Volume 1 Chapter 10: Loot Goblin
Tn: Edited at 5 / 15 /2025
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Outside the formation, Ye Anping had been tense the entire time.
Only when the barrier finally dispersed—and he saw Pei Lengxue waving at him with a cheerful grin, standing next to a pile of scorched charcoal that used to be Wu You—did he finally relax.
The plan had gone even better than expected.
If Wu You had taken him seriously from the beginning and responded with full force, maybe he and Pei Lengxue really would've been counter-killed. But thankfully, that didn't happen.
From start to finish, Wu You had never seen them as a real threat—just two puny Qi Refining brats.
Even in death, he probably couldn't believe he had been taken down by two low-stage juniors.
In the world of cultivation, killing someone across two major realms was practically unheard of.
It was like an RPG game, where two Level-10 newbies managed to kill a half-dead Level-50 boss.
But somehow, he and his little junior sister had done it.
"Senior Brother! We did it!" Pei Lengxue shouted, running toward him with arms wide open.
Ye Anping didn't hold back. He met her halfway, lifting her up in a spinning hug, grinning as he praised her:
"Outstanding. Absolutely outstanding."
Pei Lengxue clung to his neck, but pouted.
"That sounds like you're just humoring a little kid."
"Aren't you a kid?" Ye Anping said with a smirk. "You're only fourteen."
"In a few months, I'll be old enough to have kids!"
Ye Anping chuckled warmly, then gently reminded her,
"Alright, settle down and start channeling your spiritual energy to heal. You were hit with that Bewitching Gu spell back in the formation. You've got resistance, sure, but you still need to be careful. No need to risk lingering side effects."
"Yes, yes… hmph."
Pei Lengxue felt like her senior brother seriously lacked romantic timing.
In the storybooks, whenever the male and female leads survived a deadly ordeal together, wasn't that when sparks were supposed to fly? A lingering gaze, a stolen kiss, maybe even a passionate confession?
Now would've been the perfect time to propose.
If her senior brother said, "Junior Sister… marry me when we get back," she would've agreed on the spot without a second thought.
"Stupid senior brother! Wasted such a golden opportunity! Hmph!"
"What opportunity?" Ye Anping asked, puzzled. "Didn't I seize it perfectly? Look—neither of us got even a scratch. That's what I call a flawless operation."
"Ughhh…"
Pei Lengxue let out a long sigh and stopped talking. She sat down cross-legged and started circulating her spiritual energy.
Seeing this, Ye Anping handed her a pill from his storage bag, then walked over to Wu You's body. He crouched beside the corpse, drew his sword, and cleanly lopped off the already-charred head.
Just to be safe.
Once he confirmed the head was really lifeless, he swept the surrounding area with his spiritual sense.
All of Wu You's Gu insects had been incinerated along with his body.
Only then did Ye Anping relax and reach for the man's storage bag.
Wu You's inventory wasn't that impressive.
There was a Gu Poison Sect identity badge, a few toxin-filled cauldrons for raising insects, seven or eight decent-quality magical tools, around 3,000 spirit stones, and one gold-colored page.
Ye Anping scanned everything with his spiritual sense. He recognized each and every item.
In the midgame dungeon from the game, defeating Wu You would yield a random drop from this same loot table.
But here in reality, everything from that list had dropped in one go.
That was the silver lining.
Still, no matter how good the loot was, neither he nor Pei Lengxue could actually use it right now—not while still in Qi Refining.
The magical tools were decent, but at most, they could take them to a black market auction and try to trade for more suitable gear.
As for the cauldrons and the remnants of the Gu insects… Ye Anping incinerated them on the spot with a fire spell. No way was he letting that kind of thing stick around.
That left only the golden page.
If Ye Anping remembered correctly, this should be Volume 5 of the Mysterious Yin Technique—a quest item from the midgame main storyline.
The golden page in his hand…
Technically, it should've been Feng Yudie who obtained it after killing Wu You. But somehow, it ended up in his hands instead.
This kind of fortune—something that should belong to the main character—wasn't something he really wanted to get involved with. Honestly, he was tempted to just throw it away.
But the more he thought about it, the more complicated it seemed.
After all, he and Pei Lengxue were the ones who killed Wu You.
If people found out Wu You had died at their hands, they'd no doubt come asking Pei Lengxue where the page had gone.
"Tch… can't throw it, can't keep it. What a pain…"
After a moment's hesitation, Ye Anping chose to store the golden page in his bag. He figured he'd find a chance to hand it off to someone else later—preferably without drawing attention.
With that settled, he turned to take Lengxue home.
But just as he turned his head—
He saw a small golden humanoid figure—one that looked suspiciously like Paimon from Genshin Impact—flying toward them from the trees.
"…"
Ye Anping raised an eyebrow.
Wasn't that thing Feng Yudie's Magical Tool Spirit?
But Magical Tool Spirits weren't supposed to be able to stray too far from their masters. By his estimate, Feng Yudie was at least half a li (about 250 meters) away.
So how was it flying this far?
And more importantly—why was it flying toward them?
Was it because it saw the cold-type formation he just used? Has that somehow triggered it?
. . . . . .
One Quarter-Hour Earlier—
Thud!
Feng Yudie hit the ground hard. With her Immortal Emperor Dragon Body gone and no dragon tail to support her midair, she plummeted straight to the forest floor.
Xiaotian—her Magical Tool Spirit—rushed to her side, panic written all over its tiny golden face.
『Yudie!!!』
It quickly examined her injuries, only to find her condition dire. Her meridians were completely shattered, and the Gu worms from that demonic cultivator had devoured nearly half of her essence soul. Her life was now hanging by a thread—half her body already stepping past the gates of the Underworld.
『Ah?! Yudie— what do I do, what do I do?!』
Xiaotian fluttered in midair, stomping tiny feet as it panicked.
It wanted to drag her to town. But in its panic, it forgot—
It was a Magical Tool Spirit.
A being closer to a ghost than a living entity, invisible and intangible to anyone other than Feng Yudie herself.
Even if it tried to touch someone, they'd only feel a breeze on their skin.
In other words, its strength was about the same as a gust of wind.
Enough to rustle a few leaves… but definitely not enough to drag a dying person anywhere.
『Nghh—yaaah!!!』
Xiaotian grabbed Feng Yudie's collar and pulled with all its might. Its face scrunched up in effort.
After several attempts, it barely managed to lift her collar half an inch.
It wanted to cry.
If no one showed up to help soon, and if that demonic cultivator came back… Feng Yudie would be doomed. In fact, even without him returning, she might not survive the injuries on her own.
『What do I do?! What the heck do I do?!』
It wanted to fly into town and call for help.
But no one there could see it. No one could hear it. No one would even know it existed.
It couldn't drag her, couldn't scream for help…
Just now, when the Golden Dragon had appeared, the surrounding cultivators and mortals had probably caught a glimpse of the divine aura and fled. There was no chance anyone would come near.
The more it thought, the more desperate Xiaotian became.
And finally, it just started sobbing.
『Waaaaaah—what do I dooooo—hic—Yudie, if you die, what'll happen to meeeee?!』
Just then—
Off in the southeast forest, about half a li away, a pillar of icy-blue light suddenly surged into the sky. The ground trembled faintly.
Xiaotian immediately turned its head toward the source.
『That's… a cold-type formation?! Is there a powerful cultivator nearby?!』
It froze for only a second—then sprang into motion.
It leapt from Feng Yudie's side and raced toward the pillar of light.
『Yudie, hold on a little longer!! I'll bring someone to save you—just hang in there!!!』