The members of the Tianlin Squad turned pale.
"Damn it, Xu Haoran pushes people too far..."
Xia Bao's face was flushed with anger.
The Tianlin Squad and the Five Peaks Squad were old rivals.
Naturally, they were "old acquaintances" with Xu Haoran as well.
Every encounter between them ended on an unpleasant note.
Liu Yuan looked equally grim, but as captain of the Tianlin Squad, he had to take responsibility for everyone under him.
"Xia Bao, don't be rash," Liu Yuan said in a heavy voice, halting Xia Bao before he could do anything foolish.
"Since the Five Peaks Squad is here in Maple Leaf Valley, we'll leave."
"Maple Leaf Valley isn't the only place with Cold Ice Grass. We'll head to Cold Mountain Valley—there's Cold Ice Grass there as well."
Liu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the urge burning inside him.
"Cold Mountain Valley is too far, though. It lies much deeper into the Ancient Region than Maple Leaf Valley, where Immortal Masters and Divine Treasury experts often pass through. If we run into one of them, we'll be in serious trouble."
"Yeah, Cold Mountain Valley is far too dangerous. One wrong move and we could be wiped out entirely."
The others were filled with worry.
Cold Mountain Valley was visibly much more perilous.
Liu Yuan hesitated as well.
He knew full well how dangerous it was.
However, Cold Ice Grass grew only in those two places. Even if it could be found elsewhere, the quantities were negligible—hardly worth a dedicated search.
"Then we head back!" Liu Yuan finally made up his mind.
With the Five Peaks Squad here in Maple Leaf Valley, risking a clash over a few stalks of Cold Ice Grass simply wasn't worth it.
Naturally, the real reason was that the Tianlin Squad couldn't beat the Five Peaks Squad.
Not long ago, the Tianlin Squad had suffered a disastrous setback at their hands.
Because of that, running into them again left Liu Yuan with no choice but to swallow his pride. He would rather give up on the Cold Ice Grass and return to the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect than fight the Five Peaks Squad.
"Head back already?"
"I really can't swallow this!"
"Even if we can't, what else can we do? Last time, the Five Peaks Squad nearly wiped us out."
The members of the Tianlin Squad were clearly bitter.
Yet bitterness changed nothing. Against the Five Peaks Squad, retreating to the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect was their only option.
Just then, Lu Changsheng asked, "Is the Five Peaks Squad really that strong?"
Liu Yuan looked at Lu Changsheng, a strange flicker in his eyes before he nodded. "They really are strong. In our last direct clash with them, we suffered heavy casualties and were nearly wiped out."
"Every single member of their squad commands two domains. But the strongest of them all is Xu Haoran. He's their captain and the core of their team."
"Xu Haoran commands two domains and three martial conceptions, and he has successfully formed five layers of Divine Gang: one layer of top-tier Divine Gang, one layer of superior Divine Gang, and three layers of ordinary Divine Gang, granting him an eightyfold boost to his physical body!"
"On top of that, he has comprehended both of his domains to an extraordinarily deep level. In battle, he can completely overwhelm my own domains."
"Combined with the formidable strength of his teammates, our Tianlin Squad simply doesn't measure up to them."
A glint of surprise flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes.
An eightyfold physical boost!
In all his time cultivating, this was the first time he had heard of another Divine Gang Realm martial artist capable of boosting their physical body eightyfold.
That was nearly on par with his four layers of Divine Gang.
No wonder the Tianlin Squad was helpless against them. With Xu Haoran leading them, the Five Peaks Squad would always hold absolute dominance over the Tianlin Squad, forcing them to take the long way around whenever their paths crossed.
"Let me give it a try."
Lu Changsheng's sudden remark took everyone in the Tianlin Squad by surprise.
Liu Yuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Lu Changsheng, you just arrived in the Ancient Region. You don't know how strong Xu Haoran is..."
Lu Changsheng didn't answer.
He simply looked at Liu Yuan with a faint, knowing smile.
After a long silence, Liu Yuan spoke softly. "You might die..."
"Die?"
"In the Divine Gang Realm, no one can kill me!"
A sharp gleam flared in Lu Changsheng's eyes.
The words were arrogant!
Utterly brazen!
Yet coming from Lu Changsheng, they carried an undeniable conviction. He exuded an aura of absolute, unshakable confidence.
"You can handle the rest of the Five Peaks Squad, right?"
"I'll be right back. Let me go kill Xu Haoran first!"
