“Calm down. If you rush out now, you’ll be playing right into her hands!” His companion quickly held him back.
They were also angry now—after all, the treasures in this treasury were supposed to be partly theirs. Hua Jian had beaten them to it, making them feel they’d taken a real loss.
But fortunately, the two of them had lost relatively less and could still control their emotions.
If they let their companion charge out now, he’d probably be taken out by the others lying in ambush before he could even kill the little rat who opened the treasury.
When they attacked Hua Jian, those guys wouldn’t go all out. But against them, those enemies wouldn’t show any mercy.
The moment his head popped out, all sorts of nasty spirit techniques and attacks from spirit tools would come raining down—and that was from five people at once.
Who could withstand that? Even a super genius would have to flee with their tail between their legs from attacks coming from five different directions.
“Let’s see if we can break that mechanism first. We can’t let her open it so smoothly.”
Now that Hua Jian had entered the treasury, which was underground, they didn’t know its structure. Attacking her directly was pointless.
So, they would destroy her arrangements—specifically, that wooden stick that was opening the mechanism.
That way, Hua Jian couldn’t leave immediately and would have to keep working on the mechanism.
“Alright, I’ll handle it.”
The fuming demonic cultivator glared with bloodshot eyes.
Bloodfiend spiritual power condensed in his hands, and he struck at the wooden stick Hua Jian had inserted into the head of the mechanism beast.
The striking blood-red spiritual energy formed a bat in the air, flapping its wings as it slammed into the stick.
With a fixed target and a short distance, the bat hit the stick dead-on. As the blood-red energy exploded, the attacking cultivator wore a vindicated expression.
‘Steal my treasury, will you? Die!’
But soon, his vindication turned to shock. After the aftermath of his attack cleared, that seemingly ordinary wooden stick remained right where it was.
Not even a scratch!
His Bloodfiend Spiritual Power hadn’t damaged the stick at all. Instead, the stick had absorbed it.
Watching the blood-red veins gradually appear on the stick, the demonic cultivator’s face grew darker.
This was practically an insult—stomping on his face!
How could he endure this? Who could bear it?
What made him even more furious was that the other two teams in the resource point started mocking him, saying he couldn’t even accomplish something so simple and might as well die.
It infuriated him so much that he wanted to unleash his true strength and show those people what he was really capable of.
“Don’t get angry. Getting angry is exactly what they want.” That little thing’s not ordinary. We can’t be careless.” His two companions held him back again, telling him this wasn’t the time to force a fight.
Others might mock him, but they wouldn’t. They knew their companion’s strength well.
Even an attack not at full power couldn’t be blocked by an ordinary object.
That wooden stick had not only blocked the Bloodfiend Spiritual Power but also absorbed it—very strange.
If that little rat could pull out something so bizarre, she was definitely not ordinary. They couldn’t afford to be fooled by carelessness.
“Let’s wait and see. I want to see what they do if we don’t act.”
…
The other two were also hesitating. Though they mocked the demonic cultivator who made the test attack, they didn’t underestimate him.
Especially the team of two—their other companion had been killed by that test attacker’s squad. They knew exactly how strong he was.
If that wooden stick could easily block that strike, then attacks of the same level from them would probably just tickle it.
“We don’t have enough people to take the lead. Let them make the first move.” The duo quickly reached a consensus.
As the weakest faction in the resource point now, they absolutely could not be the ones to start the fight.
Their best strategy was to mediate once the two full teams started fighting, not to be the reckless initiator.
If they got caught in a pincer attack, they’d be finished.
They weren’t the only ones thinking like this. The trailing three-person team had the same idea.
Exerting so much effort for a single little rat wasn’t worth it.
Better to keep waiting for those real opponents to show a flaw.
……
“Hot-tempered, but slow to act…” Inside the treasury, Hua Jian watched the exchanges among the three teams.
The current stalemate was exactly the kind of standoff she was familiar with.
