Chapter 291: Heavenly Crane Elder and Yu Yong

Shop No. 3, First Floor, Hunyuan Hall!

The plump old man, Bu You, widened his eyes, scrutinizing the low-level Origin Life corpses inside the storage bag. Among them, a massive, entirely crimson corpse stood out the most. "Judging by its size and aura, this is a low-level Origin Life at the God-Emperor Mid-Stage!" Bu You exclaimed, looking at Luo Feng and Di Qing in surprise.

To be able to hunt a low-level Origin Life at the God-Emperor Mid-Stage in Yulan City during the rainy season already proves the strength of your team!

"Hurry up and make an offer!" Di Qing urged.

"For this Flame Corpse, I can offer up to 12.5 million Origin Crystals!" Bu You said. "Including its 10 battle merits, that's a total of 13.5 million Origin Crystals!"

Luo Feng and Di Qing exchanged glances. This was already the highest bid. The other two shops they had visited didn't even count the battle merits, offering maximum prices of 12 million and 12.2 million respectively.

"This corpse is yours then!" Di Qing said with a smile.

Bu You immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this. He was determined to acquire this complete corpse. The core tendons of the Flame Beast's corpse were regularly purchased by the force behind him, and other body materials could be used for refining artifacts, preparing medicine, or crafting puppets.

Although it's only the corpse of a low-level Origin Life at the God-Emperor Mid-Stage, that's because these beings are at a lower cultivation realm and cannot fully utilize their inherent advantages! As beings born outside the cage, their corpses are still very special.

In the hands of cultivators, they can play a greater role, and even the smallest fragments can serve as materials for practitioners to comprehend and cultivate. "Sell everything!" Luo Feng and his team visited the three most familiar shops on the first floor of Hunyuan Hall and sold everything suitable for sale.

"The one God-Emperor Mid-Stage and seven God-Emperor Early-Stage low-level Origin Lives we hunted this time sold for a total of 19.5 million Origin Crystals." Luo Feng and Di Qing then simply divided the income.

With a 30/70 split, Di Qing took 5.85 million Origin Crystals, while Luo Feng received the remaining 13.65 million Origin Crystals.

Luo Feng, who had borrowed 300,000 Origin Crystals from Di Qing to purchase a formation diagram secret treasure, returned the amount to him.

"Don't rush when dealing with the spoils from killing Ku Mo!" Di Qing said. "Look around various places in Yulan City first."

Luo Feng nodded.

Those spoils were quite troublesome to deal with.

If they were lazy, they could sell everything at Hunyuan Hall. However, the discount would be too significant. While complete low-level Origin Life corpses could be sold there, many scattered materials and even precious ingredients prepared for refining poisons still needed to be sold to knowledgeable buyers.

"It's worth spending a few more days to process them!" Luo Feng was not in a hurry at all. Such a large haul of spoils naturally needed to be handled properly.

"You also need to be careful of Ku Mo's master, Yu Yong, and the Ghostly Pavilion!" Di Qing reminded Luo Feng a few times before departing.

Luo Feng then went to process his spoils.

Within Yulan City, there were only three forces long engaged in "theft and plunder": the Insect Nest, the Myriad Shadow Pavilion, and the Ghostly Pavilion.

It's worth noting that there were 723 cultivators with God-Emperor Late-Stage enlightenment in the entire city. The fact that these three factions dared to plunder so brazenly, unafraid of offending enemies, showed their immense confidence.

"Deputy Pavilion Master, Ku Mo of the Blacklight team is dead!" The four experts from that team had returned to Yulan City before Luo Feng and his group, and naturally reported the news. The Ghostly Pavilion had a total of eight Deputy Pavilion Masters, all possessing God-Emperor Late-Stage enlightenment, and five of them served as elders in Yulan City.

These eight Deputy Pavilion Masters were the ones truly in charge of the Ghostly Pavilion.

As for the Pavilion Master...

The Pavilion Master was extremely powerful, already approaching the level of the three Hall Masters, and rarely showed himself. His main energy was focused on his clones in the Dark Holy Realm.

