The lean, black-clad youth shot to the forefront, his face twisting into a sneer as he spotted the disciples from the Qing Dan Sect across the mine shaft. He pulled out a smooth, sooty black iron tube and, with a swoosh, swoosh!, launched nine thick, five-inch long black nails in rapid succession.

"You riff-raff from Qing Dan Sect, die!"

He held absolute confidence in the dark iron tube in his hand. These projectiles were called the Nine Slaying Soul Hooks. Forged from cold iron, they had been steeped in the blood of over ten foul sources for hundreds of days to complete their refinement, capable of shattering protective wards. A mere scratch from one would allow the noxious essence to directly assault the Nascent Soul, severely draining its vital energy. Any cultivator at the Qi Refining stage struck by one was guaranteed death; they were, without question, utterly vicious, high-grade evil artifacts.

No sect claiming to be among the righteous cultivation schools would ever concoct such wicked implements. However, the Da Luo Sect prided itself on "Gathering all strange artifact refining techniques under heaven," meaning they undoubtedly possessed countless secret manuals for forging evil instruments. It was hardly surprising that some disciples with wicked intentions might attempt to create the most insidious artifacts.

It was not strange that Wei Ming, as the son of the Da Luo Sect’s Deputy Leader, possessed such an evil artifact. Today, he had no intention of letting a single Qing Dan Sect disciple escape, planning to prevent even their Nascent Souls from fleeing.

Ye Qin saw the dense swarm of black light hurtling toward him and was instantly startled. With no time to summon his flying sword, he frantically raised a low-grade spiritual artifact—the Fine Iron Shield—to block in front of him. Judging by the imposing power of the black projectiles, they were merely spiritual artifacts, and the possibility of shattering his Fine Iron Shield seemed low. To be safe, he not only activated his protective aura to full power but also held a mid-grade Flame Saber across his chest, prepared to intercept the dark onslaught.

Clang, clang!

The black nails struck the Fine Iron Shield, eliciting a rapid barrage of dense, metallic clinking sounds.

After only five or six sharp, booming collisions, half-inch-deep depressions had already marred the shield's surface, and massive cracks were spider-webbing across it. The ground was littered with the black, glistening nails. A close inspection would reveal solidified black grime from congealed dark blood coating them, radiating an intense aura of filth and gore. Even the Fine Iron Shield, after being struck, had acquired a layer of dark vapor clinging to its surface.

Ye Qin’s expression shifted. He didn't know what these black nails were, but he could clearly sense the fierce, noxious impurity emanating from them. He hastily tossed the now half-ruined, low-grade spiritual artifact onto the ground.

He swiftly brought the Flame Saber down in a (pī - cleaving) strike. The final three black nails were knocked to the ground.

This volley of black nails arrived quickly and vanished just as fast.

The Flame Saber suffered three nicks in its edge, and it too was unavoidably tainted with the dark vapor.

Ye Qin cursed and quickly discarded the Flame Saber, tossing the Profound Yin Sword high into the air. He concentrated his divine sense and poured his spiritual power into the small sword with full force.

The small sword rapidly expanded to nearly a foot long, radiating a dazzling blue light. He needed to dispatch these Da Luo Sect disciples before him at the fastest possible speed. Other than using his flying sword artifact, there was no other way. Only the most overwhelming offense could reverse the tide of the battle.

The short, thin, black-clad youth was extremely annoyed that his Nine Slaying Soul Hooks had been completely blocked by Ye Qin's spiritual shield and spiritual blade, failing to achieve their effect. He quickly patted his storage pouch at his waist and retrieved another high-grade spiritual artifact.

But just then, Wei Ming suddenly felt the oppressive might of a potent sword qi surging toward him from the opposite side. He snapped his head up and looked across, seeing a rapidly swirling sword light in mid-air. His expression changed drastically, and he cried out in shock.

"A flying sword!"

How could a mere common, blue-robed disciple of the Qing Dan Sect possess a true artifact?

The thin, black-clad youth had assumed his high-grade spiritual artifact would be enough to eliminate these Qing Dan Sect disciples, but he never imagined a regular disciple would wield a flying sword.

That sword light was incredibly fast. After ascending into the air, it immediately lunged toward the Da Luo Sect disciples.

The mine shaft was only a little over ten feet wide and high. To completely evade such a direct, charging flying sword in such a confined space was virtually impossible.

Only an artifact of equal standing could block a flying sword.

However, the thin youth had misjudged the situation; the weapon he held was merely the high-grade spiritual artifact, the Dark Light Sword. It was now too late to switch to a true artifact. A ferocious glare flashed in his eyes as he slapped the disciple standing next to him and shoved him forward.

"Senior Brother Wei, you—!"

The Da Luo Sect disciple, who had already been horrified upon seeing the rising blue flying sword and was turning to flee for his life, could not believe Wei Ming would suddenly use him as a human shield. He let out a loud cry of alarm.

Puff!

The blue sword light showed them no mercy. In a flash through the mine shaft, it pierced the disciple's protective light shield, blasting a gaping, bloody hole through his chest. The momentum of the blue sword light only slightly diminished before continuing toward the thin black-clad youth.

Wei Ming, unable to turn and flee, could only brace himself and fiercely hack out with the Dark Light Sword in his hand toward the blue sword light.

Crack!

The tip of the sword met the sword light.

The high-grade spiritual artifact, the Dark Light Sword, shattered inch by inch in Wei Ming’s grasp. He recoiled in horror, watching the flying sword stab toward his chest. His protective aura tore apart as if it were mere paper.

