Chapter 101: Harvest, Heart-Eating City

Five or six ice spikes rapidly pierced out from the ice wall, instantly impaling the person and turning them into a bloody mess.

This was his domain!

The Ice Coffin Cage, which had consumed a significant portion of his spiritual energy to create, not only prevented their escape but also greatly enhanced Wang Yu's combat abilities.

"Old Ninth!"

The burly bearded man immediately glared fiercely. Two streaks of spiritual light flew from his waist into his hands, revealing a pair of golden gourd-shaped hammers, each the size of a human head. Judging by his physique, he might have cultivated some body-refining secret arts or cultivation techniques, and he charged forward, leading the way.

The others also quickly formed hand seals and spiritual imprints, and a barrage of elemental spells surged towards him: fireballs, earth spikes, water arrows, wooden vines, metal blades… This group had quite diverse elemental attributes.

Wang Yu tapped his toes repeatedly on the ice surface, quickly leaving a trail of afterimages. He skillfully dodged numerous spell attacks with the profoundness of his Illusory Steps, and with a shake of his body, he even split into ten illusory clones. They spread out in various directions as his hand seals shifted.

Ice Sword Art: Ox-Hair Needles!

As the first perfected spell he mastered since embarking on his cultivation journey, even though it was only a mid-grade spell, Wang Yu had long ago used it with peerless mastery. From its earliest form of ten blades, to transforming into a hundred small swords, then consolidating into a three-zhang (approximately ten-meter) giant sword, he had now innovated again, turning it into tens of thousands of ice crystal needles, as fine as ox hair. The ten illusory clones increased this base quantity tenfold.

The overwhelming barrage of ice needles assailed them simultaneously, covering nearly every corner of the Ice Coffin Cage, making the group of assailants look distressed. They truly hadn't expected Wang Yu to be so difficult to deal with.

The burly bearded man swung his golden gourd hammers a few times, and when he realized that most of the ice needles were illusions, he quickly shouted, "Use area-of-effect defensive spells, or magical artifacts if you have them. Most of what he's sending are illusions."

"Oh, really?" Wang Yu chuckled lightly. The hand seals of the illusory clones, which were inverted at the four corners above the Ice Coffin Cage, changed, and he pressed his fingers together, holding them vertically before his lips.

Flame Spitting Art: Cold Flame!

The surging flames suddenly expanded several zhang high; there were four terrifying fireballs in total, completely enveloping the entire cage, and the temperature in the air dropped even further. But three people were engulfed by the flames, emitting agonizing screams.

"The one in the upper left corner is real! Attack!"

The two cultivators, one at Qi Condensation ninth level and the other at Qi Condensation eighth level, leaped up simultaneously.

"Golden Hammer Art!"

"Vortex Water Blades!"

The golden gourd hammers in the bearded man's hands suddenly grew two sizes larger, and he unleashed a powerful hammer strike towards Wang Yu's true body, while the other person, as he soared into the air, shot out three spinning water blades.

Wang Yu did not dodge this time. He lightly patted his chest, activating the Dark Fiend Armor tattoo.

Soul Devouring Demonic Armor Art!

Dark fiendish energy, like black mist, surged from the armor tattoo, completely enveloping Wang Yu. His left arm, the powerful corpse arm, thrust forward, colliding with the golden hammers. Then, to the bearded brute's horrified gaze, he punched his pair of top-grade golden hammer artifacts flying. The vortex water blades unleashed by the other person only left white marks on the Dark Fiend Armor before being bounced away.

"How is that possible!"

"Could it be... a second-tier defensive spell? Or has it reached the Grand Completion stage?!"

Regardless of what they thought, Wang Yu's right arm muscles swelled up, four dragon-like sinews became visible, and he created an afterimage in mid-air. He punched through the Qi Condensation eighth-level cultivator's protective spiritual light, directly into their chest cavity. He crushed the heart in his hand, then landed on the ice below, pressed his palms together, and slammed them violently onto the ground.

