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"I didn't expect you to actually dodge it!"
Lu Tiandu laughed heartily, a smirk on his face as he toyed with the shuttle that had returned to his hands.
He'd succeeded in his first sneak attack on a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The shuttle's speed and attack power truly surprised him. It was even more powerful than when he'd activated it at the eleventh level, truly worthy of being a top-grade, top-tier magical weapon.
Glancing at the grim-faced old man, Lu Tiandu shifted his magic spells, and he vanished from the old man's sight once more.
"Oh no! This kid's magical weapon is sharp, and it can even turn him invisible. I miscalculated!"
After searching with his spiritual sense, he still couldn't find any trace of Lu Tiandu. A flicker of panic crossed the old man's small eyes.
Gritting his teeth, he commanded the white crystal disk to rotate endlessly around him, employing the Wind Control Technique to constantly shift positions.
After all, standing still in this formation meant he was a sitting duck. Even though he'd fully activated the white crystal disk's defensive power, he had no idea it could stop the young man's shuttle.
At this moment, he felt a wave of regret. He hadn't expected a Qi Refining Stage warrior to be so sharp. He quickly applied a hemostatic charm to the wound and tossed a healing potion into his mouth, temporarily relieving the pain. His mind raced, searching for a way to escape.
"Hmph, you dare to come and kill for treasure? I'll make sure you never return!"
Having already tested the shuttle's attack limits, Lu Tiandu wasted no time, summoning the Spirit Light Shuttle once again for a sneak attack.
Soon, amid the old man's terrified cries, beams of silver light pierced his body repeatedly...
"Fellow Daoist, spare my life! Fellow Daoist, can you please spare my life!"
The old man, now terrified, screamed repeatedly, "It's all my greed. Can you please spare me?"
With another blow, Lu Tiandu vanished in an instant, leaving the old man, whose hairpin had been knocked off and now lay in disarray, a trail of resentment.
Within the yellow light envelope formed by the formation flag, Lu Tiandu's face paled. After all, using the Spirit Light Shuttle with all his might consumed a significant amount of his own spiritual energy, and he also had to constantly feed it to the formation flag, presenting a considerable challenge.
The old man likely shared the same idea. After all, even a cultivator in the early stages of Foundation Establishment possessed several to ten times more mana than a cultivator at the Perfection of Qi Refining.
While the old man was at a disadvantage in terms of magical instruments, as long as the shuttle couldn't instantly strike his vital points, he had room to maneuver.
Lu Tiandu understood this principle, and whenever he retracted the Spirit Light Shuttle, he would immediately grab two mid-level Wind Spirit Stones to replenish his mana.
With the enemy in the open and him in the dark, the old man couldn't bring himself to use the spirit stones to replenish his mana, while constantly fearing Lu Tiandu's potential sneak attack. He was utterly terrified.
After over an hour, the old man's eyes finally dimmed amidst his resentful roars, leaving only a battered corpse...
Lu Tiandu still didn't dismantle the formation. Enduring the depletion of his mana, he released his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings, finding no one else. Then, he hurried back to his previous cave and slipped into the Stone Bead World to recover his mana.
With his mana depleted, he was at his weakest!
But within an hour, aided by the Stone Bead World's abundant spiritual energy, Lu Tiandu's mana had recovered 70% to 80%.
"It's truly not easy for a Qi Refiner to kill a Foundation Establisher!" Lu Tiandu sighed.
If it weren't for the Sky Wind Fierce Formation trapping the old man, coupled with the incredibly fast and sharp attack of the Spirit Light Shuttle, Lu Tiandu wouldn't have been able to defeat him.
Of course, if he'd spared a Sky Thunder Seed, he could have gotten within ten feet of the old man and, with a surprise attack, easily killed him.
This old man's death was truly a bitter one.
With the same magical instrument configuration, a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage possessed over three times the mana and speed of a cultivator who had reached Perfect Qi Refining.
However, Lu Tiandu's Spiritual Light Shuttle completely outpaced them, leaving them unable to escape and ultimately ambushed and slaughtered. Their fate was utterly tragic. Therefore, without absolute dominance, forcing a younger cultivator to possess their treasures could lead to counterattack.
