323: Chapter 323 Avoiding the Golden Core

Ye Jing's voice had not yet faded.

The terrifying Second-Order Mid-Stage giant golden insect suddenly vibrated its wings; the metallic, rasping "buzz" made Wu Yuan's eardrums ache and even threw his surrounding spiritual power into chaos.

He Yu and Lin Dan, who were still fighting nearby, were scared to death when they saw the giant insect that had suddenly appeared.

"This Fellow Daoist actually has a Second-Order Demonic Beast! My god!" Lin Dan exclaimed in amazement. "Could he be some big shot from a major Sect?"

He Yu lifted his sword to block the warrior monk's attack and said, "What do you mean 'Fellow Daoist'! You should call him Senior! Quick! Help Senior kill these two bald donkeys! We might even earn some favor!"

At this moment, Wu Yuan, with the insect perched on his neck, was already scared to the point of his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering; he didn't dare to show even a hint of his previous arrogance.

"A... a Second-Order Demonic Beast! Which power do you belong to?! It's impossible for a Loose Cultivator to have such strength, let alone raise a Second-Order Spiritual Insect!"

He finally realized that he had misjudged the person from the very beginning.

The seemingly taciturn old man before him was not a Loose Cultivator at all, but a ruthless character who hid his true strength.

Ye Jing ignored Wu Yuan's questioning and simply said coldly, "Die."

As soon as those words were spoken, the queen of the giant Golden Erosion Insect opened its sharp mouthparts and instantly bit into Wu Yuan's head.

Wu Yuan was terrified and screamed for mercy, "Se... Senior, spare my life! This Junior was blind and failed to recognize your greatness; I shouldn't have coveted the Primordial Spirits of Senior and the two Fellow Daoists. I beg Senior to be merciful and grant this Junior a way to live! This Junior will never say a word about you to the outside world!"

While begging for mercy, he kept slapping the Golden Erosion Insect's hard mandibles with his hands, flailing about comically.

But the Golden Erosion Insect bit his head off directly. Blood gushed out, and even his Primordial Spirit tried to float out and escape.

Ye Jing was already very experienced in dealing with Primordial Spirits; with just a lift of his sword, the floating Primordial Spirit was instantly shattered into pieces.

The two warrior monks still in the midst of the struggle stiffened in fear upon seeing this.

Wu Yuan was a registered Disciple of the Jinguang Temple, with a cultivation level a notch higher than theirs. Now that he had been killed by this old man, the blood in their bodies seemed to freeze.

One of the tall, thin warrior monks spoke with a trembling voice, lacking even a hint of the ferocity he had shown while besieging the Loose Cultivators just moments ago.

"Se... Senior, spare us! We were all just acting on orders and did not intend to offend Senior!"

Ye Jing indifferently ignored the pleas of the two warrior monks, and the Golden Erosion Insect behind him rushed forward.

The insect's mandibles were covered in blood; in the eyes of those warrior monks, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a monster from Hell.

After a period of fighting, these two had already exhausted their spiritual power, yet they gritted their teeth and desperately tried to use every last bit of it to escape.

Seeing this, several black throwing knives carrying an ominous and evil aura suddenly appeared in Ye Jing's hand. The throwing knives were extremely fast, streaking through the air and easily piercing the chests of the two warrior monks.

The warrior monks hadn't expected the throwing knives to shatter their spiritual power defenses so easily; the moment they pierced their chests, their Primordial Spirits along with their bodies were annihilated into ashes.

With a wave of Ye Jing's hand, the throwing knives along with the warrior monks' Storage Pouches flew back to him.

However, Ye Jing noticed that these Storage Pouches carried a fragrance, as did Wu Yuan's. He didn't dare touch them with his hands, so he directly opened the Immortal Willow Space to store them inside, planning to dismantle them later.

He Yu and Lin Dan were terrified by this scene. This old man had actually killed two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators so easily; what was the origin of those throwing knives?!

Ye Jing held the three Storage Pouches and looked at them.

Lin Dan was somewhat fearful and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Senior!"

This led He Yu to also bow in fear.

Seeing them suddenly so afraid of him, Ye Jing simply said in a flat voice, "You won't tell anyone about today's events, will you?"

