The sudden surge of formation energy sent the dozen or so demon cultivators, still lost in the joy of dividing their loot, into a panic.
“A Second-Grade Formation?!”
“Who laid a Second-Grade Formation here?!”
“It’s an ambush!”
The leader, a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining, leapt to his feet, his eyes flashing with shock and fury.
The killing might of the Second-Grade Formation surged in from all directions like a tidal wave.
“Block it—!”
The lead demon cultivator roared. The rest of the group immediately activated their talismans and magic tools, releasing blinding lights.
But against a Second-Grade Formation, these Qi Refining cultivators stood no chance. Screams rang out in rapid succession.
In a single exchange, all of them collapsed to the ground—dead.
Yet the formation didn’t stop. It continued pounding the corpses with wave after wave of destruction!
“Damn it, was this really necessary?!”
Suddenly, the body of the peak Qi Refining demon cultivator jerked upright. Rage burned in his eyes. He had used a protective treasure to survive the last wave, intending to lie in wait and ambush whoever was controlling the formation.
He hadn’t expected the enemy to be so cautious—they were still blasting the corpses.
He couldn’t hold back any longer. With a fierce motion, he unleashed a Second-Grade Ban-Breaking Talisman.
In an instant, part of the formation tore apart and destabilized.
The demon cultivator burst out of the formation!
Only to be greeted by an Exploding Talisman.
BOOM!
A massive shockwave rocked the earth. Caught in the blast zone, the demon cultivator’s face twisted in terror. He hastily activated a Second-Grade Mystic Shield Talisman, and his defensive magic tool lit up simultaneously.
He staggered back several steps, pale-faced. Even he couldn’t hold up under two consecutive Second-Grade talismans. He turned to flee—
But he was too slow. A second Exploding Talisman detonated.
“No!”
His expression changed drastically. With no more Second-Grade talismans left, he was forced to take the blast head-on.
The shockwave tore through him. His garments shredded, revealing a brass shoulder guard—which cracked open under the impact.
But the demon cultivator felt a coldness in his chest.
Looking down, he saw a glimmering blue dagger buried in his heart!
Poison surged through his body.
“Who… are you…”
Cold dread gripped his mind. He knew he was dying, and reflexively looked around, desperate to see his killer.
But all he saw was a blinding rain of top-grade First-Order Flame Talismans, scattering like heavenly flowers.
“Motherf#%...”
He cursed aloud. His mind was already breaking. Who the hell was this lunatic, using talismans like they were free?
Worst of all—he never even saw the killer's face before he died!
BOOM!
Flames engulfed him. With so many Flame Talismans raining down, his remaining magic tools were overwhelmed. His body burned fiercely until nothing remained but a blackened skeleton.
The river lapped quietly against the shore. The night was deathly still.
The Second-Grade Formation continued firing repeatedly at the fallen corpses, as if confirming their deaths. Only after a dozen more strikes did it finally fall silent.
From a patch of tall grass near the riverside, a mud-covered figure slowly stood up.
Eyes glowing with intensity, he rushed forward and gathered every scattered storage pouch!
While collecting them, he scanned each with his Divine Sense.
Now that he possessed Divine Sense, he could clearly identify every item inside each pouch. Among both the demon cultivators’ and the Clear Sun Sect disciples’ belongings, he found several items marked with tracking seals.
This was common—whether among demonic or righteous cultivators, those with backing often had certain possessions tagged, either to prevent betrayal or to trace items in the event of a robbery.
Li An threw all tagged items into the roaring river.
Then, he summoned a barrage of Flame Talismans and burned all the corpses to ash.
He also dismantled and erased every trace of the Second-Grade Formation he had deployed—ensuring no one could trace it back to him.
Once everything was done, he came to a stop beside a bound man—
Chen Cheng!
Chen Cheng had used a Ban-Breaking Talisman to shatter the demon cultivators’ formation and even killed several of them, seriously disrupting their plans.