Without some external push, these guys would probably keep waiting until they couldn’t hold out any longer before they started fighting.
“This is too boring. I need to give them some motivation.”
Reaching out, she picked up the mechanism box placed in the center of the treasury.
With a gentle squeeze on both sides, the box opened like a blooming flower, revealing the treasure inside.
Inside the box was a spirit plant at the peak of the Ling Wang Realm—one of the few truly valuable things in this secret realm.
But for Hua Jian, it was nothing special.
Casually stuffing the plant into her storage pouch, she began the only project she could handle.
Forging a fake!
Colorful Mirage Qi surged from her palm. She condensed and compressed it, gradually forming a small, round treasure pearl.
After about half an hour, she had shaped a crystal-clear, gleaming pearl, as big as her fist. Holding it in her hand, it was impossible to look away.
Even more magical, wisps of colored smoke swirled around the pearl, making it seem otherworldly.
“This Mirage Qi Pearl should be enough to make them fight among themselves, right?” Looking at the beautiful pearl in her hand, Hua Jian’s smile grew wild.
Though she had made the pearl herself, it was still a genuine treasure.
She hadn’t used her Mirage Qi ability in years. The amount she had accumulated inside her body now exceeded what she had originally absorbed.
Compressing that stored Mirage Qi and using her plant talent to condense it into a ball—like bearing fruit—this was definitely a spiritual item.
She was a spirit plant at the Ling Wang Realm. Her Mirage Qi was also top-tier among those in the Ling Wang Realm.
So why couldn’t the Mirage Qi Pearl she created also be a Ling Wang Realm spiritual item?
Theoretically, this Mirage Qi Pearl was a genuine spiritual item.
“Now, let them witness your power first.” Hua Jian lifted the pearl high. Clouds of colored mist burst forth from it.
Soon, the treasury was completely covered in colorful mist. The remaining mist rushed out through the treasury’s entrance.
This strange phenomenon immediately caught the attention of the demonic cultivators in the resource point.
Seeing the mist gushing from the treasury, their first thought was that Hua Jian had found something good inside.
And those colored mists obviously weren’t anything beneficial.
They quickly took antidote pills from their storage pouches, held their breath, and wrapped their bodies in spiritual power to prevent the mist from slipping in.
Soon, Hua Jian staggered out of the treasury, holding a pearl in her hand.
“Haha, a Mirage Qi Pearl! Who would have thought such a treasure was here!”
“I am truly destined by fate. This secret realm is where I’ll make my name!”
“With this, all those who looked down on me will die. I’ll make them kneel at my feet like dogs!”
Her voice was wild—completely unlike the calm person who had deftly dodged attacks and charged to the mechanism earlier.
Was she crazy? Or did she really think she was invincible after getting the treasure?
No, that’s not it.
The watching cultivators almost simultaneously came to the same conclusion: Hua Jian had fallen for Wanhuagu’s trick.
This raving, stumbling, drunk-like performance was clearly the effect of the mist. Hua Jian looked like she was still moving, but she had actually lost her soul already.
Wanhuagu really loved these little schemes. Even the treasure hidden in the treasury was the kind that would make you lose your wits if you weren’t careful.
“Haha, she asked for it. I bet this pearl will end up in our hands after all!” The demonic cultivator who had been furious earlier was now laughing.
After all that running around, the most valuable treasure in the treasury would still fall into his hands.
“A Miraqi Qi Pearl, and such high quality too. Wanhuagu actually gave out such a good treasure…”
The other two demonic cultivators were still skeptical. When had Wanhuagu ever been so generous?
A Mirage Qi Pearl wasn’t some useless treasure.
It had many uses. Even just as a spice, it had some value.
And the pearl Hua Jian was holding now was of such fine quality—the amount of Mirage Qi in it must be considerable!
“So those colored mists are Mirage Qi? What a waste!”
One of the two men’s eyes flickered with greed. Just thinking about Hua Jian squandering precious Mirage Qi made his heart bleed.
