Mortal Alchemy

"Boom!!!"

The second-order talisman exploded. He was too close. The Treasure-Seeking Mink brushed past his crotch, sticking to his leg, but he didn't even notice.

The massive explosion drowned out Lu Kangning's miserable screams.

In the forest, flames soared into the sky.

Hearing the explosion, Chen Ping's expression changed slightly. Only then did he change direction and return to where Zhou Ying was.

"The plan worked!"

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, whether you live or die depends on your luck."

Chen Ping's plan was to have the Treasure-Seeking Mink hide nearby, find an opportunity to stick the talisman on Lu Kangning, tear it open, and launch a sneak attack.

But if the Treasure-Seeking Mink couldn't find an opportunity, then so be it.

But now that the explosion had sounded, Chen Ping knew his plan had worked.

He hurriedly turned back to the scene.

By the time he returned to the scene, the flames had been extinguished, leaving only some dust and ash floating in the air.

At the center of the explosion, Lu Kangning had already been blasted into a bloody mess, his legs completely turned into minced meat.

And Lu Kangning was still holding up his shield. If not for this second-order defensive magic item, he would have been blasted to death on the spot. But this defensive magic item protected his upper body, allowing him to barely survive.

And not far away, Zhou Ying had been blown away, with dozens of injuries on her body, and even some burn marks, obviously affected by the second-order talisman.

But she survived. These physical injuries were not a big problem.

At least, she survived.

Moreover, the areas protected by that high-quality defensive magic item were unharmed, with only broken bones and internal organ damage at most.

"Boom!!"

Just at that moment, a powerful divine sense attack came towards Chen Ping.

"Divine Soul Secret Technique Attack!" Chen Ping's expression changed drastically. He immediately let out a muffled groan, and blood flowed from his ears, mouth, nose, and eyes. His body trembled violently, and he saw stars in front of his eyes, with waves of darkness.

At the critical moment, the gray-white bead hanging around his neck suddenly became hot, devouring the excess divine sense power.

Chen Ping was still in shock: "…The little bead saved my life again."

Seeing that Chen Ping was still standing unharmed after taking his divine sense attack, Lu Kangning let out a vicious and resentful voice, in disbelief:

"How is this possible!"

"You're just a Qi Refinement cultivator. How could you not die after suffering a divine sense attack!"

"Who exactly are you?"

Chen Ping forced himself not to faint, gritting his teeth and saying, "The one who's sending you on your way!"

If he fainted here, then the one who would die would definitely be him, not Lu Kangning.

Chen Ping no longer had any excess Azure Lotus Sword Essence in his body. He tremblingly raised the Azure Cloud Sword in his hand:

"Four Seasons Swordplay…"

A wave of fire-attributed sword energy surged out, rushing towards Lu Kangning.

"Impossible! Who are you?! Why do you know the Four Seasons Swordplay! How is this possible!" Lu Kangning roared in disbelief.

"Ah!!!"

The fire wave enveloped Lu Kangning and began to burn. However, he no longer had excess spiritual power to activate his shield and dissipate this first-order sword energy.

In the flames, Lu Kangning let out a blood-curdling scream: "I'm not reconciled!"

"I'm not reconciled!"

"To think I'd capsize in a gutter, dying at the hands of a Qi Refinement cultivator!"

The fire wave burned wildly, turning Lu Kangning into a burning man!

Chen Ping's vision went dark in waves. He forced himself not to faint. The spiritual sense in his body had already begun to backlash, and a heart-wrenching pain surged.

"I can't faint yet…"

Chen Ping gritted his teeth, his body staggering. Finally, he raised the Azure Cloud Sword and added another sword energy, slashing towards Lu Kangning.

"Ah!!!" Lu Kangning struggled and screamed, then his voice came to an abrupt halt. A sword energy had severed his head.

Seeing this, Chen Ping breathed a sigh of relief, and then could no longer withstand the backlash. His eyes went black, and he fainted.

The Brocade-haired Treasure-Seeking Mink couldn't help but become anxious upon seeing this. Then it rushed forward, burrowed into Chen Ping's storage bag, and stuffed a large number of pills into Chen Ping's mouth.

Just at that moment, its ears perked up, as if it had sensed something.

It snatched away Chen Ping's, Lu Kangning's, and Zhou Ying's storage bags, and then disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Kill the demon and seize the treasure. If you kill the enemy and don't take the treasure, then you're at a great loss!

Fortunately, it's cunning!

……

When Chen Ping woke up again, he found himself lying in a tree hollow, with Zhou Ying still unconscious beside him.

"Hiss!" Chen Ping's whole body was in tearing pain, and within his body, there were still many messy pills waiting to be refined.

Hearing Chen Ping's voice and movement, a ragged, somewhat disheveled figure walked into the tree hollow from outside.

Large patches of her snow-white skin were exposed, and the unrotten cloth on her body barely covered a few private areas.

Seeing Chen Ping's gaze, a blush couldn't help but creep onto her serene little face. Her tone was icy, with a hint of anger:

"If you hadn't risked your life to save Ying'er, just based on the way you're looking at me, I would have been enough to kill you to vent my anger!"

The person who came was Madam Guo.

Her condition was not much better than Chen Ping's. Her clothes were ragged, and she had many injuries. Her figure was also somewhat disheveled, but she still couldn't hide her alluring aura.

Chen Ping said with a wry smile, "Senior Guo, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to know who saved me."

He shifted his gaze away from Madam Guo.

"Hmph!" Madam Guo snorted coldly: "You junior is quite good at hiding. Before entering Foundation Establishment, you first became a second-order body cultivator. No wonder you had the strength to kill that Lu surnamed Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Chen Ping said with a wry smile, "How can I compare to the senior's deep hiding? Senior is actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet you still hid as a Qi Refinement cultivator."

After this life-and-death event, Madam Guo's perception of Chen Ping had changed a lot. She said, "If a widow and her daughter want to manage a family and have a counter in the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, they would have been eaten until there were no bones left without hiding their strength."

"How else could I let Ying'er plan for Foundation Establishment? Moreover, Ying'er is of a different surname. How can I make everyone in the family sincerely convinced?"

Chen Ping nodded with difficulty. That was indeed the case. Moreover, Zhou Ying showed her face in public and was still a virgin. Her Yin essence was extremely rich, like a special spiritual body.

Chen Ping asked, "Senior Guo, why not ride a flying magic item to take us away from here?"

Madam Guo looked vigilantly at the outside of the tree hollow: "That Old Devil Cao was injured by my trick, but it wasn't a serious injury. My strength is not as good as his, and he is still searching for our whereabouts."

"My storage bag has been destroyed. Fortunately, I prepared a small second-order formation on my body. The three of us hiding here will be discovered by him sooner or later."

"We are not in a safe place yet."

"Chen Ping, I ask you, where are you and Ying'er's storage bags?"

"You have the combat power of a second-order body cultivator. As long as your injuries recover, cooperating with me is enough to repel that Old Devil Cao! But without pills to recover from your injuries, once that Old Devil Cao discovers us…"

Chen Ping was stunned for a moment: "That's right, where are the storage bags?"

Chen Ping realized that the mink doesn't leave empty-handed. That Mink Bro must have discovered Madam Guo's existence and taken away the storage bags on them.