Chapter 369 - 349: Water Manipulation Skill and Wuyang Iron
Chapter 369: Chapter 349: Water Manipulation Skill and Wuyang Iron
"Li Yuanyou..."
Zhao Lin turned and beckoned to Li Yuanyou.
"I get a share too?"
Li Yuanyou was decisive. He lunged forward, wrapped his tentacles around Sheng Jinlong’s throat, and strangled him to death, even absorbing the soul that was trying to escape.
’How can a Yin Soul even talk...’
This was Sheng Jinlong’s last thought in this world. Then, he knew nothing more.
CLANG!
The iron ruler fell to the ground.
Wei Shi’s mind was in turmoil. He stood rooted to the spot, stunned for a long moment, before slowly accepting the fact that he had killed someone.
Zhao Lin didn’t disturb him. He piled the storage bag, talismans, medicinal pills, and Spirit Beast Meat on the corpse, preparing to set it all on fire.
Wei Shi snapped out of it and said with some regret, "There must have been a lot of good stuff in that storage bag. We should have forced him to hand it over earlier."
Zhao Lin shook his head. "It’s no pity at all. We can’t take any of his things!"
As he spoke, he casually picked up a talisman. In its top-right corner was an engraved four-leaf clover, with a pattern resembling a small wine cup on each leaf.
It was clearly a family crest.
"Many of the magic treasures and talismans of cultivation families are personally refined, and they always mark them."
"Whether we use them ourselves or try to resell them, we could be traced. The safest course of action is to destroy it all."
Wei Shi was taken aback, realizing that compared to Zhao Lin, he was utterly clueless.
’But then again,’ he thought, ’since Zhao Lin is so thorough, what happened today probably won’t be discovered, right?’
Before lighting the fire, Zhao Lin checked the talismans.
All three talismans were high-grade: one Giant Strength Talisman, one Swift Sword Talisman, and one Water Talisman.
When he saw the last one, the Water Talisman, an idea sparked in Zhao Lin’s mind.
His Spirit Cultivation Map didn’t have a water-element Cultivation Technique yet. He had already mastered three types of Magic—attack, defense, and escape—so he could now choose an auxiliary Magic.
The Water Manipulation Skill was an excellent choice.
The "Manipulation" in Water Manipulation Skill had a dual meaning: one was to defend, and the other was to control.
The Water Manipulation Skill created a circulating current of water around the body, providing decent resistance against water-based magical attacks.
However, the Magic’s more significant function was for moving underwater.
Cultivators could move underwater with a Spiritual Energy Shield, but doing so consumed a great deal of Spiritual Power, and it wasn’t very fast.
With the enhancement from the Water Manipulation Skill, one could travel freely through the water, moving with an agility that rivaled aquatic Demon Beasts.
Zhao Lin had also acquired a Water Talisman from the bandit cultivators, but its quality was nothing compared to Sheng Jinlong’s.
Since so many people carried Water Talismans, it proved the Magic had its merits.
’I can’t keep the talisman, but I can learn the Magic from it first.’
"Brother Wei, I’m going to activate this talisman for a test. See if you notice anything unusual."
Zhao Lin made up an excuse, grabbed the Water Talisman, and slapped it with his palm.
The talisman released a flash of jade-green light, which rapidly condensed the surrounding water-element Spiritual Qi. It formed a current that flowed around Zhao Lin’s body like long, elegant ribbons.
One second, two seconds, three seconds!
In the seventh grid of his Spirit Cultivation Map, three words appeared: Water Manipulation Skill.
Next to the words was a four-petaled plum blossom, indicating it could be cultivated to the Proficient level.
The Water Manipulation Skill should have appeared in the sixth grid, but since Zhao Lin had been hit by the Sky Blind Skill earlier, that space was now occupied by it.
Zhao Lin only had a superficial understanding of the Sky Blind Skill and hadn’t decided whether to practice the Magic. He planned to study it more before making a decision.
"Brother Zhao, you were right! When the Magic formed just now, there was a four-leaf clover crest on the ring of water."
Wei Shi said, walking over, completely convinced.
"As expected. That’s why we can’t keep a single thing."
Zhao Lin replied.
The storage bag was sealed with a restriction; forcing it open would likely trigger an explosion.
The three of them retreated several dozen yards, taking cover behind a large boulder.
Zhao Lin formed a hand seal and cast a spell, releasing more than a dozen Flame Stream Arrows that shot in unison toward Sheng Jinlong’s corpse. A blazing inferno erupted instantly.
Before long, with two loud BANGS, the contents of the storage bag were blasted into countless fragments.
