Chapter 208: Who is the Final Winner

"Silence."

At a moment like this, such a word sounded like a joke.

But when Lin Changgui, the target of the command, angrily opened his mouth, he was shocked to discover that his voice had truly vanished.

He had been struck completely mute.

How was this possible?! A silent cultivator's technique?!

Astonished, he stared at Yan Jing before his gaze darted elsewhere.

He refused to believe that Yan Jing possessed two Pathways, nor could he accept that a low-tier cultivator could pull off something like this. Someone had to be hiding in the shadows.

Seizing this brief window, three figures stepped out of the unfurled scrolls in Yan Jing's hands.

The first wore her hair in two round buns tied with ribbons. She had delicate features, bright, expressive eyes, and a fair oval face with a hint of baby fat.

It was Fei Yu.

The second wore a long-sleeved tunic, sported a goatee, and held a Smoking Pipe in his hand. He was completely identical to Old Master Liu standing nearby.

It was the Old Man.

The final figure was clad in a pitch-black robe. Beneath the fabric, a faint light flickered, as though a single eye was hidden there.

It was none other than Yi Ji.

"Xiao Yu! Take care of all this rice!"

Yan Jing smiled and pointed his index finger.

The painted Fei Yu immediately began wreaking havoc. In her cloth shoes, her feet blurred as she sprinted around, snapping off or stomping out the eerie stalks of rice trapping the two of them.

Unexpectedly, this bizarre rice actually affected the Painting Spirit. Before long, Fei Yu's face was streaked with tears. She wept uncontrollably, her ink and colors bleeding onto the ground.

"Oh?"

Yan Jing blinked.

That was a novelty. He had never seen Fei Yu cry before.

He waved his hand again.

"Master Liu! Help her out!"

Soon enough, the painted Old Man also burst into tears, his goatee twitching with every sob.

While the two Painting Spirits destroyed the crops, the Power of the White Stone surged in Yan Jing's hands. Black-and-white birds fluttered from his sleeves, swarming toward Lin Changgui once more.

Lin Changgui's expression darkened. He had never expected a mere Second Tier brat to act so brazenly in front of him.

Even injured, he was still a Fourth Tier!

Normally, a single swing of his hoe would massacre a whole crowd of punks like this.

Facing the incoming flock, he swung his hoe. With a single strike, a massive swath of the birds dissipated.

At the same time, yellow earthen energy billowed from beneath his feet and flowed into his body.

A Fourth Tier agricultural cultivator ability: Earth Qi!

Rumble—

The ground quaked violently beneath them, and a deafening roar swept across the entire area.

Just then, Yan Jing's voice reached Lin Changgui's ears again.

"Too noisy!!!"

Before he could react, a towering, pitch-black figure erupted from the earth right in front of him. Like a colossal deity, it threw a massive punch straight at him.

!!!

Startled by the sudden apparition, Lin Changgui hoisted his hoe to block, instinctively squeezing his eyes shut.

But the earth-shattering collision he expected never arrived. There was an impact, yes, but it absolutely did not exceed the Third Tier.

Only then did he realize it was just another illusion!

Why did this damn brat have so many bizarre techniques?!

He hastily opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the Old Man's clenched fist rapidly expanding in his vision!

Bang!

Earthen yellow light flared around his body, absorbing the vast majority of the damage, but the sheer force still sent him flying backward.

Then, that strange wave of dizziness struck again. The world spun wildly as he slammed heavily into the dirt.

A second later, the fully mutated Old Man blinked into the air directly above him, clasping both hands together for a vicious downward smash.

Pfft—

This strike finally forced Lin Changgui to cough up a mouthful of blood.

It was then that he realized the Old Master Liu standing before him was no ordinary body cultivator!

The already severe internal injuries he was harboring nearly flared out of control.

A Fourth Tier agricultural cultivator possessed one more ability, but he had completely burned himself out during his battle with Wei Nantian a few days ago. He simply couldn't use it now.

In other words, at this moment, he was only half a Fourth Tier.

In the next instant, he swung his hoe upward, knocking the Old Man away.

With a quick roll, he scrambled to his feet and glared fiercely at Yan Jing and the Old Man.

Even half a Fourth Tier was still a Fourth Tier!

Today, they had truly pushed him past his bottom line!

He smashed his hoe heavily into the earth. All around the courtyard, bizarre, eerie crops sprouted and grew like mad!

