Due to his conscience, Lu Yang didn't take all of Qin Yuanhao's clothes but left him one pair of underwear for modesty.
A storage ring is a magical item that is widely used among cultivators. The Golden Money Association has conducted several surveys on the "most popular magical items," and the storage ring has consistently ranked first with a high number of votes.
When traveling or exploring the continent, hiding treasures and personal savings is essential, making the storage ring a must-have item. It’s also quite affordable, so even Qi Refining stage cultivators can buy one, although the space inside is much smaller.
Every year, many Qi Refining stage cultivators purchase storage rings, making it a significant revenue source for the Golden Money Association. They also release improved versions of the storage ring each year, mainly focusing on its appearance while the internal space remains unchanged.
For most people, the first magical item they use as a cultivator is the storage ring, which holds great sentimental value. Both righteous and demonic cultivators use storage rings, and Qin Yuanhao is no exception.
He had lived for decades and had never heard of anyone using a storage ring to store their enemy's clothes! Was that reasonable?
Actually, it makes sense. A storage ring cannot hold items with a spirit, like living creatures, ghosts, or spiritual treasures. Clearly, Qin Yuanhao's clothes didn't fall into that category. Fortunately, as a proud member of the demonic path, he had long lost his sense of shame. Even in just his underwear, he could still fight!
Then he saw Meng Jingzhou taking out a shadow ball.
“Damn it! Which sect are you from, and what deep hatred do we have?” Qin Yuanhao assumed that Lu Yang and the others were from another sect. Even if they claimed to be righteous, he wouldn’t believe them.
He couldn’t understand why, although he had made enemies, he always kept things in moderation and never sought deadly revenge.
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu looked at Lu Yang with strange expressions, seemingly surprised that Lu Yang could come up with such a unique way to attack.
“We don’t need to follow the rules of the martial world to deal with evil! Let’s go together!” Lu Yang called to the other two.
With all three of them attacking together, even a half-step Golden Core stage tiger demon would be in trouble, let alone just a late Foundation Establishment stage Qin Yuanhao.
They had considered a one-on-one duel with Qin Yuanhao, confident in their abilities as geniuses to fight above their level. But to be safe, it was better for all three to join forces.
Qin Yuanhao, casting aside his shame, engaged in a fierce battle with the three of them.
Sword light flickered like water, splashing like ink, and Qin Yuanhao was forced to retreat, not daring to confront them directly!
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu unleashed their fists together, like a mountain crashing down, hitting Qin Yuanhao’s chest and causing him to cough up blood!
Qin Yuanhao flipped his palm, and three poisonous needles appeared at his fingertips, stabbing into the chests of the three.
To his surprise, they acted as if nothing had happened, their sword and fist attacks showing no signs of weakening; instead, they grew bolder in battle.
Lu Yang had already anticipated that the opponent might use poison and had taken an antidote pill beforehand.
Strictly speaking, the antidote pill shouldn’t be called an antidote; “poison removal pill” would be more accurate.
The principle of the antidote pill is to encapsulate the poison before it takes effect, allowing it to be expelled from the body with sweat.
The poison never truly acted, so how could there be talk of an antidote?
Qin Yuanhao felt a sense of dread; the other side was too well-prepared. His own underhanded tactics were ineffective, and even when they worked, they couldn’t compare to the other side’s schemes.
Meng Jingzhou’s muscles bulged, veins popping out, and to Qin Yuanhao, the fists seemed to grow larger, coming at him so fast he couldn’t react.
Strange things happened again. Meng Jingzhou’s punch was powerful enough that a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivator would be dead or severely injured, yet Qin Yuanhao showed no signs of being affected.
Qin Yuanhao laughed strangely, declaring that these people couldn’t deal with him!
After some fighting, Lu Yang finally uncovered the truth behind Qin Yuanhao’s technique. He swung his sword down, and the light danced, sword energy like a long rainbow, unstoppable.
This sword didn’t strike anywhere else; it was aimed at Qin Yuanhao’s shadow!
“Damn it!” Qin Yuanhao cried out in pain.
“Indeed, it’s you who killed the band of thieves last night. Your weakness is your shadow!”
Lu Yang recalled how Qin Yuanhao had come out of the brothel, receiving orders from his leader to take action, presumably to kill the band of thieves.
With his biggest secret exposed, Qin Yuanhao no longer wanted to fight. His body vanished, and his shadow moved swiftly on the ground.
Even if he couldn’t defeat them, he was confident he could escape. No matter how sharp their sword was, could they kill a shadow?
“You three juniors, I’ll remember you! Just wait for my endless revenge, haha…” Qin Yuanhao thought he had the upper hand and laughed heartily.
Suddenly, a beam of white light shone on his shadow, and Qin Yuanhao let out a heart-wrenching scream, as if a piece of flesh had been torn from him.
The Gathering Light Formation is a simple formation that absorbs light and releases it. It’s easy to learn and can be effective in certain situations, though generally considered useless. Here, however, it worked wonders.
With no choice, Qin Yuanhao had to emerge from his shadow to block the white light, and the gap in his shadow disappeared.
His injuries healed.
“Looks like you came prepared, but so what? Do you really think a mere Gathering Light Formation can hurt me?”
Qin Yuanhao mocked, “Don’t you know that the stronger the light, the stronger the shadow?”
Lu Yang remained calm and threw out more Gathering Light Formations, also mocking, “Have you ever heard of a shadowless lamp?”
Qin Yuanhao hesitated. He didn’t know what a shadowless lamp was, but hearing Lu Yang say that gave him a bad feeling.
Lu Yang didn’t have the time to explain the principle during the fight. Dozens of beams of white light struck Qin Yuanhao, and his shadow crackled. No matter whether he exposed his body to block the light or retreated into his shadow, he couldn’t stop the process.
His shadow faded until it was nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye.
The principle of the shadowless lamp isn’t to make the shadow disappear but to make it so faint it’s almost gone.
Qin Yuanhao roared, emerging from a nearly invisible shadow. His true body could no longer hide in the shadow.
Sword light fell from the sky like a rainbow from beyond, sudden and unstoppable, piercing through Qin Yuanhao’s body.
Lu Yang had been waiting for this moment.
“That was close; he almost got away.” Meng Jingzhou sighed in relief upon seeing Qin Yuanhao dead. If he had escaped, all their preparations would have been for nothing.
Meng Jingzhou thought they had prepared enough, but who would have thought that Qin Yuanhao’s technique was related to shadows, making him hard to trap.
Meng Jingzhou playfully nudged Lu Yang’s shoulder, “Good thing you suggested making the Gathering Light Formation before we set out.”
“It was just luck. I only suspected his technique was related to shadows, with no solid evidence.”
“But let’s not celebrate too early; we can celebrate after we destroy the body and erase all traces.”
At Lu Yang’s suggestion, the three of them burned Qin Yuanhao’s body until it was unrecognizable and tossed it into the tiger demon’s cave, then blew up the entrance to the cave.
This way, unless someone searched the mountain deliberately, no one would find this place.
(End of Chapter)