Chapter 1298
True Spirit Disintegration, Taking Control of the Merchant Alliance
Thousands of miles away on the sea from the "Four Seas Business Alliance",
Zhang Ruiqing stared at the white light that was now almost within reach behind him, his expression already quite grim.
Since breaking through to the half-step Nascent Soul realm, Zhang Ruiqing has almost never suffered a loss in battles against cultivators of the same level, thanks to the treasure "Ten Thousand Swords Box".
Decades ago in the open sea, he single-handedly forced back two demon emperors of the same level.
He thought that with his supernatural powers, as long as he didn't encounter those few Nascent Soul Ancestors, he would be able to overcome any obstacle.
In the entire cultivation world of "Lei Yuan Hai", in a one-on-one fight, no one should be able to threaten him.
Faced with Song Qingming, a strange and powerful expert who suddenly appeared, Zhang Ruiqing knew that he was just a helper hired by Long Ziyun, so he did not take him too seriously.
In the battle just now, it was clear that Song Qingming was completely unable to confront the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" head-on.
I thought my opponent's abilities were really nothing special, and that it wouldn't be long before he surrendered and the battle ended.
Unexpectedly, Song Qingming was just pretending from the beginning; he wasn't really afraid of the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" in his hands.
Only after the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" had unleashed enough flying swords did Song Qingming activate the Yin-Yang Ring in his hand, switching from defense to offense and suddenly unleashing a move called "Shifting Stars".
This sudden reversal far exceeded Zhang Ruiqing's expectations; hundreds of flying swords almost killed him on the spot.
Knowing that his opponent was incredibly powerful, Zhang Ruiqing was shocked to discover that Song Qingming had been hiding his strength and that his abilities were in no way inferior to his own.
He immediately abandoned any thought of staying to fight his opponent and turned to flee the battlefield.
Looking at the powerful opponent who suddenly appeared behind him, Zhang Ruiqing secretly groaned inwardly.
In recent years, in order to avoid attracting outside attention, he has been secretly preparing resources to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.
He went so far as to spread rumors of his death and hide outside for hundreds of years, searching for spiritual objects everywhere.
Zhang Ruiqing had thought that after Long Ziyun returned and seized the top-grade spirit stone from her, he could once again attempt to break through his cultivation level in seclusion.
Who would have thought that another unfamiliar expert like Song Qingming would suddenly appear.
Not only was his cultivation level no less than his own, but the power of his Yin-Yang Twin Rings far surpassed that of the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" in his hand, and his fighting techniques were extremely effective against him.
Even in terms of speed, Zhang Ruiqing found that the other party seemed to be superior to him.
Having fled thousands of miles away, his own magical power was already starting to wane, while Song Qingming behind him was still handling the situation with ease.
Their speed not only didn't decrease at all, but actually increased a bit, and they had already caught up to him not far behind.
"Damn it, I know that Lei Yuanhai is a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator. When did such an expert appear?"
"I never imagined that after planning for over a hundred years, that top-grade spirit stone would end up going to this kid."
Just as Zhang Ruiqing was inwardly groaning, a white bolt of lightning suddenly appeared behind him, transforming into a giant hand that rushed straight towards his location.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruiqing quickly raised his only left arm and began casting a spell.
Two more high-level spirit talismans flew out, directly shattering the giant white hand behind him. Having temporarily escaped the threat, Zhang Ruiqing once again flashed away several miles away.
But in just a moment, the white light caught up again.
Having already used up all his high-level talismans, Zhang Ruiqing could only once again manipulate the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" to release several flying swords to block his opponent.
However, these flying swords posed no threat whatsoever to Song Qingming's "Yin-Yang Twin Rings."
Before long, several flying swords transformed into sword light and attacked again, directly interrupting the escape light beneath Zhang Ruiqing's feet.
The next moment, a white light flashed in mid-air, and Song Qingming's figure blocked the other party's path.
Seeing that his path was blocked, a hint of panic flashed in Zhang Ruiqing's eyes.
"I never expected that our Lei Yuanhai would have such a master with spiritual treasures as you. Today, I admit my mistake and apologize for offending you, fellow Daoist."
Having cultivated to this level, all we seek is to advance further on the path of enlightenment.
Now that the top-grade spirit stone belongs to you, why do you still pursue me so relentlessly? Do you really intend to fight me to the death?
