Chapter 319: Strange Staff

"I just can't cultivate a Dao, but I can retrieve and store artifacts," Li Weiyi patiently explained.

Sikong Jingyuan cursed crudely, then roared, "You're looking for death!"

Li Weiyi's eyes narrowed. He raised the Yellow Dragon Sword above his head, frantically channeling his spiritual energy into the blade.

"Whoosh!"

Nine Dao characters appeared on the sword's body, and bolts of lightning were drawn to its tip.

Upon reaching the Dao Seed realm, the Yellow Dragon Sword became even more mystical.

The Dao characters on the sword were not scriptures, but rather the Daoist Six Jia Secret Incantations, emerging from within the sword itself.

"Boom!"

Li Weiyi crouched down and swung his sword horizontally.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, sword light and lightning shot forth.

The ghost generals accompanying Sikong Jingyuan exploded like bubbles, seven or eight of them shattering instantly. Even their formation couldn't withstand the attack.

In the distance, Erfeng led a swarm of Bone-Corroding Miasma Mosquitoes, which arrived in an overwhelming wave, surging into Sikong Jingyuan's Dao Heart Manifestation area and breaking through his Hundred Ghost Formation.

"Whoosh!"

A chilling wind howled, and ghostly clouds surged.

The sound of battle flags flapping could be heard in the wind.

A fifty-zhang-tall Yin Ghost Commander ran rapidly towards them. Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao stood on its left and right shoulders, respectively, one wielding a sword and shield, the other drawing a bow with an arrow nocked.

With the battle standard changing hands, it was clear that Sikong Ce and Sikong Qin had likely met a grim fate.

Facing this perilous situation, Sikong Jingyuan felt a chill run through him. He snapped back to reality, immediately retracted his Dao Heart Manifestation and ghost generals, and used an escape technique, plunging into the swamp.

"Boom!"

Li Weiyi cleaved downwards with his sword, splitting the swamp in two as if parting the sea.

The sword mark was a zhang deep.

Unfortunately, he was a step too late, and Sikong Jingyuan escaped.

Li Weiyi immediately released his spiritual sense, scanning the surroundings.

Erfeng pursued Sikong Jingyuan's aura, flying two to three li in a certain direction. However, the aura abruptly ceased there, vanishing without a trace.

Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao also searched but found nothing.

"Damn it, he got away again! When I get back, I'm going to cultivate a powerful escape technique. Life-saving methods are more important than anything," Qi Xiao said, his chest heaving with frustration.

Li Weiyi, maintaining a good attitude, chuckled, "Sikong Jingyuan's cultivation is far superior to ours. To defeat someone stronger and keep him here would require us to pay a terrible price. Once Tuoba reaches the fourth stage of the Dao Seed realm, we can team up again and block all his escape routes, ensuring he can't get away."

Tuoba Butuo said, "For someone like Sikong Jingyuan, even a fifth or sixth stage Dao Seed realm cultivator would find it difficult to capture or kill him, let alone us. Brother Weiyi, what is your true cultivation level? I felt like you were always on top when fighting him."

"It was all thanks to the battle standard and Dao arts, catching him off guard. Besides, I'm at the peak of a three-star Spirit Mind Master's spiritual power. Who says a Mind Master can't defeat someone stronger?"

Li Weiyi looked at his left hand, which was throbbing with pain.

Even with the defense of the Blood Handprint Demon Armor, his palm was still wounded, torn and bleeding, when he retrieved the golden ancient mirror.

However, thinking about having acquired a seventh-grade Hundred-Character Artifact, which could sell for at least a million Yongquan coins, instantly lifted his spirits.

Putting away the Yellow Dragon Sword, Li Weiyi asked, "Did those two old geezers escape too?"

"One escaped, one was captured."

Tuoba Butuo's spiritual energy was severely depleted. Believing Sikong Jingyuan had truly escaped far away, he stopped channeling the Ghost Banner and recalled the Yin Ghost Commander into it.

He opened his dimensional pouch and released Sikong Ce.

