Chapter 32: How Could This Be?

Although the deceased Dominator had given him fifty million cubes, he had left ten million cubes in the Three Realms! The Three Realms, after all, also needed to develop. And what he had obtained from the Qingfeng Saint Lord was mainly used to cultivate a dharma body.

Ji Ning now had just over thirty-three million cubes of chaos liquid and chaos gems.

Moreover, Su Youji and Danbao also wanted to buy some treasures this time, so Ji Ning was still quite short. He had to rely on the 'Voidfire Netherstone Ore'.

"Voidfire Netherstone Ore? Our Feiyu Tower certainly accepts it. Come with me. For appraising and purchasing curios and treasures, our Feiyu Tower has specialized Daoists." The silver-robed Daoist said.

"Mm."

Ji Ning followed the silver-robed Daoist, heading deeper into Feiyu Tower.

On a wide corridor.

Ji Ning and the silver-robed Daoist walked side by side. At that moment, a thin, gray-robed man approached from the far end of the corridor, glanced at the two of them, and walked past.

...

The thin, gray-robed man walked out of Feiyu Tower, a flicker of greed in his eyes.

"That Second Step Daoist was led to the restricted area of Feiyu Tower?" The thin, gray-robed man pondered. "That's where they appraise and purchase treasures and curios, and usually only for items worth over ten million cubes."

He had visited Feiyu Tower many times, so he could deduce this.

"I never expected a mere Second Step Daoist to possess treasures worth over ten million cubes." The thin, gray-robed man narrowed his eyes, his heart filled with intense greed and murderous intent. "I have followed my master for so long, ventured to many places, and my treasures total only a few million cubes. If I kill him, all his treasures will be mine."

"But since he has treasures worth over ten million cubes, he must have had a great opportunity."

"To kill or not?"

The thin, gray-robed man pondered.

After a moment of thought.

He made up his mind.

"The path of cultivation is a path of life and death. I am a Third Step Daoist, and he is only a Second Step Daoist. No matter how strong he is, how far can he go?"

"Kill."

"If I win, all the treasures are mine."

"If I lose, I believe I have the means to escape." The thin, gray-robed man calculated secretly. In his view, even if that Second Step Daoist was extremely monstrous, everything was within his calculations.

The thin, gray-robed man then flew toward a palace on a cloud not far away, planning to keep watch from a distance.

He didn't intend to ask anyone for help, because if he asked a weaker Daoist, it would be useless; if he asked a stronger one, he would probably have to give up most of the spoils. He was unwilling to do that.

Such is cultivation.

Some cultivators focus solely on the Dao and venture to train.

But others prefer to plunder from other cultivators. After all, plundering is the fastest way to obtain treasures, but this path is also very dangerous, because the target of plunder might have some terrifying killing move. Thus, there are gains and losses. Because of the enormous benefits of 'plundering', many Daoists are still willing to do it.

As long as they succeed once, the harvest is usually astonishing.

There are also some who can keep their original heart and refrain from killing and plundering. Ji Ning is one of them. If other Daoists don't provoke him, he won't actively provoke others.

...

Ji Ning was not yet aware that he had been targeted. He happily sold the Voidfire Netherstone Ore for nine million two hundred thousand cubes.

He also bought what Danbao and Su Youji needed.

"With this 'Heart Conch,' my strength can greatly increase." Su Youji was very pleased, holding a white sound conch treasure, then looked at Ji Ning. "Thank you, master."

"Hehehe." Danbao was also grinning beside her.

Ji Ning was both happy and helpless.

That 'Heart Conch' was extremely powerful and very suitable for Su Youji's path of charm, but it cost as much as five million eight hundred thousand cubes. Su Youji had hesitated for a long time beside the Heart Conch. She wanted to buy it, but Ji Ning had only said 'under five million cubes' before. It was only after Ji Ning bought the curios needed for the nine secret arts and saw this scene that he said he would buy it for her.

Danbao also bought a cauldron and some refining materials, costing over two million cubes.

"Alas, I only have a few hundred thousand cubes left." Ji Ning sighed inwardly. No matter how much he had, it was never enough.

He had also coveted the Heartsword Emperor's 'Heartsword Art,' but it was too expensive, far more so than the nine secret arts, and he simply couldn't afford it. Besides, he had already obtained the first ten stances of the 'Heartsword Art.' The value of the 'Heartsword Art' lay in the profound combination of heartforce and swordsmanship. The first ten stances were enough for Ji Ning to study for a long time, and since he hadn't yet become a heartforce cultivator, there was no rush.

In the future, as he grew stronger on the path of cultivation, the heartforce stream and swordsmanship would definitely need to be perfectly combined for his strength to increase further. The 'Heartsword Art' would eventually have to be obtained.

