Chapter 224: White Banner

While he was fully absorbing the power, the paired talismans on him heated up multiple times again. This time, he ignored them all, focusing on the more important task at hand.

Xia Fuli felt not only his demonic energy but also his life force rapidly draining away. Panic and fear were useless, as were his pleas and moans. Eventually, his curses also failed to prevent his growing emaciation; his voice grew steadily weaker and fainter, until it was no more than a whisper, like the buzzing of a mosquito.

Finally, he didn't even have the strength to speak.

After all, he was severely injured, and Shi Chun had also severed some crucial meridians, cutting off his ability to recover qi and blood. His ultimate fate was even worse than Sun Shigang's.

Sun Shigang still had a breath left at the end, but Elder Xia was completely still when Shi Chun stopped, his body emaciated and his eyes dull and lifeless.

His bodily functions had ceased before the last wisp of demonic energy left his system.

Shi Chun sat down cross-legged, a satisfied expression on his face. He closed his eyes and felt inside his body, realizing he indeed felt somewhat sated. The demonic flames, which had been in a condensed state within the original host's body, were difficult for him to fully suppress given his current cultivation level. As a result, his meridians were filled with demonic flames, making him feel as though he could spew out demonic energy just by opening his mouth.

This clearly showed the vast difference in the quality of demonic flames between Sun Shigang and Xia Fuli.

He calculated, recalling that it had taken him nearly forty days to refine the demonic flames from Sun Shigang's body. With the massive quantity he had absorbed this time, he had no idea how long it would take to fully digest it.

He yearned to immediately enter seclusion, but it was impractical. There were still many matters to deal with; otherwise, neither the righteous nor the demonic factions would have a place for him.

He reached out to check Xia Fuli again, confirming he was dead. Still, he wasn't entirely at ease, fearing a feigned death. He simply couldn't afford that risk. Placing his palm on Xia Fuli's chest, he unleashed his spiritual power through the body, only stopping when Elder Xia's heart was completely destroyed.

Next, he removed Elder Xia's Qiankun bag, used a spell to retrieve its contents, and examined them. Good heavens, he found that the Elder of Wukang Mountain was incredibly wealthy, at least by his standards.

There were over ten chests of sandalwood gold alone, each containing millions. How much was that?

"One, two, three, four, five..." He counted sixteen chests, meaning approximately sixteen million sandalwood gold.

Well, one shouldn't be too greedy. After examining all sixteen chests, he kept two and happily accepted the other fourteen.

As for immobilization talismans, there were only a dozen or so first-grade ones, but hundreds of second-grade and third-grade ones.

One shouldn't be too greedy, so he kept ten percent and happily took roughly ninety percent.

There were also nine unopened pairs of linked paired talismans. One shouldn't be too greedy, so he kept two pairs and happily took seven.

He was hesitant to take the orphaned paired talismans. He used the one he had used to contact Xia Fuli to reconnect, found its matching counterpart, picked it up, and kept the pair. After all, he wouldn't need to contact Elder Xia anymore.

As for the "Long Transformation Pills" used for cultivation, they weren't counted individually anymore; there was a whole large chest of them. He was too lazy to count them now, so he kept a few bottles and happily accepted all the rest.

There were also five large chests of "Essence Transformation Pills." When he pulled out a bottle from a chest and saw the label, his eyes immediately lit up. He poured out a single glowing red fragrant pill, put it in his mouth to try, and after refining it with a spell, confirmed it was indeed an "Essence Transformation Pill"—much more expensive than "Long Transformation Pills."

Both types of pills aided cultivation. "Long Transformation Pills" retailed for ten sandalwood gold per pill, while "Essence Transformation Pills" cost three hundred sandalwood gold per pill, indicating a significant difference in efficacy. This meant that a typical low-level cultivator's monthly income was only enough to buy one Essence Transformation Pill, yet Elder Xia had purchased large bottles containing a hundred pills, with a hundred such bottles per chest.

Elder Xia actually bought such expensive items by the chest! Good heavens, did he eat them like meals? Shi Chun was almost ecstatic.

He reluctantly left a dozen or so bottles and happily accepted all the rest.

What made him even more delirious with joy was finding a thick stack of bank notes in a small box. There were fifty-three notes with a million exchange value each, plus some smaller denominations, totaling over sixty million. In the end, he reluctantly left a few million.

Due to the sheer amount of money, he specifically checked the money pouch on Elder Xia's waist as well. It contained a ten-thousand exchange note and over a hundred sandalwood gold. He dismissed these scattered thousands as insignificant; he wasn't interested.

Continuing to rummage through the Qiankun bag, he found various elixirs and miraculous medicines. After careful identification, he took ninety percent of everything he could use.

He didn't dare to touch anything he didn't understand or wasn't sure about taking, leaving all those items behind.

At that moment, a paired talisman on him reacted again. He took it out and saw it was from Yin Huixin, with faint writing that read: "Where exactly are you?"

He ignored it and had just put it away when another paired talisman reacted. It was a message from Feng Chi: "Where are you?"

Shi Chun thought for a moment and replied, "Unfortunately, I tried my best, but Xia's injuries were too severe. He's passed away."

Feng Chi: "Have you heard of the Sinkhole at the southern foot of the Wukang Mountain range?"

Shi Chun: "I have."

Feng Chi: "Meet me here."

Shi Chun: "Alright."

He turned back to continue rummaging through the Qiankun bag. Aside from various miscellaneous weapons, he found a box of children's clothes among a pile of men's and women's garments. They were girl's clothes, seemingly not for a fixed age, but rather a range from childhood to older ages, along with shoes of various sizes.

