Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 99: Establishing Prestige

"Bang"

The crystal gourd struck the iron curtain again, and this defensive artifact immediately became even more concave, turning the dark iron curtain almost transparent.

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; use a thunder-summoning talisman, by imperial decree."

In order to end the battle quickly, Tong Bingfeng decisively summoned two first-grade high-quality lightning-summoning talismans. Two golden bolts of lightning flashed and disappeared, directly striking the body of the evil cultivator leader.

The destructive power of lightning was unimaginable. The evil cultivator was instantly struck as if by a heavy blow, frozen in place and unable to move, with puffs of white smoke rising from above his head.

The water-controlling fork bypassed from the side and seized the opportunity to pierce through his vital heart. The evil leader's eyes widened and blood flowed from his mouth and nose.

Only in the final moments of his life did the corners of his mouth twitch slightly, revealing a somewhat eerie smile on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Tong, watch out for the flying halberd!"

At this moment, Liu Zong, who was in charge of controlling the formation in the cave, heard a voice filled with anxiety and warning, and at the same time felt a cool breeze.

At this critical moment, Tong Bingfeng could only slightly shift the angle of his body before a sharp pain shot through him. A chunk of flesh was suddenly removed from his left shoulder, exposing the white bone.

The culprit was the main body of the flying halberd, which was originally suppressed by the waves of the great formation. This is likely the true source of the strange smile on the face of the evil cultivator leader before his death.

"Click"

The flying halberd landed again. This high-quality set of magical artifacts seemed to have completed its final mission, and it shattered without warning.

This set of genuine first-grade high-quality magic artifacts has completely lost its value. This evil cultivator leader is so resolute that he is unwilling to leave even the most valuable spoils of war behind.

"The external injuries are painful, but not a cause for concern. Only one evil cultivator remains; let's finish this quickly."

After consuming a first-grade high-quality elixir specifically for treating external injuries, Tong Bingfeng immediately turned and left. The seemingly terrifying external injuries had a limited impact on a cultivator's combat power.

Moreover, although the battle with the leader of the evil cultivators at the eighth level of Qi Refining was quite difficult, his aura reached its peak after he killed him.

Every battle begins with a burst of energy, then declines, and finally exhausts itself. Momentum and strength complement each other, and when combined, they will always be greater than the sum of their parts.

In the final battle, with the assistance of the great formation, Tong Bingfeng used all his skills and, after a quarter of an hour of fierce fighting, removed the head from his neck.

Despite the assistance of the great formation, the cultivator on the attacking side still suffered two additional wounds, one deep and one shallow, on top of the original ones.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, cut off the evil cultivator's head and place it in a triangle shape, with one head on top and two on the bottom. After the spoils are counted, bury the body. I need to go into seclusion first to treat my wounds."

The battle ended successfully, and Tong Bingfeng undoubtedly made great contributions. Therefore, he was naturally very generous in the allocation of tasks.

"Fellow Daoist Tong, please feel free to go into seclusion. I will naturally handle all other matters."

Liu Zong was quite sensible, his face full of respect. After this battle, he clearly realized the overall gap in strength between the two of them.

The intention behind placing the head in front of the spirit ice mine was crystal clear: to serve as a sufficient deterrent to the other evil cultivators who were still secretly watching.

A combination of one Qi Refining Level 8, one Qi Refining Level 7, one Qi Refining Mid-stage, and a first-tier high-grade spirit beast, the Spotted Snake, is already quite luxurious in the depths of the Ice Domain.

If a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining were to make a move, the other evil cultivators, though greedy, would naturally not throw their lives away knowing their own inadequacy.

They are merely evil cultivators driven by greed to seize spiritual objects, not foolish cultivators who are unaware of the disparity between themselves and their enemies and are solely focused on their own deaths. Assessing the situation is their most basic quality.

As for the ownership of the spoils of this battle, there is absolutely no doubt that, regardless of their value, they all belong to Tong Bingfeng.

Although Liu Zong also used the power of the formation to provide some assistance in the battle, he did not personally participate in it.

Inside the stone chamber set up with a warning array, Tong Bingfeng sat cross-legged on a futon, circulating the "Water Spirit Technique" in its Great Circulation, drawing the rich spiritual energy into his meridians, and after simple purification, replenishing it into his dantian.

Although the battle was ultimately won with the aid of the grand formation, the mana in his dantian was still considerable after participating in three battles in a row.

For any cultivator, the most unacceptable thing must be the emptiness that comes from the dantian due to excessive consumption.

Of course, the external injuries on the body were also treated immediately with a first-grade high-quality spiritual pill specifically designed for support. With the circulation of the Great Heavenly Cycle and the gentle assistance of pure magical power, the pain in the three wounds was effectively relieved, the blocked blood flowed again, and the missing flesh and blood began to recover in a positive cycle.

With a cultivation level of the seventh stage of Qi Refining, one has a considerable appetite for spiritual energy. The spiritual energy inside the stone chamber, which was originally quite abundant, became visibly thinner with the help of the Great Circulation.

Fortunately, this place was located within the Spirit Ice Mine, where spiritual energy was abundant and plentiful. The spiritual energy in the mine was replenished in a timely and effective manner, so Tong Bingfeng was not affected by any negative impact.

"The flow of spiritual energy can be clearly sensed. The difference between the late stage and the middle stage of Qi Refining is indeed significant. The fluctuations of spiritual energy are so obvious in a spiritual ice mine with abundant spiritual energy supply and excellent quality."

After Liu Zongfang finished sorting through his spoils, he felt the spiritual energy fluctuations around him and couldn't help but sigh. At the same time, his eyes shone with a strong sense of envy and expectation.

On a dilapidated wooden table in front of him, three storage bags, three magical artifacts (two high-grade first-tier items and one low-grade first-tier item) and a complete spotted snake corpse were neatly arranged.

Originally, when gazing at these spoils of war that were so close at hand, he was somewhat conflicted, wanting to get a share of them, but now he completely extinguished that thought.

Outside the spirit ice mine, three enormous heads lay on the ice field. Although their faces were ferocious and covered in blood, their identities could still be clearly identified.

About a hundred feet away from the spirit ice mine, different figures would occasionally appear to observe the situation, and each of them would leave in astonishment.

This was supposed to be a sure-fire deal for the evil cultivator, but it resulted in the loss of three precious lives, leaving not even complete corpses, but only three heads.

These cultivators who followed were like vultures in the cultivation world that specialize in devouring carrion. They constantly appeared in the places where evil cultivators had committed evil deeds, picking up any spiritual items that might have been missed. Occasionally, they would also buy some low-value spiritual items from the evil cultivators at low prices.

Wherever these cultivator vultures pass by, they leave nothing but desolation, digging three feet into the ground to search for anything of value.