Chapter 161: How Is This Possible?

Is this truly a cultivator who just reached Foundation Establishment?

The fat cultivator dared not move, feeling an urge to grab Old Ghost An by his collar and demand, “Does honesty even matter in our business dealings?! Getting such basic information wrong!”

“There you are.”

A voice echoed as the insect-controlling woman arrived. Under her command, a vast swarm of black clouds surged forward, encircling Chen Luo ahead. Boundless like a tidal wave, within moments, the entire area was engulfed in darkness. The multitude of insects hungrily devoured everything, producing a rustling sound.

With a loud ‘crash,’ the wooden hut behind them collapsed entirely.

Elder An swiftly flew over from another direction, having fully mobilized his spiritual energy. He hovered in the air, constantly scanning the surroundings with his divine sense, eager to confirm if the insect swarm had indeed consumed Chen Luo.

“I wondered who it might be, turns out it’s Elder An.”

A figure appeared atop a nearby pavilion, unscathed, holding the head of the emaciated old man in their hand.

‘Incoming brainwaves from deceased, Degradation Rate 7%. Read now?’

“Read.”

Chen Luo silently uttered, expressionless.

A surge of brainwaves flowed into his palm, bringing forth familiar stray thoughts.

‘That woman was truly foolish, refusing to believe until death that I ate her son!’

‘Old fool, if I didn’t consume you, how could I achieve Foundation Establishment?’

As these stray thoughts entered his mind, Chen Luo remained unfazed, having grown accustomed to such revelations.

The freshly severed head had high integrity, delivering multiple segments of obsession containing various moments significant to the emaciated old man’s life. However, at this moment, Chen Luo had no inclination to examine them thoroughly. His gaze shifted towards the remaining three individuals—the heads of three Foundation Establishment cultivators, with Elder An being a tier-2 alchemist, undoubtedly holding immense value within his mind.

After reading their thoughts, Chen Luo casually tossed the emaciated old man’s head into the swarm below. In mere moments, it was devoured by the insects.

“I didn’t expect you to conceal your cultivation and even kill Blackblood Exalt. But your deception ends here.” Elder An looked at Chen Luo, his face somewhat grim.

He hadn’t anticipated Chen Luo to be even more formidable than expected.

Fortunately, being cautious by nature, he had summoned three helpers simultaneously, with additional array masters setting up blockades outside. Even if their enemy concealed some capabilities, it wouldn’t change the outcome significantly.

“Bug Swarm.”

Without any preamble, the insect-controlling woman directed her swarm towards Chen Luo.

The sheer number of insects was overwhelming, leaving hardly any space for evasion. The burly body cultivator, now recovered, also charged forward. His muscles bulged as black malevolent qi coalesced around him, resembling a corpse fiend, exuding an exceptionally menacing aura.

Elder An, positioned directly opposite, swiftly tossed his square seal with one hand. With a downward motion, he infused spiritual energy into the seal. Instantaneously, the seal spun and grew larger, emitting a pale azure glow, transforming into a massive grinding stone that descended upon Chen Luo.

On the left, the charging fat body cultivator; from other directions, swarms of insects enveloped the area.

“Wind Control Technique.”

Chen Luo’s figure flickered, and an Astral Wind Lotus erupted from his palm.

A dense storm surged outward, forcefully blasting a path through the insect swarm. Seizing this opportunity, Chen Luo swiftly flew towards the outskirts. However, the bug cloud recovered too quickly and soon reassembled around him.

As he fled, Chen Luo produced a paper talisman and slapped it forward.

“Flame Incantation!”

Boom!!

A sphere of flames engulfed him, incinerating the swarming insects with crackling sounds as they turned charred black.

“He’s running low on spiritual energy; attack together!” Observing Chen Luo use two divine abilities, the fat body cultivator below accelerated dramatically, transforming into a dark, eerie glow that ascended rapidly. His pitch-black fists, enveloped in malevolent qi, shattered the flames and aimed straight for Chen Luo’s back.