Sikong Ce's skin was charred black from the Turin Cold Flame, and he was severely wounded and unconscious. Sikong Qin was already injured when he used his escape technique, so he naturally had to flee alone.

Although the Yin Ghost Commander was powerful in combat, its attack methods were singular, and it couldn't stop a fourth-stage Dao Seed realm martial cultivator from escaping.

Li Weiyi took all the valuable items from Sikong Ce. "Being able to capture even one person is excellent! A fourth-stage Dao Seed realm master is very valuable. Tuoba, I'll leave him to you for now!"

"Understood."

Tuoba Butuo let out a sinister chuckle and proceeded to break each of Sikong Ce's limbs.

This was the safest method for dealing with captured martial arts masters.

"We can actually capture a fourth-stage Dao Seed realm martial cultivator now! Our Qi family's general is only one realm higher than him," Qi Xiao said with a laugh.

Li Weiyi regulated his breathing to quickly recover his spiritual energy and asked, "How long have we been in the Netherbloom Black Swamp?"

"About four days, I think!" Qi Xiao replied.

Li Weiyi silently calculated, then asked, "What have we gained?"

"We've gathered three Meditation Flowers, but haven't found any fragments of the Spirit Platform Blazing Star Stone yet," Qi Xiao said.

"I've collected three Meditation Flowers and one thousand-year spiritual herb."

Tuoba Butuo took out a palm-sized, jet-black spiritual herb that resembled a plump child. It emitted a strong medicinal fragrance and exuded rich life energy. He handed this thousand-year spiritual herb to Li Weiyi, knowing that Li Weiyi's seven unique insects consumed a vast amount of resources.

Immediately after, he took out a rusty spear. "I don't quite understand this item, but it shouldn't be an ordinary object."

When Qi Xiao took it, he nearly sank into the swamp; it was incredibly heavy, weighing over thirty thousand jin.

It was indeed no ordinary object.

When they tried to activate it with spiritual energy, there was no reaction.

"I can't figure it out!"

He shook his head and handed it to Li Weiyi.

Li Weiyi, having prepared himself, manifested spiritual energy into a cloud beneath his feet to support his body. He grasped the rusty spear and also channeled spiritual energy into it. However, it was like inert iron; the spiritual energy couldn't penetrate it.

Tuoba Butuo said, "Both this spear and the thousand-year spiritual herb were found underground, three hundred li deep into the Netherbloom Black Swamp. That area is very strange..."

Qi Xiao said, "It's probably just a spear forged from extremely dense metal."

"This spear is crafted with great precision. Its length is exactly one zhang, not a single fen more or less, and it weighs thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three jin."

As a Spirit Mind Master, Li Weiyi was highly sensitive to length and weight.

Array masters cannot be off by a single fen when setting up formations. Alchemists, even when refining pills, cannot have ingredients that are a single fen heavier or lighter.

Li Weiyi looked at the spearhead; it was exactly one chi long, very sharp, and had two protrusions resembling human ears.

Wiping away the rust with his hand, he revealed some faint star chart markings beneath, which seemed familiar.

Then he looked at the spear's tail...

The tail of the spear was hollow, tubular, and jagged.

He wasn't sure if it was intentionally designed that way or if something else was meant to be inserted there.

A thought struck Li Weiyi. He channeled his spiritual power and prepared to incinerate the spear with Golden Crow Flame to see if it would melt.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

The Golden Crow Flame enveloped the spear.

Something strange happened: the rusty spear began rapidly absorbing Li Weiyi's spiritual power.

Astonished, Li Weiyi fully channeled his spiritual power into it.

Gradually, the chi-long spearhead brightened, and the star chart patterns became clearer. Identical star chart patterns appeared above the heads of all three, covering a large area.

"This couldn't be a Mind Master's staff, could it?" Qi Xiao exclaimed.

Martial cultivators' artifacts were diverse and varied.

However, Mind Masters' tools were exceedingly rare and precious.