The Ghostly Pavilion's existence was merely to gain sufficient benefits.

"Ku Mo is dead." A handsome man draped in a white robe sat there. His entire skin surface naturally had a faint halo, which, upon closer inspection, was actually formed by thousands of protective layers.

The handsome man was one of the Ghostly Pavilion's Deputy Pavilion Masters—Elder Tian He.

"I only have twenty teams under me, and the Blacklight team suddenly lost a member. Reassigning team members will be quite troublesome," Elder Tian He said with a faint smile.

His fingers were fair, like crystalline jade, as he leisurely poured himself some wine.

"How did he die?"

"Deputy Pavilion Master, the detailed intelligence is here!" The golden-armored figure respectfully presented the intelligence report.

Elder Tian He's gaze swept over it.

The report detailed the entire process of the previous battle.

"Luo Feng."

Elder Tian He whispered softly.

"A cultivator who has only been in Yulan City for about seven hundred years. His physical cultivation method is somewhat interesting."

However, he didn't pay much attention to it.

He was also a powerhouse who emerged from the Source World, serving as an elder in Yulan City and a Deputy Pavilion Master in the Ghostly Pavilion, all merely to gain benefits along the way. His primary focus was also on the Dark Holy Realm.

As an enlightened cultivator who had long reached the God-Emperor Late-Stage, with vast accumulation over countless years, he naturally had a set of complete and powerful secret treasures even in Yulan City, so he didn't put Luo Feng in his eyes.

"Since he killed one of our subordinates, he must compensate us," Elder Tian He said, glancing at the golden-armored figure.

"Go find Luo Feng and tell him to pay 50 million Origin Crystals as compensation, and this matter will be settled!"

"If he refuses to pay, you don't need to say anything more; just return!" Elder Tian He instructed.

"Yes!"

The golden-armored figure respectfully responded and immediately departed.

Elder Tian He leisurely drank his wine, his mood entirely undisturbed.

He didn't care at all about the death of his subordinate.

The sole purpose of his clone remaining in Yulan City was to accumulate resources. "Yulan City has been uninteresting for too long!" Elder Tian He mused.

"Luo Feng, I really look forward to you refusing me. That would be quite entertaining. To gain long-term benefits in Yulan City, one needs not only reputation but also sufficient deterrence, and deterrence is built through killing. Hmph hmph!"

Elder Tian He's eyes turned cold and sharp.

Compared to the cruelty of the Dark Holy Realm, the Nine Rivers Holy Realm was purely a place for Elder Tian He to relax.

In a cave dwelling located in the most core area of Yulan City, its safety and energy supply surpassed even Di Qing's cave dwelling.

"Ku Mo is dead."

Yu Yong, inside his cave dwelling, received the news and also the full combat details sent by the four companions.

Yu Yong had a towering physique. He was not an enlightened cultivator but an Origin Bloodline cultivator. In terms of strength, he had nearly elevated his Origin Bloodline to the "Half-Origin level," yet he still lacked just a tiny bit.

Only true Half-Origin Bloodline cultivators held a status comparable to God-Emperor Late-Stage enlightened cultivators.

With Yu Yong's current strength, perhaps he could barely pass the lowest threshold to enter the Dark Holy Realm. However, he was unwilling to try.

If he went, he would still be at the very bottom.

He preferred to continue accumulating power in the Nine Rivers Holy Realm until he truly reached the Half-Origin level.

"Ah, Ku Mo!" Yu Yong sighed softly. "I've long said that life in the Nine Rivers Holy Realm is a rare period of ease for us! There's no need to join that Ghostly Pavilion!"

Yu Yong and Ku Mo had climbed up step by step from the very bottom.

Along the way, they had other companions, but in the end, only the two of them came together to the Nine Rivers Holy Realm.

For cultivators from the Source World, the path of cultivation was more difficult, and the astonishingly high difficulty of becoming a God-Emperor meant less pressure within their original world. However, Yu Yong and Ku Mo possessed various resources, making cultivation much easier, yet crises were everywhere, with death repeatedly forcing them to cultivate.

