The previous battle, though brief, had undoubtedly created significant commotion. It was highly likely to attract powerful demonic beasts. Seeing Xiaoqiu's frantic reaction, Lin Feng instantly grasped the seriousness of their predicament. He didn't hesitate. Even though his depleted true essence hadn't fully recovered, traveling was no longer an issue. He immediately gathered Zhang Fangzhou and the others, and they swiftly departed the area, soon vanishing into the dark jungle.
"Rustle, rustle..."
Not long after they left, faint sounds emerged from the woods west of the small lake. A massive, dark shadow leaped out first, followed by two human figures.
Leading the two was the purple-robed youth, accompanied by his peculiar demonic beast and a shadow-like figure in a black robe.
"So… they really are gone?"
Emerging onto the scene, the youth surveyed his surroundings with surprise, taking in the piles of ashes scattered on the ground and a massive scorch mark over ten meters wide.
"Destroyed the bodies, cleaned up meticulously," he murmured to himself. "Looks like two groups of cultivators fought… and quite a few died here..."
His gaze fixed on the giant scorched pit, a flicker of doubt crossing his features. "This… should be the mark left by a Supreme-Grade Tier 3 Purple Lightning Talisman, right? Cultivators possessing such treasures must have considerable resources."
"Moreover," he continued, "that tiger roar earlier sounded like a Tier 3 demonic beast? In this place… could there really be Tier 3 beasts? Or perhaps it was a Beast Companion belonging to the winning side? Could there be a Golden Core expert secluding themselves here?"
After observing for a while longer, he thought inwardly, Truly, hidden dragons and crouching tigers can be anywhere... It seems I must proceed with greater caution from now on. But… if this is the territory of that Golden Core expert... might he know the whereabouts of that unknown spirit beast?
"Pity we were too far away earlier. If we'd arrived sooner, perhaps we could have..."
"Nevermind. Let's just continue the search casually. If there's still no trace of that spirit beast, it will be time to move on to another area..."
Muttering to himself, the purple-robed youth chose a direction at random and melted back into the night...
......
...
Meanwhile, Lin Feng and his companions moved rapidly. Fortunately, they encountered no further obstacles along the way. As dawn broke, they finally emerged from the Seven Peaks Forest. Pressing on, they successfully reached Qingyun City by mid-morning.
Lin Feng instructed Zhang Fangzhou and the other two to go rest, giving them his address and telling them to come find him later. Then, he headed home alone.
Stepping back into the familiar, yet strangely cold and empty house, Lin Feng felt a wave of disorientation wash over him. When he had left last time, he could never have imagined the chain of events that would unfold. Counting the days, he had been gone for over ten days. These ten-plus days had exposed him to more peril and experience than the previous twenty years combined, offering him a stark, initial glimpse into the true brutality and danger of the cultivation world.
He hadn't managed much recovery during the journey and still felt weary. Pushing aside other thoughts, he immediately began cultivating to regulate his breathing and restore his strength.
...
A little over an hour later, Lin Feng finally opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and clear-headed. Not only was his depleted true essence fully restored, but upon careful sensing, he discovered its total volume had also increased significantly.
"Seems I'm not far from the second layer of Foundation Establishment," he mused. "The true essence gained just from this one battle alone probably rivals dozens of days of peaceful cultivation. Truly, trials between life and death are the ultimate tempering for both mind and cultivation base..."
This wasn't the first time Lin Feng had reflected on this reality. It explained why so many cultivators, even those with ample resources, frequently ventured into dangerous places seeking trials. The peril was high, but the potential rewards were equally immense.
"This time, I was still somewhat overconfident," Lin Feng admitted to himself. "But fortunately, it didn't exceed my worst expectations... Even without seeking help from others, I can handle dangers like this on my own!!"
Recalling the previous battle, a sliver of lingering fear surfaced, but it was quickly overwhelmed by confidence and triumph as he remembered his decisive victory.
Back at the auction house, when competing for that spirit artifact fragment, Lin Feng had already anticipated the battle that occurred last night. Yet, he hadn't felt any fear or hesitation. Even then, he had resolved to face the Li family's 'pursuit' head-on and eliminate anyone who dared come seeking his life.
If he had truly wanted to wrest the artifact fragment from the Li family at the auction, he could have done it – with the spiritual stone support from Dongfang Yuhui, the Long family, and the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. But he chose not to. He didn't want to owe unnecessary favors. Unnecessary, because he realized that even if he didn't win the bid, the artifact would soon be 'delivered' to him anyway.
This choice, however, carried inherent risk. Lin Feng's confidence stemmed from one source: his Flying Sword!!
He had guessed that the Li family possessed the correct method to control the White Tiger Fierce Soul Talisman, which was why they bankrupted themselves to acquire it. And the first thing they would do upon obtaining the fragment would undoubtedly be to deal with him, and the 'master' they believed stood behind him.
