Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 192

Chapter 192: Black-cloaked Man

Shortly after Fang Chen entered the palace, his attention was drawn to a nearby jade pedestal. Placed neatly on the pedestal was a huge stack of low-grade ki stones.

25 rows of 8; one stack already contains 200 low-grade ki stones, and there are five stacks here… Enlightenment Heaven Supreme must have been quite wealthy. He’s no longer here, but he left so many ki stones behind… Fang Chen quickly did some mental math.

There was also a jade container and a bundle of silvery things placed on the jade pedestal. Those two items were lifted up by some mysterious force and were slowly revolving in mid-air.

“Senior, there’s a thousand low-grade ki stones here and a sword embryo! I reckon there’s a treasure inside that jade container too!” Chaoxianggong Nisheng exclaimed in delight.

In contrast, Li Xiuming was much calmer. He first scanned his surroundings before closing his eyes to sense the vicinity. Only after confirming there was no danger did he take a step toward the jade pedestal.

With a simple swipe of his hand, the thousand low-grade ki stones vanished.

He was wearing a storage ring on his fourth finger.

Following that, Li Xiuming opened the jade container. Placed within was a blood-red ginseng.

“Junior, this is a 100-year-old Blood Ginseng. Its potency is at least two times that of a 100-year-old Scarlet Fruit,” Li Xiuming said merrily.

“We didn’t come in vain. With these, we should be able to quickly advance our cultivation to twelfth stage Ki Refinement!” Chaoxianggong Nisheng was overjoyed.

Did Enlightenment Heaven Supreme really not leave any means here? Fang Chen wondered. Did I judge him wrongly?

Pu!

Chaoxianggong Nisheng suddenly staggered toward Fang Chen. She grabbed Fang Chen’s shoulder while glaring at Li Xiuming with disbelief in her eyes.

This sudden twist in the situation shook Fang Chen out of his thoughts. He saw a puncture in Chaoxianggong Nisheng’s chest, and fresh blood was oozing out from the front and the back. Something had pierced through her.

Cultivators were indeed resilient, but that was only relative to mortals. It was a different story if the aggressor was another cultivator.

Chaoxianggong Nisheng’s life force quickly seeped away after receiving such a severe injury. If she was not swiftly treated with a spirit medicine, she would soon die with regrets.

“Why?” Chaoxianggong Nisheng asked with great difficulty.

Li Xiuming stowed away the Blood Ginseng and tidied his robe. “Senior Sister Chen has agreed to become my cultivation companion. Your existence hinders me.”

“S-Senior Sister Chen?! Was she the one who ordered you to kill me?” Chaoxianggong Nisheng glared at Li Xiuming with vicious eyes.

“She only told me to part ways with you. It’s just that everyone in Everchange Mountain knows that we’re a loving couple, so how will others view me if they know that I dumped you?

“I will need a Foundation Establishment Pill to advance to Foundation Establishment, and you know how rare Foundation Establishment Pills are. I’ll never be able to obtain one unless I get together with Senior Sister Chen, who has the backing of a Golden Core cultivator.”

Li Xiuming chuckled softly. “I was thinking of finding a good place to end you. This works too. Three 100-year-old Scarlet Fruits, a 100-year-old Blood Ginseng, 1000 low-grade ki stones, and a sword embryo. With these, I can easily reach twelfth stage Ki Refinement without relying on Senior Sister Chen.”

“Why do you still want to kill me then?! You can just tell me, and I can give all of them to you!” Chaoxianggong Nisheng screamed in desolation.

“I am telling you now, aren’t I? Besides, these items are nothing compared to a Foundation Establishment Pill.

“Our Everchange Mountain only produces five Foundation Establishment cultivators every hundred years. Do you think it’s because the others are untalented? Not at all. It’s because of how difficult it is to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. There are at least dozens whose means are superior to mine. If I don’t resort to this, I doubt that I’ll ever advance to Foundation Establishment in my lifetime,” Li Xiuming calmly replied.

Are Foundation Establishment Pills that valuable? Elder Cloudcrane told me to advance to Foundation Establishment first before reporting to the Three Thousand Dao Gates. I guess this is one of his trials too, Fang Chen thought.

“Sorry to interrupt. You have already taken all of the treasures, and I’ll treat it as if I didn’t see anything here. Can I leave now?” Fang Chen asked,

Li Xiuming’s eyes fell on Fang Chen. The edges of his lips curled into a sinister smile as he said, “Why should I let you leave this place alive?”

A flying sword whizzed forth from Li Xiuming’s sleeves. Its target? Fang Chen!

At this critical moment, a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the flying sword. The flying sword furiously whirred in place for a few seconds before slowly calming down.

Li Xiuming’s eyes widened in shock.

A black-cloaked figure had appeared in the palace. It was as if his wrinkly hand was made out of some unbreakable metal, as it held onto the flying sword without sustaining any injury.

Li Xiuming was a tenth stage Ki Refinement cultivator. It would take a Foundation Establishment cultivator to stop his flying sword in such a manner!

“Elder, who are you?” Li Xiuming clasped his fist and asked politely.

“Hehe…” The black-cloaked man laughed. “You entered my abode, yet you ask who I am?”

The other three people in the palace widened their eyes in shock.

He’s Enlightenment Heaven Supreme? Fang Chen suppressed his shock as he quietly assessed the black-cloaked man. Unfortunately, the latter was so thoroughly concealed that it was hard to even make out his silhouette.

“Ah, I didn’t know you were the owner of this place. Please pardon my disrespect,” Li Xiuming quickly said.

“Since you know it’s disrespectful, shouldn’t you put my items back in place?” the black-cloaked man asked with a smile.

Li Xiuming was startled. No matter how reluctant he was, he had no choice but to return everything he had taken, be it the ki stone, the Blood Ginseng, or the sword embryo.

“The three Scarlet Fruits too,” the black-cloaked man said.

He has been keeping an eye on us! Li Xiuming was horrified. He revealed an awkward smile as he took out the three Scarlet Fruits and carefully placed them on the jade pedestal too.

Only then did the black-cloaked man nod.

“Elder, may I take my leave now?” Li Xiuming asked.

“It’s been a while since this body of mine replenished its essence. At this rate, I’ll only last for around two to three years more before drying out. Since you’re already here, why don’t you be a kind soul and lend me a helping hand?” The black-cloaked man laughed eerily.

The black-cloaked man raised his hand, and Li Xiuming found himself flying helplessly straight into his clutches. The black-cloaked man then began absorbing his blood essence.

“Elder, you!” Li Xiuming panicked. He would have never thought that the person before him was a malevolent cultivator who thrived off siphoning other’s blood essence!

“Hehehe…” Chaoxianggong Nisheng sneered in derision. “Senior, I thought that you had it all calculated out. Did you foresee such an ending too? I fear Senior Sister Chen will have to look for another cultivation companion at this rate.”

Li Xiuming was infuriated and frightened to hear those words. All kinds of emotions welled in his heart. With a furious roar, he frenziedly channeled all of his spirit ki in hopes of struggling free of the black-cloaked man’s grasp.

“I can’t die here! I will advance to Foundation Establishment and even Golden Core in the near future! How can I possibly die at a place like this?!” he roared gutturally.

Seconds later, his body fell limp. He was unable to break free of the black-cloaked man’s grasp no matter what he did.