115: Fat and oily

At this moment, Han Qing was still enveloped in demonic mist, his specific features obscured. However, the terrifying pressure emanating from the depths of his Soul caused these newly awakened playboys to instantly recall that nightmarish scene they had previously encountered at the Hehuan Sect headquarters!

It was that Deity Transformation Stage Great Demon dragon!

They had actually been abducted to its lair by that incomparably ferocious Demon Dragon!

At the thought of the various cruel legends of the Yao Race eating flesh and drinking blood, or skinning and swallowing people alive, this group of young masters and Young Misses from the Tianxuan Domain—who were usually arrogant and used to acting like tyrants—instantly felt their Souls leave their bodies. Their faces turned as pale as gold paper, and they shook like sieves.

"Great Demon Venerable, please spare our lives!"

"Senior, spare us! We did not mean to offend you! We beg Senior to show mercy and grant us a way to live, considering our youth and ignorance!"

Their hearts were filled with endless horror and despair.

It was over! This time, it was completely over!

They had only just arrived in this Zhilan Domain, legendary for its abundance of beauties and treasures. Before they even had a chance to enjoy themselves, were they destined to end up in a demon's belly, becoming food for this terrifying great demon?

At the critical moment, it was the leader, Lu Mingxuan, who forcibly suppressed the churning fear in his heart and struggled to crawl up from the cold stone floor.

His legs were also weak at this moment, and his teeth were chattering, but as the one with the highest cultivation and most prominent status among these playboys, if he didn't risk speaking up now to fight for a glimmer of hope, their group would likely meet their end here today.

To survive, he mustered all the courage he could find and spoke with a trembling voice toward the figure radiating monstrous Demonic Qi:

"Sen... Senior... Junior is Lu Mingxuan, a disciple of the Lu Family of the Heavenly Profound Domain. These others are also Junior descendants of various major families in the Tianxuan Domain. We have just arrived at your precious land and do not know how we have offended Senior's majestic presence. We hope Senior is magnanimous enough to forgive us. Junior is here to sincerely apologize to Senior!"

As he spoke, he peeked at Han Qing's reaction from the corner of his eye, his heart pounding with extreme anxiety.

"We beg Senior... we beg Senior to stay your hand and grant us a path to survival, for the sake of the families behind us!"

Lu Mingxuan lowered his posture into the dust. "As long as Senior does not eat us, everything is negotiable! Truly, everything is negotiable!"

An ambiguous cold snort came from Han Qing's throat: "Oh? Everything is negotiable?"

He slowly raised a palm wrapped in dense Demonic Qi. In his palm, he was holding an exquisitely crafted Storage Ring.

"This spatial ring belongs to you, doesn't it?"

Han Qing shook the ring in front of Lu Mingxuan's eyes.

Seeing his Storage Ring in the hands of this Demon Venerable, Lu Mingxuan's heart skipped a beat, and he cried out inwardly that things were bad.

But at this moment, he was the fish on the chopping block. He didn't dare hide anything or resist, so he could only brace himself and nod repeatedly: "It is Junior's."

"Very good."

Han Qing then beckoned to Lu Mingxuan, "You, come here."

Although Lu Mingxuan's heart was filled with all sorts of dread and unease, how could he dare to disobey a moody Deity Transformation Stage Great Demon of unfathomable strength?

He could only endure the weakness and trembling in his legs, moving one step at a time as if heading to an execution ground, walking tremblingly before Han Qing.

"Undo the Divine Soul imprint on this spatial ring for this venerable one!" Han Qing ordered directly.

"Ah?" Lu Mingxuan was stunned.

Undo the Divine Soul imprint?

This Deity Transformation Stage Demon Venerable possessed great Divine Abilities; why didn't he just use forceful means to erase the Restriction on the ring?

Instead, he wanted the Original Owner to undo it personally?

What kind of tactic was this?

Could it be that this Demon Venerable had some unknown special hobby? Was he playing with them?

A thousand thoughts flashed through Lu Mingxuan's mind in an instant, but he was completely baffled.

In the end, he could only attribute all of this to the profound and unpredictable conduct of a Deity Transformation Stage Great Demon.

Perhaps in the eyes of this terrifying Demon Venerable, these so-called 'favored children of heaven' were just a group of ants that could be crushed at will, or playthings to pass the time.

And they were now merely an insignificant part of a game played by this great demon on a whim.

When one is under another's roof, one must bow one's head.

The ancients truly did not deceive me!

Even though their hearts were filled with thousands of regrets and humiliations, under the bone-chilling gaze of that terrifying demonic creature, these playboys of the Tianxuan Domain could only swallow their grievances. One by one, dejected, they obediently followed Han Qing's instructions, lining up to step forward and personally erase the Divine Soul imprints on their Storage Rings.

With every Divine Soul imprint erased, their hearts bled, as if a piece of their flesh was being carved out.

Inside were their collections from over the years, generous gifts from Family elders, symbols of their status and position, and the source of their confidence as they traveled the world of Cultivators!

Now, they had to personally hand them over to a Demon Venerable!

