Chapter 107: Kill the Turtle to Take Its Core?

Li Chang’an moved swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, he had taken all the treasures from Cao Shaolin’s body.

Then, he cast several Talismans.

A raging fire erupted, engulfing Cao Shaolin’s body.

’Time to go!’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Li Chang’an used an Escape Technique and quickly fled the area.

「About an hour later.」

A terrifying presence flew in from the horizon, landing in that very spot in an instant.

The arrival’s face was contorted with fury, his body surging with the tyrannical Magical Power of the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment. It was none other than the Cao Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor, Cao Zhengxiong!

He looked at the place where Cao Shaolin had fallen, his bloodshot eyes looked as if they were about to spew flames.

A moment later, an earth-shattering, furious roar echoed.

"Who was it! Who dared to kill my Cao Family’s Qilin Child?"

Cao Zhengxiong was burning with rage, his chest feeling as if it would burst from the fury welling within him.

Cao Shaolin was the successor he had painstakingly groomed to reach Foundation Establishment.

After his own death,

Cao Shaolin was meant to ensure the Cao Family’s glory for at least another century!

But now,

that glory had been reduced to ashes!

"Just who was it?!"

...

By now, Li Chang’an had already fled far away.

He knew that Cao Shaolin’s death was bound to cause a massive uproar.

It might even trigger another conflict between Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Therefore, he didn’t return to Qinghe Marketplace at all. Instead, he found a place to hide, intending to lie low until the whole affair blew over.

"Phew..."

Deep underground, Li Chang’an let out a long sigh of relief.

The operation had seemed successful, but it was, in fact, incredibly dangerous.

Cao Shaolin was clearly treasured by the Cao Family’s Ancestor. The number of protective treasures on him was far greater than he had imagined.

Without the Blood-colored Sword Array, Li Chang’an would never have been able to take him down.

’Thankfully, the Blood-colored Sword Array was powerful enough.’

Li Chang’an was secretly relieved.

Risk and reward often go hand in hand.

Although the operation was extremely dangerous, the rewards were also substantial.

Merely the Tier Two Armor Cao Shaolin had been wearing was worth a staggering amount.

’Five Elements Spirit Armor, a Tier Two Low Grade Spirit Armor. Spiritual Artifacts of this tier are typically used by Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators.’

Li Chang’an smiled as he carefully examined the Spirit Armor.

It had withstood three direct hits from the Blood-colored Sword Array during their battle without suffering the slightest damage.

Since it was a Five Elements Attribute armor, Li Chang’an could use it as well.

’Perfect. I can replace my current armor.’

A Treasure Armor like this would be enough to last Li Chang’an until he reached Foundation Establishment.

’This Spirit Armor was most likely a protective gift from the Cao Family Ancestor to Cao Shaolin. Now that he’s dead and the Cao Family has lost its future Foundation Establishment cultivator, I wonder if their Ancestor will go berserk?’

Li Chang’an’s heart pounded with fear just imagining the scene.

However, he quickly recalled that before Cao Shaolin died, he mentioned having an older brother who was a disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect.

’Rumor has it that the Cao Family has another Celestial Pride, known as the "Cao Family’s Young Dragon." I’d assumed that was just a false rumor spread by the family, but it seems it’s most likely true.’

The Cao Family produced two Celestial Prides in this generation, one Young Dragon, and one Qilin Child.

The Zheng Family, by contrast, was a step behind, with only Zheng Qingqing.

As for Zheng Lingfeng...

His cultivation level was certainly high, but his actual combat strength was far inferior to Zheng Qingqing’s. Moreover, he had spent his entire life under the Zheng Family’s protection and lacked real-world experience.

’The Cao Family is really daring, sending their genius to a Sect. Aren’t they afraid he’ll forget his roots?’

Sending a family disciple into a Sect has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages were obvious: the disciple could leverage the Sect’s resources to grow and gain the backing and status of a Sect member.

But the disadvantages were just as clear.

’It’s said that after many clan disciples mature within a Sect, they begin to prioritize their own or the Sect’s interests. Their ties to their family become very weak.’

For this very reason, most Cultivation Immortality Clans wouldn’t send their Foundation Establishment Seeds to a Sect.

If that disciple reached Foundation Establishment and then refused to return to the clan, it would be a tremendous loss!

