Chapter 168: Anti-Spirit Mortal Weapon
The cultivation of the male rogue cultivator in front of him was extremely obscure. If one did not sense carefully, they might subconsciously ignore him.
This situation was obvious at a glance that it had been concealed by the aura concealment spell.
To most rogue cultivators, the best way to protect themselves was to hide themselves.
Therefore, concealing aura, disguising appearance, and changing clothes were typical rogue cultivator behaviors.
However, because they did not have a fixed inheritance, the spells they usually used were all pieced together. It was fine as long as they could be used.
The grades of such spell techniques were naturally not very high, and it was very easy to see flaws.
For example, although the person in front of him had concealed his cultivation level, the traces were very obvious. After being discovered to have used the aura concealment technique, it was easy to raise vigilance, so it was very difficult to make people look down on him and let their guard down.
Even the aura concealment technique that Jiang Li had casually learned had a better effect than his. Jiang Li could even use his internal martial arts cultivation to confuse his enemies.
At the very least, it was easy to cheat a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The female ghost, Qin Shuman, could vouch for him.
“Greetings, Lord First Rank. It is my, Wu s.h.i.+’s, honor to be able to fight on the same stage as you, Lord Jiang Li.”
This person seemed to be called Wu s.h.i.+.
Jiang Li had a slight impression of this name. When he was waiting for the opening ceremony earlier, his fellow disciples had been introducing him to those formidable Qi Refinement cultivators.
He had probably explained Wu s.h.i.+’s information to Jiang Li before, but there was too much information and Jiang Li did not listen carefully, so he was slightly unable to remember it now.
When he saw Jiang Li ascend the stairs, Wu s.h.i.+ had bowed since the beginning, and his att.i.tude seemed to be extremely respectful.
The clothes he wore were slightly different from the rogue cultivators in Jiang Li’s impression. There were no bulging bags stuffed everywhere. Instead, his light clothes looked a little elegant.
The other party was not a disciple of the top four sects, so he naturally did not have the qualifications to address Jiang Li as senior and junior like the disciples of the four great sects. Instead, he politely and respectfully called Jiang Li “Lord First Rank.”
This was the first time Jiang Li had heard someone address him as such. It had to be said that all the rogue cultivators were talented and well-spoken. If it was not for the fact that they were generally not doing well, Jiang Li would have had the dream of being a free rogue cultivator.
Jiang Li also noticed that this flight of steps was obviously much cleaner than the previous steps, and there was actually a broom made of palm fronds beside Wu s.h.i.+.
He had actually swept the ground in advance to welcome Jiang Li… it was simply unbelievable.
Jiang Li’s face twitched. He was a little surprised by this weird start, but he still walked steadily to the other party.
Only then did the rogue cultivator, Wu s.h.i.+, finally straighten his back. However, he still spoke incessantly about his admiration and reverence for Jiang Li.
He said that the sect he wanted to join the most was the Scripture Storage Valley. It was just that he always suffered from having no recommendations, so he could only waste his time as a rogue cultivator.
He also said that he had never thought of winning this time’s arena challenge and only hoped to display himself in front of Jiang Li. The chance to enter the Scripture Storage Valley was his greatest hope.
Wu s.h.i.+ spoke with deep emotions and logic, it seemed to be flawless.
However, this kind of enthusiasm made Jiang Li inexplicably recall the experience of being chased by a credit card promoter in his previous life.
If it was an ordinary thirteen or fourteen-year-old youth, after such a round of compliments, they would have long become complacent and arrogant.
However, in his previous life, the overwhelming number of scams and dubious sales made Jiang Li sharpen a questioning mind.
In this situation and facing such eloquence, it made him wary.
This was a rogue cultivator that he did not personally know. The credibility of his words was probably not high.
It had always been the style of rogue cultivators to act respectful and polite in front of him while having evil intentions behind his back.
When he was in the Scripture Storage Valley’s Cultivation Hall, the Lecture Elder had repeatedly warned him not to easily trust a rogue cultivator. They would always stab him in the back.
Of course, it was not that Jiang Li felt their actions were wrong. On the path of cultivation, rogue cultivators had no resources, no background, and it was even difficult to find a cave abode suitable for cultivation.
In order to walk further on this path, they naturally developed all kinds of profit-based habits.
“Sir Wu s.h.i.+ is too polite. You can just call me Jiang Li. It’s all luck that I got first place.”
“In addition, the Scripture Storage Valley is a united and stable family. We welcome all those with ambitions to join us. Don’t worry.”
The Scripture Storage Valley originated from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. The conditions for foreign rogue cultivators to join was much easier.
Elder Lin Fengying, who had taught Jiang Li many things, joined the Scripture Storage Valley midway after offering up her family’s legacy.
“Thank you for explaining, Lord First Rank. Please come in. This lowly one was presumptuous to ask you for guidance. Lord, please show mercy.”
After saying so much, the many cultivators watching the show outside grew impatient.
Wu s.h.i.+ bowed again and led the way.
His solicitous actions and words easily made people let down their guard.
However, the rogue cultivator was two steps behind. His eyes flashed with a hint of smugness.
