Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yu had to steel himself several times before he finally mustered the strength to rip out the small cauldron. Several pieces of burnt flesh were still clinging to the metal.

A soft grunt escaped Wei Yuan’s throat. The wound on his back was basically an ashen pit where every inch of flesh was charred black. It was the only way he could have sealed the wound at the time.

Staring at the wound, Xiao Yu could not help but feel a stinging sensation in his eyes. If Wei Yuan hadn’t blocked the blow for him, he would have died or suffered a significant amount of damage to his Dao Foundation at the minimum. His path to immortality would have broken prematurely.

At the moment, waves of weakness were assaulting Wei Yuan’s senses. His body in particular was burning up like there was a fire in him. A rich lump of dark green aura was entrenched in the middle of his chest as well.

The attack had shattered a small part of his heart and every lung lobe on one side of his chest. His sternum and spine were severed right down the middle, and his insides were a complete mess. The dark green aura was also constantly corroding everything around it.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan’s physical body was exceptionally tough. Jia Wood Nurtures Life was filling him with Life Nurturing energy as well. The vitality currently contained inside his body was so concentrated that tiny fragments of his flesh were swimming here and there on their own, attaching themselves to suitable spots and becoming parts of new organs.

If the level of vitality did not change, and these fleshy fragments were ejected outside of his body, it was entirely possible that they could have grown into independent entities of sorts.

Although the lump of black green aura was extremely potent and insidious, it was being suppressed by both Qingming and Wei Yuan’s physical body. Slowly but surely, it was being broken down. He could have healed even faster if he focused more Life Nurturing energy into his body, but most of that energy was currently being used on a dozen or so grievously wounded cultivators. Their injuries were so severe that they would perish as soon as the Life Nurturing energy was removed.

“Stay strong,” Xiao Yu said while cutting away the blackened flesh around Wei Yuan’s wound with a mystic sword. Once done, he crushed an exclusive vulnerary of the Xiao Clan into powder and blew it over the wound.

The medicinal powder boasted miraculous effects. It regrew flesh at a visible rate as soon as it made contact with the wound. Not only that, the grains of the powder were growing on their own until it formed a milky white web that fully sealed the wound. Seeing that Wei Yuan’s aura was stable, and his vitality was slowly but surely increasing over time, Xiao Yu finally let out a sigh of relief.

The object that had penetrated Wei Yuan’s body was sitting on the table right now. It was a lizard’s tooth. Nigh-transparent, countless tiny green lizards could be seen swimming within the tooth.

The tooth was probably a part of the Great Warlock’s true body. He had refined it into a mystic treasure. At full power, not even three cauldrons, a set of heavy armor, and his physical body could block it. This “harmless” outcome was possible only because it was Wei Yuan as well. Had the tooth struck Xiao Yu instead, it would have shattered every organ in his body or even ripped his mystic body in two. It would also heavily damage his sea of consciousness and Dao Foundation.

Wei Yuan gave his limbs a stretch and confirmed that his injuries were under control. The lump of dark green aura inside his body was diminishing as well. So, he put on his clothes and rose to his feet, declaring, “I’m fine now. There are others who need treatment.”

Xiao Yu nodded and left the summit with Wei Yuan to rescue the grievously injured cultivators.

Fortunately, neither Xu Wan’er nor Yun Feifei had taken a serious injury during this battle. They were leading a small squad of cultivators and inspecting the battlefield. And exactly what inspecting the battlefield entailed? It meant killing the Shaman fighters who were still clinging to life.

The Shamans maintained an ancient and rigid hierarchical system. Every Shaman art, inheritance, and history was held exclusively in the hands of the Warlocks and nobility. Most ordinary Shaman fighters were illiterate and relied entirely on orders from on high to wage battle. Thus, there was no point in taking them as prisoners. They would not be able to provide any useful information. Moreover, most of them viewed death as a glorious end, believing that they would enter the divine kingdom of the Shaman God to enjoy eternal bliss. Naturally, very few were willing to surrender.

This was why most cultivators living in the western regions were accustomed to killing any severely injured Shaman fighter they encountered when sweeping the battlefield.

But of course, this rule did not apply to all Shamans. Shaman nobles and Warlocks were much more likely to surrender, and their tribes were willing to pay a hefty ransom to secure them as well.

The casualties were quickly tallied. Over sixty human cultivators had been killed in action, leaving only one hundred and twenty survivors.

