Chapter 1919: Buy-off Money, Heavenly Void Jade Book, Nine-Turn Purple Ginseng Pill

Hearing the sound, Deng Yujiao and the other two changed color dramatically, all looking towards Deng Yunbo.

As they attempted to attack Wang Mengbin, Cheng Zhenyu and his four companions swiftly launched their own attacks against them. After Cheng Zhenyu and Zheng Nan joined the fight, the situation rapidly took a turn for the worse.

A large number of scorched black Silver-Horned Rhinoceros Worms fell from the silver lightning, plunging into the sea. Soon after, the silver lightning dissipated. Wang Mengbin held a miniature Nascent Soul in his left hand, its features identical to Deng Yunbo's, while his right hand clasped the Golden Flood Dragon Bell and two dimly glowing cyan orbs. The miniature Nascent Soul was bound by over a dozen silver lightning chains, its features twisted in agony.

Deng Yunbo's physical body was completely charred and smelled of burning flesh. There were horrific blood holes in both his heart and his head. His face bore an expression of utter disbelief, as if he couldn't comprehend that his physical body had been destroyed in such a manner. Over a hundred thousand Silver-Horned Rhinoceros Worms, now leaderless, instantly froze in mid-air.

"Fellow cultivator, please spare my life! Our Deng family has powerful backing in the Spirit Realm. Unless you have no desire to ascend there, you will face the wrath of our Deng family's patriarch!" Deng Yunbo spoke anxiously, his face filled with panic.

"Hmph," Zhong Yangming sneered, retorting unceremoniously. "Our Zhong family also has powerful backing in the Spirit Realm. At this point, if you let him go, and he gets a chance for revenge later, do you think he'll spare you? Since we've started, we shouldn't hold back. Dead men tell no tales. If we kill them all, who will know it was us? Being soft-hearted will only lead to disaster and endless future troubles."

"I am willing to swear an Inner Demon Oath," Deng Yunbo said urgently, "and I'll make Yujiao and the others swear one too. We absolutely will not seek revenge against you. It's better to have more friends than enemies." Having cultivated for a thousand years, he had only just reached the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage and did not want to die and have his cultivation erased.

"You won't seek revenge, but what about the rest of the Deng family?" Zhong Yangming scoffed. "You're only saying this because you're not our match. If you were stronger than us, you wouldn't be talking like this."

Wang Mengbin's killing intent surged. With his current strength, eliminating Song Yujiao and the other two would not be difficult. Just then, Song Yujiao flipped her delicate hand, revealing a talisman pulsating with continuous golden light. It emanated terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations.

"A fifth-tier talisman!" Zhong Yunxiu exclaimed, her face full of apprehension.

"Before we even set out," Deng Yunbo continued urgently, "we already knew your Zhong family was coming to look for the Golden Sphere Divine Crystal; otherwise, we wouldn't have ambushed you. We've already notified our clan that if our life-bound soul lamps extinguish, our Deng family will definitely lay the blame squarely on your Zhong family. Furthermore, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Soldier Gate told me about your Zhong family's ancestor in the Spirit Realm. I was asking him about our own ancestor, and he accidentally let slip details about your Zhong family ancestor's predicament in the Spirit Realm."

Deng Yunbo's voice grew urgent. After a slight pause, he added, "If you are willing to spare me, I will give you half a page of the Heavenly Void Jade Scroll. This is something our ancestor in the Spirit Realm has been searching for. As long as you spare my life, I will arrange for the Nascent Soul cultivators in our clan to take turns swearing blood oaths, promising absolutely no retaliation against you."

"The Heavenly Void Jade Scroll? What is that?" Wang Mengbin asked, puzzled. He had consulted a vast number of ancient texts from the Azure Sphere Realm but had never encountered the four characters "Heavenly Void Jade Scroll." He looked at Zhong Yangming and the others, who appeared just as bewildered.

Wang Mengbin flicked his sleeve, and a glistening silver command flag flew out, transforming into a silvery-white light barrier that enveloped his entire body. Countless electric arcs shimmered across its surface. Judging by Deng Yunbo's reaction, the Heavenly Void Jade Scroll was clearly something of great importance.

"Five thousand years ago, when our Deng family was still relatively prosperous, we could use a grand formation to communicate with our ancestor in the Spirit Realm," Deng Yunbo explained, his expression tense. "He instructed us to search for the Heavenly Void Jade Scroll. It's said to be an artifact passed down from the Immortal Realm, containing vast knowledge encompassing everything from talisman crafting, artifact refining, alchemy, and formation arrays to beast taming and secret cultivation techniques. We painstakingly managed to find half a page of it and originally planned to locate the Golden Sphere Divine Crystal to contact our ancestor in the Spirit Realm."