Wei Ming’s soul scattered in terror. He forcibly twisted his body to avoid the sword piercing his heart. Splat! After obliterating the Dark Light Sword, the flying sword ripped through Wei Ming’s protective shield and severed his arm. Its power finally exhausted, it stopped its trajectory, and Ye Qin beckoned it back.

Wei Ming, having barely escaped death, dared not linger. His face was deathly pale as he clutched his severed arm and hastily turned to flee. The two Da Luo Sect disciples trailing behind him were already running for their lives.

Shen Bao, Zhang Yunzi, and Old Man Kong, seeing that one of the four charging Da Luo Sect disciples was dead and the remaining three were fleeing in panic, were overjoyed. They wasted no time, each brandishing their spiritual artifacts and fiercely charging forward to buy Ye Qin time to launch his flying sword again.

The three from the Qing Dan Sect chased the three remaining Da Luo Sect members, engaging them and desperately holding them in place.

Screeech!

In a few breaths of time, an earth-shattering blue sword light soared up. One Da Luo Sect disciple failed to dodge in time and collapsed in a pool of blood.

After an incense stick's worth of bloody fighting, six corpses of Da Luo Sect disciples lay sprawled haphazardly throughout the mine shaft. Including Wei Ming, none managed to escape; they all perished under the flying sword.

It must be said that Wei Ming was unlucky to die. He actually had a chance to escape, but a common Da Luo Sect disciple, secretly resentful that Wei Ming had used a fellow disciple as a shield, gave him a sudden kick, sending Wei Ming tumbling to the rear. This allowed Shen Bao, who was rushing up, to engage him tightly, preventing his escape, and ultimately leading to his death by Ye Qin’s flying sword.

Only the three Da Luo Sect disciples who had remained at the very rear of the mine shaft managed to escape by sheer luck. They were locked in a desperate, bloody struggle with the Pangolin demon beasts when they saw another small squad of Da Luo Sect disciples returning in a devastating rout, hunted down by the Qing Dan Sect disciples with heavy casualties. An immediate sense of foreboding struck them. In their terror, they abandoned their fallen comrades' corpses and fled for their lives.

As for the five adult Pangolins, three were dead, one was severely wounded, and only the strongest Pangolin Beast King remained intact, though several scales had been knocked loose. It cried mournfully, picked up an injured cub in its jaws, and burrowed away.

Ye Qin recalled his flying sword and coldly surveyed the corpses of the Da Luo Sect disciples scattered around the mine shaft. He then approached the thin, black-clad youth and confiscated all the storage pouches and spiritual artifacts from Wei Ming's body.

Afterward, he moved to the side of the mine shaft and sat down to meditate, restoring his spiritual power.

Shen Bao, Zhang Yunzi, and Old Man Kong waited patiently until Ye Qin had taken one storage pouch before they each began to rummage through the remains of one or two Da Luo Sect disciples, collecting their storage pouches and any valuable items.

As for the contents of the pouches, it was a matter of luck. Those fortunate might find a few mid to low-grade spiritual artifacts; the unlucky would likely only find a few spirit stones or similar trinkets.

It was certain, however, that the contents of Wei Ming's storage pouch would be the best.

Ye Qin opened the storage pouch, and a small, glowing red gourd popped out, hovering in mid-air. He was immediately astonished and snatched the red gourd. This small gourd possessed strong spirituality; it kept twitching in his hand, seemingly desperate to escape his grasp.

"A true artifact!"

Shen Bao and the others watched, dumbfounded. Nothing other than a true artifact could hover on its own. Including this small gourd, Ye Qin now possessed two true artifacts.

Ye Qin paused for a moment, then hastily poured his spiritual power into the small red gourd, barely managing to control it and stop it from flying away. However, the gourd retained the lingering spiritual aura of Wei Ming. Until he completely purged Wei Ming’s essence, he would find it difficult to control the gourd perfectly with his divine sense, nor would he dare let it stray far, lest it fly off into the unknown by itself.

The Profound Yin Sword, on the other hand, caused no such worry. The spiritual power left by Zhao Qiankun had almost completely dissipated, becoming barely perceptible. With a mere thought from his divine sense, the Profound Yin Sword would return on its own.

Ye Qin held the small gourd, pondering for a while. He couldn't discern what material it was made of; it was incredibly tough, and like the Profound Yin Sword, it could change size. Based on his understanding of gourd-type spiritual artifacts, this was likely a low-grade support artifact, not something directly used for offense. It probably contained something inside—mist, demonic insects, or similar things.

He was unsure what exactly it held.

Ye Qin dared not test it casually by striking the gourd. What if it contained a swarm of poisonous insects? He knew no mental techniques for controlling such creatures, and if he couldn't restrain them, the situation would be disastrous.

He decided to keep it for now and focus on eliminating the red gourd's lingering spiritual aura first. Even without the demonic insects or mist inside, a true artifact—this red gourd itself—was already an immensely powerful item; spiritual-grade weapons stood no chance of harming it.

Shen Bao, Zhang, and Kong could only watch with envious admiration from the side. Both artifacts were in Ye Qin's hands, yet they dared not contest him. Any one of them challenging Ye Qin alone for the gourd would be courting death. But joining forces to seize it was too risky; a true artifact could only belong to one person. Who could truly trust the others' intentions?

Ye Qin was keenly aware of their gazes, which burned with nearly fanatical intensity. He gave a cold smile, hanging the small red gourd directly on his waist for immediate self-defense. With two true artifacts in hand—one offensive, one capable of acting as a "shield"—he now feared no one. (To be continued, for future events, please visit www**, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) First published.

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