The curtain finally fell on the battle in the sky.

The eighteen Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had all been defeated and taken captive. Although this had a lot to do with the ambush and the disadvantageous terrain, this feat was still enough to make Tang Jie famous.

At the same time, the battle down in the valley also concluded.

Wang Juemie still had his aura, and the three True Persons were powerless.

When Wang Juemie got up from the ground again, Liang Xingbang seemed to despair. He sighed, “Sir, why do you so stubbornly fight against us? Tang Jie has already captured all your fellow disciples, but you are still wasting time with us.”

Wang Juemie laughed. “You have to do tasks one by one. It’s all the same if I defeat you and then go to find him.”

Shi Jingzhai was enraged by his arrogance, shouting, “Junior, this is only a minor success! Do you really think you’ve won? We knew that you were unreliable, and it’s not like we came unprepared. Take a look at this!”

He suddenly turned around and thrust a palm at a crate.

The several dozen wagons had been overturned on the side of the road, dumping out their crates on the ground. But as they were rather far from the battlefield, they had been unaffected this whole time. After all, for both the robber and the one being robbed, they needed the crates to be intact to carry them away.

Shi Jingzhai’s palm attack struck one of the crates, and it splintered apart. Large amounts of stone rolled out, with only a little Goldite that had been used as a cover.

Wang Juemie froze. “What’s going on here?”

Shi Jingzhai thrust out his palm again and again, breaking open all of the larger crates. Inside all of them were stones, which left Wang Juemie stunned.

Shi Jingzhai heartily laughed. “Junior, when we started dealing with you and you repeatedly delayed things, insisting on getting all the goods together and trading everything at one time, I immediately felt like there was something off about your lot. And after you used the Basking Moon Sect to threaten us and all other kinds of despicable methods, you really think we would take the bait that easily? The trade this time was merely to test you!”

He threw his head back and crazily laughed. Wang Juemie had chopped off one of his arms, leaving him badly wounded, but he laughed so freely that it almost seemed like he had been the victor of this battle, not Wang Juemie.

Wang Juemie took in a deep breath, his bones groaning. This was a sign that he was absolutely furious.

It was hard to blame him. He had gone to so much effort to lay his plans in order to get all the wealth the Stone Gate Sect had, but to his surprise, though the other party had entered his trap, they hadn’t brought their money with them.

It was no wonder the three of them had so carelessly waltzed into the trap. It was because they weren’t afraid of the other party taking anything from them.

The thought of having fought such a tough battle only for his objective to fall through his fingers left Wang Juemie enraged. He yelled,

"Bastards, where did you hide the goods?

"

"It's still in my Stone Gate Sect, naturally!

" Shi Jingzhai bellowed.

"Trying to backstab us? Even if you win, you won't get a thing! Now that I think of it, you're also to blame for that. If you didn't send someone to leak news about the Crystallized Sandworms, we wouldn't have so quickly suspected your motives. Since you weren't acting with good intentions, how can you expect us to trust you?

"

He laughed once more.

"'Leaking news'?

" Wang Juemie was startled.

Yu Wanniang shouted,

"Wang Juemie! Your plot has already been exposed. Even if you kill us, you won't get anything good. Right now, the best plan is to first capture Tang Jie and find out if the Basking Moon Sect knows about this matter or not. If they still don't know, then we can consider giving you another opportunity to trade with us, but we will be deciding the means of trading.

"

"Is that so?

" Wang Juemie cocked his head.

He looked up at the sky.

The battle had destroyed the disguise, and a forest now floated in the sky.

In the clearing, numerous vines were intertwining into a verdant flower palace that lifted Yiyi into the air.

At her feet were the tied-up Seven Absolutions Sect disciples. As for Tang Jie, he was lying on a bed woven from vines, motionless as if he was asleep.

Seeing this, Wang Juemie shouted,

"Little girl over there, Tang Jie is currently suffering from excessive fatigue, and he's very likely to die like this. If you're willing to let my fellow disciples go, I can teach you the way to save him!

"

Yiyi looked at Wang Juemie. Because of the reflection, it appeared like she was looking somewhere else.

In a crisp voice, Yiyi said,

"Big Brother won't die. He's just sleeping! Big Brother said that those people have a use and can't be handed over.

"

"What use do they have?

"

"They can be traded for the treasure of the Stone Gate Sect.

"

"Is that what's going on?

" Wang Juemie laughed. He turned around and pointed at the stones in the distance.

"You see it now, right? These guys are very cunning. They never brought the treasure. In the end, we lost this battle.