In mid-air, Chen Luo abruptly spun around, his arms also radiating matching malevolent qi, meeting the fat cultivator head-on with brute force.

Iron Body Art!

Seeing this, a hint of delight flashed in the fat cultivator’s eyes.

A sword cultivator daring to engage like this.

Boom!!

The two forces collided fiercely. The fat cultivator, who had initially thought he’d gain an advantage, saw his expression change as his body shot back like a cannonball and crashed into the ground.

“You…! You’ve also cultivated body refinement techniques?!” Emerging from the rubble, the fat cultivator braced himself with one hand on the ground and couldn’t suppress a loud cough of blood. He now dared not underestimate Chen Luo as a newly minted Foundation Stage cultivator.

First, there was sword cultivator’s sword qi, followed by a law cultivator’s divine abilities, and now even body cultivator’s refinement techniques. Most crucially, each type of power was wielded with remarkable proficiency, as if Chen Luo had been practicing them for a lifetime. Witnessing such an illogical display, the fat cultivator began to regret accepting this mission.

However, having already offended Chen Luo, pleading for mercy seemed futile. His best course of action was to eliminate the threat completely, cutting off any future problems.

In mid-air, Chen Luo swiftly consumed a medicinal pill to restore his spiritual energy.

Engaging three Foundation Stage cultivators simultaneously did exert some pressure.

Fortunately, taking out one beforehand prevented even greater complications.

Buzz!!

Elder An’s square seal descended.

The massive magical seal, infused with world-shattering power, bore down relentlessly, intent on eliminating Chen Luo in one strike. This was the typical method favored by law cultivators during combat—clashing with spiritual artifacts.

Hovering mid-air, Chen Luo remained composed. With a swift motion of his hand, the magical sword reappeared.

“Sword Qi Unleashed!”

Drawing upon the knowledge from the Foundation Establishment cultivator’s mind, unearthed at Tianjian Peak, his aura swiftly shifted from that of a body cultivator to a sword cultivator. The blade in his hand shimmered brilliantly.

A surge of sword qi violently collided with the square seal.

Boom!!

Following the intense impact, the seal was forcefully repelled back. The clash caused the sword qi to explode, transforming countless shards of spiritual energy into a storm that once again scattered the converging insect cloud.

“How can he have so much spiritual energy?” The expression of the insect-controlling female cultivator changed dramatically. It seemed as though each divine ability Chen Luo used had no discernible cost, unlike other sword cultivators who would quickly exhaust themselves after just a few strikes.

In mid-flight, Chen Luo capitalized on the momentum and landed atop another rooftop, standing at its edge with his azure robes fluttering in the wind.

The magical sword in his hand now only consisted of the hilt; it was merely a low-tier spirit artifact crafted by himself. To have deflected a second-rank spirit artifact demonstrated the sheer strength of his sword qi.

Elder An stared at Chen Luo with disbelief written all over his face.

Is this still a newly-ascended Foundation Establishment cultivator?

However, Chen Luo didn’t give them a chance to recover. He raised his hand and produced a handful of yellow spirit talismans, which he promptly scattered towards the trio below.

Swish

The dense cluster of spirit talismans descended like a torrential rain, causing the three adversaries’ scalps to tingle with unease.

The sheer number was overwhelmingly excessive.

“Detonate!”

Chen Luo directed the spirit talismans, concentrating their force on the insect-controlling woman.

Instantly, more than thirty talismans exploded, unleashing a barrage aimed directly at her.

The expression of the insect-controlling female cultivator drastically changed, instinctively attempting to flee. However, before she could react, the first thunder talisman detonated. Within moments, over thirty thunder talismans struck her forehead simultaneously.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Following a series of deafening explosions, the insect-controlling woman, who had barely taken a step, was reduced to a charred corpse. The impact created a large crater where she once stood, with her smoking remains lying within it.

With a flash, Chen Luo appeared beside the insect-controlling woman, placing his fingers precisely on her head.

