Removing the Disguise

"Oh? Interesting. You aren't running? Have you accepted your fate?"

"Kid, your family's talismans are really quite useful, hahaha."

The two men stopped in their tracks and laughed.

Yang Lingrui's expression froze for a moment before giving way to panic.

He looked at the female cultivator from Yellow Flower Valley and said urgently, "Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this? If you want talismans, you only need to sign a contract with me! I will return home immediately and ask my ancestor to refine them!"

The female cultivator's voice was cold and unhurried. "Do not panic, Fellow Daoist. It is only that we lost some things at the Dharma Assembly, and we wish to see if you might have accidentally picked them up."

"Yes, yes, yes. The three of us lost two good-grade Spiritual Treasures of the mid Qi Gathering realm, along with a mid Qi Gathering spiritual plant."

One of the men walked toward Yang Lingrui, his tone mocking. "Fellow Daoist, hand over your Storage Bag and let me take a look. If those three items are not inside, then we have mistaken you for someone else, and you may leave freely."

Hearing this, Yang Lingrui felt a flicker of surprise in his heart, but he forced a shocked expression onto his face.

"You... how did you know..."

"That is not for you to worry about, Fellow Daoist. Just cooperate obediently. It will save you the suffering of a fight."

This man's words brimmed with threat, but he was acting far too arrogant.

Even though he was at the same realm as Yang Lingrui, he boldly strolled right up to him.

Under normal circumstances, this person would never be so careless.

He only acted this way for two reasons: first, their side had the advantage in numbers, and Yang Lingrui was clearly intimidated; second, they had asked around about Yang Lingrui and knew he was a fourth-realm cultivator who had broken through by consuming pills.

How could a mere pill junkie compare to the cultivation he had painstakingly built over many years?

He was nothing but a worthless fourth-realm waste. The man did not take Yang Lingrui seriously at all.

One could only say that this was his fate.

When the wind cone rushed directly at his face, he did not even have a sliver of time to react before the technique pierced straight through his head.

The Black Sparrow Feather Fan could enhance the speed and power of wind techniques, and Yang Lingrui had simultaneously activated the Wind-Assisting Pearl held in his mouth.

Coupled with the man's absolute lack of defense, he was killed instantly in a single exchange.

In that split second, the expressions of the remaining two changed drastically.

Staring at the fallen corpse, an absurd sense of unreality welled up in their hearts.

"Do not just stand there! Strike quickly!"

The female cultivator from Yellow Flower Valley shouted urgently. Raising her hand, she summoned a cloud of yellow sand and smashed it toward Yang Lingrui.

The other man snapped out of his daze. Without a moment to grieve for his companion, he hurriedly slammed his hands onto the earth, channeling his power into the buried plant roots.

Puff! Puff!

Thick tree roots burst from the ground. Reinforced by the cultivator's spiritual power, they became as hard as iron, lashing violently at Yang Lingrui.

Yang Lingrui called upon a protective whirlwind to enshroud his body and slapped a good-grade Divine Movement Talisman onto himself, causing his speed to surge instantly.

He darted to the side, dodging the yellow sand attack from the Yellow Flower Valley female cultivator. However, the iron-like roots crashed down upon him in that very moment.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of metallic clashes rang out. Seeing his attacks yield almost no effect, the wood-technique cultivator cried out in alarm, "The other one is a protective Spiritual Treasure!"

The Black Iron Soft Armor truly lived up to its reputation as a good-grade Spiritual Treasure of the mid Qi Gathering realm; its defensive capabilities were outstanding.

Yang Lingrui essentially only needed to protect his head to easily withstand the man's assault.

"Do not panic! He is using two good-grade mid Qi Gathering Spiritual Treasures simultaneously. His drain must be enormous! Let me stall him for a moment and wear down his spiritual power!"

The Yellow Flower Valley female cultivator let out a low shout and quickly formed hand seals. The swirling yellow sand immediately transformed into fine, sharp needles that shot through the air.

But the moment she cast her technique, Yang Lingrui spun around and charged straight at the wood-technique cultivator.

He seemed to completely ignore the sky full of yellow sand needles, dead set on trading his life for the man's.

"Damn it!"

The wood-technique cultivator cried out in dismay. He possessed no Spiritual Treasure of his own. Seeing the roots he controlled being entirely sheared away by wind blades, he hastily dropped his technique and turned to flee.

However, at that exact moment, another talisman appeared between Yang Lingrui's fingertips. As he activated it, his speed erupted once more, actually leaving the Yellow Flower Valley female cultivator's technique trailing in the dust.

"That's-a premium-grade Divine Movement Talisman! He actually has such a treasure on him!"

The female cultivator's face filled with shock as she hurriedly manipulated her technique to give chase.

