Chapter 44: Tribulation Assassination
When the Five-Tusked Great Ship bearing the banner of the Azure Sea Sect charged in with a wild, rampaging posture and forcibly smashed into the Four-Direction Heavenly Water Array, the entire Flying Fish Island fell into turmoil.
Countless Hua Family cultivators revealed expressions of panic and despair.
As for the spirit farmers, mulberry farmers, fishermen, and guest elders hired by the Hua Family, they hurriedly knelt and kowtowed. “We are willing to surrender… Honored superiors of the upper sect, we truly have no connection with the Hua Family!”
A few bold loose cultivators could no longer restrain themselves and immediately began attacking the Hua Family ancestral residence, hoping to make a fortune while incidentally proving their innocence.
“Hmph, courting death… You dare pick up scraps from my family?”
Hua Tianfeng raised a hand, and a golden shear-shaped spirit artifact appeared. Its enormous phantom twisted once, instantly severing the rebellious loose cultivators at the waist.
The bisected cultivators did not die immediately. They collapsed to the ground wailing, a sound enough to make one’s skin crawl.
After casually disposing of them, Hua Tianfeng looked toward the Five-Tusked Great Ship that had already reached the core of the grand array. His face filled with despair. “It’s been exposed…”
He glanced at Hua Zong beside him and secretly transmitted a divine-sense message. “This must be because our secret collusion with the Zhong Family has come to light… There is no room for negotiation. You and I are both on the Azure Sea Sect’s kill-on-sight list. We cannot escape. Immediately have several of the family’s Foundation Establishment Seeds flee with storage pouches. Let as many escape as possible.”
“Send out the signal. Those clansmen we secretly sent to the Heavenly Heart Linked Islands must conceal their names and identities… As long as the Azure Sea Sect stands, none may bear the surname Hua again.” After seeing Hua Zong agree, Hua Tianfeng burst into loud laughter and pointed forward.
The golden shear spirit artifact suddenly radiated brilliantly, transforming into two golden flood serpents that carried him into the sky. “I am Hua Tianfeng, ancestor of the Hua Family. Who dares come take this old man’s head?”
“I will!”
Cui Zhe merged man and sword into one, turning into a streak of emerald sword light as he met the two golden flood serpents head-on.
The battle between Foundation Establishment cultivators was about to erupt!
Meanwhile, more Enforcement Hall disciples descended expressionlessly from spirit boats and began sweeping through the Hua Family clansmen across the island.
“Pay attention—let not a single one escape!”
These enforcement disciples were all at late-stage Qi Refining, practiced exquisite techniques, and possessed abundant combat experience. The Hua Family cultivators were utterly unable to contend.
Several Qi Refining Peak Completion cultivators exchanged glances and rushed directly toward the Hua Family’s underground cavern.
Clearly, they had long coveted that Mysterious Wind Fiend.
Every time the sect eradicated a Foundation Establishment force, it was the best opportunity for these enforcement disciples to amass great wealth!
……
Southeastern sea region of Flying Fish Island.
The autumn sky was high and clear; the sea breeze was slightly cool.
A small flat boat drifted with the waves. Fang Qing lay on the deck with one leg crossed over the other, a fishing rod placed at his side.
Splash!
Suddenly, the sea surface split apart. A foolish-looking large blue fish was flung onto the deck, its tail still thrashing.
“Haha… hooked.”
Fang Qing laughed loudly, then casually kicked the large blue fish back into the sea.
He stepped onto the Mysterious Ice Wheel and soared toward the horizon.
In the direction Fang Qing flew, a Hua Family cultivator drenched in blood was fleeing in panic.
This cultivator had ordinary features—one who would disappear in a crowd without a trace. His cultivation had barely reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
Upon seeing the Mysterious Ice Wheel beneath Fang Qing’s feet, his eyes lit up. “Are you a cultivator of the Zhong Family? I am of the Hua Family—please, quickly save me…”
Boom!
Before he could finish speaking, Fang Qing visualized the Horse-Headed Vajra Guardian. His divine sense transformed into a Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle and directly smashed into the man’s Sea of Consciousness.
The cultivator immediately felt splitting agony in his head. A talisman in his hand had not yet been activated when he saw a fist rapidly enlarging before his eyes.
Bang!
Great Vajra Divine Strength erupted. Fang Qing shattered a profound iron dharma shield with a single punch and smashed it into the cultivator’s head.
‘Calling out so warmly on the surface, yet hiding a talisman in secret?’
‘Good heavens… it’s even a second-tier talisman? Even if I survived taking it head-on, I’d lose a layer of skin!’
He reached out and took the talisman from the Hua cultivator’s hand, inwardly complaining:
‘Judging me to be from the Zhong Family just because of a Mysterious Ice Wheel flight artifact—are you foolish or am I? The Azure Sea Sect has fought the Zhong Family for so long; how could we not have seized ice-attributed artifacts? It was clearly a ploy to deceive me!’
Moments later.
A headless corpse fell into the sea, while Fang Qing quickly departed with a storage pouch.
“A great harvest!”
With the aid of divine sense, he easily erased the imprint of true power within the storage pouch.
When his divine sense probed inside, the first thing that astonished Fang Qing was its capacity.
Ordinary storage pouches were merely equivalent to carrying an extra suitcase.
But this one was clearly specially crafted. Not only was its exterior engraved with intricate patterns, the interior space was as large as a room!
In one corner of the room lay a pile of spirit stones, mostly low-grade with a few mid-grade mixed in—over four thousand in total.
