208: The power of a falling sun!

"Fellow Daoist, a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

Ignoring his dignity and reputation, Zhao Cheng hastily begged for mercy, completely losing his previous arrogant demeanor.

"Arrogant first, then subservient later—the thought of it makes me laugh."

Lu Ming sneered, coldness flashing in his eyes.

Since the sunfall longbow had been exposed, he could not let these two live!

Actually, Lu Ming hadn't planned on killing the two of them initially; he had intended to keep them as potential assets.

However, two Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators were not so easily captured alive. If they were in a remote location, he might have been able to slowly wear them down.

But the commotion here was too great, and it wasn't far from a Market. It was likely people had already been alerted and were moving toward the sound.

Therefore, he had to finish the fight quickly, wrap things up, and leave immediately.

Without another word, Lu Ming used his Divine Sense as an arm, drawing the bowstring.

The sunfall longbow was slowly drawn back. The surrounding light began to converge, condensing above the bowstring into an arrow composed purely of spiritual power.

The arrowhead was intensely white, like the blossoming of infinite light.

Bong—!

The bowstring twanged sharply. The sound was not loud, yet it seemed to toll the death knell of life.

The arrow left the string, transforming into a crimson rainbow that traversed the field of view! There was no great momentum, only an absolute will that pierced through everything.

Where it passed, space subtly warped.

The arrow light infinitely magnified in the terrified eyes of Zhao Cheng and Chen Yuan. The spiritual power shields they desperately maintained melted and disintegrated silently, like snow under sunlight.

Even the two defensive Spiritual Artifacts they had summoned offered no resistance, instantly shattering the moment they made contact with the crimson arrow.

The arrow light flashed and vanished, accurately piercing all their hopes and shattering all illusions and pleas for mercy.

Boom!!!!

Following a brief silence came the explosion of destruction.

Crimson light began to seep out of their bodies from the inside out, radiating through their eyes, ears, mouths, noses, and every pore on their bodies.

Immediately afterward, their Physical Bodies, Souls, and Spiritual Artifacts instantly vaporized into nothingness in this extreme, internal-to-external radiance!

Only a low roar, like flowing magma in the air, remained to prove they had ever existed.

The light gradually dissipated, and the sunfall longbow turned into flecks of golden light, disappearing from Lu Ming's hand.

He stood with his hands behind his back above the valley. His green robes fluttered in the hot wind, his expression calm, as if he had merely brushed away two specks of dust.

Despite his indifferent appearance, only he knew how much his heart was aching right now.

After finishing this fight, he didn't have a single hair left—everything had been annihilated into nothingness by that arrow!

This was actually his fault, as he had only recently completely refined the sunfall longbow, pouring a significant amount of effort into it—and incidentally, losing quite a few Fellow Daoists in the process.

All in all, the process was extremely difficult.

And seeing the target, he was eager to try it out, feeling unbearable itchiness if he didn't test it.

Although he could use the enemy's strengths to attack their weaknesses, his current cultivation level prevented him from completely controlling the sunfall longbow.

As a result, one slip-up led to all his efforts being wasted!

Forget cleaning up the battlefield; there wasn't even a single trace of aura left at the scene!

And the consequences didn't end there!

Lu Ming looked at a crack on his arm that was gradually healing, feeling lingering fear in his heart.

The spiritual power of the two men was drained too quickly. Before he could shift the new target, the side effects fell upon him.

Fortunately, his main body provided timely support, and his Clone also utilized a portion of its reserves to fire that arrow.

"No, the Magic Treasure is too overpowered. In the future, I must act within my means."

Lu Ming reflected on himself. He was currently unable to wield the Magic Treasure as easily as an extension of his arm, nor could he grasp the proper measure of its use.

Only by increasing his strength could he better control it!

And this was now his primary goal; improving his cultivation was imperative!

After all, if his prediction was correct, the next people who came would not be here for a minor skirmish.

His main body had already confirmed this speculation: a Foundation Establishment Perfection Cultivator from the Ji Family was on the list.

"It's time to Cultivate the Asura Dharma Body."

Ever since he obtained this third-tier Cultivation Technique, Lu Ming hadn't had time to study it.

Now, everything was ready, and his resources were sufficient, enough for him to Cultivate for a period of time.

After figuring this out, Lu Ming swept his sleeve. His spiritual boat grew against the wind. He leaped aboard and sped toward a chosen location.

"I won't return to Heavenly Star Immortal City. I'll just find a random place to Cultivate."

After all, the journey was too long. Since he could use his Clone as a relay station to allow his main body to Cultivate, there was no need to run all the way back just to deliver resources.

However, the Clone couldn't act recklessly outside. After all, using living people to Cultivate was too evil; it wouldn't be good if he were discovered.

Furthermore, the Market was crowded with people and lacked the quiet privacy of an Immortal City.

Although he could set up some Formations, he only knew a few, and they weren't entirely secure.

It was better to find a desolate mountain, hide and Cultivate, and only emerge after achieving a Breakthrough.

Half an hour later.

Guided by a map he had previously seized from his spoils, Lu Ming arrived inside the Ink Orchid Secluded Valley.

Outside the Ink Orchid Secluded Valley was a moderately sized Ink Orchid Market. It appeared relatively prosperous and lively, certainly much livelier than the former Green Bamboo Market.

This seclusion session, while seemingly only aiming from Foundation Establishment Layer Six to Foundation Establishment Layer Seven, involved a difficulty level far surpassing anything before, and would likely require a considerable amount of time.

However, he didn't want to be like his main body, acting like a monk and constantly undergoing death-like seclusion!

That was why he had specifically chosen the Ink Orchid Market. It was surrounded by mountains and close to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, offering strategic advantages for both offense and defense.

At the same time, if the few Foundation Establishment corpses weren't enough, he could capture some Yao Beasts for timely replenishment.

Moreover, after each session of Cultivating, he could go to the Market to relax. After all, cultivating immortality required a balance between work and rest.

"This will do!"

Deep inside the Ink Orchid Secluded Valley, Lu Ming found a cave on a cliff face. It was secluded and wouldn't be disturbed, and the cave was spacious and suitable for Cultivating.

He cast a Spell to clean the cave and then used an Earth Rock Spell to seal the entrance.

He then sat cross-legged on a piece of bluestone, took out several Cultivator corpses, connected with his mysterious link, and began to Cultivate in coordination with his main body.

— —

On the other side.

Jihuang City, Hall of Supreme Harmony!

After finishing his memorial scrolls, Emperor Ji paced toward the outside of the hall, preparing to go to the Imperial Spirit Beast Garden, where Spirit Beasts were specially raised within the palace.

Not only did it house many Yao Beasts with impressive Bloodlines and extraordinary potential, but it also contained some low-tier Yao Beasts that were useless but extremely ornamental.

This was considered Emperor Ji's other great hobby during his leisure time, besides his palace beauties.

His mood had been extremely foul during this period.

Ever since his third son died mysteriously, one troublesome matter followed another.

First and foremost was the Qingxuan Sect. These mad dogs were acting as if they had taken the wrong medicine, relentlessly hounding the Immortal Dynasty, insisting that they had assassinated Lu Chengfeng, the Sect Leader of Qingxuan Sect.

No matter how the Immortal Dynasty tried to explain, it was useless!

As time passed, the two sides not only failed to resolve their conflict and shake hands in peace, but the confrontation escalated instead.

After all, they were not to be trifled with. If they allowed others to ride roughshod over them without fighting back, they wouldn't be the tyrannical Immortal Dynasty anymore!