Chapter Twenty-Eight: Unexpected Developments

At that moment, Feng Lilin was startled, sensing danger. He turned to flee, but was immediately rebounded by the formation, landing right in front of Ge Qian.

Such an opportunity, Ge Qian would never let slip. He clenched his fist with one hand, unleashing a roaring wave strike, his punch carrying fierce force directly onto Feng Lilin’s dantian.

Feng Lilin felt a heavy, overwhelming power shatter his dantian in an instant, the residual force surging through his limbs and meridians, breaking them apart. Blood mist sprayed from every pore, his body collapsing limply to the ground.

A red ball of light, flustered and frantic, shot out from Feng Lilin’s forehead, rushing straight toward Ge Qian. With a wave of his hand, Ge Qian summoned the Demon Gourd, which spat out a cloud of demon mist, enveloping Feng Lilin’s soul and drawing it into the gourd.

Ge Qian walked over and collected the storage pouch, then tapped the Demon Gourd again.

The demon markings flashed rapidly, faint screams from Feng Lilin echoing within, and suddenly another wave of demon mist sprayed out, absorbing the corpse from the ground.

The Demon Gourd shrank swiftly, landing in Ge Qian’s palm, and he casually placed it into his own storage pouch, then absorbed the lingering demonic energy into his abdomen.

After everything was dealt with, the scenery shifted and returned to its original state. Ge Qian had calculated beforehand, using only a single inferior spirit stone to supply the formation with spiritual energy—enough to last for one hour. Now, with the energy depleted, the formation lost its power.

Ge Qian looked around but found nothing amiss, then cast Wind Control Technique to swiftly return to the medicinal garden.

Upon arriving, he dove into his cave dwelling, his heart uneasy. The one he had slain was Elder Feng’s son; the sect would surely not let this go and would investigate thoroughly.

Bai Ruyu was about to enter seclusion, and when she emerged, the matter would already be past. As for Ma Jun and the others, they would never leak the secret—they wouldn’t risk harming themselves, especially since Ma Jun was the most suspicious. Everyone heard his threatening words before leaving.

Once he understood everything, Ge Qian finally relaxed. He sat cross-legged and took out Feng Lilin’s storage pouch, pouring out its contents.

A middle-grade magical artifact, Fire Spirit Hook, which Ge Qian quite liked, but it was too conspicuous a stolen item. He’d have to exchange it for spirit stones and buy other artifacts instead.

There were also two ordinary inferior flying swords, which he already owned; they too would be sold. A few jade slips—one containing Feng Lilin’s main cultivation method, Extinguishing Fire Technique, which was useless to Ge Qian. Another recorded his cultivation insights, which would be quite helpful. There were five fireball talismans, very useful to Ge Qian, three bottles of Bone-Washing Pills, eighty inferior spirit stones, dozens of spirit herbs. After sorting, he could barely refine a batch of Bone-Washing Pills and a batch of Demon Spirit Pills, matching the formula given by the little fox.

To Ge Qian, this was a windfall, and he thought to himself that the brat truly lived up to being an elder’s son, possessing valuable items.

Once everything was sorted—what he could use, what needed to be sold lest it bring trouble—he placed the sellable items in a storage pouch, keeping the rest close at hand.

Seeing that dawn was approaching, Ge Qian silently recited the Nameless Heart Sutra, rested briefly, and then left his cave dwelling.

By now, the little white fox was already busy, meticulously tending the vast medicinal garden. Without her, Ge Qian wouldn’t have the time to refine pills or cultivate.

Ge Qian nodded in appreciation, thinking that once things settled, he would refine a batch of Demon Spirit Pills as a reward for her.

With this in mind, he didn’t linger. Taking out his token to activate the formation, he left the medicinal garden, heading straight for the market on the rear mountain.

Today, the market was especially lively. Hong Mei, Lu Xin, and several of their followers surrounded her. Some low-level disciples, seeing such a scene, didn’t display their wares, knowing trouble was brewing—if Senior Brother Lu fancied their treasures, they’d lose everything.

One by one, they came to greet Senior Sister Hong Mei and Senior Brother Lu Xin.

At this moment, a tall, plain-looking youth approached at a steady pace.

A thin-necked cultivator at the third level of Qi Gathering, sharp-eyed and quick-tongued, remarked, “Lu Senior Brother, look! That useless one is here, boasting to the skies that he can refine pills. I want to see if he can produce any medicine!”

“If he’s bluffing and deceiving Senior Sister Hong Mei, I’ll skin him alive.”

“Miao Ba, get lost! You have no place to speak here. Everything is up to Senior Sister Hong.” The speaker was Zhao Wei, a burly man with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, at the fifth level of Qi Gathering.

Lu Xin was pleased with these words, as it put everything on Hong Mei, keeping him out of any trouble.

Miao Ba’s face flushed and paled repeatedly, cursing Zhao Wei’s ancestors inwardly, but pretended to be unconcerned and retreated awkwardly to the side.

Someone murmured, “Watch, that useless one is in for trouble.”

“I agree, looks like there’ll be drama.”

While everyone whispered among themselves, Ge Qian approached Hong Mei and Lu Xin with a calm expression.

He smiled lightly and cupped his hands. “Senior Brother Lu, Senior Sister Hong, greetings. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Lu Xin snorted coldly. “I have no time to wait for a useless one. I’m waiting for Junior Sister Hong.”

Everyone laughed. Miao Ba laughed the hardest, his thin neck trembling comically.

Hong Mei raised her elegant brows. “Ge Qian, so many days have passed. You should have finished refining the pills, right?”

Ge Qian replied unhurriedly, “Rest assured, Senior Sister. Water Spirit Pills are not beyond me. Give me a moment, and I’ll hand them over.”

Zhao Wei stepped forward, coldly. “You didn’t ruin Senior Sister’s herbs, did you? Stalling for time here—no way. Hurry up, or don’t blame me for being rude.”

“Yeah, hand them over!”

“If you can’t, we’ll beat you up!”

Everyone chimed in, adding fuel to the fire, belittling Ge Qian to flatter Lu Xin and Hong Mei.

Then, a fierce whistling filled the air, the sound unending, as over a dozen cultivators arrived riding swords. At the forefront was a woman in snow-white robes, her jet-black hair dancing in the win