Wei Zhong, knowing this incident wouldn't significantly impact the Yan family, headed towards his own courtyard. Passing by various spiritual fields, he discovered that last night's raid on the cultivators had damaged a significant portion of the spiritual rice.
Patchwork patches of spiritual rice were damaged here and there, and some of the rice appeared to be dead. Some, unlucky enough, had their entire fields affected by the fighting, their soil scraped away. Lost spiritual rice could be planted again, but a partially destroyed field would cost a considerable amount of spiritual stones to repair.
Fortunately, Wei Zhong's own spiritual fields seemed to show no signs of fighting. Several nearby families, including his own, had theirs intact.
He circled his courtyard twice and found no signs of any abnormality. However, to be on the safe side, Wei Zhong cast an invisibility spell, concealing his aura, and scaled the wall to enter the courtyard.
Nine Colors, caged in the same daze as when he had left, gazed towards his room.
Wei Zhong remained vigilant.
He clenched the black ball in his hand, ready to unleash his throwing technique.
Entering the room, he searched the kitchen and bedroom, but found nothing until he reached his own training room.
A seriously injured, unconscious male cultivator lay there.
Wei Zhong stood behind the door, peering through the crack.
This person possessed remarkable ability to conceal his breath, and his spiritual sense search hadn't detected him.
It seemed Wei Zhong had triggered some warning device, and the seriously injured cultivator quickly regained consciousness.
"Fellow Daoist behind this door, please come in for a chat. I'm Gongyangzi, and I'd like to borrow your space to heal my wounds. Please forgive me for any nagging."
Wei Zhong naturally wouldn't rush in rashly. He pushed open the door and stood outside the threshold.
"Fellow Daoist, you appear to be seriously injured?"
Wei Zhong could clearly see that the man's chest and abdomen had been pierced by an unknown weapon, revealing a large pool of blood that stained his robes red.
"Haha, indeed. That's why you need to allow me to recuperate for a few days. A few spirit stones as a token of your gratitude."
With a wave of his hand, he tossed ten spirit stones in front of Wei Zhong.
"Fellow Daoist, you're too polite."
Wei Zhong collected it through the air, but before he even stepped inside,
a sudden alarm ignited his heart, and he flung the small black ball overhead. The ball seemed to hit the mud, blocked by a sticky substance.
Still wary, Wei Zhong threw a second ball. This time, with little resistance, it struck the source of the deadly threat.
Suddenly, a white insect shadow fell—the very thing his throwing technique had struck.
The white body had been distorted by the ball, but Wei Zhong could still make out a milky white spider.
"A first-level spirit insect?"
Seeing his technique defeated by Wei Zhong in the blink of an eye, Gong Yangzi finally panicked.
He activated a green round shield to protect himself and quickly said,
"Fellow Daoist, wait a minute, this is all a misunderstanding."
Wei Zhong ignored him and activated his magic, instantly unleashing an extremely concentrated fireball technique that struck the green round shield.
It was unknown what material the shield was made of, but the fireball only caused it to tremble slightly before dissipating into nothingness.
Gong Yangzi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fellow Daoist, please stop. That was the spirit insect's act of self-defense, not my attempt to harm you. If you're dissatisfied, I have a truly astonishing opportunity to share. Please forgive me."
Wei Zhong remained unmoved. He took two small black balls and continued his Throwing Technique.
Seeing this technique was meant to kill his own spirit insect, Gong Yangzi didn't hesitate. He activated the round shield with all his might. The infusion of spiritual energy even created a green halo around the shield, further enhancing its defensive capabilities.
He felt a sense of relief.
"Damn it! If that person hadn't destroyed all my methods and severely injured me, how could I have ended up in this embarrassing situation, bullied by a mere spirit farmer?"
"Bang!"
The Throwing Technique's attack arrived in an instant, dispersing the green halo and leaving a circular mark on the round shield. "What?"
Gong Yangzi shuddered. Before he could activate his magical weapon again, a second black sphere arrived.
Following its previous trajectory, it pierced the green shield and, undeterred, struck Gong Yangzi's robe.
The torn robe was powerless to stop the sphere, and Gong Yangzi's chest took another blow.
"Puff!"
Gong Yangzi spat out a mouthful of blood, his injuries no longer manageable.
"Little thief..."
Wei Zhong had no time for idle chatter. His fingertips flicked, releasing fragments of magical weapons. While not as effective as the black sphere, they contained some spiritual iron, making them far more powerful than ordinary stones.
Seeing Wei Zhong's attack, Gong Yangzi seemed resigned to his fate and offered no resistance.
His severely wounded form quickly felled motionless under Wei Zhong's assault.
"So easy? That's too fragile."
Aside from the spider and the round shield, this person's fighting skills seemed average.
On second thought, the fact that a severely injured body could withstand so many hurled attacks was remarkable.
Wei Zhong didn't move closer, gathering a fireball in his hand, ready to incinerate the remains.
As if Wei Zhong had been overly cautious, a sigh echoed.
His hair stood on end as a small, translucent arrow shot out from Gong Yangzi's body, hurtling towards him.
"How fast!"
Wei Zhong only had time to activate his Golden Body technique, transforming his entire body into a golden mass.
However, the master-level Golden Body technique had no effect on the small arrow, which pierced through the solid object and raced towards Wei Zhong's head.
Wei Zhong paused, and a transparent shadow emerged from Gong Yangzi's remains. Its shape was so unstable that even the slightest breeze could blow it away.
Without hesitation, Gong Yangzi's shadow plunged into Wei Zhong's body.
Wei Zhong felt a chill run through his body as the small arrow penetrated him, and he froze in place. Then, an even colder aura penetrated him.
He let out a cry, and then fell silent.
Relieved from the chill, Wei Zhong rubbed his head, a bit confused.
"Just now, was that a possession?"
"Gong Yangzi tried to take over my body? But he failed, even though I hadn't had time to resist. Could he still have some secret treasure on him that he's unaware of?"
Wei Zhong frantically searched his body, but couldn't find a single one.
"Alas, it seems my realm isn't high enough. There must be a reason for me to have traveled here, so it makes sense that I possess a secret treasure. I'll check again when my realm is higher."
Composing himself, he raised his hand and unleashed a fireball, incinerating Gong Yangzi's remains. Only a storage bag, a broken small shield, and some blood remained.
Wei Zhong was a little puzzled.
"This blood..."
Flames erupted from his hand again, burning it continuously. The blood was still wriggling beneath the flames.
But it was "rootless water" after all, and it was soon consumed.
Gong Yangzi had provoked someone quite a bit, and that opportunity might have been the cause of his serious injury.
Wei Zhong picked up the bag, wiped off the marks, searched for it, and took out a jade slip and a finger-length blood-red sword.
"The key to the inheritance of True Lord Xuehai?"
(End of this chapter)