Wu Tie had no idea about Jia Zhengfeng's cultivation realm.
He had no clue that with his foundation building cultivation, he had killed Jia Zhengfeng. If this news got out, it would surely shock many people.
Even though Jia Zhengfeng seemed to be seeking death, his achievements were truly astonishing.
He had no idea what killing Jia Zhengfeng represented or the magnitude of the shock and impact it would bring. He waved his hands, creating afterimages, swiftly patting Jia Zhengfeng from head to toe.
This was something that Lao Tie had emphasized multiple times in the combat experience he imparted.
"After defeating a powerful enemy, one must collect their spoils!"
"Never be wasteful, thoroughly clean up the battlefield!"
Three white jade rings encircled Jia Zhengfeng's head, with his long hair held in place by them. The rings had a simple and grand shape, heavy and dignified. When held in the hand, they felt smooth and round, as if coated in oil.
Good stuff, let's take them.
Jia Zhengfeng's belt had a dragon's head and mouth, which held the clashing dragon heads together. By grabbing one of the dragon heads and giving it a shake, a slender sword with a bright green light and agile water-like motion emerged from the belt. A small, agile and exceptionally lively golden carp moved back and forth on the sword, almost like a living creature.
This is also good stuff, let's take it.
Four golden rings with embedded gemstones sparkled faintly on Jia Zhengfeng's hands, each with a different color and a shimmering rune inside. When the rings were put near the ear, one could faintly hear the sound of wind and fire.
This is even better stuff, let's take it.
Jia Zhengfeng was a treasure trove all over, even the small curved blade hanging in his hidden pocket on his sleeve. The petite and exquisite curved blade reflected brilliant light, with an extremely sharp edge that seemed to jump autonomously.
Such good stuff, Wu Tie hadn't even heard of before, he quickly took it.
In the end, Wu Tie took off the magnificent long robe woven with an unknown thread from Jia Zhengfeng's body. Then, in the intimate area of Jia Zhengfeng's chest, he found a black animal skin bag about half the size of an adult's palm.
The animal skin bag was pitch black, with extremely fine and dense scales that fit together. Inside the scales, strange lights glimmered. Wu Tie squinted and stared at the bag for a while, discovering that these scales had naturally formed intricate and complex runes.
"This is..."
Wu Tie seemed to have figured something out. He carefully searched through the messy information in his mind and then eagerly pulled open the bag, squinting to look inside.
As the data described, when looking at the bag opening with the naked eye, black smoke billowed out, making it impossible to see what was inside the bag.
Wu Tie quickly activated the golden light group in his brow, enveloping the black animal skin bag with an invisible force field. His vision brightened, and he immediately saw a space wrapped in black smoke, measuring about three meters in length, width, and height.
"It's the Qian Kun Bag, it really is the Qian Kun Bag... Lao Tie had one of these treasures back then. He had to fight hard to snatch it after killing an enemy..." Wu Tie trembled with excitement, his whole body shaking. He quickly looked around, hastily following the methods described in the information.
Sharp nails cut open his brow, and a thumb-sized group of blood flew out from his brow as fast as lightning and entered the bag.
Wu Tie's vision darkened, his body wavered, and his head throbbed.
Inside the bag, black smoke churned, and extremely fine blood threads flashed on the black scale armor on the surface of the Qian Kun Bag.
Wu Tie felt an extremely close spiritual connection with the Qian Kun Bag. He silently laughed and hurriedly stuffed all the treasures he had collected from Jia Zhengfeng's body into it.
Grabbing the Qian Kun Bag, Wu Tie tapped it against his heart's protective mirror.
The protective mirror wriggled, and dozens of white metal threads surged out, securely tying the Qian Kun Bag to Wu Tie's chest, accompanied by the intensely pulsating white egg.
"Although he was an enemy, it's not right to desecrate his corpse... But the bone marrow is highly toxic, so don't blame me." Wu Tie picked up the bronze spear, but he hesitated when he remembered Jia Zhengfeng's appearance as he swallowed the essence and blood essence. He disgustingly threw the spear onto Jia Zhengfeng's corpse.
