Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

"You're asking for it, aren't you?" Lin Ran sheathed his Swift Swallow Sword, crossed his arms, and said confidently, "Just because I can't do anything to you doesn't mean I can't attack your blood sacrifice formation."

Lu Wangchuan's expression changed slightly: "You dare!"

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Lu Wangchuan was silent for a moment, then his tone softened slightly: "I don't have time to wait for you to start mining the spirit ore. Once I break through to the Void Refinement stage and detonate the vein, any remaining spirit stones are yours."

"Then what conditions should I discuss with you?" Lin Ran scoffed.

The voice of the Lord of Xuan Chen resounded in his mind: "Don't trust him. If he breaks through to the Void Refinement stage, he'll probably wipe us out the moment he sees us!"

"Of course I know," Lin Ran said gravely. "This is not a good situation."

They couldn't win in a fight, but they couldn't bear to give up the spirit stone mine.

Continuing to drag this out is not a solution.

"If you refuse, then I will have no choice but to kill you here!" Lu Wangchuan's tone turned cold.

"If you had the ability to kill me, why would you be arguing with me?" Lin Ran shrugged.

Lu Wangchuan's face darkened: "This brat is arrogant!"

"Actually, I'm quite curious," Lin Ran suddenly changed the subject, "Does the entrance to the upper realm require the detonation of spiritual veins to open?"

"Hmph, as a true disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, you wouldn't know these things? Your identity as a member of the Heavenly Sword Sect is fake, isn't it?"

"Cough cough cough...that's not important. Tell me in detail, what if I can offer another solution?"

While stalling for time, Lin Ran pondered a way to break the deadlock.

If you can't win head-on, you have to win by surprise.

Lu Wangchuan stared at him for a moment, then slowly said, "This world is completely isolated from the heavens and earth; the highest level one can cultivate to is the Nascent Soul Realm. To travel to the Upper Realm, one must use external force to break open a spatial passage."

He paused, then continued, "The five major sects have ascension formations that require a million high-grade spirit stones to provide spiritual power, and several Nascent Soul cultivators to activate the formation before the entrance to the upper realm can be opened."

"Moreover, each time the formation is activated, only one person is allowed to pass through, which is very costly."

"The spatial turbulence in the heart of the demon realm can also reach the upper realm. However, generally only demons at the peak of the ninth rank are capable of resisting the gales within the spatial turbulence."

"Although the Qingxuan Sect occupies the Qingxuan Mountain Range, it is extremely barren. I simply cannot afford a million high-grade spirit stones, let alone have the extra resources to invite other Nascent Soul cultivators to help me."

Lu Wangchuan's tone was full of resentment: "That's why I've been trapped in the Nascent Soul Realm for thousands of years, and my lifespan is about to end..."

"So you came up with this abstract method?"

Lin Ran continued, "On one hand, he sacrificed his fellow disciples to forcibly break through his cultivation level, and on the other hand, he detonated his spiritual veins to open a spatial passage using the breakthrough as an opportunity?"

"That's right, exactly!" Lu Wangchuan readily admitted.

"This spiritual vein has such abundant spiritual energy, yet it can't be mined for a million high-grade spirit stones?"

"Naive." Lu Wangchuan sneered, "This mine can only yield tens of millions of low-grade spirit stones at most, and perhaps some mid-grade spirit stones as well. As for high-grade spirit stones, it's uncertain whether there will be any at all."

"That's a big difference?" Lin Ran clicked his tongue. "It seems that high-grade spirit stones are indeed a scarce resource."

"I've said what I needed to say. Are you going to agree or not?"

"Of course I won't agree!"

"You're asking for death!" Lu Wangchuan's anger surged.

"Look at you, so impatient." Lin Ran waved his hand. "Although I can't agree to your conditions, I can give you an idea."

Lu Wangchuan suppressed his anger: "What ideas could you possibly have?"

"Can't we still borrow a route from the demon race?"

"Hmph!" Lu Wangchuan sneered, "The spatial turbulence in the heart of the demon realm is not something a Nascent Soul cultivator can withstand!"

"A Nascent Soul cultivator won't do." Lin Ran held up one finger. "After you sacrifice them, you can break through to the Void Refinement stage, right? You can't possibly break through to the Void Refinement stage and still be inferior to those ninth-tier demon saints, can you?"

Lu Wangchuan was slightly taken aback.

He hadn't thought of that approach.

The original plan was to sacrifice his fellow disciples to break through to the Void Refinement stage, and then use the lightning tribulation to detonate the mineral vein and forcibly open the spatial passage.