The Shamans had lost nearly five thousand ordinary fighters including one thousand elite venom lizard riders. Twelve Dao Foundation stage nobles and Warlocks had been killed, and four had been captured. Most of them had died in Ji Liuli’s hand, though Yun Feifei and Xu Wan’er had also scored a kill each.

Wei Yuan was slightly surprised. With how mild-tempered and gentle Xu Wan’er acted, he didn’t think she would possess the tenacity and skill to slay such a powerful foe.

Of course, the greatest achievement of this battle was the slaying of a Great Warlock. Unlike the one he had slain earlier, this Great Warlock was neither adept in curses nor physically strong. However, he was extremely fast and boasted incredible offensive power.

In terms of physical body, Wei Yuan currently stood at the top of the pyramid. Not even Ji Liuli was a match for him. Despite this, he had failed to stop the lizard’s tooth from penetrating his body. Everyone else could only fare worse.

The Great Warlock was as tiny as he was swift. Wide-range Dao spells were almost useless against him, and single-target Dao spells had a hard time locking onto him either. Unfortunately for him, the Devil Suppressing Nine Level Pagoda was unrivaled in terms of power of suppression. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was crippled the moment he lost ninety percent of his speed.

Besides that, Bao Yu had used her energy to manipulate the Great Warlock into launching a frenzied attack against the Seven Wonders Exquisite Treasure Tree protecting Qingming, giving Zhang Sheng enough time to activate his sword array in full. Such was its power that he had nearly died on the spot.

Finally, the Great Warlock just happened to flee straight toward Wei Yuan’s position. Although the young man had just established his Dao Foundation recently, he was immune to the Great Warlock’s rank suppression. He was the reason the Sky Warlock aura protecting the Great Warlock’s head suddenly lost most of its effectiveness. Finally, the branch of the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree Wei Yuan used to stab the Great Warlock was a bonafide immortal object. It was an existence higher than even an ordinary Sky Warlock. Thanks to it, he was able to crush the Great Warlock’s Avatar in one blow.

To say that the Great Warlock was unfortunate would be an understatement. He could have escaped with his life if he was just a little luckier, or if he had used his life-saving method just a little sooner. Unfortunately, even his final decision was the wrong one. Had he chosen to escape toward the east, west, or north, it would have been a longer journey, but no one would have been able to stop him.

This was all thanks to Ji Liuli’s fengshui array. Bao Yun’s energy guidance had played a small part as well. One might say that the Great Warlock never figured out what had truly killed him until the end.

Some time later, Bao Yun and Ji Liuli returned from their pursuit. Knowing that the danger was over, Xu Wan’er and Yun Feifei gathered the men and left to sweep the battlefield.

Once more, the disciples of the Palace of Absolute Beginning gathered at the summit to review the battle. There was now a stone table inside the room, and on it lay a lizard that had been cut into three pieces.

Staring at the Great Warlock’s corpse, Xiao Yu suddenly let out a sigh and remarked, “I can’t believe how tenacious he was.”

In all of his previous trials, he had enjoyed the constant protection of his seniors and high cultivators. The strongest enemy he had ever faced was a late-stage Dao Foundation stage enemy, and not once had he traded blows with an Avatar head on. This was the first battle where he was truly made aware of the dangers of going up against a foreign race. Had Wei Yuan not blocked two fatal blows for him, it was likely that he wouldn’t be alive right now.

Zhang Sheng nodded in agreement. “Although this Great Warlock’s cultivation is okay at best, he is definitely one of the harder ones to kill. Lizards are known for their tenacity, and there is no greater proof than this one. I can hardly believe he took all four of my swords and survived.”

Ji Liuli disagreed, “Your fourth sword is only halfway to completion. If it was complete, you could have ended it on the spot.”

Zhang Sheng still shook his head. “He was too fast for me, and I lacked the methods to suppress him. One on one, unless he has a death wish, there is no way I could have prevented him from running away.”

Wei Yuan instinctively knew that he had to end the conversation here. Barring natural Dao Foundations such as the Devil Suppressing Nine Level Pagoda, the only other ways to suppress an Avatar like this were mystic treasures or array discs. All of these cost a heaven[1]. His shifu could not be feeling too well right now considering that he had faltered on the last step. To talk about money now was to add fuel to fire.

Wei Yuan changed the subject, “He was very paranoid as well. I doubt he would have made an appearance if I hadn’t taken a deadly blow from him.”

