Chapter 458: A Complete Change in Situation

Outside the shop, news kept coming in about the appearance of the storage spirit ring containing Snow Red Grass. Many factions that had already chosen ambush locations could no longer resist their desires and rushed outside the spirit material shop.

The masked leader at the front was a powerful fighter, and his subordinates were also highly skilled enough to secure that ambush spot. Yet, two fists cannot fight four hands. Under the attack of several nearby factions and countless individual warriors, they not only failed to break through but also gradually fell behind.

“Everyone, gather around me!” The masked leader slashed a warrior apart with his sword and shouted loudly.

Instantly, all the masked men regained some momentum. Already at their limit, they began to gather around the leader as their last hope for survival. The sudden surge in strength left many attackers without advanced combat skills unable to withstand it, forcing them to retreat. As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, aside from a few masked men targeted by advanced fighters who were left behind due to their inferior strength, over half of them fought their way to the leader’s side with fierce determination.

However, these masked men still thought their leader intended to form a group for defense—having comrades and a strong leader meant they only needed to defend one side, which was naturally hundreds or even thousands of times better than fighting alone against countless attackers. But as soon as their momentum from seeing hope for survival faded after rushing to the leader’s side, his actions plunged them back into despair.

One by one, the wooden boxes with their contents were thrown out by the leader standing at the center. There was no pause at all during this process. Undoubtedly, he had gathered them together merely as sacrifices to buy time while he searched for Snow Red Grass in the storage spirit ring.

Seeing this, the factions and warriors who had been observing began to launch a fierce attack. Without the strong leader at the center to cover the gaps, those already at their limit, though harder to attack when grouped together, were only a matter of time before being overwhelmed.

“Kill them! Kill them! Snow Red Grass is right there!”

“As long as we wipe out the ones outside, no matter how strong he is, he can’t withstand the attack of countless warriors. Whoever gets Snow Red Grass will be the luckiest.”

The attackers who aimed to kill all the masked men outside before the leader took action not only launched brutal assaults but also constantly urged those with weaker wills.

After the last wooden crate was thrown out, the lead masked man became utterly enraged. It was empty inside, and despite already being prepared for deception, it still made him roar in fury. By the time he regained his composure and looked around, only four of the men in black remained. Unable to make a decision, the lead masked man gritted his teeth and threw the storage ring at one of the stronger factions. “Grab the Snow Red Grass and retreat!” These words had a similar effect to what the young man in brocade had said before dying. At the very least, most of everyone’s attention was drawn to the faction where the lead man in black’s target was located. “Kill them!” With roars of anger, wherever the storage ring was, there was a battlefield. Whoever possessed the storage ring became everyone’s target. Instantly, countless people abandoned the men in black and turned to attack the other faction. “Retreat!” The lead masked man shouted loudly, strangely tearing at his clothes while protecting the remaining four men as they retreated. Once they were over a hundred crates away, the man in black’s clothes were completely destroyed; both the storage ring and his mask were discarded. All that remained on his body was a loose pair of shorts, with the lower half of which also torn off. The factions and warriors who thought the storage ring was still on the lead man in black hesitated. With only half a pair of shorts on, it was impossible for him to hide the storage ring, let alone a wooden box made of Jianli wood containing the Snow Red Grass. “Take them off!” The lead man in black ordered domineerly. Having already suffered enough losses, he wasn’t afraid to lose some face. The four men in black hesitated for a moment before discarding their clothes and the storage ring together. Although for warriors, face is more important than life, this is just theory—not everyone can do it. Since even the leader, a powerful figure, was willing to lose face, they, as mere high-level warriors, could only accompany him in losing face. The already hesitant warriors completely gave up on them, leaving them with nothing left to cover their shame. The storage ring, or the Snow Red Grass, couldn’t possibly be on them. Soon, all attention shifted to the faction that the lead man in black had diverted attention to. The poor leader of that faction was torn apart and frustrated by the storage ring that had fallen from the sky. When the lead masked man obtained the storage ring, the blood inside it that identified its owner was that of the young man in brocade.

The young man in the brocade robes only possessed the strength of the third or fourth stage of the Heart Stirring Phase. With the strength of the lead masked man in black, he could instantly erase the ownership mark and claim the storage spirit ring for himself.

The lead masked man in black was a powerful warrior at the second stage of the Heart Reversal Phase. It took a warrior at the third stage of this phase one or two hours to erase the ownership mark, while those at the fourth stage needed one or two minutes. Warriors at the fifth stage could erase it in the span of a breath… Above that, they could erase it instantly. But if it came to those below, even a warrior with the same second-stage Heart Reversal Phase strength as the lead masked man, unless they were advanced artifact masters, could never erase the ownership mark.