Seeing these, he frowned slightly for a moment. He then picked up some of the women's clothing among the men's and women's garments and glanced at them, wondering whose they might be.

Afterward, he threw all the remaining single paired talismans into the lake outside the forest. He put all the other miscellaneous items back into the Qiankun bag. He had originally intended to leave the Qiankun bag on Elder Xia's body for official reporting, but now he changed his mind and decided to confiscate everything.

It just so happened that Wu Jinliang was still in need of a Qiankun bag, and such spatial artifacts were extremely expensive.

As for why the items on Elder Xia's body were missing, he would just have to figure out a way to explain it. He struck Elder Xia's corpse again, carefully controlling his strength to slightly tear the clothing. The belt and other such items were naturally ripped apart and discarded.

With the belt gone, the Qiankun bag was naturally gone as well.

This time, he didn't even spare the small money pouch on Elder Xia's waist, confiscating it along with everything else.

Afterward, he took out a paired talisman and contacted Wu Jinliang, asking, "What's your location?"

Wu Jinliang: "I'm not entirely sure of the specifics; I don't know where I am."

Shi Chun: "Let's meet at the highest peak on the southern slope of the Wukang Mountain range. Keep your talisman ready and report if anything happens."

Wu Jinliang: "Alright."

Shi Chun put away the paired talisman, reached out to close Elder Xia's eyes, then put his body into a Qiankun bag, attached it to his waist, and soared away into the sky.

Bian Weikang was dead, his body laid out below the main gate of Wukang Mountain.

A passerby had discovered and brought him there.

News quickly reached the mountain, shaking Wukang Mountain. People rushed down in succession, and then Bian Jixiong also arrived in a hurry, unable to restrain himself.

Many elders were absent, including Yin Huixin, as they were still outside searching for clues about Bian Weikang's abduction.

Upon confirming the deceased was his son, Bian Jixiong's eyes welled with tears. He clutched the body tightly for a moment, and after forcing down his grief, he turned and asked, "Where was the body found?"

The passerby who found the body was immediately brought over, looking disheveled and seemingly intimidated by the situation, shrinking back nervously.

Bian Jixiong wiped away a tear, scrutinizing the man as he barked, "Look up!"

However, the passerby raised not only his head but also his hand, delivering a palm strike that was as swift as a phantom.

At such close range, a startled Bian Jixiong had no time to dodge. His chest instantly caved in from the blow, and he was sent flying backward, spitting blood. He even crashed through the mountain gate archway with a loud bang, then struggled, choking on blood, unable to get up again.

This also demonstrated the immense disparity in cultivation between the assailant and Bian Jixiong.

Shock!

No one had anticipated such a sudden and astonishing turn of events.

Everyone was thrown into disarray by Bian Weikang's death, their minds dazed and losing their usual composure. No one had expected this so-called kind passerby to launch a close-range assassination.

And Bian Jixiong, due to his son's death, had rushed down the mountain completely unprepared.

By the time the bewildered group attacked the passerby, he had already shot into the air and flown away swiftly, leaving only a long white banner fluttering down.

Many rushed to pursue, but they weren't even skilled enough to catch up.

Others urgently tried to save the sect leader, only to find his chest caved in, all his internal organs destroyed. He was only bleeding out, unable to breathe in, his eyes wide in defiant refusal to perish.

Yet, ultimately, his body relaxed, and his breath faded amidst the gurgling blood.

The fallen white banner hung on the half-standing stone pillar of the mountain gate. A line of large characters was written on it: "Presented to the top sect of the Heavenly Rain Meteor Gathering!"

"Ah..."

Elder Ke, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, saw the inscription and immediately let out a mournful roar, pounding his chest violently with both fists.

He knew it, he had known it during his time at the royal capital conference: offending so many major sects would surely bring disaster upon Wukang Mountain. He had been terrified then, and now it was indeed confirmed. Someone had acted so quickly, not even waiting for the Xun Gate to be fully built, to make Wukang Mountain suffer.

Many disciples were also stunned upon seeing the banner, realizing that a sect from the Heavenly Rain Meteor Gathering had retaliated.

Everyone had previously discussed this in private and worried about retaliation, but no one expected it to come so swiftly, with their sect leader assassinated in broad daylight.

The elders and disciples who were still searching for Bian Weikang's whereabouts rushed back urgently upon hearing the news. Wukang Mountain was in utter chaos!

On the highest peak of the southern slope of the Wukang Mountain range, the setting sun cast its perfect light.

As soon as the two brothers, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, met, the Qiankun bag was tossed into Wu Jinliang's hand. "It's for you," Shi Chun said.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Wu Jinliang first hugged the Qiankun bag and kissed it frantically. Back when he was just a humble refugee in the place of exile, he never imagined he'd actually get to use such a treasure in his lifetime.

When he checked inside, he immediately felt like vomiting and quickly threw out Xia Fuli's corpse.

He squatted down and touched the body, confirming that the person was truly dead. Wu Jinliang sighed and shook his head, remarking that it was expected; he knew the man would be killed.

He then rummaged through the contents of the Qiankun bag again, which delighted him immensely. After a rough count, he danced with joy in front of Shi Chun. "Killing one Elder Xia is worth a lifetime of work for others! Spring, there's no turning back now; we were meant to make this kind of fortune, this is our destiny. Next time we go to the capital, Young Master Nan won't have to treat us!"

He grandly waved his hand.

He knew very well that Shi Chun had certainly taken the most valuable items from the Qiankun bag, but he didn't care. He understood even better that the value of the Qiankun bag itself, as a spatial artifact, far surpassed anything inside it.