All three felt a powerful shockwave hit them in the face. Their ears rang, and the ground beneath their feet shook.
Amidst the explosions, something flew out of the dust and smoke, striking a large boulder.
With a loud CLANG, it sent sparks flying before falling to the ground and rolling far into the distance.
As luck would have it, it rolled to a stop right at their feet.
Zhao Lin took a closer look. It was a smooth, round, glossy black "iron lump" about the size of a fist, glowing with a faint azure light.
"Wuyang Iron!"
Zhao Lin’s eyebrow twitched as the words escaped his lips.
This substance was Wuyang Iron. Zhao Lin had seen it at last year’s Dharma Assembly where a senior disciple who was an Artifact Refiner had given a special lecture on it, which is why he recognized it at a glance.
Wuyang Iron is a high-grade material for Artifact Refining. When forging a magic treasure, adding a certain proportion of Wuyang Iron to the refined metals can drastically increase its hardness and toughness, multiplying the treasure’s value several times over.
After all, even though magic treasures are durable, it’s impossible for two of them to collide at high speed and escape unscathed.
In reality, magic treasures, much like mortal weapons, are consumables. Zhao Lin had only used his iron ruler a few times, but its surface was already covered in nicks and dents, mostly from strikes by Sheng Jinlong’s Antler Blade.
Zhao Lin was tempted. This fist-sized piece of Wuyang Iron could reinforce at least seven small magic treasures and was worth about three thousand Spirit Stones on the market.
If he took this Wuyang Iron, he could afford to cultivate both of Miao Kefa’s two Magic to the perfected stage, and he wouldn’t have to worry about Spirit Stones for a while.
More importantly, while Wuyang Iron was valuable, it wasn’t exceedingly rare. It was also a naturally occurring material, so there was no way it could hold a Divine Sense imprint or any hidden markers.
If he took it back to the commandery to be refined, the Sheng family would never be able to trace it.
"Brother Zhao, we can keep this Wuyang Iron."
Wei Shi had also recognized it and offered his suggestion.
"Alright. But there’s only one piece of this Wuyang Iron..."
"Brother Zhao, don’t be modest. You’re the one who dealt with him; it should be yours."
"In that case, I won’t be polite."
After a moment of polite refusal, Zhao Lin put the Wuyang Iron into his storage bag.
The three returned to the site of the explosion. The corpse and the contents of the storage bag had been incinerated, leaving only a suit of inner armor completely intact.
"This is going to be hard to get rid of."
Zhao Lin frowned, recalling the Antler Blade over by the Array, which was similarly indestructible.
"What do we do then?"
Wei Shi asked.
"We’ll take it for now and find a place to bury it later."
"Alright. What’s next?"
Without realizing it, Wei Shi had started asking for Zhao Lin’s opinion on everything.
"Clean up the scene. Erase every single trace!"
Zhao Lin had been a constable in the mortal world and had a wealth of experience in this area, so he answered without hesitation.
Next, the three of them followed the path Sheng Jinlong had taken, carefully searching and erasing all traces left behind by Magic and magic treasures.
After finishing, they checked everything twice more before Zhao Lin was finally able to relax.
"When Sheng Jinlong chased us into the cave, he was striking everywhere with his Antler Blade. Let’s go outside and clean up the marks."
"Right!"
The three of them walked toward the cave entrance. Upon reaching the pear-shaped cavern, they suddenly spotted a red, gold-trimmed talisman on the ground.
"Brother Zhao, there’s a talisman here."
Wei Shi let out a soft "Huh?" and asked in surprise, "Did Sheng Jinlong drop this by accident?"
Zhao Lin stared for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, "That’s... an Elemental Explosion Talisman!"
The shock on his face was impossible to conceal.
"How vicious!"
Wei Shi understood at once. To prevent them from escaping, Sheng Jinlong had deliberately placed the Elemental Explosion Talisman here.
If they hadn’t engaged him in battle and had instead tried to flee, they probably wouldn’t be standing here in one piece.
Zhao Lin also felt a wave of lingering fear. He had almost chased Sheng Jinlong all the way to this spot.
He had exhausted every trick up his sleeve to win by a razor-thin margin, never expecting that his opponent still had an unplayed trump card.
’The hidden schemes in the Cultivation Realm are truly impossible to defend against,’ he thought. ’I must be far more careful in the future.’
Sheng Jinlong was dead, so logically, the talisman shouldn’t detonate. Still, to be on the safe side, the three retreated to a safe distance before Zhao Lin fired a Flame Stream Arrow at it.
The Elemental Explosion Talisman didn’t explode. It simply burned for a moment before turning to ash.