"

But Yiyi replied,

"Then capture them and interrogate them. They'll confess eventually.

"

Liang Xingbang paled.

"Impudent! A little sprite dares to speak about interrogating a True Person!

"

Wang Juemie laughed and turned to the three.

"Did you hear that? It turns out that there was another way.

"

Yu Wanniang was rather badly frightened.

"Wang Juemie, putting aside the fact that we won't submit to you, even if you truly have some formidable method, what sort of treasure do you think you can get with the Basking Moon Sect around?

"

Yiyi immediately shouted,

"Don't worry about it! Just like you, Big Brother didn't notify the sect, so you can do whatever you want!

"

Shi Jingzhai yelled,

"You're lying!

"

Wang Juemie narrowed his eyes and asked,

"What do you mean by 'just like me'?

"

Yiyi giggled.

"Wasn't your plan to get these goods and then hand them over to the Seven Absolutions Sect, getting sect contribution points and twenty percent of the profits? My Big Brother had the same idea.

"

These words enlightened the three Stone Gate elders, and they understood why no one stronger from the Seven Absolutions Sect had appeared.

It seemed that a pack of juniors had been trying to live a dream.

And they had to admit that this dream had almost become reality.

At least when it came to the battle, Wang Juemie had settled things.

But nobody had expected the three Stone Gate elders to not bring the actual goods. Had they not been afraid that Wang Juemie sincerely wanted to trade and would cause trouble over this issue? Of course, this was exactly why Wang Juemie and Tang Jie had taken the bait.

The little girl suddenly realized something, but she still didn't fully understand what it was.

Wang Juemie was taken aback by Yiyi's words. He hadn't expected Tang Jie to guess at his plan.

But a moment later, he nodded and said,

"I didn't expect that I would meet a kindred spirit outside of the Seven Absolutions Sect.

"

He wasn't lying. When he had proposed this plan against the Stone Gate Sect, almost everyone had objected, saying that it was too risky. Even Mu Yi didn't approve of it. But because Wang Juemie had insisted on it and because everyone had always trusted him, they decided to go along with the plan.

But here, he had run into someone who thought the same, even making exactly the same choice as him. Thus, even though he was Tang Jie's rival, Wang Juemie still felt some appreciation and affection toward him.

For this reason, he stopped doubting Yiyi's words. If Tang Jie weren't that sort of person, he would have never been able to create his current reputation, nor could he have so easily guessed at Wang Juemie's plan. It would also have been impossible for everything to still be so quiet.

Understanding this, Wang Juemie laughed and said,

"That's good. Then I'll capture these three first.

"

He turned around and grabbed at the three Stone Gate elders.

The three of them knew that they were in trouble.

Shi Jingzhai gritted his teeth and shouted,

"Protect me!

"

He thrust his right hand into his Mustard Seed Bag.

Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang immediately rushed out, gathering up their remaining spiritual energy into a powerful wave to push Wang Juemie back.

Shi Jingzhai took out a small drum made of stone.

The moment this drum appeared, Wang Juemie paled in shock, shouting,

"The Yin Yang Inversion Drum!

"

"Yes, it's the Yin Yang Inversion Drum, and it was your Seven Absolutions Sect that made it! Hahahaha!

" Shi Jingzhai crazily laughed.

He thumped on the small drum, and with a quake, a large hole appeared in the ground.

Shi Jingzhai stuffed the small drum into the hole, and the drum instantly expanded. One side of the drum slowly tore open into a dark and unfathomable hole.

Wang Juemie was both alarmed and angered by this sight.

The Yin Yang Inversion Drum was an escape device the Seven Absolutions Sect had invented. No matter what situation one was in, so long as it was a place with a ground, one could use a secret art to link two areas and create an escape tunnel. Even a spirit isolation formation combined with a wall formation couldn't stop it.

But this item was extraordinarily expensive and could only be used once. It was very surprising that Shi Jingzhai had such an item.

It went without saying that this was something he had secretly purchased with the last two years of his embezzled gains.

It was precisely because it had been purchased in secret that Shi Jingzhai wasn't willing to use it, but at this dire moment, Shi Jingzhai could no longer keep it hidden.

The small drum finished forming the Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel, and Shi Jingzhai laughed and jumped in.

Wang Juemie's face flashed with murderous intent.

"Trying to leave? Stay right there!

"

He punched at the ground.

The Seven Absolutions Sect had made the Yin Yang Inversion Drum, and while Wang Juemie wasn't good at making devices, he understood their attributes, and he knew their pros and cons. He had not punched at the drum, instead using his savage strength to make the ground quake.

The Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel sounded mysterious, but it was really nothing more than an Earth Escape spell art that was created through the vibrations of the stone drum. Wang Juemie seemed to have punched for no reason, but the quake was actually ruining the tempo of the stone drum's vibrations, destabilizing the tunnel.

Sure enough, as the steely fist crashed down, the stone drum resonated in reply, and a powerful stream of energy erupted out of the tunnel, preventing them from entering.

Panicking, Shi Jingzhai threw up blood and thrust a hand at the ground.

He was still a Celestial Heart True Person, possessing formidable strength. He had now damaged his foundation to his utmost to maintain the tunnel. With his full power behind it, the tunnel did begin to gradually stabilize, but Shi Jingzhai's complexion had turned red, and he was throwing up mouthfuls of blood. It appeared that it was heavily draining him to maintain the passage.

Wang Juemie charged up and unleashed a furious wave of energy from his fist.

"Stay right there!

"

Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang cried out in panic,

"Let's go!

"

They had run out of spiritual energy and had no chance of beating Wang Juemie now. Their only option was to run.

Liang Xingbang was fast and was the first to jump toward the tunnel.

As he was jumping, Yu Wanniang pushed him to the side.

"Wanniang, you!

" Liang Xingbang gnashed his teeth in rage.

Yu Wanniang ignored him, fleeing into the tunnel.

Wang Juemie's iron fist arrived, the blast of fist wind striking Yu Wanniang in the back.

Yu Wanniang had no spiritual energy and no barrier to protect her.

The immense power of the punch had the weight of tens of thousands of catties behind it. This one punch snapped her spine and tore apart her organs, almost flattening her into a meat pancake.

Even after all that, this True Person wasn't dead. With a wail of pain, she dropped into the tunnel and disappeared.

Liang Xingbang was aghast. Using this moment between Wang Juemie's punches, he tried to follow Yu Wanniang into the tunnel.

At that moment, Shi Jingzhai suddenly let his hand go.

A powerful force erupted from the tunnel, forcing Liang Xingbang back.

"Jingzhai, you…

" Liang Xingbang cried out.

Shi Jingzhai roared,

"When has it ever made sense for someone to use my possessions before I can!?

"

He jumped into the tunnel. After releasing that final stream of energy, the tunnel had stabilized.

As he was jumping in, Wang Juemie punched two more times—once for each person.

The blast of wind brushed past Shi Jingzhai's body. Shi Jingzhai grunted in pain as he disappeared into the tunnel.

Liang Xingbang barely had the time to raise his hands to defend himself.

Crack! Crack! Liang Xingbang's arms were both obliterated by Wang Juemie's attack.

But this guy was quite tenacious. He knew that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't get another chance. As he was struck by the attack, he used his last sliver of spiritual energy to alter his trajectory, turning his horizontal movement into a plunge that sent him dropping into the tunnel.

Wang Juemie's punch had accelerated his plunge, and in a flash, Liang Xingbang was gone.

Wang Juemie walked over and looked down the dark tunnel. In the end, he didn't jump in, and in his moment of hesitation, the tunnel disappeared, the ground returning to normal.

Wang Juemie turned to Yiyi.

"Can you release my junior disciples now?

"

Yiyi tilted her head.

"Hey, aren't you going to chase after them? Won't letting them run cause you problems?

"

Wang Juemie grunted,

"They won't be able to run far since I messed with the Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel. I can go and capture them once I save my juniors.

"

"But you won't have the spiritual isolation formation anymore, so you're not guaranteed to beat them.

"

Wang Juemie laughed.

"It's hard to say. Anyone who takes my punch will find it hard to live, even if they don't die on the spot. I severely wounded both Yu Wanniang and Liang Xingbang. Even if they're at Celestial Heart, they'll need at least a year and a half to recover. That Shi Jingzhai wasn't as badly injured, but he excessively taxed his body in order to stabilize the tunnel, so a drop in cultivation tier is inevitable. He would be fortunate if he managed to stay in the Celestial Heart Realm. And I'm quite confident in my ability to deal with a Celestial Heart expert at only the first tier.

"

His words exhibited an immense confidence and boldness.

Yiyi was rather surprised at Wang Juemie's indifference toward the three fugitive Celestial Heart experts.

But after some thought, she said,

"But it was Big Brother who entrusted these people to me. I can't let them go without his permission.

"

"This is easy to take care of. Give him this medicine, and he will quickly wake up.

" Wang Juemie opened his palm, and upon it was a red pill. With a flick of his fingers, he sent it flying in Yiyi's direction.