"Time to go." Ji Ning urged with a smile.

"Mm." Su Youji held the Heart Conch, very happy.

"Master, where are we going?" Danbao asked.

"First, we'll borrow a cave from the Tianmu Sect." Ji Ning said. Tianmu City had over a hundred thousand caves, available for cultivators to stay in for a cost of chaos liquid. The cost of just staying was very small. Ji Ning had a few hundred thousand cubes of chaos liquid, enough to stay for ten chaos cycles, let alone just borrowing a cave to cultivate the nine secret arts in an absolutely safe environment.

With the secret arts and curios in hand, it was time to cultivate the nine secret arts!

...

"He's out." At the edge of another palace in the distance, the thin, gray-robed man was staring at Feiyu Tower from afar.

At that moment, Ji Ning and his two companions had just left Feiyu Tower, all wearing smiles, chatting and riding a cloud as they flew. Ji Ning was indeed happy at this moment, because he had come all the way to Tianmu City specifically for the nine secret arts! Although he had spent most of his chaos liquid, everything that needed to be done was done.

"Hm?" Ji Ning frowned slightly.

Because a thin, gray-robed Daoist in the distance was flying toward him. It was normal to encounter Daoists in the holy city of Tianmu City, but what made Ji Ning alert was that this thin, gray-robed Daoist was the same one he had encountered in Feiyu Tower earlier.

Though alert on the inside, he continued flying with Su Youji and Danbao as if nothing was wrong.

"Boom!"

Very abruptly, black mist spread out, thick and impenetrable to the naked eye, instantly covering an area of tens of thousands of miles. At the same time, an invisible force acted on Ji Ning. Because Ji Ning, upon noticing the black mist, immediately put Su Youji and Danbao into his cave heaven treasure.

This invisible force directly stirred Ji Ning's soul. If it were an ordinary Second Step Daoist, they would have fallen for it, but unfortunately, it was facing Ji Ning.

"Stirring the soul? Even Youji's methods are better than this." Although Ji Ning didn't care much, he still went all out.

Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

"Die." The thin, gray-robed man manifested six arms, holding six curved blades that howled as they tore through the void, slashing directly at Ji Ning.

The void around Ji Ning began to shatter, filled with blade light.

"Using secret arts to confuse my mind and close combat at the same time. Ruthless enough." Ji Ning extended his right hand, and a Northbow sword appeared in it.

"Break."

Ji Ning thrust his sword.

It seemed like an ordinary thrust, but the blade light that the thin, gray-robed man had struck first hadn't even reached Ji Ning when Ji Ning's sword had already pierced his brow!

Fast.

Unimaginably fast.

The Ultimate Sword Dao's Blood Drop! Ji Ning had only made a breakthrough in the Blood Drop sword intent among the five supreme daos, so the Ultimate Sword Dao's 'Blood Drop' was the most powerful when executed, slightly stronger than when he fought the Qingfeng Saint Lord. It was very close in power to the Qingfeng Saint Lord's killing move.

"How... how is this possible..." A look of shock flashed in the thin, gray-robed man's eyes. How could his six blades not even touch Ji Ning's sword? How could it be so fast?

"Bang!"

The Blood Drop sword's penetrating power directly transmitted into the thin, gray-robed man's body, instantly shaking his body into dust and annihilating it, killing him on the spot. It should be noted that the Qingfeng Saint Lord's killing move could directly kill a Fourth Step Daoist, and Ji Ning's sword was not far off in power.

"I didn't expect to be attacked as soon as I left Feiyu Tower." Ji Ning waved his hand and collected the treasures left by the thin, gray-robed man. "Treasures move people's hearts, and cultivators are no exception."

"Boom—"

Suddenly, from the direction of the over a hundred thousand caves in the distance, a terrifying black mist shot up from one of the caves.

Ji Ning looked from afar. In the black mist, a pair of eyes faintly visible looked at him, filled with killing intent.

"Freeze."

An invisible wave instantly spread out.

Although it was very far away, the space where Ji Ning stood instantly became completely frozen.

Ji Ning immediately sensed a terrifying threat from the unseen, no less than the Eternal Emperor he had encountered in the Blueflower Cave. His heart trembled, and he realized something was wrong. He vaguely guessed that the Third Step Daoist he had just killed was somehow connected to this terrifying powerful being.

"How could this be!" Ji Ning, who had been in an excellent mood, immediately changed expression drastically.

"Dodge."

Ji Ning, disregarding everything else, turned into a streak of light, accelerating to ten times the speed of light, charging toward the nearest Feiyu Tower.

...