Lu Changsheng stepped forward, crossing dozens of zhang in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Xu Haoran.
Xu Haoran was still standing some distance away from the rest of his squad. Seeing Lu Changsheng suddenly appear before him, he gave a slight start.
Lu Changsheng was an unfamiliar face.
Xu Haoran was well aware of every top Divine Gang Realm powerhouse within the entire Ancient Region Heavenly Sect. A completely unfamiliar face essentially told him all he needed to know about the newcomer's status.
"A nameless nobody dares act so rampant before me?"
Xu Haoran's eyes turned cold.
Even so, he remained cautious. In an instant, five layers of Divine Gang wrapped around his body.
With five layers of Divine Gang shielding him, Xu Haoran felt completely safe.
In all his time in the Ancient Region, not a single Divine Gang Realm martial artist had ever managed to break through his Divine Gang. Perhaps only a concerted siege might slowly wear it down. Furthermore, beyond his five layers of Divine Gang, he possessed two exceptionally powerful domains.
"Great Sun Domain!"
The next instant, a blazing sun rose high into the sky. Everyone felt as if an awe-inspiring sun had appeared, radiating boundless light and scorching heat.
As the Great Sun Domain swept forward, Lu Changsheng felt his whole body stiffen.
He was actually being suppressed.
Yes, suppressed.
This Great Sun Domain was indeed horrifying. By Lu Changsheng's estimate, it was likely seventy to eighty percent toward completion. A domain of such caliber was worth multiple ordinary domains combined. Even Liu Yuan fell far short of Xu Haoran's Great Sun Domain.
Seeing Lu Changsheng frozen in place, clearly suppressed by his Great Sun Domain, Xu Haoran was not surprised in the least.
The number of Divine Gang Realm martial artists who could contend with his Great Sun Domain could be counted on one hand. Even Liu Yuan, captain of the Tianlin Squad, couldn't withstand it; despite commanding two domains, Liu Yuan was utterly crushed by him.
"A mere Great Sun Domain... A firefly dares compete with the bright moon?"
Lu Changsheng had come to a halt.
At the same time, the surrounding world suddenly darkened.
It was as though they had been cast into the vast expanse of the cosmos.
Before anyone realized it, Xu Haoran's Great Sun Domain was swallowed up by the immense starry sky. The blazing sun in the sky suddenly looked unimaginably tiny, resembling nothing more than one lone star among a sea of countless celestial bodies.
Simultaneously, the Starry Sky Domain descended upon Xu Haoran.
In an instant, an overwhelming sense of impending doom washed over Xu Haoran.
A crushing pressure bore down on his entire body, and his spirit in particular felt as though it were being pinned under a mountain.
"This kind of domain..."
Xu Haoran's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
At the same time, he attempted to unleash his second domain. While not quite as formidable as his Great Sun Domain, it was still remarkably potent. Yet under this crushing suppression, he couldn't even release it.
"Just what kind of domain is this?"
A trace of terror surfaced in Xu Haoran's eyes.
This defied all reason. What kind of domain could prevent him from even manifesting his own? His Great Sun Domain had been crushed in an instant, and his second domain couldn't even emerge.
Xu Haoran was completely pinned down.
*Hum.*
The next moment, Xu Haoran moved.
He tapped into his mind power!
While mind power was not spirit itself, having its support greatly alleviated the pressure weighing on one's spirit. Under normal circumstances, someone pinned beneath an enemy's domain could rely on mind power to break free from the suppression. However, only martial artists who had reached a mind index of seventy or higher and sensed mind power could mobilize it.
Xu Haoran's mind power was far above seventy—it was at ninety-six, exceedingly close to an index of one hundred!
With the aid of his mind power, Xu Haoran swiftly drew his sword.
*Whoosh.*
Xu Haoran thrust his sword forward like a streak of lightning, reaching Lu Changsheng almost instantaneously.
Moreover, this strike contained the terrifying force of an eightyfold physical boost. Under such power, Xu Haoran was confident that no Divine Gang Realm martial artist could ever block his blow!
"What good is having a stronger domain?"
"As long as I shatter your Divine Gang and cut you down, your domain will vanish on its own."
Xu Haoran's gaze turned icy.
*Clang!*
Yet in the next breath, a blood-red blade light soared into the sky.
Lu Changsheng drew his blade.
This strike carried a ninetyfold physical boost, further amplified by his domain. It directly surpassed a hundred thousand tripods of force, far outstripping Xu Haoran's eightyfold boost.
