Longzang

Chapter 204 The Tycoon
The storm from the explosion was still spreading in all directions when Wei Yuan quietly appeared a short distance away, just in time to meet the two witches who had been blown away.

Wei Yuan wielded a pair of long cauldrons and slammed them down at the priestess. A pair of butterfly-shaped short blades appeared before the priestess, blocking the cauldrons. The short blades possessed exceptionally powerful magic; upon impact, they forced Wei Yuan back, leaving two deep marks on the cauldrons before flying back and circling the priestess.

These short blades are of extremely high quality, at least two major levels higher than Wei Yuan's twin cauldrons. If the twin cauldrons hadn't been exceptionally thick, they might have been cut in two by the blades.

However, the instant Wei Yuan turned from advancing to retreating, the two cauldrons pointed at the witch, and the Dao power mixed in the cauldrons suddenly erupted, and two four-story pagodas suddenly blasted towards the witch!
The attack came suddenly and with tremendous power. The priestess was already blasted into the air; this further blow would likely leave her in grave danger.

Just then, the young wizard suddenly appeared in the witch's position, and the two switched places in an instant!

The small tower relentlessly shattered large sections of the young wizard's body, severing his shoulder, arm, and thigh. In this realm, Wei Yuan's attack wouldn't have been so powerful, but this was the Netherworld, where everyone operated in spirit form. In terms of spirit strength alone, Wei Yuan had never encountered an opponent of his rank.

Although his attack struck the wizard, it didn't matter to Wei Yuan who he hit. He suddenly wielded an extra-long immortal sword, its blade igniting with a white-gold flame, and slashed down at the wizard's head once more!
The witch darted past like a swallow, scooped up the sorcerer, and narrowly escaped from Wei Yuan's sword.

Another long cauldron appeared in Wei Yuan's hand, tucked under his arm with its mouth facing backward. Although the witch was fast, Wei Yuan felt that with the addition of a propulsion cauldron, he was not slow either.

However, two butterfly-shaped short blades reappeared, silently slashing towards Wei Yuan's lower body.

Wei Yuan was taken aback, and had to turn his longsword downwards, deflecting the double blades. This time, moonfire ignited on the longsword, and Wei Yuan immediately felt that the double blades were slightly weaker and much easier to deal with.

The twin blades briefly blocked Wei Yuan's path before flying away, quickly becoming transparent and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

But Wei Yuan had experienced countless life-and-death battles and reacted extremely quickly, striking a short blade with a backhand slash! With a clear clang, Wei Yuan's immortal sword broke in two.

The immortal sword shattered, and Wei Yuan's primordial spirit felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, but this pain was negligible to him. The butterfly-shaped dagger that had been struck sank, its blade stained with a speck of platinum flame, and it slowed down for a moment. This slight delay was fatal; before it could disappear, an ancient bell suddenly descended from the sky, covering it beneath. Immediately afterward, a golden cauldron appeared below, and the bell, along with the dagger, fell into the cauldron.

The short blade spun wildly, striking the ancient bell countless times in an instant, cutting it into pieces in the blink of an eye.

But instead of freedom, it was met with seven or eight layers of ancient bells and cauldrons. Wei Yuan reached out and grabbed them all, including the short blade, and pulled them into his Dao Foundation.

A faint, angry shout from the witch could be heard in the distance, but Wei Yuan couldn't understand it.

Wei Yuan put away the markings he had set up and stopped chasing. Instead, he flew off in the opposite direction from the witch. A moment later, he arrived at a valley full of strange rocks. He looked around and was quite satisfied with the place. He then began to dig a pit, and in the blink of an eye, a bottomless pit appeared in the ground.

After a short while, Wei Yuan emerged from the pit, carefully restored the opening, and then set up an array. Having done this, Wei Yuan returned to his own realm.

A moment later, the witch appeared where Wei Yuan had disappeared. Her eyes were filled with hatred, but she did not immediately break the formation. Instead, she carefully searched the surroundings to make sure there were no hidden marks before coming to the front of the formation.

With the help of that special magical artifact, she confirmed that the mark left by Wei Yuan was here.

The priestess reached out and touched the array, and a text appeared before her:
There is a cage containing several chickens and rabbits...

