Chapter 167: Leaving

Two flying puppet beasts were enveloped by a green light pillar, immediately becoming motionless and not falling, as if frozen in place.

The other two flying puppets each shot out a dozen red fire blades and a dozen green light swords, striking the bloody light shield.

The tiger-shaped puppet again shot out a thick red light pillar, striking the bloody light shield and making its glow extremely dim.

The crow puppet and the green eagle puppet dove down, extending their sharp claws towards Li Tianzheng.

The tiger-shaped figure leaped up, appearing before him in a flash.

Li Tianzheng hastily pointed the green mirror at the tiger-shaped puppet. With a flash of green light, a thick green light pillar shot out, accurately enveloping the tiger-shaped puppet, which was immediately frozen and unable to move.

He raised his hand, and a glowing green talisman flew out, transforming into a large net woven from green vines that enveloped the two flying puppets.

At this moment, Wang Changsheng had already arrived in front of Li Tianzheng.

Li Tianzheng performed a hand seal, and his body glowed with a bloody light. A massive blood wolf flew out from his chest, pouncing towards Wang Changsheng.

Immediately after, the green daoist robe on his body shone with a dazzling green light, and countless green runes flew out from it. After swirling around, they transformed into a thick green light shield, protecting him within.

Wang Changsheng's figure blurred, splitting into four—it was the Nine-Element Shadow Splitting Art.

All four Wang Changshengs had identical auras. The massive blood wolf opened its gaping maw, biting at one of them.

A blue light flashed, and this Wang Changsheng dissolved into specks of blue light, vanishing.

The three remaining Wang Changshengs simultaneously pulled out a glowing red talisman and threw it forward.

As soon as the talisman left their hands, it immediately burst open, transforming into a large expanse of red flames that engulfed the bloody light shield.

The low-grade Tier 2 talisman, the Nine Flame Blazing Fire Talisman, possessed immense power.

Wang Changsheng let out a loud shout, raised the Blue Cloud Crescent Blade high, and a golden light flew out from it—it was precisely the Vajra Brick.

The Blue Cloud Crescent Blade plunged into the sea of flames, emitting a muffled thud.

Li Tianzheng slapped two Tier 2 defensive talismans onto himself, which allowed him to block the Blue Cloud Crescent Blade. However, his bloody light shield shattered.

With the attack failing, Wang Changsheng's figure rapidly retreated as a massive blood wolf pounced towards him.

Just then, a house-sized golden brick slammed down violently.

With a deafening "boom," the golden brick smashed Li Tianzheng into a pile of flesh and blood.

As soon as Li Tianzheng died, the massive blood wolf also vanished.

The five Tier 2 puppet beasts also regained their freedom and flew down beside Wang Changsheng.

Upon seeing this scene, Wang Ruyan was first delighted, but then something occurred to her, and she looked at Wang Changsheng with a face full of wariness.

Wang Changsheng beckoned to the golden brick, and it quickly returned to its original size, landing in his hand.

A large pit appeared on the ground, and inside the pit was a pile of flesh and blood.

From the pile of flesh and blood, Wang Changsheng retrieved a green mirror and a green storage bag.

The storage bag contained over a dozen porcelain bottles with no labels on them. He didn't know which one was the antidote and didn't consume any of them carelessly.

All medicinal pills have an expiration date; it's unlikely that being poisoned by a strange toxin would mean losing all magical power permanently!

Song Yihang had died earlier, so Wang Changsheng had already searched his belongings, picked up the magical artifacts on the ground, and walked towards Wang Ruyan.

Seeing Wang Changsheng approach her, Wang Ruyan forced a smile and bravely said, "Fellow Daoist Wang, Li Tianzheng got what he deserved. You acted on behalf of heaven; you did well."

She now had no spiritual power. If Wang Changsheng wanted to do anything to her, she wouldn't even have the ability to resist.

"Immortaless Wang, don't be nervous," Wang Changsheng said. "I would not take advantage of your weakened state."

Wang Changsheng found a corner and sat down cross-legged, replacing the spirit stones for the five puppet beasts.

Thirty breaths later, Wang Changsheng also lost his spiritual power, though he could still use his divine sense.

Over an hour later, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan successively recovered their spiritual power.

