Chapter 104 - 103: Harvest and Disguise
Even if Qi Yuanming had sworn on his parents and eighteen generations of his ancestors, he was still fated to die.
Chen Yuan let out a long breath, his face slightly pale.
The activation methods for Divine Artifact Incarnations varied. The simplest, of course, was to just channel Inner Strength.
Take the Murong Family’s Star Shifting, for example. It only required a trace of the Murong bloodline’s power to activate, making its consumption relatively low.
This Corpse Tower Forest Divine Artifact Incarnation, however, was definitely among the most draining.
A huge, grotesque gash had been torn open on Chen Yuan’s left arm, even damaging some of his Meridians. The arm was basically useless for the time being.
Furthermore, when it broke its seal, the Corpse Tower Forest Divine Artifact Incarnation had absorbed a large amount of Chen Yuan’s Qi Blood, leaving him somewhat drained.
’This thing really is a Demon Soldier that no one has ever been able to subdue. It shows no loyalty whatsoever.’
If Chen Yuan had been any weaker, or his physical body less tough, he could have easily crippled himself just by activating the Divine Artifact Incarnation.
’And the Three Extremes Evil Venerable actually wanted to subdue the true form of the Corpse Tower Forest? What a pipe dream.’
Chen Yuan then turned his gaze to Fei Bin, who seemed to have been scared witless.
He was the only other living person there besides Chen Yuan.
At that moment, Fei Bin was indeed on the verge of being scared to death.
He had only followed them down here to coast along and snag some credit. Who could have imagined the situation would spiral with one twist after another, leaving him unable to react?
Seeing Chen Yuan’s eyes fall upon him, Fei Bin dropped to his knees with a THUD.
"Lord Chen, spare my life! From now on, I’ll be your loyal dog, your obedient servant! If you tell me to go east, I’ll never go west! I only beg you to give me one chance!"
Fei Bin kept his head low, crawling forward on his hands and knees in the most obsequious display imaginable.
But just as he was about ten feet from Chen Yuan, the True Qi in his body erupted. He shot up in a sudden burst of motion, thrusting a palm toward Chen Yuan!
"Die!"
Fei Bin’s head snapped up, his face twisted and ferocious, filled with murderous resolve.
He had never intended to surrender and beg for mercy.
’Qi Yuanming’s fate is a clear example. Even if I grovel and beg, Chen Yuan will definitely not spare me.’
Since that was the case, it was better to lull his enemy into a false sense of security and go all out!
Chen Yuan’s condition was not good. His left arm was crippled, and his Qi Blood seemed to be severely depleted.
’If I risk it all, I might just have a chance to win!’
With a flick of his hand, Chen Yuan summoned the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink. Qi Blood condensed upon the blade, dyeing it with a sanguine sheen.
A scarlet arc of light slashed down, easily tearing through the palm strike Fei Bin had unleashed by burning his Qi Blood for a final burst of True Qi Power.
Chen Yuan’s strike cleaved Fei Bin in two, spilling his flesh and entrails all over the ground.
"Commendable courage, but your strength was lacking."
Sheathing the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink, Chen Yuan staggered slightly.
After that single slash, his Qi Blood was now severely depleted—even more so than when he had pushed his Blood Fiend Power past its limit.
Walking over to Gongyang Li’s corpse, Chen Yuan searched it and pulled out the Supreme Mahasari.
’Gongyang Li was truly a remarkable figure.’
When an ordinary Martial Artist’s Primordial Pill was shattered, they would likely be crippled for life.
But Gongyang Li was different. He had actively lured a group of Martial Artists from the Vajra Prajna Temple to hunt him down, then set a trap to kill a group of Blood God Sect Martial Artists, using them to reforge his Primordial Pill. The depth of his schemes and the ruthlessness of his methods were plain to see.
In the original story, he had already recovered to the Primordial Pill Realm by the time he appeared in You Province. If Chen Yuan hadn’t been here this time, his plan would have likely succeeded as well.
Chen Yuan searched Gongyang Li’s body some more and found a small pouch.
His eyes lit up at the sight of it.
The pouch was only the size of a palm, made of an extremely strange material that was not quite cloth, not quite leather, and not quite metal, yet it was surprisingly heavy.
Gripping the pouch and infusing it with his True Qi, Chen Yuan could immediately sense that within the palm-sized bag were more than ten bottles of Elixirs, the Supreme Mahasari, some gold and silver, a change of clothes, and other miscellaneous items.
It was a Qiankun Bag. It contained a pocket dimension and could hold a large number of items. However, the materials to make them were exceedingly rare, and only the most elite Array Masters could refine them.
In the Jianghu, only the Noble Sects with legacies stretching back hundreds or even thousands of years possessed a few. It was incredibly difficult for an ordinary Martial Artist to obtain a Qiankun Bag.
This Qiankun Bag had the insignia of a Long Sword printed on the bottom. Gongyang Li had likely stolen it from a Martial Arts Grandmaster of the Lifting Heaven Sword Pavilion.
’This is a great find. It will be much more convenient to store things from now on.’
Chen Yuan emptied out some of the useless junk, tossing it into the Blood Pool. Then he placed his own belongings into the Qiankun Bag and secured it on his person.
Afterward, he dragged the bodies of Gongyang Li and the others over and threw them into the central Blood Pool.
The Blood Pool was the core of the Array. With so many bodies now inside, the Qi Blood within the pool began to boil even more violently.
For a Martial Artist practicing the Blood God Sect’s Cultivation Techniques, this pool of Qi Blood was the finest nourishment, more precious than even an Upper Grade Spirit Pill.