Ji Liuli cast him a glance and said, “Little Wei Yuan’s fortune really is quite useful. He was probably the extremely cautious type, yet your fortune still caught him hook, line and sinker. Do you have more?”

Wei Yuan hesitated for a second before replying, “No. But there could be more if the Great Warlock’s primordial spirit was intact.”

The Devil Suppressing Nine Level Pagoda had absorbed the Great Warlock’s primordial spirit as soon as his Avatar shattered. As much as Wei Yuan wanted it, he knew better than to snatch his Big Senior Sister’s loot. Besides, he had a feeling that the shadow in the moon wasn’t very interested in the primordial spirit. That was why he hadn’t insisted. The only reason he was bringing it up now was because Ji Liuli was asking about it. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Ji Liuli replied, “It is strange that his primordial spirit was incredibly tattered and of poor quality. He might have suffered some severe damage in the past. Still, it’s the primordial spirit of a Great Warlock and a high level existence. I have great use for it. The founder recently showed much interest in fortune-fishing, and he’s currently studying the relevant methods. When I get back, I’m planning to ask for his help and check if it’s possible to refine it into a fortune-fishing treasure. Assuming that everything goes well, we’re gonna use it to fish a bunch of Great Warlocks!”

Wei Yuan had no objections. This was a highly profitable venture, and he had already experienced the benefits of fortune-fishing many times at this point. Naturally, he was looking forward to it.

On a related note, the array disc bestowed upon him by the Immortal Lord had run out of Dao energy after fishing out the Seven Star Body of Reincarnation. Although Wei Yuan could replenish its energy, it would only be a Dao Foundation stage array disc. At this level, it wasn’t even good enough to fish out a small fry.

The Great Warlock lizard did not possess a single mystic artifact on him. By human standards, he was flat broke and as poor as he could be.

But by Shaman standards, things were much different. He had refined every tooth in his mouth. Every single one was a natural mystic artifact of above average quality. Even better, this lizard had a lot of teeth. If they were to remove all of them, they would have between seventy and eighty teeth in total.

The strongest tooth of them all was the one that had penetrated Wei Yuan’s body. It had grown to the point where it had gained spirituality. Unfortunately, it could only be controlled via Shaman energy, meaning that they would need to refine it into a high level material some time later. Its grade would decline, but it was better than not being able to use it at all.

The meeting ended after the review was over.

As if on cue, everyone sensed a change in their surroundings.

Indistinct bluish qi appeared in the sky and rained bluish droplets on Zhang Sheng, Ji Liuli, and Bao Yun. A formless sword appeared above Zhang Sheng’s head, and its half-transparent blade grew a tad more solid. It was now seventy percent complete.

The patterns on Ji Liuli’s Devil Suppressing Nine Level Pagoda had become more vivid. A couple more ropes had grown out from underneath the eaves as well. However, they were empty for now.

Suddenly, the pagoda trembled while golden light shone out from inside. It looked like something was about to be born. However, Ji Liuli barked out a cry and suppressed the phenomenon.

Bao Yun’s Seven Wonders Exquisite Treasure Tree also grew a couple inches and a few leaves.

It was the reward of the world.

All three cultivators looked surprised. It was because the worldly reward seemed much different from what was recorded in the texts. Specifically, it was at least three times the standard amount!

Out of the three of them, Zhang Sheng received half of the full reward. This was natural. After all, assuming that the Great Warlock had ten lives, then Zhang Sheng had taken out nine of them singlehandedly.

As for the rest, thirty percent went to Ji Liuli, and twenty percent went to Bao Yun.

The trio were only receiving half of the total worldly origin qi that was bestowed, however. The other half had landed on the main chamber and dissolved into the domain.

Wei Yuan felt a hint of exasperation as Qingming’s progress improved yet again. Once more, the realm stone had intercepted his reward. It wasn’t like he wasn’t receiving any benefit at all, but it was definitely lesser than if he had accepted the worldly reward directly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu was looking at his sect fellows enviously. Although he had played a role in the killing of the Great Warlock, the world did not consider bait as worthy of receiving a reward.

The swordsman was surprised to find that Wei Yuan hadn’t received a worldly reward, however. Instinctively, he thought: Is he finally receiving his comeuppance?

Xiao Yu pushed down the thought in a hurry. Wei Yuan had just saved his life. Such ungrateful thoughts were unbecoming of him. He should give it at least a few more days.

1. Normally I would translate this as “cost a fortune”, but because fortune is special in this story, I am going out of my way to avoid it. The literal translation sounds funnier anyway! ☜