Two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators returned, hovering in the air, looking down at him.
“Kid, not bad! You almost fooled us.” The pale-faced Foundation Establishment Cultivator said with a chuckle.
“Ink Concealment Spirit Cloak, are you from Listening Rain Pavilion?” The burly Foundation Establishment Cultivator stared at Li Mu’s Ink Concealment Spirit Cloak, demanding.
Li Mu silently put the spiritual cloak into his Storage Pouch, not answering their questions, preparing for battle.
As soon as he saw their appearances, Li Mu recognized their origins: Deng Fanwang was Deng Fanwang of Profound Yin Sect, his Lifebound Treasure a Myriad Ghost Banner, skilled at setting up a Netherworld Ghost Formation with it; the other was Zhuang Jiushi, a Disciple of Corpse Refinement Sect, Zhuang Jiushi, who had cultivated a Corpse Driving Cultivation Technique and could summon nine powerful Undead.
“Kid, I ask you, did you set up this Spirit Gathering Array? What is it for?” Zhuang Jiushi demanded with a dark face.
“If you don’t speak, then wait until you die, and I’ll extract your soul to search!” Deng Fanwang stared at Li Mu, saying grimly.
Li Mu bothered not to waste words with them, patted his Storage Pouch with his right hand, releasing seven Second-Order Profound Iron Swords, which shot sharply towards the two; with his left hand, he conjured out of thin air a Second-Order Golden Armor Talisman from his storage compartment, injecting spiritual power to activate it, and the Golden Armor Talisman immediately transformed into a golden light covering Li Mu’s body.
“Courting death!”
Seeing a small Qi Refining Cultivator dare to attack them proactively, Zhuang Jiushi was furious, waving his hand, releasing nine bronze corpses from his corpse bag, which directly swarmed towards Li Mu.
Looking at the seven Second-Order Flying Swords and the Second-Order Golden Armor Talisman Li Mu used, a hint of vigilance flashed in Deng Fanwang’s eyes; he dared not be careless, grabbing with his hand, revealing a black banner shrouded in Yin Qi, waving it, and a large number of Netherworld Ghosts emerged, attacking him.
Facing the bronze corpse horde charging towards him, Li Mu waved his hand, releasing more than a dozen Battle Puppets from his storage compartment, which quickly engaged the bronze corpse horde in a chaotic battle.
“Bang bang” loud noises continuously rang out, the battle was extremely fierce, and the scene immediately fell into a melee.
Zhuang Jiushi’s face froze; he had originally thought his bronze corpse horde could easily achieve success, but unexpectedly, under the assault of more than a dozen Battle Puppets, the bronze corpses began to lose limbs, and casualties appeared after just one encounter; his bronze corpses were not as durable as he had imagined.
Damn it, what kind of Puppets are these! How can their combat power be so strong?
His hard-cultivated bronze Undead were secretly refined from the corpses of Peak Qi Refining Cultivators, how could they be easily defeated by a group of Battle Puppets?
Zhuang Jiushi disregarded his dignity, directly flew down to the field, engaging in battle with the Battle Puppets to protect the bronze corpse horde.
On the other side, facing countless Netherworld Ghosts flying at him, Li Mu waved his hand, taking out a stack of High Grade First-Order Spiritual Charms from his Storage Pouch: Evil Expulsion Talisman, Fireball Amulet, Wood Binding Talisman, ..., throwing them out as if they were worthless.
The next moment, dozens to hundreds of High Grade First-Order Spiritual Charms transformed into streaks of sharp spiritual light, directly annihilating the flying Netherworld Ghosts.
“Bastard, I want to see how many Spiritual Charms you have!” Seeing this scene, Deng Fanwang was furious, waving his Myriad Ghost Banner, releasing another large swarm of Netherworld Ghosts.
Li Mu was completely fearless, throwing out nearly a hundred High Grade First-Order Spiritual Charms; he hadn't had time to sell Spiritual Charms during this period, and his Storage Pouch contained a large number of Low Grade Spiritual Charms, which he could conveniently clear out in this battle.
Watching the Netherworld Ghost horde repeatedly annihilated in the spiritual light of the Spiritual Charms, Deng Fanwang trembled with rage; these Netherworld Ghosts were accumulated by him with countless efforts, yet the opponent's Spiritual Charms seemed endless.
