Chapter 763: Startling the Dragon

This wisp of black gas took advantage of the moment Ruan Lingxiu’s Heart and Spirit wavered. Like a venomous snake imbued with spirituality, it silently burrowed into the wound on her left arm and vanished in an instant.

Ruan Lingxiu only felt a bone-chilling cold from the wound on her left arm, but it vanished in a flash, mingling with the yin-cold sensation left by Lü Hanyin’s Poison Skill, making it difficult to distinguish.

Her attention was currently focused on the three powerful auras that had suddenly appeared. She merely furrowed her brow and circulated her energy to suppress the discomfort in her left arm, completely unaware that a fatal danger had already secretly taken root.

Chen Qing quickly walked over to Lü Hanyin’s corpse, his gaze falling upon the Ink Jade Small Bottle at its waist, which emanated a faint, cold air.

With a wave of his hand, he used his True Essence to pull the Jade Bottle into his grasp.

The bottle was ice-cold to the touch. Even through the jade, he could feel the vast aura contained within—one of extreme yin and cold, yet also carrying a hint of the essence of annihilation.

‘Nine Nether Yin Fiend! It really is the one!’ Chen Qing felt a sense of certainty. One of the key objectives of his trip was finally in hand.

This item was extremely precious and rare; it couldn’t even be found in the Sect’s Secret Vault.

“Nine Nether Yin Fiend!? It’s actually the Nine Nether Yin Fiend!”

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.

Its tone held a hint of pleasant surprise, and it belonged to the three figures who had just hurriedly arrived.

The leader was a middle-aged man in a cloud-patterned, water-blue robe. He was staring intently at the Ink Jade Bottle in Chen Qing’s hand.

Beside him stood a man and a woman, also dressed in the attire of the Cloud Water Upper Sect. Their auras were potent, and they made no effort to conceal the slow, steady flow of their True Essence, a clear sign of their formidable Cultivation.

Ruan Lingxiu recognized their attire and immediately sent a telepathic message to Chen Qing, her tone grave. “Brother Chen, they’re from the Cloud Water Upper Sect! Judging by their clothes and auras, they must be True Disciples from Within the Sect.”

‘Cloud Water Upper Sect?’ Chen Qing’s expression remained unchanged, but realization dawned on him.

‘It seems these three are the Cloud Water Sect disciples Shi Xuan mentioned—the ones who arrived early but then left on their own.’

With a flick of his wrist, he calmly tucked the Jade Bottle containing the Nine Nether Yin Fiend into his robes.

At the same time, the other two disciples from the Cloud Water Upper Sect shifted their positions, subtly forming a pincer formation to block Chen Qing and Ruan Lingxiu’s potential escape routes.

Their three auras linked together, and as their True Essence circulated, it seemed to merge with the dense water vapor in the air, giving them an unfathomable presence.

Chen Qing secretly gauged their strength. ‘All three of them have a Cultivation at the level of Three Times of True Essence Refining. The man in the lead has an even more condensed aura; he’s probably approaching the peak of Four Times of Tempering.’

‘They are all True Inheritance disciples of the Cloud Water Upper Sect. Their auras are powerful and solid, far beyond what those people from the Demon Sect and Black Water Giant City could match.’

“Zhou Qianjun of the Cloud Water Upper Sect!”

“Li Muyun of the Cloud Water Upper Sect!”

“Liu Hanyan of the Cloud Water Upper Sect!”

The trio stood upon the jagged reefs, looking down on them with arrogant postures and a natural air of superiority.

Chen Qing’s brow furrowed. ‘I really don’t like being looked at like this.’

Ruan Lingxiu also suppressed the discomfort within her body and took a step forward. “Friends from the Cloud Water Upper Sect, why have you chosen to appear now?”

Zhou Qianjun’s gaze swept over Chen Qing. “The ‘Nine Nether Yin Fiend’ in that Ink Jade Bottle you hold is a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object nurtured in Longze Lake—a territory under the jurisdiction of my Cloud Water Upper Sect. Its ownership inherently belongs to my Cloud Water Sect. I previously fought this Demon, Lü Hanyin, when he was stealing the Evil Qi here, but he unfortunately escaped by taking advantage of the terrain. Now that the villain has been slain, this Nine Nether Yin Fiend should naturally be returned to my Sect for me to handle.”

He spoke with righteous indignation, as if his claim was an unassailable truth.

His logic was simple and crude: Longze Lake was their territory, so anything found there naturally belonged to them.

Now that the Demon was dead, the item ought to be returned to its rightful owner.

How precious was the Nine Nether Yin Fiend?

Even in the resource-rich Cloud Water Upper Sect, it was a top-tier Cultivation Resource that one could only stumble upon by sheer luck.

Within the Sect, several immensely powerful Divine Secret Techniques, especially two of the Sect’s Ultimate Skills, “Profound Nether True Water” and “Nine Nether Cold Soul Tide,” required this type of Extreme Yin Evil Qi as a catalyst for cultivation.

If they could bring this item back to the Sect, it would not only be a tremendous contribution—enough to be exchanged for a vast amount of rare resources—but would also allow them to curry favor with the Elders who practiced such Divine Techniques, greatly benefiting their future prospects.