*Rumble!*
Sword light collided with blade light in midair, sending ripples tearing through the void. Yet anyone watching could see with absolute clarity that the blood-red blade light sheared through Xu Haoran's sword strike like splitting bamboo, bearing straight down upon Xu Haoran himself.
"What? Impossible!"
"It broke through my sword light? That was an eightyfold physical boost!"
"A blade light of this caliber... a hundredfold boost, a hundred thousand tripods of force?"
Xu Haoran's face drained of color.
A hundredfold boost!
A hundred thousand tripods of force!
For such power to appear on a Divine Gang Realm martial artist was simply beyond belief. On top of that, the man possessed a terrifying domain capable of crushing both of his own domains, which left only one explanation:
A perfected domain!
Only a perfected domain could suppress both of his powerful domains. But weren't perfected domains something only Divine Treasury Realm martial artists could nurture to completion within their brain domain?
What was happening here?
How could a Divine Gang Realm martial artist have the energy to cultivate a domain to perfection? If someone had that kind of time and energy, they would have pushed their mind power to an index of one hundred long ago. Doing this was entirely counterproductive.
Of course, Xu Haoran would never comprehend the mindset of someone blessed with extraordinary comprehension like Lu Changsheng. Bringing the Starry Sky Domain to perfection hadn't cost Lu Changsheng much effort at all, yet the results were astonishing.
Before Lu Changsheng, it was virtually impossible for any other Divine Gang Realm martial artist to deploy their domain. His Starry Sky Domain was more than enough to suppress anyone at this level.
*Chzz!*
Lu Changsheng's blade light crashed against Xu Haoran.
Instantly, the five layers of Divine Gang around Xu Haoran tore open like sheets of paper.
Xu Haoran's expression warped with horror.
He knew his Divine Gang couldn't withstand this strike. If he stayed any longer, he would die!
The looming threat of death cleared Xu Haoran's head in an instant, and he immediately moved to activate the treasure on his person.
He possessed a Shift Talisman traded from an Immortal Master. It couldn't transport him very far—only several dozen li—but that was more than enough to escape a fatal crisis. Using it was as simple as crushing the talisman, triggering the shift immediately.
However, Liu Yuan had already warned Lu Changsheng that Xu Haoran likely held Immortal Dao treasures that could allow for an instant escape.
The very moment the blade light struck Xu Haoran, Lu Changsheng unleashed his Mind Sword.
"Slash!"
He drove the Mind Sword to its absolute limit, firing off dozens of strikes in a single burst, emptying his spirit in an instant. He knew a single Mind Sword lacked sufficient power, so he made up for it with sheer numbers.
Dozens of Mind Swords struck into Xu Haoran's spirit simultaneously.
*Rumble!*
An explosion detonated inside Xu Haoran's mind. The fearsome Mind Swords carried the spirit-jarring effect of the Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method, endlessly rattling and tearing at his spirit.
"Ahhh..."
Xu Haoran let out a wretched scream as his mind went completely blank, stunning him senseless. A single Mind Sword would not have truly threatened him, but an overwhelming barrage of dozens of them was something no one could withstand.
As a result, Xu Haoran froze stiff, turned into a helpless target. The hand that had been about to crush the Shift Talisman was locked in place, unable to move.
Meanwhile, Lu Changsheng's blade light sliced effortlessly through his Divine Gang.
First layer, second layer, third layer, fourth layer, fifth layer...
All five layers of Divine Gang tore open like paper before Lu Changsheng's blade light, offering no resistance at all.
*Squeltch.*
The blade cut into his flesh.
Xu Haoran shuddered, regaining his senses. Yet the moment he came to, the blade light had already sliced his body in two from top to bottom.
*Thud.*
The two halves of Xu Haoran's corpse crashed to the ground.
Silence!
In that moment, the entire Maple Leaf Valley fell deathly still, plunging into a chilling silence.
"D-dead?"
"Xu Haoran is really dead?"
"Lu Changsheng cut him in two with a single blade strike... His corpse is right there on the ground. There's no mistake."
"Didn't Xu Haoran have Immortal Dao treasures? How did he fail to escape and end up getting cut down in one strike?"
"Hahaha! With Xu Haoran dead, the Five Peaks Squad is finished! Captain, let's strike now and wipe out the other four! We'll erase the Five Peaks Squad completely!"
With Xu Haoran's death, the Tianlin Squad's morale surged, and every member brimmed with confidence. They had already surrounded the rest of the Five Peaks Squad in a fierce battle. Without Xu Haoran, the remaining members were formidable, but they were still no match for the Tianlin Squad.