But she was ultimately a step too slow. Yang Lingrui had already caught up to the wood-technique cultivator. The Wind-Assisting Pearl flared once again, and four fiercely overbearing wind blades shot forth, cleaving the man's body into several pieces.

"Bastard! Die!"

Taking advantage of the moment Yang Lingrui spent killing the man, the Yellow Flower Valley female cultivator poured every last grain of her yellow sand needles down upon him.

Just as it seemed the myriad needles would pierce him through, the light of a technique bloomed once more!

A crystalline shield of spiritual power suddenly expanded outward, effortlessly blocking the torrential storm of needles.

"A good-grade Spirit Shield Talisman! How is that possible?! Isn't his family only capable of refining four types of talismans?!"

The female cultivator's heart was now thrown into absolute turmoil.

But the current situation afforded her no time to think. Yang Lingrui was already charging toward her, bringing those four wind blades with him.

Seizing the remaining duration of the premium-grade Divine Movement Talisman, Yang Lingrui closed the distance in a mere few breaths.

Their techniques danced wildly around them, instantly transforming the battlefield into a domain of howling winds and swirling yellow sand.

Supported by the Spirit Shield Talisman and the Black Iron Soft Armor, Yang Lingrui barely needed to focus on defense. He could simply pour everything into his relentless attacks.

But the female cultivator from Yellow Flower Valley was suffering bitterly. Her own strikes were entirely useless, and she was constantly suppressed and battered by Yang Lingrui's fierce gales.

After several intense exchanges, she groaned inwardly as a chilling realization dawned on her.

Everything this man had displayed earlier was nothing but a disguise!

His entire purpose was to feign weakness and lull others into dropping their guard!

Thinking deeper, she felt a profound wave of dread.

She realized that the most terrifying thing was not Yang Lingrui's acting, but the Yang family standing behind him!

Everyone had assumed he broke through by gorging on Pills and viewed the Yang family's participation in this assembly as a short-sighted blunder.

Yet right now, the strength Yang Lingrui displayed-both in his mastery of techniques and the depth of his cultivation-far surpassed ordinary cultivators of the same realm.

How was this a worthless pill-junkie at the fourth realm? This was clearly a heaven-defying genius!

For this Dharma Assembly, the Yang family must have been laying their plans a full year in advance just to achieve this exact result. Such calculating methods filled her with a freezing terror.

"No, this matter has failed. It is better to save myself!"

Bracing herself, she deflected all four of Yang Lingrui's wind blades in one breath, hoping to use the opening to retreat.

How could Yang Lingrui allow her to escape? He swept his feather fan, whipping up a violent gale to block her path. While dividing his focus, he commanded the four wind blades to regroup and slash at her once more.

The female cultivator fought as she retreated. Relying on her cultivation base-which was one realm higher-she managed to neutralize all of Yang Lingrui's strikes.

At that moment, she noticed the spiritual light of the Divine Movement Talisman on Yang Lingrui's body fading away. A surge of confidence returned to her.

Without that talisman, Yang Lingrui would lose his speed advantage, giving her a much greater chance of escape.

Whoosh-

In a momentary daze, she felt a gentle breeze brush past her ear.

The breeze was cool and soft. The tender touch against her skin was deeply comforting.

"No! This is no ordinary wind!"

Her mind violently snapped awake the very next instant. It was at this exact moment that Yang Lingrui activated the Wind-Assisting Pearl for the third time, unleashing the killing move he had been brewing all along.

A gentle breeze brushing the face can also kill!

The dozen or so gentle breezes that had already entwined themselves around her suddenly erupted. They transformed into microscopic wind blades that slashed straight into her flesh!

Pfft!

"Ahhh!!"

The female cultivator let out a miserable shriek. Her leaping figure plummeted from midair and crashed heavily into the earth.

At the critical juncture, she had desperately shielded her vital points, barely preserving her life, but her body had suffered grievous wounds.

The moment she landed, she tried to flip over and sit up, only for Yang Lingrui to plant his foot firmly on her chest, pinning her to the ground.

"Where did you get my information?" he asked, his voice chillingly cold.

"If I tell you, will you spare my life?"

"I will give you three breaths."

Yang Lingrui knew full well the principle that Villains die from talking too much; he had no intention of falling for her stalling tactics.

After two breaths, he raised his arm. The female cultivator hastily cried out, "Heavenly Secrets Pavilion! We bought it at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!"

"How many Spirit Crystals did it cost?"

"Two hundred!"

Pfft!

The wind blade fell. Expressionless, Yang Lingrui decapitated her.

He then searched the three bodies, retrieved three Fire Talismans, and burned their corpses to ash.

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2