Countless pebbles flew, dust billowing everywhere.
Once everything settled, a massive pit dozens of yards deep had opened up in the ground.
Inside that pit, Wang Tong was already gravely wounded.
His robes were in tatters, blood dripping from his body, not a single part of him unscathed.
His back had been blasted by Lin Changâshengâs Thunderbolt Arrow, his front wounded by Hou Yutianâs Sword Aura.
"Impossible, impossible! How could I lose to the likes of youâ"
Wang Tongâs anguished roar was filled with unwillingness, but the moment he tried to escape from the pit, Lin Changâsheng and Hou Yutianâs attacks rained down once again.
This time, Lin Changâsheng didnât just fire nine Thunderbolt Arrows, but an onslaught of thousands.
Meanwhile, Hou Yutian conjured a colossal, hundred-yard-long Sword Aura, sealing off the exit and slamming it into the pit.
"Divine Shield!"
Seeing the endless attacks incoming, Wang Tong no longer had time to counterattackâhe could only hurriedly summon an Elemental Shield to defend himself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless Thunderbolt Arrows pounded on the Divine Shield, sounding like rain drumming a tentâbarely causing a ripple.
This was the gap between the Void Refining Stage and the Integration Stage.
If Hou Yutian hadnât launched a direct assault drawing most of Wang Tongâs focus a moment earlier, Lin Changâsheng wouldâve never had the chance to seize that opening and injure Wang Tong.
Now, Thunderbolt Arrows were useless, but Hou Yutianâs exploding Sword Aura was a different story.
Because within that Sword Aura, at its very core, lay Hou Yutianâs Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure.
BOOMâ
The titanic Sword Aura smashed into Wang Tongâs Divine Shield, erupting in a shockwave that split the ground as rocks sprayed everywhere.
In the next instant, everyone saw the razor-sharp Sword Aura slowly pierce through Wang Tongâs Divine Shield, inch by inch closing in on his body.
"NOâ!"
Feeling his life threatened, Wang Tong let out a furious, despairing yell.
No matter how he raged, it was over for him.
Wounded as he was, he stood no chance against Hou Yutian and Lin Changâsheng working together.
BOOM BOOM BOOMâ
The Sword Aura blasted apart Wang Tongâs Divine Shield and smashed him to the ground, and countless Thunderbolt Arrows rained down after.
When the dust finally cleared, Wang Tong had been nailed to the earth by Hou Yutianâs Sword Aura, his body pummeled beyond recognition by the relentless Arrow assault.
Buzzâ
The next moment, Wang Tongâs Primordial Spirit shot out, and though Lin Changâsheng and Hou Yutian tried to intercept, they couldnât stop it.
Even Lin Changâshengâs Myriad Soul Banner couldnât take it in.
"Looks like the soul power was too strongâthe Myriad Soul Banner lost its effect!"
Lin Changâsheng thought to himself. Seems Iâll need to merge upgrades to boost the Soul Bannerâs strength.
Otherwise, killing enemies in the future will be a hassle if their souls just escape.
"So thatâs the power of an Integration cultivator! I have to raise my cultivation, and fast!"
For the first time, Lin Changâsheng truly felt how terrifying an Integration-stage cultivator was.
Even at the Middle Stage of Void Refining, he was no match for an Integration cultivator.
If not for Hou Yutian, theyâd have never taken Wang Tong down this time.
Now that Wang Tong was dead, that meant theyâd made a great enemy of the Rakshasa Sect.
"Letâs move!"
Hou Yutian saw that Wang Tong was dead and his soul escaped. If Wang Yun found out, heâd definitely send killers after them. No way they could stay here.
He quickly called out to Lin Changâsheng, ready to get the hell out of there.
Lin Changâsheng waved his hand, scooping up Wang Tongâs corpse and Storage Bag before leaping onto the Flying Shuttle and making a quick getaway.
This Wang Tong was an Integration Cultivatorâhow could his Storage Bag not be filled with treasures?
"Many thanks for lending a hand, Elder Hou!"
Lin Changâsheng restored his Primordial Power to its peak with Immortal Crystals before speaking calmly.
The Immortal Realm is deadly: youâve got to stay at your peak at all times if you want any chance of survival.
"Thatâs my line! Without your skill in arrays, all of us wouldâve died in that Celestial Thunder Array."
With some healing, Hou Yutianâs arm injury had mostly recovered.
The power of Celestial Thunder was overwhelming, but it still wasnât easy to seriously wound an Integration cultivator.
Lin Changâsheng surveyed the survivorsâless than half remained.
