"I don't mean to hide it from you, fellow Daoist. I have cultivated a body-refining technique, which has made my physical body tough and resistant to poison, stronger than the average cultivator," Liu Su explained with a pleasing expression on her face.

 

"So, it turns out that you are a body cultivator. No wonder you are still trying to fight back in this situation," Yuan Ming stopped ten meters away from Liu Su and said.

 

"Young Master Yuan, what do you mean by that? I am sincerely surrendering and have no other intentions," Liu Su hurriedly said.

 

"Is that so?" Yuan Ming sneered and pointed his finger. A blue sword energy shot out and slashed towards Liu Su's right arm.

 

Yuan Ming's divine sense was powerful, and he could see everything clearly. Although the muscles on the surface of Liu Su's body looked calm, in fact, every muscle was tense and ready to launch a fierce attack at any moment.

 

Liu Su's face suddenly turned cold as ice, and her tall figure suddenly leaped out of the water, easily dodging the blue sword energy, and pounced towards Yuan Ming like a cheetah. The injuries and poison on her legs seemed to have no effect on her.

 

Yuan Ming was slightly surprised, and his figure shot back, while the Cold Star Sword and the Nine-Ring Golden Knife crossed and slashed towards Liu Su.

 

A green shadow flashed on the spirit beast bag around Liu Su's waist, and a green snake leaped out, using its body to block in front of her.

 

With a light sound, the green snake's body was cut into three pieces, but its head could still move and spat towards Yuan Ming.

 

A green poisonous mist gushed out, instantly engulfing an area of more than thirty meters, and wherever the poisonous mist covered, all the plants quickly turned yellow.

 

Yuan Ming quickly summoned the Water Cloud Flag to protect his whole body, isolating the poisonous mist outside, and the Cold Star Sword slashed into the air.

 

A huge sword energy of about a meters long slashed on the head of the green snake, directly splitting it in half, making it unable to move.

 

However, a blurry figure swiftly flew from the other side and in an instant, arrived next to Yuan Ming, who was none other than Liu Su.

 

Her right arm suddenly swelled, and the surface of her arm suddenly bulged with green veins, emitting a metallic luster, like a diamond club, fiercely hitting the Water Cloud Flag.

 

The Water Cloud Flag surged with waves, deeply sunken, and Liu Su's fist hit Yuan Ming's chest.

 

With a loud clang, Yuan Ming was sent flying with the flag, but a slender needle shadow flashed in front of Liu Su, piercing through her head.

 

The next moment, Liu Su's figure suddenly leaped forward, as if she wanted to catch up to Yuan Ming and deliver a fatal blow. However, her figure paused in mid-air, and the light in her eyes quickly dissipated. Her tall figure fell to the ground.

 

Yuan Ming was thrown out three or twelve metres, but he immediately jumped up as soon as he touched the ground.

 

The Water Cloud Flag spread out, revealing his figure.

 

Yuan Ming's face was slightly pale, but he didn't seem to be injured. His clothes in front were scattered like debris, revealing a golden inner armor, which was made from the scales of a Golden Flower Poison Python.

 

If it weren't for this inner armor, he would have been hit directly in the chest this time, and he would probably have lost half his life if he didn't die.

 

The physical body of a body cultivator was unexpectedly tough to this extent. Even without using spiritual power, he could launch such a fierce counterattack, which was truly unexpected.

 

Yuan Ming fell silent for a moment, then took Liu Su's storage magic tool and separately collected the bodies of the three people, and summoned the Azure Cloud Crane to leave the place.

 

After flying for dozens of li, he found a secluded valley and landed, then checked the items obtained from Xu Changqing and the others.

 

He first picked up the white jade shuttle and found that there were three runes inside, which turned out to be a high-grade flying magic tool.

 

Yuan Ming became interested and paused to examine it. He picked up the jade shuttle and threw it in front of him, then waved his hand to cast a spell.

 

The jade shuttle floated in front of him, slowly growing larger, quickly reaching a metres in length and half a chi in width.

 

Yuan Ming jumped on it and infused spiritual power into the jade shuttle from his feet.

 

The jade shuttle suddenly emitted a bright light, turning into a white rainbow shooting forward. Everything around him quickly receded, and it was not something that a spiritual bird like the Azure Crane could compare to. The consumption of spiritual power was also very high.

 

Yuan Ming secretly rejoiced that he had killed Xu Changqing with a lightning-fast strike earlier. If he had missed, and let this person escape with this magic tool, it would have been impossible to catch up with the speed of the Azure Crane.

 

He controlled the jade shuttle to fly back and forth, experiencing a speed he had never felt before. It took him half an hour to return to the valley, and he continued to check Xu Changqing's belongings.

 

The golden hook sword, the black inkstone, and the golden beads were all medium-grade magic tools. The golden hook sword was for attack, the black inkstone was for defense, and the golden beads were the most special, an auxiliary magic tool that could suddenly emit a dazzling golden light, dazzling the enemy's eyes and even causing temporary blindness, which could be very effective in certain situations.

