The Price of Victory

Wu Yuan swung his staff at the cultivator, only for it to be parried by a single sword, leaving his palm numb from the impact. To think, a strike from him could shatter rock, yet it had been deflected so easily!

Meanwhile, the remaining disciples and bandits were locked in a fierce struggle. Surrounded by too many foes, their situation grew precarious.

“Little lass, your hidden weapons can wound him, right? I’ll hold his sword in a moment, and you find an opening to attack!” Wu Yuan called out to Lin Tian.

“How will you hold him? That sword possesses boundless power. Even your full-strength strike was useless…”

“Haha, I haven’t even used my full strength yet! He’s just a cultivator, isn’t he? I’ll show you!!”

No sooner had he spoken than Wu Yuan’s entire body bulged with veins. His face turned a furious red, twisted into a savage grimace, and his arms visibly thickened! The green armor he wore strained, cracking under the sudden expansion of his muscles.

“Hmph! Foolish mortal, you are nothing but an ant!” the old man sneered, thrusting his sword at Wu Yuan. Lin Tian watched them intently.

“Clang!”

The flying sword was deflected by Wu Yuan’s staff, astonishing the old man. His face contorted with utter disbelief.

“How is this possible!? How could a mere mortal body shake my spiritual artifact!”

“Bang!~”

Before he could fully process his shock, Lin Tian fired his gun, striking him. However, due to the interference from the bandits, the shot didn’t hit a vital spot.

The old man clutched his stomach, his other hand conjuring a fireball that he hurled towards Lin Tian.

“Watch out!” Wu Yuan’s voice roared like a beast. He moved faster than the fireball itself, rushing to Lin Tian’s side and shoving him out of the way!

Then, an explosion ripped through the air, followed by a searing wave of heat. When Lin Tian looked again, his pupils constricted in horror.

The destructive power of that fireball was almost comparable to a triple-strength grenade! Wu Yuan’s upper garments were incinerated, and a smell of burnt flesh wafted from his back, yet he was still alive!

The surrounding bandits and disciples were all taken aback, scrambling to put distance between themselves and the fight, unwilling to get caught in the crossfire.

“Hm? He actually withstood it! How about a few more rounds?” With that, the old man began to conjure another fireball in his hand.

Lin Tian would never allow him to succeed. He immediately hurled a grenade in his direction!

“Hm?! That thing again!” The old man had already witnessed the terrifying power of the grenade in the cave earlier. Unwilling to take a direct hit, he lightly tapped the ground with his foot, his body soaring backward.

“Boom!!”

The triple-strength grenade exploded, killing many nearby bandits. The old man, too, was thrown to the ground. Smoke and dust billowed, obscuring his figure from view!

“Swish!”

From within the smoke, the flying sword rose again, piercing the unsuspecting Wu Yuan. This time, however, it didn’t pass through his body; it merely impaled his chest. He gripped the iron sword tightly with both hands, shouting to Lin Tian:

“Quick! Kill him now!”

The smoke was too thick, and Lin Tian couldn’t pinpoint the old man’s exact location. Wu Yuan let out a low growl and snapped the iron sword protruding from his chest!

The old man coughed up a mouthful of blood. That was his vital spiritual artifact; its destruction had wounded him deeply.

“You mortals, how dare you destroy my artifact! I will kill you all, even if it means my cultivation regresses! Die, all of you!”

The cultivator’s rage was palpable. The surrounding smoke seemed unable to obscure his vision as several fireballs flew out from within! Lin Tian quickly sought cover.

For a moment, explosions erupted everywhere…

Both the bandits and the Mufu Mountain disciples were caught in the crossfire of the fireballs, their screams echoing through the air.

Lin Tian hid behind a massive boulder, not daring to show his face. Fireballs shot in every direction, turning the ground a fiery red, like a vision of hell. Plumes of smoke rose everywhere, and nearby trees burst into flames…

After more than a minute, the fireballs began to weaken, eventually ceasing. The scene was utterly ravaged.

Lin Tian didn’t dare to emerge. Instead, he threw two more grenades in the direction where the old man had been.

At that moment, the old man was about to consume a pill to restore his spiritual energy. Seeing two grenades roll before him, he leaped back in fright, dropping his pill to the ground…

Boom! Boom!!

This barrage finally dealt a heavy blow to the old man. Without his spiritual power, his body was no stronger than a mortal’s. He lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.

A few lucky bandits frantically fled down the mountain. Their leader had been accidentally killed by the explosions, and staying here would surely lead to their demise. The Mufu Mountain disciples, however, had not been so fortunate.