Thump! It struck a small tree not far from Yiyi, shattering the tree. But when the pill fell to the ground, it was completely unscathed.

Yiyi's blood ran cold. Just how strong did his fingers have to be to accomplish this?

Thankfully, she was in the forest, and Wang Juemie couldn't pinpoint her exact location. Otherwise, he would be sending a lethal stone rather than delivering a pill.

It was only this kind of strength that could contend against three True Persons without falling.

Although Yiyi had never seen Wang Juemie and Tang Jie fight each other, Yiyi was sure that Tang Jie was no match for Wang Juemie.

Of course, she didn't know that in another space, a heaven-shaking battle was taking place.

She commanded the vines to bring the pill over, and then she hesitated, not knowing if she should give the pill to Tang Jie or not.

As if he could see Yiyi's hesitation, Wang Juemie said,

"Hmph, this is the Undying Celestial Origin, one of the secret recipe pills of my Seven Absolutions Sect. It has miraculous effects, with countless people begging for it. Even someone like me can only get three a year. It's precisely because of this pill that I dare to endlessly pressure myself to temper my body. You think I would be willing to give one to Tang Jie if he wasn't someone who was able to understand my plan, a kindred spirit? If you don't want it, give it back!

"

"Hmph, this is just the price for the lives of the captives.

" Yiyi pursed her lips and swiftly stuffed the pill into Tang Jie's mouth.

She had heard of this Undying Celestial Origin Pill before, and it truly was one of the divine pills of the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was an item that body refiners could only dream about, aiding in both the honing of the body and the tempering of the will.

"Tempering the will

" referred to that phenomenon Tang Jie had experienced after exhausting himself in the battle in the Student Forest, after which he had taken in a large amount of nutrients, which was a superb way of improving one's body. For the sake of this, Li Yu had even cut off a piece of his own flesh to feed to Tang Jie.

The Undying Celestial Origin Pill was an excellent medicine for the intake period of the Tempered Will state. It was a powerful restorative, but for an ordinary person, it was more of a poison, capable of killing them with excess. It was only body refiners who were in an extremely weak state that could guide this energy into nurturing their bodies.

One pill of this medicine was enough to match everything that Li Yu had given him back then, and this single pill would cost seventy to eighty thousand coins.

It was no wonder Wang Juemie was so strong. He could get three of these pills every year. If he squeezed his body to the very limits like this every year, it wasn't surprising for him to have attained such an incredible constitution.

She didn't know that this was actually the Seven Absolutions Sect's specialty.

The disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect, particularly the body refiner disciples, would never lack for resources, only persistence.

The Seven Absolutions Sect didn't have an art that would allow for an increase in strength just by taking a bath. Their arts required wringing the body for everything it had and struggling on the brink of death.

This required its disciples to have talent, persistence, and bravery.

But finding such people was easier said than done.

Over a thousand years, the Seven Absolutions Sect had countless talents, but those that were capable of refining their body to the absolute limit were as rare as phoenix feathers. Wang Juemie was one of them. He was getting three per year not because that was all that the Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to give, but because even a maniac cultivator like Wang Juemie could only use three per year. Otherwise, let alone three, the Seven Absolutions Sect would be willing to give him thirty.

This was also why the Stone Gate Sect didn't think Wang Juemie had a reason to rob them. While this guy was a junior, he was a priority target for resources. It was really the case where the Seven Absolutions Sect would get him whatever he wanted.

But there were still some things that the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn't give.

Like reputation!

A reputation for challenging three Celestial Heart experts all by himself!

With the Undying Celestial Origin Pill in his belly, Tang Jie's complexion began to rapidly improve.

But a moment later, rather than waking up, Tang Jie began to convulse as if he had been poisoned. White froth even began to come out of his mouth.

"Big Brother!

" Yiyi was scared out of her wits by the sight.

She angrily glared at Wang Juemie.

"You dare to use poison to hurt my big brother!

"

Wang Juemie was also horrified.

"How is this possible? I really did give him an Undying Celestial Origin Pill. I use my strength to crush people, so bringing restorative medicines will always be better for me than bringing poisons. I'm not carrying any poisons!

"

"I don't care!

" Yiyi unreasonably shouted back.

"If my big brother dies, all of your juniors will have to be buried with him!

"

"Don't!

" Wang Juemie cried out in fear.

Despite his domineering strength, at this distance, there was no way he could stop Yiyi from killing his juniors.

A moment later, countless vines erupted out, like barbed whips as they drew closer to the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples…