Chapter 377 - 296: A Thank-You Visit (2)

Chapter 377: Chapter 296: A Thank-You Visit (2)

"Oh, alright."

Seeing this, Li Minghan nodded without asking any more questions. Juelingzi, on the other hand, watched Yu Changsheng with a look of bewildered shock, a wave of horror crashing through his mind.

’This guy... how long has it been? The feeling he gives me... it’s like he already has the might of a Golden Core Cultivator. And his Spirit Platform, something’s not right. It was definitely just the Seventh Layer at first... but now, I can’t see through it at all.’

Shen Xingchen remained silent, his mouth open but speechless. A thousand thoughts surfaced in his mind, but despite his doubts, he didn’t voice any of them. He only gave Yu Changsheng a deep, long look.

"Alright, since everyone’s here, let’s rest for the night. We’ll head back to the sect tomorrow."

Zhang Tianwen looked at the group, smiled faintly, and let out a long, slow breath.

"Our trip to Huishui Mountain is more or less over. Regardless of the outcome, I have to thank all of you brothers..."

Zhang Tianwen paused, his gaze suddenly darkening. He sighed and shook his head, not continuing. Instead, he waved his hand, said a few more words to the group, and went back to his room to rest.

He was clearly thinking of Wang Dingsheng. After all, Wang Dingsheng had come to Huishui Mountain at his invitation, only to end up perishing here. The incident had hit Zhang Tianwen, their senior brother, quite hard.

Watching Zhang Tianwen leave, the others fell silent, the mood turning somber. They didn’t feel like chatting anymore and returned to their own rooms.

The others weren’t particularly close with Wang Dingsheng, but he was a fellow Sect Disciple who had accompanied them to Huishui Mountain. His death naturally left them feeling somewhat upset.

「Meanwhile...」

"My lord, I’ve confirmed it. The people from the Wanxiang Sect have returned, and Yu Changsheng is indeed with them. He did not die at Huishui Mountain."

In a secret chamber within the Cloud Sea Medicine Gathering Team’s headquarters in Medicinal Herb Town, Ling Feng was bent at the waist, addressing a cultivator completely shrouded in black robes in a low voice.

"Oh? Is that so."

The Black-robed Cultivator fell silent. A moment later, his voice was laced with unconcealable anger as he spoke, his tone cold.

"Those people from Dark Stream are truly useless! I paid such a high price, and they couldn’t even handle a group of Foundation Establishment brats. All they did was kill the most insignificant one, Wang Dingsheng. What good is that?!"

Before he even finished speaking, the immense pressure of a Golden Core Cultivator erupted, spreading a chilling aura. Ling Feng buried his head even lower, his body trembling in silent fear.

"Fine. Since that didn’t work, I’ll just have to find another way."

After a long moment, the Black-robed Cultivator let out a deep sigh, shook his head, and spoke with downcast eyes.

This was none other than the client who had secretly contacted Dark Stream!

"Your visit didn’t arouse their suspicion, did it?"

After his sigh, the Black-robed Cultivator’s expression returned to calm as he addressed Ling Feng indifferently.

"No, my lord. I went under the pretext of paying him a visit to express my gratitude. Yu Changsheng didn’t seem suspicious."

Upon hearing this, Ling Feng replied respectfully in a low voice.

"That’s for the best." The Black-robed Cultivator exhaled a long breath, nodded, and fell into thought.

What he failed to notice was Ling Feng’s eyes suddenly rolling back into his head, a strange light flashing within them. The next instant, blood gushed from his mouth and nose. His eyes rolled up, his aura vanished, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground, all signs of life gone.

"Hm?"

The Black-robed Cultivator froze, staring at the scene in stunned disbelief. His face then changed drastically. He whipped his head around to look behind him and shouted sternly:

"Who’s there?! Stop playing games and show yourself!"

Within the shadows behind him, there was a sudden flicker, and a tall, slender figure slowly emerged, staring coldly at the Black-robed Cultivator.

"Yu Changsheng?!"

The Black-robed Cultivator shrieked, staring at the figure in disbelief. His voice was filled with horror, and his eyes were wary. His scalp tingled as a chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull.

He wasn’t afraid of Yu Changsheng himself, but of the method he’d used to kill Ling Feng in an instant—so silently that even he hadn’t noticed a thing!

Keep in mind, Ling Feng was at the Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer. Even if he himself had attacked, it would have been difficult to kill him instantly without making a single sound.