However, they never considered that after breaking through to the Void Refinement stage, they could easily use the demon race as a means of passage, and there was no need to detonate the mine.

"This method is feasible."

Lu Wangchuan remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Fine. If you don't interfere anymore, what can I do if I leave this entire mine to you?"

"Is this really true?" Lin Ran asked with delight.

"Why would I deceive a junior like you?"

Lin Ran thought to himself, "You've ruined the entire Qingxuan Sect, what credibility do you have left?"

However, on the surface, he still agreed: "Okay, I'll stay away now. Please do as you please, senior!"

"That's excellent."

Lin Ran slowly stepped back, with the three spirit beasts following beside him.

"Do you really believe him?" Li Zhu Wanwan transmitted her voice.

"Don't worry, I have another trick up my sleeve!"

The golden void slowly dissipated, and the domain was reclaimed.

Lu Wangchuan activated the Blood Sacrifice Array once again.

The array patterns on the ground lit up again, and streams of blood energy were forcibly extracted from the heavily injured cultivators, converging into crimson streams that surged towards Lu Wangchuan.

Wan Chongqiu struggled to get up, but the array patterns pressed him firmly to the ground.

"Lu Wangchuan! You'll die a horrible death!"

"You've done so many evil deeds, you'll get your comeuppance sooner or later!"

"Even if I become a vengeful ghost, I will not let you go!"

Lu Wangchuan ignored him and continued to activate the formation.

Lin Ran stood at a distance, his expression calm.

His gaze passed over Lu Wangchuan and landed on the faintly visible spiritual vein deep within the mine.

"It's about time to make a move."

Lu Wangchuan was fully focused on activating the Blood Sacrifice Array, completely unaware of Lin Ran's movements.

Taking advantage of this moment, the demon-revealing mirror between Lin Ran's brows suddenly appeared.

A beam of white light shot out from the mirror and went straight into Lu Wangchuan's sea of ​​consciousness.

Enhanced immobilization spell, effective immediately.

The Demon-Revealing Mirror already possesses the ability to imprison the primordial spirit; when combined with the Immobilization Technique, its power increases several times over.

Even though Lu Wangchuan was a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was instantly struck, and his body stiffened abruptly.

At the same time, the spiritual energy and blood drawn by the blood sacrifice array flowed into his dantian like a flood bursting its banks.

Without the control of cultivation techniques, spiritual energy and blood flowed wildly through his meridians.

Before long, hideous blood-red lines appeared on his skin.

"you……"

Lu Wangchuan wanted to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat.

His body began to swell, and his meridians shattered inch by inch.

boom!

With a deafening roar, Lu Wangchuan's body exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

The powerful shockwave swept in all directions, scattering all the surrounding debris.

With the blood sacrifice formation losing its master, the array patterns on the ground flickered violently.

The blood and energy that had been partially extracted lost their pull and flowed back to their original owners.

Some of the injuries were already severe, and the impact of the disordered blood and qi caused them to die on the spot.

However, most of them survived, though their injuries were more severe and their breathing became increasingly weak.

"it's over?"

Zhu Wanwan flew back from afar, her phoenix eyes filled with surprise.

"Not yet." Lin Ran's gaze was solemn as he looked into the depths of the blood mist.

A semi-transparent figure slowly coalesced.

That was Lu Wangchuan's primordial spirit.

Freed from the constraints of a physical body, the illusory spirit drifted aimlessly in the air, its face distorted.

"You've destroyed my physical body and blocked my path!" Lu Wangchuan's voice was shrill and piercing: "I will kill you!"

He raised his hand and activated his magic, causing several golden blades of light to condense in the void and slash towards Lin Ran.

Lin Ran raised his hand and waved.

The Swift Sword flew out, shattering all the light blades.

"You don't even have a physical body anymore, what do you have to fight me with?"

Lu Wangchuan's face was contorted with rage as he continuously activated his magic.

Lightning and storms rained down relentlessly, while fire dragons and ice spears blasted out in turn.

However, these spells were far less powerful than before. Lin Ran stood still, using only his protective aura to block all attacks.

"Why? Why don't you just die?" Lu Wangchuan's primordial spirit flickered violently, his eyes filled with resentment.

"You were no match for me when you were alive, and now you think you can turn the world upside down?"

Lin Ran activated the Demon-Revealing Mirror once more.

A beam of white light shot out, freezing Lu Wangchuan's primordial spirit in mid-air, rendering him unable to move.

"Kill him!"