Mortal: Starting by looting Han Laomo's entire herb garden

With a flap of its wings, the Phantom Phoenix Sparrow's flames surged around it, making it resemble a small sun suspended in mid-air.

The serpent, halfway through its charge, suddenly let out a sharp hiss and abruptly stopped, as if it had encountered a natural enemy and dared not advance.

The woman surnamed Mu's expression changed slightly. Before she could react, three golden bolts of lightning flew from Lu Yan's palm, instantly striking the three magical treasures.

As lightning swept across, the three magical artifacts exploded simultaneously, scattering fragments everywhere.

The woman surnamed Mu's expression changed drastically, and she then spat out a mouthful of blood.

Her three magical treasures were destroyed in a single encounter.

The Demon-Crowned Serpent hesitated to step forward, showing none of the imposing presence of a sixth-tier demon beast.

She had cultivated her poison skills for over a hundred years and had never encountered such a nemesis.

"Fellow Daoist Yun! Fellow Daoist Ku!" Her voice finally lost its previous composure: "This boy is troublesome! His spirit beast is a perfect counter to my poison techniques, why aren't you making a move!"

Yun Tianxiao's face turned ashen. Before he could even move, the old man from Qingyang Sect had already stepped forward.

"Die!" he shouted coldly, his murderous aura surging.

The malevolent aura was so intense it almost solidified, transforming into a gigantic gray ghost claw that slashed down at Lu Yan's head.

Wherever the ghostly claws passed, the air turned grayish-black, and the wooden planks on the deck creaked as they were corroded by the malevolent energy.

Lu Yan looked up and met the Nine Heavens Hammer with his own.

boom!

Golden lightning collided with the ghostly claw, shattering it into pieces and scattering its malevolent energy in all directions.

The old man burst forth from the shards, wielding a long, black sword. The blade was wreathed in a dense aura of malevolence, and with a single slash, he struck with the force of splitting a mountain.

Lu Yan remained silent, channeling his spiritual power into the Nine Heavens Heaven-Slaying Hammer. Golden lightning flashed as he swung the hammer forward to meet the attack.

Huan Gu Jin Lei.

The old man's pupils contracted sharply the instant the sword and hammer clashed. The moment the golden lightning touched the longsword, the murderous aura on the blade melted away instantly, like snow exposed to the blazing sun.

The blade shattered inch by inch, turning into ashes.

Golden lightning pierced through the shattered blade, through his protective aura, and struck his chest directly.

The moment the old man came into contact with the lightning, it felt as if he had been burned from the inside out.

His skin, flesh, bones, and the malevolent energy he had cultivated for hundreds of years all evaporated in the same instant.

There were no screams, no struggles, only a cloud of grayish-white powder drifting away from where he stood.

The wind blew, and nothing was left.

A deathly silence fell over the sea.

Yun Tianxiao's mouth gaped open. The two iron pills in his hand had stopped moving at some point, and the fat on his face trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Xingzhou was overjoyed; he hadn't expected Nie Feng to be so powerful.

Lu Yan waved his hand, and a storage bag flew out from the ashes, landing in his palm. He probed it with his divine sense; it contained approximately eight thousand spirit stones and a few magic treasures, though of average quality.

What caught his attention were two beads and a fragment of a map inside.

Azure fire and thunder, a fragmented map of the void.

He put his things away and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the old man cultivated baleful energy, which was precisely what I could suppress, preventing him from using the Azure Fire Thunder. Otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome.

Yun Tianxiao's face turned pale, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"Fellow Daoist Nie," he forced a smile, but his voice was somewhat dry, "Today's matter is a private affair between Young Master Wen and the Jiang family. Since Fellow Daoist Nie wishes to protect Young Master Jiang, then I will give Fellow Daoist Nie face. The matter of the Jiao Yuan Pearl can be discussed another day."

He took half a step back, then another half step back, his round body beginning to move towards the stern of the boat.

Lu Yan glanced at him and suddenly smiled.

"Fellow Daoist Yun, please wait."

Yun Tianxiao paused, his smile freezing on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Nie, is there anything else you would like to instruct me on?"

Lu Yan weighed the Nine Heavens Heaven-Slaying Hammer in his hand, crackling with lightning, and said in a very calm tone: "My storage bag is still on you. Fellow Daoist Yun, are you just going to leave like this?"

