Crow Immortal: I Can Duplicate Infinite Resources

“You!”

The Supreme Elder’s eyes bulged with rage as he glared at Ke Yuan.

The green vine in his hand transformed into a blur of lashing shadows, whipping violently toward Ke Yuan’s skull.

Ke Yuan had anticipated this. Although both were at the Golden Core stage, the Supreme Elder of Wanchun Valley possessed far greater seniority and deeper cultivation. If Ke Yuan got greedy and tried to counterattack, he would likely end up dragging them both into the grave.

In that split second, unable even to recall his flying sword, Ke Yuan abandoned dignity and propelled himself backward.

Without his sword, relying solely on his Golden Core cultivation for flight made him significantly sluggish.

Gritting his teeth, the Supreme Elder forcefully surged his magical power, sending another vine-whip cracking through the air.

Simultaneously, Sect Leader Qi roared, “How dare you, thief!”

He swung the green jade gourd around. From its mouth, a palm-sized sphere shot out, covered in runic script and crackling with volatile electric light.

“Save me!”

The moment Ke Yuan saw the arcs of lightning dancing across the sphere, he shrieked in terror.

It was Wanchun Valley’s secret weapon: the Green Wood Thunder Pill. If the vine whip and the Thunder Pill struck him together, his physical body would be obliterated instantly.

A silver thread suddenly lashed out, wrapping around Ke Yuan’s arm and yanking him out of the kill zone.

At the same time, the Daoist from the Mystic One Sect stepped forward, activating a talisman. A barrier of golden light materialized in front of the incoming explosive.

“Golden Soup Talisman!”

Crack!

A fine fissure appeared on the surface of the Green Wood Thunder Pill.

Torrents of green lightning surged forth like a chaotic nest of vipers. The surrounding sea of clouds was torn asunder, leaving a void in the sky. Even the moonlight seemed twisted by the blinding emerald radiance.

The barrier formed by the Golden Soup Talisman lived up to its name—impregnable as a fortress of molten gold. It withstood the violent bombardment of dozens of lightning bolts without shattering.

Only when the green lightning finally dissipated did the talisman reach its limit, trembling once before fading into dust.

Behind the barrier, the Mystic One Daoist, the figure from the Little Sky Net Sect, and Ke Yuan remained unharmed.

The veiled figure from the Little Sky Net Sect chuckled. “We knew you Wanchun Valley folks were like turtles—hiding in your shell, hoarding resources, never fighting. Even during the crusade against the Demon Blood Sect, you barely contributed. But I suppose turtles do have some bite. Since you have the Green Wood Thunder Pill, I assume you’re holding onto the Yi Wood Thunder Pearl as well?”

“Since you know we have teeth, why force us into a corner?” Sect Leader Qi swept his gaze across the enemies—two from the Spirit Beast Sect, and one each from the Mystic One, Spirit Sword, and Little Sky Net Sects. “Why invert black and white and press us so hard? Are you not afraid of a fish dying while breaking the net?”

“Haven’t we told you? This is Wanchun Valley’s destiny.”

The androgynous figure played with a silver-white spindle, laughing softly. “We planned to tighten the noose slowly. We weren’t in a hurry, yet you panicked.”

“Heh, didn’t that just give us an opening? Did you really think everyone in the Spirit Sword Sect is like that blockhead Ye Guxing? Did you think they all believe in clear distinctions between good and evil?”

The figure gestured to Ke Yuan. “Look at this junior brother from the Spirit Sword Sect. Hasn’t he also chosen to exterminate your valley?”

These sarcastic, heart-striking remarks were designed to unsettle them, but Sect Leader Qi and the Supreme Elder remained unmoved. They knew that if this stalemate continued, Wanchun Valley would be slowly strangled.

If they allowed the enemy’s words to sow hesitation, the Little Sky Net Sect would win without striking another blow.

The exchange of moves at the Golden Core level happened in the blink of an eye. From Ke Yuan’s betrayal to the explosion of the Thunder Pill, only seconds had passed.

It was only now that Li Tonghai, overcoming his shock, angrily drew his sword.

“Martial Uncle! What are you doing?!”

“You know Wanchun Valley hasn’t colluded with Demonic Cultivators! Yet you use that as a pretext to frame them and launch a sneak attack? Do you have no fear for your Sword Heart?”

Ke Yuan sneered, his face twisting. “Sword Heart, Sword Heart! To hell with the Sword Heart!”

“I love wine! I love beautiful women! I love enjoying my life! I refuse to be like that obsessive fool Ye Guxing, acting detached from life and death just for the sake of a ‘clear Sword Heart’!”

“The Spirit Sword Sect needs allies and prosperity, not to treat some abstract concept as a supreme treasure! I am sick of hearing it! Sword Heart this, Sword Heart that!”

“I’ve had enough of you fools and madmen!”

Li Tonghai’s gaze turned to ice. “Different paths cannot conspire together. If your heart wasn’t sincere, you could have left the sect. But you chose to bring chaos to the Spirit Sword Sect…”

“My master will definitely execute you.”

Ke Yuan flinched, shrinking his neck as if a sword light spanning the heavens was already swinging toward him.

“What is there to fear?” the armored man from the Spirit Beast Sect laughed booming. “With our four sects united, we can wipe out Wanchun Valley, and we can kill Ye Guxing too!”

“The five sects of the Southern Region have always minded their own business.”

The Supreme Elder pulled the long sword from his abdomen, swallowed two healing pills, and spoke coldly. “When we joined forces to destroy the Demon Blood Sect, it was for righteousness and self-preservation.”

