Luo Zhen didn't have to wait long. He simply sat, closed his eyes, and centered himself. The scent of blood and opportunity was already in the air.
Sure enough, a handful of seconds was all it took for the first group to arrive. Three Demon Generals, their eyes gleaming with greed, slowed their approach when they saw him sitting there, calm as a stone.
Luo Zhen's eyes snapped open. "Here for me, gentlemen?"
A burly general chuckled, a low, gravelly sound. "You could say that. We heard you have some Iron Essence to spare, snake."
"I might," Luo Zhen said, his voice flat. "I have at least five pieces left. Top quality."
The feigned friendliness vanished, replaced by pure avarice. Their eyes lit up. "Name your price," one of them said, stepping forward. "We have plenty of treasures to trade. We'll make it worth your while."
Even as he spoke, the trio began to spread out, subtly forming a triangle with Luo Zhen at its center. It was a classic ambush formation, as clumsy as it was predictable.
The moment the circle closed, their leader roared, "Now!"
In a flash, three different weapons—a cruel-looking saber, a spiked mace, and a jagged spear—were drawn and thrusting toward him.
A smirk touched Luo Zhen's lips. With a lazy flick of his wrist, three lances of ethereal blue energy—his Thunder Flame—shot from his fingertips. They moved faster than thought, each one finding a target.
The attack was over before it even began.
Three simultaneous screams tore through the air, cut short as the Demon Generals were incinerated from the inside out. The Thunder Flame was merciless, melting flesh and bone until nothing remained but three smoldering piles of ash.
Yet, with pinpoint precision, Luo Zhen had spared their gear. Their weapons and the leather pouches at their hips fell to the ground with a soft thud. He clenched his fist, recalling the flames, then casually gathered his loot.
A quick look inside the pouches brought a genuine smile to his face.
"Not bad," he murmured. "These guys were loaded." All told, there were nearly a hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones. These weren't mere thugs; they were seasoned killers and thieves. The pouches were also stuffed with refining materials, elixirs, and talismans, but Luo Zhen barely glanced at them. If he needed supplies, he'd get them from the System's Store—real treasures, not this battlefield junk.
He had the System absorb the useless items and weapons, converting them into a tidy sum of Store Points. Then, he sat back down, closed his eyes, and waited.
The next group to arrive was a team of five. The conversation was just as pointless, the outcome just as swift. The Thunder Flame erased them from existence.
One after another, waves of greedy Demon Generals came seeking a fortune and found only a fiery death. With each victory, Luo Zhen's pile of spirit stones grew, and his Store Points climbed steadily.
After an hour, more than twenty bulging burlap-sized sacks of spirit stones surrounded him.
"Well, this is a new problem," he mused, scratching his head. "I'm running out of hands to carry all this." For the first time, he was experiencing the burden of being too rich.
Just then, a new voice echoed in his mind.
"Careful, Host," the System warned. "You have a visitor. Peak Demon Core realm."
"Peak, huh? That's impressive," Luo Zhen replied nonchalantly. "But against my Thunder Flame, it won't matter."
"Don't be arrogant. This one is different. He's wielding a Pseudo-Magical Treasure," the System countered. "Its power can negate your Thunder Flame."
"A Pseudo-Magical Treasure?" The casual confidence in Luo Zhen's posture vanished. He sat up straight. "It can block my flames?"
"It can," the System confirmed. "But he's still not your match. You have other tools. At your current level, your Furious Thunder Strike is nearly at the half-step Demon King level. And if you summon the Nine-Headed Demonic Shadow, it will manifest with the power of an early-stage Demon King. Frankly, the Thunder Strike alone should be enough to handle him."
Luo Zhen let out a slow breath. "Good. You had me worried there for a second."
As if on cue, a powerful, sharp aura sliced through the air. A hulking figure, half-man, half-demon stallion, thundered to a halt before him. In his hands, he gripped a massive, crimson battle-axe that seemed to hum with contained energy.
The centaur-like warrior scanned him from head to toe. "You're the Green Snake from the market? The one with the Iron Essence?"
"I am," Luo Zhen nodded.
"I thought you'd be long gone, hiding in Flying Sand City," the warrior said with a smirk. "Let me introduce myself. I am Pang Feiyun, son of the Demon King Pang Hong."
The name gave Luo Zhen pause. Flying Sand City had only two Demon Kings, and Pang Hong was one of them—a notoriously powerful demon whose true form was said to be a stallion.
"That's right, my father," Pang Feiyun continued, puffing out his chest. "He owns a significant stake in the underground market. I was just checking on our assets when I heard about a little snake with a surprising amount of Iron Essence. It's a rare commodity. I must admit, I'm impressed you managed to get your hands on so much of it."
Luo Zhen's eyes narrowed. "Get to the point."
"The point is, I want your Iron Essence," Pang Feiyun declared. "Name what you want in exchange. Artifacts, elixirs, talismans... I can get you anything. I could even find you the most beautiful woman you've ever seen."
"Anything?" Luo Zhen raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Do you have Thunder Stones? That's the only thing I'm trading for."
Pang Feiyun's smile tightened. "I don't have Thunder Stones. Anything but that."
"Then I'm sorry," Luo Zhen said, spreading his hands. "I'm only interested in Thunder Stones."
"Let me be clear," Pang Feiyun growled, his voice dropping an octave. "I have everything else."
Luo Zhen's lips curled into a slow, deliberate smile. "And let me be just as clear," he said, enunciating every word. "I. Only. Want. Thunder. Stones."
Silence. The air crackled with tension.