These arrogant sect cultivators were really gullible. As long as he praised them, they would forget their safety.
They had often died at his hands because of this arrogance!
Jiang Li had just taken a step into the ring when a pitch-black sharp blade silently stabbed at his waist.
It was a black dagger with a strange green l.u.s.ter on its surface.
The two of them stood extremely close to each other and Wu s.h.i.+’s attack was extremely swift. This sword was directly stabbed into Jiang Li’s lower back.
The elder of the Cultivation Hall did not lie to him. When he said that rogue cultivators would stab them in the back, he meant it literally.
Judging from the color, the short sword was obviously covered in poison. It was not surprising for a weapon held by a rogue cultivator.
The cost of applying poison was not high and the effect was good. As long as he applied a few drops on the sword, the threat of the weapon in his hand would be greatly increased.
It was cheap and useful, and could be said to be a must-have for travelers.
However, Jiang Li seemed as if he did not see this strike. He did not dodge at all and allowed his opponent’s trick to succeed.
Ding!
The pitch-black short sword pierced through the layer of spiritual qi barrier formed by his Lake Heart Earrings, and then it was blocked by the metal-like Anti-Demon Golden Skin. After letting out a light sound, it stopped.
Huh?
Jiang Li was a little surprised when he felt the coolness of the blade.
This strike could not even force out Jiang Li’s Armament Hard Skin or Overlord Body Art, so it was still far from being a threat to him.
However, it easily pierced through the outer layer of his Lake Heart Protection.
It had to be known that this status was a spiritual qi defense that even late-stage Foundation Establishment attacks could not easily break through. Moreover, it had the ability to spread out damage and was quite an effective counter to sharp weapons like swords.
Naturally, to the current Jiang Li, this level of defense could barely be useful.
However, to an ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivator, this defense should be an insurmountable chasm.
However, this natural barrier that filled Jiang Li with confidence was directly broken by a short sword. In fact, the short sword did not show any spiritual qi fluctuation from the beginning to the end.
This was a little exaggerated.
His first reaction was that he really could not underestimate the heroes of the world.
The second reaction was that there was definitely something wrong with the short sword!
Jiang Li turned around in surprise and grabbed it with his hand.
On the other hand, the other party revealed a horrified expression. Ever since he obtained this short sword after narrowly escaping death, he had almost always been successful in breaking through defenses and poisoning the enemies.
Unexpectedly, he actually encountered a monster in this compet.i.tion. His sword strike that was filled with confidence was actually unable to pierce through Jiang Li’s skin.
Wu s.h.i.+ was greatly shocked when he faced Jiang Li’s outstretched palm, and he hurriedly begged for mercy.
“Spare me!”
The killing blow did not succeed so the rogue cultivator was already panicking.
When he saw Jiang Li stretch out his hand to grab at him, how could he dare resist head-on? After shouting loudly, he swiftly flashed towards the side of the combat ring.
However, three seconds pa.s.sed and Jiang Li’s attack still did not arrive.
That rogue cultivator, Wu s.h.i.+, looked at Jiang Li with a puzzled expression, but he noticed that Jiang Li utterly disregarded him. Instead, he held a slightly familiar short sword in his hand and was studying it excitedly.
Wu s.h.i.+ was stunned. He looked at the ace weapon in his hand. It was actually gone!
Only then did he recall that Jiang Li’s hand earlier had not grabbed at him, but was aiming at this short sword from the beginning.
The rogue cultivator Wu s.h.i.+’s eyes reddened. He knew about his own situation. He was actually not that special among the rogue cultivators.
It was only by relying on this short sword that could break the spiritual qi defense that he was able to gradually thrive and make a name for himself in this distinguished compet.i.tion.
If he did not have this short sword, not to mention getting a decent ranking to enter a famous sect, it was unknown if he could still maintain his former status among the rogue cultivators after the compet.i.tion ended.
“Give it back to me! Lord Jiang Li, that short sword was left behind by my father, and it’s not an artifact. It’s only an item from the mortal world, please return it to me.”
That rogue cultivator, Wu s.h.i.+, was very agitated on the surface, but his thoughts were clearly a little naive. After Jiang Li grabbed it, this weapon was basically destined to be with him from now on.
How could such an obvious lie affect him?
Demon Awakening! Plant Army!
He casually threw out a handful of beans and used a large amount of spiritual qi to turn them into green wooden soldiers two meters tall.
These wooden soldiers held sabers and s.h.i.+elds, forming a formation as they attacked their opponent.
Cultivators with good knowledge could tell that the spiritual qi fluctuations on these wooden soldiers were not low. After a rough estimate, each of them was no weaker than the late-stage Qi Refinement realm.
This was the result of Jiang Li restraining himself. With his current Nine Nether spiritual qi, it was very easy for him to send out 20 Foundation Establishment Wood Demons.
Regarding this, the low-level cultivators at the foot of the mountain only watched the show. However, the group of sect elders in the sky saw through the trick.
“Senior Brother He… I thought your disciple was a body cultivator?”