Yun Tianxiao was taken aback. He looked down at the storage bag hanging from his waist, then looked up at Lu Yan, his face full of confusion: "Fellow Daoist Nie's storage bag? When did I take anything from Fellow Daoist Nie?"

Lu Yan didn't speak, he just looked at him.

The bewilderment on Yun Tianxiao's face slowly turned into disbelief; his fat jiggled and his lips trembled.

He finally realized that what this person wanted wasn't a storage bag, but his life and everything he owned.

"you……"

Before he could finish speaking, a silver needle flew out from Lu Yan's sleeve.

The needles were as fine as hairs, entirely silver-white, and swelled in the wind, transforming into a rain of needles that blanketed the sky and covered Yun Tianxiao's direction.

Talisman Treasure, the Void-Slaying God Needle.

Yun Tianxiao's expression changed drastically, and he clapped his hands repeatedly, setting up three layers of defense.

The first protective aura shattered.

The second bronze shield shattered.

The light shield formed by the third talisman also shattered.

The needles pierced through his body, entering from his chest and exiting from his back, leaving behind more than a dozen streaks of blood.

The two Core Formation cannon fodder beside him didn't even have time to react. One was pinned to the ship's side by a rain of needles, and the other had just taken out a magical artifact from his storage bag when he was pierced through the chest by more than a dozen needles at the same time. Before the artifact could even light up, it fell onto the deck.

The three men fell almost simultaneously, leaving three blood-covered corpses on the deck.

On the seven or eight ships opposite, the dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators who witnessed this scene were terrified and turned to run away.

Before the spirit boat could turn around, someone jumped directly into the sea, and various colored lights scattered and fled.

Lu Yan glanced at it and patted the black dragon's head.

The black dragon soared into the air, a flash of silver light, and gave chase. It circled once above the sea, then opened its mouth and spewed out a large cloud of purple poisonous mist.

The poisonous fog covered half the sea. The Foundation Establishment cultivators who were fleeing were touched by the fog and fell from the sky with screams, disappearing into the sea without a sound. Seven or eight ships, dozens of people, not one of them escaped.

The black dragon flew back, proudly raised its head, and called out to Lu Yan.

A sea breeze blew, and the stench of blood filled the air.

The woman surnamed Mu looked pale as she stared at Yun Tianxiao's corpse, her throat tightening.

"Fellow Daoist Nie," her voice was hoarse, with a hint of pleading, "I am from Holy Demon Island. Today's events were due to my ignorance. Fellow Daoist Nie, please spare my life, and I swear I will never seek revenge again."

Lu Yan looked at her, seemingly considering it.

Fairy Mu was overjoyed and quickly added, "I can swear an oath to my inner demons that I will never tell anyone what happened today. Holy Demon Island will not cause trouble for Fellow Daoist Nie."

"Saint Demon Island?" Lu Yan interrupted her, his tone indifferent: "I still think that the dead are better at keeping secrets."

The pleading expression on the woman's face froze instantly.

A small, crimson mirror flew out from Lu Yan's sleeve. Its surface was as smooth as blood, with faint flames flickering within it.

Fire Mirror.

As spiritual energy was injected, the mirror shone with a crimson light, illuminating Fairy Mu.

Fairy Mu let out a miserable scream.

The light fell on her, and her clothes, skin, and hair all caught fire at the same time.

In less than three breaths, only a clump of ashes remained on the deck.

Without its master's restraint, the Demon Crown Serpent hissed and turned to flee.

The phoenix chirped and chased after it, spitting out a mouthful of flame. The demon-crowned serpent twisted a few times in the fire and then stopped moving.

The phoenix flew back carrying the snake carcass, tossed the snake in front of him as if to claim credit.

Lu Yan glanced at it; it was a sixth-tier demonic crown serpent, its body covered in venom.

"Here you go. Eat it, and you should advance to the next level."

The phoenix chirped softly, its joy evident, and began to eat.

Lu Yan picked up the storage bags from Yun Tianxiao and the two burly men in black from the ground, and also took the storage bag from the ashes left by the woman surnamed Mu.

He probed with his divine sense and quickly scanned the area. There were quite a few spirit stones, several magical artifacts, and some other miscellaneous items, but he was too lazy to look at them in detail.

He put them away and turned to look at Xie Changyuan.