Wei Yuan knew offering up an Avatar’s primordial spirit and soul would earn him a lot of otherworldly fortune. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for a Great Warlock’s primordial spirit and soul. Despite slaying two Great Warlocks in succession, the shadow in the moon had not displayed any interest whatsoever.

The wisps of faint blue qi in front of him were clearly a kind of fortune. They were more or less the same as the most basic form of black qi. The question was, where did they come from?

Wei Yuan tried touching the blue qi with his perception and instinctively understood that its method of use was probably similar to that of the black qi, though whether their effects would be similar as well remained to be seen. Also, he still had no clue as to where these five wisps of blue qi had come from.

While patrolling his own Dao Foundation one time, Wei Yuan pulled out the dead branch and gave it a look. He could not find any sign of nurturing life in it at all. He planted it back on the ground.

He withdrew from his sea of consciousness and sought out the noble scions. He then urged them to seek out Sun Yu and check for hidden injuries. The man could heal any minor injury they might have caught during the battle on the spot.

At this point, the young masters and ladies were looking up to Wei Yuan with total admiration. At his command, they obediently lined up and traveled to Sun Yu’s place. Their spoiled ways from before were nowhere to be found.

As they walked away, Wei Yuan rubbed his face and allowed a hint of fatigue to show on his face.

Bao Yun appeared at his side and remarked, “You’re practically the General Director of Palace Affairs of this realm—do you really have to lead them into battle hand-in-hand as well?”

Wei Yuan let out a sigh and replied, “I don’t have a choice. Brother Cui brought them here, so I have a responsibility to make sure they’re taken care of. Besides, they’re not lacking in talent. With proper training, their combat effectiveness won’t be anything to sneeze at.” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Bao Yun asked another question, “Did you come up with the idea of leading them into battle to earn military merits yourself?”

The question puzzled him a little. “Yes? What’s the matter? They came here because they wanted to earn fame, right? Is merit ranking not the most direct reflection of one’s fame? Had they not come to this realm because they want me to help them in earning merits?”

Bao Yun clasped her hands behind her back and leaned slightly toward Wei Yuan, saying, “Everything’s fine. You did well. Keep it up!”

It was only after Bao Yun walked away that Wei Yuan snapped out of his momentary daze. It had to be said that Miss Bao gave off the same pressure as an Immortal Lord every time she came a little too close.

Next, Wei Yuan summoned the head of the guards to his side and ordered him and his men to carry the scions’ equipment away for inspection and maintenance. Any damaged items were to be repaired immediately, and they were to collect any necessary materials from Yun Feifei. Their armor needed mending because quite a few of them had taken multiple hits during the recent battle.

After handling a pile of miscellaneous tasks, Wei Yuan finally went to see Tianyu.

Tianyu had been set at the summit of the central peak. The fellow was far too dangerous to be locked up in the dungeon. Neither the mundane facilities nor the ordinary cultivators were capable of keeping him in check at all. That was why Wei Yuan had left him on the summit where Xiao Yu, the guardian of the realm, kept a constant watch over him, and everyone scanned the area with their perception from time to time.

Tianyu grew agitated as soon as Wei Yuan showed his face. He struggled furiously against his bindings while yelling, “Despicable! Shameless! Vile! Humans really are a bunch of treacherous scoundrels! Let me go and fight me for real if you dare!”

Wei Yuan crouched down in front of the Strength Warlock and gave the hair strands binding his wrists a tug. They were unbelievably tough. Tianyu had obviously to break them via brute strength, but all he managed to do was cut his own flesh.

It dawned upon Wei Yuan that he had underestimated the young ladies. There was no chance Tianyu could have escaped even if he had left him in the dungeon.

Xiao Yu was hugging his sword and standing guard up until this point. When Wei Yuan showed up, he said, “I would like a moment to myself. See you later.”

The swordsman’s reaction felt a little strange, so Wei Yuan asked Tianyu, “What did you say to him?”

“His talent is passable, so I asked him to set me free and fight me on equal terms. He ignored me after that.”

Wei Yuan asked, “Do you think you can beat him?”