‘Contacting deceased brainwave, Degradation Rate 97%. Read extraction?’

Extract.

Instantaneously, the insect-controlling woman’s brainwaves transformed into a gray energy mass, absorbed by Chen Luo.

“What a waste.”

In the critical moment, he couldn’t hold back, and with so many spirit talismans detonating on her head, she was nearly charred beyond recognition. The impact had shattered her skull, leaving little chance for preserving its integrity, even immediately after death.

The situation wasn’t much better for the fat male cultivator. Already wounded from their earlier confrontation, he faced another barrage of over a dozen Flameburst Talismans. Now, he lay motionless on the ground, uncertain if dead or unconscious.

After retrieving the insect-controlling woman’s head, Chen Luo walked over and pressed his hand against the fat cultivator’s forehead.

No response.

He was merely unconscious.

Chen Luo retrieved an iron sword from his bag of holding, imbued it with spiritual energy, and swiftly slashed at the fat cultivator’s neck. With a wet sound, blood sprayed everywhere. The fat cultivator’s legs twitched briefly before going completely still.

‘Encountered deceased brainwave, Degradation Rate 77%, read now?’

This time, they were truly dead.

Having collected the brainwaves, Chen Luo stood up and turned his gaze towards Elder An, who remained at the far end.

Elder An, panting heavily, was unsure what Chen Luo had been doing, but it presented him with a rare opportunity to recover.

After consuming the medicinal pill and preparing to speak, Chen Luo’s figure unexpectedly vanished once again.

‘Yet another inexplicable force! That clearly was Tianjian Peak’s divine ability of the Dao of the Sword.’ As a member of the Divine Lake Immortal Sect, Elder An naturally recognized Tianjian Peak’s sword divine ability.

His recognition only deepened his confusion.

He couldn’t comprehend how a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Wu Dao Peak could master Tianjian Peak’s sword divine ability. Moreover, Chen Luo wielded it with such proficiency, as if possessed by an elder from Tianjian Peak himself.

Clang!

The sword blade sliced across Elder An’s chest, sparking bursts of flames and scattering sword qi, which sent him flying and crashing into the wall behind him. Surprisingly, despite the powerful sword qi, it failed to penetrate Elder An’s chest. Instead, his tattered clothing revealed a shimmering golden garment underneath.

As expected of an elder from Medicine King Peak - truly affluent. Even possessing such expensive protective attire.

“Hahaha, want to kill me? Let’s see how you break through my defenses,” Elder An boasted while retrieving a handful of spirit talismans from his bag of holding. Although not as numerous as Chen Luo had used earlier, he still produced nearly twenty.

“Think you’re the only one with spirit talismans? I’ve got them too.” A hint of ferocity flashed on Elder An’s face.

A sinister expression crossed Elder An’s face as he channeled his spiritual energy and flung all twenty-plus spirit talismans at once.

“Perish!”

The expenditure of over twenty talismans drained Elder An completely. Unlike Chen Luo, who had countless minds assisting him to conserve spiritual energy and Core Formation insights guiding his combat tactics, he relied solely on himself.

The talismans ignited and exploded instantly.

Facing this barrage, Chen Luo, wielding his longsword, had no chance to react before being engulfed and reduced to ashes. Witnessing this, Elder An erupted into unrestrained laughter, convinced that victory was finally his.

Not only did he triumph, but he also cleared the debts of the three solo cultivators—a significant gain indeed!

But in the very next moment, Chen Luo burst forth from the flames unscathed, his aura now even more terrifying than before.

“How is this possible?! It can’t be! Twenty-three Thunderfire Talismans, equivalent to nearly two divine abilities’ magical power, should have obliterated you, even at Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment. Yet, you’re merely a newly advanced…”

As Elder An screamed wildly, his vision suddenly blurred.

When it cleared, he found Chen Luo sitting nearby, looking perplexed while observing him struggle against Stone Stump. Instantly, realization dawned upon him.

Soul Technique!

“When did…”