Chapter 72 - 69: Wealth Moves People’s Hearts

"What!"

Every single person present was struck dumb with shock. Mo Qianqian, with the help of the girl in the green dress, had actually slain the Cloud Void Sect Master?

Hou Xuanyun and the others, who were locked in a fierce battle with Pei Hong, felt their minds go blank. They simply couldn’t accept the reality playing out before their eyes. The fall of their Sect Master was an incalculable loss for them. Without him, the Cloud Void Sect no longer had a Tongyou Realm expert holding the fort. Now, every elder and disciple of the sect present at the scene was in grave danger.

Meanwhile, Ling Guang, who was being held back by Yuan Fu of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, shouted desperately toward the Lie and Yuwen families. "Lie family! Yuwen family! Please lend us a hand and eliminate Mo Qianqian!"

"Elder Ling Guang, this is the Ling family’s business. It has nothing to do with us," an experienced elder from the Lie family replied. It was a joke to even ask. With the treasure on the verge of emerging, every expert from the other factions would soon become a competitor. Helping the Ling family at a time like this was absolutely out of the question.

"Our Yuwen Clan will not involve ourselves in your conflict," an elder from the Yuwen Clan added. They weren’t fools, either.

"Name your price! Whatever you want!" Ling Guang grew frantic, terrified that Mo Qianqian might slip away.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

At that very moment, Mo Qianqian brandished his spear. Having already struck down the Cloud Void Sect Master, he seamlessly slaughtered several more who dared to charge at him. With Lao Liu’s cooperation, even the Cloud Void Sect Master’s cultivation could be suppressed—let alone those in the Spirit Profound Realm. The lower a cultivator’s realm, the more violently they were suppressed. Anyone who rushed at him was left with barely any combat prowess.

"Apologies, but we currently have no interest in doing so," the Lie family elder said.

"Our hands are tied!" the Yuwen Clan echoed.

Recently, the Ling family’s momentum had been too fierce. The other families secretly wished they could help Mo Qianqian to knock the Ling family down a peg. Aiding the Ling family now was absolutely impossible.

"Lieqi, your brother was nearly killed by Mo Qianqian back then! You lost your spiritual mine directly to his hands! Don’t you want revenge?" Ling Guang shouted again, trying to provoke him.

"The ones who won the spiritual mine was your Ling family!" Lieqi retorted coldly, proving he was no fool.

"Die!" Mo Qianqian roared, skewering another young man who charged at him.

This time, the members of the Ling family, the Cloud Void Sect, and the Qin family lost their nerve. They froze in their tracks, merely hovering around the perimeter.

"Now, let’s see who kills who!" Mo Qianqian blurred into motion, lunging straight at the young men of the Ling family.

"Everyone from the Ling family, fall back!" Ling Guang bellowed instantly. He had no choice. Under the combined assault of Mo Qianqian and the girl in the green dress, anyone below the Third Level of the Tongyou Realm lacked the strength to fight back. The crowd began a frantic retreat, but Mo Qianqian still surged forward, executing a Ling family youth on the spot.

"Whoever helps my Ling family kill Mo Qianqian will be rewarded with five Third-Grade Junior Elixirs!" Ling Guang roared.

The crowd gasped. Five Third-Grade Junior Elixirs! Let alone five, even a single one was something many of them couldn’t afford if they bankrupted themselves! The eyes of many onlookers lit up with greed.

However, seeing the retreating Ling family, the unbridled slaughter wrought by Mo Qianqian, and the girl in the green dress who could suppress their cultivation, many quickly regained their senses. The reward was incredible, but they needed to be alive to enjoy it. Furthermore, anyone below the Tongyou Realm couldn’t directly refine a Third-Grade Elixir; they would have to barter it away. But most importantly, even if they managed to claim the reward, they might not live long enough to take it away.

"Are all five Third-Grade Junior Elixirs meant for breakthrough?" An elderly Loose Cultivator stepped forward.

"Yes!" Ling Guang’s eyes lit up.

"Then I will take this job!"

The elderly Loose Cultivator unleashed the aura of the Fourth Level of the Tongyou Realm and shot straight toward Mo Qianqian. He had been stuck at the Fourth Level of the Tongyou Realm for a long time. All he lacked now was a stroke of fortune and the right elixirs. Five Third-Grade Junior Elixirs would be more than enough to help him break through to the next level. The impending battle for the emerging treasure would be far more intense than dealing with Mo Qianqian. It was better to try his luck against the boy first. The Cloud Void Sect Master had been at the Third Level of the Tongyou Realm, and even under suppression, he had still held a slight advantage. It was only because Mo Qianqian fought with such ruthless desperation that the Sect Master had been unexpectedly killed. Surely, that had to be Mo Qianqian’s absolute limit.

Seeing the elderly Loose Cultivator charging at him with such a powerful aura, Mo Qianqian’s expression darkened. It seemed that wealth truly moved the hearts of men! To think someone would still dare to attack him at a time like this.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, a drastic change occurred. The entire ground began to tremble violently. The countless fissures that previously marred the earth widened exponentially, webbing outward in an ever-expanding network of cracks. Hearts pounding, the crowd turned their eyes toward the glowing epicenter of the fractures.

The great fortune was about to emerge!

Every other battle halted instantly. The elderly Loose Cultivator stopped his charge toward Mo Qianqian, and even Ling Guang and his men tore their gazes away from the boy, their undivided attention now locked onto the center of the shattered ground.

WHOOSH!

At that exact moment, something the size of a thumb resembling a flame shot out from the center of the fissure, hovering in midair. It looked like a cluster of white fire, yet it wasn’t true fire. It radiated a thick, sinister, and corrosive aura, flickering with an eerie pale glow akin to moonlight.

"That is a Spiritual Source! The Bone-Eroding Spiritual Source!" a knowledgeable elder shouted. He immediately launched himself toward the white cluster. However, before he could even take off, those closer to the epicenter were already on the move, sprinting madly toward the object.

"A Spiritual Source! The Source of Heaven and Earth Energy! Refining it grants a cultivator elemental power!" The experienced elder from the Lie family had bright eyes as he dashed toward the white Spiritual Source. The experts from the Yuwen Clan, Ling Guang, the masked man in gray, and other Tongyou Realm masters all sprang into action. A swarm of others quickly followed suit.

"The Bone-Eroding Spiritual Source?" Mo Qianqian was momentarily stunned. It was his first time hearing of a Spiritual Source. Was this the very thing the mysterious woman in the second layer of the Ninefold Coffin had spoken of?

"Snatch it! What are you standing around for!" Lao Liu yelled, throwing herself into the fray.

Mo Qianqian frowned. With so many Tongyou Realm experts fighting for it, how was he, a mere second-realm cultivator, supposed to compete?

SWISH!

The first person to reach the center was a middle-aged man. He leaped high into the air, reaching out to grab the Bone-Eroding Spiritual Source.

HISS!

Suddenly, as if every bone in his body had vanished, the middle-aged man dissolved into a limp mass of flesh. Utterly flaccid, he plummeted back down to the ground. The crowd recoiled in horror. However, the Tongyou Realm experts remained entirely fearless, continuing their frantic charge toward the Bone-Eroding Spiritual Source.

The second to reach the object was Yuan Fu from the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion. Brandishing his long saber, he swung it flat, attempting to catch the Spiritual Source on the blade.

HISS!

And at that precise moment, yet another unforeseen situation unfolded.