Tianyu mulled over the thought seriously before answering, “I believe I have an eighty percent chance of defeating him, yes. My King Kong of Mount Tai is naturally sentient and far superior to his sword. ‘Ve already told him this, but he insisted that his sword wasn’t bad either. So, we argued for a bit. He’s not very articulate; he couldn’t out-argue me.”

“Eighty percent isn’t bad, but he’s also the weakest among us. Beating him isn’t much of an achievement. You can’t even beat me, let alone the others,” Wei Yuan remarked.

Tianyu flew into a rage: “Who says I can’t beat you? If it weren’t for—”

Wei Yuan cut him off. “Could you have defeated the pagoda? What about that tree? My Master took down a Great Warlock with just four swords. If he’d unleashed all seven, what do you think would have happened?”

Tianyu was speechless for a moment. Finally, he mumbled out a response, “I... may not necessarily lose to them.”

“Let’s talk business. How do you plan to buy your freedom?”

Tianyu replied, “I’ve told you several times already. Just send a message to my tribe and tell them to send the ransom. You can then release me afterward. It’s that simple.”

Wei Yuan held up two fingers. “I’m adding two more conditions. First, I want an additional five hundred thousand immortal silver on top of the ransom, or its equivalent in goods. Second, the Shamans must withdraw its troops and refrain from invading for a year.”

“Quit dreaming!” Tianyu flatly refused.

“Why’s that? Do you think you’re not worth that much? There are only a hundred spots in the Strength Warlock Ranking. It is no easy feat to become the top one hundred out of all Warlocks. It’s normal that I would ask for this much, isn’t it?”

Tianyu sneered. “To tell you the truth, I knew the moment I set foot in your realm that this is the ‘flaw’ mentioned in the Sky Warlock’s edict.Those two good-for-nothings, Blood Eye and Phantom, couldn’t sense it, but I can feel the loss of the worldly origin qi. If you let me go and take your share of the ransom, I can consider paying you a little extra.

“Alternatively, you can fight me again. You’ll lose and let me go. I’ll still pay the ransom, and I’ll pretend I do not know what’s going on here. It’s only a matter of time before someone discovers this flaw anyway.”

Wei Yuan asked curiously, “What makes you think I won’t just kill you and silence you permanently?”

Tianyu harrumphed. “The large majority of my soul is attached to the Strength Warlock Ranking. You may kill me, but I will simply be reborn in the ranking. I will lose this mystic body, and I will certainly miss it, but it is only a matter of time before I retrain my new body to become as good as my old one. My ransom is really the value of a mystic body.

“Why else would I have agreed to duel you alone? It’s because you cannot kill me! Heh, do you really think we Strength Warlocks are stupid?”

“I see.” Wei Yuan nodded and summoned Ji Liuli, Bao Yun, and Zhang Sheng.

While waiting for his colleagues to show up, the young man said, “I do not know if Strength Warlocks are stupid, but I do know that there are many people who are a lot smarter than you. Just remember this: it is not too late to buy your freedom even after you broke. I’ll still listen carefully to your terms.”

It took almost no time for everyone from the Palace of Absolute Beginning to show up. Even Cui Yu had arrived at the scene.

After briefly explaining Tianyu’s situation, Wei Yuan said, “That’s the gist of it. Does anyone know a way to deal with this?”

Ji Liuli ran her hands all over Tianyu’s body and poked him here and there with great interest. She began, “He has quite the interesting body; much more interesting than the thick skull or the lizard’s. His soul is stored inside the Strength Warlock Ranking, right? Treasures like these are generally quite powerful, and they’re usually immortal treasures. That said, they aren’t rare. Despite what he tells you, the ratio should be the other way around: most of his soul is stored inside his body, and only a small portion is kept within the Strength Warlock Ranking. When this body dies, the immortal treasure would automatically summon his remnant soul and fuse the two split parts back into one. This is the general principle of such immortal treasures.”

After a brief pause, Ji Liuli asked, “Here’s the question: does anyone here think that his remnant soul could escape my Nine Level Devil Suppressing Pagoda?”

As she spoke, a small nine-tiered pagoda appeared in her hand. She then waved it a couple times in front of Tianyu so that he could clearly sense its aura.