“Wanchun Valley only grows herbs and refines pills. Why must we be targeted like this?”

Meanwhile, a secret mental transmission passed between the two leaders.

[Supreme Elder, can you hold on?] Sect Leader Qi asked silently.

[My dantian is punctured. My Golden Core is intact, but my magical power is leaking. I cannot sustain a long battle,] the Supreme Elder responded.

[Then we break out now! I have dozens of Green Wood Thunder Pills left. We can fight our way through.]

[I will cover the retreat,] the Supreme Elder replied, his mental voice heavy.

[That would mean…]

[No time to hesitate. My old bones are spent. If I can take a few of them with me, it is better than the entire sect perishing here.] The Supreme Elder’s gaze locked onto the enemies. [Take Li Tonghai and find Ye Guxing. In the entire Southern Region, only he has the power to fix this.]

[That man’s Sword Heart was not cultivated in vain.]

The exchange took only an instant.

Immediately, ten Green Wood Thunder Pills shot out from the green jade gourd, streaking toward the invisible barrier ahead.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Hundreds of green lightning bolts roared in a chaotic lattice of destruction. The invisible barrier shuddered violently under the assault.

Sect Leader Qi poured every ounce of his energy into the green jade gourd. It erupted with blinding light and slammed into the weakened barrier with the force of a meteor.

Zzzzt!

With a screech of tearing energy, the barrier shattered.

But in the next heartbeat, the five enemy Golden Core cultivators moved—three in front, two behind—boxing them in completely.

“You burned ten Thunder Pills and massive amounts of mana just to break our first layer of containment,” the Little Sky Net Sect figure chuckled. “Sect Leader Qi, how much strength do you have left?”

“I suppose this was also within your calculations?” the Supreme Elder asked calmly.

“Naturally—”

Before the figure could finish, Sect Leader Qi and the Supreme Elder roared in unison.

The green jade gourd accelerated to a terrifying speed, ignoring the enemies and shooting straight forward.

The two Spirit Beast Sect cultivators and the Mystic One Daoist rushed to intercept. Silver threads from the Little Sky Net Sect shot out to snare them.

At that moment, the Supreme Elder broke formation.

He charged directly into the midst of the three interceptors.

From his forehead, a dazzling Golden Core shot out, hovering in the void. Within its pulsating green brilliance, spiderweb cracks began to spread.

The armored man and the Mystic One Daoist turned pale with horror. They slammed on the brakes and retreated frantically.

This old maniac is going to self-destruct his Golden Core?!

The second Spirit Beast Sect cultivator, riding a massive Horned Python, was fully focused on his attack and reacted a fraction of a second too late.

That delay was fatal.

A pillar of green light pierced through heaven and earth, expanding instantly to engulf everything within a thirty-mile radius. The python rider was swallowed whole.

An aged, desolate voice echoed through the blinding light.

“Ten Thousand Years of Eternal Spring!”

It took a long time for the sky-piercing pillar of light to fade.

At the epicenter, the Supreme Elder and the Spirit Beast Sect cultivator on the Horned Python were gone. Not a scrap of clothing, not a speck of bone remained.

The armored man from the Spirit Beast Sect stood atop his twin-winged bear, staring at his beast’s bloody paws. The Mystic One Daoist’s robes were shredded, his face drained of blood.

The Little Sky Net Sect cultivator had lost his veil, revealing a thin, pale, and terrified face. Even from a distance, he and Ke Yuan had been forced to expend significant power to survive the blast.

“Who would have thought… a turtle sect like Wanchun Valley could bite so hard,” the pale man muttered.

“My junior brother is dead!” the armored man roared, his eyes bloodshot. “That old bastard took a prime Golden Core cultivator down with him!”

“What is the use of screaming now?” the Mystic One Daoist snapped. “When we decided to destroy Wanchun Valley, we knew there would be a price. This was just one Golden Core. The Sect Leader is still alive, and they still have the Yi Wood Thunder Pearl.”

“We could lose two or three more before this is over!”

“The cost is too high!” The armored man gnashed his teeth. “If we lose that many, our sects will be left defenseless! If we knew this—”

“We agreed from the start to grind them down slowly,” the pale man interrupted. “Man proposes, Heaven disposes. We didn’t expect the turtle to be suicidal.”

“But remember the terms. Thirty years. No one is allowed to remain on Wanchun Valley’s ley lines. The rewards promised are immense. We cannot turn back.”

“This, too, is destiny.”

Seeing the three sect leaders conversing among themselves, Ke Yuan felt a chill of exclusion. He spoke up tentatively. “If we add Ye Guxing to the equation… I fear more than just two or three Golden Cores will die.”

The group fell silent.

“With Ye Guxing… indeed, the danger multiplies.”

“Should we attack Wanchun Valley immediately, while they have no Golden Core defenders?” one suggested.

“The Guardian Formation is linked to the earth veins. It cannot be broken in a day, and we cannot risk destroying the veins themselves,” the Mystic One Daoist countered.

“Then what do we do when Ye Guxing, Qi, and the Spirit Sword Sect arrive?”

The pale man’s eyes narrowed. “The priority is to regroup at the Spirit Sword Sect. Summon every Golden Core cultivator from our sects! We must either intercept and kill Sect Leader Qi, or persuade Ye Guxing to stand down.”

He turned his gaze slowly toward Ke Yuan.

“And if persuasion fails… Ke Yuan, you will have to deal with Ye Guxing.”

The representatives of the three sects stared at Ke Yuan expectantly.

Ke Yuan’s jaw dropped. “Huh?”

If I had the strength to look Ye Guxing in the eye, do you think I would be conspiring with the likes of you?