"How utterly unoriginal!" The witch gritted her teeth in anger, reached out and pointed directly at the entrance of the formation, randomly entered a number, and then reappeared a hundred feet away.

A blazing white orb of light slowly rose, illuminating the surrounding area for hundreds of feet as if it were daytime. The witch had already used her magic to protect her eyes the moment the white light appeared, and simply watched with a cold smile as the orb of light futilely illuminated the surroundings.

However, after the flash of white light, there was no explosion; instead, a wisp of blue smoke rose, and then nothing more happened.

What's going on? The priestess cautiously approached, carefully observing everything happening within the formation, preparing to dodge at the first sign of an eruption of power.

Just as she was fully focused, another white light suddenly rose from the formation! This was too sudden, and the priestess screamed, her eyes closed tightly, and tears streamed down her face.

However, at the same time the white light appeared, she had already flashed hundreds of feet away, enough to avoid the following explosion.

But only a wisp of green smoke rose from the formation, and then there was no further movement.

The witch's eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the array from afar, her teeth clenched in hatred. After waiting a while longer, and still seeing no movement from within the array, she flew over and discovered that only a tiny bit of Dao power remained, not even enough to launch another ball of light.

The priestess was already burning with rage and was ready to stomp the formation apart. But at the crucial moment, she calmed down, took out a short sword, and threw it into the formation.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot into the sky from within the formation, followed by a violent explosion! The aftershocks of the explosion forced the priestess to take several steps back before she could regain her footing.

She was both shocked and furious. This person was indeed treacherous; the last bit of Dao power remaining in the formation was actually used to activate the next formation. The explosive formation was set beneath this one. If she accidentally entered the cave, she would be caught in the next explosion, and would at least be seriously injured.

After the explosion, the site was a complete mess, leaving only a large crater, scorched earth and residual Dao energy everywhere, and the mark had long since disappeared.

The witch now finally understood that the man must have also discovered her ability to find the mark he left behind, and thus set this trap. As for the real mark, it must be hidden in a secret place, probably far away from here.

The priestess pondered for a moment, then continued flying in the direction she had come from. Since that person was so cunning, they had likely hidden the mark further away in this direction. If she discovered this false mark first when she arrived, she would probably change direction and miss the real mark. The priestess, however, insisted on searching in this direction.

She flew away into the distance and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Half an hour later, she returned to the same spot.

She had flown quite a distance but found no trace of the trail, so she had to return to her starting point and search in a different direction. However, after several fruitless attempts, she finally had to give up.

Having completed two hours of exploration and returned to his original realm, Wei Yuan now found a small mountain of earth and rocks in his Dao Foundation. These were all dug out by him with great effort and moved to his Dao Foundation.

Beside the mound of earth, there was a large cauldron with an ancient bell inside, which occasionally emitted muffled clanging sounds.

With such a large pile of Netherworld Soil, the surrounding temperature dropped considerably, so Wei Yuan didn't dare place it next to Jade Mountain, but instead placed it a thousand feet away.

This pile of earth and rocks weighed approximately several hundred thousand jin. At the price of one tael of immortal silver and one qian of silver in the Taichu Palace, it was worth tens of millions of taels of immortal silver. Looking at this huge pile of earth and rocks, Wei Yuan suddenly felt incredibly wealthy; the debt that had troubled him for years had unexpectedly been resolved.

At this moment, Wei Yuan felt proud of his land and could be called a nouveau riche.

However, Wei Yuan knew this was just wishful thinking. Even if the Netherworld Soil could be delivered to the Primordial Palace, such a large quantity would inevitably cause the price to plummet, perhaps ending up at one or two taels of immortal silver per hundred catties, or even lower. At that point, digging the soil would truly be manual labor, earning him only the meager wages of a laborer.

The uses of the Netherworld may be limited, but the demand for the power of eternal silence, a kind of primordial energy of heaven and earth, is almost inexhaustible. If all else fails, it can be placed in the Dao Foundation and slowly diffused, gradually being transformed into a part of the vast rivers and mountains, becoming part of Wei Yuan's cultivation.

Wei Yuan had another important matter to attend to, so he left his sea of ​​consciousness, summoned his senior sister and master, and then carefully materialized a butterfly dagger.