Unfortunately, Chen Yuan practiced the original version of the Blood Spirit Scripture, which didn’t require him to plunder the Qi Blood of others.
Chen Yuan retreated to a corner of the underground cavern. Gathering the last shred of True Qi in his body, he began striking the nodes of the Blood Pool’s Array one by one.
Arrays were far too profound for Chen Yuan to understand.
However, inside Gongyang Li’s Qiankun Bag, there was an Array Map. It depicted the very same Blood Pool Array before him, with all its nodes clearly marked.
With each node he shattered, the power of the Blood Pool began to surge violently.
By the time Chen Yuan shattered the final node, the power of the entire Blood Pool erupted with a BOOM. A pillar of Blood Qi shot straight into the sky!
The force of the explosion instantly shredded the corpses of Gongyang Li and the others into mincemeat, saving Chen Yuan the trouble of disposing of the evidence.
At the same time, the entire underground cavern began to collapse from the eruption of powerful Blood Qi. The spot where Chen Yuan stood was in a recessed space, far from the center, so he was only sealed in by falling rocks and was not caught in the blast.
Chen Yuan pressed several acupoints on his body, temporarily sealing his own aura. Then, he found a comfortable position, lay down, and feigned unconsciousness.
There was no need to fake anything else. His Qi Blood was already severely depleted, and he was indeed seriously injured.
Meanwhile, at the foot of Mountain Monarch Ridge, Du Tianfeng and the other White Tiger Guards were holding their position.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out. A powerful surge of Blood Qi shot into the sky, so immense that they could see it clearly from the base of the mountain.
Du Tianfeng’s expression changed instantly. "Spread out and follow me to investigate," he commanded. "If we don’t return within fifteen minutes, go to the Main Hall and call for reinforcements immediately!"
With that, Du Tianfeng gathered Wu Bingjian and his other trusted men, and they spread out to investigate the situation on Mountain Monarch Ridge.
The original cave entrance had completely collapsed, but the terrifying Blood Qi that had been inside seemed to have dissipated with the explosion.
The men quickly began to carefully move rocks and dig downwards.
But the deeper they dug, the more horrified they became.
The rubble was mixed with a large amount of blood and minced flesh. It was impossible to find a single complete piece, let alone identify whose remains they were.
When they reached the very bottom, Wu Bingjian suddenly shouted, "There’s an aura over here! Someone’s still alive!"
Everyone immediately started digging in Wu Bingjian’s direction. After heaving away the last rock, they finally saw Chen Yuan.
Du Tianfeng rushed over to check his condition and let out a sigh of relief.
"His True Qi is exhausted, and his Qi Blood is severely depleted. His left arm is torn open, and though the Meridians are damaged, he should be salvageable."
"You all keep digging. I’ll take Lord Chen back for treatment first."
Saying this, Du Tianfeng carried Chen Yuan on his back and returned to the Linzhong Prefecture Inspectorate’s Mansion.
Chen Yuan had sealed his acupoints, causing his aura to sink to an extremely low state, but he could actually still perceive the outside world.
After they arrived at the Inspectorate’s Mansion and Du Tianfeng fed him some medicinal pills, Chen Yuan slowly "woke up."
Seeing Chen Yuan awake, Du Tianfeng finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It’s good that you’re alright, Lord Chen. I was afraid you had all taken each other down."
Chen Yuan let out a long breath, a hint of lingering fear on his face. "Is Gongyang Li dead?"
Du Tianfeng smiled wryly. "Not only is Gongyang Li dead, but so are those Monks from the Vajra Prajna Temple. Qi Yuanming and Fei Bin didn’t make it out either."
"Lord Chen, what exactly happened down there? Why was there such a huge commotion?"
Chen Yuan sighed and began to recount the events underground.
However, Chen Yuan’s script was nine parts true and one part false. He omitted any mention of the Supreme Mahasari, claiming only that Gongyang Li had set a trap, intentionally letting the other Blood God Sect members die so he could kill Chen Yuan’s group, accumulate Qi Blood, and reforge his Primordial Pill.
As for the final battle, Chen Yuan simply wrote himself out of it, changing the story to say that everyone had worked together to destroy the Array, only for it to spiral out of control and explode.
He claimed he was blown into a recessed area first, which saved his life, while the others were unlucky enough to be at the center of the Array when it exploded and were blown to bits.
The scene was a complete wreck, and everything matched Chen Yuan’s description.
Du Tianfeng already held a favorable impression of Chen Yuan, so he naturally had no suspicions. He wrote down the events as told and reported them to Feng Wushang.
When Feng Wushang received the news, he wore a complicated expression as he read the battle report.
The good news was that this battle had eliminated over ten Blood God Sect heretics, including one of their Hall Masters.
The bad news was that they had also lost an Inspector, and even the Monks from the Vajra Prajna Temple had been wiped out.
To Feng Wushang, Qi Yuanming’s death was no great loss. The death of one Inspector was not a big deal, at least not to him.
But the Monks from the Vajra Prajna Temple had been completely annihilated while cooperating with the Zhenwu Hall. If that bunch of petty Monks used this as a pretext to cause trouble, it would be a huge headache.
All in all, the battle had its gains and losses. But the greatest credit undoubtedly belonged to Chen Yuan. After all, he was the only one who had survived to claim the reward.
Feng Wushang pondered for a moment, then simply copied Du Tianfeng’s report and transmitted it to the Main Hall via an Array.
As for how to answer to the Vajra Prajna Temple, he’d let the Grand Commandant and the Military Advisor figure it out. He wasn’t about to worry his head over it.