Chapter 117: The Puppet Flood Dragon

Zhang Bo, perhaps terrified, stammered, "Otherwise, he would raze our Red Fiend Desert to the ground and force our ancestor to kneel and beg for mercy? Or call him ancestor?"

"What kind of suicidal fool is this? Where is he, and what is his cultivation level? Speak!" Naha demanded impatiently.

Zhang Bo pointed to the left and said, "He is ahead, indulging in a killing spree. He possesses the cultivation of a late-stage Foundation Establishment grand completion, but his strength is unexpectedly formidable."

Naha burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Boys, you heard that? A late-stage Foundation Establishment grand completion dares to run wild in our Red Fiend Desert. I don't care if he is He Changqi or He Changduan; I will kill whoever comes, and slaughter any pair that arrives. Zhang Bo, since you provided good information, I won't make things difficult for you. Stay here, and once I finish off that brat, I will reward you. But if what you said doesn't match the reality, I will take your life. Let's go!"

With that, he tossed Zhang Bo to the ground and took to the air. The Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators behind him stepped onto their maces and streaked across the sky in pursuit.

Once they were completely gone, Zhang Bo leaped up, showing no signs of injury whatsoever. He stepped onto a mace and flew off in the opposite direction to Naha. Along the way, he encountered several squads of demonic cultivators and provoked them all into chasing after Naha. Reaching a place thick with malevolent energy that seemed no different from any other, his body flashed with spiritual light, and he reverted to his true appearance.

It was none other than Ge Qian. He formed a seal with his fingers, his figure flickered, and he vanished into the malevolent mist.

Inside, Ying Xue was becoming anxious. Only half an hour had passed, but she was already losing her patience and was worried sick.

At that moment, Ge Qian walked into the array and smiled slightly. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. Has anything happened here?"

"No. Did you get the Warm-Heart Herb?" Ye Feng asked anxiously.

Ge Qian caught sight of Ye Yu and frowned. "This is bad. Ye Yu’s condition is deteriorating. The infection has already reached one-third of her soul. We must refine the pill immediately, or it will be too late to save her."

Qian Huixian’s expression changed. Although she had many tricks up her sleeve, she dared not confront the Core Formation demonic cultivators head-on. "Wang Meng, are you crazy? Refining pills here? Large numbers of demonic cultivators are patrolling, and if we are discovered, we won't have a place to be buried!"

The hearts of the others sank as well.

Ge Qian, however, said dismissively, "The demonic cultivators are patrolling everywhere, but not for us. There must be some upheaval in the Red Fiend Desert, and we just happened to be caught in the middle. But I have a plan. Lean in."

Bai Ruyu, Ying Xue, and Ye Feng felt their spirits lift instantly. They trusted Ge Qian implicitly; it was as if the sky could collapse and he wouldn't even furrow his brow. Whenever they were in crisis, he always had a way out.

They all immediately leaned toward Ge Qian to hear his cunning plan. With a strike as swift as lightning, Ge Qian tapped each of them lightly on the back of their necks. Before the three could react, they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

This move shocked Qian Huixian and Ye Yu; no one expected Ge Qian to strike his own companions.

Ye Yu, alarmed and trembling, asked, "Ge Qian, why are you hurting them?"

Ge Qian smiled faintly. "I am not hurting them; I am saving them. Friend Qian, I know you have the strength to take them away. Please do me a favor and take them to Sanlong City. Once I refine the pill and save Ye Yu, I will come to find you. If I didn't knock them out, none of them would agree to leave. Since we are all in danger, it is better for me to bear the burden alone. They cannot refine pills and would be of little use here."

Qian Huixian gave a thumbs up and said, "Wang Meng, I didn't expect you to be a hero. I thought you were just a petty man who loved to take advantage of small gains. For this alone, I will help you. However, are you worried about me taking them away? Aren't you afraid I might harbor evil intentions and kill them for their treasures?"

Ge Qian laughed heartily. "Friend Qian, you jest. Your wealth is deep—perhaps others cannot tell, but I, Wang Meng, can see it clearly. You wouldn't care for the treasures of poor rogue cultivators like us. If you wanted to kill for treasure, you wouldn't have waited until now. Meeting is fate, and planting a seed of karma is wise. Since we are in the same boat, if we cannot trust our backs to our partners, we will never make it out of the Red Fiend Desert. I have bared my back to you, showing true sincerity. As for what you do, one can only treat others as one would wish to be treated."

Qian Huixian felt her blood boil with excitement. She clapped her hands and said, "Wang Meng, you are not just a hero; you are an ambitious leader. You have courage and boldness. You will surely achieve great things in the future. I, Qian Huixian, will be your friend. Remember, besides owing me a favor, you also owe me three high-grade spirit stones. Do you agree to take them and leave immediately?"

One hundred low-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for one medium-grade spirit stone, one hundred medium-grade spirit stones for one high-grade, and one thousand high-grade for one top-tier spirit stone.

This was the conversion rate in the cultivation world; the higher the quality, the greater the value. A high-grade spirit stone could fetch more than three times its value on the black market. Three high-grade spirit stones were conservatively worth thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones. For Ge Qian, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, even if he refined pills day and night without rest for three hundred years, he would barely be able to pay it back.

Of course, this excluded income from killing and looting, which in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, was a fact that meant one could never pay it back before reaching the Core Formation stage.

Ge Qian said without hesitation, "Fine, what is thirty thousand spirit stones? Although I don't have them right now, give me a few days, and I will pay you in full."

Qian Huixian felt sweeter than if she had eaten honey. Since he owed her a favor and spirit stones, she would eventually make him hand over his techniques and secret arts. She said, "A gentleman's word is his bond. Then I shall take them away."

She tossed out a palm-sized, earthy-yellow flood dragon. With a flash of spiritual light, it grew to ten feet in length. It had a serpent's body, two sharp claws on its abdomen, and exuded an intimidating chill, its eyes glowing red.

The aura it emitted was so powerful it caused immense pressure; it was clearly a third-tier flood dragon puppet, circulating with earth-elemental spiritual energy, equivalent to a Core Formation stage cultivator.

Qian Huixian pointed, and three grooves opened on the dragon's abdomen. She inserted three high-grade spirit stones, and the grooves closed, hiding from view.

Energized, the puppet dragon glowed brightly, and its massive mouth opened to form a portal a foot wide. Qian Huixian used a levitation spell to place Bai Ruyu, Ying Xue, and Ye Feng inside the dragon's belly, then transformed into a streak of light and entered as well.

The dragon reverted to its original appearance, its mouth closed, and the portal vanished. It shook its head, gave Ge Qian a human-like smile, and transformed into a streak of yellow light that dove into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Ge Qian couldn't help but sigh in admiration. The puppet arts of the Heavenly Ingenuity Saint Sect were famous throughout the Xuanwu Continent, and they were well-deserved. A puppet capable of earth-burrowing was rare, and he estimated he couldn't afford one even if he sold everything he owned.

Putting the matter aside, Ge Qian took out a top-tier pill furnace and cast a spell. It grew to a size of ten feet and landed on the ground with a boom.

Ge Qian sat cross-legged before the furnace and waved his hand. The Volcanic Hell sword energy from the vortex in his dantian’s Hell Path surged beneath the furnace, manifesting as a miniature volcano. Pale blue flames erupted, providing the heat needed to fuel the furnace.