Aside from that, there were bolts of silk woven from Flying Dragon Silk.
At certain times, this could be even more valuable than spirit stones—true hard currency!
There were also many fine-grade artifacts, high-tier talismans, medicinal pills, books… and…
Light flashed in Fang Qing’s hand as a white jade bottle appeared.
After removing the stopper, he saw within a snow-white pill. A single spirit pattern lay upon its surface, and a chill instantly spread outward.
“A spirit pattern? A second-tier spirit pill?”
“Mm… based on the pill manuals I’ve read, it should be the Ice-Heart Vein-Protecting Pill… This is a spirit pill that can assist in Foundation Establishment! It’s also a specialty of the Zhong Family!”
“As expected… when a family collapses and a Foundation Establishment Seed flees with its heritage, there’s only one word to describe it—fat!”
“And this is just one of them. If I caught the others… or even those branch lines arranged to leave earlier?”
Fang Qing shook his head, laughing at his own greed.
The destruction of the Hua Family of Flying Fish Island was such a major event that all parties would certainly be watching.
If he intercepted them all?
From the highest heavens to the deepest underworld, he would be hunted down.
“With these gains, plus this second-tier talisman, it’s enough.”
He did not grow greedy and directly flew back toward the sect.
As he flew, he examined the second-tier talisman in his hand.
It was obvious that the Hua cultivator had never believed he was from the Zhong Family. His words had merely been to lure him closer before unleashing this trump card for a vicious strike.
He had not known Fang Qing was even more ruthless—using a divine-sense secret technique the moment they met, killing in a single blow without giving the slightest chance to activate the talisman.
Now, feeling the talisman in hand, Fang Qing believed his earlier actions had been entirely correct.
“Second-tier… Heavenly Frost Ice Blade Talisman?”
“Once used, it not only releases intense frost to freeze the surroundings but also summons three ice blades to cleave everything ahead…”
He injected only a trace of true power to test it and immediately felt as though a vortex lay within the talisman, seeking to draw away most of his power.
“As expected… for us Qi Refining cultivators, second-tier talismans are still beyond our level. The true power consumption is difficult to bear without at least late-stage Qi Refining… More crucially, after activation, it somewhat fails to distinguish friend from foe.”
Without divine sense, it would be difficult to precisely control the direction of the three ice blades. At that point, one could only rely on luck.
‘When that Hua cultivator used it, wouldn’t it have looked more like a mutually destructive move?’
‘Makes sense… after escaping layers of pursuit, he must have already been at the end of his strength. This Heavenly Frost Ice Blade Talisman was probably his final trump card.’
‘I must never fall to such a state. Let this serve as a warning.’
……
Azure Sea Sect.
“With the resources gained this time, I can attempt second-tier pill refinement dozens of times… The only issue is explaining their source. I must act secretly. Best would be refining in my own spirit pool.”
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
Second-tier spirit pools were standard equipment for second-tier pill masters. The best spring eyes had long been occupied by Floating Cloud Daoist and the other Pill Island elders.
Even an ordinary low-grade second-tier spirit pool required at least a top-grade first-tier pill master to qualify for application!
‘If only the spirit pool in my cave dwelling were second-tier… But that requires a second-tier geomancer and formation master… With my current connections, I cannot invite such people.’
‘So perhaps the best course is to successfully certify as a top-grade first-tier pill master, then apply?’
Upon returning to his cave dwelling, Fang Qing saw a sound-transmitting talisman flying about chaotically.
He casually caught it, and Hua Lingsu’s voice sounded by his ear. “Junior Brother Fang… the assessment for top-grade first-tier pill master has been arranged. In half a month, come to the Pill Hall.”
“Oh? The top-grade first-tier pill master assessment is about to begin?”
Fang Qing felt slight anticipation. “I wonder which examiner will be assigned to me?”
In truth, at his current level, the possibility of failing to refine a top-grade first-tier pill was infinitesimally close to zero.
Half a month later.
Pill Hall.
“So you are the one seeking assessment for top-grade first-tier pill master? Not bad, not bad… My Pill Island truly abounds with talent.”
An elderly man with a withered appearance, full head of white hair, and an ebony hairpin looked at Fang Qing.
“Fang Qing greets Elder Han!”
Fang Qing saluted. He had seen this elder before when attending lectures at the Pill Cauldron Platform.
It was said he was a mid-grade second-tier pill master, with quite remarkable pill-refining skills.
“To advance to top-grade first-tier pill master, you must refine three different kinds of top-grade first-tier pills. For each type, you have three attempts.”
Elder Han waved his hand and handed Fang Qing a storage pouch. “Follow me!”
Fang Qing followed Elder Han all the way to the mountainside of Cold Spring Peak.
The area was perpetually shrouded in mist, concealed by formations.
When Elder Han produced his elder’s token and formed a hand seal, dense fog dispersed to reveal a spirit spring.
“Low-grade second-tier—‘Cold Marrow Spring.’ You may use it freely for one month. How about it?”
Elder Han asked casually.
“Agreed.”
Fang Qing lifted a strand of water, sensing its properties, and nodded slightly. “This junior intends to refine Qi Refining Powder, Qi-Replenishing Pill, and Return-to-Origin Pill…”
He glanced at the surroundings hidden beneath thick mist and inwardly praised: ‘If I could later rent such a second-tier spirit spring, with formation protection, it wouldn’t be bad at all…’
In the next moment, Fang Qing’s thoughts sank into stillness. He took out a Qi Refining Flower, the primary ingredient of Qi Refining Powder, and tossed it into the Cold Marrow Spring.