Chapter 324: Liu Jing and the "True Treasure"

Han Li was furious!

Not because of the intense battle, but because Liu Jing and the others weren't seizing the opportunity to eliminate the other Blood Servants who were still transforming. If those three also completed their transformations, then it would be a real disaster.

Earlier, he saw that Senior Brother Wang was about to fall victim to the Ice Demon's poisonous grasp. Recalling Senior Brother Wang's help during the fight against Qing Wen, Han Li flashed over and rescued him.

Afterward, the demon probably felt that Han Li had ruined his plans, so he relentlessly clung to Han Li, forcing him to engage. However, Han Li then realized that this Ice Demon was indeed very troublesome for his fellow disciples, and it would be better for him to handle it. After all, if more disciples were to die, they would genuinely be shorthanded for the subsequent battles.

Now that he had entangled the demon, he was surprised that the others were merely watching his fight and not taking the opportunity to attack the three cocoons. Wasn't this a wasted opportunity?

However, he vaguely guessed that the others weren't unaware of seizing the moment. Instead, they were likely intimidated by the Ice Demon's bizarre invisibility and the deaths it had caused, fearing the half-demonization of the other Blood Servants. Therefore, even though they knew fully transformed Blood Servants would be much more formidable, they were still hesitating, perhaps even considering retreating.

But Han Li was not here just to eliminate the Black Fiend; he had other pre-arranged objectives. How could he easily back down? Moreover, while this half-demonized Ice Demon had killed one of their own immediately upon emerging from its cocoon, it wasn't particularly dangerous if one was careful. In Han Li's eyes, this demon was even less difficult to deal with than the bald man they had encountered earlier.

This demon merely made its body transparent, allowing for extreme speed and the manipulation of cold air. Its so-called invisibility was just an illusion created by high-speed movement, similar to his own Rapid Misty Steps. It was only due to its transparent and bizarre body that it was harder to detect and capture.

However, this strange movement technique was only effective on the ground. As soon as everyone flew into the sky and created distance, casting large-scale spells would force the demon to reveal itself. After all, rapid physical movement, while formidable at short range, could not keep up with a cultivator flying on a magical artifact over longer distances.

Liu Jing and the other disciples had simply never experienced such close-quarters melee combat, so they naturally found the opponent extremely ghostly and almost impossible to counter. Han Li, however, frequently used this method of combat, so he was naturally very experienced in dealing with it.

Thinking this, Han Li suddenly swung his silver sword, repelling the opponent's claws. He abruptly revealed himself and loudly declared, "Senior Brother Liu, quickly fly into the sky and continue attacking those three Blood Servants. I won't let this demon bother you." After saying this, Han Li's figure suddenly flickered and vanished again. In reality, his silver sword was moving so fast it was invisible, forcing the Ice Demon to retreat repeatedly, without any chance to fly off the ground.

Han Li's silver sword was a trophy from the Blood Trial. It could withstand the opponent's claws intact. However, the silver sword also couldn't wound the demon's ice claws, which secretly surprised Han Li.

Liu Jing heard Han Li's words. After a brief consideration, he understood Han Li's intention, but his face showed hesitation. His heart was in extreme conflict!

Although Liu Jing came from a prominent cultivation family, he had been kidnapped by evil cultivators in his childhood and endured a period of dark, torturous days, almost losing his life. Later, he was finally rescued by his family and became a disciple of Li Hua Yuan, achieving some success in cultivation.

However, due to the lingering shadow of his childhood experience, Liu Jing naturally harbored extreme hatred for evil cultivators. He adhered to an iron-blooded principle of killing every one he encountered, never letting go of any evil cultivator known to practice bizarre techniques.

The consequence of this approach, while greatly satisfying him, also brought him immense positive renown. Even some cultivators from the Seven Sects whose cultivation was higher than his showed a hint of respect when they saw him.

On the surface, Liu Jing remained calm, but in his heart, he gradually became enamored with this feeling of being respected. Later, when he actively sought out and eliminated evil cultivators, a large part of it was actually to enjoy the admiration of others!

Of course, on the surface, Liu Jing carefully hid this mindset deep within his heart. In his dealings with others, he still appeared to be the righteous, iron-blooded "Senior Brother Liu" who hated evil.

The current Black Fiend Sect was undoubtedly the largest and most powerful evil cult he had ever encountered, and thus the one most deserving of eradication. However, their strength was also the strongest he had ever faced. He had no confidence that he could kill the remaining three Blood Servants relying solely on ordinary magical artifacts. If the attack power was slightly weaker, it would only cause the remaining three to half-demonize prematurely.