Talismans and formation flags couldn't be considered Mind Master tools, as martial cultivators could also activate and use them.

Li Weiyi swung the spear, and the radiance on its tip and the star chart patterns above their heads instantly vanished, with no power bursting forth.

"It should be a staff... or more precisely, a battle standard that's a combination of a war spear and a staff. But it seems to be missing a section, so it can't unleash its full power."

Li Weiyi sensed the spear's extraordinary nature and asked, "Tuoba, where did you find this? If we can find the other section, I'll trade you the Ghost Banner for it."

Moving forward, he needed to use his identity as a Spirit Mind Master to conceal his martial arts achievements as much as possible.

Fighting Sikong Jingyuan didn't involve worrying about exposure; he could bluff him. But if an Eternal Realm grandmaster were observing, the vast disparity in his martial arts cultivation and combat power would certainly cause significant trouble.

A suitable staff could greatly enhance his combat power as a Spirit Mind Master, truly allowing him to defeat stronger opponents.

Tuoba Butuo chuckled, "No need for a trade, Brother Weiyi, just take it. If it truly is a staff, I can't even use it! Besides... do you think I can hold onto a treasure like the Ghost Banner? I don't think you can either, Brother Weiyi."

Only after activating the Ghost Banner did he realize how extraordinary it was.

With his third-stage Dao Seed realm cultivation, the Yin Ghost Commander Tuoba Butuo summoned could already contend with weaker fifth-stage Dao Seed realm experts.

Moreover, he could even fight alongside it.

However, the spiritual energy consumption was immense.

The reason Tuoba Butuo said Li Weiyi couldn't hold onto it was because no one knew the true limits of the Ghost Banner. How could Hall Master An and Honored One Yao not have considered using it?

Thinking positively, their silence might be due to a strong cultivator's pride or because they hadn't yet encountered an insurmountable crisis.

Thinking negatively, there were even more possibilities.

Tuoba Butuo said, "Brother Weiyi, there's no need to be modest. By virtue of saving my life, you can take this item with a clear conscience. Besides, if we can't find the other section, it's just a dead object, worthless."

"Then I won't be polite! I'll compensate you elsewhere in the future."

Li Weiyi put away the spear and said, "Let's go, let's search that strange area you mentioned again! I want to see just how strange it is."

Qi Xiao expressed some concern: "Sikong Jingyuan escaped and will definitely return to the Dry and Withered Hall to ask for powerful help. Wouldn't it be too dangerous for us to remain in the Netherbloom Black Swamp?"

Tuoba Butuo nodded. "If we return to the main altar first, we'll be in the right. If Sikong Jingyuan goes back first, he'll surely distort the truth and use Sikong Ce to his advantage."

Li Weiyi said, "Your concerns are not unfounded. But have you considered that Sikong Jingyuan would also assume we'd immediately return to the main altar? He's a step ahead, and we can't catch him. Rushing back to the main altar now might actually be more dangerous."

Li Weiyi, who possessed many life-saving methods, felt little fear. He continued, "There's another possibility! Sikong Jingyuan is a divine son, and his cultivation is higher than ours."

"He wouldn't just scurry back in such disgrace, not only utterly defeated but also having had his precious mirror taken by me. It's too humiliating! If I were him, and I wasn't injured, I would definitely hide in the shadows and make a comeback."

"His concealment techniques and escape arts are both quite remarkable."

Tuoba Butuo nodded slightly. "If it were me, I'd do the same. Moreover, he and Sikong Yanlun are 'straw man' brothers, sharing a unique spiritual connection. If he summons Sikong Yanlun, he'll certainly be full of confidence to challenge us again."

"Let's go. With our current strength, even if the brothers team up, we might not have much of a chance of victory."

After fighting Sikong Jingyuan, Li Weiyi's confidence grew, and he was disabused of any mystique surrounding fourth-stage Dao Seed realm martial cultivators.

Individuals who had formed a Dao Lotus were once beyond his reach, like towering mountains suffocating him. Now, however, he saw them as nothing more than that.