The leader of the faction whose troubles had been shifted elsewhere was torn because he knew full well that the masked man in black was framing him. His own strength was only at the ninth stage of the Mind Phase, and he wasn’t an artifact master either, yet he couldn’t bear to give up this sliver of hope.

Who knew whether the masked man in black had deliberately thrown out the storage spirit ring containing the Snow Red Grass to divert attention before seizing it back.

Given that the Snow Red Grass was likely still in the shop, as inferred from the young man in brocade robes’ behavior, this possibility was less than 10%. But even if it was just 5%, it was worth taking the risk.

With just one plant of Snow Red Grass, he was confident he could succeed in entering the ranks of the powerful.

However, this idea didn’t last long. As an attacker, he hadn’t felt much pressure. But once he became the target of attack, he realized just how great the pressure the lead masked man in black had been under.

After several failed attempts to break through, with his subordinates dying one after another, he finally threw out the storage spirit ring. Following the masked man’s example, he discarded all his clothes and the storage spirit ring on the ground, and his subordinates did the same.

The struggle over the storage spirit ring showed no sign of ending. As one fell, more warriors learned of it and arrived on Tianfeng Street. The only difference was that more and more factions, having decided to wait and shift their focus away from the storage spirit ring, gathered outside the spirit material shop, betting that the Snow Red Grass was still inside.

Inside the shop, Lin Dong and Yun Lan kept observing the situation outside while quietly discussing strategies. One was at the late fifth stage of the Mind Phase, and the other at the early seventh stage. With such strength, they could dominate both inside and outside the spirit material shop.

But the true masters did not show up. Just Lin Dong alone managed to locate many powerful fighters hiding in the corners. More importantly, there might be even higher-level fighters present whose presence he and Yun Lan could not detect. Even if there was just one such person, their chances of capturing the Snow Red Grass and then attacking Wan Dan Gui Zong would be slim.

The advantage of shouting that call was that it kept the Snow Red Grass in place. However, there were also many disadvantages, the biggest being that it shifted the battlefield from the entire Tianfeng Street area to the entrance of the Spirit Materials Shop.

When word spread that the Snow Red Grass from the Spirit Materials Shop had been bought at an exorbitant price and still remained there, the elders from various shops who happened to be in Tianfeng Street for business or to investigate opportunities rushed to hide around the shop.

As for those forces hidden in other parts of Tianfeng Street or on key routes outside it, their spies among the hidden crowd could not determine who actually possessed the Snow Red Grass. With various shops also getting involved in setting up ambushes, they had no choice but to end their hiding and look for positions outside the Spirit Materials Shop. Otherwise, if the owner of the Snow Red Grass remained unseen and it was accidentally seized by one of the shop elders, and with no unified target among the various forces, they might take the chance to retreat to their own shops. This would mean an end to the struggle over the Snow Red Grass.

In the past, when high-level cultivation aids or other valuable spirit artifacts or beasts appeared, the various shops hardly ever got involved. Since their forces were not in the capital city, they couldn’t send a large number of elders to stay in their shops day after day, waiting for something worth stealing before setting up ambushes. Although they lacked such items, their need was not as urgent as that of the powerful factions in the capital. Apart from the major sects that could take advantage of favorable timing by sending some elders to Tianfeng Street to try to reclaim these items, the other shops lacked both timing and location advantages, and getting involved would only result in losses for them.

This is also the main reason why Tianfeng Street has the characteristic of being a place where shops can be robbed as soon as one leaves—buying something valuable only to have it stolen, sometimes even at the risk of one’s life. This undoubtedly has a severe negative impact on all the shops in Tianfeng Street. Yet these shops have no choice; they can’t send a large number of elders to eliminate all the powerful figures in the capital, as the capital is the heart of imperial power, and the Tianwei Pavilion is located there. It’s impossible to allow major sects to have large numbers of elders in the emperor’s presence.

And these powerful individuals, unlike the various sects that control sources of spirit stones, spirit materials, and spirit minerals, are greatly attracted to high-grade spirit materials, spirit beasts, and spirit weapons. This attraction is strong enough to drive them to take risks.
Thus, this is a dead end. The various shops can only rely on the immense deterrence of their backing sects to ensure that no one dares to rob them.
This time, however, there is a huge difference. Aside from the local powerful figures whose influence pales in comparison to that of the capital, everyone is on equal footing in terms of timing. As for geographical advantage, since it’s unknown who possesses the Snow Red Grass, the various shops actually have a significant edge and are not without a chance of seizing it.
Time passed by second by second. The warriors standing at the door finally began to return to their seats; standing around uselessly didn’t help either.
When Zi Han returned to his seat, Ling Chenyue stood up.