Chapter 71 - 71 Di Hua Thousand Illusions and Jiang Lai
Chapter 71 - 71 Di Hua Thousand Illusions and Jiang Lai
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Thousand Illusions was an assassin, and a stylish one at that.
At least, that’s what he thought of himself.
Every mission, he loved to employ illusion techniques, step by step pushing his target into the abyss of despair.
This time, he was prepared to do the same.
He had already lured the girl into the phantasm he meticulously set up.
But he had been using his illusion technique for a quarter of an hour now, and the young girl had not shown the slightest issue.
"Could this be some expert playing dumb only to deliver a fatal blow later? Am I the actual fool here?"
Sweat started to form on Thousand Illusions’ forehead.
By now, Yu Qingtan, slow as she was, realized that something was amiss.
She took a careful look around.
No valuable discoveries.
She simply stood in place, eyes quietly fixed ahead, waiting for any change to arise.
The so-called ’If the enemy does not move, I do not move.’
And right across from Yu Qingtan, Thousand Illusions’ gaze met hers.
A moment.
Another moment.
...
After a dozen moments.
Thousand Illusions’ back was soaked with sweat.
"Can she see me? She really is completely unaffected by the illusions; she must be one of those cultivators who’s pretending to be weak."
"Late Foundation Establishment stage? No, even a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivator would have trouble ignoring my illusions. Could it be a false Golden Core, or a Golden Core cultivator?"
Though the eyes under that hood were not see-through, Thousand Illusions always felt a faint pressure from them.
At the twenty-moment mark, Thousand Illusions finally averted his gaze and breathed a sigh of relief.
Thousand Illusions removed the illusion and then spoke a sentence before quickly leaving.
"Junior has offended you greatly; I shall take my leave now, please forgive my impudence."
He was always very cautious, which is why he had been able to practice cultivation so freely for all these years as an assassin reaching the Foundation Establishment.
Yu Qingtan watched somewhat dumbfounded as her surroundings suddenly changed, finding herself in a small alley. Although there was no one else in the alley, she could still hear the voices of people from a main road not too far away.
Then a figure shot out from not too far ahead, leaving behind a puzzling sentence before quickly disappearing.
Yu Qingtan realized that someone had most likely just made a move on her again, but for some reason, decided to back off and leave.
Not bothering with it, Yu Qingtan quickened her pace and returned to her own room.
After securing the door, her figure disappeared, leaving only a pile of clothes on the ground.
Indeed, it was still a shadow clone that had gone out this time.
So, despite encountering attacks, Yu Qingtan was not too panicked.
The original body emerged from the Vajra Protective Spirit Array, picking up the clothes, decorations, Tian Changfeng’s Storage Bag, Spirit Beast Pouch, and the first-grade, Medium Grade Storage Talisman containing six thousand five hundred Spirit Stones.
Infusing Spiritual Power into the Storage Talisman, the six thousand five hundred neatly piled Spirit Stones appeared on the ground.
Yu Qingtan collected them into the System Space.
The Storage Talisman also could not be put into the System Space.
The now-useless Storage Talisman was shattered into dust by a strike from Yu Qingtan’s palm, then cleansed away with a Cleansing Spell.
...
Meanwhile, Thousand Illusions’ expression changed suddenly.
He couldn’t feel the machinations of the hunchback from the black market at all anymore.
"She must have noticed the tracking seal on the Storage Talisman early on. She’s fishing, how cunning!"
"Luckily I retreated quickly, or I would’ve been caught for sure."
"It seems the waters run deep with the destruction of the Misty Rain Tower’s branch in Suichuan Immortal City, better I go undercover for a while."
...
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After securing the Spirit Stones, Yu Qingtan took out Tian Changfeng’s Storage Bag and over a dozen Spirit Beast Pouches.
On her way to the Law Enforcement Hall, she had used her Foundation Establishment Stage Spiritual Power to erase the original Spiritual Power marks on them.
She emptied the contents of the Storage Bag and took stock of them.
Two thousand seven hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones and seven Medium Grade Spirit Stones.
