The Price of Victory

“Let’s deal with him first!” Wang exclaimed, striking the array wall with his blade. Yet, the wall remained utterly unresponsive.

“Hmph! Do you truly believe a mere array can trap us?” he scoffed.

With that, he channeled half of his spiritual energy into his magical artifact. His flying sword, as if invigorated by a potent elixir, soared through the air, relentlessly hacking at the formation and emitting dull, hollow thuds.

“Fellow Daoist! Save me!” the woman, Shen Ye, cried, clutching her severed arm as she retreated swiftly. The crocodile, enraged by the earlier explosion, its eyes glowing crimson, attacked her with renewed ferocity.

Lin Tian raised his gun and fired at the crocodile. The bullet embedded itself in its hide, but it proved utterly useless; the beast, still red-eyed, continued its relentless pursuit of the woman.

Initially, Lin Tian had considered using a grenade. However, after the earlier blast from the explosive talisman, he realized that deploying a grenade here would be foolish.

While spiritual energy could amplify the explosion’s power, using it within the array would harm him. Conversely, reducing its explosive force would render it ineffective against the beast.

****

“Swish!”

A blue flying disc pierced through the array, slashing towards the woman. Already exerting all her might to evade the crocodile, she had no reserve strength to dodge the disc. It cut deeply into her thigh, sending her tumbling to the ground.

“Fellow Daoist Shen Ye!” Wang cried out in alarm. However, he was currently dedicating his full attention to controlling his flying sword, hacking at the array wall, and could not spare the effort to rescue her.

The array wall visibly dimmed under the relentless assault. Qi’s gaze sharpened, and he flung several more spirit stones onto the banners.

“Brother Wang,” Lin Tian called to him, “there’s no need to rush breaking the array. Let’s kill the beast first.”

“Understood!” Wang responded, summoning a traction spell to pull the woman backward, narrowly helping her evade the beast’s next attack.

But how could Qi merely stand by? He manipulated the flying disc, sending it arcing through the air. Shen Ye’s head fell to the ground.

“You!” Wang snarled, a furious huff escaping him. Now, he faced not only the berserk beast but also Qi’s relentless attacks.

“Bang!” Lin Tian took aim at Qi and fired. The bullet forcefully penetrated the array wall, striking him in the leg.

The bullet’s speed was astonishing; Qi had no time to react, nor had he anticipated the array being pierced. A small hole appeared in the array wall, only to quickly restore itself.

“Is this a high-grade magical artifact? It can actually penetrate the array wall!” Qi roared, clutching his leg.

“Excellent shot! Miss Luo, you deal with him; I’ll tie down the beast!” Wang declared, brandishing his sword as he charged toward the crocodile.

Qi, no longer daring to remain exposed, quickly produced a small shield to guard himself. He no longer posed a threat, choosing to stay hidden. Lin Tian then conjured several fireballs, hurling them at the crocodile.

After a brief struggle with the beast, Lin Tian seized an opportunity when the crocodile opened its mouth, directly tossing a grenade inside.

Though he hadn’t amplified its power with spiritual energy, the internal explosion was more than enough to kill the beast.

“Boom!”

The crocodile’s body flashed with a red light, a wisp of black smoke escaping its mouth before it collapsed, its life force completely extinguished.

Wang was astonished by the destructive power of Lin Tian’s weapon. Nevertheless, he remained vigilant, his gaze fixed on the large shield beyond the array, where Qi was still hiding.

“No need to look; he’s already dead,” Lin Tian stated, glancing over.

“Dead?” Wang questioned, bewildered. “Didn’t you just shoot him in the leg? How could that kill him?”

“My weapon is coated in a potent toxin. While it has little effect on beasts, once a person is exposed, they will fall unconscious, and the poison will spread throughout their body, leading to death.”

Lin Tian had applied Wu Yuan’s bottles of venom to his bullets. Even cultivators would find it difficult to survive a direct hit.

Wang felt a shiver of fear run down his spine, genuinely worried that she might turn her weapon on him.

“So, how do we break this array?” Lin Tian asked.

“This array is sustained by spirit stones. By continuously attacking and accelerating the consumption of these stones, we can naturally break free. I’ve used most of my spiritual energy, so I need to recover first.”

After speaking, Wang hurried to the fallen beast, plunged his sword into its abdomen, and extracted a beast core.

