He certainly didn't need to return it.
Luo Chen had only made the quip to ease the tension between them.
He could clearly sense that Wang Yuan, usually so calm and composed, showed a trace of unease upon learning that a battle among five Golden Core cultivators was taking place in Dahe Market.
Wang Yuan had always carried himself with an unflappable, measured air.
Yet the successive Golden Core-level clashes in Dahe Market had placed immense pressure on him.
It was a crushing weight that a mere cultivator at the second realm of body cultivation could hardly endure.
A single bottle of Spirit Purifying Pills wasn't much, but it would provide Wang Yuan significant help.
With his own substantial wealth, Wang Yuan could comfortably cultivate all the way to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
Now, with this bottle of Spirit Purifying Pills, his progress might accelerate considerably.
Luo Chen still had four bottles left. Though he lacked Wang Yuan’s robust constitution to absorb the Spirit Purifying Pills directly, he had the alchemy technique Pure Heart Hand to break down and absorb them.
The two chatted for a while, making all kinds of conjectures about the battle in Dahe Market and discussing potential contingency plans.
Yet everything was merely theorizing on paper.
It was a battle far beyond their capabilities.
As such, they could only wait in silence for the outcome.
At Crescent Moon Valley, where the Luotian Association was based, the top-grade formation bestowed by Miao Wen had already been set to a semi-activated state.
The moment an enemy attacked, it could instantly be driven to its peak power.
Even against an invading Foundation Establishment cultivator, it could hold out for a time.
At midnight!
Wang Yuan came looking for Luo Chen.
"No, we can't just wait like this. If a result is reached over there and it's unfavorable to us, staying here means waiting for death!"
Luo Chen's eyes flickered with thought, and he eventually nodded in agreement.
"What do you suggest?"
"I want to observe from nearby. If things turn sour, whether we flee or defend, we can decide as early as possible."
"Then... let's go together!"
Wang Yuan flatly refused. "You stay behind."
"Don't look down on me. I might be no good in a fight, but I'm quite skilled when it comes to running away."
Luo Chen smiled and set off.
The instantaneous speed he displayed took even Wang Yuan by surprise.
After all, this was a speed that had drawn admiring glances even from Miao Wen and Luo Tianhong.
...
Beneath the night sky.
Amidst a disordered graveyard, two figures arrived with the wind.
Feeling the bone-chilling ghostly qi, Luo Chen shuddered.
"Couldn't you pick another vantage point to watch? Did we really have to come to the Mass Graves?"
The Mass Graves!
The burial ground for countless rogue cultivators who had died gruesome deaths in Dahe Market.
In the beginning, when cultivators perished, their friends and kin would bury them here.
Over time, however, the mutilated corpses of those slain elsewhere were tossed here as well.
Later on, the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion's law enforcement squad regularly dumped the corpses of cultivators from the Dao Discussion Platform here.
It served as a disposal site, as well as a warning.
This place was considered a famous "scenic spot" of Dahe Market.
A hotspot for robbers!
Among the "words of advice" the Zhenlong Black Market had given Luo Chen, the Mass Graves was cited as the place where one was most likely to be ambushed and robbed.
Killing someone here spared even the waste of a Fireball Art to scatter their ashes.
Standing within it, Luo Chen could feel the bone-deep, gloomy chill.
Sweeping his eyes with the Spirit Eye Art, he could faintly make out numerous flickering phantoms.
Ghosts?
What was more, from these ghosts, Luo Chen could actually sense bursts of increasingly thriving vitality.
By all reason, deceased ghosts were dominated by deathly energy.
Yet this eerie vitality seemed as if it had been temporarily bestowed upon them.
"I suppose this change is brought about by the emergence of those three ghost kings," Luo Chen mused to himself.
Beside him, Wang Yuan gazed toward the inner city.
Reflected in his eyes were the golden flashes and dark clouds constantly colliding across the night sky.
Yet he spoke calmly: "The yin souls and specters here are insignificant, especially for a body cultivator like me, whose blood and vitality are exceptionally vigorous."
"On the contrary, by observing the changes in these yin souls and specters, I can gauge the condition of those three ghost kings."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Wherever a ghost king is present, it forms a ghost domain. The ghost cultivators within, though subjugated by the ghost king, are nourished by it and grow stronger."
"This is why Tier 3 ghost cultivators are called ghost kings."
Ruling a ghost domain and commanding the ghost cultivators within—that was what made them kings among ghosts.