Aside from the explosive watermelons Yan Jing had seen last time, there were also stalks of corn covered in eyeballs and cabbage leaves that looked like burial shrouds...

At this moment, Lin Changgui finally revealed his true form.

Deeply sunken eye sockets, skeletal hands, and deathly gray skin. Bearing a massive knapsack on his back and wearing a bamboo hat and rain cape, he looked exactly like an old farmer who had died of exhaustion in the fields, his sparse hair blowing freely in the wind.

"You deserve to die!!!"

He had wanted to scream that, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out. This only enraged him further as he sprayed out seeds for countless crops.

Just then, a wave of black mist swept out, blanketing the surrounding area.

Thick black fog poured from the painted Yi Ji. Winged tentacles tore out from beneath its skin as numerous intertwined black and white threads surged toward him. Thin, pitch-black Thorns also instantly bloomed into clusters of white flowers, tangling violently with the horrific crops.

How dare you!

Lin Changgui flew into a rage!

A mere Painting Spirit dared to try and ruin his crops!

But the next instant, as his hoe met those threads, he realized something was wrong.

The power behind those threads and the falling white flowers absolutely did not belong to the Second Tier.

That thing in front of him... didn't seem to be a Painting Spirit at all!

Little did he know, hidden within the black mist, Yan Jing had also unleashed his true stance.

[Fear Stance] + [Power of the White Stone] + [Fear Bird Form] + [Power of Silent Valley]!!

Aside from the second stage of his Fear Stance, Luo Sheng's body, concealed by the painted Yi Ji, was currently displaying its absolute peak strength.

Even as a Second Tier, Luo Sheng's use of the Fear Stance and the Power of the White Stone had already pushed him far beyond his level, allowing him to fight the Pseudo Third Tier Mei Changfeng to a standstill. In his Fear Bird Form, he directly reached the standard of the Third Tier. And now, with the Power of Silent Valley stacked on top, his combat strength instantly surged to approach the Fourth Tier!

Naturally, a large portion of the threads and Thorns summoned by "Yi Ji" were actually his own.

That was why Lin Changgui had the illusion that he wasn't facing a Painting Spirit.

The brand-new Freeze Frame Moment, activated!!!

The vertigo brought on by dimensional reduction assaulted Lin Changgui once again.

But this time, it wasn't just for a fleeting instant—it lasted for a full half-second.

There was so much that could be done in half a second.

Tears of blood streamed from Old Master Liu's eyes. His entire body had completely mutated, shredding his upper garments to reveal muscles bulging in their absolute most perfect state.

Third Tier Ability: Perfect Body.

The Old Man darted through the bizarre plants and arrived directly in front of the dazed Lin Changgui.

His fists lashed out like a torrential storm!!!

Empowered by the tears of blood, those fists displayed truly terrifying divine might.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Beneath the blinding flurry of punches, the earthen yellow light surrounding Lin Changgui flickered madly.

Immediately after, black-and-white threads converged on him from all directions.

Death-Sewing Garment!!!

In the next instant, Thorns sprouted from beneath his feet as a blizzard of white flowers drifted down from above.

Following that, the Painting Spirits of Fei Yu and the Old Man charged forward, actually displaying combat power no weaker than the Third Tier!

Hum—

Under the combined assault of these diverse forces, Lin Changgui's earthen yellow light trembled violently, and tiny fractures began to spiderweb across its surface!

"Ah!!!" He wanted to scream but couldn't. All he could do was bitterly hold his ground, praying that his crops would thoroughly slaughter Yan Jing and the Old Man.

Boom—

The massive watermelon finally ripened and detonated. The black mist and the Fear Bird tentacles surrounding Yan Jing flickered wildly as he barely managed to stabilize himself, a trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Seeing more and more crops on the verge of ripening, his Paintbrush materialized in his hand. From afar, he drew a circle aiming at Lin Changgui! At the same time, the tentacles on his body mirrored the motion, tracing a circle toward the landlord!

White Tracing!

Countless black and white circles manifested, acting as the final straw that broke the camel's back.

An expression of sheer agony warped Lin Changgui's face as the earthen yellow light completely shattered!

His body was violently launched backward.

The bamboo hat on his head trembled wildly!

And it was at this moment that Yan Jing showcased the true terror of a painting cultivator in a war of attrition.