A few first-grade Medium and Lower Grade Magic Artifacts, over a dozen bottles of various Elixirs, and over a dozen Talismans.
Another Uninscribed Token.
An Array Plate for the Isolation Formation.
An ancient thread-bound book.
Some Spirit Ores, Spiritual Materials, and Spiritual Medicines, including a Heavenly Spirit Fruit, the main ingredient for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
The rest were miscellaneous items.
Yu Qingtan picked up the Uninscribed Token and took out the one from the System Space, studying them closely for a while, but finding nothing, she decided to put them away for now.
She then picked up the ancient thread-bound book, which was quite thick and titled "Spirit Beast Cultivation Manual."
Seeing this book, Yu Qingtan let "Er Ha" Xiao Tao out.
After several months of feeding, Xiao Tao had grown significantly, now reaching up to Yu Qingtan’s thigh.
"Ow ow~" It greeted Yu Qingtan and then stared at her intently.
Yu Qingtan took out the carcass of the Cyan-Patterned Poison Python and used the Water Blade to peel off the snake skin, extract the teeth, gallbladder, and some snake meat, then threw it to Xiao Tao.
Xiao Tao excitedly started eating.
Yu Qingtan didn’t pay attention to Xiao Tao, although it looked like an Er Ha, it didn’t make trouble.
Yu Qingtan continued reading the "Spirit Beast Cultivation Manual."
Inside, it recorded the basic information and cultivation considerations of hundreds of Spiritual Beasts, as well as various methods of forging contracts with them.
The book was made of Spirit Bamboo paper and looked very old; it must have been an ancient tome that Tian Changfeng had come across by chance.
After reading, Yu Qingtan glanced at Xiao Tao, still gnawing on the snake meat, and after some consideration, decided against forming a contract with it.
Yu Qingtan took out the dozen or so Spirit Beast Pouches and inspected each one.
Two were empty, probably for storing the Cyan-Patterned Poison Python and Golden Ring Poison Bee.
Inside one Spirit Beast Pouch were seven Honey Moths, and Yu Qingtan immediately understood how Tian Changfeng had found her.
Honey Moths had no offensive ability, but they were extremely sensitive to Spirit Honey.
Among Tian Changfeng’s items was a small jar of Spirit Honey.
"Tian Changfeng must have pretended to hold onto my sleeve to keep me around while actually leaving a trace of Spirit Honey on me, then relied on the Honey Moths to find me."
"I’m still too young, hastily asking for the price of the Uninscribed Token, allowing Tian Changfeng to guess that I also had an Uninscribed Token and was tracked by him without realizing it, not to mention the strange Cultivator that appeared later, I still don’t know how he found me."
Not being able to figure it out, Yu Qingtan decided to stop thinking about it and continued inspecting.
Another Spirit Beast Pouch contained an early-stage first-grade White Falcon, a Spirit Beast known for its speed but too weak in its early stages, probably used for scouting or delivering messages.
The other Spirit Beast Pouches contained various mount-type Spiritual Beasts: Bicorn Horses, Gale Pigs, Stubborn-Skinned Donkeys, Lion-Headed Geese, Orichis, and so on.
In the last Spirit Beast Pouch, there was actually a person.
Yu Qingtan was shocked and quickly released the person.
It was a little girl, about ten years old, with a delicate appearance, wearing a pink nightgown, and her face and neck bore unsightly marks.
"This Tian Changfeng truly deserved to die, and the Extreme Path Demon Sect as well!"
Yu Qingtan was extremely angry.
The little girl was still asleep, with a frown on her small brows that made Yu Qingtan feel heartbroken.
Yu Qingtan laid her on the bed and performed a Rejuvenation Spell on her; the little girl’s frown relaxed considerably, but she still didn’t wake up.
Yu Qingtan tidied up the room, took out the Spring Condensing Zither, and began to play "Purification of Soul."
Halfway through the song, the little girl woke up groggily.
And then, scared, she shrank toward the inner side of the bed.
Seeing a big sister walking toward her, her expression relaxed quite a bit.
"Little girl, don’t be scared, I’ve already rescued you. What’s your name?"
"I... my name is Jiang Lai."