Now that Xu Haoran had fallen, the members of the Five Peaks Squad lost all will to fight and scrambled to flee, but the Tianlin Squad clung to them relentlessly, cutting off any chance of escape.
Lu Changsheng glanced at the Tianlin Squad's battlefield.
"Too slow..."
He had already finished off Xu Haoran, yet the entire Tianlin Squad still hadn't brought down the other four.
In truth, this was standard for ordinary Divine Gang Realm martial artists. Domains clashed against one another while combatants slowly ground down their opponents' Divine Gang. Unless the gap in strength was overwhelming, killing an opponent in short order was exceedingly difficult.
Lu Changsheng took a step forward, instantly arriving before the Tianlin Squad.
*Hum.*
The sky darkened once more, transforming into a canopy of stars. This starry sky was immensely vast and majestic, making anyone beneath it feel utterly insignificant.
The four members of the Five Peaks Squad, however, felt nothing but sheer terror.
Their domains were completely suppressed, unable to manifest.
"What's happening? Why can't I deploy my domain?"
"What a terrifying domain! It's far stronger than the boss's—no wonder he killed him!"
"Where did this monster come from? The Ancient Region Heavenly Sect has never had someone like this!"
"Run! We have to run..."
The four members panicked.
Yet panic was useless. Beneath the crushing weight of the Starry Sky Domain, four blood-red blade lights flashed.
*Clang!*
As the blade lights flashed, a force of a hundred thousand tripods erupted. Slashed by the blood-red light, the Divine Gang protecting the four members shattered instantly.
*Splurt!*
The blade light cleanly severed their heads or cleaved their bodies in two.
Just like that, the four members of the Five Peaks Squad died, unable to mount even the slightest resistance.
Staring at the corpses on the ground, Chen Gang, Xia Bao, Liu Yuan, and the others stood in a daze.
Was this the very Five Peaks Squad that had held absolute dominance over them? The squad they had gone out of their way to avoid at all costs?
And this was it?
Before Lu Changsheng, the Five Peaks Squad had seemed utterly fragile!
Only when their gazes fell upon Xu Haoran's corpse did reality sink in. This was indeed the Five Peaks Squad, the formidable team that had previously kept them thoroughly suppressed.
Yet now, the Five Peaks Squad was dead.
Wiped out entirely!
The truly terrifying one was Lu Changsheng! He had practically destroyed the Five Peaks Squad single-handedly, while they had done nothing more than keep them occupied.
"Xu Haoran was very strong," Lu Changsheng said in a grave tone. "He nearly forced me to go all out."
Very few Divine Gang Realm martial artists could push him to go all out now. Xu Haoran was easily the strongest Divine Gang Realm martial artist he had ever encountered.
"Yes, Xu Haoran was strong. He had almost never lost a fight, and the first time he lost to you, it cost him his life..."
Liu Yuan's expression was conflicted.
Even though Xu Haoran had been his old rival, he knew better than anyone how powerful the man was. Had he lived, advancing to the Divine Treasury Realm would have been an absolute certainty. Unfortunately, he was dead—and once dead, everything turned to nothing.
"Search the bodies. Usual rules: whatever we find belongs to the squad."
Liu Yuan waved his hand, and the members of the Tianlin Squad quickly stepped forward to search the corpses. Judging by their fluid motions, this was clearly not their first time, their methods practiced and efficient.
Watching them, Lu Changsheng felt an itch in his hands.
Looting corpses was his old trade!
Unfortunately, ever since becoming a seed disciple of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect, he rarely looted bodies anymore. No matter how great the spoils, they could never compare to the treasures provided by the sect. But this was the Ancient Region, where valuable treasures abounded. Looting corpses was once again worthwhile.
Before long, the five bodies were stripped bare, and the squad began tallying their haul.
"Huh?"
"Is this... a Shift Talisman?"
"Xu Haoran actually had something this good? Why didn't he use it to escape earlier?"
"How could he get killed while carrying a Shift Talisman?"
Liu Yuan retrieved a treasure from Xu Haoran's body—a Shift Talisman! Crafted by an Immortal Master, it was extraordinarily expensive and could save a life at a critical juncture. If valued in terms of contribution points, it was easily worth fifty thousand!
Of course, Shift Talismans could not be sold, nor could contribution points be traded between disciples, but that only emphasized how immensely valuable it was.