Understanding this logic, Luo Chen realized why Wang Yuan had come here.
Watching the battle directly from such a distance was impossible; he couldn't see clearly anyway.
Using the Mass Graves' changes to gauge the shift of the battle indirectly was indeed a clever move.
Luo Chen praised him softly, then stepped up beside him to gaze toward the Dahe Market inner city.
His Great Perfection Spirit Eye Art allowed him to see farther and clearer than Wang Yuan.
With the moonlight aiding his sight, even across such a great distance, he could faintly discern hazy silhouettes of the clash.
"As expected of a sword cultivator, heralded as the strongest in combat among his peers!"
"Besieged by four peers, he can still hold out for so long."
Luo Chen marveled.
Wang Yuan nodded. "He likely has the home-field advantage as well."
Fallen Phoenix Mountain had long been cultivated and developed by the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion.
Its spiritual veins, structures, and formations were far more familiar to Pang Renxiong than to anyone else.
Coupled with the assistance of two sect Foundation Establishment cultivators, he was not entirely alone.
"However..."
Luo Chen recalled Tianxingzi and his group whom he had encountered on his way back.
Since they dared to ambush and kill Pang Renxiong, they must have factored all of this in.
The Jade Cauldron sword cultivator's situation remained grim!
Suddenly, Luo Chen's gaze narrowed.
Within Dahe Market, a dazzling sword qi erupted like an ascending dragon.
Layers upon layers of sword qi unfurled, the ringing of the blade resonating across thousands of li!
The entire curtain of night was torn asunder beneath this single sword strike.
"This move... it's the same technique Pang Renxiong used this afternoon."
"He's putting his life on the line!"
Almost simultaneously, Luo Chen and Wang Yuan reached the same conclusion.
The next moment, both Wang Yuan and Luo Chen whipped their heads around.
The yin souls and specters in the vicinity that had been thriving moments ago suddenly froze, as if scourged by an astral wind.
Then, they withered and slumped.
The bone-chilling yin qi dissipated drastically.
Everyone knew what this meant.
The three ghost kings were gone!
Wang Yuan murmured in a low voice, "Pang Renxiong's desperate gambit succeeded!"
"No, not yet!"
Luo Chen abruptly looked back toward Dahe Market.
His face was pale with shock and confusion.
An equally peerless crimson sword qi plunged downward like a gigantic cauldron, driving straight into Fallen Phoenix Mountain.
"A sword cultivator!"
"How could there be another sword cultivator?!"
"And one who isn't helping Pang Renxiong?!"
Amid his shock, that immense sword qi crashed down with a deafening boom.
A roar of boundless fury echoed in all directions just as the sword struck:
"It's you!"
After the roar came absolute, dead silence.
Luo Chen and Wang Yuan stared at each other in dismay, temporarily at a loss for words.
...
Half a month had passed since the Golden Core battle in the inner city.
Such a span of time was enough to wash away most of the fear in cultivators' hearts.
And the potential treasures left behind in the inner city after the cataclysm swept away that remaining dread, replaced entirely by greed.
Luo Chen led a cadre of experts from the Luotian Association's War Hall, standing at a distance and gazing at the city shrouded in sinister ghostly qi.
"Golden Core cultivators come and go, but in the end, all they leave behind for us rogue cultivators is a ghost city!"
He sighed softly, watching three late-stage Qi Refining rogue cultivators step into the inner city together.
"Which batch does that make entering the city?"
Beside him, Zhou Yuanli said respectfully, "To facilitate control, the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion set up only a single city gate. Over the past half month, this is the seventeenth batch of rogue cultivators to enter."
"And the previous sixteen batches?" Luo Chen asked.
Zhou Yuanli shook his head. "Not a word from any of them."
Frowning, Luo Chen felt a sinking premonition.
The three ghost kings had indeed been slain by Pang Renxiong before his demise.
Yet upon their deaths, the essence of their ghostly qi had almost entirely settled within Dahe Market's inner city.
Those were three ghost kings comparable to Golden Core experts!
Normally, just one of them could wipe out a city like Dahe Market with ease.
Now, the essence of all three lingered inside, transforming the place directly into a ghost domain.
At present, it was practically forbidden to the living.
"Brother Wang is in secluded cultivation, saying he wants to refine a method to ward off ghosts so he can search for treasures in the city."
"Currently, our Luotian Association lacks top-tier combat power to hold the fort, which puts us in an awkward spot."
Luo Chen's gaze swept over their surroundings, lingering briefly on a few cultivators here and there.
