Chapter 13 - Soul of the Demonic Beast

“Neither of you seems to have such refined tastes, so I’ll just say it!” Seeing that Leng Yan and his companion were unmoved, Lv Ji said angrily, “I want a low-grade treasure tool!”

“So what? What does that have to do with us?” Leng Yan scoffed.

“Can’t you hear? She’s threatening us, trying to negotiate!” Chu Jianfeng said furiously.

“Look who thinks he’s smart! Ever heard of playing dumb?”

“Why didn’t you give me a heads-up then? I’m pretty good at that too!” Chu Jianfeng muttered, then turned to Lv Ji and said, “Exactly! What does that have to do with us?”

“Stop playing dumb and annoying me. It’s not going to end well for you!” Lv Ji snapped.

“Oh really? So, if it’s not to our benefit, what’s the downside?” Leng Yan stood up and spoke indifferently to Lv Ji.

“If I spread the word about the magical treasures you possess, you know the consequences,” Lv Ji said, her green pupils flickering coldly as she stared at Leng Yan.

“So what? You don’t think we’d be scared, do you? Sorry, but that doesn’t matter to us! However, since you’re here, let’s see if you can leave.” As Leng Yan spoke, his aura suddenly turned murderous. The azure light sword shone brilliantly, like an ascending azure dragon, thrusting at Lv Ji.

Lv Ji, caught off guard by Leng Yan’s sudden attack, hastily retreated. Her hands transformed into vines to block the onslaught of the azure light sword, “You dare attack, aren’t you afraid of being surrounded?”

“Hmph! If we can’t beat them, can’t we just slip away? You want to threaten me, let’s see how capable you are!” Leng Yan swung the azure light sword, its beams enveloping Lv Ji like a heavenly net.

Lv Ji, who had cultivated a human form over a thousand years, her true body enduring the elements for centuries, was now comparable to a low-grade spiritual weapon.

Her hands, transformed into dancing vines, deflected all of Leng Yan’s attacks.

“Since you refuse the toast only to drink the penalty, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

“Vines entangle!”

With Lv Ji’s furious shout, several vines burst forth from her body, swirling toward Leng Yan.

Seeing the situation, Leng Yan quickly retreated, his azure light sword slashing horizontally, severing a vine. However, at the cut, a new vine sprouted, continuing to twist and advance towards him.

“Damn it! Without magical techniques, it’s already this troublesome; imagine if I had them, I’d be even more formidable!” Leng Yan was in a frenzy, unsure of how to proceed. The vines, once cut, would immediately grow back, denser each time. If he wasn’t careful, Lv Ji would catch him off guard and bind him.

“Be careful!”

While Leng Yan was fully engaged in his battle with Lv Ji, Chu Jianfeng, who was nearby, suddenly noticed a vine with a sharp thorn slowly approaching Leng Yan, who was oblivious to the danger.

Without a second thought, Chu Jianfeng leapt up, his long spear slashing down powerfully.

“Ah!”

The spear sliced through the thorn-laden vine, eliciting a painful scream from Lv Ji, revealing that this was actually her true form.

The intense pain caused Lv Ji to retract all her attacks. Leng Yan stepped back, looking at the severed vine on the ground with green blood and the chilling, sharp thorn on it. “Thanks! You saved me this time!”

“Cut it out! If you died, I’d have to face her alone, and that wouldn’t be worth it,” Chu Jianfeng said with a laugh.

“Fuck! No time for a melodrama!”

“Enough talk! Take her down while she’s weak.” Chu Jianfeng didn’t finish his sentence before his spear was already striking again, and Leng Yan, not to be outdone, switched to his mystic ice sword and charged forward.

“Mystic Ice Slash!”

The cold air spread, covering the ground with frost. A mystic ice slash surged towards Lv Ji.

At this moment, Lv Ji’s face was ashen, one hand not yet regrown, green blood dripping onto the ground, somewhat nauseating.

Facing the onslaught from Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng, Lv Ji, with a look of alarm, quickly retreated. Seeing this, Leng Yan threw a golden yellow demon binding rope into the air, which seemed to have a mind of its own as it bound towards Lv Ji.

Seeing that she couldn’t dodge the mystic ice slash, Lv Ji spat out a green inner elixir.

The inner elixir flew in the air, seemingly forming a barrier. The mystic ice slash was blocked and exploded outside.

