Lu Tiandu was currently hiding in a large tree several dozen feet away from the three men. He had floated all the way here without being detected by the three men's spiritual senses, which made him feel much more at ease.
Listening to the conversations between the three men and watching the intrigues among his three fellow disciples, Lu Tiandu maintained an expressionless face.
Killing people for treasures, turning against each other, and scheming against each other—this is probably the norm in this mortal world of immortal cultivation! Judging from the attire of these three men, they should be foundation-building cultivators from Spirit Beast Mountain.
The one with the highest cultivation level should be the burly man, who was already preparing the materials for the Core Formation stage, but… the other two were only in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Looking at the burly man's dilated pupils, Lu Tiandu knew that he could not hold out for much longer. He wondered what kind of poison had actually poisoned this late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Since none of the three could detect his invisibility, Lu Tiandu simply stayed.
He suspected that once the burly man was dead, the exposed, portly fellow would inevitably attack Junior Brother Liu. If both were to suffer losses, he might be able to snag some advantage...
Putting aside the burly man's secret, the Snow Spirit Water and Heavenly Fire Liquid he'd purchased, aids for forming elixirs, were worth thousands of spirit stones. Not to mention the three of them, who were likely at the auction, their fortunes were undoubtedly considerable.
With tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of spirit stones, he felt a glimmer of hope that he wouldn't let them go.
Of course, if the two men ultimately divided the spoils and departed in harmony, Lu Tiandu wouldn't lose anything; he could just consider it a good spectacle.
This place was only twenty or thirty miles from his cave abode. With his formation, he could kill an early Foundation Establishment cultivator and should have no trouble trapping a mid-stage cultivator.
However, two mid-stage cultivators in good condition were not something he could consider a threat.
Just as Lu Tiandu slowly activated his gauze cloak to conceal himself, lost in his thoughts, a shrill scream snapped him back to his senses.
A closer look revealed a situation far beyond his expectations.
The burly man surnamed Wang was still lying straight on the ground, not quite dead yet, and nothing unusual happened.
However, Senior Brother Zhang, the portly man who had always been confident of victory, was a surprise.
He looked miserable, his exposed abdomen pierced by a large hole, his fat intestines ruptured, a truly unsightly sight...
Meanwhile, the handsome Junior Brother Liu stood in the distance, a strange expression on his face. His dark hands emitted streams of black mist, a gesture that made it clear at a glance that he wasn't practicing legitimate cultivation techniques.
"Junior Brother Liu, how dare you practice evil?"
The smile on the face of the portly man, who loved to bare his chest and abdomen, was gone. He clutched his abdomen, a look of pain on his face, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Oh, really? If you're dead, who'll know what I've cultivated? And who'll know I'm..."
The delicate Liu Junior Brother lost his feigned shame. His face was icy cold as he looked at Senior Brother Zhang indifferently. His last words were so vague that no one could hear them clearly.
The portly man now understood that Liu Junior Brother had been using him from the beginning.
He had originally planned to wait for Junior Brother Wang's death before dealing with him, but he hadn't expected that Liu Junior Brother, taking advantage of the opportunity to plead for the burly Wang Junior Brother, would suddenly attack him, catching him off guard and severely injuring him.
"And, do you think I don't know what happened between you and that bitch? I wonder if she'll continue to curry favor with you when she sees your head when we go back this time?"
Seeing the portly man's increasingly grim expression, Liu Junior Brother sneered again.
"Do you think you're the only one plotting against Senior Brother Wang's secret? Hahaha... I was the one who told you this secret. Thank you for helping me capture Senior Brother Wang. Now, you can go and die..."
As Junior Brother Liu spoke, he slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist. In a flash of green light, an ugly toad, covered in giant bumps and smeared with green fluid, appeared before him.
It was a Level 3 Green Toad Beast.
As soon as the giant toad emerged, it emitted a fishy stench. Its small, emerald green eyes fixed upon the fat man, its long, slender tongue extending and retracting with incredible swiftness.
Although the fat man had been ambushed and injured in the abdomen, he quickly took a pill and applied a hemostatic talisman to stop the bleeding.
However, the evil energy conjured by his wicked power continued to course through his body, causing him extreme discomfort.
Worse still, this evil energy was causing his magical powers to stagnate.
Watching Junior Brother Liu release his spirit beast, the fat man, anxious, quickly slapped his spirit beast pouch and released his own spirit beast.
The spirit beast was about ten feet long, lion-like, and snow-white, much more attractive than the ugly toad. It was also a Level 3 Snow Roar Beast.
However, the lion now looked somewhat languid, bearing numerous wounds from a previous battle with Junior Brother Wang's spirit beast, which hadn't yet fully recovered.
Without a word, the two spirit beasts, driven by their respective masters, instantly pounced, their innate spells flying in a flurry, accompanied by the sounds of biting and clashing.
Although both possessed numerous spirit beasts and insects, the only ones capable of inflicting damage on the other needed to be at least Level 2.
Even at the renowned Spirit Beast Mountain, not everyone possessed several such beasts.
The two men hadn't released any other spirit beasts; it seemed these two Level 3 beasts were their primary training. Junior
Brother Liu, with a stern expression, gazed upon Senior Brother Zhang, whose complexion was dwindling, and who could only offer a khaki shield for protection. A smile slanted from his lips, and with a flick of his dark right hand, a small, jet-black banner materialized, tossed into the air.
The triangular banner was swirled with gray mist, swirling and changing constantly. Hoarse screams echoed from within, leaving one with a chilling feeling.
As Junior Brother Liu rapidly formed hand seals, the black energy emanating from his hands grew, and the triangular banner swelled in the wind, transforming into a mighty banner several feet tall in the blink of an eye.
Upon seeing this strange banner, Senior Brother Zhang's sturdy face darkened even more. He gritted his teeth, a blood-red pill materialized in his hand, and he swallowed it instantly.
"Extreme Blood Pill?"
Junior Brother Liu flashed a hint of surprise at the pill's appearance, but it faded in an instant. He sneered, "It seems your cheap master treated you well! However, even with this Extreme Blood Pill, you'll still die today!"
He then grasped the black banner with both hands and swung it violently at the portly Senior Brother Zhang.
The dark gray flag trembled violently, and several long black snakes shot out from it. In the blink of an eye, they were in front of the portly Senior Brother Zhang, slamming hard into the light shield formed by the khaki shield.
With a muffled "bang," the light shield shook, causing Senior Brother Zhang's face to turn pale.
Furthermore, as the dark gray snakes collided with the khaki light shield, a "sizzling" sound emanated from it, and the spiritual light on the yellow shield gradually dimmed.
"Evil spirit?"
Senior Brother Zhang, who had just suppressed the evil spirit within him, cried out as he felt his shield corrode.
(End of this chapter)