After standing there in a daze for a few seconds, a sudden inspiration flashed in Wu Tie's mind.
He didn't know why he suddenly thought of doing this, but he flipped his hands over, and blue light faintly glowed on his fingertips. Large azure ice crystals spewed out into the air with a "whoosh" sound, rapidly freezing Jia Zhengfeng's corpse. In the blink of an eye, the entire body turned into an ice sculpture.
Cold air spread in all directions. In just a few breaths, the ground within a radius of two hundred meters was covered in ice crystals half a foot thick.
Wu Tie took a deep breath, wiped the sweat freezing into ice flakes on his forehead, and floated back off the ground. He waved the Wind and Cloud Flag, releasing a faint black aura that enveloped the entire group, and even the footsteps of everyone, including the five stone giants, became light and fast due to the silent wind entwining their feet.
The large group of people walked through the plain without leaving any traces on the ground.
With the careful cleaning by the Ratman scouts remaining behind, the group led by Wu Tie appeared like an invisible phantom army, making no sound as they crossed the stone cave where the Warblade City was located.
They arrived at the other end of the cave, at what seemed to be a dilapidated mine entrance.
There wasn't even a guard stationed here, but Wu Tie and the others knew that deep inside the mine, there was an inconspicuous side passage that led directly to the most secretive and important Yuan Xue of the Yan Family.
Eighty percent of the elemental herbs needed for cultivation by the Yan Family's warriors each year came from there.
Losing this Yuan Xue would deal a fundamental blow to the Yan Family... very likely causing them to decline for decades.
The large group entered the mine, with Ratman scouts scouting the path ahead and clearing traces behind. They proceeded cautiously through the mine passage, setting up numerous ambushes with Old Bai's children along the way.
When the three-round illusory sun above Warblade City lit up again, the high-ranking members of the Yan Family, who had celebrated all night, finally stumbled back to their rooms, exhausted.
If someone had listened outside the several stone fortresses in the middle of Warblade City, they would hear heavy snores coming from the rooms.
The low-ranking warriors of Warblade City walked out of their barracks, had breakfast, and then energetically went up the city walls to take over their night shift companions. The sentinels who had been on duty last night yawned, lazily walked down from the city walls, and headed towards the barracks.
The city gates of Warblade City slowly opened, and groups of gray Dwarves arrogantly left the castle, each carrying a whip, heading to the refugee settlements outside the city, urging those damned serfs to work diligently.
A gray Dwarf jumped onto a large rock, looked in the direction of the settlement he was in charge of, and cursed angrily, "This bunch of lazy bums, I haven't taught them a lesson in three days, what's the matter with them? It's been so long, and there's still no activity."
With a wave of his whip, this gray Dwarf ferociously shouted, "Today, no matter what, we have to beat three to five of those wretched slaves to let them know the consequences of slacking off!"
In Warblade City, the disciples of the Church of Longevity also leisurely stepped out of their dwellings.
Those core disciples smiled at each other amiably and cautiously observed each other, speculating whether they were the "traitors" mentioned by Jia Zhengfeng.
The followers belonging to Jia Zhengfeng, however, stood with gloomy faces, standing afar and scrutinizing the young disciples.
Everything was so relaxed and comfortable. This was just an ordinary morning in Warblade City after the Church of Longevity settled in.
Suddenly, far away from the city, a sharp, piercing roar rang out, "Someone was killed... People are dead... So many slaves died... Heavens, this is... this is..."
Not long after, terrified screams echoed throughout Warblade City, "People are dead, someone killed... The Vice Sect Master was killed and frozen into an ice block..."
Alarm bells loudly rang, and sharp whistle sounds could be heard in various barracks of Warblade City.
Crowds of Yan Family warriors rushed out of the barracks, shouting and running around in confusion.
