317: Raging Speed

With a loud "thud," the heavy palace doors slammed shut.

Immediately after, a large number of Formation patterns lit up, completely sealing off the area.

"A confinement Formation? Grand Elder, what is the meaning of this?!"

The youth's eyes narrowed sharply, his voice filled with disbelief and anger.

"The meaning? Naturally, it is to give you this Sect's Legacy."

"Jie jie jie... Kid, this body of yours will soon be used by this old man!"

"You!"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

The youth resisted desperately, but unfortunately, his Early Stage Starlight Realm cultivation was far from enough before the other party.

With a casual flick of a finger, an invisible force instantly bound the youth firmly, making him unable to move.

"Body-Swapping Soul-Shifting Art!"

With a loud shout, a ghostly green soul whistled out from the Grand Elder's body, carrying a thick evil aura as it charged straight into the youth's body.

Meanwhile, his original aged body instantly turned to ash and vanished.

The Body-Swapping Soul-Shifting Art was a Possession technique that was extremely profound even among Human Race evil cultivators.

To perform this technique, the caster must sacrifice their entire cultivation as a price, but in exchange, they can obtain the victim's cultivation, talent, and even peek into all their memories.

"System! Save me, System!"

The youth screamed frantically in the depths of his consciousness, but the System, which usually responded in time, was now like a stone sinking into the ocean, showing no reaction at all.

"System? What kind of thing is a System?"

The Grand Elder's consciousness sensed something unusual within the youth's body and was instantly overjoyed. "I see, this must be a supreme treasure!"

"Hahaha! Thanks to you, this old man will surely live another life. Perhaps there's even a chance to break through to the Star-Moon True Spirit Realm!"

The Grand Elder's Divine Soul laughed wildly inside the youth's body, frantically devouring everything the youth had.

"Great, it's all mine!"

...Meanwhile, between his brows.

Li Jinian's avatar watched this scene play out expressionlessly; he had no intention of intervening.

If the other party were a true Fellow Countryman, then without a doubt, he would have to step in and save them no matter what.

Or, if the other party had only encountered a minor trouble, he could have resolved it in passing.

However, this "artificial Fellow Countryman" had bad luck and ran into a major problem.

It wasn't that Li Jinian's avatar couldn't win, but rather that there was no need to waste this Origin energy.

Knowing when to let go, he made a decision directly.

"Alright, your mission is complete. Go offline."

...Upon receiving the notification to go offline, the youth, who had been desperately resisting the Possession, suddenly froze.

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is..."

"System... thank you for telling me the truth..."

"I have no regrets..."

In the next moment, a sudden explosion like a thunderclap rang out.

The Grand Elder's Divine Soul trembled violently. He discovered in horror that the youth's Divine Soul, which had been struggling constantly, had vanished without a trace in an instant.

The other's Divine Soul was as if it had never existed; not a single trace of its aura could be found.

"Strange. Could this kid have some secret technique on him?"

Not only that, the Grand Elder also discovered something even stranger.

The youth's talent was far from being as Heaven-Defying as he had imagined; it wasn't even as good as the Utility Disciples under his command. He was a complete waste.

"What's going on! Why is his talent so pathetic!"

"Impossible! He clearly should have had peerless talent!"

The Grand Elder roared in anger, his voice echoing within the youth's body, but receiving no response.

Once the Body-Swapping Soul-Shifting Art was performed, it could not be reversed.

The Late Stage Star Core Realm cultivation he had spent hundreds of years building vanished in an instant. And the result was that he had possessed a piece of trash?

"No! This old man is not reconciled!"

He howled at the sky, clutching his head, looking like he had gone mad.

"Wait! There's still a chance! This kid must be carrying a Heaven-Defying treasure!"

The Grand Elder's eyes suddenly turned red. "That thing is called... the System!"

"Yes, the System! This old man doesn't believe he can't find it!"

Thus, he searched frantically within the youth's body and Meridians.

However, no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to get a response from the System... "Senior Sister, the layout of your courtyard is elegant and serene, it's quite refreshing."