The expressions of the two Head Elders of the Rejuvenation Hall and the Foreign Affairs Hall were a little strange.
Jiang Li who was called the “New Generation King of the Scripture Storage Valley” in the sect displayed his shocking body cultivation strength in the sect martial arts compet.i.tion.
Fighting a Foundation Establishment Cultivator with Qi Refinement cultivation was not unprecedented, but he was definitely an astonis.h.i.+ng super genius.
Due to the serious injuries he had suffered previously, his body cultivation strength was believed to have been greatly reduced. When he encountered the Abstinence Monk of Benevolent Travel Temple last round, many people broke out in a cold sweat.
Even though Jiang Li had won, he had changed his usual bold and powerful combat style, and he had utilized his speed and dexterity to seize the opportunity to defeat his opponent.
In the eyes of those who were concerned, they were naturally even more certain that his body had indeed been greatly affected by the previous attack.
If he met another powerful enemy later, this weakness would be exposed soon.
However, they did not expect that at this moment, this Scripture Storage Valley’s New Generation Iron Fist King would reveal a similarly exaggerated proficiency in spells.
With just this plant army alone, not many of the cultivators present could match him.
“Martial Uncle He, don’t tell me that even you don’t know Junior Brother Jiang’s Dao Technique?”
Chu Yunxuan looked at Elder He’s similarly confused expression and already guessed the answer, but he still could not help but ask.
“I mean… I’ve never taught him anything regarding Qi Refinement…”
Elder He scratched his bald head. While he felt a little embarra.s.sed, he was also overjoyed.
“As expected of my disciple! Impressive!”
Everyone was speechless…
In the ring, twenty Wood Demon soldiers lined up and attacked the other party.
After losing the special Anti-Spirit Short Sword, the rogue cultivator Wu s.h.i.+’s strength was greatly reduced.
He could not even defeat an ordinary wooden soldier. If there were twenty of them, it would be equivalent to taking his life!
He was driven to a state of chaos in the arena, and he fled all over the place. Not to mention counterattacking Jiang Li, being able to maintain himself from being thrown off the arena was already his extraordinary display.
When he looked at Jiang Li, this guy was studying the short sword by the side.
[Name: Poisoned Black Sword]
[Type: Weapon]
[Grade: None]
[Status: Damaged, Poisoned Surface]
[Material: Unknown]
[Note: It seems quite ancient.]
Jiang Li touched the b.u.mpy marks on the sword, feeling surprised.
This short sword had once been extremely rusty. It had only become like this after being polished by someone.
The runes and spirit patterns that might have once existed on it had long disappeared. Now, there was not even the slightest spiritual qi on it.
However, it was precisely because of this that Jiang Li felt even more curious.
A short sword that could not even store any spiritual qi could not be called an artifact by the standards of the cultivation world. It could only be considered a mortal weapon.
However, such a mortal weapon could easily pierce through a Foundation Establishment-level barrier!
If it was not the weak poison that was applied to the surface of the sword, then it should be the material used to forge this sword.
This guy was really lucky to have picked up such a treasure.
This was just like Jiang Li’s original intention when he opened the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn. Never look down on small figures. In the hands of these small figures, there might be a powerful tool that could change the world.
Of course, such a good thing should still be obtained by a virtuous person like Jiang Li.
Jiang Li quietly put the short sword into his bosom. His expression was calm.
In the eyes of outsiders, they had no way of determining how strong the defense of a protective s.h.i.+eld formed from his cheat was.
In their opinion, it was just that the rogue cultivator was stupid enough to use a mortal weapon to attack Jiang Li. After that, he naturally did not break through Jiang Li’s defense and was immediately pursued by Jiang Li with a spell technique.
Naturally, they would not notice the dagger in his hand.
The cultivators were more concerned about the stupidity of the rogue cultivator and the wasteful use of Jiang Li’s spell technique.
From the perspective of normal combat, five wooden soldiers of this level were enough to deal with such a guy. There was no need to waste spiritual qi like this when he had to face continuous battles later.
If his spiritual qi was exhausted, wouldn’t he be at the mercy of the others?
The rogue cultivator was still fleeing for his life under the pursuit of the twenty wooden soldiers.
However, he seemed to have run out of tricks. Under the pursuit of the wooden soldiers, his injuries kept increasing.
Jiang Li’s eyes flickered as he noticed that on the other party’s wrist was a wristband of the same color as the dagger.
With a thought, he got twenty wooden soldiers to rush up and knock him out before throwing him out of the ring.
At the same time, the wristband vanished from his hand.
Jiang Li naturally did not believe in the nonsense of the other party that this was his father’s legacy.
There was a greater possibility that such an ancient product of the same material came from an ancient ruin.
After the appearance of a large ruin like the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm, this kind of fortuitous encounter that depended on luck became extremely popular in the cultivation world.
What if he really found a legacy site? He would be able to rise up and build a rich sect of his own!
Such a great opportunity could nearly satisfy all the desires of a cultivator.
Even Jiang Li was no exception to this point.
After all, just look at the help that the Spiritual Root Branch brought him.
If he could encounter another great opportunity, it would suit a person with a cheat like him.