After dropping an ancient, yellowed scroll onto the ground, Ye Qin didn't have the time to examine it closely, tucking it into his storage pouch.

Inside the massive cave lair where the Poison Corpse had hidden, there were now only seventeen or so cultivators from various sects. If these individuals were to sit down and divide the thirty-odd scrolls, each person could likely claim about two map scrolls.

However, it was impossible for the cultivators to simply sit down and divide them. Just as the major immortal cultivation sects would never deign to split spirit stones equally with minor ones, the cultivation world operated on strength. How many scrolls each cultivator obtained would depend entirely on their individual power and methods of seizing them.

These sixteen or seventeen cultivators had descended into utter madness vying for the map scrolls that spilled from the small box, willing to pay any price.

The more map scrolls one managed to seize, the more generous the rewards from their sect would be—rewards like Foundation Establishment Pills were virtually guaranteed.

Taking a single Foundation Establishment Pill offered only a ten percent chance of successfully establishing a foundation. Having two or three pills provided greater assurance, and possessing five or six made the prospect practically perfect. One extra Foundation Establishment Pill meant one more sliver of hope for successful foundation establishment.

Driven by this thought, the few cultivators charging at the front snatched handfuls of scrolls with blinding speed, eager to return and claim their rewards. Those lagging behind were frantic, attacking with reckless abandon to prevent the frontrunners from scooping up more.

Ye Qin felt a measure of unexpected joy and surprise at obtaining a scroll so easily.

Having secured one scroll, Ye Qin remained remarkably calm. He made no move to grab more, intending instead to leave.

After all, these scrolls dated back thousands of years from various immortal cultivation sects, pointing to vast spirit stone mine veins. For Ye Qin alone, the map scroll from any single sect would be sufficient for his needs. One map scroll was enough; possessing more held little significance for him.

He certainly wasn't planning to rely on these scrolls to trade with his sect for the reward of Foundation Establishment Pills.

With a map scroll secured, the pressure on Ye Qin immediately eased significantly. He swiftly scanned his surroundings, preparing to slip away before any other cultivator marked him as a target.

The great cave had erupted into chaos. Each of the cultivators leading the charge had snatched four or five scrolls in one go. Those who hadn't secured any scrolls refused to give up, relentlessly pursuing the others. Spells flew everywhere; every cultivator was locked in a frenzy of mutual assault over the scrolls.

The most ferocious among them were the yellow-robed cultivator and the gold-robed cultivator. With their magic artifacts in hand, few others present could match them. Since they had been slow to act and hadn't grabbed scrolls early, they could only resort to taking them from others. In the blink of an eye, two cultivators who had managed to secure several scrolls and were attempting to flee were killed by their artifacts.

Ye Qin inwardly shuddered, his scalp tingling. This kind of chaotic melee was the most dangerous place to be. No one knew who might suddenly attack them; they might die without even knowing why. Few cultivators would ultimately survive this place. He needed to leave immediately.

Just as he was about to depart, his gaze caught sight of a brightly shining jade slip in a corner of the cave. He paused, momentarily stunned. Besides the pile of scrolls, a jade slip had also fallen from that box. He didn't know its purpose, but it must be related to that Poison Corpse.

Ye Qin hesitated for a moment, then moved swiftly, intending to snatch up the jade slip and leave this turbulent, troublesome place at once.

Suddenly, a sharp warning flared in Ye Qin's mind, and he twisted his body, dodging a Zhang sideways. Several wind blades sliced through the exact spot where he had been standing moments before, striking the cave floor’s rock and kicking up dust and fragments.

A pockmarked cultivator, holding a spirit blade, landed swiftly in front of the jade slip, glaring fiercely at Ye Qin and sneering, "I'm taking this jade slip!" Those wind blades had been his doing.

Ye Qin cursed inwardly. After the map scrolls were snatched, even the jade slip had someone vying for it. He sized up the pockmarked cultivator: he was at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, similar in cultivation to Ye Qin, and held a high-grade spirit sword—likely a core disciple of some minor sect, possessing a touch of arrogance.

Without using a magic artifact, dispatching this pockmarked cultivator was achievable, though it would take time. But using an artifact would expose his ultimate trump card before these other cultivators. He preferred to use that trump card as sparingly as possible.

Ye Qin grit his teeth and decided to yield, letting the jade slip go. If he got into a fight with this pockmarked cultivator, he might never manage to leave. Any further delay could lead to unforeseen complications. Obtaining one map scroll was already his greatest gain. The jade slip was extraneous, something optional.

Seeing Ye Qin give up the jade slip so easily and even take a few steps back as a sign of concession, the pockmarked cultivator was slightly surprised. He noticed Ye Qin carried no spirit artifacts, only a storage pouch at his waist.

The pockmarked cultivator inwardly rejoiced. Being an experienced hand, he naturally recognized Ye Qin’s uniform as belonging to a Blue Pill Sect disciple.

This youth was clearly just an ordinary disciple from the Blue Pill Sect, incredibly weak, perhaps having lost all his spirit artifacts, forcing him to yield. If there was an easy advantage to be had, he wouldn't pass it up.

Thinking this, he immediately turned vicious: "Hand over the scrolls you have as well. Don't think I didn't see you charging ahead earlier; you had at least two or three scrolls in your hands. Open your storage bag and hand everything over, and then I'll consider letting you live."

Ye Qin felt a surge of cold anger, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes—courting death. He had already decided to surrender the jade slip and leave. But this pockmarked cultivator was clearly ignorant of the greater danger, presuming to covet his storage bag. If he got entangled with this man, the consequences would be endless. A swift resolution was necessary.

"You want to see what's in my storage bag? Then I'll show you!"