Yet Xu Haoran had died while holding one, which was bizarre.
Liu Yuan did not believe for a second that Xu Haoran had held back out of arrogance. In a life-or-death crisis, Xu Haoran wouldn't have hesitated for an instant to use it.
There was only one explanation:
Xu Haoran had been killed before he even had the chance to use it!
Liu Yuan looked at Lu Changsheng with even greater astonishment. It seemed Lu Changsheng possessed far more methods than what he had displayed on the surface, including hidden techniques of his own. Still, that was Lu Changsheng's personal secret, and Liu Yuan had no intention of prying.
"Time to distribute the spoils."
Liu Yuan glanced at the group, his tone solemn. "According to the usual rules, whoever contributes the most earns the largest share."
"In this battle, I'm certain no one's contribution can compare to Lu Changsheng's."
"In fact, eighty percent of the credit belongs to Lu Changsheng. The rest of us only tied them down and kept them occupied, so the five of us will split the remaining twenty percent."
"Does anyone object?"
Everyone shook their heads; no one disagreed. Under the circumstances, they would have been content even if Lu Changsheng took all the credit.
"Lu Changsheng, you choose first. We've marked each item with its approximate value in contribution points to keep things simple."
Lu Changsheng nodded.
He scanned the pile of spoils before ultimately picking the Shift Talisman and a Dao Comprehension Pill. The Dao Comprehension Pill hadn't belonged to Xu Haoran, but to one of his squad members. The man hadn't used it, which now worked out to Lu Changsheng's benefit.
Even with both items, Lu Changsheng's share fell slightly short of eighty percent, coming out to around seventy-eight percent.
"That's enough. I won't take anything else."
Lu Changsheng shook his head; none of the remaining items interested him.
"Alright, the rest of us will split what's left."
Liu Yuan and the other four proceeded to divide the spoils. Even with only twenty percent, they were delighted—twenty percent of such a haul was still a considerable amount. More importantly, completely annihilating the Five Peaks Squad counted as true revenge. Last time, the Five Peaks Squad had battered them severely, but after today, the Five Peaks Squad would no longer exist in the Ancient Region, wiped out for good!
"Alright, let's not forget our purpose in coming to Maple Leaf Valley."
"Let's search for the Cold Ice Grass."
"The Five Peaks Squad only gathered ten stalks—that's nowhere near enough. Keep searching!"
With that, the group split up to search for Cold Ice Grass.
For Lu Changsheng, however, such tedious searching was completely unnecessary.
He unfurled his Perception Domain, instantly blanketing the entirety of Maple Leaf Valley. Much like an Immortal Master's divine sense, nothing in the valley escaped his awareness.
*Found them. A total of one hundred and thirty-one stalks of Cold Ice Grass.*
*Adding the ten stalks taken from the Five Peaks Squad, that's one hundred and forty-one stalks—equivalent to one hundred and forty thousand contribution points!*
This was an enormous harvest!
Lu Changsheng set off at once to harvest the Cold Ice Grass. While the others had to search slowly, he only needed to walk over and pick them. Every location harboring Cold Ice Grass was laid bare before his Perception Domain.
Half a shichen later, everyone reconvened.
Xia Bao furrowed his brows. "Why is there so little Cold Ice Grass in Maple Leaf Valley this year? In past years, there were at least a hundred stalks, but I only managed to harvest eighteen."
"Yeah, I found even less—only sixteen stalks."
"I had it worse. Only eleven stalks for me."
Excluding Lu Changsheng, the five members of the Tianlin Squad had gathered a combined total of only seventy-one stalks.
"By the way, Lu Changsheng, how many stalks did you find?" Liu Yuan asked.
"No need to be embarrassed, just bring them out. It's your first time in Maple Leaf Valley and you aren't familiar with the terrain, so finding fewer stalks is completely normal. Besides, it seems Maple Leaf Valley didn't yield much this year anyway."
Liu Yuan offered reassuring words, assuming Lu Changsheng had found very little and was embarrassed to show his haul.
Lu Changsheng replied calmly, "I only came across these. Around sixty stalks, give or take."
"How many? Sixty stalks?"
All five of them stared with wide eyes, wondering if their ears were playing tricks on them.
Without wasting words, Lu Changsheng tossed the bundle in his hand onto the ground.
*Thwack.*
The bundle fell open, revealing a thick pile of Cold Ice Grass.
The expressions on the five faces froze instantly. Exchanging stunned glances, they stood in utter, speechless silence.
Chapter 153