"Passed down from the Immortal Realm? You're quite bold to claim that," Wang Mengbin said indifferently. "How do I know you're not lying to me? Besides, even if it is an artifact from the Immortal Realm, it's useless to me. What I need now are spiritual elixirs to break through to the Soul Transformation stage." Wang Mengbin's tone was indifferent. He believed it was better to rely on oneself than on others, and in his view, neither the Zhong family nor the Deng family could be truly depended upon. If he could advance to the Soul Transformation stage and ascend to the Spirit Realm, even if he couldn't afford to provoke the Zhong and Deng families, couldn't he at least avoid them? Surely, Wang Mengbin wasn't going to kneel and beg for mercy just because these two families had powerful backing in the Spirit Realm!

Deng Yunbo understood Wang Mengbin's implication: if he could produce a spiritual elixir for breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage, Wang Mengbin might spare his life. This put him in a difficult position. The Heavenly Void Jade Scroll was currently useless to the Deng family because no one could understand its script, so handing it over for his life carried no psychological burden. However, the Deng family also did not possess many spiritual elixirs that could assist in breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage.

"There's one Nine-Turn Purple Ginseng Pill left, bequeathed by our ancestor. I can give you one," Deng Yunbo said with resolve, "but you must give us some Golden Sphere Divine Crystals in return. Otherwise, you might as well just kill me!" Deng Yunbo's face was resolute. While exchanging the Heavenly Void Jade Scroll for his life would be unobjectionable, trading a Nine-Turn Purple Ginseng Pill for it would be too significant a loss.

"I can give you Golden Sphere Divine Crystals," Wang Mengbin replied, "but I must first receive the Nine-Turn Purple Ginseng Pill and the Heavenly Void Jade Scroll. We'll do a simultaneous exchange. Additionally, you must provide the Zhong family with compensation." Hearing this, Deng Yunbo quickly agreed, fearing Wang Mengbin might change his mind.

Wang Mengbin flicked his sleeve, and the silver light barrier transformed back into a silver command flag before disappearing into his sleeve.

"Fellow cultivator Zhong," Wang Mengbin said to Zhong Yangming, "fellow cultivator Deng has expressed deep regret for killing your clansmen and is willing to provide a sum of cultivation resources as compensation. As the saying goes, 'it's better to resolve animosity than to deepen it.' What are your thoughts?" He felt little sense of belonging to the Zhong family. With the Nine-Turn Purple Ginseng Pill and the Five-Extremity True Thunder Fruit, he could attempt to break through to the Soul Transformation stage. There was no need to remain with the Zhong family; living under someone else's roof was not a pleasant experience.

Zhong Yangming's expression flickered. He naturally saw that Wang Mengbin and Deng Yunbo had reached some kind of agreement. If he didn't agree, there was no telling if Wang Mengbin wouldn't side with the Deng family. "No problem," Zhong Yangming replied in a deep voice, "but the Golden Sphere Divine Crystal is something we absolutely must obtain." Song Yujiao possessed a fifth-tier talisman, and he also had his own trump cards. However, if it came down to a fight to the death, none of them would likely fare well. For the Zhong family, acquiring the Golden Sphere Divine Crystal was paramount; they had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

Wang Mengbin took out a cyan storage ring and tossed it to Zhong Yangming. Zhong Yangming scanned it with his divine sense and nodded in satisfaction.

Deng Yunbo secretly transmitted a message to Deng Yujiao: "Yujiao, you two must return to the clan immediately and have everyone prepare to welcome us. Bring out the jade box made of glazed jade from the treasury, and also one Nine-Yang Purple Ginseng Pill. He is exchanging Golden Sphere Divine Crystals for them." Song Yujiao was slightly startled, but after a moment's thought, she nodded in agreement and departed with her two elders.

"Let's go, fellow cultivator Zhong," Wang Mengbin said calmly. "We'll return to Qianling Mountain and calmly await the arrival of fellow cultivator Deng's kin." Wang Mengbin's tone was calm; this was indeed the best possible outcome.

Deng Yunbo commanded over a hundred thousand Silver-Horned Rhinoceros Worms to fly back into his spirit beast bracelet, while Wang Mengbin stored the miniature Nascent Soul in his sleeve. The six figures then transformed into streaks of light and departed from the area.