Ling Peng strolled through the warm and dreamlike courtyard, admiring the surrounding scenery and praising it sincerely.

"Junior Brother Ling, please have some tea."

"This is a top-grade Star Spirit Tea carefully collected by my Su Family Merchant Association. I wonder if it suits your taste?"

Su Jing smiled brightly, her every move exuding gentleness.

"Senior Sister, there's no need to be so polite. For me, as long as it quenches my thirst, it's fine."

Ling Peng laughed heartily and sipped the tea elegantly.

He called it elegant, but in reality, he just downed it in one gulp.

Su Jing's invitation to Ling Peng was naturally not just for tea and idle talk.

As a Disciple in the Tianxing Martial Pavilion with the background of the Su Family Merchant Association, she was always calculating how to create greater benefits for her Family.

After some brief pleasantries, Su Jing cut straight to the chase.

"Junior Brother Ling, the consumption of resources during cultivation is immense. Do you have sufficient cultivation resources on hand?"

Ever since witnessing his cultivation talent, she had decided to win his favor with cultivation resources.

Ling Peng was also well aware of this.

The two chatted about various things while drinking tea, some intentional and some casual.

From major events in the outside world to Sect matters, and then to cultivation and future prospects.

Regardless, during this process, both of them felt that the other could be tentatively trusted.

Half an hour later, an agreement was reached, and both obtained what they needed.

However, during this process, Su Jing tried to recommend her younger sister to Ling Peng.

Her sister was very beautiful, also following the mature older sister style, with very long legs.

But Ling Peng was a devoted man; since he had decided to be a Rebellious Disciple, he had to stick to his principles.

Therefore, Ling Peng rejected Su Jing's suggestion to "get to know each other first."

"Alright, it was my presumption then."

Su Jing withdrew the portrait of her sister, a hint of regret appearing on her face.

After this small interlude, Ling Peng took his leave.

"Take care, Junior Brother. The items will be delivered in a few days."

"Thank you for your favor, Senior Sister. I am truly grateful."

But as soon as Ling Peng stepped out of the courtyard, a group of male and female Disciples swarmed forward. Each of them had an extraordinary bearing and clearly weren't ordinary Disciples.

Their purpose was similar to Su Jing's: they all came to get close to Ling Peng.

After all, given Ling Peng's current performance and talent, he had a limitless future. None of them wanted to miss this chance to curry favor.

Even if not for their Families, they had to think for themselves.

"Senior Brother Meng, hello, I am..."

"Stop right there. I've changed my name; call me Senior Brother Ling."

"Yes, yes, Senior Brother Ling. This is a small gift from this Junior Brother, please make sure to accept it."

"This..."

Ling Peng felt a headache coming on; how could he handle all of them?

However, it would be too much to refuse resources delivered right to his doorstep.

An equivalent exchange was very reasonable.

Once his cultivation improved, he would help whenever he could.

But as a Disciple of the Pavilion Master's lineage, publicly accepting resources from other Disciples might not look good.

But soon, among the crowd, Ling Peng suddenly saw two familiar figures.

They were Mu Tai and Gao Panshan, who had acted as his Protectors when he first started cultivating.

If it hadn't been for the two of them protecting him back then, his cultivation might have been interrupted by jealous individuals halfway through.

Unfortunately, he had been too busy later and hadn't had the chance to thank them properly.

Ling Peng simply came up with a plan and took the opportunity to officially take the two as his underlings, letting them handle the situation.

Mu Tai and Gao Panshan wept with joy. "Fantastic! We've finally latched onto this powerhouse."

"Senior Brother Mu! Senior Brother Gao! I'm counting on you. I'll take my leave first."

After handing everything over to them, Ling Peng immediately made a run for it and returned to his own courtyard.

Before long, Mu Tai and Gao Panshan brought a large amount of cultivation resources and a "voluntary donation" list.

Upon checking it, Ling Peng couldn't help but laugh like a pig.

Next, it was time for a rapid advancement...