The short blade flashed out and slashed towards Wei Yuan's lower body!
Zhang Sheng reached out and grabbed the short blade, stopping the fatal blow. Wei Yuan's face was grim; he had clearly felt a chill between his legs, and the short blade's target was obvious.

Wei Yuan composed himself and said, "This sword was taken from an opponent in the Netherworld. It is unruly but quite extraordinary, so I ask you, Master and Senior Sister, to take a look. If you can keep it, then keep it; if not, then put it back into the furnace."

Zhang Sheng scanned it with his divine sense and said, "This knife is full of spiritual energy, a magical artifact that has been nurtured for many years. However, I feel that its spiritual energy is biased to one extreme. There should be another one that matches it, right?"

Wei Yuan quickly said, "Teacher's eyes are sharp. These knives are indeed a pair, but the other one has run away."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said, "After being split, the power and value of the two blades are greatly reduced. Next time you encounter them, the other blade should not pose much of a threat to you. However, this blade has the ability to traverse the netherworld, which is a bit troublesome. I will teach you a technique in a moment. Using the Immortal Sword Li Shang to wield this technique will greatly reduce the speed of this blade for a short period of time, allowing you to deal with it with ease."

Speaking of the Legend of Sword and Fairy: Parting Sorrow, Zhang Sheng glanced at Wei Yuan, seemingly unintentionally. Wei Yuan, feeling guilty, quickly lowered his head. Fortunately, Zhang Sheng didn't say anything more.

In reality, the differences between "The Legend of Sword and Fairy: Parting Sorrow" and "The Legend of Sword and Fairy: Sorrow" are merely in their respective realms of understanding; their underlying essence remains the same. Therefore, Wei Yuan may lack natural talent, but it cannot be said that he didn't work hard.

After Zhang Sheng appraised it, he handed the short blade to Ji Liuli. Ji Liuli examined it for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Was this blade originally owned by a woman?"

Wei Yuan was taken aback. Why had they suddenly brought this up? He nodded. The priestess was quite obvious; she was likely female.

Ji Liuli continued, "The spirit of this knife is clearly imprinted with the original owner's last wisp of obsession, wanting to cut and chop a certain part of you to pieces."

Zhang Sheng looked up and calmly glanced at Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Ji Liuli smiled meaningfully, not continuing the topic, but said, "Now you have three choices. One is to erase the spiritual memory in this blade and nurture it anew. Doing so will greatly damage the spirituality of this blade, which would mean that the hard work of the past ten years would be wasted. But you will also have obtained a magical treasure with spirituality ahead of time. With the quality of this short blade, it is rare even among Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators."

"Secondly, we need to find a way to subdue it and make it recognize us as its master. The advantage is that its power can be fully preserved, but the disadvantage is that whether it can recognize us as its master depends entirely on fate."

"Thirdly, it can be used as bait. I can erase its memories from this period and then imprint a tracking array inside. After you return to the Netherworld, release it, and it will fly back to its original owner on its own, essentially guiding you."

Wei Yuan initially thought the third method was the best, but then he thought that this way of pointing the way would most likely lead to some kind of ghostly witch's kingdom, wouldn't that be walking into a trap?
After a moment's thought, he said, "Senior Sister, could you do this? You erase this part of its memory, and then imprint a powerful control array, just enough to give me a brief moment of control. After I return to the Netherworld, I'll release it and let it wander around. It will most likely attract the original owner and the other short blade. Then I'll control it to suddenly attack. Even if I can't kill the original owner, I can still seize the other short blade."

“That’s easy. I’ll add a binding array to bind the two blades together as soon as they touch, so they can’t be separated for a short time. That way, you two can each control one blade, and those short blades won’t be able to move.”

Zhang Sheng flicked out a wisp of faint sword intent, which entered Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, and said, "I will give you another wisp of the Parting Sorrow Sword Intent. You don't need to use your own. This way, you can be completely safe."

The short blade, which had been listening nearby, suddenly began to throb violently and whimper, as if trying to break through the air and escape!

But now it was in Ji Liuli's hand, and when Ji Liuli slapped it, it immediately fell silent.

(End of this chapter)