Meng Hao’s heart was uneasy. He used all his spiritual power to flee, not daring to stop, fearing that he would encounter a calamity he could not withstand.
“I offended the old eccentric Song before, and now I’ve offended the Violet Fate Sect, but they can’t blame me. It was they who forced me to make the exchange!”
Meng Hao sighed. Although he felt guilty, he couldn’t have acted differently given the situation. Now, he only wanted to run as fast as possible, widening the distance between himself and that mountain range.
“I need to find a place to hide. If I’m caught, it will be truly dangerous.” Meng Hao frowned in thought. The treasure fan could no longer help him escape. He landed on the ground, put away the treasure fan, and then ran quickly forward. “I wonder when I’ll reach Foundation Establishment and truly be able to fly in the sky!”
Two days passed. Throughout these two days, Meng Hao dared not stop to rest.
At the same time, within the mountain range, atop the treasure mountain at the peak. Wu Dingqiu smiled as he picked up a chess piece, then pondered for half an hour before slowly placing it down. Across from him, the old eccentric Song’s face grew even gloomier, pale, his eyes fixed on Wu Dingqiu. The old man snorted coldly, then quickly placed a chess piece.
“Your cultivation is unusual, and so should your state of mind. We cultivators focus our minds; even if mountains collapse, our expressions should remain unchanged. Look at yourself, merely having a few miscellaneous items taken by a junior, and you’re so distracted?”
Wu Dingqiu stroked his beard, adopting a leisurely posture as he spoke to the old eccentric Song. “If it were you, you would be the same.”
The old eccentric Song angrily retorted, “I certainly wouldn’t be like that. If it were me, Wu, I would only praise, not get angry. My Violet Fate Sect is a place for cultivating the mind and nurturing one’s nature. How could one get angry over such a trivial matter? Old eccentric Song, I don’t mean to criticize you, but in this regard, you should learn from our Violet Fate Sect.”
Wu Dingqiu laughed heartily, looking at the old eccentric Song with a smug expression. “Alright, after this game, I’ll invite you back to the Violet Fate Sect, then take out the Qi Nurturing Scroll for you to see, so you can understand what it means to stabilize your qi and focus your mind.” Wu Dingqiu laughed even louder, looking extremely pleased with himself.
The old eccentric Song merely snorted coldly without speaking, then frowned as he looked into the distance. From the forest, two figures appeared, running towards them. These two were Tian Shuiyin and Lu Song. Both held iron spears and ran straight to the mountaintop, followed by the remaining disciples of the Violet Fate Sect.
“Greetings, Elder Wu! This disciple has followed your instructions and exchanged for this supreme treasure!”
“This disciple greets Elder Wu! This disciple was fortunate not to disgrace the mission and finally brought back this iron spear!”
Tian Shuiyin and Lu Song spoke in unison. The old eccentric Song’s face grew even darker, accompanied by Wu Dingqiu’s lingering laughter.
“Excellent! Both of you did very well. I will promote you to inner sect disciples. However, you didn’t make things difficult for that junior, did you?” Wu Dingqiu asked.
“Reporting to Elder Wu, we only exchanged items; we did not make things difficult for him,” Tian Shuiyin quickly said. Lu Song, standing beside him, also became excited, seizing the opportunity to nod.
“Old eccentric Song, come and see. Let’s appraise and admire this divine spear together.” Wu Dingqiu laughed loudly, his sleeve flicked, and the iron spear flew into his hand. As soon as he touched the iron spear, his expression changed, and his eyes flashed with brilliant light. He carefully examined it again.
Song Laoguai's expression, which had been gloomy, widened after observing the iron spear, revealing a radiant glow. The corners of his mouth curled into a meaningful smile.
Wu Dingqiu's expression grew increasingly ugly.
The iron spear in his hand, no matter how he looked at it, was just an ordinary piece of iron.
Unwilling to accept this, he pointed the iron spear at the nearest demonic beast, but there was no reaction whatsoever.
Wu Dingqiu slowly raised his head and looked towards Tian Shuiyin and Lu Song.
These two were agitated. Seeing Wu Dingqiu's gaze, they trembled all over, their faces filled with confusion.
"This iron spear, what did you use to exchange for it?" Wu Dingqiu asked.
"This disciple used two thousand one hundred spirit stones, seven Earth Spirit Pills, one Life-Snatching Nail, and one Insect Fetus Pill," Tian Shuiyin hastily replied.
Wu Dingqiu's expression began to sink.
"This disciple also used one thousand five hundred spirit stones, three Heaven Spirit Pills, one precious fan, and one Dharma Pill," Lu Song added.
Song Laoguai's laughter echoed endlessly, as if he wanted to release all the vexation that had accumulated over the past few days.
"A bunch of trash! This iron spear is fake!" Wu Dingqiu roared in anger.
Seeing his two disciples spend so much to exchange for it, and then hearing Song Laoguai's laughter, the anger in his heart intensified. He roared.
The chessboard in front of him exploded, the air vibrating as if with thunder, spreading all the way to the foot of the mountain.
Tian Shuiyin and Lu Song each spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, their bodies nearly toppling over.
Their minds were completely blank, shocked by Wu Dingqiu's words.
"It's fake?" The two of them looked bewildered, stammering.
Wu Dingqiu's echoing voice spread in all directions, reverberating over half the mountain range, even reaching Dongxiu City.
Sun Hua and the others, who had not yet left, were shaken.
Sun Hua was stunned, then as if realizing something, his expression became even more astonished.
"Is that spear fake?" Sun Hua looked at his fellow disciples, who were also extremely surprised. "Could it be that iron spear?"
In the White Pearl Pavilion, Qiao Ling had not yet finished introducing a magical artifact to a cultivator when she heard the echoing sound.
She thought of Meng Hao, and a strange expression appeared on her face.
The middle-aged man, sitting cross-legged on a pill furnace, opened his eyes. A look of mockery appeared in his gaze, but he said nothing, then closed his eyes again.
Far away from the mountain range, Meng Hao was flying rapidly, his speed reaching its limit.
Within the mountain range, Song Laoguai's laughter still echoed.
Wu Dingqiu's expression was extremely ugly.
He was an elder of the Purple Cloud Sect, yet he had been played by a young man in the Qi Condensation realm. Although it wasn't directly related to him, if word got out, it would still cause him great loss of face.
He hated that he couldn't immediately find Meng Hao. Turning to look at the frightened expressions of Tian Shuiyin and Lu Song, he felt even more disgusted.
He sighed inwardly.