35: Chapter 35 The Chase

"The qijia wolf puppet from Dahuang City is finally in my hands. Four thousand six hundred Spirit Stones—it's all the fault of that damned Wang Shouren!"

The smile on Ning Xishan's face slowly grew cold, immediately replaced by a look of sinister malice.

Outside Wanbao Pavilion.

Wang Shouren had just stepped across the threshold when two figures suddenly dropped to their knees right in front of him with a thud.

They were precisely the fat Cultivator and the tall, thin fellow who had been instigating trouble at the entrance earlier.

The two of them had clearly been waiting outside for quite a while; beads of sweat streamed down their cheeks, but they didn't even dare to wipe them away.

The fat Cultivator held a gray Storage Pouch in both hands, lifting it high above his head as his voice trembled, "Young Master Wang! This humble one was blind and offended you earlier. I beg you to be magnanimous! This is just a small token of my sincerity—five hundred Spirit Stones, no expression of respect is complete without it. I beg Young Master to kindly accept them!"

The tall, thin fellow beside him was also holding an almost identical Storage Pouch, his head buried even lower than his knees, unable to speak smoothly.

"Young Master Wang, this... this humble one has a cheap mouth, this humble one deserves death! I beg Young Master to spare my life! There are also five hundred Spirit Stones here, all of them are inside. If Young Master won't accept them, this humble one won't be able to sleep a wink tonight!"

Wang Shouren looked down at the two men, remaining silent for a few breaths.

When they were making sarcastic remarks at the entrance earlier, they certainly hadn't worn this kind of expression.

As expected, in the Immortal Realm, besides looking at strength, people valued status and background even more.

He raised his hand to take the two Storage Pouches, swept his Divine Sense over them, and confirmed there were indeed exactly five hundred Spirit Stones.

"Control your mouths in the future."

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!"

As if granted a massive amnesty, the two crawled up from the ground, bowed, stepped backward several paces, and only then dared to turn around and leave in a hurry.

The tall, thin fellow was still wiping away sweat even after walking a long distance, and the fat Cultivator slapped himself across the face twice while walking, muttering, "Serves you right for having a cheap mouth, serves you right for having a cheap mouth."

Wang Shouren put the two Storage Pouches into his sleeves and shook his head slightly.

One thousand Spirit Stones—the harvest from this trip out was far more abundant than he had anticipated.

Just this windfall of one thousand Spirit Stones, plus the capital in his hands, was enough for most of the resources needed to Cultivate the Ten Directions Fierce Thunder Transformation next.

Wang Shouren stowed the two Storage Pouches into his sleeves, turned around to walk through the market streets, and headed in the direction of the Wang Family's fish shop.

Qian Zhong had already procured all the Cultivation resources on the list; although the categories were varied, not a single one was missing.

Wang Shouren paid the Spirit Stones in full, then tallied and categorized his several gains from this auction together.

The hanshui earth fiend was stored separately in a Spirit-Sealing Jade Box within the Storage Ring, while the few bottles of Medicinal Pills and spiritual materials were put together with the Cultivation resources inside a Storage Pouch.

After finishing all this, he instructed Qian Zhong on a few shop matters, without further delay, left Wanshan County, and set foot on the road back to Lotus Pier.

More than ten miles out of the city, the trees on both sides of the official road gradually grew denser.

Operating the Lightness Technique under his feet, Wang Shouren moved at a moderate speed, still calculating in his heart what resources he should exchange for upon returning to complete his recultivation.

Suddenly, his footsteps paused slightly.

Far behind him, a few bird calls sounded short and abruptly, then stopped just as abruptly.

The canopies of those few trees swayed gently, and then there was no further movement.

The composure on Wang Shouren's face slowly faded away. Without looking back, he abruptly accelerated his Lightness Technique by a few notches.

Traveling another three miles.

That feeling of being watched not only did not disappear, but instead grew even stronger.

Stroking his Storage Ring, he rounded a mountain bend. Taking advantage of the momentary obstruction of vision by the bend, the iron rhinoceros shield had already slid into his sleeve.

His right hand's five fingers spread slightly, and fine electric arcs leaped silently at his fingertips.

Traveling another mile, ahead lay a patch of low shrubs where the mountain path suddenly narrowed, flanked by mountains on both sides. He abruptly stopped and turned around.

"Come out."