"Fellow Daoist just now threatened to kill me, but now you want to give me the spiritual treasure. I'm not used to it."
Since you're so generous, how about lending me something else?
"Fellow Daoist, just tell me what you want. Anything I can offer is negotiable."
Seeing Zhang Ruiqing looking at him with delight, Song Qingming simply uttered a few words to her.
"Today, I want your head!"
Having said that, Song Qingming conjured the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" with a flash of spiritual light and unleashed several sword beams at Zhang Ruiqing, who was not far away.
Seeing that there was no room for negotiation, Zhang Ruiqing's expression changed immediately. He cast a spell to activate the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" in front of him again, which transformed into flying swords to block Song Qingming's attack.
Zhang Ruiqing had already been injured and had consumed a lot of his magical power in the previous battle.
Having just endured another extreme chase, his magical power was already at its limit. He could only barely activate the magical artifact in front of him to deal with Song Qingming's attack.
In this rematch, after only a few dozen rounds, Zhang Ruiqing quickly fell into a disadvantageous position and was hit by Song Qingming's sword light again, resulting in the loss of one ear and half of his cheek.
As Song Qingming pressed closer, Zhang Ruiqing, whose face was covered in blood, was driven to the brink of despair.
Seeing that he could no longer withstand the opponent, Zhang Ruiqing hardened his heart and suddenly a blood-red spiritual light burst out from his body, and his aura began to rise rapidly.
In just a short while, Zhang Ruiqing, shrouded in a layer of bloody light, had already more than doubled in size.
At this moment, his eyes were ferocious, his muscles were so bulging that they had already burst through his clothes, and a layer of blood-red tattoos was visible on his skin.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a thin, white-haired old man into a large, burly man.
Seeing that he had just been showing signs of dejection, he suddenly transformed, and his aura seemed to have returned to its peak.
With a simple wave of his hand, Zhang Ruiqing, without using any magical powers or treasures, directly swatted away the several sword lights unleashed by Song Qingming with his bare body.
"This... doesn't seem to be a demonic cultivation technique. Could this guy be unable to cultivate himself?!"
Looking at Zhang Ruiqing, whose figure had suddenly changed, Song Qingming's face showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected that the other party had also been hiding something.
The path of physical cultivation is extremely arduous, and very few can actually reach the Nascent Soul realm.
When I fought Zhang Ruiqing just now, the other party was clearly following the path of magic cultivation, and his physical body did not appear particularly strong.
It's just unknown what secret technique this person used to suddenly unleash such formidable strength.
Before Song Qingming could figure out what had happened to the person in front of him, Zhang Ruiqing, who was standing opposite him, disappeared from the spot in an instant with a flash of anger in his eyes.
The next moment, before Song Qingming could even detect his opponent, a figure suddenly appeared in the void to his side.
"boom!"
He felt a terrifying force strike him, and Song Qingming, along with the magic weapon in front of him, was kicked away by the opponent, landing dozens of feet away like a cannonball.
Although he had already manipulated the "Five Elements Divine Light Mirror" to protect himself, Song Qingming was not injured.
However, the opponent's speed was so fast that his divine sense had no time to detect it, which made Song Qingming frown slightly.
Before he could regain his footing, Song Qingming, still in mid-air, was caught up by another afterimage and then several punches were thrown, sending him flying once more.
Seeing the opponent attacking desperately with speed, the pressure on the natal magic weapon "Five Elements Divine Light Mirror" increased, and it was even cracked by the attack.
Song Qingming immediately reached out and placed his hand on his waist, releasing a figure to block his way.
As Qu Bai activated the "Sacred Star Disc," a spatial rift quickly appeared beside him, stopping Zhang Ruiqing who was chasing from afar.
"Brother Qu, please hold him off for a moment."
Before Qu Bai could even respond, Zhang Ruiqing, now a blood-red giant, charged forward again.
Seeing this, he could only desperately manipulate the "Sacred Star Disc" to transform it into a shield and block the way.
With a loud bang, Qu Bai felt a powerful, strange force coming from him, and his "Sacred Star Disc" was forced back dozens of steps by his opponent.
"That's some strength. This guy is a bit tricky. Brother Song, you'd better think of something quickly."
In recent years, every time Qu Bai was summoned by Song Qingming, he would encounter some troublesome opponents, which made him feel miserable.