The Strength Warlock’s expression changed instantly.

It was Bao Yun’s turn next. She summoned a green fruit on her fingertips before changing it repeatedly. In the end, she arrived at a golden red fruit and held it toward Tianyu. The Strength Warlock immediately started shaking not because he was afraid, but because his body and Dao Foundation were afraid.

Bao Yun explained, “This seed of mine possesses the power to draw out one’s vital yang[1]. If I plant it inside him, it will automatically extract the essence of his body and soul to form a fruit of vital yang. If the Strength Warlock Ranking works as he claims, then the soul attached to the immortal treasure would instead be drawn to the true body when the extraction has progressed to a certain point.

“Of course, the fruit can’t draw everything. But given enough time, there won’t be enough soul left in the ranking to revive him. Considering his current cultivation, the fruit of vital yang he produces should be quite nutritious; useful even for someone looking to enter the Avatar stage.”

Cui Yu’s eyes lit up. “Now that is what I call a treasure!”

Cui Yu was the only one present with a heaven foundation. Everyone else would naturally enter the Avatar stage when it was time, but not him. That was why he was incredibly sensitive toward any treasure that could increase his chance of success.

Then, Zhang Sheng summoned a sword ray that was overflowing with the intent of oblivion on his fingertip. He gave Tianyu a good look before saying, “It doesn’t need to be so troublesome. Put him in my sword array, and I will cut him with all my might. Given his pitiful cultivation, the remnant sword intent will trace the karmic bond and annihilate the soul stored in the Strength Warlock Ranking. Even if it fails to destroy everything, I doubt there will be enough left for him to revive.”

To say that Tianyu was covered in cold sweat would be an understatement. Everyone present was strikingly attractive, yet their hearts were only blacker than the last. No wonder the humans themselves said that one cannot judge a human by appearance.

By now, the only one who hadn’t said anything yet was Xiao Yu. Cui Yu was just a heaven foundation, and his options were far too limited. Considering the situation, he did not yet have the qualifications to voice an opinion.

On the other hand, Xiao Yu was an immortal foundation. Wei Yuan felt it would be rude not to let him demonstrate his abilities. So, he fixed his gaze on him.

Outwardly, Xiao Yu maintained a calm expression. Inwardly, Xiao Yu was cursing Wei Yuan with the foulest language imaginable. After racking his brain for something to no avail, Xiao Yu finally said, “I’m not particularly skilled. All I have is The Sun’s true fire. I can use it to slow-roast him for several hours per day....”

Tianyu burst out swearing after hearing that.

Having achieved his objective, Wei Yuan tossed Tianyu to a corner and allowed him to settle down for a bit.

They had gotten a sizable haul of supplies this time. The Shamans had brought a total of twenty mud boats. They were carrying tens of thousands of catties of military rations, over ten thousand catties of refined metals, and more than a thousand sets of armor. Moreover, Wei Yuan could clearly sense Qingming’s rate of nurturing accelerating after the new Shaman corpses were transported to the realm. Finally, it had reached a critical milestone.

Mysterious, profound energy began radiating from Qingming. To his perception, the realm stone had become even more transparent than before and revealed what looked like a small pool. At the moment, the pool was mostly empty, with only a handful of bluish water rippling at the bottom.

Blue drizzle continuously formed out of seemingly nowhere and gathered at the bottom of the pool. They were the tangible form of worldly origin qi converted from the corpses of the Shamans. When the pool was full, Qingming would advance to the next stage.

As Qingming transformed, so did Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation. His jade hill was gradually changing to resemble Qingming.

More soil began appearing on the ground surrounding the jade hill, with an especially thick layer within a ten-zhang radius. It was basically a patch of land that was strewn with pebbles. Noticeably, there was only soil within three chi of the dead branch. The pebbles had all been pushed aside at some point.

The rate at which the Great Realm was absorbing spirit qi increased once more, and Wei Yuan could finally sense the progress of his cultivation.

It was at this moment Qingming’s first Wonder was finally activated—Life is a Flash.

1. The male equivalent of vital yin. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☜