Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 354 - 208. The Opportunity for Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo to Transition from a Magic Artifact to a Magical Treasure_2
Wang Jingfang cursed to himself and thought of retreating, and in a flicker, his body blurred as if he turned into a dragon surfing among the clouds, darting away in an instant.
But Lei Jun had strewn Ji Earth Yin Thunder and Gui Water Yin Thunder in every direction, instantly closing in and boxing him in again.
Wang Jingfang let out an angry roar, pouring all his mana into a single point before bursting forth again, giving his attacks a sudden and fierce explosiveness, *almost like a martial master’s Blood Condensation and Pellet Embracing skill.*
This blast of force all broke out in Wang Jingfang’s next move, executing the supreme skill Green Dragon’s Chant; a dragon-shaped green aura flashed by, ignoring the tangle of pitch-black thunder water and focusing entirely on tearing through the closing, dusky earth thunder.
But just as he tore open a gap, *it felt as if something had been waiting there all along.*
A flicker of what appeared a faintly weak flame.
The light exploded with a bang, unleashing a torrent of thunder and fire too countless to number, gushing out toward Wang Jingfang. In a split second, the force of the blast dwarfed even the Gui Water Yin Thunder and Ji Earth Yin Thunder.
Wang Jingfang’s face changed, and with no other choice, he was forced to externalize his Golden Core again to fend off the violent explosion of thunder and fire.
But in that instant of stopping, it became impossible for him to move again.
Thunder of Thor Talisman, Endless Sea of Fire Talisman, and other spirit talismans exploded in rapid succession, each flashing with spirit light at close range, immediately engulfing Wang Jingfang.
Under Golden Core externalization, the half-transparent orb of light was like a lone boat in a vast ocean, barely keeping Wang Jingfang afloat in the torrential waves of thunder and fire.
"Although you betrayed the Pure Yang Palace, your Taoist skill set is truly genuine, you sure did inherit some real stuff," the opponent’s strength had exceeded Lei Jun’s expectations a bit.
But looking at the half-transparent sphere that looked unbreakable and shielded Wang Jingfang inside, Lei Jun remained perfectly calm.
He always liked tough but immobile targets best.
Lei Jun produced a hollowed golden rail like a tube, casually flicking it so that the hollow track extended and grew.
He even backed up a distance himself.
Then, he raised a hand to point into the distance at Wang Jingfang, who was surrounded by thunder and fire and forced to keep his Golden Core externalized.
That glaring half-transparent orb fixed in place was simply the perfect target.
Lei Jun’s actions puzzled Wang Jingfang, and at the same time, he sensed impending doom on pure instinct.
But before Wang Jingfang could move, the power of Primordial Magnetism gathered inside Lei Jun’s metallic rail, making the Fine Gold Sword Pellet float in place.
The next instant: the faintest spark sparked to life.
The air between the two of them shredded instantly, a deep groove carved across the ground below.
It was as if something pierced straight through the half-transparent orb enveloping Wang Jingfang’s body.
At first touch, the half-transparent sphere just gave a shudder.
The next instant, Wang Jingfang’s back and the sphere itself exploded at once.
He looked down at his body, a gaping hole torn through his torso.
The wound on his back was even more horrific.
And the half-transparent golden ball that shielded him had also been punched through from front to back.
A hole in the front, webbed with cracks around the edge.
As for the back, over half of the externalized Golden Core had utterly shattered, with only wreckage remaining.
Wang Jingfang toppled backward, convulsing.
*To say nothing of the grave injury to his person, even if his body were whole, with Lei Jun blowing apart his Golden Core, most of his cultivation was ruined.*
Lei Jun retracted the metallic rail, stepping up in front of Wang Jingfang, "Now, we can have a calm and honest conversation about Zhou Peng."
Wang Jingfang forced himself to focus, staring at Lei Jun, unwillingness almost burning in his eyes.
Lei Jun raised a finger and waved it at him.
Strings of emerald-green Yin Thunder of Yi Wood danced at his fingertip, wrapping around the gravely injured Wang Jingfang, suspending his life by a thread.
Then Lei Jun used the Breathing Soil Banner to wrap Wang Jingfang up, tidying up the battlefield afterward.
He had timed his move to when most of the Sui Dynasty remnants had already scattered and Wang Jingfang was isolated, so there was little aftermath to worry about.
But Lei Jun still needed to thoroughly investigate the opportunity promised by the best lot.