For now, Song Qingming was still casting spells in place, so he could only grit his teeth and continue pushing forward.
Despite his efforts to control the "Sacred Star Disc" to defend himself, Qu Bai's strength was clearly inferior to his opponent's. He was kicked several times by the now-enraged Zhang Ruiqing, leaving a large dent in his chest.
Fortunately, the spatial rift controlled by the "Sacred Star Disc" can also block the opponent's attack, making them wary.
This allowed Qu Bai to barely hold off his opponent for dozens of rounds, preventing Zhang Ruiqing from having the chance to disturb Song Qingming's spellcasting.
Just as Qu Bai was sent flying by another punch from his opponent, he finally heard Song Qingming's voice transmission in his ear.
"Brother Qu, leave him to me!"
In an instant, two rings, one black and one white, arrived beside Zhang Ruiqing, and two sealing runes fell from above and below, directly encasing him within them.
The "Yin-Yang Double Rings" in Song Qingming's hand are a spiritual treasure left behind by Lü Tianrang.
Besides being able to manipulate the Yin-Yang space to change the opponent's attack, this magical treasure also contains a very powerful sealing technique.
However, Song Qingming's cultivation level has not yet broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, so it is still quite difficult for him to use this sealing technique.
That's why "Qu Bai" was needed to help him buy some time to cast his spell.
"what."
Suddenly trapped by the runes cast by the "Yin Yang Double Rings", Zhang Ruiqing tried to break free and kept tearing at the runes in front of him.
After his transformation, his physical body became extremely powerful, and his desperate efforts caused the surrounding runes to tremble uncontrollably.
However, under Song Qingming's control, these runes, which had just been torn apart, could quickly reassemble, trapping Zhang Ruiqing tightly within them.
"Well done, Brother Song, I'll help you out."
Seeing that his opponent had been trapped by Song Qingming's magic, Qu Bai's face lit up with joy. He immediately cast a spell to appear in front of his opponent, eager to take revenge.
Qu Bai raised his hand and vigorously cast a spell, sending several sword beams straight toward Zhang Ruiqing's head.
But to his surprise, his powerful attack was instantly deflected by a blood-red rune when it landed on Zhang Ruiqing's head.
Seeing that direct spellcasting was ineffective, Qu Bai took out a mid-grade level four flying sword from his body and directly used a spell to slash at the opponent's vulnerable head and neck.
But the result was still a burst of sparks; the opponent's head was still not severed. "Good heavens, what kind of technique does this kid practice? His neck is too stiff!"
After several attacks failed to make any progress, Qu Bai, who was surprised, couldn't help but show a hint of annoyance and turned to look at Song Qingming behind him.
"Brother Song, may I borrow your Golden Cloud Light Sword?"
He stepped forward and took the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" from beside Song Qingming. Just as Qu Bai was about to use this imitation spiritual treasure to cut off the other party's head.
Before he could even make a move, Zhang Ruiqing, who was being suppressed by the runes, suddenly screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Immediately afterwards, blood gushed out from all over Zhang Ruiqing's skin, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure, and his aura began to become chaotic.
At this moment, Zhang Ruiqing was like a deflated balloon, her body quickly returning to its normal size.
Seeing this, Song Qingming immediately used magic to activate the runes on the "Yin Yang Double Rings," pinning his opponent in mid-air and rendering him unable to move.
When Song Qingming and Qu Bai arrived in front of Zhang Ruiqing again, he was already on the verge of death, as if he had just exhausted all his magical power.
"Fellow Daoist..."
Despite Zhang Ruiqing's pleading look, Song Qingming showed no hesitation.
The "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" struck directly down, instantly killing his physical body and his natal nascent soul.
In the previous battle, Zhang Ruiqing's sudden transformation did indeed surprise Song Qingming quite a bit, and at this moment he didn't want to give his opponent any more chances.
Having reached this level of cultivation, everyone has the potential to become a deity in the future.
Once a life-or-death feud is formed, failing to directly eliminate the enemy will leave future troubles for oneself.
Who knows if, when we meet again in the future, the opponent before me will be someone who can easily wipe me out?
After dealing with Zhang Ruiqing, Song Qingming did not rush back. Instead, he collected Zhang Ruiqing's "storage artifact" and the Ten Thousand Swords Box floating in mid-air.
