
The tiger-faced cultivator shimmered with golden light as he was hurled like a ragdoll, crashing through a stand of massive treesâuntil the golden light flickered out, and Lin Changâshengâs Thunderous Slash finally faded!
"Urgh!"
The tiger-faced cultivator spewed a mist of blood, his whole body soaked in it. His eyes shook with shockâlosing the initiative in just one move had him gravely wounded, and even the life-saving talisman his elder brother had given him was crushed!
He immediately darted into the deeper woods, hoping to use the cover to escape this disaster!
"Trying to run?"
Lin Changâsheng hadnât managed to finish him off with Thunderous Slash. He instantly grabbed the Cloud-Piercing Bow, pulled it openâNine-Star Linked Beads!
Feathered Arrows shot out, loaded with thick magical power, screaming through the air like Soul-Chasing Arrows. All nine whistled at eerie angles, nailing the tiger-faced cultivator in the back, the head, butt, legs, and arms!
Thud-thud-thud!
Every spot where the arrows struck exploded!
"Thunderous Slash eats up way too much powerâthose nine strikes drained half my stash!"
Lin Changâsheng eyed his surroundings warily, spread the Wind God Leg, and rushed forward to check the bodyâand found the cultivator was dead as dead could be, his magic sword stabbed into the ground eight yards away.
"Huh... whereâs his elixirs?"
Lin Changâsheng stepped up and examined the corpse, frowning. After searching the guyâs body, he found a small gray cloth bag tucked under his waist sash. Nothing else.
He grabbed the magic sword and the little bag, then cast Fire Bomb Technique twice, burning up the corpse. He scanned the area with his divine sense and left quickly.
He knewâ
This place was close to the trade market; more cultivators might show up.
Lin Changâsheng powered the Wind God Leg all out, shooting diagonally over twenty miles away. Seeing no pursuit, he took off his outer robe and burned it, washed the magic sword at a river, used Fire Bomb Technique to scorch it, and washed the gray bag a few times as well.
After checking with his divine sense and detecting no Divine Soul Brand, he doubled back toward Jinyong City.
Near Jinyong City, he finally calmed his nerves and strolled toward the city.
.......
Half an hour laterâ
Lin Changâsheng returned to his rented courtyard.
"This is a sword magical artifact!!"
After closing the door, he drew the sword magical artifact, eyes glinting with delight. It wasnât a blade, but this sword was way sharper than Dawnâafter all, this was a real cultivatorâs magical artifact!
He could use it as a blade for Thunderous Slashâwould work just as well!
"This little bag...could it be a storage bag?"
Lin Changâsheng pulled out the small cloth bag heâd looted from the tiger-faced cultivator. It felt light, gray in color. He hadnât had a chance to look at it before, but now he could examine it closely.
He had the hunch it was a storage bag. Rememberâthe tiger-faced cultivator had a ton of stuff at his booth, but now nothing. Odds were, it was all inside!
If thatâs true, jackpot!
This cultivator was Qi Refining Third Layerâshould be pretty loaded.
Obvious, after seeing him sell elixirs, wield that magical sword, and rely on armor talismans for his life.
Thinking this could be a storage bag, Lin Changâsheng was bursting with anticipation. He pressed the bag to his forehead, closed his eyes, and focused his divine sense on it, trying to envelop it.
Ever since Lin Changâsheng converted his Martial Arts Grandmaster true qi to Qi Refining Third Layer, heâd found his spiritual power boosted tenfold, forming the divine sense of a cultivator.
Shing!
Suddenlyâ
Lin Changâsheng found himself able to âseeâ a space two yards across!
Inside were a few registers, eight porcelain bottles, medicinal herbs, some talismans, 19 spirit stones, and a bunch of demon beast parts.
"Itâs really a storage bag. And thereâs spirit stones! Jackpot!"
"Killing and looting really does pay off!"
Seeing all this, Lin Changâshengâs eyes lit up with joy.
This time the loot was all because the tiger-faced cultivator screwed upâheâd figured Lin Changâsheng was only Qi Refining Second Layer, but got wrecked by Thunderous Slash!
Finished off by Nine-Star Linked Beads!
Lin Changâsheng focused on the eight porcelain bottles in the storage bag. With a thoughtâ
Swooshâall eight bottles appeared at his feet.
He checked them out. Three bottles of Qi Condensing Pills, three pills each; five bottles of Dragon Blood Pill, five in each!
"Nine Qi Condensing Pills, twenty-five Dragon Blood Pills!"
"Now I can advance to Qi Refining Fourth Layer! Hell yes!"
Lin Changâsheng stared at the elixirs, thrilled.
Not trusting it, he checked the storage bag againânothing suspicious. Finally satisfied, he put it down. It was someone elseâs stuff after allâhad to stay careful.