Zhang Ming took a few gentle steps forward and grabbed the immobilized Fang Guangjun. At this moment, his eyes were filled with boundless terror. From his throat, he could only force out a series of "You... you..."
With a flicker of his body, Li Yan vanished without a trace.
Soon, in a tomb-cavern at the end of a remote forked path, Zhang Ming tossed Fang Guangjun onto the ground.
"Answer the question I asked just now. You don't have much time, about half a cup of tea. By then, even if a Nascent Soul cultivator comes, you will still die from the poison."
After speaking, Li Yan stood with his hands behind his back and did not press him further.
"You... you are a poison cultivator! Who... who exactly are you?"
Only then did Fang Guangjun begin to recover his wits. The other party hadn't even lifted a finger, yet he had completely lost all of his magic power and abilities.
"I suppose you could call me a poison cultivator!"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ming actually answered. Fang Guangjun had already guessed as much, but hearing the confirmation from the other's mouth sent him into a greater panic. At this moment, he finally understood the meaning behind the phrase, "You are too close to me!" If he had known the other party was a poison cultivator, he would never have gotten close, not even if it meant death. But at that time, who would have cared about a mere fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator?
"Hehehe, it seems you are still not in a hurry. Do you feel your heartbeat growing heavier and heavier, slower and slower?"
After answering, Zhang Ming suddenly let out a soft, cold laugh. His smile sent a shiver down the spine of the prone Fang Guangjun, who was jolted back to his senses.
'I've been poisoned! Half a cup of tea, he said half a cup of tea...'
Before, he had been stunned by the sudden turn of events, unable to believe how he had abruptly lost all his Spirit Power.
"You can't kill me! After I tell you the reason, you can't kill me..." he suddenly said in a rush.
The smile on the Zhang Ming before him gradually turned icy, and his gaze became devoid of emotion.
His years of wandering the world had taught Fang Guangjun that it was better to follow the other party's wishes than to beg for mercy. From Zhang Ming's demeanor, he could tell this was a ruthless character. His mind quickly cleared. This Zhang Ming couldn't have been possessed by a ghostly creature after coming to the Feng family's estate; his movements were too agile. A possessed soul could not adapt to a new body so quickly.
This meant that this person had also hidden his cultivation and infiltrated the Falling Star Valley. In that case, he and the other party had something in common; both definitely had ulterior motives. The most likely outcome now was that he would be killed to be silenced. However, since the other party was also targeting the Falling Star Valley, if he was completely obedient and showed a willingness to be at his beck and call, then with his cultivation, he still had value to be used. As for whether the other party would plant a restriction on him, that was not something Fang Guangjun needed to consider right now. Even if he wanted revenge, he had to survive first.
Soon, Li Yan got the answer he wanted. After cultivators understood the secret to a long life, they actually feared death more than ordinary people.
Fang Guangjun's reason for wanting to kill Li Yan and the others was simple. Someone was currently targeting the Falling Star Valley and had privately issued bounty missions. It was common for rival forces to issue assassination missions against each other. What Li Yan had not expected was that Fang Guangjun, a human cultivator, had accepted a mission issued by foreign cultivators, using his identity as a fellow human to brutally murder other human cultivators.
Fang Guangjun wanted to use their lives to claim the rewards from the Falling Star Valley's enemies, thereby obtaining more cultivation resources. However, this Fang Guangjun was not part of the same group that had recently been ambushing sect disciples outside the Valley. He was a genuine rogue cultivator, one who would do anything to obtain cultivation resources. All he had to do was bring the corpses of the Falling Star Valley disciples to them, and after they verified the identities, they would give Fang Guangjun different amounts and grades of Spirit Stones, medicinal pills, and even cultivation method manuals based on the number and cultivation level of the deceased.
"Why did you destroy Tang Tian's and Wu Yizhen's physical bodies, not truly killing them, but instead capturing their souls?" Li Yan suddenly pressed further.
Hearing the green-robed youth ask this question, Fang Guangjun's heart completely sank. So the other party had indeed seen everything he had done. However, this also sparked a greater hope in his heart. The other person had clearly seen him act but had not intervened to save Tang Tian and the others, instead allowing him to do as he pleased. This showed that not only was this person ruthless and extremely cold-blooded, but he also had no affection for the Falling Star Valley. As long as the price he paid was great enough, there was hope for him to live.
"That is because if you can capture a Falling Star Valley cultivator alive, a living person can be exchanged for two to five times the reward of a dead one. It all depends on the person's status in the Falling Star Valley, or their realm of cultivation. Both Tang Tian and Wu Yizhen are elites among the young disciples of the Falling Star Valley, so naturally, they are worth more alive than dead. It's just that I don't have a Spirit-Storing Pouch; those things are too expensive. I only have low-level soul-containing bottles, so I couldn't take them away alive. That's why I had to destroy their physical bodies and obtain their souls."
"Then why did you kill Tian Denghu instead of collecting his soul? And why did you kill those Feng family members? Were they also part of the mission you accepted?" Li Yan's eyes flashed as he continued to question.
"Tian Deng..."
Just as Fang Guangjun said these words, the muscles on his face twitched, and his breathing grew heavier. He only felt his body growing weaker and weaker, and the great mountain on his heart growing heavier. He looked at Li Yan with a pained expression.
"The... the antidote..."
"Don't worry, you won't die yet. You will just get weaker and weaker. When I say half a cup of tea, I mean half a cup of tea."
Li Yan was completely unmoved. He had only released a tiny wisp of poison mist just now, truly just a wisp, for fear of accidentally killing Fang Guangjun. But the other's resistance was truly poor. Although he said this, Li Yan still waved his hand, sending a bolt of Spirit Power into the area around Fang Guangjun's heart, slightly dispersing some of the poison mist there.
