At this moment, everyone was truly dumbfounded!
A Life-Knowing Realm powerhouse had been killed!
And killed so effortlessly!
What did this mean?
It meant the gap in strength between the two was astronomical!
Ye Xuan walked toward the group, holding the old man’s head. He looked at the middle-aged man guarding the steps below. The man’s face paled, his eyes filled with terror.
He knew how fearsome his master was—and this time, it was his master’s true body that had come!
Yet he never imagined that even his master’s true form would be instantly slain!
Just how terrifying was this man before him?
Killing a Life-Knowing Realm expert in seconds!
Ye Xuan smiled at the man. “What’s your name?”
The man hesitated, then stammered, “Mu Jianghe!”
Ye Xuan chuckled. “Follow me from now on!”
Mu Jianghe froze, then quickly bowed respectfully. “From this day forward, I, Mu Jianghe, swear to serve you with my life, Senior, and offer my utmost loyalty!”
Ye Xuan smiled, handing him the head. “Bury him. You were master and servant once, after all.”
Mu Jianghe hesitated.
Ye Xuan laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not testing you. There’s no need for that, right?”
Relieved, Mu Jianghe took the head, his hands trembling as he stared at it.
Nearby, Mu Sen and Elder Xuanji couldn’t help but bow lower.
To kill a Life-Knowing Realm expert in an instant—this Senior wasn’t just any Life-Knowing cultivator!
This was a thigh too thick to miss—they had to cling to it!
Ye Xuan surveyed the surroundings and smiled. “This place is a little pocket dimension, isn’t it?”
Mu Jianghe, having returned, quickly said, “This was once the territory of the Eastern玄宗 (Xuan Sect). My… former master took a liking to it, so he wiped out the sect and claimed it for himself!”
Ye Xuan grinned. “There’s a Tianji Crystal mine here?”
Mu Jianghe nodded. “And it’s top-grade—three veins of it!”
Three veins!
Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed. He glanced at Yang Nianxue, who smirked. “I’ll handle it!”
She pressed her right hand downward, and the ground trembled violently. Soon, it split open, revealing three veins of top-grade Tianji Crystal, each containing nearly 120,000 top-grade crystals!
At this sight, Mu Sen and Elder Xuanji’s eyes turned red with envy!
120,000 top-grade Tianji Crystals!
And top-grade at that!
A single top-grade crystal could be traded for five ordinary ones!
Though tempted, Mu Sen and Elder Xuanji stayed composed.
Mu Jianghe hesitated, then said, “Senior, if you take these three veins away, they’ll be ruined!”
Ye Xuan frowned. “Why?”
Mu Jianghe gave a wry smile. “These veins can only thrive here. If removed, the spiritual energy will leak out. Without the nurturing of the earth’s vein energy, they won’t produce more crystals. That’s why my former master never took them!”
Ye Xuan glanced below, confirming Mu Jianghe’s words—the ground pulsed with pure earth vein energy!
A thought struck him, and he smiled. “I’ve got a better place than this!”
With that, he stored all three veins into his small pagoda!
As he did, a realization hit him: time inside the pagoda flowed differently than outside!
For instance, it might take ten years outside to form one top-grade Tianji Crystal, but in the pagoda, he could get one *every day*!
He’d struck gold!
Another idea came to mind. He turned to Mu Sen and Elder Xuanji, smiling. “My apprentice and I will each take one vein. The third vein’s crystals—120,000 of them—I’ll give to you two. I’ll keep the vein itself. How’s that?”
Their eyes lit up with excitement. Mu Sen’s voice trembled. “Senior, this… we didn’t do anything to deserve this…”
Ye Xuan laughed. “Since you’re with me, if I’m eating meat, you should at least get some soup. Otherwise, what’s the point of following me?”
He flicked his fingers, and two storage rings floated to them.
They hesitated.
Ye Xuan smiled. “Take them when I give them to you!”
Elder Xuanji gave a wry smile. “Senior, we didn’t help at all. This… we’re ashamed to accept!”
Ye Xuan chuckled. “Enough of that! Take them!”
Hearing this, they didn’t hesitate further and accepted the rings!
Elder Xuanji bowed deeply. “Senior’s kindness is something I, Xuanji, will never forget! If you ever need me, just say the word—I won’t refuse!”
Mu Sen bowed too. “Senior, from now on, my life is yours!”
Ye Xuan laughed. “Spare me the formalities! I’ll be staying in the Tianji Realm for a while, and I might need your help with some things.”
Mu Sen quickly said, “I’m at your service, Senior!”
Elder Xuanji echoed, “I’m at your service, Senior!”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Let’s go!”
With that, he led the group out of the ancient ruin.
Back in Tianji City, Ye Xuan and Yang Nianxue returned to the room Elder Xuanji had arranged. Ye Xuan grinned. “Big Sis, we hit the jackpot this time!”
