Entering the Immortal Path, Cultivating a Hundred Arts: Chapter Thirty-Six: Pill Formulas and Talisman Treasures

The gap in strength between the two was immense. Li Etian had only recently stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage and was no match for Jinyanzi, who was at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment. Soon, under the fierce onslaught of the pill-pearls, Li Etian began to falter.

With a grim expression, Li Etian shouted toward the outside, "If you don't come out now, the old bastard is going to break free!"

Jinyanzi was shocked. He glanced toward the room's entrance. The afterimages of Li Feng and Li Qing appeared before him. Li Qing looked at Jinyanzi with eyes filled with fury. Having been ambushed by him twice and nearly meeting her end, her resentment had long been festering. There was no need for words between bitter enemies. Her flying sword struck directly toward his throat.

Jinyanzi let out a sharp cry, his internal spiritual power surging to form a golden light that shielded his entire body. The flying sword clanged against the golden light and deflected, its fierce momentum completely dispersed. Feeling the tickle of the ineffective attack, Jinyanzi’s panic subsided. With such means, they could not harm him in the slightest.

Li Feng was not idle either. He used a second-tier God-Concealing Array to envelop the room, blocking any sound, before releasing nine puppets that surrounded Jinyanzi, raining down blows upon him. Jinyanzi’s protective light barrier was far more formidable than any ordinary talisman. For a time, the three of them could not break through his defense.

"Step aside, let me handle this." Li Feng spoke coldly and pulled out ten stacks of talismans. Li Qing and Li Etian retreated rapidly. Before Jinyanzi could react, over a thousand various talismans plastered themselves onto the golden light, all erupting with intense radiance at once.

Boom!

The second-tier God-Concealing Array, intended to isolate sound and aura, did not last a second before being shattered by the violent surge of energy. Li Feng had anticipated this. The moment the array failed, he deployed two more defensive arrays—the Essence Fire Array and the Nine-Yang Heavenly Gang Array—to compensate. Assisted by these two second-tier defensive arrays, they finally managed to contain the disturbance. Otherwise, the commotion within the estate would surely have alerted the entire market.

As the residual energy of the talismans dissipated layer by layer, the once brilliant golden light turned pitch black. Jinyanzi, though he had withstood the terrifying barrage, was bleeding from his nose and mouth, his internal organs displaced, appearing wretched in the extreme.

Li Feng and his companions were stunned. "Even this couldn't break his defense?"

"Do you have more? Do it again!" Li Qing asked, looking at Li Feng.

Li Feng had more talismans, but not enough to replicate the power just displayed. He decided to change tactics. He brought out the second-tier Gold-Frost Spiritual Liquid that Lei Peng had given him earlier. Beyond its benefits for cultivation, this liquid had other miraculous properties. When mixed with certain special substances, it could produce a stunning spirit-corroding effect.

Spirit-corroding meant exactly that—the corrosion of spiritual power. Jinyanzi’s golden light was derived from spiritual power and was essentially the same. Li Feng found a corner, processed several special materials in precise amounts, stirred them in a container, and finally poured in the Gold-Frost Spiritual Liquid. A black-purple toxic mist rose from the container.

Li Feng immediately covered his nose and mouth and threw the container at Jinyanzi. "Don't breathe, suppress your spiritual power!" Seeing his grave expression, Li Qing and Li Etian dared not be careless and followed suit.

The black liquid spilled out of the container and adhered to the golden light. Like a swarm of locusts descending, it instantly corroded countless holes of varying sizes.

"There's an opening!" Li Feng threw talismans toward the holes. This time, Jinyanzi had nowhere to hide and tasted the full force of the various talismans. The attacks of Li Qing and Li Etian followed in close succession. Flying swords and black mist ravaged the interior of the golden light for a long time.

"That's enough," Li Feng said, stopping his hand. His Evergreen Technique had a special effect that made his perception of life force extremely keen. He could no longer detect any signs of life from Jinyanzi. He must have fallen.

The three stopped, their gazes heavy, not daring to relax for a moment. Several minutes passed. The golden light turned into motes of light and vanished without a trace, revealing a mangled corpse inside.

"He's dead!" Li Etian said excitedly, stepping forward to kick the body as a final confirmation. Li Feng, however, cautiously crushed a protective talisman, ensuring Jinyanzi had left no lethal traps for a final counterattack. Seeing Li Feng remain still, Li Qing also stayed in place, shielding herself with her flying sword.

"Old bastard, letting you live until today was a disgrace to me." Li Etian seemed to harbor immense hatred, continuing his kicks and curses without pause.

"That's enough, hurry up and dispose of the body," Li Feng reminded him. "There is still a show to perform later." Although Jinyanzi was dead, they could not let outsiders know he had died within the estate.

With that, Li Feng disguised himself as Jinyanzi and swaggered out of the estate. Li Qing and Li Etian stuffed everything of value from the estate into their storage bags. The two split up; Li Qing headed outside the city, while Li Etian flew out of the estate, caught up to Li Feng, and feigned a shout: "Jinyanzi, pay with your life!"

Li Feng had been wandering the Pill Residence Market specifically so more people would witness this scene. A great battle was imminent. In full view of the public, the two turned their weapons on each other. But soon, Li Feng was engulfed by black mist. In the blink of an eye, Li Etian vanished without a trace. Their battle had come and gone in a flash. Many cultivators in the market were left stunned, unable to react in time.

Before long, the Pill Residence Market exploded into chaos. The streets were in turmoil. Weaker cultivators scrambled to find places to hide, fearing that Li Etian would return and begin a slaughter.

...

Outside the city, the three began dividing the spoils. Nearly everything of value was in Jinyanzi’s storage bag. Li Etian emptied the contents onto the ground and began to pick through them. Spirit stones, spirit herbs, magical artifacts, robes, and pills piled up like a small mountain. The personal wealth of a second-tier high-grade alchemist was far more substantial than that of an average Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Li Qing selected items useful for her cultivation, and the remainder went to Li Etian. According to their previous agreement, Li Feng naturally received nothing. Li Feng did not experience much emotional fluctuation. Compared to these items, the entire Pill Residence Market was the real prize. What he needed was a long-term guarantee of resources.

Li Etian put away his items and bowed to the two in farewell. "Friends, this matter is not trivial. I certainly cannot stay in Anhe City any longer. Until we meet again!"

Li Feng nodded indifferently. Li Qing replied politely, "I wish you prosperity on your immortal path, Fellow Daoist." Li Etian boarded his skull-shaped artifact, shrouded in black mist, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Li Qing withdrew her gaze and tossed two items to Li Feng. "Here, the things you wanted."

Li Feng reached out and caught them. One was the communication device used exclusively by Jinyanzi and the Heavenly Crane Sect. The other was a pill-talisman recipe. It used a medicinal pill as a medium, with a talisman inscribed upon its surface, refined through the method of nurturing a life-bound artifact. Ultimately, it became a powerful, reusable talisman-treasure.

The pill-pearls Jinyanzi had used earlier were crafted using this method. However, the time cost to produce such a treasure was extremely high—anywhere from a few decades to over a century. Judging by the power of Jinyanzi’s pill-pearls, they had likely been nurtured for over a dozen years. Moreover, the energy and cost required to nurture a dozen of them simultaneously were beyond measure.