Chapter 5: Rivalry and Battle

“Those from the Immortal Slaying Valley, you’ve worked hard.” Qu Yi arrived at the sea surface, knowing that Shi Jue was about to chase after him, and laughed heartily.
As soon as he spoke, Qu Yi took out the Space Passage Talisman and activated it immediately. A spatial portal appeared in an instant, and Qu Yi flew through it before disappearing. However, this was just a decoy. While entering the spatial portal, he had already entered the Tiny World Sphere, which still floated above the sea surface.
Shi Jue and Leng Yu quickly rose from the seabed to the sea surface, teleporting to the spot where Qu Yi had been, and then saw the spatial portal.
“Damn it!”
“Detestable!”
Shi Jue and Leng Yu shouted in anger at the same time. They never expected that while they were fighting hard against the people from the Netherfire Cave, someone had taken the opportunity to sneak underwater and steal the Soul Crystal of the Sea Soul Eel.
Yang Tianqi also flew over and, after learning what had happened, clenched his fists in fury, unable to suppress his hatred.
“Bastard! If I find out who he is, I’ll chase him across the entire cultivation world and tear him to pieces!” Yang Tianqi shouted in rage.
It turned out that Yang Tianqi had received orders from Cangyang Valley to capture the Sea Soul Eel and bring it back to Liupan Star. Once this Sea Soul Eel reached the Tribulation Phase, it could help those in the sect who were about to undergo tribulation by simulating the torment of heart demons in advance, allowing them to strengthen their minds and pass through the tribulation more easily. This would greatly increase the chances of the sect’s cultivators reaching the Tribulation Phase successfully, thereby strengthening Cangyang Valley’s power.
“Brother Tianqi, I think there might still be Sea Soul Eels in this ocean. Let’s search further,” Shi Jue said calmly.
He wasn’t entirely sure himself, but he remembered that in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, he hadn’t been able to help Yang Tianqi catch the Twin-Headed Lizard Dragon, and now, in this ocean, they hadn’t caught the Sea Soul Eel either. If Yang Tianqi left Tianhua Star disappointed, the hard-earned opportunity to become friends might turn into resentment from Yang Tianqi.
Upon hearing this, Yang Tianqi’s expression immediately calmed down, and joy appeared in his eyes.
“Let’s do this—the four of us will split up and search thissea area. We must find the Sea Soul Eel,” Yang Tianqi said loudly.
“Okay!” Leng Yu, Shi Jue, and Shi Jin replied immediately.
So, the four of them flew apart, each heading to a different area of the ocean to search for the Sea Soul Eel.
While Yang Tianqi was speaking, a speck of dust, carried by the sea breeze, naturally fell into the seam of his robe sleeve.
……
With a light step, Yang Tianqi moved swiftly through the air above the sea, just ten miles away.
“Bastard! Bastard!…”

With every step Yang Tianqi took, his hatred grew deeper, and he kept spewing anger. The Tiny Realm Ball clung to Yang Tianqi, but remained completely motionless. Qu Yi still didn’t want to kill Yang Tianqi right away, as they were still within the spiritual perception range of Leng Yu and Shi Jue. Inside the Tiny Realm Ball, Qu Yi sat by the lake, holding the Soul Crystal in his hand. The Artifact God stood beside him, his starry eyes shining with joy as he watched Qu Yi and said, “Qu Yi, swallow the Soul Crystal into your dantian and refine it with mixed true energy. In about a month, you should be able to fully absorb it, and your soul will reach the early stage of exiting the body.” If he had to scan the formation normally, it would have taken Qu Yi a year, but with the Soul Crystal, he saved a lot of time. “Good!” Qu Yi smiled and immediately swallowed the Soul Crystal. As soon as it entered his dantian, it was embraced by the mixed Yuan Ying inside, with streams of mixed true energy “soaking” it and slowly dissolving it. Then, the soul power within the Soul Crystal was absorbed by his spiritual essence. Seeing Qu Yi quietly refining the Soul Crystal, the Artifact God didn’t disturb him anymore. With his hands behind his back, he gazed at the lake ahead, lost in thought. “The One Element Dao—Qu Yi is almost done scanning. After absorbing this Soul Crystal, he’ll soon reach the early stage of exiting the body, and then I can teach him the Two Element Dao. Sigh, learning my formation requires a long time to master the basics; it must be tough for Qu Yi.” The Artifact God thought to himself. Meanwhile, Qu Yi, in meditation, used six of his spiritual senses—one to refine the Soul Crystal and the other five to continue scanning the formation. Bai Man came over and, looking at the infant-like Artifact God, said greedily, “Artifact God, how long will it take for Qu Yi to refine the Soul Crystal? Will he be able to reach the early stage of exiting the body soon?” Seeing Bai Man’s expression, the Artifact God knew she wanted to catch him again. Though he knew she couldn’t succeed, being exposed to such expressions too often made him feel helpless. “It will take a month to refine the Soul Crystal, and two months to reach the early stage of exiting the body,” the Artifact God replied honestly. Bai Man was overjoyed and smiled at Qu Yi, who was still sitting in meditation. On the other side, Qing Wu Gui fought alone against Mu Han and Wu Yuan, practicing diligently. His current Asura Heart was only at a basic level, containing only a sense of oppressive killing intent; he hadn’t yet truly understood what an Asura Heart truly entailed.

