"Senior Sister Shen, with your cunning mind and having obtained Senior Brother Yang’s jade token, why insist on dragging me into this?"
Qin Sang's face showed a contemplative expression, though he was actually stalling for time. Without pause, he absorbed the spiritual power from his spirit stones. Since Shen Jing wasn’t willing to leave, she wouldn’t be leaving!
He would never collaborate with Shen Jing again.
How can one expect to guard against a thief every day without fail?
He had to admit that, facing such a ruthless and calculating woman with exceptional acting skills, Qin Sang couldn’t help but feel a chill deep in his heart.
"To be honest, Junior Brother Qin, my original set of needle-shaped artifacts was destroyed by Yang Yuanzang's Chi Dragon Sword. The Golden Ring, Bewitching Mirror, Empty Wind, and even the Sand Mirage Spell I practiced can protect my life, but they lack sufficient power when it comes to killing enemies. I had no choice but to rely on you and Senior Brother Yang."
As Shen Jing spoke, her eyes flickered toward the ground between the two of them. The Chi Dragon Sword lay quietly there, with the ebony sword hovering above it.
Seeing Qin Sang ignore her, Shen Jing opened Yang Yuanzang’s Mustard Seed Pouch and took out four jade tokens, displaying them to Qin Sang. "Junior Brother Qin, here are four jade tokens. I’ll give you two, and I’ll keep two for myself. With the two I already have, we just need to seize one more, and then we can jointly control the jade tokens. There’s also that bottle of century-old Stone Milk. Once we join the Yuanzhao Sect, I’ll split half with you. How about that?"
Before Qin Sang could respond, Shen Jing decisively tossed two jade tokens toward him, waiting patiently for his decision.
Qin Sang hesitated for a long time. Since they were too far apart, he couldn’t examine them with his spiritual consciousness, so he sent a wave of spiritual power to lift the jade tokens. There was nothing unusual.
The jade tokens flew toward Qin Sang, and he raised his hand as if to catch them, but suddenly stopped midway, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
He shouted, "Go!"
Without warning, the ebony sword suspended in mid-air shot out like lightning.
Unexpectedly, Shen Jing showed no signs of panic. Facing the attack, she neither dodged nor evaded, laughing softly. "I knew you wouldn’t agree!"
Before her words had even faded, the Golden Ring above her head shot up, releasing a dazzling golden light that accurately intercepted the incoming ebony sword.
With a loud clang, the Golden Ring encased the ebony sword. Brilliant golden light erupted, pressing inward and trapping the sword. For the moment, the ebony sword couldn’t break free.
Bang, bang, bang...
As the ebony sword continued its relentless assault, cracks began to appear on the Golden Ring. Shen Jing was willing to sacrifice this defensive artifact just to trap the sword for an instant!
It might have seemed like a waste to use all twelve Fire Feather Talismans at once, but Qin Sang wasn’t sure if this deceitful woman had any other protective artifacts.
"There’s still one more thing..."
Qin Sang muttered to himself. Focusing inward, he entered his sea of consciousness and saw Yang Yuanzang attacking his primordial spirit with futile strikes of spiritual consciousness. The golden glow of the Jade Buddha remained unmoved.
Qin Sang immediately began to counterattack. As his power grew and Yang Yuanzang's diminished, his primordial spirit weakened rapidly. Terrified, Yang Yuanzang no longer dared to linger and quickly fled from Qin Sang’s sea of consciousness.
"Junior Brother Qin, spare me! I can help you—ah...!"
Yang Yuanzang’s plea for mercy echoed in Qin Sang’s mind, but he ignored it. Without hesitation, he directed the ebony sword outside and mercilessly shattered Yang Yuanzang’s primordial spirit.
Thud!
Just as Qin Sang was about to stand up from the ground, a wave of excruciating pain surged through his body, causing him to collapse, screaming in agony.
Earlier, the intense focus during the fight had helped him endure the pain.
But now that he relaxed, it felt like his entire body had turned into a tattered cloth, riddled with pain. Especially his Qihai and meridians, which felt as though they had been mercilessly stirred with a knife.
After absorbing four spirit stones in succession, it was a miracle that his meridians hadn’t burst from the excess spiritual power.
Qin Sang could only smile bitterly. He pulled out several jade bottles from the Mustard Seed Pouch. Most of them had been taken from the pouch of the straw hat swordsman, and Qin Sang didn’t recognize most of them. However, one bottle contained Water Dew Pills, which he was familiar with.
There were eight Water Dew Pills in the bottle. Qin Sang took out two and swallowed them. A cool medicinal energy flowed through his body, relieving much of the pain.
Struggling to his feet, Qin Sang stumbled over to search through the remains of Yang Yuanzang and Shen Jing. After looting their belongings, he burned the corpses. Not daring to retrieve the ebony sword, he endured the pain and used the remaining spiritual power within him to activate his evading method, fleeing from this perilous place as quickly as possible.
He crossed several mountain ranges in succession before finally hiding in a stone cave.
Qin Sang didn’t even have the energy to assess his spoils. He set up the Bewitching Mirror at the cave’s entrance and hurriedly activated the Netherworld Scripture to begin meditating.
It was unclear how much time had passed when Qin Sang finally woke up. Although his meridians and Qihai still throbbed with a dull ache, time didn’t permit him to continue meditating indefinitely.