He pulled out the Life-Knowing expert’s storage ring—inside were over a million top-grade Tianji Crystals!
And that wasn’t all—it held divine treasures, each clearly priceless.
Yang Nianxue rummaged through it and pulled out a blood-red flag. “This thing’s not simple!”
Ye Xuan glanced at it. The flag bore three blood-red characters: *Soul-Calling Banner*!
He smiled. “Snow Sis, pick whatever you like!”
Yang Nianxue grinned. “I’ll study this one!” She tucked the banner away, then picked up a black ring. After examining it, she smiled. “It’s a Guardian Ring!”
Ye Xuan blinked. “Guardian Ring?”
Yang Nianxue nodded. “This ring’s got something special! It contains nine mysterious guardian spacetimes. When activated, they merge into one, strong enough to block a full-force strike from a Life-Knowing expert!”
She looked at Ye Xuan. “That old man didn’t use it before he died. Was it *her* who struck?”
Ye Xuan nodded.
Yang Nianxue shook her head, her expression complex. “No wonder he didn’t even get a chance to fight back!”
*Heaven’s Mandate!*
When *that woman* acted, ten Life-Knowing experts would still be instantly slain!
Yang Nianxue handed the ring to Ye Xuan. “Keep it!”
Ye Xuan shook his head. “You take it!”
Yang Nianxue smiled. “I don’t need it, but you might!”
Ye Xuan started to protest, but she glared at him. “I said take it, so take it—no more nonsense!”
Then she pocketed the storage ring. “The Guardian Ring’s yours. Everything else in here is mine!”
Ye Xuan gaped, his earlier感动 (touching sentiment) vanishing in an instant!
*This Big Sis is a bandit!*
There were a million top-grade Tianji Crystals in there!
Seeing his stunned look, Yang Nianxue blinked. “Reluctant?”
Ye Xuan hesitated, then said, “For you, Big Sis, of course I’m willing, but…”
She slapped his shoulder. “Good little brother!”
Ye Xuan: *…*
Yang Nianxue added, “I’m going to break through to Life-Knowing!”
Ye Xuan was surprised. “To Life-Knowing?”
She nodded. “I’ll need a ton of Tianji Crystals. A million might not even be enough!”
Ye Xuan frowned. “That much?”
She rolled her eyes. “What else? Life-Knowing experts are rare in this universe for a reason! Going from Primordial Spirit to Life-Knowing takes an insane amount of top-grade Tianji Crystals—a cost most can’t afford! Many fail not for lack of talent or effort, but because they’re broke. Got it?”
*Broke!*
Ye Xuan gave a wry smile. Indeed, cultivation demanded immense wealth!
Yang Nianxue continued, “I don’t know if a million will cut it—I suspect it won’t. So…”
She looked at Ye Xuan, smirking. “Little Bro, you’ll have to figure out how to get me more!”
Ye Xuan was speechless. “Big Sis, where am I supposed to find more… I can’t just rob someone, can I?”
She pointed at the storage ring. “There are divine treasures in here we can auction off. That’ll get some, but it might not be enough. Anyway, handle it—I’m off to cultivate! Once I hit Life-Knowing, I’ll have your back!”
With that, she vanished into the small pagoda.
Alone in the room, Ye Xuan rubbed his temples.
*This Big Sis is too unreliable!*
Find her more Tianji Crystals?
He sighed, left the room, and glanced around. “Xuanji!”
Elder Xuanji appeared instantly, bowing deeply. “What are your orders, Senior?”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Any auctions around here?”
Elder Xuanji grinned. “Of course! Are you looking to buy something, Senior?”
Ye Xuan shook his head. “No, I want to sell some unused junk!”
Elder Xuanji quickly said, “I’ll arrange it!”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Thanks for the trouble!”
Elder Xuanji shook his head. “No trouble at all! Please wait, Senior—I’ll notify you once it’s set!”
Ye Xuan nodded. “Good!”
Elder Xuanji left.
Ye Xuan turned to the side. “Miss Xiong Ni, come out!”
From a nearby street corner, Xiong Ni stepped forward slowly.
Ye Xuan smiled at her. “You’ve been following me for a while!”
Xiong Ni said gravely, “Let’s cooperate!”
Ye Xuan blinked. “Cooperate?”
She nodded.
Ye Xuan smirked. “Miss Xiong Ni, I offered you a chance before, but you scoffed at it. Now you want to cooperate? Sorry, I’m not interested!”
He turned to leave.
Xiong Ni suddenly laughed. “I’ve got a secret you’ll definitely want to hear!”
Ye Xuan didn’t stop.
She added, “Someone’s plotting to kill you!”
“Kill me?”
Ye Xuan laughed dismissively. “Under three strikes, I’m invincible. Beyond three, I trade one for one!”
Xiong Ni: …