Naturally, within the Dimensional Sphere, Qing Wu Gui wanted Mu Han to attack him, especially that guy Wu Yuan who was still in the early stages of leaving his body—continuously pressing down on him to strengthen his killing intent and create opportunities to grasp the second type of killing intent.
…
In the air, Yang Tian Qi kept flying around, having searched almost the entire sea area yet still finding no new Sea Soul Eels.
“Damn it! You made me work for nothing for a whole month!” Yang Tian Qi’s angry frown grew even deeper.
As a rising star of Cangyang Valley and the son of a sect elder, Yang Tian Qi had never endured such hardship before, so his anger grew increasingly intense.
Ahead, an island appeared—its ancient trees were lush and tall, and many monstrous beasts roamed there.
In his fury, Yang Tian Qi immediately flew over, drew out his Earth Dragon Sword, and with the power of his vital energy, sent waves of earth dragons into the island’s primeval forest, slaughtering all the beasts at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages.
Only after killing all the strongest beasts on the island did Yang Tian Qi’s anger subside slightly. He then sat atop the tallest tree on the island.
Meanwhile, inside the Dimensional Sphere, Qu Yi, who had been sitting by the lake for a month, suddenly opened his eyes, filled with joy.
“Haha! I’ve refined the Soul Crystal!” Qu Yi woke up and immediately reported this to everyone.
Qi Shen, Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, Mu Han, and Wu Yuan immediately flew over to Qu Yi, each offering congratulations. Of course, Bai Man happily threw herself into Qu Yi’s arms, smiling so broadly her eyes almost closed.
Qu Yi thanked everyone before suddenly asking, “Qi Shen, where is Yang Tian Qi now? Let’s go kill him. Can those three Divination Stage experts make it here in time?”
Hearing this, Qing Wu Gui immediately looked at Qi Shen.
“Yang Tian Qi has already escaped the spiritual perception range of those three Divination Stage figures. We can leave now,” Qi Shen said with a smile.
Qu Yi nodded, then looked at Qing Wu Gui and said, “Qing Wu Gui, let’s go. It’s time to take revenge.”
Qing Wu Gui nodded firmly.
Yang Tian Qi sat atop the tree, quietly regulating his vital energy to recover.
Suddenly, Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, Wu Yuan, and Mu Han emerged from the Dimensional Sphere and immediately attacked.

Qu Yi wielded the Fulong Sword and immediately summoned a golden dragon, which fiercely attacked Yang Tianqi. Qing Wu Gui held a black sword that had transformed into a lower-grade spiritual weapon and thrust it straight forward; the blade emitted a dark glow, looking quite eerie. The Wuyuan Dragon Head spat out a concentrated, needle-like sword of true energy aimed at Yang Tianqi. Mu Han, on the other hand, used her bright eyes to cast a mind-confusing spell, attempting to delay Yang Tianqi’s reaction.

With four attacks coming from such close range, impossible to avoid, Qu Yi thought to himself that Yang Tianqi was surely doomed.

Suddenly, Yang Tianqi, who had been sitting quietly, sensed the presence of four people. When he opened his eyes, he saw the attacks approaching, but he wasn’t overly panicked. Suddenly, a golden-colored defensive armor appeared on his body, with dragon-like true energy flowing around it.

Bang!

The four attacks were easily blocked by this defensive armor.

“Hehe, you guys just want to kill me? I have a defensive armor of mid-grade spiritual weapon level—Tulong Armor. If I’m not wrong, that sea soul electric eel was killed by one of you, right?” Yang Tianqi stood up calmly and smiled lightly.

Qu Yi, Mu Han, and Wuyuan were all shocked. They really hadn’t expected Yang Tianqi to possess such a rare defensive armor; it was completely unexpected.

However, Qing Wu Gui glared angrily and shouted, “Yang Tianqi, do you still remember me?”

Earlier, Yang Tianqi had mainly focused on Qu Yi’s Fulong Sword and had only glanced at Qing Wu Gui. Now, upon hearing his voice, he looked closely and his face lit up with joy.

“Qing Wu Gui, I didn’t expect that after escaping from Tianfeng Star, you still weren’t dead. Perfect—right now, I’ll take your life and seize your Asura Demon Manual,” Yang Tianqi said joyfully.

Obviously, seeing that among the four, only Wuyuan was in the early stage of exiting the body while the other three were in the late stage of Yuan Ying, Yang Tianqi was confident he could defeat all of them.

The defensive armor gave him great confidence.

Qing Wu Gui blocked Qu Yi, Mu Han, and Wuyuan and said with a smile, “Yang Tianqi, even though you’re only in the early stage of exiting the body, I want to fight you alone to avenge our past grudges. Will you agree?”

At this moment, Qing Wu Gui wanted revenge first, and second, he wanted to use Yang Tianqi as a means to achieve his own breakthrough.

Hatred could ignite a desire to kill!

Yang Tianqi looked at Qing Wu Gui as if he were an idiot. Just now, the four of them had attacked him together, yet he remained unharmed. Was Qing Wu Gui poisoned? Even though the poison had been removed, his mind might have been damaged, leading him to make such an overreaching challenge.

“Very well, Qing Wu Gui. You’re actually that bold. I’ll fulfill your wish. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die. I’ll turn you into a slave and torment you for life.” Yang Tianqi sneered repeatedly.
It was obvious that Yang Tianqi believed he had Qing Wu Gui in his grasp.
The battle of revenge was about to begin.