 

Xu Changqing was indeed a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Changchun Sect in Da Jin, and his belongings were far from comparable to those of cultivators of the same level in the Southern Wilderness.

 

Yuan Ming then checked Xu Changqing's storage magic tool, which was also quite rich in contents. There were nearly a hundred pieces of spiritual stones, as well as a green token, two white medicine bottles, a jade box, and a document.

 

One side of the token was inscribed with the three characters "Changchun Sect," and the other side was inscribed with "Guhe," which seemed to be Xu Changqing's identity token.

 

However, what his real name was no longer important. All of this would be forgotten with his fall today, and with the passage of time, no one would even remember that there was once a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Changchun Sect.

 

The world of cultivators was so cruel. Although their lifespan was longer than that of ordinary people, they were more easily forgotten.

 

Yuan Ming regained his composure and looked at the two jade bottles. Inside the bottles was a kind of milky white pill, which, judging from its aura, was a pill for solidifying the foundation and nurturing the primordial spirit. This milky white pill was exceptionally rich in spiritual energy, far from being comparable to the Golden Flower Pill, and should be a pill that could enhance the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators, with a considerable value.

 

As for the jade box, there was a silver talisman pasted on it.Yuan Ming expended considerable effort to break the seal, only to find a piece of yellow wood inside, emitting a strange, tranquil fragrance that invigorated the spirit and soothed the soul.

 

The scent from the yellow spiritual wood seemed to possess a unique effect of calming the mind.

 

Yuan Ming could not identify the origin of the wood, but ever since he began studying incense-making, he had taken a keen interest in all materials related to the craft. Suspecting that this wood might be useful for incense-making, he carefully placed it back into the jade case and re-affixed the silver talisman.

 

Five hundred spirit stones, to be completed within three months: Assassinate Jin national Yuan Ming. If the task is overdue, it will be canceled, and thrice the deposit will be compensated as a guarantee. Signed by Guangli Alliance Leader Wu Xuming. The date of the signature was one month prior.

 

He then proceeded to inspect the storage artifacts of Lin Liumu and Liu Su.

 

As Qi Refining stage cultivators, the contents of their storage artifacts were indeed far inferior to Xu Changqing's. In terms of magical tools, aside from Lin Liumu's white flying wheel, all were of low quality. The spirit stones totaled only five to six hundred, and the other items like pills and spiritual materials were also of low grade, of little use to Yuan Ming, who was now at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining.

 

Yuan Ming set aside Liu Su's storage artifact and toyed with a copper bottle.

 

Over the past two years, he had continuously used the Hair-Thickening Technique, which had somewhat strengthened his physical body, but it was still far from matching Liu Su, who was a body cultivator.

 

Yuan Ming greatly envied Liu Su's robust physique. Unfortunately, her storage artifact did not contain the body cultivation technique she practiced. When he had searched her soul earlier, he hadn't managed to find the memories of her cultivation method. The only thing related to body cultivation he found was the pill inside this copper bottle. The pill was a body-refining pill called Copper Skin Pill, which, when taken in conjunction with a body cultivation technique, could make the body as tough as ironstone, impervious to blades and swords.

 

Without a body cultivation technique, Yuan Ming dared not rashly consume the pill, so he put away the copper bottle and began to plan his next move.

 

Since the Guangli Alliance was waiting ahead, returning directly to the Great Jin from the southern borderlands would significantly increase the risk.

 

Although his strength was unmatched in the Qi Refining stage, and he could even contend with early Foundation Establishment cultivators like Xu Changqing, he was not so arrogant as to believe he could handle six or seven Foundation Establishment cultivators. For now, it seemed he would have to find another route.

 

"Who could be so determined to kill me?" Yuan Ming pondered for a moment, an image flashing through his mind.

 

He took out a stick of black incense, placed it in the incense burner, and carefully recalled Lin Junsheng's appearance and related memories. His consciousness was soon engulfed by darkness, and when he awoke, he found himself in a room.

 

Lin Junsheng was sitting cross-legged, forming hand seals. Yuan Ming, experiencing Lin Junsheng's perspective, was somewhat surprised—not because Lin Junsheng was cultivating, but because the scene before him was exceptionally clear, much clearer than any previous possession.

 

"What's going on here?"

 

Yuan Ming quickly thought of a possible reason: the black incense he used was newly made from the ashes of the city lord's mansion. It seemed that different incense ashes produced different effects on possession.

 

He quickly composed himself and, unable to control the other's body, simply focused on sensing the technique Lin Junsheng was cultivating. The next moment, he was taken aback.

 

The technique Lin Junsheng was practicing was eerily familiar, very similar to the Nine Elements Formula. Could it be that this person had been accepted into Changchun Temple?

 

Changchun Temple, as the foremost cultivation sect of the Great Jin, was extremely strict about accepting disciples, even for the children of high officials and nobles, who also had to possess sufficient aptitude.

 

Yuan Ming vaguely remembered that both he and Lin Junsheng had once sought to become disciples in their youth, but despite both having spiritual roots, their aptitudes were quite ordinary, and they were bluntly turned away. Now, as times had changed, Lin Junsheng had actually been taken in by Changchun Temple.