"That Zhang Yu was able to instantly know my movements—he must’ve pulled some kind of trick."

Lu Chang’sheng flew a distance away, took a moment to deal with Zhang Yu’s corpse, and soon after found Zhang Yu’s Immortal Insect treasure vault.

With his Foundation Establishment mid-stage Spiritual Sense, he broke through Zhang Yu’s Immortal Insect vault in no time.

There were plenty of things inside, but most of them were just worthless junk.

If Lu Chang’sheng was still at the early or middle stage of Qi Cultivation, he might’ve found them useful. But now? They were beneath his notice.

Still, in the end, he found a few worthwhile items.

A jade scroll.

He pressed it to his forehead, and in no time, a hint of delight flashed in his eyes.

The jade scroll turned out to be a magic called "Spirit Needle"—a top-grade technique.

This magic specifically targeted Spiritual Sense; it was exactly what Lu Chang’sheng had encountered before.

"If this supreme magic is cultivated to Great Success, it can even affect Foundation Establishment cultivators."

Lu Chang’sheng was secretly impressed—Zhang Yu had really hidden his strength well.

With these things, he truly did have the means to threaten ordinary Foundation Establishment elites.

In the Guangnan Domain, his reputation would likely rival that of Red Cloud Daoist.

"Guess I’ll have to learn this technique."

At Great Success, it could shake the Spiritual Sense of early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. And if mastered, it might even impact those at the middle stage.

Besides, the root of the Spirit Needle Technique lies in how strong the user’s Spiritual Sense is.

The stronger the Spiritual Sense, the greater the power.

With his mid-stage Foundation Establishment Spiritual Sense, he might just get some unexpected benefits.

Apart from that, Lu Chang’sheng also found a Concentration Pill Formula and an unused mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.

The pill recipe was a bit unexpected, yet made sense—prior to this, Zhang Yu had tried luring him in with the main ingredient, Crystal Marrow, for a Concentration Pill.

So holding on to a Concentration Pill Formula wasn’t surprising.

Though it’s only first grade, this formula is exceptionally rare.

Paired with a spell like Spirit Needle, you could say it’s a perfect combo.

"Zhang Yu definitely got lucky in some big way—but now, all that fortune belongs to me!"

Lu Chang’sheng tossed the corpse down, conjured a ball of Pill Fire in his palm, and wrapped the corpse in flames. Without magical power to resist, the body was quickly reduced to ash.

After wrapping up, he landed on a mountaintop, sat cross-legged, and focused his mind, running his Spiritual Sense through his body with care.

Sure enough, inside a strand of his own body hair, he detected an extremely subtle and exotic fragrance.

With a gentle shake, a small tuft of hair dropped from his body; Lu Chang’sheng blew lightly and scattered it onto a demon beast not far away.

The demon beast didn’t sense Lu Chang’sheng at all, letting the barely noticeable hair land on its body.

As soon as Lu Chang’sheng burst out in a flash of Spiritual Light and soared away on his sword, the demon beast jumped in terror and bolted into the distance.

Some time later, several figures appeared in front of the beast. When they saw the hair clinging to it, their expressions all soured.

Especially Li Jun at the front—just judging from his aura, he’d already reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Not long ago, he was leading a hunt for the Evil-slaying Alliance members Zhang Yu had brought, when suddenly a wave of dread struck his heart.

It was as if something important had left—but at that moment, he couldn’t afford to be distracted. Among the Evil-slaying Alliance were several late-stage Qi Cultivators.

He had to be there holding down the fort to keep everything under control.

At the time, he’d discussed things with Zhang Yu and figured that, although Lu Chang’sheng’s background was unclear, he was just a Qi Cultivator. With Zhang Yu’s strength, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Just in case, Li Jun even handed over a second-grade talisman paper.

"With a second-grade talisman and your Great Success Realm Spirit Needle Technique, even facing a Foundation Establishment expert, you’ll be able to put up a fight."

Li Jun had felt very confident back then. Who would’ve thought that after wiping out the Evil-slaying Alliance team, Zhang Yu still hadn’t shown up?

He checked with the Scent Retaining Gu and found that the smell Zhang Yu had left on Lu Chang’sheng had faded to almost nothing.

Li Jun immediately brought his people over, only to be met with this scene.

Whoever got rid of that hair almost certainly dealt with Zhang Yu, too.

Li Jun’s face twisted with pain. Few people knew he and Zhang Yu were Dao partners—their bond was practically unbreakable.

As bottom-tier loose cultivators, they’d inevitably been forced down the path of evil cultivation. But since they were both strong—and sharper than most—no one ever suspected who they really were.

Li Jun couldn’t figure it out—where had things gone wrong?

With all of Zhang Yu’s prep, there was just no way this should’ve happened.

Unless—

"That Lu Chang’sheng isn’t a Qi Cultivator—he’s Foundation Establishment!"

Rage flared in Li Jun’s heart.

He felt utterly played by Lu Chang’sheng—but what burned him even more was that he still couldn’t find the guy.

The other guy was too cautious—even at the marketplace, every time he went out it was with a different face.

If it hadn’t been for the Scent Retaining Gu before, he and Zhang Yu wouldn’t have even realized it was Lu Chang’sheng.

But now, with the Gu useless, finding Lu Chang’sheng in this vast Spirit Realm was like fishing for a needle in the sea.

Li Jun went numb, lashing out furiously at the demon beast before him.

Pitiful creature—barely in the early stage of Qi Cultivation—had to take dozens of strikes at Foundation Establishment level, and even its Deceitful Object got wiped out by brute force.

······

Marketplace.

A figure faded away its Spiritual Light and landed within the market—moving so conspicuously that all the cultivators took notice.

But when they sensed the terrifying, undisguised aura of a Foundation Establishment master, all of them instantly bowed their heads and dared not look again.

The man walked straight to the center of the marketplace, and lifted his eyes to see the gates of Luo Mansion.