19: Chapter 19: Framing

"Puff—" Zhao Mingfang spat out a mouthful of wild blood, his magical robe shattered, multiple places charred to the bone, his aura instantly withering away, looking not far from death!

Xiao Yuan pressed his advantage relentlessly, pointing his fingers continuously before the smoke and dust of the Talisman explosion had even dissipated!

"Thorny Cage!"

Countless thorny and tough vines burst out from the ground, instantly tying the two heavily injured people lying on the ground tightly like dumplings, the sharp thorns sinking deep into their wounds, making them wish they were dead and completely losing the ability to resist.

"Who... Who on earth is it?!" Zhao Mingfang's eyes split open with anger, barely raising his head, through the smoke and dust, looking towards the direction where the attacker was hiding.

Then, he saw a figure that made him hate to the bone—Chen Yin!

"Chen... Yin?! It's you?! How cruel you are..." Endless malice and disbelief burst forth in Zhao Mingfang's eyes, and before he could finish speaking, a sword light so fast it was invisible swept past!

Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art—Slash!

Zhao Mingfang's head flew up, his face frozen with boundless resentment and astonishment, thinking until his dying breath that it was Chen Yin who had killed him in order to monopolize the jade talisman treasure.

On the other side, that heavily injured Qi Refining Stage 8 Disciple, bound by the vines, also barely managed to see the attacker's face.

"Senior... Senior Brother Chen?!" He was so frightened that his liver and gall split, his heart filled with shock, anger, and fear.

Seeing Zhao Mingfang decapitated by a single sword strike, how could he dare to stay any longer?

With his survival instinct erupting, he fiercely burned his vital blood, ignoring his injuries, forcefully shattering some of the vines, scrambling to jump up, and fleeing for his life toward the direction of the Sect without looking back! He didn't even care about the broken Magical Artifact that had fallen to the ground!

Watching that fellow's pathetic fleeing back, Xiao Yuan did not pursue him, a playful smile hooking the corners of his mouth.

If even the witness was killed, there would be no proof left. Leaving an alive witness to "testify" against Chen Yin would yield a better effect.

He walked over to Zhao Mingfang's headless corpse, neatly pulling off the Storage Pouch at his waist, and quickly searched other places on his body where things might be hidden.

It was time to retreat; this place was not suitable for a long stay.

He did not burn the corpse—leaving the "crime scene" and Zhao Mingfang's corpse would better substantiate that Chen Yin had hurriedly pursued him after killing him for treasures, leaving no time to destroy the corpse and eliminate traces.

Of course, without leaving a corpse, how could others see with their own eyes that Zhao Mingfang was dead?

He quickly left the scene, found an extremely secluded cave to crawl into, and laid down a few simple warning Restrictions.

Let's take a look at the loot first!

Xiao Yuan impatiently took out Zhao Mingfang's Storage Pouch.

But there was Zhao Mingfang's Divine Soul mark on it; forcibly erasing it not only took time, but it might also leave traces.

After all, Zhao Mingfang had a strong backing; who knew if his backing had done any trickery to it!

He thought about it, summoned the creation cauldron, and threw the Storage Pouch into it.

Let's try if it can 'refine' away the mark on it, and by the way... enhance the quality of this pouch?

Prompted by his thoughts, the small tripod's light flashed slightly, consuming energy equivalent to purifying about five waste Medicinal Pills.

After a moment, a brand-new Storage Pouch appeared at the bottom of the tripod.

Its appearance changed from an ordinary gray cloth bag to dark silver, with floating cloud dark patterns on the surface, a delicate texture, and radiating an air of sophistication.

Furthermore, Zhao Mingfang's Divine Soul mark on it had long since disappeared.

Xiao Yuan's Divine Sense probed inward—

"Holy crap! The space has become bigger!" he exclaimed.

Originally, the storage space of this kind of Storage Pouch was only about ten cubic meters, but now the space inside was impressively a full one hundred cubic meters, expanding tenfold!