No, he couldn’t let her waste any more Mirage Qi. This was their treasure!
Without hesitation, he raised his spiritual power and struck Hua Jian with a palm.
The spiritual power traced a black line in the air, and in the next moment, it easily tore through Hua Jian’s chest.
Black-red blood gushed from the girl’s chest, but she didn’t seem to notice. She kept holding the pearl and spouting nonsense.
Until her blood ran dry, and her life reached its end.
Thud!
After standing for about ten seconds with a hole in her chest, Hua Jian collapsed as if a switch had been flipped.
The colorful pearl rolled from her hand, bouncing and rolling toward the central square of the resource point.
“Hmph, idiot.”
The demonic cultivator who had attacked snorted. That little rat died too easily.
He even suspected he didn’t need to use spiritual power. A random sneak attack would have done it.
Under the illusion of the Mirage Qi, she couldn’t even use spiritual power anymore.
She was just a slightly stronger ordinary person. Compared to them, Lingwang Realm experts, she was less than a piece of paper.
“We’re closest to the pearl. Move!”
This time, no one could stop them.
Earlier, they hadn’t acted because the benefits weren’t worth the cost. But now, the benefits outweighed the cost!
Getting the Mirage Qi Pearl meant not only obtaining a precious treasure but also a powerful spirit tool that could be used at any time.
Look at that little rat, fooled by the Mirage Qi to the point she didn’t even know death was coming.
If their enemies also got a faceful of Mirage Qi, they wouldn’t fare much better.
The three-person team all shared this thought, so they acted quickly.
The moment Hua Jian fell, they rushed out from cover, diving toward the pearl rolling on the ground.
At the same time, the other two groups of demonic cultivators also moved, charging out from their hiding spots.
They used spirit techniques to block the trio’s advance while heading straight for the pearl.
The two teams that had been watching from outside saw the fight start inside the resource point and immediately began advancing, aiming to be the late-arriving predator.
The town, which had been as calm as a stagnant pond, suddenly became lively.
And all of this was because a little rat had stolen a pearl from the treasury.
“These guys really go all out—attacking the moment they say so.”
The culprit behind this situation, our lovely Miss Hua Jian—who was already considered dead in others’ eyes—was currently lying in the middle of the battlefield, playing dead.
Of course, she was acting. The attack had actually pierced her heart, but the blood spurting from her chest was a fake she had made.
Hua Jian’s body didn’t need blood to function. The blood was just a disguise to help her pass as a human.
When she really fought, even if her hand was cut off, not a single drop of blood would spill.
A heart-piercing wound, which would be a serious injury for an ordinary cultivator, was nothing to her.
Even Hua Jian herself didn’t know where her vital point was. Perhaps as long as her entire body wasn’t burned to ashes and ground to dust, she would spring back to life.
Boom boom boom!
A series of spiritual power shockwaves lifted Hua Jian off the ground and buried her in the nearby rubble. That finally freed her from playing dead.
Sneaking open her eyes and crawling under the debris, Hua Jian burrowed into the ground like a ninja, quickly leaving this chaotic area.
Her method of burrowing was simple: use vines to form a drill and clear the way ahead.
Though not as convenient as an earth-type cultivator’s, short-distance tunneling was easy for her.
Soon, she found a suitable spot to emerge. Scooping away the dirt above, she successfully escaped from the center of the battlefield.
She patted her clothes, dusting off the grime, but the fake blood stuck from lying on the ground wouldn’t come off. Regretfully, she changed her clothes.
‘Only worn for less than a day and I have to change—what a waste.’
After changing into a new outfit, she hid in a small house and peeked at the outside situation.
What she saw made her laugh uncontrollably.
Probably because they had been holding back for so long, the three teams in the resource point were now fighting with extreme passion.
All sorts of dirty tricks and underhanded tactics were being used.
In the time it took her to escape, one cultivator already looked like he was about to bite the dust.