Qin sneered, slapping the storage pouch at his waist. A chillingly cold, blue object flew out—this small sword carved a perfect semicircle in mid-air, hovering effortlessly under his control.

"A Flying Sword!"

The pockmarked cultivator froze, his face twisting in horror. "Y-you... are you a high-ranking core disciple of the Blue Pill Sect?!"

In his shock, the pockmarked cultivator forgot about seizing the jade slip and quickly retreated, holding his high-grade spirit sword defensively before him, ready to fight to the death. He was merely a core disciple of a minor sect, not a top-tier core disciple from a deeply established background. Wielding a high-grade spirit artifact was his absolute limit; he dared not contend against those wielding true magic artifacts.

The pockmarked cultivator was filled with bitter regret, not even having the heart to weep. He had actually provoked a core disciple of the Blue Pill Sect. Why had this fellow, clearly a blue-robed disciple of the sect, disguised himself as an ordinary green-robed disciple? It had misled him!

Ye Qin granted him no chance to fight for his life.

The blue sword light rapidly circled the pockmarked cultivator.

The man, panicked, couldn't guard his front and back simultaneously, so he could only turn tail and flee desperately.

While fleeing, he discovered with horror that his protective shield behind him was being torn apart by the sword light. Then he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Puchi—his feet buckled, and he crashed to the ground, his eyes wide open in death.

A chill pierced through him.

The surrounding cultivators were engaged in their own ferocious fights and paid little attention to the exchange between Ye Qin and the pockmarked cultivator. Few noticed that there was now "one more" cultivator in the cave wielding a magic artifact.

Ye Qin coldly swept his gaze across the brawling cultivators, then quickly bent down to retrieve the jade slip that had fallen from the Poison Corpse’s small box.

Dozens of Zhang away from Ye Qin.

Old Man Kong, also from the Blue Pill Sect, was locked in a fierce struggle with a tall, thin middle-aged cultivator, fighting over a single scroll. This tall, thin cultivator also seemed to be of ordinary background, financially strapped, wielding a mid-grade spirit artifact as he fought Old Man Kong.

Old Man Kong had initially hidden behind Ye Qin. When everyone scrambled for scrolls, he was too slow to act and failed to grab anything. He was forced to fix his fanatical gaze on the other cultivators. Among the dozen or so people in the cave, this tall, thin cultivator looked the weakest, and since he already possessed a scroll, it was natural to pick on the softer target.

"Hurry up and hand over that scroll!"

Old Man Kong, gaining a slight edge in the fight with the tall, thin cultivator, roared excitedly. Although they were both relatively weaker cultivators, his spirit artifact was far superior to the other man's, and he was wealthier in resources, possessing many talismans as well.

The tall, thin cultivator was pinned down by Old Man Kong, unable to escape, and cursed incoherently: "Pah! You shameless wretch! What skill is there in stealing mine? If you want a scroll, go steal from someone else! Others have plenty!"

"I'll steal yours, so what of it!"

Old Man Kong's face was ferocious. He gritted his teeth and violently hurled a mid-grade Fire Element Talisman worth dozens of spirit stones. A ferocious fire bird materialized out of thin air and lunged toward the tall, thin cultivator.

The tall, thin cultivator couldn't dodge in time. With a loud boom, he was blasted half a Zhang away by the fire bird, crashing to the ground, his protective aura significantly dimmed. This fierce blow had drained a great deal of the cultivator's spiritual power.

Old Man Kong immediately pounced, thrusting his low-grade Gold Element Spirit Sword. The tall, thin cultivator’s fragile protective shield could no longer withstand the sharp edge of the gold spirit sword. Puchi—the man screamed faintly and was pinned to the ground.

Old Man Kong ignored him, hastily searching the corpse.

But he found nothing in the storage bag. He immediately grew anxious. He clearly saw this cultivator pick up a scroll. Where was it hidden?

After rummaging for a short while, he pried open the tall, thin cultivator's mouth and pulled out a scroll.

Old Man Kong's hand trembled violently.

His hand grasped the incredibly precious yellow map scroll. He quickly injected his spiritual power into it, and soon, a miniature phantom image of a mine vein materialized, clearly showing the direction of the spirit stone mine and the distribution of the spirit stone deposits—this was a map to a minor immortal cultivation sect’s mine. Bringing this back to the sect would definitely earn him a Foundation Establishment Pill.

"I found a map scroll, haha!"

Old Man Kong held the scroll, tears almost flowing down his face. Thirty years. He had entered the Blue Pill Sect in his youth, holding a low position, forced to work as a menial laborer. Thirty years flew by, and in his old age, he still hadn't obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Foundation establishment was becoming increasingly remote; next year, he was due to be swept out of the sect gates and off the Blue Pill Mountain Range.

This time, he had risked his life to join this cave trial, not holding much hope of getting a Foundation Establishment Pill. But heaven had favored him! Heaven had destined him to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator! Once successfully established, he would gain another hundred years of lifespan; at sixty, he was still very young.

"Hahaha!"

Old Man Kong threw his head back, his eyes streaming with tears, unable to stop himself from gesticulating wildly and laughing aloud.

Puchi!

A sharp golden beam pierced through Old Man Kong’s chest.

Old Man Kong stared in bewildered shock at the large hole appearing in his chest. The smile froze on his face, and he tumbled to the ground.

A tall, slender golden figure drifted down unhurriedly beside Old Man Kong. Gazing at the man's frozen smile, the figure sneered with disdain, "A mere Blue Pill Sect mongrel, dreaming sweet dreams!"

----－ November 1st, asking for one monthly ticket! (To be continued, for further developments, please log onto wwwidiancomm, more chapters available to support the author and legitimate reading!) First published.