Chapter 44: Too Greedy

Zao Jing, Zhen Lan, Zhuo Rui, Qing Yiyi, Yu Deming, Yu Chongxiu, Yu Zhuting, Meng Yan, and Fei Changxia—all nine of them—quickly returned from various directions.
All of them wore smiles on their faces.
Qu Yi and Zhu Chen met the nine of them one by one on the ground. From their expressions, they could tell that the other five chiefs of Tianyu Fortress had also been killed.
At that moment, Qu Yi and the eleven others sat together.
“Tianyu Fortress has been destroyed by us. Now, in the entire Baizhai Mountain Region, only some weak mountain forts remain. Our next task is for each of us to lead a group to different parts of the Baizhai Mountain Region and wipe out the remaining forts. From now on, only our Tianfeng Fortress will remain in this region,” Zhu Chen said loudly, filled with pride.
With Tianyu Fortress and Tianchen Fortress gone, no force in the Baizhai Mountain Region could stop Tianfeng Fortress anymore.
“Haha! Our Tianfeng Fortress has finally unified the entire Baizhai Mountain Region!” Zao Jing shouted with laughter.
Everyone laughed.
Qu Yi stood up then and said with a smile, “Gentlemen, I won’t be involved in the affairs of the Baizhai Mountain Region anymore. I need to return to Bai Shou Village to focus on my cultivation. I hope that by the time I return to Tianfeng Fortress, it will have unified the entire region.”
Everyone present knew about the agreement between Qu Yi and Zhu Chen. From what they had learned over these days, they also knew that Qu Yi’s strength surpassed Zhu Chen’s, and it wouldn’t be long before Qu Yi became the chief of Tianfeng Fortress.
Upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, everyone stood up and nodded firmly.
Qu Yi smiled, then summoned the Wild Green Goose, mounted it, and left Wufeng Valley in no time.
After that, Zhu Chen and the others divided the attack areas among themselves. Each of them led a group to different parts of the Baizhai Mountain Region to eliminate the remaining fortresses.
※※※
Qu Yi returned to the stone fortress of ‘San Ding Men’.
The Xingluo Ding was placed on the ground, with Qu Yi standing beside it.
“I’ve invested three thousand divine artifacts this time. I’ll need some time to refine all of them,” Qu Yi said, somewhat resigned.
To help Tianfeng Fortress fight against Tianyu Fortress, Qu Yi had used three thousand divine artifacts. These artifacts were originally meant for the villagers of Bai Shou Village, so he had to create new ones to make up for the shortage.
Fortunately, these three thousand artifacts were of the most ordinary performance level, allowing Qu Yi to refine a hundred of them at a time. It would now take him thirty such sessions to refine all three thousand new artifacts.

Soon, the Black Tidal Divine Fire within the Star Luo Cauldron surged forth, yet remained remarkably stable.
Not long after, many more materials for refining were thrown into the Star Luo Cauldron.
……
Qu Yi skillfully controlled the Black Tidal Divine Fire to rapidly craft divine artifacts. In just half a year, all three thousand divine artifacts were completed.
At this moment, Qu Yi sat on his stone bed, deep in thought, before smiling and saying, “The most important thing now is to continue practicing my path of fusion.”
Inside his internal world, that golden planet had shrunk slightly—though imperceptibly—Qu Yi could still sense it. One by one, the golden elemental spirits crossed the Chaos Bridge to reach the wooden, water, fire, and earth planets, then merged with those four elemental spirits into one.
The speed of this fusion was slow, but Qu Yi knew it was the correct method for practicing the path of fusion, so he didn’t worry about the pace. Allowing the golden elemental spirits to merge on their own naturally meant a slower speed. After some thought, Qu Yi realized he indeed didn’t need to focus on other matters and could use this time to train thoroughly and accelerate the fusion process.
Soon, Qu Yi sat cross-legged, his consciousness entering the dantian space within his internal world, where he began to activate the Chaos Planet to speed up the transfer of the golden elemental spirits.
※※※
Xu Ming, who was in Li Fei City, had been in constant contact with Xu Qiang since sending Qu Yi to the Hundred Beasts Village.
Over the past decade, Xu Ming had sent messages every time but never received a reply from Xu Qiang.
At that moment, Xu Ming was lying in bed at his residence, lost in thought.
“Xu Qiang is dead. It seems those three—Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui—must hold some secrets. I’ve already reached the Divine Weapon stage and am about to leave the Distribution Team to become independent. Hmph, it’s time to visit the Hundred Beasts Village, capture those three, and interrogate them thoroughly.” These thoughts raced through Xu Ming’s mind.
In the Distribution Team, once a member reached the Divine Weapon stage, they had the right to choose whether to stay or leave.
When Xu Ming was at the Divine Being stage, he had grasped the laws of wood; now, having mastered the laws of fire as well, he had become a cultivator at the Divine Weapon stage, thus gaining the right to make such a choice. After deliberation, Xu Ming decided to leave the Distribution Team and venture into the Divine Realm on his own.
His first thought was to go to the Hundred Beasts Village, secretly capture Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui, and obtain the secrets from them.
After further thought, Xu Ming got up from bed, left his residence, and went to an office of the Distribution Team to complete the departure procedures.