Thereâd been over twenty promising young cultivators at first, but now, aside from Lin Changâsheng and Hou Shaojie, only seven or eight were left.
The rest had either fled or died.
This shows that in the Immortal Realm, not even prodigies have an easy path to survive and thrive.
Each strong cultivator is one in ten thousand.
"Elder Hou, letâs split whatâs in Wang Tongâs Storage Bag. There are a ton of Immortal Crystalsâenough to help all of us cultivate!"
Lin Changâsheng wasnât the greedy type. There were eighty thousand Immortal Crystals in thereâif he took them all, Hou Yutian would probably feel cheated.
After all, Hou Yutian did most of the heavy lifting to kill Wang Tong.
"Deal!"
Hou Yutian agreedâsince theyâd already pissed off the Rakshasa Sect, might as well take everything they could.
The two split the Immortal Crystals evenly.
Lin Changâsheng also gave Hou Yutian Wang Tongâs Lower Grade Celestial Spirit Treasure. Hou Yutian tried to decline at first.
But Lin Changâsheng said, "You can have the Spirit Treasure, but the elixirs and immortal techniques are ours. We wouldnât use them anyway."
That way, everyone was even; only then did Hou Yutian agree.
"Shaojie, you interested in this Long Saber?"
Hou Yutian handed the Long Saber to Hou Shaojie.
This Long Saber was a Lower Grade Celestial Spirit Treasureâits power beyond question.
But Hou Shaojie shook his head after a look, so Hou Yutian kept it for himself.
As for the elixirs and immortal techniques in Wang Tongâs Storage Bag, those went to Lin Changâsheng.
While he missed out on a Lower Grade Celestial Spirit Treasure, Lin Changâsheng got three immortal technique manuals and some alchemy herbsânot a bad deal at all.
Especially since these herbs were just what he needed to refine an Infinite Sacred Essence Pill.
The Infinite Sacred Essence Pill was a rare treasure heâd picked up from Gu Jiâs Storage Bag.
But heâd never found the suitable herbs for refining, so Lin Changâsheng hadnât gotten around to simplifying it yet.
This time, finding them all in Wang Tongâs Storage Bag was just perfectâtime to refine it at last.
This elixir was seriously potentâjust one pill and you could come back from the brink of death.
It could massively restore your primordial powerâone pill instantly gave you four layers of Primordial Power back.
Talk about explosive restoration.
At a critical moment, one pill could decide a life-or-death battle.
As for the three immortal techniques, Lin Changâsheng could put all of them to use: one called the Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique, one the Four Symbols Divine Fist, and one the Divine Shield.
Now he wouldnât be bored on the trip; he could cultivate three immortal techniques and a pill formula to perfection, boosting his strength a lot more.
[Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique: Entry Level!]
[Four Symbols Divine Fist: Entry Level!]
[Divine Shield: Entry Level!]
[Infinite Holy Pill Formula: Entry Level!]
Five hours later, Lin Changâsheng had cultivated all three immortal techniques and the pill formula to the entry stage.
[Detected Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique. Spend 3,500 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
[Detected Four Symbols Divine Fist. Spend 3,000 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
[Detected Divine Shield. Spend 3,000 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
[Detected Infinite Holy Pill. Spend 3,500 Immortal Crystals to simplify?]
The system panel chimed with advancement prompts.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâsheng still had plenty of Immortal Crystals, so he chose to simplify everything without hesitation.
[The Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique... Simplifying... Simplification complete. Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique == Swing the Blade at the Moon!]
[The Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Four Symbols Divine Fist... Simplifying... Simplification complete. Four Symbols Divine Fist == Punch!]
[The Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Divine Shield... Simplifying... Simplification complete. Divine Shield == Hold Your Breath!]
[The Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Infinite Holy Pill... Simplifying... Simplification complete. Infinite Holy Pill == Stare at Pill!]
"Swing the Blade at the Moon? Punch? Hold your breath? Stare at pill?"
Lin Changâsheng mused to himselfâwell, thatâs simplification for you, it really couldnât be any simpler!
And they could all be cultivated simultaneously.
So Lin Changâsheng didnât care how the others looked at himâone hand swinging a saber at the sky, the other throwing punches, his mouth full of held breath, eyes glued to a pill in his hand.
Celestial Vault Moon-breaking Saber Technique Experience Points +1!
Four Symbols Divine Fist Experience Points +1!
Divine Shield Experience Points +1!
Infinite Holy Pill Experience Points +1!
...
With Lin Changâshengâs strange actions, the experience points for his three immortal techniques and one pill formula skyrocketed like crazy.