Dozens of feet behind him, in the shadow of an old locust tree, two figures slowly walked out.

The person in front was thin and dry; it was precisely that old man by Ning Xishan's side.

He was still wearing that inconspicuous gray cloth robe, but the aura around his entire body was completely different from the one at the auction.

A chill of spiritual power fluctuations emanated from within his body.

The other figure was Ning Xishan.

His fair, clean face currently wore an undisguised, ferocious grin.

"Wang Shouren, weren't you quite mighty back at Wanbao Pavilion?"

Ning Xishan laughed shrilly, slowly pacing out from behind the rocks while toying with a spiritual short dagger in his hand, "Now that you're out of the city, let's see who can still back you up."

Elder Yin did not say a word, merely sticking out his withered tongue to lick his lips. A layer of eerie green light rippled within his triangular eyes, where the whites far outnumbered the pupils.

The gaze he fixed on Wang Shouren didn't look like he was looking at a person, but rather like he was looking at a piece of prey about to fall into his hands.

Wang Shouren's gaze lingered on Elder Yin for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.

"No wonder the Ning Family was auctioning the hanshui earth fiend; it turns out it was prepared for you."

"As the dignified Ning Family colluding with demonic Cultivators, does Family Head Ning know about this?"

Ning Xishan's expression changed abruptly, and he shouted sternly, "You're at death's door and still dare to be stubborn! Elder Yin, take him down! Don't kill him—I want to cut out his tongue with my own hands!"

Elder Yin let out an ominous chuckle, and without any visible movement, his figure drifted dozens of feet away like a ghost.

His right hand's five fingers formed a claw, and a layer of eerie, pale green light emerged at his fingertips, grabbing straight toward Wang Shouren's face.

Wang Shouren had been on guard long ago. Cyan light flashed beneath his feet, and as his figure drifted backward, he waved his left sleeve, causing the iron rhinoceros shield to expand in the wind and block in front of him.

The lightning radiance between the five fingers of his right hand suddenly surged greatly, and three purple electric arcs as thick as a child's arm shot out in a pin-wheel formation, aiming straight for Elder Yin's chest.

Elder Yin snorted coldly, neither dodging nor evading. He drew a half-arc in front of himself with his left hand, and a pale green spiritual power shield materialized out of thin air.

The lightning struck the shield's surface, bursting out with a harsh buzzing sound. Purple lightning and green radiance intertwined and tangled, ultimately dissipating together.

Elder Yin's figure merely paused slightly, his claw momentum unrelenting as his five fingers already rested on the edge of the iron rhinoceros shield.

A chill-to-the-bone spiritual power spread across the shield's surface, causing Wang Shouren's hand holding the shield to abruptly stiffen.

That spiritual power actually pierced directly through his flesh and skin, drilling straight toward the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, transforming into countless fine needles as thin as ox hair to pierce his Divine Soul.

His entire person stood blankly for a moment.

"Haha, it worked!"

Elder Yin's eyes were dim and murky; executing this strike seemed to have exhausted his mental energy, but instead of caring about the depletion, he burst out laughing aloud.

"Good!" Hearing this, Ning Xishan clapped his hands and laughed heartily, a trace of cruel glee flashing through his eyes.

"Elder Yin's Cultivation has advanced once again. Your Soul-Devouring Claw specializes in attacking the Divine Soul; even a Cultivator at the ninth layer of the Qi Refinement Stage would lose their wits on the spot upon taking a hit.

Wang Shouren, weren't you quite capable of talking just now? Why aren't you talking now?"

The corners of Elder Yin's mouth curled into a ferocious grin, "By sheer luck, this old servant didn't expect that the Young Lord of the Wang Family wouldn't even have a Magical Artifact to protect his Divine Soul. This is simply his fate."

Elder Yin had absolute confidence in his Soul-Devouring Claw; as long as a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator was hit by this move of his, they would definitely be at his mercy.

All of this happened in the flash of lightning and flint.

Just as Elder Yin's five fingers grabbed toward Wang Shouren's neck.

"Even the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Stage dares to act presumptuously in front of this old man. Your physical body is actually quite..."

His voice suddenly halted.

Because he discovered that deep within Wang Shouren's hollow eyes, something was moving.

A faint wisp of black Qi radiated outward from Wang Shouren's body at an extremely fast speed, and in that momentary daze, it had already covered the location where the two of them stood.