This was already comparable to some low-tier Storage Rings or storage bracelets! It was definitely a treasure that Disciples in the Qi Condensation Stage wouldn't even dare to imagine!

What made his heart beat even faster was the stuff inside!

Low-Grade Spirit Stone: Piled like a small mountain, a rough glance showed at least over three thousand pieces!

Mid-Grade Spirit Stone: More than fifty blocks, suffused with Spiritual Qi!

Medicinal Pill: Over a dozen jade bottles, all filled with Medium Grade or above various Medicinal Pills, for marrow-cleansing, Qi-recovering, injury-healing, and poison-detoxifying!

Talisman: Nearly a hundred sheets, with qualities ranging from Medium Grade to High Grade, complete with offensive, defensive, and auxiliary types!

Spiritual Plant: Over a dozen hundred-year-old ones, brimming with Spiritual Qi!

Cultivation Technique: Five or six books; just looking at their names showed they were not run-of-the-mill goods.

Formation Flag: Three sets; although their specific uses could not be seen, their spiritual light flowed, clearly not ordinary items.

Xiao Yuan looked on dumbfounded. A Qi Condensation 9th Layer Cultivator with such a thick net worth? Did he rob the Sect's treasury?

But thinking about Zhao Mingfang's background—having an Early Foundation Establishment biological older brother, and his brother having a Master who was an Inner Sect Elder of the Golden Core Stage—he immediately felt it was reasonable.

As expected, the Immortal Realm also relies on identity and background...

Xiao Yuan couldn't help muttering internally, followed by a burst of wild joy in his heart.

All these things were now his cheap gain! An overnight fortune!

He happily transferred everything into the newly upgraded Storage Pouch, feeling the joy of being a "rich person."

But the joy didn't last long before a chill struck his heart.

Zhao Mingfang was dead, and his Foundation Establishment Stage brother would definitely go crazy investigating.

Xiao Yuan calmed down.

Although he had framed Chen Yin, what if there was a loophole somewhere, or the other party didn't talk about evidence and directly vented their anger?

Forcibly searching his Storage Pouch—if the other party discovered that he, a 'trash at Qi Condensation Stage 2,' suddenly possessed so many treasures, that in itself was the biggest suspicion!

Even if he used the creation cauldron to completely transform everything, how could a pauper suddenly becoming wealthy be explained?

If the source of the treasures could not be explained clearly, it might bring about a fatal disaster!

"Sigh, my cultivation is still too low..." Xiao Yuan looked at the pouch in his hand, feeling somewhat distressed.

He murmured softly.

"If there were some way to completely hide so many treasures so that no one could discover them, that would be great..."

In this way, he wouldn't have to worry about exposure either!

This thought had just flashed through his mind!

Sudden changes arose!

The brand-new silver Storage Pouch in his hand suddenly saw ripples of subtle waves oscillating in the surrounding space, and then, amidst his astonished gaze, it vanished into thin air!

"What the fuck?! Where is my Storage Pouch?!" Xiao Yuan was so frightened he jumped up, cold sweat instantly breaking out!

He immediately unfolded his perception to the maximum, vigilantly scanning every corner inside and outside the cave.

He was worried whether he had been discovered by a powerful Cultivator.

However, after a circle of perception, he gained nothing! The Storage Pouch had vanished into thin air as if it had evaporated from the mortal world!

Xiao Yuan's heart was terrified, his hair standing on end.

Right at this moment, the creation cauldron in his Dantian suddenly vibrated violently!

A strange suction force came over, and with a "buzz," his consciousness was pulled into a chaotic and hazy space.

Xiao Yuan's heart was greatly shocked, but following that, he discovered something was wrong; this place seemed to be the interior of the small tripod.

The space was not large, about a thousand meters in radius, gray and murky, with a miniature version of the creation cauldron's phantom floating in the center.

Right beside the phantom, his "missing" silver Storage Pouch was quietly floating there!

"This... This is..." Xiao Yuan was stunned at first, and then filled with wild joy!