"That’s right. What, are you surprised? Disappointed I didn’t die at Huishui Mountain?"

The newcomer was none other than Yu Changsheng, and he was the one who had just acted. From the moment Ling Feng had been waiting to "visit" him, Yu Changsheng had sensed something was off. He had taken a precaution, planting a Divine Sense Seed deep within Ling Feng’s Sea of Consciousness to secretly monitor him.

Just now, he had detonated that Divine Sense Seed, completely annihilating Ling Feng’s Divine Soul from the inside, which was how he’d been able to kill him so silently.

Even though Ling Feng was at the Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer, a not-insignificant level of cultivation, it wasn’t too difficult for Yu Changsheng to accomplish this, thanks to his repeatedly strengthened Divine Sense—though it did consume a considerable amount of power.

Perhaps Ling Feng never imagined, even in death, that he would fall so unceremoniously.

"You..." Hearing this, the Black-robed Cultivator’s expression flickered. He took a deep breath, watching Yu Changsheng warily, but then cracked a grin, a dark light glinting in his eyes.

"You’ve got some nerve. I hadn’t even come looking for you, yet you show up here all alone. Have you come to die?"

The Black-robed Cultivator’s voice was as cold as a wind blowing from the Nine Netherworld, filled with an obvious threat and brimming with killing intent.

But despite his words, the Black-robed Cultivator’s internal vigilance didn’t lessen in the slightest. He scanned his surroundings, and only after confirming that no one else had followed did he relax slightly and focus on Yu Changsheng.

The corners of Yu Changsheng’s mouth twitched, slowly curling into a cold smile. He chuckled at the man’s words. "No need to look. It’s just me. However..."

Yu Changsheng paused. The next moment, he activated Shadow Flash and, before the Black-robed Cultivator could react, appeared right in front of him.

His hand shot out with the speed of a lightning strike, clamping down hard on the Black-robed Cultivator’s neck. He unleashed his Physical Strength and slammed his Power of Divine Soul into the man, subduing him in an instant.

"However, it seems you still haven’t figured it out. I don’t need to waste my energy on trash like you."

As he spoke, Yu Changsheng’s eyes narrowed. He slowly looked up, lifting the Black-robed Cultivator high above his head. He unleashed both his Physical Strength and Divine Sense Power simultaneously, sealing all the man’s movements.

"Wh-What!"

The Black-robed Cultivator’s face turned deathly pale. He struggled violently, but it was useless. Feeling the surging Qi Blood Power from Yu Changsheng, and even more so, the Divine Sense that was like a Vast Sea, his heart filled with bitter fear as a thousand-foot wave crashed through his mind.

"Golden... Golden Core?!"

"Yes, and no. But for you, it might as well be."

Faced with the Black-robed Cultivator’s astonished question, Yu Changsheng remained noncommittal, his expression calm.

Although the Black-robed Cultivator had reached the Golden Core realm and was much stronger than the Dark Stream assassins who had forced their breakthrough with drugs, the Golden Core he had condensed was of the lowest quality.

And while Yu Changsheng’s own cultivation had not yet broken through to the Golden Core realm, his Nine-Layered Spirit Platform, his Golden Core-level physical body, and his Divine Sense—which had been tempered by the Celestial One Divine Water to a level comparable to a Late-stage Golden Core Cultivator—meant he felt little pressure dealing with an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator like this one.

"Now, let’s see just who has been going to such lengths, skulking in the shadows, to harm me."

Yu Changsheng’s brow furrowed. In an instant, his Qi Blood Power surged, blue veins popping on his hand as his grip suddenly tightened. At the same time, his Divine Sense Power transformed into a Vast Sea, carrying with it a trace of the Celestial One Divine Water’s power as it crashed down upon the Black-robed Cultivator’s Divine Soul.

RUMBLE!

Thunder seemed to crack from the void, exploding in the Black-robed Cultivator’s ears. His face was ashen, his qi and blood in turmoil. Like a lone boat tossed on a stormy sea, a sense of powerlessness washed over him. In his shock, the black hood covering his face slipped off.

It revealed a face that was both unfamiliar and yet vaguely familiar to Yu Changsheng.

"So, it was you. No wonder."

After a moment’s thought, Yu Changsheng raised an eyebrow and smiled.

This person was none other than the Golden Core Cultivator who had come to the Odd Demon Pavilion to cause trouble a year ago, only to be driven back by Li Minghan’s father, Li Yuntao.