*The environment had been chaotic earlier, but now that most people had dispersed, though the earth vein spiritual energy was still turbulent, it was much easier for Lei Jun to sense things compared to before.*
The Sui Dynasty descendants had gathered up and taken away a lot of things, but Lei Jun could still sense that the spiritual object he sought remained somewhere in the Star Dragon Abyss.
So Lei Jun was in no rush to leave; curiosity nagged at him, but he waited until most contenders had gone, then showed himself and dealt with the other matter—capturing Wang Jingfang—first.
After handling Wang Jingfang, Lei Jun searched the abyss and soon found his target.
A spring that was all but dried up.
The spring seemed to have gone dry long ago, so the descendants of the Sui hadn’t bothered disposing of it further, just collapsed the area and covered it with shattered mountain rock and weeds.
Lei Jun checked all around, verified the position was right, and without excavating directly, took out the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo that resonated with the spot. He thrust the bamboo shoot-shaped artifact into the floor of the abyss valley.
At first, the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo had no strong reaction, but after a moment, Lei Jun sensed a faint trembling deep beneath the valley floor.
Then, blood-red streaks began to appear across the surface of the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo.
Entangled by those blood streaks, the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo trembled ever so slightly.
From those streaks, Lei Jun felt not evil or malice but a potent, rich spiritual nature instead.
As the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo shook, a barely-there roar of thunder seemed to echo from its core.
The more the streaks gathered, the louder the thunderclap from within the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo became.
By the final moments, even the valley rocks around him shook with the tremors.
A bold, masculine thunder force burst forth in all its vigor.
Lei Jun reached out and touched the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo, now covered in blood streaks that only grew more numerous.
As if some spiritual enlightenment had descended, the moment contact was made, a name surfaced in Lei Jun’s mind,
[Kui Ox Blood].
*So that’s it—if I could absorb and refine the spiritual power within the Kui Ox Blood, it might further raise the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo’s quality... No, it would truly elevate this magic artifact’s quality as a whole.*
*Best to wait until I’ve advanced my cultivation to the Seventh Heavenly Layer, then use the Nine Abyss True Fire to reforge this treasure.*
*If I do, this would become a magical treasure entirely attuned to me and on a whole new level... Lei Jun understood instantly.*
*Only a magical treasure of this caliber is worthy of the third-rank opportunity mentioned in that best lot.*
But looking at the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo—now grown larger all over and resembling a giant bamboo shoot after absorbing the Kui Ox Blood—Lei Jun couldn’t help feeling just a little awkward.
*Hopefully, when the treasure is reforged, its appearance will change as well. I really don’t want my first life-bound magic treasure to go from an oversized bamboo shoot to an extra oversized bamboo shoot.*
While the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo drew in the Kui Ox Blood of its own accord, Lei Jun kept an eye on the surroundings and began interrogating Wang Jingfang.
Though he used a few tricks, the information Lei Jun got from Wang Jingfang’s mouth was, by and large, of little value.
What really caught Lei Jun’s eye was Wang Jingfang’s admission that Zhou Peng’s Yin Moon Soul Stone had likewise been given to him by someone else, not earned through Zhou Peng’s own luck or opportunity.
In other words, there was someone behind Zhou Peng too.
*Though there was no proof, the first person Lei Jun thought of was that mysterious master who attacked Li Qingfeng and Li Hongyu and fought Tang Xiaotang and Yuan Mobai for the Celestial Master Robe.*
*Besides keeping an eye on the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, could this person also be entangled with the Pure Yang Palace, another Taoist sacred land?*
Lei Jun gave the slightest shake of his head, *and with so little to go on right now, he didn’t dwell on it but made a mental note of the matter.*
*For him at this moment, reviving the Celestial Master Seal and acquiring the Kui Ox Blood to empower the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo meant this trip was already a bounty; heading home directly was hardly a loss.*
But some rumors he had picked up recently also caught Lei Jun’s attention.
On the one hand, the Sui Dynasty’s descendants were stirring up real chaos in the Southern Wilderness, and things could go either way.
If a major force did emerge in the Southern Wilderness and aimed north, the Celestial Master Mansion of Dragon Tiger Mountain would certainly bear the brunt within the Great Tang’s territory.
Still, as Lei Jun had said to Wang Jingfang, that was far off and rather uncertain right now.
But on the other hand, something else mattered even more to Lei Jun.
The Sui Dynasty remnants might really hold some clues pertaining to the Celestial Master Robe.
"White Spring Mountain, is that it?" Lei Jun mused.