The Paintbrush in his hand trembled madly in the air, while the tentacles on his skin writhed like a cluster of quill pens, shivering in unison!

Copy after copy of Fei Yu, the Old Man, and Yi Ji stepped out from the void to join the fray!!!

In the blink of an eye, it became an overwhelming sea of figures!

Swirling windstorms, flurries of punches, Thorns, threads... a myriad of terrifying phenomena packed the courtyard. Even the sky seemed to dim from the sheer scale of the battle.

Standing amidst the black fog, Yan Jing alone was an entire army.

The weird energy within his body poured out recklessly, as if he didn't care about his own life!

Just as it was about to bottom out, he swallowed another stored Fear Fruit and resumed painting.

By the end, his eyes were glazed over, his lips muttering endlessly.

He had completely succumbed to madness!

Lin Changgui opened his eyes to see endless swaths of enemies, a sky-darkening barrage of punches, overwhelming and unstoppable swirling windstorms, an inescapable net of threads, and a dense forest of Thorns...

Freeze Frame Moment! Fear Memories! Memory Severance!

Dozens of hands pointed at him from afar!

Even though these figures would deplete their weird energy after using their abilities and dissolve into ink, an endless stream of new "Yi Jis" continuously walked out to replace them.

If the original Yan Jing's weird energy had been a large lake draining through a single stream, then right now, he was multiple small lakes, each pumping out energy through its own stream!

This was the true combat style of a painting cultivator!

A wave of intense vertigo forced Lin Changgui to squeeze his eyes shut.

But remembering the encroaching fists, he forced them open again.

Yet, when he saw his surroundings, he froze.

He had opened his eyes, but it felt as if he hadn't.

He saw his father, who had starved to death.

His mother, who had starved to death.

He saw himself back when he was cultivating in the Crop Plains. He had stolen the next year's seeds to sell and was being punished by his master. His master wanted to cripple his cultivation. He knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, but his master had refused...

After pleading endlessly to delay the punishment until the next day, he had used the cover of night to hack his master to death with a hoe. He had hidden and scurried around Bianliu County for forty years, enduring until he finally reached the Fourth Tier and no longer had to hide like a rat...

He remembered all of his master's teachings.

They were all fucking bullshit!

His master was just an old fool!

So much of what he said was wrong!

Otherwise, why had he reached the Fourth Tier, while his master had died as a mere First Tier?

But... why did his master look alive again...

Why... why were there so many of him...

Die! Die, you old bastard!

He hefted his hoe and swung it madly in every direction.

He tried to roar, only to find he couldn't make a sound.

Why... why...

Meanwhile, in reality, during the two or three seconds he was trapped in the illusion, he had suffered countless heavy blows.

Without his second Fourth Tier ability, Wild Growth, and without the protection of Earth Qi, there was little difference left between the Fourth Tier and the Third Tier. His long-suppressed injuries now erupted entirely!!!

Agonizing pain jolted Lin Changgui awake from his terror.

He opened his eyes, looked at the sea of flickering figures surrounding him, and felt the complete exhaustion of his life force. Then, he did something no one could have anticipated.

He crawled up from the ground and dropped to his knees, trembling violently.

"I... I-I-I... I'm on your side... I don't want a cut of anything anymore... I... just let me keep my life..."

He slammed his head heavily against the ground, and the surrounding crops withered away.

He had lived for many years, and he wanted to keep living. He didn't want to die.

"Do it!"

Yan Jing's voice echoed from the black mist, and the Old Man immediately raised his fist.

"No, no, no, no... I'm really on your side..."

Terrified, Lin Changgui sprang up from the ground. His wrinkled face twitched involuntarily with fear. Moving shockingly fast, he sprinted toward Boss Bai, his hoe materializing in his hands once more.

"Look... I'll fight him... I, I-I... I'll fight him..."

He raised his hoe and swung it at Bai Qiu.

"I'll fight him, I'll fight—"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, accompanied by billowing smoke.

Lin Changgui's eyes widened. His remaining eyeball shifted in disbelief to the right, as if trying to look at what had happened to the left side of his head.

But naturally, the right eye couldn't see the left side—and besides, there was no left side of his head anymore.

"I'm dead..."

He muttered, but before he could finish the sentence, he tipped backward, hit the dirt, and breathed his last.

"Fuck." Bai Qiu put his gun away, uttering a rare curse.

"The old fool really lost his mind. It's about time he died!"