After exhausting so much energy last night, it was a quarter of an hour before the high-ranking members of the Yan Family stumbled out. Several Yan Family warriors carried large water basins and viciously poured icy spring water on the startled high-ranking member.
Shivering, the high-ranking Yan Family member shook and screamed, "What's going on? Who died? Dig them out and bury them... Such a small matter? Huh? Such a small matter? Who died? Let every single one die, bastard-like, as their own fathers?"
After more than a dozen breaths, the high-ranking Yan Family member finally received the most detailed report from his confidant.
A mournful, wailing cry suddenly rang out, "The Vice Sect Master is dead? It's over... Hurry, go, quickly send a message to the elders... Heavens, the Vice Sect Master is dead? That old bastard... If he is dead, I'm finished..."
On the edge of the ice-covered area outside the city, nearly a hundred disciples of the Church of Longevity formed a circle, cautiously and vigilantly watching Jia Zhengfeng, who was sealed in the center by blue ice.
Some disciples had red faces, showing great excitement.
Some disciples had pale faces, obviously frightened.
Some disciples had expressionless faces, completely indifferent.
And there were a few male and female disciples whose expressions were quite colorful.
They desperately wanted to behave like their companions around them—either thrilled, terrified, or cold and stiff. However, they couldn't control their own expressions. Their mouths twitched, and they quickly exchanged glances.
They wanted to huddle together and communicate, but there were Longevity Church disciples and Yan Family warriors densely distributed around them. If they gathered together, they would be too conspicuous.
They could only blend in with the crowd, staring blankly at Jia Zhengfeng covered in the ethereal blue ice. Occasionally, they would suspiciously glance at each other.
With so many people on-site, the majority maintained an eerie silence.
Only Yan Dao laid on the thick layer of ice, roaring hoarsely, "Bastards! All the sentinels from last night, kill them all, kill them all... Such a big person, a peak-level expert in the Heavy Tower Realm dead... You all... you didn't even hear a sound?"
"Kill them all, every single one!"
"Go now, go now!"
"And quickly send a message to the elders, send a message to the elders... How am I supposed to handle this? Huh? How am I supposed to handle this?"
Warblade City was in chaos, and everyone was thrown into an inexplicable disturbance and unease because of Jia Zhengfeng's death.
Nearly a hundred li away from Warblade City, Wu Tie and the others continued to descend along the passage.
The further down they went, the higher the surrounding temperature became, and the heavier the moisture in the air. In the end, Wu Tie and the others were soaked with sweat, and the hot and humid air clung to their skin, making them feel stuffy and hot, as if they were in a steamer.
Wu Tie could endure it, but the Iron and Gray Dwarf warriors accompanying him were clad in armor that was as stifling as a metal can. They were both hot and stuffy, and their bodies were covered in thick fur, naturally having excellent warmth retention.
After walking for a while in the passage, these Dwarf warriors were already panting heavily, and after persisting for more than an hour, most of them fainted on the ground.
Helplessly, Wu Tie had to continuously spray ice crystals, constantly lowering the temperature in the surroundings. He paid particular attention to the Dwarf warriors with dense fur, allowing them to recover consciousness one by one. They walked ahead while full of energy.
Moving a large group of people was not easy. They traveled in the tunnel for more than ten hours until they reached a large cave entrance.
Terrifying waves of heat constantly spewed out from the entrance, accompanied by a strange fragrance surging in the air. Occasional flashes could be seen, resulting from the bursting light naturally condensed from elemental particles.
Wu Tie gave a low shout, "We've reached the Yuan Xue... The Yan Family maintains a dedicated force of a hundred Flame Crocodile people stationed here year-round."
"We mustn't let them escape and report back. None of them can escape... We have to wipe them all out!"
Wu Tie waved his hand, and Old Bai whistled. The Ratman warriors he brought quickly concealed themselves near the cave entrance.
Wu Tie nodded and led the main force forward, slowly approaching the entrance.
(End of this chapter)