In front of Wang Ruyan, Wang Changsheng emptied the contents of the two storage bags.

After inventory, there were fifteen magical artifacts, including one high-grade magical artifact (a white short sword), two mid-grade defensive magical artifacts, and one low-grade flying magical artifact. In addition to these, there were two Tier 2 talismans, some Tier 2 refining materials, and over a thousand spirit stones. The most precious item was a talisman treasure with a small needle pattern on its surface, which was found in Song Yihang's storage bag.

The talisman treasure was naturally claimed by Wang Changsheng. The remaining items were split 90-10, with Wang Changsheng taking ninety percent and Wang Ruyan taking ten percent.

He didn't give a share to Wang Ruyan because he wanted to pursue her, but rather as a division of spoils. This way, if anything happened in the future, Wang Ruyan would also be implicated, serving as hush money.

Wang Ruyan repeatedly declined, but seeing Wang Changsheng's face darken, she reluctantly accepted with a wry smile.

In any case, Li Tianzheng and Song Yihang were disciples of cultivation sects in Chu State. If Sword Palace and White Cloud Temple investigated, Wang Changsheng would be implicated.

"Immortaless Wang, this matter is of great importance," Wang Changsheng said gravely. "I hope you won't reveal it, alright?"

Wang Ruyan gave a wry smile and said, "Fellow Daoist Wang, if I said no, would you believe me?"

In fact, killing Wang Ruyan would be the best option; dead people don't talk.

Wang Changsheng wasn't being merciful. He had known Wang Ruyan for quite some time, and he did have some affection for her. While he wouldn't hesitate to kill a stranger, killing Wang Ruyan felt wrong. After repeated hesitation, he still didn't act.

Of course, to be cautious, he couldn't stay in Chu State. He needed to return to Song State to lay low.

"No, I don't," Wang Changsheng said. "I can't stay in Canglan City. I'm preparing to take my clansmen and leave Chu State. Immortaless Wang, may we meet again if fate allows."

After speaking, Wang Changsheng turned and left.

"Wait, Fellow Daoist Wang," Wang Ruyan called out to Wang Changsheng. She lightly bit her red lips, raised her right hand, and solemnly swore, "I swear by my inner demons that I will never reveal what happened today. If I violate this, my cultivation will regress, and I will be struck dead by five heavenly thunderbolts."

Wang Changsheng was a bit surprised and nodded with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, if you trust me," Wang Ruyan continued, "leave a letter for me, and I'll give it to your clan uncle. You leave first. I'll arrange for people to send your clansmen back to Green Lotus Mountain in batches. If Song Yihang and Li Tianzheng die, and all of you leave Canglan City immediately, it will be too suspicious."

A warmth flowed through Wang Changsheng's heart, and he nodded, saying, "Thank you, Immortaless Wang. What about you? Song Yihang and the others might have already told their fellow disciples about this. If they investigate, you won't be able to escape blame."

"My grandfather is a Core Formation cultivator," she replied. "Without evidence, they won't act recklessly."

"Alright then," Wang Changsheng said. "I'll write you a letter. Please deliver it to my sixth uncle and the others. Send them away a bit later. I'll return to Green Lotus Mountain first."

Wang Changsheng took out paper, ink, brush, and inkstone, and wrote a personal letter. The content was simple, stating that he had urgent matters to attend to and was leaving, and instructing Wang Mingzhan and others to follow Wang Ruyan's arrangements.

Wang Ruyan took the letter, hesitated for a moment, and quietly asked, "Fellow Daoist Wang, there's actually a better way to keep this a secret. Why didn't you use it?"

Wang Changsheng smiled faintly and said with tenderness in his eyes, "Others might do that, but Immortaless Wang, I cannot. Surely, you are not unaware of my feelings?"

Hearing these words, Wang Ruyan's cheeks immediately flushed crimson, like brocade clouds at the horizon, adding a captivating charm and making her exceptionally alluring.

"I..."

Wang Ruyan was flushed and embarrassed, her heart pounding, and she didn't know how to reply.

"Well then," Wang Changsheng said, "it's getting late. I'll take my leave first. Immortaless Wang, take care."

After saying this, Wang Changsheng strode away.