At this, Ruan Lingxiu took a step forward and said coldly, “Fellow Daoists of Cloud Water, your words are hardly fair. Let’s not even get into how the ‘Nine Nether Yin Fiend’ is a creation of heaven and earth—an ownerless object that belongs to the fated.”

“Let us consider this operation alone. It was your sect that sent an invitation for my Celestial Treasure Upper Sect to join you in eliminating the demonic scourge. Now that the Demon Sect Elder is dead, we are the ones who put in the effort and shed our blood. The spoils of war should naturally be ours. For your sect to show up now and immediately demand the most crucial item… Are you trying to reap what you haven’t sown? Are you casting aside your allies now that the work is done? Or is this simply a highway robbery?”

Ruan Lingxiu’s every word was a sharp jab, causing the expressions of Zhou Qianjun and his companions to shift.

Seeing this, Li Muyun, who was standing to the side, immediately put on a false smile, his tone feigning sincerity. “My dear lady, your words are too severe, truly! Brother Zhou is hot-tempered and a bit too blunt, please don’t take offense. We absolutely do not have such intentions. It’s just that this ‘Nine Nether Yin Fiend’ is truly vital to the Cultivation of several of our Cloud Water Sect’s Elders. The matter is of grave importance.”

“Furthermore, this object appeared in Longze Lake. It stands to reason that it should be in the custody of our Cloud Water Sect. Of course, the two of you have made a great contribution by slaying Lü Hanyin, and our Cloud Water Sect is certainly not ungrateful. We will definitely offer a generous gift as thanks and ensure you do not suffer a loss. We ask that you do us this favor and hand the item over, lest we damage the friendly relations between our sects.”

His words were flawless, seemingly offering them a way to back down gracefully, but in reality, he was relentlessly pressing the issue. He was using the name of harmony to seize the item through trickery and coercion.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

His calm gaze swept over the three of them as he began to speak slowly. “The three of you, while it’s true that Longze Lake is the territory of your Cloud Water Upper Sect, you were also the ones who invited us here to deal with the Demon Sect. Now, after we fought for our lives to slay the Demon, you finally deign to show up, and the first thing you do is act like bandits and demand the spoils of war. What? Do you truly think our Celestial Treasure Upper Sect is so easily bullied? Are you trying to provoke a war between our two Upper Sects?”

“Provoke a war between our two sects?”

Zhou Qianjun looked as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. “On your authority? Do you have the weight to represent the Celestial Treasure Upper Sect? How dare you spout such arrogant nonsense here!”

“Of course, I cannot represent the entire Celestial Treasure Upper Sect,”

Chen Qing’s tone remained level, yet each word struck the hearts of the three like a hammer. “But if word of your actions today were to spread, how would the world view the Cloud Water Upper Sect? That you invite allies to hunt demons as a pretense, only to rob them of the spoils after the fact? If my Sect Leader were to learn of this, if the other Upper Sects were to learn of this… this crime of breaking an alliance and acting in bad faith—I wonder if the three of you, or rather, the elders of your sect, can afford to bear the consequences?”

Chen Qing’s words directly struck at their greatest fear.

They coveted a great treasure like the Nine Nether Yin Fiend, yet they dared not escalate matters to a point of no return. After all, no one could bear the responsibility for provoking a full-blown confrontation between two Upper Sects.

But seeing someone from the Celestial Treasure Upper Sect obtain such a priceless treasure—on their own territory, no less—the three of them were truly unwilling to give up so easily.

After all, the Nine Nether Yin Fiend was a treasure that could help someone cultivate top-tier Divine Techniques.

Liu Hanyan, who had been silent all this time, finally parted her lips to speak. “Why must you make things sound so unpleasant? We are not trying to rob you. How about this: as long as you hand over the ‘Nine Nether Yin Fiend,’ we won’t take any of Lü Hanyin’s other possessions, nor anything else you may have found here. It will all be yours. This is already a huge concession and saves face for both our sects. What do you say?”

Her words made it clear: they were set on taking the Nine Nether Yin Fiend. The other “trivial gains” were merely alms they were willing to bestow upon them.

At this, Ruan Lingxiu’s expression changed slightly. She sent a telepathic message to Chen Qing: “Brother Chen, this is Cloud Water Sect territory, after all. They have more people, and we don’t know their full strength. If a fight breaks out, I’m afraid we’ll be at a disadvantage…”

Clearly, the trio was dead set on obtaining the Nine Nether Yin Fiend today.

A hint of worry colored her words. Being deep within the other party’s sphere of influence, she had to consider the wider implications.

Chen Qing’s gaze swept over the three people before him. Far from backing down, he took a step forward.

The aura around him suddenly turned sharp and fierce. The ferocious killing intent from his battle with Lü Hanyin, which had yet to fully recede, flared up once more, causing even the surrounding yin-cold air to stagnate.

“The item is in my hands right now.”

He slowly raised his hand, the tip of his spear angled toward the ground, yet an invisible, sharp presence locked onto the three opponents before him.

“I said it before. If you have what it takes, come and get it.”