Seeing that the other party still had no intention of producing an antidote despite his cooperation, Fang Guangjun knew this person was even more cold-blooded than he had imagined. As the Spirit Power entered his body, Fang Guangjun was stunned. An incredible thought flashed through his mind.
'He's a Golden Core cultivator? I actually provoked a Golden Core...'
Feeling the vigorous and pure Spirit Power near his heart, which felt very similar in strength to the Spirit Power he had sensed from some Golden Core cultivators, Fang Guangjun was momentarily dazed.
"Don't waste time, if you don't want to die so quickly!"
The icy voice jolted Fang Guangjun awake again. He quickly composed himself.
"Oh, oh... Tian Denghu was killed directly because, one, he was just a newly entered disciple of limited value. His soul was worth about the same as his corpse. But the main reason is that I only had two soul-containing bottles, so of course, I had to use them to collect the souls of the most valuable people. As for... as for those Feng family members, one reason is that they were also in this area, so to cover things up, I had to kill them as well. That's why I only collected the corpses of four of the nine. The rest were made to look like they were killed in a Corpse Bee attack, so as not to arouse the Feng family ancestor's suspicion and allow me to remain in the Falling Star Valley in the future. The second reason is that the Feng family is also a vassal family of the Falling Star Valley, just that they aren't as valuable as Falling Star Valley disciples. However, I only planned to kill this many this time. After all, I can't expose myself..."
Speaking up to this point, Fang Guangjun looked at Li Yan with a hint of helplessness. He had already planned to let him go and not kill anyone else this time, but the other party had just shown up at his door.
"I thought as much. You didn't plan to attack Feng Tao either, even though she is also a Falling Star Valley disciple."
"Dao... oh, Senior is wise. Just by seeing that Feng Tao could carry the Feng family's pitch-black long nail magical treasure, one can tell her status in the family. If I touched her, the Feng family's ancestor would definitely investigate to the very end. How would this junior dare to lose the greater for the lesser? Every word this junior has said is true. I was blinded by greed before, my dog eyes were blind for a moment. I hope Senior will spare this junior. This junior is willing to work like a horse and ox for Senior, to be at your beck and call, and never disobey..."
Fang Guangjun had originally wanted to say "Fellow Daoist," but felt it was inappropriate, now certain that the other party must be a Golden Core cultivator. So he referred to himself as "junior," and it came more and more smoothly. As he spoke, he began to struggle up despite everything and kowtow on the spot. He brushed over the matter of trying to kill Zhang Ming, admitting his fault profusely, just hoping that Zhang Ming would not get angry thinking about the past. It would be best if it could be ignored.
Li Yan watched Fang Guangjun kowtowing furiously, a sharp light glinting in the depths of his eyes.
"This way, some things make sense. When you were dealing with that Foundation Establishment ghostly creature during the day, you didn't use your full strength and deliberately let it escape. I was wondering why you did that at the time. Now it seems you just didn't want to kill the ghostly creature attacking the Feng family in one go, so you could use the opportunity to stay behind and then find a chance to kill the few of us."
Li Yan said coldly. When that ghostly creature escaped, Li Yan had been suspicious. At the time, he had thought that perhaps it was Fang Guangjun's first time dealing with a ghostly creature, and he was having trouble adapting. But he had kept the matter in mind. As for the subsequent developments, even Fang Guangjun himself probably hadn't expected them. Even if he hadn't let that Foundation Establishment creature escape back then, the Feng family would have later asked for his help in the Yin Tomb Mountain anyway. And because he had let the creature escape, Li Yan had already taken notice of him. When he revealed that trace of killing intent, it was captured by Li Yan, who had been secretly keeping an eye on him. If Fang Guangjun knew that this was the reason he had provoked this great god, he would probably have the heart to kill himself.
Fang Guangjun acted as if he didn't hear Li Yan's musings, and just begged bitterly.
Watching Fang Guangjun, whose forehead was already bleeding, Li Yan suddenly broke into a smile.
"You are so sensible, and your schemes and cultivation are not bad. It would truly be a pity to kill you!"
...
In an ancient tomb, the Feng family's ancestor looked at the underground cavern before him, which was emitting gusts of bone-chilling grey qi, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
The tomb he had come to was the lair of the Foundation Establishment ghostly creature with a dried skin draped over its skeleton frame.
Feeling the bone-chilling, knife-like grey qi rushing towards him, the Feng family's ancestor did not dodge or evade. Instead, he stood his ground and took a deep, enjoyable breath.
"I could condense twelve or thirteen Ghostly Baleful Pearls here without harming its foundation!"
He was very pleased with this tomb. At the same time, he had also obtained a deep yellow leg bone here. That bone could be used as a raw material for refining magical artifacts or treasures, and he imagined its grade would not be too low.
"This time, although the family has suffered no small losses, it can be considered a blessing in disguise. The gains are immense. With the Dragon-Seeking Grass in Zaiyu's hand, as long as that Fang Guangjun doesn't get lucky, with so many forked passages in the tomb, Zaiyu should be the first to find the Foundation Establishment creature's tomb. Hmm, I haven't received his warning yet, so it seems everything is going smoothly."
The two locations were less than two hundred li apart, and each family head carried a Voice Transmission Talisman. If any accident occurred, they would immediately send a message. The Feng family's ancestor was not too worried. Moreover, with his cultivation, his Divine Sense could also roughly sense the situation over there. It was just that he was isolated by the restrictions in the tomb and couldn't sense things in detail.
Up to now, the Feng family's ancestor was quite satisfied with the results!