Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Yang Qingxuan's face darkened.

Two of the three key players have left, putting immense pressure on the remaining six.

He had two choices: give up and regroup to try again, or grit his teeth and continue, taking down the Dharma body in one fell swoop.

But he had no choice. He came with a mission from a Nascent Soul True Monarch. If he couldn't succeed, the Taixu Pavilion wouldn't give him another chance.

Master Qianqiu and that body cultivator came to lend a hand; without external pressure, they could leave whenever they wanted.

Things had gone too smoothly before, which made him careless, and now he's been thoroughly outmaneuvered by these two.

It's true that Master Qianqiu cleansed up those Core Formation cultivators to avenge the souls of the Heavenly Fire, but it's also true that he wanted to lull them into a false sense of security. Upholding justice and righteousness is one thing, but why should Yang Qingxuan be able to use righteousness to coerce them?

There was no such logic to it. They wanted justice and fairness, and they also wanted resources and spiritual objects. They were certain that Yang Qingxuan could not be given up, so they decisively seized this opportunity.

Yang Qingxuan took a deep breath.

He bit his tongue, spitting his blood onto the sword. The four-foot-long sword was entirely silver-white, its edges so thin they were almost transparent. Now, stained red with his blood, fine blood-red patterns appeared on its surface.

He poured all his magic power into the sword, causing it to tremble and transform into a hundred-foot-long sword, releasing a terrifying aura, like some ancient behemoth awakening from its slumber.

A hundred-foot-long sword shot out, emitting a piercing sword cry that echoed for miles.

Wherever the longsword passed, space was slightly distorted. Its speed was so fast that it seemed to ignore distance, and it arrived in front of the Dharma body in the blink of an eye.

This was a sword strike unleashed at full power, its strength already approaching the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage.

The Jade Yang Fire Fiend Dharma Body sensed a deadly threat, and its remaining spiritual power surged wildly, condensing layer upon layer of scorching barriers in front of it. The crimson-gold light curtains overlapped, like vertical mirrors.

The first layer crumbled, the third layer, the fifth layer—all barriers were like paper before the sword light, collapsing at the slightest touch.

The illusory image of the Dharma reappeared, blocking the sword light, but only lasted for three breaths.

Three breaths later, the Dharma form shattered once more.

The silvery-white sword pierced through the body of the Dharma Body, which was dozens of feet tall, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Sword energy exploded from the sword, and countless sword energies surged and crashed within the body, cutting and strangling.

In the sky, True Lord Taixu let out a cold snort, which pierced through the battlefield for hundreds of miles, like a muffled hammer blow to everyone's chest.

The divine sense of the True Lord of the Void suddenly poured into the Dharma Body, and the Dharma Body's hands suddenly clasped together, tightly gripping the fourth-order magic weapon.

Then it began to shrink, forty feet, twenty feet, ten feet—all the spiritual energy collapsed inward, like a blazing sun about to explode. Yang Qingxuan's pupils shrank sharply. He tried to draw his sword, but couldn't; his Dharma body exploded.

A crimson-gold light wave exploded from the location of the Dharma body, forming a terrifying energy storm that swept across hundreds of miles. Wherever the light wave passed, everything was annihilated—rocks turned to dust, fire mist was torn apart, and even the air was sucked away.

Within a hundred miles, three late-stage Core Formation cultivators were caught off guard and engulfed by the light wave. Before they could even scream, their domains shattered, their bodies disintegrated, their golden cores exploded, and three beams of spiritual light shot into the sky—before extinguishing.

Yang Qingxuan spat out a mouthful of blood.

His consciousness was connected to a fourth-tier magic weapon. When his Dharma body self-destructed, the destructive power rebounded through his consciousness, severely damaging it as well.

He had already suffered considerable injuries from forcibly activating the magic weapon, and the price of burning his life essence had not yet been paid off; now he had been hit again.

He forcibly recalled the fourth-tier magic weapon, held it in his hand, and looked down—there were several fine cracks on the sword, spreading like a spider web to the tip.

He can't use the fourth-tier magic weapon for now; it will take at least a hundred years to recover.

The Jade Yang Fire Fiend Dharma Body exploded, but it didn't leave nothing behind.

Crimson-gold specks of light scattered in all directions from the explosion's epicenter, like a meteor shower. These were spiritual entities formed from the remaining power of the Dharma Body.

Although they are not fourth-tier, each one is equivalent to a third-tier spiritual item.

Dozens of trails were scattered across the battlefield, which spanned hundreds of miles.

The battle broke out again.

The remaining six Core Formation experts no longer joined forces and became rivals to each other.

Domains of law clashed with domains of law, magical artifacts clashed with magical artifacts, and spiritual light rose and fell on the ruins.

Half an hour later, two more Core Formation cultivators perished.

On the battlefield, only four Core Formation cultivators remained.

The group consisted of True Man Qianqiu, the body cultivator, Yang Qingxuan, and another Core Formation Peak cultivator who joined forces with Yang Qingxuan.

Yang Qingxuan could have gotten the lion's share of the spoils after the battle thanks to his fourth-tier magic weapon.

However, he was tricked by the two, which caused him to be unable to use his fourth-tier magic weapon and he was also seriously injured, while the opposing Master Qianqiu and the body cultivator were in perfect condition.

In the end, despite his best efforts, he only managed to grab a little over 20%.

Master Qianqiu took nearly four layers and more than ten third-tier spiritual items into his pocket, his expression unchanged, as if he had done something insignificant.

Yang Qingxuan's face was very grim. The five powerful Core Formation cultivators who had died were all intricately connected with Tongming Immortal City.

The Dharma Body was destroyed in this campaign, and the Taixu Pavilion suffered heavy losses. The situation in Tongming Immortal City was not much better.

As for his dream of cultivating a Nascent Soul—looking at the cracks on the sword, it seems unlikely to happen.

"Is this how the Holy Sect operates?" His voice was low, but every word was barbed. "Deserting in the face of battle, taking advantage of the chaos, and plundering the spoils of war from Tongming Immortal City?"

Master Qianqiu snorted coldly. The snort wasn't loud, but Yang Qingxuan's face paled slightly.

"You are not qualified to interfere in how the Holy Ancestor acts."

Master Qianqiu looked at him with a calm gaze, as if he were looking at a stone. "But is Tongming Immortal City truly innocent in this matter? What is the background of the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce? Does Tongming Immortal City need to explain?"

Yang Qingxuan was speechless.

The Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce appears to be a normal chamber of commerce, but its true background is an old-established alliance of thieves in the border region, with a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge. These thieves launder the resources they steal through the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce and distribute them to various parts of the Tongming Domain.

Tongming Immortal City didn't know? Nobody would believe it. They just tacitly approved, and now that something's happened, tacit approval is tantamount to condoning it.

The formation of the Core Formation stage by the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce was the trigger for this disaster, but Tongming Immortal City couldn't bring this fact to the forefront, because if they investigated further, they would be the first to be implicated.

Although Tongming Immortal City harbored resentment, it could only cover up the truth for the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce.

The three strongest merchant guilds in the Tongming Domain are not to be underestimated. The true background of the Bihai Merchant Guild is the outer sea power of Bihai Immortal City in the Endless Demon Sea.

The Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce is located in a remote, desolate area, and is used by the Nascent Soul Tribulation Cultivator Alliance to dispose of stolen goods.

The Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce is a force in another Golden Jade Immortal City in Yunzhou. It unifies the entire region and its power is even greater than that of Tongming Immortal City.

That body cultivator was from the Golden Jade Merchant Guild, and naturally wouldn't let the opportunity to swindle the Nine Cauldrons Merchant Guild slip by.