At this moment, he was in an unprecedentedly wretched state. His white suit was crumpled and stained with dirt and blood. As a wealth cultivator, he rarely fought personally, so he hadn't gained the upper hand against Liu Ye.

His face was even bruised and swollen.

This Liu Ye was a dharma cultivator.

Getting battered and bruised was a given when fighting a dharma cultivator.

Lin Changgui was gone, but... that didn't mean he was conceding defeat just yet.

From his pocket, he pulled out a white pendant that looked like it was carved from bone.

Seeing this item, Liu Ye's eyes turned wary, and he dragged his slightly limping leg back a step.

An Ancient Relic!

The item in Bai Qiu's hand was an Ancient Relic.

Furthermore, anything Bai Qiu chose to keep for himself was clearly no ordinary Ancient Relic.

"This pendant can double my strength."

Staring darkly at the black mist, Bai Qiu said, "Let's all take a step back. I'll do my business, and you can be your county head. I'll concede twenty percent of the profits in total. As for how you divide it, the three of you can decide amongst yourselves."

He was telling the truth. The Ancient Relic in his hand was a treasure he had painstakingly selected. However, it was a one-time consumable. Aside from providing a short burst of power, it could also ease the requirements for breaking through to the next tier. That was why he didn't want to waste it here.

But unexpectedly, "Luo Sheng's" laughing voice echoed from the black mist.

"You must be joking, Boss Bai!"

"If you want to do this business, Boss Bai, we're going to have to discuss the terms!"

What did he mean?

Bai Qiu's heart sank. Suddenly, from behind him, across the thousands of mu of fertile farmland behind the courtyard, various eerie roars echoed out.

He looked back in disbelief, only to see bizarre and misshapen eldritch creatures rising into the air above the fields.

In their hands or mouths, each of them held a faintly glowing object.

Shockingly, they were the Ancient Relics that had been buried beneath the Lin Family estate.

They gathered in clusters and lined up in rows, bowing from afar toward Yan Jing in the black mist.

"..."

Bai Qiu stared at this scene in sheer disbelief, then turned an even more incredulous gaze toward the thick fog.

Finally, he fell into a long silence.

There were three things he hadn't anticipated in this whole affair.

First, he hadn't expected Luo Sheng to survive.

Because whether Luo Sheng lived or died didn't matter to Bai Qiu at all, so this oversight simply came down to him not bothering to think about it.

Second, he hadn't expected Luo Sheng to be the master of Tranquil Valley.

Because a dead man had absolutely no connection to the master of Tranquil Valley. It could be said that he couldn't be blamed for this oversight; it all stemmed from the first one.

But what he expected least of all was that Luo Sheng would be audacious enough to let those eldritch creatures invade Bianliu County.

North Street was located at the northernmost edge of Bianliu County, bordering Tranquil Valley. North Street's boss, Landlord Lin, was embroiled in a bitter struggle. Because Big Landlord Lin ruthlessly oppressed his people, his subordinates were useless; because he had fathered too many sons, his resources were stretched thin, and he had yet to reach the Third Tier. Beneath North Street lay buried Ancient Relics, and its residents were mere farmers whose spirits had long been crushed by oppression...

Indeed, Luo Sheng had ten thousand reasons to have the eldritch creatures attack North Street.

But he couldn't actually attack North Street.

At the very least, if Bai Qiu were Luo Sheng, he wouldn't dare do such a thing.

Now, those eldritch creatures were holding the Ancient Relics. If he made a single rash move and those relics were scattered, no one would be able to pull off this business venture.

If things blew up, the people backing him would simply throw him under the bus.

"I've lost."

He let out a long sigh.

In the next second, he pulled a Jade Token from his pocket.

His weird energy instantly poured into it. In a flash, the Jade Token erupted with intense light, turning his body ethereal. At the same time, the heavily injured Tang Lian beside him brought out an identical Jade Token, her body rapidly dissolving into a phantom image as well.

The two of them fled into the distance together.

Yan Jing, having already returned to his normal appearance, walked out of the black mist and stopped where Bai Qiu had just been standing.

Scattered there were Bai Qiu's clothes, a gun, and a stack of silver notes.

Yes, this final escape method allowed one to take away at most a single item.

Bai Qiu had chosen to take the Bone Pendant.

Yan Jing reached down, picked up the gun, and shouted toward the sky:

"Boss Bai! You dropped your gun!"