Zhou Zida felt a surge of qi in his chest, his Dantian’s internal energy unstable. Seeing Nanli swing her sword at him again, he hurriedly raised his knife to defend.
The knife shattered instantly!
Yet Nanli’s Dark Moon Sword remained unscathed.
Zhou Zida couldn’t comprehend it. How could she, a mere mortal, overpower him? He was the strongest warrior in Hundred Pass Town and would never accept defeat. With a roar, he tried to channel his Dantian’s energy to gather in his palm, aiming to strike Nanli dead.
But Nanli was faster. She kicked him over, pinning his life vein with the Dark Moon Sword, preventing him from drawing on his energy.
"You... you..." He watched as Nanli pulled a Golden Hairpin from her bag. "What are you planning to do?!"
"I want to see how much energy you have in your Dantian."
"Not... not much, not much!" Zhou Zida shouted, attempting to get up but was unable to move under the sword’s pressure.
"I don’t believe you." Nanli smiled at him.
Then her expression turned serious, her eyes cold as she twisted the Golden Hairpin and mercilessly stabbed it into his Dantian.
As his Dantian ruptured, streams of energy poured out. The Hairpin Elf, previously asleep, sensed the energy and immediately awakened, exclaiming, "Wow! It’s energy!"
"Can you absorb it?" Nanli asked.
"I can, but this guy’s energy is weak and not very pure. He’s just a novice with little to offer," the Hairpin Elf replied disdainfully.
Nanli rolled her eyes. "A prey has come right to us; don’t be too picky."
After a pause, the Hairpin Elf conceded, "You’re right."
It absorbed all the energy into the hairpin.
Zhou Zida lay there, bloodied and drenched in cold sweat, in immense pain. Seeing Nanli stand with the Golden Hairpin, he gripped the ground tightly, saying bitterly, "You! You’re beautiful but so malicious! No one will dare marry you, and you’ll face retribution!"
Nanli laughed instead of getting angry, ignoring him as she said to the Hairpin Elf, "Look at this; this is the display of impotent rage. He was the one who wanted to kill me first, and now I’ve only ruined his Dantian, yet he still fails to appreciate it."
"Exactly, the master is so kind-hearted!" the Hairpin Elf chimed in eagerly.
Zhou Zida, pale from pain and trembling all over, cried out, "You... you might as well kill me! Kill me!"
He had just entered the Qi Refining stage, the strongest warrior in Hundred Pass Town, with the best chance of entering the Upper Realm for sect selection. Now that his Dantian was destroyed, all his dreams were shattered!
Nanli’s smile turned cold and disdainful. "Killing you would just dirty my hands. Don’t you despise this Human World? Then you should stay here and fend for yourself."
Darkness enveloped him.
Zhou Zida regretted it immensely, but he slightly turned his head to seek hope from the other cultivator. However, during the time Nanli was dealing with him, the cultivator remained tightly bound by the golden whips.
Seeing Zhou Zida’s Dantian destroyed and energy drained, the cultivator had nearly wet his pants from fear!
A foul smell wafted through the air.
Nanli pinched her nose in disgust. "Are you really a Golden Core cultivator? How can you be so cowardly?"
The cultivator trembled, "Do you know that absorbing another’s energy for cultivation is considered... considered evil? The cultivators of the Immortal World look down on such people, and you will face a collective attack from the Immortal World!"
Nanli rolled her eyes. "Whether my Golden Hairpin absorbs your energy or not, I’ll still be hunted by your Penglai Island. What other excuses do you have?"
The cultivator’s cold sweat poured down as his mind raced.
He suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "The lotus seed is in my Qiankun Bag. If I don’t open it personally, you can’t possibly break it. We can negotiate; being friends is also an option, right?"
"Who would want to be friends with a waste like you?" Nanli raised her fingers, and one of the golden whips snatched his Qiankun Bag, handing it to her.
She examined the sealing talismans on the bag.
With a flick of her fingers, the whip drew a blood mark on the cultivator’s body.
As the blood oozed out, Nanli caught a drop on a blank yellow talisman, drawing a quick incantation to break the seal.
The cultivator couldn’t help but sneer, "Do you think my blood can break the Qiankun Bag? This is my Qiankun Bag, crafted with a very sophisticated talisman. A mere mortal like you can’t break it!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the talisman hit the bag, and the seal on the opening appeared.
After a couple of moments of struggling, the Qiankun Bag automatically opened.
"..." The cultivator was left dumbfounded.
Is this Qiankun Bag fake?!
He had paid a thousand spirit stones for it!
Nanli rummaged through the bag. Time was running out, and she quickly pulled out the pouch containing the lotus seeds.
There were nine lotus seeds in total.
She paused slightly—was it a coincidence or fate? It was just enough.
Quickly, she released Zhi Mi and the others, saying, "The lotus seeds are here; hurry and enter."
As she sprinkled the lotus seeds into the air, the nine souls dove into them.
The lotus seeds hovered for a moment, ghostly energy initially swirled around but was soon purified by the celestial energy of the lotus seeds. Zhi Mi exclaimed first, "Senior sister, it feels so comfortable inside the lotus seeds!"
Nanli smiled, relieved. "After all, they’re celestial items."
There was also a note in the pouch.
She opened it and found the planting method for the lotus seeds written on it.
Because these were ancient items, ordinary water couldn’t sustain them.
They needed the dew from Jialan Celestial Mountain.
Although she didn’t know what was special about Jialan Celestial Mountain, the person who helped Xuan Yinyue and sent the lotus seeds was trustworthy. As long as she followed his instructions, it would be fine.
However, this meant that Zhi Mi and the others would have to wait a while longer.
After all, she had no idea when she would enter the Immortal World.
Meanwhile, the previously arrogant cultivator had started to cry.
He lamented, "It’s all my master’s fault... all his fault!"
Nanli raised an eyebrow. "Who is your master? The head of Penglai Island?"
"No, my master is Elder Jiang. The island master wanted him to bring me and Zhou Zida here, but after a day of waiting, he lost patience, saying you were just a mortal, and it would be easy to deal with you without any conditions for drawing qi. I actually believed him; I’m such a fool! A complete idiot!"
The cultivator cried and scolded himself.
This was no easy target; she was fierce and strong!
Nanli’s expression turned serious. "What realm is your master?"
"Mid Nascent Soul..." he replied tremulously.
Nanli replied, "It’s a good thing he left. My talisman array can only handle Golden Core cultivators; I can’t deal with someone at the Nascent Soul level."
Hearing this, the cultivator cursed even louder.