’In the eyes of a Sect Disciple, is their clan just a burden?’

Li Chang’an mused, beginning to understand the mindset of those Sect Disciples.

’If the Cao Family’s Young Dragon returns to the clan, perhaps they won’t completely lose their minds. But... none of that has anything to do with me. On the surface, I’m just a junior Loose Cultivator at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. There’s no way they’d suspect me of being the killer.’

Based on the strength Li Chang’an had publicly shown, almost no one would suspect him.

The person who killed Cao Shaolin had to be either a Foundation Establishment Ancestor or some old monster who had been accumulating power for a long time at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

’Time to check his storage pouch.’

Li Chang’an removed the restriction on the Storage Pouch and opened it. His eyes immediately lit up.

With a flick of his will, he retrieved a Spirit Ginseng from within.

The Spirit Ginseng was purple all over, its surface smooth and lustrous as if carved from a purple jade treasure. It was one of the three main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Purple Jade Ginseng!

Li Chang’an’s eyes lit up with joy as he examined it for a long while.

’This Purple Jade Ginseng’s medicinal essence is perfectly preserved, and its quality is superb. It’s a top-tier ingredient for Alchemy!’

His Alchemy inheritance included a special Magic for discerning the quality of Spirit Medicines.

With Li Chang’an’s current skill in Alchemy, he could naturally tell that the quality of this Purple Jade Ginseng was exceptionally high.

The higher a Spirit Medicine’s quality, the more potent its medicinal effects.

’With this, I’ve now collected two of the three main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill. I’ve also gathered more than half of the auxiliary medicines. The remaining ones shouldn’t be too hard to find.’

As far as Li Chang’an was concerned, only two ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill remained that were particularly difficult to acquire.

These were the Blood Dragon Vine, a Spirit Medicine corresponding to the "Essence" component, and the most difficult to obtain of all: a Tier Two Demon Core.

A Tier Two Demon Core contained an unimaginably vast amount of power. It could act as a catalyst to fuse the medicinal properties of the three main ingredients and the numerous auxiliary medicines.

’The Tier Two Demon Core is the biggest hurdle.’

Li Chang’an pondered.

To obtain a Tier Two Demon Core, one had to slay a Tier Two Demon Beast—an act equivalent to killing a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse of the Human Race.

It was an incredibly difficult task!

Of course, for him, there was a relatively simple method.

If his Profound Water Turtle could advance to Tier Two, it would certainly form a Tier Two Demon Core within its body.

When that happened, he could just kill the turtle and take its core.

But Li Chang’an couldn’t bring himself to do it.

’I wonder if the Foundation Establishment Favor I’m owed could be exchanged for a Tier Two Demon Core?’

He thought about it but felt the chances were slim.

A mere favor wasn’t worth a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator risking their life to hunt a Tier Two Demon Beast.

’Oh well. Maybe I’ll have a chance to get one when I go to Yellow Crane Immortal City.’

Li Chang’an shook his head, pushing the thought aside and continuing to inspect the other treasures in the Storage Pouch.

Besides the Purple Jade Ginseng, the pouch also contained over twenty different auxiliary medicines for the Foundation Establishment Pill, more than half of which were duplicates of what Li Chang’an had already collected.

Additionally, there was a large quantity of other Spirit Medicines.

’As expected of the Cao Family’s Young Master.’

Li Chang’an patiently identified each Spirit Medicine in turn.

All these Spirit Medicines could be used for Alchemy, which would help him increase his proficiency in the art.

’There aren’t many Spirit Stones, though. Could it be because he spent too much making that puppet last time?’

A quick scan revealed only a few hundred Spirit Stones.

Hardly befitting his status.

In addition, there were a total of four Quasi-Tier Two Magical Artifacts.

Three were Defensive Magical Artifacts, and one was an Offensive Magical Artifact, all of them quite valuable.

However, they were all Earth Element Magical Artifacts, which were incompatible with Li Chang’an’s own attributes.

Even if they were compatible, he wouldn’t dare use them.

’I’ll find a time to sell them. I can’t sell them in the Black Market, though. I’ll have to do it in Yellow Crane Immortal City.’

Li Chang’an mused.

The Cao Family must be furious right now, searching high and low for the killer.

If he sold these Magical Artifacts in the Black Market, he would undoubtedly be targeted by the Cao Family.