Chapter 100: Being Surrounded

Another three months went by.

By the end of December, a heavy snowfall had blanketed the area around Spider Mountain in white, creating a particularly enchanting and desolate silvery landscape.

People say autumn brings sorrow and spring brings joy, but winter, too, evokes a sense of loneliness—a quietude where all things seem to rest.

Wang Yu had been researching Foundation Establishment spiritual items for some time.

He discovered that everything the ill-intentioned disciple had said that day, except for the final fragmented map opportunity, was true, a fact confirmed through Situ Hong's connections.

Although the ancient records of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect contained no precedents for Foundation Establishment with a useless spirit root, there were many stories and legends of determined individuals who defied fate.

Just like supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, the spiritual items suitable for Wang Yu's Foundation Establishment were extremely rare and hard to find.

Treasures like the Frigid Spiritual Spring weren't enough; only rare wonders like Skyfrost Cold Qi would suffice. There were no leads, and Wang Yu had no other option but arduous cultivation.

Day after day, due to the side effects of the Corpse Demon Secret Art, his physical urges remained dormant, and he had no means of relaxation.

To some extent, Wang Yu had become completely absorbed; his single-mindedness in this state was terrifying, enabling him to stay indoors without moving for an entire year.

He could do it, but others could not.

For instance, the gang that had been staking him out for a long time.

In a stone hut convenient for surveillance, seven or eight people were gathered, vehemently criticizing Wang Yu.

“Damn it, does he have no life?”

“He hasn't even stepped out once. He's incredibly resilient.”

Heart Devouring City, not far from Spider Mountain, wasn't a large spiritual land like a prefectural city, but it was quite prosperous.

Whether disciples from Cold Blood Peak or Five Yin Peak, they would go into the city during their rotations to seek entertainment and amusement. The spirit stones earned at Spider Mountain also needed channels for spending.

“Let's wait a bit longer, for the last half-month. If he still doesn't move, we'll find a way to lure him out.”

“That's all we can do.”

“How do we lure him out?”

“Like this… like this… it should work eighty percent of the time.”

“Good, it's settled then!”

The leader made the decision, and the others naturally had no objections.

Another ten and a half days passed.

Wang Yu's fingertips shimmered with spiritual light. A transparent, grayish liquid, with a flick of the wrist, precisely dropped onto the roots of a Spider Heart Grass, forming a small depression.

It was Wang Yu, irrigating the plants with Ghost-Eyed Spider blood. Afterwards, he would mix excrement with spiderwebs and limb fragments to cover the spiritual field, providing fertilizer.

Just then, two figures on flying swords appeared in the sky, swiftly landing near the spiritual field Wang Yu was tending. The two walked onto the field path, whispering something.

Wang Yu glanced over, his ears twitching slightly.

“Quick, go, go, go, inform the boss! There's an auction in Heart Devouring City.”

“I heard there's a Foundation Establishment spiritual item up for auction. The boss has been waiting for a long time; I didn't expect Heart Devouring City to have one too.”

These two brief sentences struck Wang Yu's heart perfectly. Watching the two walk away, Wang Yu couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

Such a clumsy lure, but as he probed his storage bag with his divine sense, he found he had accumulated nearly fifty thousand spirit stones. It was time to spend some.

Now that he possessed cold flames, he no longer needed to borrow earth fire for alchemy. A suitable alchemical cauldron was indeed something he should buy.

On the other hand, auctions often had thresholds depending on the sponsoring power; even the lowest-grade auctions required verification.

Such as financial verification or identity checks.

Having been indoors for so long, it was a good opportunity to visit Heart Devouring City. Besides resolving this group's trouble, he could also look for ways to increase his cultivation speed. Furthermore, if he could acquire dragon-blood beast essence blood, he could then free up a slot to supplement his magical arts.

“Then let them come.”

Heart Devouring City was located three hundred *li* east of Spider Mountain, built upon a low-grade second-tier spiritual vein. A Foundation Establishment initial-stage cultivator presided over the city.

Outside the city was a spiritual spring that produced chilling spring water, a widely versatile spiritual item useful for brewing tea, alchemy, artifact refining, talisman ink, and more.

The guardian of this place had established a market, named Mountain Spring Market, centered around the spiritual spring.

Nearby rogue cultivators or disciples from other sects could all establish businesses here.

Within the city, there was also an inner market hidden by an illusion, which was even more prosperous than Mountain Spring Market. It primarily catered to sect cultivators from nearby resource points, such as Spider Mountain, Spirit Peach Mountain, and so on.

Centered around one city, there were at least two or three large resource points and several smaller ones nearby.

Mountain Spring Market belonged solely to the presiding cultivator, a means of accumulating wealth he had devised during his tenure. After verification by this initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, those who met the criteria could naturally enter the inner market.

A city like this was indeed quite complex.

Wang Yu's target was the inner market within the city, which also housed many businesses set up by other forces. Meeting the needs of a Qi Condensation cultivator there would be effortless.

Leisurely piloting his flying magical artifact, the Black Silk, Wang Yu set off alone. His speed was even slower than if he had traveled on foot.

When he was halfway through his journey, flying over a canyon...

With several whooshing sounds, a group of black-robed figures completely surrounded him: four in front, three behind, and five or six appearing above and below him.

In total, there were over a dozen individuals. The leader emanated the aura of a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator, followed by one eighth-level, three seventh-level, and the rest sixth-level, with only one fifth-level cultivator.

“Kid, hand over your storage bags, and we'll spare your life.”

Hearing this, Wang Yu seemed a little surprised.

“Only interested in wealth, not lives?”

As he spoke, he pulled open his robes, revealing a dozen or so storage bags lining the inside, and asked with interest:

“Which one do you want?”

The bearded brute, surprised, revealed a greedy look in his eyes. With a wave of his large hand, he grinned sinisterly.

“Hand them all over.”

“Achoo—”

Just then, someone suddenly sneezed, shivering slightly, and whispered to a companion beside him:

“Do you feel it? The weather's getting cold; the temperature is dropping so fast.”

“How could— No! Boss, this kid is using a trick.”

“Then attack!!!”

Too late.

This group hadn't immediately attacked but resorted to verbal threats, which somewhat surprised Wang Yu. For people who made a living from robbery, they were quite hesitant.

He simply decided to stall for time and prepare his methods.

In a head-on fight, he was confident he could win, but it would be difficult to wipe them all out, which would inevitably expose his own information. It was best to eliminate evil thoroughly.

With Wang Yu at the center, the temperature rapidly plummeted.

An outer layer of ice crystals rapidly condensed around the encirclement, above, below, and on all sides—it was the Ice Coffin Curse!

Today was different from before; with his eighth-level Qi Condensation cultivation and perfected mastery of the spell, the improvement process was very smooth.

Massive ice walls, tens of meters high, swiftly converged.

In the blink of an eye, an icy cage formed above the canyon, resembling an arena.

He quickly swallowed a supreme-grade Spirit Recovery Pill.

Wang Yu raised his right hand, making an empty grasping motion towards one of them.

Whoosh—