But in this brief moment of combat, Leng Yan’s demon binding rope had already bound Lv Ji’s true form.

Lv Ji was shocked, attempting to retrieve her inner elixir, but she discovered she had lost connection with it. Truly panicked now, she cried out, “How can this be? Why can’t I recall my own inner elixir? Why?”

Suddenly, a violent wind arose, and Leng Yan could barely keep his footing. Above the inner elixir, a massive soul of the demonic beast appeared, a dark mass with only two eyes emitting a bloodthirsty glow. “Inner elixir! Ha! That’s my favorite thing to eat! If there were more, I could even condense my own body.”

The soul of the demonic beast suddenly enveloped Lv Ji’s inner elixir.

“No! Don’t!” Lv Ji screamed in terror.

All of this happened in an instant. The soul of the demonic beast vanished before anyone could react. As it left, Lv Ji’s voice also faded away, and her body turned into a pile of dead wood.

The violent wind abruptly stopped! The battlefield of righteousness and evil returned to its usual silence, leaving Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng incredibly astonished! Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and only Lv Ji’s screams echoed in the air after the soul of the demonic beast dispersed.

“What was that? So powerful! The inner elixir of a demonic cultivator is the crystallization of a thousand years of spiritual practice, as hard as a spiritual weapon! Yet it was devoured in such a short time! Incredible!” Chu Jianfeng clenched his long spear, murmuring in disbelief as if talking to himself.

“No matter what it was, one thing is certain-we are no match for it, and this place is dangerous. We should not stay here long! I think we should leave now and report this to the Elder of our sect!” Leng Yan said gravely, staring at the demon binding rope tied around the dead wood, deep in thought.

“Yes! You’re right. Let’s leave this place, and if you need help later, use the conch for sound transmission!” Chu Jianfeng, having calmed down, nodded in agreement.

“Alright! Until next time then!” Leng Yan said with a smile.

Wrapped in light, Leng Yan and Chu Jianfeng both left the battlefield of righteousness and evil.

…

“You’re back!” As soon as Leng Yan returned to the outer attendant pavilion, he heard the Elder’s voice.

“Yes! Here is the mission jade slip for the Elder to review,” said Leng Yan as he handed the jade slip to the Elder.

You may choose to receive six low-grade spiritual weapons, but you also have the option to exchange them for three middle-grade spiritual weapons, or two high-grade spiritual weapons, or even one supreme-grade spiritual weapon! Which would you prefer?

Without a moment’s hesitation, Leng Yan chose the supreme-grade spiritual weapon. Having numerous magical treasures that serve no purpose is pointless. It’s better to opt for quality over quantity. “Please, Elder, exchange it for a supreme-grade spiritual weapon for me! Additionally, I have three supreme-grade spiritual weapons here. Is it possible for you to exchange them for a treasure tool?”

“I didn’t expect an outer disciple like you to be so well-off. No wonder so many are after what you have.”

Well then! Spiritual weapons and treasure tools are not of the same class. Four supreme-grade spiritual weapons can only be exchanged for one low-grade treasure tool, but here’s what we’ll do!

Include all the sect tokens you earned from this mission, and help me complete another mission, and I will exchange them for a middle-grade treasure tool for you! The Elder said this with a gentle smile on his face.

“Elder, I agree to your proposal.”

However, I have a piece of information to add. With this information, how about you exchange it for a high-grade treasure tool? Also, what did you mean by ‘so many people are after what I have’?

“Heh! You’re actually bargaining! But your information can only be used for one purpose: either as leverage to exchange for a high-grade treasure tool or as payment for asking me that question. What will you use it for?”

“Fine! Let’s pretend I never asked that question. I’ll go for the high-grade treasure tool instead.” Leng Yan didn’t expect the Elder to be so stingy, and he felt quite frustrated.

“Then let’s hear your information! Let’s see if it’s worth a high-grade treasure tool!” The Elder, having succeeded in his scheme, chuckled.

Leng Yan recounted his encounter with Lv Ji, of course, leaving out Chu Jianfeng.

After hearing Leng Yan’s information, the Elder’s expression remained unchanged, but he nodded and said, “Alright, I understand. Your information is quite useful. I agree to exchange it for a high-grade treasure tool! However, you must complete a mission for me first, and then I will make the exchange!”