After escaping the Stone Bead World, Lu Tiandu flew towards the old man's corpse.
"Huh?"
Lu Tiandu was startled. A furry bag had appeared in the old man's arms, now half-open.
Lu Tiandu grasped with his five fingers, and a large, cyan hand, transformed from his magical power, seized the bag. A quick glance revealed it to be the bag of a low-level demon beast, the beast within long since vanished.
Lu Tiandu sneered, then grabbed the storage bag from the old man's waist, picking up the still-intact golden spear and the damaged white disc.
After collecting the spoils, Lu Tiandu delivered a final, small fireball to the old man. A few breaths later, the excess ashes were blown away by the fierce wind, disappearing.
Lu Tiandu extended his hand, and a yellow formation flag reappeared in his hand. He quickly formed hand seals with both hands, striking the flag with several incantations. The flag soared in the wind, instantly transforming into a massive banner three feet tall.
Lu Tiandu gripped the flagpole tightly with both hands, closing his eyes to sense the situation.
A moment later, he waved the flag and flew rapidly in a certain direction. Within moments, he appeared in a weedy area, his five fingers slightly spread, instantly unleashing the intermediate-level Wind Spirit Grabbing Hand technique.
A giant cyan hand shimmered with light, then suddenly flashed, sweeping toward the grass.
Just then, a flash of golden light appeared, escaping the cyan hand's grasp.
"Capture it!"
Lu Tiandu snorted coldly, and the cyan hand shifted, swiftly reaching forward and snatching the tiny object within.
"It's a level one demon beast!"
Lu Tiandu muttered, examining the trembling creature in his grasp.
The demon beast looked palm-sized, with yellow fur, golden eyes, and a thunderous mouth, resembling a miniature golden monkey. Its large eyes gleamed with fear, giving it a rather adorable and foolish appearance.
"Strange! If this were the old man's spirit pet, wouldn't they usually place a self-destruct restriction in addition to the mind control restriction? Or is this spirit beast too low-level for the old man to bother with?"
Lu Tiandu was puzzled.
While it was clear that the old man was dead, the little golden monkey was still alive.
Lu Tiandu clenched his fingers and used his magic to restrain the little creature, then casually tossed it into the spirit beast bag. Now was not the time for research.
This place was still too close to the market in Huadaowu. Lu Tiandu quickly gathered his formation flags and array, unleashed his Wind-Following Sword, and vanished in a stream of azure light.
After flying westward for two hundred miles, Lu Tiandu found an uninhabited hilltop to land on.
He casually carved out a cave and set up the flags of the Mysterious Formation before fading back to the Stone Pearl World.
Lu Tiandu first planted various newly harvested spiritual herb seeds in the vacant herb garden, then took inventory of the refining materials he had acquired.
Since embarking on this journey six months ago, Lu Tiandu had visited the large markets of the three major sects: Tianque Fort, Qingxu Sect, and Huadaowu, as well as the smaller markets run by several immortal cultivation families.
Whenever he arrived at a market, he would first search for an inconspicuous hill within a hundred miles of the market, carve out a temporary cave dwelling, and bury the disk and flags of the Sky Wind Fierce Formation, ready for emergencies.
While this was a bit cumbersome, it gave him a greater sense of security.
After regaining his mana, Lu Tiandu would disguise himself and don a ethereal hat, concealing his true identity, before entering the markets to trade.
In this way, he would quietly trade one or two or three Dingyan Pills for spirit stones. Then, quietly finding a place to enter the Stone Pearl World, remove the hat, change into his clothes, and disguise himself as an ordinary cultivator to purchase low-grade spiritual herbs, seeds, and refining materials. He would then follow the crowds out of the market, remaining unscathed.
He was delighted to see the Dingyan Pills continuously transform into spirit stones, which would flow into his pocket. He would need spirit stones for his future cultivation, so any extra he could save was a welcome addition.
His journey was uneventful, the only unexpected event being the hemp-clothed, early-stage Foundation Establishment elder he had just encountered.
(End of this chapter)