Those were subordinates of various Foundation Establishment factions.
Now that the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion had fallen and Miao Wen—the Luotian Association's backer—was missing, dead or alive unknown, their own position had become precarious once more.
The reason the Foundation Establishment factions had not made a move yet was simply that none wanted to become a target.
They feared other Foundation Establishment factions striking them from behind, and they also feared the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect sending new cultivators to make an example of whoever stepped out of line.
Yet Luo Chen knew this fragile peace would be shattered eventually.
Nor was he willing to be reduced to someone else's pill-refining tool ever again.
Consequently, he harbored no thought whatsoever of leaving Dahe Market to report alone to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Pang Renxiong was already dead; why rush over eagerly?
It would waste travel time, and there was no guarantee he would have sufficient personal freedom within the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
By comparison, forging his own path through hard work would not lag his cultivation speed by much.
Most importantly, it was a choice true to his heart!
While Luo Chen was lost in thought, a commotion broke out ahead.
He snapped back to reality and looked in the direction of the noise.
Within the inner city, a flickering spiritual light was struggling outward against the grim ghostly qi.
A few breaths later.
The spiritual light suddenly broke through the city boundaries.
"It's Old Chu!"
"He isn't dead!"
"Not only that, the dozen-odd Qi Refining cultivators from Wanbao Pavilion are fine too!"
When the light revealed itself, it turned out to be a flying boat.
At its helm stood the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Chu, head of Wanbao Pavilion, a figure intimately familiar to Luo Chen and other rogue cultivators.
The moment he exited the city, Old Chu waved his sleeve.
Seven Qi Refining cultivators were swept off the flying boat.
"This old man has done all that benevolence requires. Our karmic tie ends here."
With those words, the flying boat flared with spiritual light again and transformed into a streak of light, darting toward the horizon.
At the same time, several streaks of escape light shot out from other areas outside Dahe Market, chasing after Old Chu.
Presumably, the leaders of various Foundation Establishment factions were seeking Old Chu to inquire about the inner city's situation.
Luo Chen lacked the standing to speak with Old Chu, but there were people right before him to question.
With a wave of his hand, Sima Xian led several men out from the crowd, heading straight for the seven cultivators abandoned by Old Chu.
Everyone knew these seven were not disciples belonging to the sect in Tianfan City, but local rogue cultivators hired locally by Wanbao Pavilion, Tianfan City's subsidiary shop.
Among the seven were five women and two men.
Soon, relying on his ninth-level Qi Refining cultivation and a group of War Hall cultivators, Sima Xian brought back one of the men to Luo Chen.
"I ask, you answer!"
Stripped of Wanbao Pavilion's protection, the male cultivator no longer had his former swagger of borrowing authority.
Pale-faced, he nodded hurriedly.
"Name?"
"Li Wanchun."
"How much do you know about the inner city battle?"
"Nothing at all."
"Hm?"
"Senior, I truly don't know!"
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow; this was the first time someone had addressed him as Senior.
Of course, that was not the point.
He asked dubiously, "If you know nothing, how did you survive?"
Li Wanchun replied aggrievedly, "All I know is that there were no customers in the shop at the time. A terrifying pressure swept over us, and I was knocked unconscious. By the time I woke up, Wanbao Pavilion's defensive array was already active. We held out like that for half a month before Old Chu brought us out."
"All of you?" Luo Chen's interest was piqued.
"Yes, several core Wanbao Pavilion disciples, along with a few of us local rogue cultivators, all made it out alive."
"Without any injuries?"
After several questions, Li Wanchun had composed himself somewhat.
He nodded repeatedly. "Indeed, nothing serious. The pavilion had plenty of treasures and was shielded by a grand array. Furthermore, Old Chu is experienced and looked after us, so none of us suffered any real injuries. It's just..."
"Just what?"
He offered a bitter smile. "It's just that Old Chu said Dahe Market's Wanbao Pavilion probably won't reopen anytime soon, so he dismissed us."
Luo Chen frowned, having thought it was some crucial piece of intelligence.
Just as he was feeling disappointed, another clamor erupted up ahead.
Looking up, he saw four graceful silhouettes moving slowly through the grim ghost domain.
"Someone else is coming out?"
Luo Chen perked up, hoping to glean some news from this group.
However, the outcome left him disappointed.
The moment those four charming silhouettes stepped out of the city, they dissolved into spiritual light and vanished.
Left behind was only a haughty, imposing figure.