Although the 'master' they feared didn't exist, Lin Feng's true strength far surpassed their expectations. If they hadn't possessed the White Tiger Talisman, he was confident he could have annihilated all the Li family's Foundation Establishment experts with his flying sword – just like he had destroyed the Star City Thirteen Tyrants.
Even with the White Tiger Talisman, Lin Feng remained unafraid. The moment he heard about the artifact's power during the auction, he immediately thought of a countermeasure: the additional effect of his flying sword!
The might of the White Tiger Fierce Soul Talisman lay in its power source: the White Tiger Spirit – an ethereal, incorporeal soul entity whose attacks targeted the soul itself, making conventional defenses useless.
But his flying sword possessed a power precisely counter to this!
When the flying sword wounded an opponent, it could inflict damage directly upon their soul essence. And if the target was itself a soul entity? Then the flying sword could deliver lethal damage directly!
This was his ace in the hole. It gave him the confidence to deliberately let the Li family win the talisman fragment at the auction. It gave him the confidence to 'sneak' out of Biquan City quietly, giving them the opportunity to strike. And the battle last night had proven his deduction absolutely correct.
However, the actual danger level during the fight had slightly exceeded his expectations. While he succeeded in eliminating the Li family's strongest member, Li Yanghui, with his flying sword right at the start, he hadn't managed to swiftly dispatch the others as planned. This allowed Li Ziqing to unleash the White Tiger Talisman. Furthermore, the talismans Li Ziyao employed were genuinely terrifying. If their strength had been slightly higher, their true essence slightly deeper, enabling them to unleash just one more Mid-Grade Tier 3 offensive talisman... Lin Feng wouldn't have achieved such a 'perfect' victory.
Thankfully, the worst-case scenario hadn't materialized. In the end, he had eliminated all the enemies. The price he paid? Merely the exhaustion of all his true essence...
...
After carefully reviewing the battle and consolidating his thoughts, Lin Feng retrieved the two spirit artifact fragments from his storage ring.
Comparing them, the fragment he had initially obtained from Li Sha was noticeably smaller. It seemed the piece that appeared at the auction was the 'main body'; the artifact's power likely resided primarily within that larger piece. This also explained why he hadn't been able to glean anything from the smaller fragment he'd obtained first – though it could also be due to his insufficient strength and lack of the correct method.
"Artifact Damage Level: 93%"
"Cannot be Repaired."
Lin Feng used his skill to examine the main body fragment. He discovered its damage level had soared to 93%. It surely hadn't been this high before last night. Being forcibly shattered by his flying sword strike must have inflicted significant additional damage. In this state, even if someone possessed the proper activation method, it was likely unusable.
He brought the two fragments together, aligning them. The broken edges matched perfectly. Joined, they formed a complete talisman plaque.
After a moment's consideration, Lin Feng took a deep breath and uttered softly, "Repair."
"Fwoosh!!"
Forcing the Repair Technique, a burst of flame erupted in his palm, instantly engulfing both spirit artifact fragments. Simultaneously, he felt the true essence within his body draining away like floodwaters bursting through a dam...
Lin Feng had braced for this. He gritted his teeth, enduring the strain, his gaze fixed intently on the flames dancing across his hands.
"Shhhhk!"
Roughly a minute later, the flames before Lin Feng vanished abruptly. His true essence, only recently restored, was once again almost completely depleted.
Although this state of exhaustion differed from the life-or-death depletion of the previous night, it still presented an excellent opportunity for cultivation. Lin Feng didn't even pause to examine the artifact in his hand. He immediately sank into a cross-legged position, entering a deep cultivation state to recover.
Nearly two more hours passed before Lin Feng awoke from his trance, his true essence once again brimming with vitality.
Picking up the White Tiger Fierce Soul Talisman, he saw it was no longer two separate fragments. It had been reassembled into a single, complete black talisman plaque.
"Artifact Damage Level: 70%"
"Cannot be Repaired."
Checking the artifact's damage level again, Lin Feng frowned slightly. "Even merged together, it only recovered to seventy percent damage... Looks like gathering specific materials is essential for full repair... Too bad there's currently no way to find out what materials are required..."
This method of repairing two pieces of an originally whole artifact back into one was a technique Lin Feng had developed through long-term study of his Repair skill. Simply put, one fragment could act as a repair material for the other. However, without other specific materials, the best it could achieve was reconnecting the broken pieces. The resulting artifact would still bear heavy damage.
"Perhaps the Li family members carried useful information about this artifact..."
The thought of the 'spoils of war' collected from the Li family members immediately occurred to Lin Feng. He quickly retrieved seven storage rings from his bosom and began examining them closely, one by one...