Li Mu focused on several tasks at once, while scattering talismans to eliminate Netherworld Ghosts, his other hand was forming sword Formation incantations, remotely controlling the seven Second-Order Profound Iron Swords to attack Deng Fanwang, remotely setting up the Seven Stars Sword Formation.
Deng Fanwang, who was waving the Myriad Ghost Banner and releasing his Netherworld Ghost army, immediately realized something was wrong when he saw the seven Profound Iron Swords whistling and releasing Sword Qi; a look of panic appeared on his face, and he quickly shouted for help: “Old Nine Zhuang, stop fighting with those Puppets, he’s casting a sword Formation, quickly kill him.”
Hearing this, Zhuang Jiushi knocked a Battle Puppet away, looked up, and was startled.
Zhuang Jiushi flew up, abandoning the corpse horde, and charged furiously towards Li Mu.
“Die for me!”
Zhuang Jiushi extended a sharp claw, approaching with lightning speed, fiercely clawing at Li Mu, who was forming hand seals to remotely control the sword Formation.
Li Mu was completely fearless, showing no intention of dodging, looking at Zhuang Jiushi charging towards him; the next moment, he took out a third-order geng metal shield from his storage compartment and raised it defensively.
A giant golden shield, an acre in size, suddenly appeared before Zhuang Jiushi.
With a loud “boom”, Zhuang Jiushi’s unleashed Death Claw fiercely struck the Geng Metal Shield, and he was sent flying, all five of his fingers shattered and bleeding profusely.
Zhuang Jiushi fell to the ground, clutching his broken fingers, the pain radiating from his fingertips making his whole body tremble, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
“Old Nine Zhuang, quick, save me! Ah!” At this moment, Deng Fanwang’s cries for help suddenly came.
Zhuang Jiushi looked back and was immediately startled; seven sharp Second-Order Flying Swords surrounded Old Ghost Deng, releasing Sword Qi while repeatedly slashing at him.
Old Ghost Deng in the sword Formation was overwhelmed; in just a few moments, his spiritual shield was shattered, and his body was marked with numerous bloody gashes by countless Sword Qi.
Zhuang Jiushi glanced at the bronze corpses being ravaged by the Puppet horde, a hint of retreat flashed in his eyes, and he immediately turned to flee.
With a “swish,” a figure suddenly emerged from the ground, blocking his path; it was none other than the small Qi Refining Cultivator he had just disregarded.
“How can you be so disloyal! Abandoning your companion and leaving?” Li Mu looked at Zhuang Jiushi with a smile, taunting him.
As his voice fell, Li Mu’s open right hand suddenly clenched, and the next second, a dying scream immediately rang out.
Zhuang Jiushi looked back, only to see Old Ghost Deng kneeling on the ground, his body pierced through from all directions by seven Second-Order Flying Swords, his death extremely gruesome.
Zhuang Jiushi’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked back at the young man in front of him with fear: “Who exactly are you? Clearly...”
“Clearly only have Qi Refining cultivation, right? Is Qi Refining Stage easy to bully?” Li Mu interrupted Zhuang Jiushi, waved his right hand, and immediately seven Profound Iron Swords flew out from the corpse, swiftly circling around the two of them.
“Fellow Daoist, let’s talk this over...” Seeing the unfavorable situation, Zhuang Jiushi intended to surrender and make peace.
“You’ve damaged quite a few of my Puppets, what’s there to talk about with you?” Li Mu interrupted the other party, his figure flickered, escaping from the sword Formation, forming sword incantations with his hand, and swiftly setting up the Seven Stars Sword Formation to hunt him down.
Zhuang Jiushi naturally wouldn't sit idly by; he opened his corpse bag and released over a dozen Mystic Iron Corpses to act as meat shields against the Flying Swords, then gritted his teeth and released a half-finished Silver Armor Flying Corpse, which flew out of the sword Formation to attack Li Mu.
Li Mu frowned, his left hand condensed a golden spiritual essence, locking onto the Silver Armor Flying Corpse's trajectory, and a Gold Blade Technique was released.
With a “swish,” a golden blade flew away, and in the blink of an eye, the golden flying blade sliced across the Silver Armor Flying Corpse’s head.
With a “thud,” the Silver Armor Flying Corpse’s head was severed, separating from its body and falling to the ground; a large amount of white smoke emerged from its corpse, the Undead was destroyed, and its Yin power dissipated.
“No!”