If they weren't strong, they would die!

"I once personally met Senior Jin. Senior Jin said that as long as we could escape the cage, he would be willing to resurrect many of our deceased companions!" Yu Yong sighed. "For us, the most important and anticipated thing is to escape the cage, not to fight to the death with other cultivators!" Yu Yong deeply understood his disciple, Ku Mo.

Ku Mo had grown up in slaughter his entire life, and even after becoming a God-Emperor, he habitually followed this path because it was the fastest way to earn resources. "Before, the environment forced us to kill, but now the Nine Rivers Holy Realm isn't forcing us, so we can slow down!" Yu Yong cherished these relatively peaceful days.

"Luo Feng." Yu Yong looked at the entire process detailed in the report. "Perhaps Luo Feng was Ku Mo's tribulation. I hold no animosity towards Luo Feng!"

Who could blame someone who actively sought to plunder and kill others, only to end up dead? On the path of growth, Yu Yong had witnessed the deaths of too many companions; he had even prepared for his own death at any moment! Ultimately, he and Ku Mo were extremely fortunate to completely transcend their original world and arrive in the Nine Rivers Holy Realm. Ku Mo's death here did not surprise Yu Yong at all. Choosing the path of "plunder" meant being prepared for a backlash.

"I will not avenge you!" Yu Yong sighed softly.

"I believe you, Ku Mo, would have wished for the same."

They understood each other too well.

Though labeled as master and disciple, they had grown together over countless years and were already companions through life and death.

"My cultivation path has only one goal: to escape the cage." Yu Yong's gaze was firmer than ever. Only by escaping the cage could he make up for too many regrets!

Luo Feng wandered through various shops in Yulan City, looking for suitable ways to dispose of his large haul of spoils. He didn't necessarily aim for the highest price but wanted to sell them at a comparable value.

It was already dark, and the wind was strong. Just as Luo Feng exited a shop, he saw a golden-armored figure appear ahead. The figure, entirely covered in golden armor, stared at Luo Feng with a cold expression.

"From the Ghostly Pavilion?"

Luo Feng immediately recognized the other party. He had long ago purchased intelligence on all God-Emperor level cultivators in the city. Although he hadn't bought the latest updates recently, God-Emperor intelligence rarely changed significantly in a short time. This was Qiu Yike, a God-Emperor Mid-Stage enlightened cultivator and a member of the Ghostly Pavilion.

"Are you here because of Ku Mo?" Luo Feng asked, looking at the figure.

"Luo Feng!" The golden-armored figure looked at Luo Feng. "Ku Mo was a subordinate of Elder Tian He, our Ghostly Pavilion's Deputy Pavilion Master. You killed Ku Mo, and the Deputy Pavilion Master is enraged! However, considering Ku Mo initiated the plunder against you, we are giving you a chance to atone!" "Give *me* a chance to atone?" Luo Feng asked, looking at the figure. "Pay 50 million Origin Crystals as compensation, and the Ghostly Pavilion will no longer pursue this matter!" the golden-armored figure stated.

"Fifty million Origin Crystals?"

Luo Feng laughed in anger. "Your Ghostly Pavilion's people plundered outside the city and tried to kill me, and I simply counter-killed one. Now you demand atonement and compensation from me? Am I supposed to just let myself be slaughtered when faced with plunder and murder?"

"You can counter-kill, but you still have to pay compensation afterward!" the golden-armored figure said. "Deliver 50 million Origin Crystals to the Deputy Pavilion Master within three days. Of course, you can choose not to pay, but the consequences will be something you don't want to see." After speaking, the golden-armored figure turned and walked away.

"Don't wait three days!"

Luo Feng called out, "Go back and tell the Deputy Pavilion Master, Elder Tian He, behind you, that not to mention 50 million Origin Crystals, there isn't even a single Origin Crystal. Bring whatever tricks you have." The golden-armored figure glanced at Luo Feng and grinned. "Impressive!"

With that, he flew away.