The battlefield grew much quieter than before, with only the crackling of burning trees audible. Lin Tian cautiously surveyed the scene. The old man lay motionless on the ground. Only after firing a few more shots to be sure did he finally emerge.

“Senior Brother Wu Yuan!”

Seeing that he still had a faint breath, he rushed over to support him.

This man had a broken sword lodged in his chest and had been hit by two fireballs, yet he was still alive! Others who had merely been caught in the blast were utterly dead!

He lifted his head, preparing to pour a healing potion into his mouth.

“Junior Sister…”

“You’re gravely injured. Take the medicine first.”

“No, I feel like I’m dying… I… under the tree behind my residence, I buried a body-refining cultivation technique. It’s yours now…”

Shortly after speaking, he gazed at Lin Tian’s delicate face, his eyes growing vacant. He died in his arms.

Lin Tian understood that his life could not be saved. Had it not been for him, he likely wouldn’t have been able to defeat this cultivator.

“Sigh… they’re all dead…” Lin Tian surveyed his surroundings. He walked over to the cultivator’s corpse and searched it, finding a book in his chest pocket and a cloth pouch at his waist.

Lin Tian tugged and pulled, but couldn’t open the pouch. It seemed to be no ordinary item, so he decided to keep it for now.

He then dug a grave and buried Wu Yuan. As he lifted him, he realized his back was almost entirely charred. That he had managed to speak with such injuries was truly astonishing.

“Rest well, Senior Brother…” After setting up a tombstone, Lin Tian plunged his iron staff into the ground beside it.

****

Afterward, he turned and entered the bandit’s cave, checking for any survivors or hidden treasures.

The cave was filled with corpses, including some Mufu Mountain disciples, all of whom had been killed by the flying sword.

He found a main chamber filled with a large amount of wealth, mostly gold and silver. These items were too heavy for him to carry, so he simply picked up two gold ingots and tucked them into his pocket.

Money was of little use to him anyway. He then discovered a secret room where two female disciples lay, stripped of their clothes and hastily stabbed to death.

“Phew~”

‘It seems everyone has fled…’

Lin Tian lay back on a chair in the main hall, taking out the book he had found on the old man.

“Gathering Qi Art?”

‘Could this be a cultivator’s technique?’ He flipped through it with a hint of curiosity.

“Entry-level, breathing, absorbing spiritual energy for one’s own use…”

Lin Tian followed the instructions in the book, focusing his consciousness on his lower dantian. He didn’t deliberately guide it, allowing the qi to circulate naturally within his body.

After half an hour, he felt a slight warmth from his chest down to his lower dantian.

He practiced for another hour, feeling the meridians from his belly to his back throbbing, a sensation like bones and muscles crackling as they stretched.

He continued until the afternoon, losing track of time, when a hint of coolness emerged from his dantian.

“I’ve got it!”

This was the spiritual energy mentioned in the book. He could currently only gather a wisp of it, and it would quickly dissipate. To retain it for longer periods, he needed to use qi to clear his blood vessels and circulate it continuously within his body, a process known as the Lesser Heavenly Cycle.

Once familiar with it, the qi would circulate automatically without needing conscious breathing, a process called the Greater Heavenly Cycle.

He stretched, feeling as refreshed as if he had just woken from a long sleep. This breathing technique was truly marvelous; he felt neither bored nor tired.

Had it not been getting late, he would have continued practicing. This sensation was incredibly profound, and he encountered no obstacles in his cultivation. The qi flowed through his body, gradually separating out spiritual energy, which slowly increased. He would soon be able to complete the Heavenly Cycle.

The book also described how to use the pouch. This pouch was called a Storage Bag, and it could be used by guiding spiritual energy into it with one’s mind.

‘I have a wisp of spiritual energy within me, but I wonder if it’s enough…’ Lin Tian decided to experiment. He went to the cave’s storage area, then placed the Storage Bag near his dantian, forcing that wisp of spiritual energy out of his body.

A thread of spiritual energy, almost invisible to the naked eye, emerged from his lower abdomen and flowed into the Storage Bag.

The mouth of the bag suddenly opened wide. Lin Tian picked up two gold ingots and tossed them inside. The bag seemed to be a bottomless pit; even after throwing in all the treasures, it didn’t appear full, nor did he feel any added weight.

It remained open until the spiritual energy could no longer sustain it, at which point the bag closed back to its original state. Lin Tian wasn’t worried; since he could open it once, he was certain he could open it again.

Exiting the cave, he saw the sun had already set over the mountain. He suddenly remembered the coachman waiting halfway down the mountain, so he used his Cloud-Treading Steps to run down…