"No! No! Senior, you are our savior!"

"Yes, Senior, these bald donkeys have committed many evils; they deserve such an end!"

He Yu and Lin Dan hurriedly said.

Seeing this, Ye Jing nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly. The scattered Golden Erosion Insects flew back into his Storage Pouch one after another, and even the Second-Order queen shrank in size, becoming palm-sized and resting obediently on his shoulder.

Such effortless control over the Spiritual Insects made He Yu and Lin Dan even more secretly alarmed.

The two of them nodded hastily, not daring to voice any disagreement. From the battle just now, they had already witnessed Ye Jing's strength and ruthlessness. At this moment, their hearts were filled with a desire to follow him and with awe, wishing only to leave this place of trouble as quickly as possible.

Ye Jing threw a ball of fire onto Wu Yuan's Physical Body, and in an instant, the flames burned the body to ashes.

"Senior, there is something I would like to remind you of," He Yu suddenly said.

Ye Jing narrowed his eyes. "Speak."

He Yu said, "Senior, when we joined Wu Yuan's team, we all registered our names and held Command Tokens from the Buddha Realm. If Wu Yuan doesn't return, I'm afraid those people from the Buddha Realm will use this to track and capture us."

Hearing this, Ye Jing took out the Command Token and said, "In that case, just destroy it."

"But our names are still on record," Lin Dan reminded him.

Ye Jing didn't care; he was using a pseudonym anyway, so even if the Buddha Realm wanted to investigate, they wouldn't find anything.

He Yu also quickly chimed in, his voice tinged with urgency.

"Yes, Senior. Once Wu Yuan's disappearance is reported, they will definitely check everyone in the team one by one. If the two of us are caught, we wouldn't reveal Senior even if it cost us our lives, but the Buddha Realm's methods are too sinister. I'm afraid they would use Soul Searching techniques, and then..."

As he spoke, he peeked at Ye Jing out of the corner of his eye.

Ye Jing understood and said, "You want me to take you out of the Buddha Realm?"

At those words, He Yu and Lin Dan exchanged a look, then Lin Dan hurriedly said, "Senior! We are all just ordinary Loose Cultivators who came here just to make a living. If it weren't a matter of life and death, we wouldn't dare trouble Senior!"

Seeing this, Ye Jing simply asked, "Why can't you escape on your own?"

Lin Dan explained, "Because those bald donkeys of the Buddha Realm are extremely xenophobic. They've set up checkpoints and barriers at the borders. Without Late-stage Foundation Establishment strength, one cannot break through! So..."

Ye Jing understood; they wanted to forcibly break through the barrier to leave this place, but they lacked the manpower and wanted to bring him along.

But Ye Jing had the thousand void ethereal map, which allowed him to travel freely through space. Such a barrier was something he could pass through with ease.

However, Ye Jing still wouldn't easily reveal such a treasure. He said, "Then make a Heart Demon oath that you will not speak of today's events to anyone, and I will help you!"

He Yu and Lin Dan looked at each other, then both raised their fingers and swore the oath. A Heart Demon oath is the most unbreakable vow for a Cultivator; once broken, the Primordial Spirit will be devoured by Heart Demons, resulting in one's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, never to be reincarnated.

The two lowered their hands, sweat dripping from their brows.

Only then did Ye Jing prepare to take out his Magic Treasure with satisfaction.

Suddenly, a strong wave of spiritual power came from the distance. Lin Dan hurriedly cried out, "Oh no, those bald donkeys are coming!"

With a wave of Ye Jing's hand, the several-foot-long painting unfurled before them. "Go! Hide inside!"

He Yu and Lin Dan were already terrified by the spiritual power fluctuations from afar. Daring not to hesitate, they rushed toward the thousand void ethereal map.

Then, their bodies were pulled inside by a gentle yet irresistible suction.

The two felt the light and shadows flicker before their eyes. When they opened them again, they were in a misty Void Realm—beneath their feet was warm spiritual soil, unknown Spiritual Plants grew beside them, and the faint sound of a gurgling spiritual spring could be heard in the distance. It was actually an excellent storage Secret Realm.