One half-demonized individual was already so difficult to deal with. If three more appeared, they simply wouldn't be able to handle it, and they might even lose their lives here.

If they were to retreat now, their mission would be a complete failure, having alerted the enemy. The Black Fiend Sect would surely disappear into the shadows again. This would cause his years of accumulated reputation to be utterly lost.

The thought of others looking at him with mockery made Liu Jing feel suffocated and extremely depressed.

Han Li's urging pushed him to the brink of decision.

"Senior Brother Liu, should we retreat first? The Black Fiend Sect's strength is far beyond our expectations. If we don't leave now, it will be too late," Senior Brother Wang, whom Han Li had rescued, hesitated and whispered.

"Retreat? If I do that, I'll probably look the same in the eyes of my other fellow disciples," Liu Jing thought with a bitter smile.

"Everyone, fly into the sky and protect me. I'll handle the remaining three Blood Servants!" Liu Jing said calmly with a faint smile.

At the same time, he thought to himself:

"It seems I have no choice but to use that item! Only then can we succeed in this battle and preserve my reputation. Even though it's something I keep for my own survival."

"Senior Brother Liu, you're going to face the remaining Blood Servants alone?"

Not only Senior Brother Wang, but everyone nearby showed an expression of disbelief when they heard Liu Jing's words. This expression made Liu Jing feel a great sense of satisfaction.

However, on the surface, he acted as if nothing was amiss, flying directly into the air on his artifact without another word. Simultaneously, he solemnly pulled out a fiery red jade box from his storage pouch.

At this moment, Liu Jing had completely regained his usual composure, looking full of confidence. This made the others exchange glances, then gain some faith in him and likewise fly into the air.

Gazing at the jade box in his hand, a hint of reluctance appeared on Liu Jing's face, but then his expression hardened, and he suddenly clapped his hands together, striking the box.

Instantly, the entire box shattered into pieces, revealing a unique talisman enveloped in red light.

On the talisman was a fiery red firebird pattern. The firebird continuously flapped its wings and flew back and forth in the center of the talisman, able to move as freely as a real bird. Even the bird's eyes emitted a faint blue light, occasionally rotating.

What was even more astonishing was that as soon as this talisman appeared, waves of intense heat emanated from it, causing the temperature in the surrounding tens of feet to surge, making everyone's mouths dry and throats parched!

Song Meng and the others, who had just approached, witnessed this incredible moment of the talisman's appearance.

"Talisman Treasure!" Song Meng exclaimed upon seeing the item.

"No, this isn't an ordinary Talisman Treasure, this... this is a True Treasure!" Senior Brother Wang, upon seeing this talisman that resembled a Talisman Treasure but had extraordinary phenomena, cried out as if he had seen a ghost.

Those who knew what a "True Treasure" was were equally startled by these words.

A so-called "True Treasure," while also belonging to the category of Talisman Treasures, was very different from ordinary ones, possessing many distinct characteristics.

Firstly, ordinary Talisman Treasures could, at most, possess one-tenth of the original magical artifact's power, even at their peak. A True Treasure, however, could defy nature by containing one-third of the main artifact's power, which was simply incomparable to an ordinary Talisman Treasure.

Secondly, True Treasures had to be refined using the bloodline method of the artifact's owner upon their creation. Only descendants with a specific bloodline could wield and use these True Treasures; they could not be used by just anyone. Otherwise, if spiritual energy was injected, these True Treasures would automatically self-destruct.

While possessing these advantages, True Treasures also had significant drawbacks, otherwise, previous generations would have only left behind such True Treasures.

The biggest flaw of a True Treasure was that, although it could contain several times the power of an ordinary Talisman Treasure, it was a one-time consumable. Once used, its power would be fully unleashed on the spot, without any discount, and there would be no second chance to use it. Therefore, its practicality was greatly reduced compared to ordinary Talisman Treasures.

But what truly limited the widespread circulation of these True Treasures was another extremely stringent condition.

Once a magical artifact was used to refine a True Treasure through the bloodline method, the power lost by that artifact would be permanent and could not be restored through re-refinement. This made some senior cultivators, even those nearing their lifespan's end, unable to bring themselves to do this to artifacts they cherished as much as their lives, preferring instead to leave a few ordinary Talisman Treasures to their descendants.

Therefore, some cultivators jokingly said that in the cultivation world, the number of True Treasures was far scarcer than the number of magical artifacts. While this statement was somewhat exaggerated, it was not far from the truth!