As a large amount of spiritual energy was expended, the entire Ice Coffin Cage trembled. Dense ice spikes grew and intertwined, and in the blink of an eye, there was no longer any standing room within the vast cage. The ground was covered with mutilated corpses and severed limbs, with a few bodies hanging amidst the ice spikes. Blood soaked into the ice crystals, turning the area crimson, like blooming blood flowers, eerily beautiful. The bearded man's eyes bulged with rage.

"No!!!"

Of the dozen or so people, only he remained. He gnashed his teeth and said, "I don't believe you have that much spiritual energy to squander! You're only at the eighth level of Qi Condensation!"

Wang Yu sneered. The effects of top-grade pills were something such people couldn't possibly comprehend. Although he was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, he was only an outer sect disciple, indicating he was a rogue cultivator who had joined the sect only in recent years; otherwise, he would have been promoted to inner sect long ago. His methods were meager, and his strength was lacking. Dealing with three to five of them would be effortless.

"Your turn."

Beneath the Dark Fiend Armor, Wang Yu's expression was indiscernible. Although this marvelous art primarily protected against spiritual attacks, its basic defensive power was still very strong in practical use. It was just a little short of reaching second-tier, which required devouring more living souls or slowly grinding it out through the cultivation panel. Unfortunately, the Soul Devouring Demonic Armor Art, in Wang Yu's mind, had a very low priority.

"Don't think I'm scared of you! I've been roaming the Scarlet Kite Demonic Domain for eighty years; without a trump card, I would have died long ago."

"Spirit Burst Art! Aaaaaah!"

This seemed to be a secret art for boosting strength. After the bearded man used it, his aura surged dramatically, but the grade of this secret art was insufficient, making it difficult for him to cross the Foundation Establishment chasm, and the temporary strength he gained also had its limits.

"Nothing special."

He summoned the Golden Edge Whip; its thick, leaf-shaped golden blades extended with a clattering sound, quickly binding the man securely. He exerted force with his left arm, swinging him around like a sandbag. The ice spikes within the Ice Coffin Cage were continuously shattered. In less than three breaths, the man was smashed into a pulp by Wang Yu's powerful corpse arm. His life essence had long since dissipated.

Shaking his head, Wang Yu dispersed his spiritual energy, and the Ice Coffin Cage quickly descended to the ground, turning into a pile of shattered ice. Spiritual energy transformed into threads, searching through the crevices. Fourteen corpses lay neatly, along with fourteen storage bags. After a spiritual sense inventory, he had gained 16,000 spirit stones, 8,000 of which belonged to the bearded man, five high-grade magical artifacts, twelve mid-grade magical artifacts, several pills, several talismans... and a pile of miscellaneous items.

These items could also fetch seven to eight thousand spirit stones, especially the magical artifacts. Although used artifacts had some depreciation, they could still sell for one-third of their original price. Including the value of these corpses, this single haul brought in over 20,000 spirit stones worth of assets, comparable to a year's worth of effort.

"As the ancients wisely said, 'Murder and arson bring wealth,' a level of insight we can barely hope to attain." Of course, this was also related to Wang Yu's strength; other Qi Condensation eighth-level cultivators did not possess his level of power to deal with such a large group of people. By plundering others' lifelong accumulations, how could one's wealth growth be slow? Moreover, the bearded man had clearly been hoarding spirit stones; otherwise, he wouldn't have yielded such a substantial profit.

He quickly tidied up the battlefield and, from the spoils of war, chose a flying artifact shaped like a flying sword. This thing was much faster than his Black Cloth and was also a basic type of artifact, specifically used by Qi Condensation cultivators for travel. It was perfect for Wang Yu as an upgrade.

And so, just as dawn was breaking, Wang Yu finally arrived at Erosion Heart City. This city had a permanent population of hundreds of thousands, where cultivators and mortals coexisted, but there was a clear social stratification. There were many hundred-meter-tall pillars in the city. At the top of each was a square pavilion platform, where the presence of cultivators was almost entirely concentrated.