Without sparing a single glance at the cultivators waiting outside, he let out a cold snort, mounted a multi-colored cloud, and vanished into the distance.
Only after he had departed did the stifling atmosphere begin to loosen up again.
"Was that Senior Hua from Tianxiang Pavilion?"
"Must be him."
"Why didn't we see any of Tianxiang Pavilion's female cultivators?"
"Yeah, not a single one."
"Hiss... could they have all died inside?"
That last remark mingled into the murmurs before quickly becoming the focal point of the discussion.
Everyone had to admit that Dahe Market's most bustling pleasure quarter had likely been wiped out entirely, save for that Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.
Those four captivating, alluring figures from earlier hadn't been real people at all, but rather magical artifacts or treasures.
The only one who had truly made it out was the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Hua.
The thought of so many charming, lovely female cultivators dying in that ghost city sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Isn't this senior being a bit too..."
"Watch your tongue!"
"A Foundation Establishment True Cultivator is not someone we can gossip about."
Even as voices quieted, the look of shared sorrow across everyone's faces could not be hidden.
Especially when afternoon came, and cultivators from the Divine Talisman Pavilion, Spirit Source Studio, Spirit Herb Pavilion, and Baicao Hall emerged one after another, everyone was forced to accept the reality that Tianxiang Pavilion had been virtually wiped out.
Even Spirit Source Studio, which had always been harsh toward its workers, had casually brought out two local rogue cultivators.
This showed just how cold-hearted the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Hua from Tianxiang Pavilion was.
There was no reason other high-sect shops could shelter their helpers while Hehuan Sect's Tianxiang Pavilion could not.
Not to mention the local rogue cultivators, there had even been an inner sect disciple from the Hehuan Sect who had accompanied Senior Hua, yet there was no sign of her either.
Amidst the crowd, Luo Chen walked respectfully toward an elderly man.
"Greetings, Senior Liu!"
"Ah, little Luo. I still prefer you calling me Shopkeeper," Liu Hecai said with a chuckle, stroking his beard.
Luo Chen nodded. "Shopkeeper Liu, I wanted to inquire about Bai..."
"My apologies. She belongs to Baicao Hall. At the time, I was over at Spirit Herb Pavilion. As for Baicao Hall..."
Following Liu Hecai's sympathetic gaze, Luo Chen turned his head.
Beside Baicao Hall's Foundation Establishment cultivator, the ground was empty—not a single person stood near him.
That newly arrived Foundation Establishment cultivator had proven just as callous as the one from Tianxiang Pavilion, having lifted no finger to protect anyone from Baicao Hall.
Luo Chen parted his lips, momentarily at a loss for words.
An empty, hollow feeling flooded his entire being.
"Sigh..."
"May our paths cross again if fate allows!"
Liu Hecai patted Luo Chen's shoulder, called over several disciples of the Medicine King Sect, and boarded a flying boat to depart Dahe Market.
After he left, Luo Chen looked back at the city shrouded in sinister ghostly qi.
A look of sorrow surfaced in his eyes.
When calamity struck, others could never be relied upon.
He understood this truth; many did.
Yet seeing a friend perish in the ghost city was still difficult to accept, even if he had mentally prepared himself for the worst.
Zhou Yuanli had no clear idea of Bai Meiling's relationship with Luo Chen and the others.
He stepped forward and whispered, "Li Wanchun has agreed to join the Luotian Association. Spirit Herb Pavilion and Baicao Hall also left behind a few local rogue cultivators. Should we recruit them?"
"Do as you see fit," Luo Chen waved his hand dispiritedly.
In his mind, memories of every visit to Baicao Hall surfaced.
That chattering, lively, and adorable female cultivator was simply gone.
Though she had sometimes carried a hint of inexplicable pride like other female cultivators working for great sects, her heart was genuinely kind once you got to know her.
Whenever he went to buy herbs, she would always seek out high-quality stock for him.
Last time, when Qin Liangchen needed to reattach his severed limb, Bai Meiling had done everything she could to pick out the finest herbs.
Because of that, she seemed to have faced punishment.
That was something Feng Xia had quietly told him later.
Luo Chen had always felt guilty about it, intending to find time to treat Bai Meiling to a proper meal to express his gratitude.
Now, however, that chance was gone forever.
"Fellow Daoist Li Wanchun, since you excel in crafting magical artifacts, why not join our Duan family and put your talents to good use?"
A loud, boisterous voice of recruitment drifted into his ears.
Luo Chen snapped his head around!
Chapter 159