This was even more humiliating and painful than being killed outright!

In the crowd, it wasn't as if no one harbored a trace of doubt.

After all, a dignified Deity Transformation Stage demonic powerhouse should be able to break the Divine Soul Restrictions set by mere Nascent Soul Juniors without any effort. Why go through the extra trouble of making them do it themselves?

Could there be something fishy about this?

But when they secretly looked up and encountered the terrifying Demonic Qi rolling around that figure, which radiated a heart-stopping dread...

The tiny spark of suspicion that had just sprouted in their hearts was instantly extinguished, as if hit by a torrential downpour, without even a wisp of smoke remaining.

What a joke!

They had seen with their own eyes that this terrifying Demon Venerable had used only two moves to heavily wound their two usually high-and-mighty, powerful Deity Transformation Stage Dao Protectors.

This was real, crushing, and terrifying combat power!

Faced with such a ferocious, violent, and moody existence, how could they, in the Nascent Soul Realm, have any right to question? How would they even dare to entertain a single doubt?

If they annoyed this Demon Venerable and were swallowed into its belly to become fertilizer, that would be a real problem!

Thus, driven by a strong desire to survive, these formerly glorious favored children of heaven could only hang their heads and cooperate, honestly 'donating' all their 'Family assets'.

Han Qing stood to the side with his hands behind his back. He appeared expressionless, but in reality, his heart was already blooming with joy.

Watching these playboys looking as if their parents had died, with long faces as they reluctantly undid the Restrictions on their Storage Rings, he had to struggle not to laugh out loud on the spot.

He did his best to maintain the grim aura and terrifying pressure of a 'Millennial Great Demon'.

It was fortunate that he was currently shrouded in thick demonic mist, making it impossible for others to see his true expressions and eyes.

Because of this, in the eyes of these playboys who were already scared out of their wits, the Demon Venerable before them seemed even more profound, moody, and inviolably majestic, filling them with awe and fear from the bottom of their hearts.

When the last playboy undid the Divine Soul imprint on his Storage Ring with trembling hands, Han Qing waved his hand unceremoniously, sweeping all eighteen Storage Rings of various lusters into his palm.

He casually picked up one of them, his Divine Sense sweeping into it like a tide, and began to count the 'spoils of war' with great interest.

He was shocked by what he saw; Han Qing almost failed to control his heartbeat!

The good things inside the Storage Rings of these disciples from the top noble families of the Tianxuan Domain were simply a dazzling array, piled up like mountains, breathtaking to behold!

Aside from some personal items that weren't worth mentioning, almost everything else was a rare and precious treasure!

Just the Spirit Stones of various grades alone were piled up like small hills, colorful and radiating Spiritual Qi.

There were rare Spirit Medicines of various ages, though these weren't particularly unusual.

There were also all sorts of world-rare Artifact Refining Materials, such as Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Iron, Astral Secret Silver, Earth-Core Fire Copper, Nine Heavens Divine Sand, and so on. They were all present in great variety, including top-tier divine Materials sufficient to refine Medium Grade Magic Treasures or even High Grade Magic Treasures!

In addition, there were various Medicinal Pills with miraculous effects, such as the 'Nine-Revolution Essence-Returning Pill' which could quickly restore magic power.

There was the 'Muscle-Growing and Bone-Forging Creation Pill' that could bring the dying back to life and regrow flesh on bones, and the 'Purple Pole Spirit-Gathering Pill' that could significantly increase one's cultivation.

There were even a few bottles of rare precious pills that could assist a Golden Core Cultivator in breaking through a Bottleneck, increasing their cultivation, and improving their chances of breaking through to the next realm!

Of course, what Han Qing cared about most were the Jade Slips that recorded various profound Cultivation Techniques and powerful secret arts.

From the Storage Rings of these playboys, Han Qing had looted no less than dozens of Secret Manuals, ranging from Mystery-Grade to Earth-Grade. They covered almost every aspect of the hundred arts of cultivation, including attack, defense, movement techniques, escape arts, and auxiliary skills.

Among them, there were even several top-tier techniques specifically for Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators. Although he couldn't use them immediately, he would be able to very soon.

Whether for his own comprehension and reference in the future or to bestow upon his subordinates to Cultivate trusted aides, they were all excellent choices.

"Good heavens... this... this is truly striking it rich!"

Han Qing forcibly suppressed the wild joy that was about to burst from his heart.

Just from the collections in these playboys' Storage Rings, he could clearly see a glimpse of how astonishing and abundant the foundations and wealth of these disciples from the top noble families of a Dominator-level domain were!

Picking any one of them at random, the wealth and resources they possessed could likely beat the total net worth of the nine Early Nascent Soul Stage old monsters at the Zhilan Domain's Hundred Flowers Valley Dao Gathering ten times over!

There was no helping it; this was the gap in birth and the crushing weight of background!

Different origins meant different horizons, and the resources one could access were naturally as different as clouds and mud, worlds apart.

The four essentials of cultivation are wealth, companions, techniques, and land. It was not without reason that 'wealth' was listed first.

This immense financial power was itself one of the most important components of strength!