“This is what the Prince desires. Let’s rest for a while, then return.”

The two sat in meditation to recover their spiritual energy. After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, they had largely replenished their reserves. Lin Tian walked over to the woman’s body and collected her storage bag.

“You don’t mind me taking this, do you?” Lin Tian glanced at Wang.

How could he possibly object? It was already a blessing that he hadn’t plundered him as well. “Miss Yingkong, please take whatever you wish. This beast’s hide is excellent material for crafting defensive gear; it shouldn’t go to waste.” Wang subtly observed his expression.

“I don’t know how to craft defensive gear. If you want it, take it.”

Wang’s spirits lifted, and he began to cut away the hide.

“Miss Yingkong, please rest. I will handle breaking this array.”

He continued to hack at the array with his flying sword for the duration of a meal. Finally, all the spirit stones were depleted, and the formation dissipated. Lin Tian unceremoniously collected the five array banners and Qi’s storage bag.

They made their way back. Although two people were missing, the soldiers dared not ask any questions, driving the carriage back to the capital.

****

Upon their return to the manor, dusk was already setting. Qin Jiu emerged to greet the two.

“Oh? Your immortal actions are truly swift. Have you dealt with the beast?”

Wang tossed the beast core to Qin Jiu.

“A core! This is your reward. And where did the other two go?” Qin Jiu’s face lit up, and he produced four Essence Pills, dividing them between the two.

“The beast was slightly different from what you described. Both of them perished by its fangs,” Lin Tian explained.

Upon hearing Lin Tian’s words, Qin Jiu felt a pang of guilt. He retrieved another four Essence Pills.

“Take their share as well. Would you care to join me for dinner tonight?”

“No, I have other matters to attend to.” Lin Tian collected the two Essence Pills and turned to leave, leaving Qin Jiu looking utterly disappointed.

“Brother Qin, I must also take my leave,” Wang said, observing the situation before turning to depart as well.

“Oh…”

“By the way, Miss Luo’s attire… it seems to belong to a disciple of Mufu Mountain,” the young man surnamed Wang remarked, leaving a meaningful statement.

****

Night had fallen completely. Lin Tian found a random inn to rest for the night. Upon returning to his room, he emptied out the day’s spoils. Besides the pills Qin Jiu had given him, there were also the storage bags of the other two cultivators.

Among the items were a flying shield capable of carrying a person, a flying disc artifact with blades on both its inner and outer edges, and a large defensive shield.

In addition, there were many talismans: swift travel talismans, heavy-weight talismans, and explosive talismans, totaling forty-nine. He also found two Essence Pills from Qin Jiu, seventy spirit stones, and a pile of unidentified medicinal herbs.

“Oh? What’s this?”

From the woman’s bag, he also found soft armor. Its material appeared sturdy, and its flexibility was quite good. Lacking defensive gear, he could wear it beneath his clothes.

Lin Tian tried channeling spiritual energy into the flying disc artifact. A faint connection formed between his consciousness and the disc, as if an invisible thread now linked them. With a thought, the disc began to spin rapidly, darting erratically around the room.

This artifact was far more threatening than a fireball spell, yet it consumed less spiritual energy. After playing with it for a while, he sat in meditation to recover his spiritual energy, only departing in haste the following morning.

To avoid drawing attention, he even bought a straw hat, partially obscuring his face. Leaving the capital, he took out the talismans, eager to test their uses. He recalled the woman applying the swift travel talisman to her leg and the explosive talisman to the beast.

Lin Tian decided to follow suit. He had witnessed the power of the explosive talisman; it still paled in comparison to a grenade. Taking out a heavy-weight talisman, he applied it to his body. A surge of power coursed through him, and he easily broke a tree trunk nearby!

He was already quite strong, but with the addition of the heavy-weight talisman and spiritual energy reinforcing his body, his close-combat prowess was formidable. Similarly, using a swift travel talisman greatly increased his movement speed. Combined with his Cloud-Treading Steps, his velocity was truly exceptional.

The only drawback was that each talisman was a single-use item, and Lin Tian did not know how to craft them. He could only conserve them for moments of true danger. This expedition had yielded a rich harvest. He suddenly remembered the cave dwelling that Mufu Mountain disciples had encountered before. With his current strength, he could now investigate it.

Playing and traveling, he made his way back to Mufu Mountain.