The Golden Blade Skill covered everything, and Zhong Heng’s eyes glittered with light.

The sword tip tilted slightly, and the fireball exploded in an instant, engulfing both of them in flames.

The man, caught off guard, got his face scorched by the flames, but with the True Essence Shield, he was unharmed. Zhong Heng had no True Essence Shield, yet he remained silent, his clothes charred and his skin burned.

But the longsword, emanating golden light, pierced through the man’s True Essence Shield, accurately and viciously penetrating his heart.

"Die!" Zhong Heng gritted his teeth and spat out the word, holding the sword with both hands, the sword hilt twisted, thoroughly shattering his opponent’s heart.

"No! Brother!"

"You!"

Zhong Heng, reversing his hand, took off the opponent’s storage bag from his waist and prepared to flee.

"You won’t escape!" the man, seemingly the younger brother, roared in fury, already casting magic with two vines shooting from the ground, tying up Zhong Heng’s legs.

At the same time, his eyes turned blood-red as he took out a talisman.

"Sword Control Skill!" Zhong Heng shouted fiercely.

The flying sword transformed into a streak of flowing light and flew away.

The other man was startled, instinctively stopping the transmission of True Essence to the talisman, pouring it instead into the True Essence Shield.

However, the flying sword was halted, its power dissipating, blocked by the True Essence Shield, far from the continuous Sword Qi of the Sword Control Skill.

The next second, Zhong Heng drew his bow, his muscles bulging block by block.

In an instant, three arrows flew.

Qi Refining cultivators were known as Immortal Masters among the common folk, but the gap was not as vast as imagined.

Innate Martial Artists among the common folk could defeat most early to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators in close combat.

Even common folk’s weapons could kill them.

The three arrows were all infused with the power of the Golden Blade Skill.

If other cultivators skilled in the Golden Blade Skill were here, they would be greatly amazed, for ordinary tools become hard to maintain the Golden Blade Skill’s state once away from the body. Only Great Cultivators or cultivators with pinnacle understanding of the Golden Blade Skill could maintain the enhanced state of the Golden Blade Skill for some time after the tools left their person.

The three arrows carried immense power.

The first arrow broke the shield, the second pierced through the talisman, and the third viciously pinned towards the man’s forehead.

All this happened in a flash.

"Thud."

The man fell to the ground, a somewhat deformed arrow piercing through his head.

"Cough, cough..."

Zhong Heng spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

The Vine Skill became loose without its master.

Zhong Heng lay on the ground, then crawled to the opponent’s corpse... taking the storage bag and the talisman.

The special talisman material was pinned to the ground by the arrow.

"Phew..."

Zhong Heng opened the three storage bags, took out the healing elixir, and gulped it down regardless of whether they healed internal or external injuries.

Now Zhong Heng’s long hair was completely burned off, and his skin was jet-black.

"No, I can’t go back to the town..."

"I can only hide in the mountains for a while..."

After resting for a moment, Zhong Heng limped towards the mountains...

[You killed two Outer Disciples from Shallow Cloud Mountain who came to hunt you down, but you are seriously injured yourself, so you have no choice but to hide back in the mountains.]

[Once again, you find a hunter’s hut to heal, thankfully with sufficient food.]

[You check the storage bags, finding a total of eleven low-grade Spirit Stones, thirty-two broken Spirit Stone pieces, two standard Yangjin Stone Magical Longswords, one Wind Blade Talisman, one Water Prison Talisman, one Fire Dragon Talisman, several pills, and some silver taels.]

[You feel lucky that your opponent was careless, reluctant to use a talisman right off the bat; otherwise, there was no way you could have killed him.]

[Hunter’s huts have their own patterns and tricks for finding them; finding another isn’t difficult.]

[But this time, the owner arrived one night, a pair of hunter father and son, both visibly surprised to see you.]

[Being a hunter yourself, you convinced them you were one too with a few words, fabricating a story to explain your wounds.]

[They didn’t question much and even provided their own medicine, as hunters often help each other in dangerous environments.]

[They invited you to their village, where there’s a physician.]

[After some hesitation, you agreed, as the forest hut was becoming too conspicuous.]

[Following the hunter father and son, you arrive at a small village with a good atmosphere, and you’re quickly taken to the physician.]

[You’re surprised to find the physician quite skilled, unexpectedly able to treat you.]

[The physician sent everyone away, openly asking if you were an Immortal Master.]

[For an instant, you felt a murderous intent, fearing exposure, but it dissipated as quickly, as if he intended to reveal you, he wouldn’t have brought it up.]

[The physician didn’t sense your intent, continuing to speak...]

"This old one is not a cultivator, nor with a Spirit Root or Immortal Fate, but let me tell you, my medical skills were passed down from my grandfather..."

The old physician chuckled bitterly.

"Just the other day, like you, he was injured and came here."

"This old one is already eighty-three, yet my grandfather arrived looking as youthful as ever..."

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator! Foundation Establishment enjoys over 180 years, so this old one’s grandfather could only be Foundation Establishment.

Golden Core? Unlikely.

Zhong Heng was astonished.

"He left behind an inheritance in the mountains; if you want, you can try it. I don’t wish for his inheritance to go unclaimed..."

The old physician, after patching up Zhong Heng, tidied up his medicine kit, casually writing down a location for Zhong Heng.

Zhong Heng was taken aback, pondering somewhat.

"Isn’t this the place I passed by before..."

[You obtained a location of another inheritance, which you had missed before.]

[As you left, the old physician gave a deep, lingering look.]

[You stayed in the mountains for a month, mostly recovering, then attempted to seek the opportunity.] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

[If the inheritance contains enough materials, you can set up a Spirit Gathering Array somewhere with abundant Spiritual Qi in the mountains to cultivate, waiting for the storm to pass before traveling further to a market for cultivation.]

[You found the inheritance, not missing it this time.]

[You saw this time’s inheritance.]

Three items placed in the center of the secret room.

A jade pendant, an array disc, and a storage bag.

Zhong Heng, initially startled, became bewildered.

With a wave, an arrow, infused with True Essence Golden Blade Skill, shot into a spot on the ground.

He then approached the center of the room.

An apparition floated from nowhere, resembling an old man with white hair.

"Receive my inheritance, bear my karmic burden."

"This old one is Master Weidao, an Array Master from Thousand Mechanism Pavilion at Three Clouds Market."

Zhong Heng was shocked.

An Array Master!? His heart stirred—now he could obtain a systematic array inheritance.

"Are you willing to inherit?"

"Naturally willing." Zhong Heng’s face lit up with joy.

"Kekekeke!" the old man’s strange laughter suddenly echoed.

"If so, then this old one shall..."

The surrounding array patterns started to light up, accompanied by the ethereal sound of arrays activating.

"Soul-Stealing Rebirth Array! Activate!"

"This old soul has perished in this remote place, finally a newcomer in cultivation arrives."

"Your aptitude is lacking, but it’ll have to do!"

The ethereal array sound abruptly ceased.

The old man’s smile also froze.

He looked sharply at an arrow embedded on the ground.

The arrow, firmly jamming the Spiritual Qi Circuit, caused the array to extinguish and collapse.

Zhong Heng seemed not to hear the old man’s words, respectfully bowed to the apparition, took the three items, then after some thought, ignoring the wails of the old man, pulled the middle-grade Spirit Stone from the array core.

A middle-grade Spirit Stone was worth a hundred low-grade ones.

"Thank you, senior, for the inheritance. I shall head to Three Clouds Market to carry forward your mantle."

As the cave mansion’s door shut, only a dissipating wailing soul remained.