Soon after, Xu Ming left Feifei City.
…
Five years later.
Outside Bai Shou Village, Xu Ming’s figure appeared.
At this time, Xu Ming’s aura was quite subdued; he didn’t resemble a cultivator at the Divine Weapon stage but rather a very ordinary cultivator at the Divine Being stage. He had also changed his appearance, dressing like an adventurer, seemingly on his way through Bai Shou Village toward the Savage Beast Mountains.
Xu Ming was very familiar with Bai Shou Village, so he headed straight to Qu Yi’s residence with ease.
Soon, Xu Ming spotted the stone castle where Qu Yi lived.
“Huh, Qu Yi actually built a stone castle. It hasn’t even been a hundred years since he came to Bai Shou Village, and he’s already built one. Moreover, how did he manage to find over thirty thousand Divine Crystal Trees? That’s utterly unbelievable.” Xu Ming’s expression changed, and he felt uneasy.
What had happened to Qu Yi was so shocking that Xu Ming felt he couldn’t control him.
“Hmph, no matter how strong Qu Yi is, he can’t reach the Divine Weapon stage. This is my chance. I must capture him and uncover all the secrets he holds.” Xu Ming became determined, dispelling all fears.
Xu Ming continued toward the stone castle.
Just then, Qu Yi actually came out of his stone castle and ran toward the mountainous area behind.
“Crafting is too oppressive. I need to relax,” Qu Yi shouted frantically as he ran, seemingly unable to bear the monotony of crafting for so long.
Not only did Xu Ming notice this, but the villagers of Bai Shou Village also saw it.
“Qu Yi has been crafting for so long; he must be feeling bored. He really does need to relax.”
“Not everyone can be a craftsman. It seems Qu Yi isn’t a god either; even he can’t tolerate loneliness while crafting.”
“I hope Qu Yi doesn’t give up. I must create my divine weapon.”
…
After noticing Qu Yi’s movements, the villagers of Bai Shou Village began to express their thoughts.
But Xu Ming didn’t dwell on it. Seeing Qu Yi leave on his own and head to the mountainous area beyond his spiritual perception, he saw this as the perfect opportunity. He didn’t want to be caught by the villagers while kidnapping Qu Yi, as that would cause trouble. Now that Qu Yi had left on his own, Xu Ming could use his strength to capture him alive.
Xu Ming quickened his pace.
A day later, Xu Ming finally found Qu Yi, sitting on a mountain peak.

Xu Ming quickly rose to his feet and went to Qu Yi’s side.
“You’ve finally arrived,” Qu Yi said suddenly, standing up with a smile on his face.
Xu Ming was stunned. What did Qu Yi mean? Did he already know Xu Ming was coming and that he had been following him? Moreover, it seemed Qu Yi wasn’t afraid of him at all.
What was going on?
Xu Ming was a bit confused.
However, Xu Ming, who had reached the Divine Weapon stage, quickly regained his composure. He calmly looked at Qu Yi and said with a smile, “Qu Yi, where are Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui?”
Xu Ming had kept his spiritual sense out at all times and hadn’t noticed Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui. He felt puzzled and a bit worried that they might be nearby, ready to launch a surprise attack.
“I can handle it alone. Xu Ming, you’re too greedy and have provoked people you shouldn’t,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Then, Qu Yi took out the divine artifact, Rui Si Wood.
“What, Rui Si Wood! Qu Yi, you actually possess a divine artifact? Great! I was right—there must be many secrets hidden about you. This time, I must capture you and take everything from you,” Xu Ming exclaimed excitedly, his voice rising in intensity.
It was astonishing that a cultivator who hadn’t even entered the Divine Realm for a hundred years already had a divine artifact—this was too unexpected and sparked endless speculation. In Xu Ming’s eyes, this proved there were secrets hidden about Qu Yi.
Suddenly, Xu Ming took out another divine artifact, the Fire Wood Sword.
“Qu Yi, I’ve already reached the Divine Weapon stage. No matter how many secrets you have, they’re nothing in the face of my power. Just surrender,” Xu Ming shouted excitedly, swinging his Fire Wood Sword immediately.
A blaze of fire and a gust of wind appeared simultaneously. The fire and wood elemental spirits surged forward, aiming to seriously injure Qu Yi in one strike.
But then, something astonishing happened—Qu Yi’s figure vanished outright.
“What? How could Qu Yi have the ability to teleport? That’s a skill only Divine Kings possess!” Xu Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief. Fear appeared on his face.
Qu Yi had the ability to teleport, meaning he was invincible. By offending him, Xu Ming would surely face his revenge in the future. At the thought of this, Xu Ming’s legs trembled with fear.
At that moment, Xu Ming realized he had wrongfully offended someone.

“Xu Ming, you’re too greedy. You deserve my punishment.” In an instant, Qu Yi appeared behind Xu Ming, smiling as he took out a divine artifact. Xu Ming quickly turned around and was shocked to see a divine artifact being thrown at him. Before he could react, the artifact exploded. “A divine artifact? There’s another one?” Xu Ming quickly created a spiritual barrier and exclaimed in surprise. The explosion of the divine artifact caused an surge in energy, constantly attacking the spiritual barrier. Xu Ming had only recently reached the Divine Weapon stage, with less than 200,000 spiritual entities in his body. Under the impact of the exploding divine artifact, the spiritual barrier began to crack. Qu Yi smiled and took out another divine artifact right in front of Xu Ming. “Xu Ming, I’m an artifact craftsman. No matter how many divine elements you have, I can exhaust them all,” Qu Yi said cheerfully as he threw another divine artifact. It exploded immediately. Xu Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief at Qu Yi’s identity—he was actually an artifact craftsman capable of creating divine artifacts. As Xu Ming showed a look of deep regret, Qu Yi took out yet another divine artifact and detonated it once more. Xu Ming’s divine elements could no longer hold out; his spiritual barrier shattered, and he suffered severe injuries, collapsing to the ground in critical condition. Qu Yi smiled as he approached Xu Ming and said, “Good. Now you’ll be my slave.” Without caring about Xu Ming’s terrified expression, Qu Yi sent his consciousness into Xu Ming’s soul space.