As a result, the surviving demon cultivators had chosen to spare him—for now—intending to slowly torture him to death.
Now, badly wounded, Chen Cheng lay unconscious.
Li An's expression remained calm. With a swift motion, he sliced Chen Cheng’s throat. A single Flame Talisman reduced the corpse to ashes.
“This karmic debt ends here. From now on, I will no longer seek revenge on your wife and daughter.”
With that, Li An turned and disappeared into the darkness.
…
After leaving Masha Ferry Crossing, Li An followed a pre-planned escape route. At a secluded mountain stream, he thoroughly washed his body, changed into a new set of clothes, and altered his appearance—becoming a burly, rugged man.
Avoiding any known paths the Demon Sect might patrol, he made his way swiftly to Tempered Moon Valley.
…
Seven days later—
Li An finally entered the valley and sealed the entrance using a Second-Grade Formation.
Only then did he breathe a long sigh of relief.
He was safe—at last!
The first thing he did was pull out all the storage pouches he had collected.
To maximize space, he had consolidated everything into about a dozen pouches.
Opening them one by one, Li An couldn’t suppress the excitement rising in his chest.
He had struck it rich—this haul was massive!
Between the slain disciples of the Clear Sun Sect and the demon cultivators, he had collected over 14,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and 26 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
One Mid-Grade Spirit Stone was worth 100 Low-Grade ones.
Which meant… he now held the equivalent of 17,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
In addition, the combined value of talismans, magic tools, pills, and materials was easily another 10,000 Spirit Stones.
Most astonishingly, in the storage pouch of that peak Qi Refining demon cultivator, he found two Exploding Talismans and one Ice Talisman!
A cold sweat broke out on Li An’s back—thankfully, he had never revealed himself during the battle. If that man had unleashed all three talismans, the outcome might have been drastically different.
“Absolute safety is the only real safety.”
He muttered to himself. In deadly encounters like this, he had to ensure his own survival before ever considering taking action.
He reminded himself that despite the massive gains, he couldn’t afford to lose his mind over it.
After tasting success like this, it would be all too easy to stray down the path of a bandit cultivator.
But that kind of life didn’t suit him—it was too brutal, too costly.
He still held to his principles: unless absolutely necessary, and without complete confidence, he would not act. He refused to be like those bandits who lived by licking blood from their blades.
Besides this harvest, he had also smuggled out of the Bright Sun Market District over 2,000 spirit stones’ worth of talisman resources, and four sets of high-grade formation materials.
He settled down and began sorting through all the resources.
First, the personal-use magic tools—five in total: A pair of bracers, a pair of Cloudstep Boots, a Firelight Sword, a Blackiron Shield, and a wrist-mounted crossbow—all top-grade First-Order.
Together, they could fully arm Li An from head to toe.
He also had a brand new high-grade talisman brush, a pile of materials for crafting Second-Grade Talismans, and two Exploding Talismans and one Ice Talisman.
Plus four sets of high-grade formation materials.
A bottle of Essence Spirit Pills, and two bottles of Recovery Pills.
And—three stalks of Second-Rank spiritual herbs!
Unfortunately, only one of the three could be used as a supplementary ingredient for a Foundation Establishment Pill. The other two would have to be stored as strategic resources.
Everything else was either redundant or of lower quality—currently of little use to Li An.
He would look for opportunities to sell those off in the future.
Outside, morning sunlight spilled into the valley. Li An stretched his body with a satisfied groan.
It had taken him an entire night just to organize everything!
…
Meanwhile—
At the Liuyang River’s edge—
“What the hell happened?!”
A Foundation Establishment demon cultivator flew into a rage!
Everyone was gone. Only some charred bones and ashes remained. Clearly, the attackers had killed and destroyed all evidence.
“Who was it? Who the hell dares to rob the Demon Sect?!”
He was so furious he nearly vomited blood. Who had the audacity to black-rob the Demon Sect??
…
(End of Chapter)