Watching his only trump card so cleanly and decisively be cut down, Zhuang Jiushi cried out in despair, his face filled with disbelief, unable to believe that his Lifebound Silver Corpse, which he had painstakingly refined for most of his life, was just gone.
While Zhuang Jiushi was distracted, the seven Profound Iron Swords arrived one after another, piercing into his body one by one, making him truly live up to his name, completely turning him into a corpse.
Li Mu scanned the two corpses for a moment, confirming that they had both lost all signs of life, then retrieved the seven Profound Iron Swords.
Afterward, Li Mu began to clean up the battlefield, taking away both their Storage Pouches and Magical Artifacts, then cast a few Fire Incantations to ignite all the Undead on the ground and the two corpses.
He collected all the damaged Battle Puppets into his Storage Pouch; the Battle Puppets were too badly damaged, so he dug out their Puppet cores, and with a casual Incinerate spell, burned the Puppet remains.
Destroying the bodies and traces, and cleaning up the battlefield, Li Mu took out his spiritual boat and quickly flew away from this troubled place.
Not long after Li Mu flew away, another group of hunter Cultivators arrived.
Seeing the unrecognizable and brutal battlefield, each of them looked horrified, and upon seeing the ruins of the Thunder Gathering Array, the hunter Cultivators retreated one after another.
That night, news from Tianlong Peak spread throughout Qingshui Town.
A Foundation Establishment mighty figure had set up a Thunder Formation on Tianlong Peak, slaying two Foundation Establishment Corpse Cultivators, and no rare treasures had emerged, nor any Opportunities like a Yao King Undergoing Tribulation...
All of this, Li Mu was unaware of.
Upon returning to Green Dragon Valley, Li Mu systematically inventoried his post-battle gains, examining the Storage Pouches of the two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators.
【Myriad Ghost Banner】
【Grade: Third-Order Low Grade Spiritual Artifact】
【Characteristics: Controls myriad ghosts, nurtures Divine Soul, soul possession】
【Status: Owner's soul destroyed, artifact foundation damaged, missing Netherworld Ghosts.】
【A Myriad Ghost Banner refined with Third-Order Yin-Nourishing Wood, Chaos Beast hide, and Yin Silk, capable of containing myriad ghosts, refining Netherworld Ghosts, and protecting the nascent spirit.】
【Nine Soul Peck】
【Grade: Second-Order Spiritual Artifact.】
...
【soul nurturing urn】 containing a large number of living souls
【Corpse Nurturing Bag】 containing over a dozen unrefined corpses
Several Demonic Technique Legacy Cultivation Techniques: Golden Armor Corpse Refinement Art, Illusory Yin Soul Refinement Art, Five Ghosts Transporting Technique, Nine Transformations Corpse Claw, ...
...
The two Foundation Establishment Cultivators didn't have many Spirit Stones; combined, they amounted to just over two thousand medium spirit stones, less than one-fifth of Li Mu’s net worth. Such Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators were quite poor.
However, their Storage Pouches contained many venomous items, various poisons, Yin souls, and Materials for refining Undead, blood pills, and other such Materials, in considerable quantities.
What is this?
Li Mu unexpectedly found a High Grade, yet soon-to-be-scrapped Spiritual Artifact.
【Hundred Refinement Cauldron (Damaged)】
【Grade: Fourth-Order Spiritual Artifact】
【Characteristics: Gather insects to form Gu, fight to become spirits】
【Status: Blood Gu essence gradually fading, will be Waste in ten years.】
【A Gu cauldron refined with Fourth-Order Ferocious Spirit Wood Heart and Fifth-Order Dragon Blood Gu Body. One hundred insects can be refined into Gu, one thousand insects can transform into spirits. The Dragon Blood Gu essence has dissipated, leaving only one last chance for refinement.】
Li Mu looked at the small green cauldron in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed, pondering something.
This time, facing two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Li Mu truly used all his methods: Puppets, Spiritual Charms, and sword Formations were all employed, only then did he take them down. Although he hadn't used his full power yet, for example, the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome he just acquired, it was close enough.
Seeing this Gu refining cauldron, Li Mu immediately thought of another spiritual item that could serve as an unexpected trump card for confronting enemies.
Li Mu took an amber jade from his storage compartment.
Looking at the solidified Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly corpse within the amber jade, Li Mu frowned, deep in thought.
【Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly (Deceased)】
【Grade: Fourth-Order Yao Insect】
【Characteristics: Fatal illusion, soul absorption】
【Status: Mother butterfly's life force severed, carrying a thousand eggs.】
【Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly, a Fourth-Order Yao Insect, an illusory creature, feeds on souls. The mother's life force is severed, and the thousand insect eggs it carries are in a state of suspended animation. After unsealing, injecting a large amount of living souls can help them hatch.】
Unsealing the amber jade would yield the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly's corpse and a thousand illusionary butterfly eggs. Refining these eggs within this cauldron would result in a spirit-transforming Gu insect.
Raising a swarm of illusionary butterfly Yao Insects would require specially finding food for them, which was too troublesome. Li Mu didn’t have that time. However, if he only raised one spirit-transforming Gu insect, it should be much easier, and it would also provide an additional means of defense, which was very suitable.
Li Mu's heart stirred. Coincidentally, among the spoils from the Profound Yin Sect Disciple, there was a 【soul nurturing urn】 containing a large number of living souls, which could be used to stimulate the hatching of the insect eggs.
The only trouble was that before this, Li Mu needed to first learn an Insect Control Dao.
Li Mu put the Hundred Refinement Cauldron, amber jade, and soul nurturing urn all into a Storage Pouch, planning to ask Manager Wang to help him find an Insect Scripture to learn next time he went to Wanbao Pavilion.
After quickly inventorying the spoils from the two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators, he put some poisonous, undesirable items into a dilapidated small Storage Pouch to dispose of later, and kept other valuable items.
Li Mu solemnly took out the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome from his storage compartment, invested his Divine Sense, and began to refine the thunder tome.
“Sizzle sizzle” electric sparks flashed wildly in the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome in Li Mu’s hand, as if resisting the fate of being refined. However, without a tool spirit, this resistance was destined to be futile.
Li Mu’s mind felt a slight numbness, as streaks of blue thunder intent were transmitted into his Sea of Consciousness, his Divine Soul surged, and he clearly felt the world-destroying thunder intent.
Li Mu’s expression changed slightly, feeling the danger of refining the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome.
However, at this point, the arrow was on the string, and it had to be loosed.
Li Mu could only exert all his Divine Sense power, enduring the fear of the world-destroying thunder intent, suppressing the thunder tome's resistance. At this moment, he could not stop the refinement; once he stopped, the thunder tome would counterattack, and the thunder spiritual power would invade his Sea of Consciousness, instantly destroying his Sea of Consciousness and causing his Divine Soul to perish.
In the midst of the perilous confrontation, Li Mu ultimately relied on his understanding of talisman crafting, artifact patterns, and Formations, carefully and cautiously avoiding the thunder tome's complex thunder pattern artifact array, successfully invading the core artifact array of the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome with his Divine Sense. Without a tool spirit, he successfully refined the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome.
The Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome was successfully refined. The next moment, powerful thunder spiritual electric snakes rapidly retracted into the beast skin book. The Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome immediately transformed into an ordinary blue beast skin book, presenting to Li Mu complete and powerful High Grade thunder talisman patterns.
The complete Five-Order Thunder Talisman Legacy, from First-Order Thunder Essence Talisman, Thunder Dispelling Talisman, Second-Order Thunder Escape Talisman, Thunder Explosion Talisman, Third-Order Five Ding Summoning Thunder Talisman, Thunder Essence Shield Body Talisman, True Yang Fire Thunder Talisman, Purple Heaven Thunder Escape Talisman, Fourth-Order: Blazing Flame Thousand Thunder Talisman, Sky escape Thunder Wings Talisman, Fifth-Order: Imprisoning Thunder Prison Talisman, Purple Heaven Myriad Thunder Talisman, were all presented within the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome.
Li Mu’s eyes lit up, overjoyed.
This Five-Order Thunder Spirit Talisman Tome not only records various thunder talismans from low to High Grades, but it is also a Talisman Control Spiritual Artifact. Controlling it to release Spiritual Charms can greatly enhance their power and release range.
Flipping through the talisman tome and looking at the requirements for Spiritual Charms Drawing, the joy on Li Mu’s face gradually faded. While High Grade Spiritual Charms were indeed powerful, the talisman skin, brush, and ink used also had extremely high requirements.
Relying on Wanbao Pavilion's ability to collect spiritual items, Li Mu could probably only draw Third-Order Spiritual Charms for now. As for Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Thunder Talismans, he would have to see if he had the Opportunity to hunt High Grade thunder-type Yao Beasts.