The replica of the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" is no less powerful than the Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword.
Whether Song Qingming uses this treasure himself or entrusts it to Song Qingyu and others, it will greatly enhance their combat power.
This time, just obtaining such a powerful magic weapon was enough to make Song Qingming very satisfied.
After handing the replica magical artifact over to Qu Bai for inspection, Song Qingming quickly turned his attention to Zhang Ruiqing's storage magic item and spent some time forcibly opening it.
Just as Song Qingming had predicted, Zhang Ruiqing, a half-step Nascent Soul expert who had cultivated for many years, possessed quite a few spiritual items and spirit stones.
With just a casual glance, Song Qingming had already discovered various spiritual items worth millions of spirit stones, as well as some high-level demon beast essence blood and materials whose value was currently incalculable.
Just as Song Qingming was carefully searching with his divine sense, his gaze quickly caught sight of a strange-looking, ancient animal hide.
After taking it in his hand and examining it, Song Qingming's gaze was quickly drawn to the contents.
"True Spirit Disintegration Technique!"
"No wonder it looked so strange, it turns out this is a demon race technique."
"I never expected Zhang Ruiqing to be such a talent, managing to successfully cultivate the demon race's body-refining technique and unleash such powerful effects."
The "True Spirit Disintegration" technique that Song Qingming was holding was the same technique that Zhang Ruiqing had just used to transform.
Judging from the name, you can probably guess that this cultivation technique was passed down within the demon race.
It can activate the true spirit essence and blood cultivated within the body, causing the physical body to disintegrate instantly, unleashing several times, or even dozens of times, the power to fight the enemy.
However, once the true spirit essence and blood in the body are completely exhausted, the cultivator will fall into an extremely weak state, just like Zhang Ruiqing just now.
This is a secret technique of the demon race that can help cultivators unleash their supernatural powers to fight enemies, but it also has significant side effects.
After human cultivators adapted this technique, they could also use the essence blood of high-level demon beasts containing the true spirit bloodline of the demon race to aid their cultivation.
The reason why Zhang Ruiqing's storage artifact contained so much high-level demonic beast blood essence was for the purpose of cultivating this technique.
The "True Spirit Disintegration" technique has three levels.
With sufficient high-level monster blood essence as a supplement, getting started is not difficult.
However, as one's cultivation level increases, the demand for the quality of demon beast blood essence will also increase, eventually requiring the search for true spirit bloodlines.
Although Zhang Ruiqing has been cultivating for a long time, he has only reached the second level so far, and is still far from reaching the third level of perfection.
Even with just this, the strength Zhang Ruiqing just unleashed was already comparable to that of a top-tier body cultivator among the Nascent Soul cultivators of the human race.
It is evident that the enhancement of combat abilities after mastering this technique is truly astonishing, allowing human cultivators to instantly possess a physique comparable to that of top-tier true spirit bloodlines of the demon race.
Although Song Qingming was not a body cultivator, he had previously used the "Heavenly Myriad Spirits Technique" to enhance his physical strength.
However, its effects and power are simply no match for the "True Spirit Disintegration" technique before them.
Upon obtaining this cultivation technique, Song Qingming immediately became interested and began to examine it carefully.
Although this secret technique has some flaws, the combat power it unleashed instantly revealed its potential to Song Qingming.
If I can cultivate it to the third level, my physical body should be able to rival that of a Nascent Soul cultivator after activating the secret technique.
With the many magical treasures he possessed, even if he couldn't defeat those true Nascent Soul cultivators, he could still put up a fight against them.
Now that my cultivation is at a standstill, I have plenty of time to practice this technique.
".
Having just put away the cultivation manual, Qu Bai immediately returned the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" to Song Qingming and then took out a healing pill and swallowed it.
"Brother Song, you look so happy, you must have gotten a lot of good stuff again!"
I was seriously injured this time, so don't forget to search for healing items for me when we get back.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Seeing Qu Bai flash back into the "Sacred Star Disc", Song Qingming immediately put away the magic weapon and turned to leave.
By the time he returned to the vicinity of the "Four Seas Business Alliance" headquarters, several hours had already passed. On the way, he encountered Luo Ziliang and several other Nascent Soul elders who had been sent by Long Ziyun to meet him.