Finally, Pang Feiyun let out a cold, humorless laugh. "And what if I insist?"
"You can try," Luo Zhen shot back, his gaze unwavering.
"It has been a long, long time since anyone dared to speak to me that way," Pang Feiyun hissed, his amusement turning to pure rage. "No one defies me! You're nothing but a backwater snake! If you don't know what's good for you, then you can just die!"
With a roar, he opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of fire, a blazing column of energy as wide as a carriage that instantly swallowed Luo Zhen whole.
"Insolent fool," Pang Feiyun sneered, watching the roaring inferno where Luo Zhen had been sitting. "You should have accepted my generosity."
He hadn't even bothered to use his axe. As a peak Demon Core expert, his signature Scarlet Flame Pillar was more than enough to obliterate an early-stage cultivator. Even a late-stage general would be reduced to ash by such a direct hit.
But Luo Zhen was no ordinary general.
Just as Pang Feiyun was about to turn away, an emerald glow began to pulse from within the heart of the flames. Then, to his utter disbelief, Luo Zhen walked out of the fire, completely unscathed, his skin shimmering with a faint green light.
"You… you're unharmed? How is that possible?!" Pang Feiyun stammered.
"Your fire is impressive," Luo Zhen said calmly, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his shoulder. "But I have a Spirit Body. You'll need more than that to even scratch me."
"Impossible! My Scarlet Flame is a secret technique! Nothing at the Demon Core level can withstand it!"
Luo Zhen just smiled. This pathetic flame was nothing compared to the tribulation lightning of a Demon Emperor, which his Azure Jade Spirit Body had weathered without issue.
Pang Feiyun's eyes locked onto the vibrant green aura protecting Luo Zhen, a light teeming with such powerful life force that it was clearly no simple spell.
"Well, well," he snarled. "So the little snake has fangs of his own. It seems I underestimated you. No more games, then!"
He roared, pouring his immense demonic energy into the crimson battle-axe. The weapon exploded with a blinding red light, and a wave of pure, savage power washed over the landscape.
"Die for real this time, snake!"
Pang Feiyun charged, swinging the massive axe in a devastating arc.
Luo Zhen stood his ground, expressionless. He thrust his palm forward, and a wall of his blue Thunder Flame erupted to meet the charge. He knew his Spirit Body could likely tank the hit, but defense had never been his style. Besides, he was curious. Could his flames truly stand against a Pseudo-Magical Treasure?
The axe met the wall of fire with a deafening CLANG that shook the very ground. The impact blasted a crater into the earth, sending out waves of searing heat. For a tense moment, the two forces were locked in a stalemate—the crimson axe straining against a shimmering blue curtain, neither giving an inch.
"What is that flame?!" Pang Feiyun yelled, his shock turning to frustration. His Scarlet Flame Axe was his ultimate weapon, his ace in the hole. He had expected to cleave Luo Zhen in two, but he was being held back by this bizarre blue fire.
Seizing the opportunity, Luo Zhen willed a tendril of Thunder Flame to snake around the axe, aiming for Pang Feiyun himself. If he could take out the wielder, the weapon was useless.
But just as the flame was about to strike, a phantom image of the axe flickered into existence, intercepting the attack. His plan had failed.
Luo Zhen frowned and sent more tendrils of flame, attacking from every conceivable angle. Each time, a phantom axe materialized to block the path.
"It's no use, Host," the System advised. "A Pseudo-Magical Treasure has a passive defensive aura. It automatically protects its master. You can't bypass it. You have to break it."
"Understood."
Luo Zhen raised an arm, his fingers forming a sword-like point aimed at the clear, empty sky.
"What are you doing now?" Pang Feiyun growled, a knot of dread tightening in his stomach.
Luo Zhen simply smiled and slashed his hand downwards.
KRA-KOOM!
A bolt of lightning as thick as an ancient oak tree tore through the sky and slammed directly onto Pang Feiyun. The world turned white, the sound of the impact a physical blow. The ground for ten meters around him was instantly vaporized, leaving a deep, smoking chasm.
It was Luo Zhen's ultimate offensive skill: Furious Thunder Strike.
The blinding column of energy raged for a full ten seconds before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind only the clear blue sky and the smell of ozone.
The strike's power was on par with a half-step Demon King. Without an incredible defense, Pang Feiyun's survival was impossible.
Still holding a small ball of Thunder Flame in his palm as a precaution, Luo Zhen walked to the edge of the crater and peered down.
At the bottom lay Pang Feiyun's charred and broken body, his breath a barely perceptible flutter. He was alive, but only just. The great red axe lay beside him, its crimson glow faded and lifeless.
"Huh. Still breathing?" Luo Zhen said, genuinely surprised.
"His axe absorbed most of the blow," the System explained. "He was also wearing several defensive artifacts. See that shattered jade pendant he's clutching? That took a part of the hit, too. It's why he isn't dead yet. But he will be in less than three minutes."
"Let's speed things up, then."
Luo Zhen flicked a final spark of Thunder Flame into the pit. It landed on Pang Feiyun and, in a silent flash, consumed him, leaving nothing but fine gray ash.
But amidst the cinders, two items remained, glowing softly.
One was the great red axe. The other was a simple, exquisitely crafted black ring.
Curious, Luo Zhen hopped into the crater and retrieved them. The axe, he understood. It was a Pseudo-Magical Treasure; of course, it survived. "But what about this?" he wondered aloud, turning the ring over in his fingers. "How did something this small withstand that blast?"
He had barely finished the thought when the System's voice filled his mind, tinged with something new—excitement.
"Host," it said. "That's a storage ring."