Seeing Song Qingming return safely, Luo Ziliang and the others breathed a sigh of relief and quickly inquired about his whereabouts with great concern.
I thought that since Song Qingming had chased after them for so long, he probably hadn't been able to catch them and had lost them in the end.
But Song Qingming's next reply shocked the group.
"Fellow Daoist Song, what did you say? Zhang Ruiqing is already dead!"
“That’s right, this is his magic weapon.”
After saying that, Song Qingming took out the "Ten Thousand Swords Box" that he had just obtained not long ago, which immediately silenced Luo Ziliang and the others who were still somewhat puzzled.
They had all seen this magical artifact before, so they recognized it at a glance.
They were already surprised enough that Song Qingming could defeat his opponent, but now even Zhang Ruiqing, a half-step Nascent Soul expert, has fallen at his hands, which is truly unbelievable.
At this moment, Luo Ziliang and the others looked at Song Qingming with a mixture of fear and respect.
"Fellow Daoist Song, you've worked hard. I'll send a message to the Grand Elder to inform him of this matter."
Now that Zhang Ruiqing has fallen, the Zhang family is unlikely to cause any more trouble. It's time for us to seek justice from them.
".
Following Luo Ziliang and the others back to the headquarters of the Four Seas Business Alliance, Song Qingming soon met Long Ziyun.
Previously, Luo Ziliang and other elders of the Business Alliance had already discussed and agreed that Long Ziyun would officially take over the position of Grand Elder of the Business Alliance.
Upon learning of Zhang Ruiqing's death, Long Ziyun immediately summoned all the elders of the Merchant Alliance to discuss how to deal with the Zhang family's situation.
Everyone agreed that they should take this opportunity to launch a counterattack and avenge what happened today.
But before they could even prepare to take action, news of internal strife broke out in the Zhang family.
Upon learning of Zhang Ruiqing's demise, the Nascent Soul elder of the Zhang family who had fled back was immediately thrown into a panic.
Knowing that the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" would definitely retaliate, the cultivators within the Zhang family, led by patriarch Zhang Heyang, proposed abandoning the clan's territory, Lingshan, and leading their clansmen to flee to other sea areas to develop.
The remaining elder Zhang Zhiqian and other Zhang family cultivators insisted on staying to unite with other surrounding forces to fight against the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance".
The two sides disagreed, and ultimately, they split up.
Zhang Heyang led most of the Zhang family cultivators away from the clan and fled to other sea areas.
The remaining Zhang Zhigan and others, knowing they were no match for the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance," could only send a message to beg for peace, hoping to ease tensions by compensating for the spiritual objects.
However, Long Ziyun did not accept the other party's offer of reconciliation.
Soon, he led the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" army to Liufeng Island and surrounded the remaining Zhang family cultivators on Mount Ling.
After several major battles, with the death of Elder Zhang Zhigan amidst the siege, the Zhang family finally chose to surrender by opening the protective mountain formation.
Soon, the once invincible Zhang family of "Liufeng Island" was swallowed up by the Four Seas Merchant Alliance and disappeared completely from this sea area.
As for Long Ziyun, after the great battle to annex the Zhang family, she has clearly gained the recognition of many elders in the Merchant Alliance and secured her position as the Grand Elder.
Song Qingming, too, held the title of "Guest Elder" within the Four Seas Business Alliance.
Not long after the war, Long Ziyun, who had completely taken control of the Merchant Alliance, presented Song Qingming with a substantial amount of spirit stones as a stipend.
They even held a special welcome celebration for him, officially announcing his joining the business alliance.
Although the welcoming celebration was not too grand at Song Qingming's deliberate request.
Most of the cultivators who came to offer their congratulations were members of the Merchant Alliance.
However, everyone attached great importance to this newly joined "guest elder," and they all came to his door to present him with many congratulatory gifts.
In particular, Luo Ziliang, who had dealt with Song Qingming before, not only gave him a lot of high-level spiritual items, but also personally visited him every few days to inquire about his well-being.
Fearing that Song Qingming might not be comfortable living inside the business alliance, they were determined to keep this great contributor here.
However, Song Qingming never intended to stay, thus betraying Song Qingming's good intentions.
After staying for a while, he soon sent a message to Long Ziyun, explaining that he was leaving.
(Although it's a little late again, adding two hundred words still counts as an extra chapter!) (End of this chapter)