At this moment, the mastermind of all these incidents, Zhang Ergou, had already returned to Chunyang Peak.
He hadn't been spotted by anyone on his way back.
After tallying up today's spoils, Zhang Ergou exclaimed that he had profited greatly.
With today's plundering, his contribution points alone exceeded one hundred thousand.
This didn't even include other elixirs and weapons.
Zhang Ergou chuckled lewdly a few times, but didn't dare to laugh too loudly, fearing it would attract the attention of his fellow disciples on Chunyang Peak.
He gathered the confiscated treasures together and stored them all in his storage ring.
With a flash, Zhang Ergou left again and arrived at a hidden spot behind Chunyang Peak.
*Crack!*
The sound of his bones breaking echoed within him as Zhang Ergou once again practiced the Heavenly Phoenix Body Refinement.
After one circulation, Zhang Ergou experienced pain and pleasure simultaneously.
Although the process was excruciating, it was much better than the previous few times, and the rewards were immense.
Not only did his bones become tougher, but his physical strength also more than doubled.
Taking a Qi Condensing Pill, Zhang Ergou began to cultivate the Lion's Roar.
He found himself liking this close-combat skill more and more as he practiced it.
He moved like a beast hunting, his speed incredibly swift.
Then, he tiptoed, his body light and agile, like a lion stealthily approaching its prey without making a sound.
In an instant, his palm strikes were as fast as lightning, yet imbued with immense power. With a single palm strike, he pierced through an ancient tree.
However, it left a mark that was neither claw-like nor not.
Zhang Ergou's movements became faster and faster, leaving behind afterimages.
In the end, his figure became indistinguishable, and only the sound of the wind breaking could be heard.
Gradually, Zhang Ergou entered a wondrous state.
It was as if he were in an independent world, where he controlled everything within his surroundings.
With a single thought, everything in this world appeared in his mind.
Communicating with heaven and earth!
If Chunyang Sanren and others were to witness this scene, they would be greatly astonished.
This state of communicating with heaven and earth, which only Golden Core cultivators could barely touch upon, was manifesting in Zhang Ergou, who was merely in the middle stage of Qi Refining.
*Pop!*
Through an unseen connection, he communicated with the power of heaven and earth, and Zhang Ergou's cultivation realm also broke through.
Naturally, without any external force.
For a moment, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged towards the area where Zhang Ergou was located, as if it had no regard for its own safety.
Soon, a massive vortex of spiritual energy formed around Zhang Ergou, and his body opened all its pores to absorb the converging spiritual energy.
His core fire became even more active, tempering the spiritual energy that flowed into his body.
Then, the pure golden spiritual energy all flowed into Zhang Ergou's Sea of Qi, which had now more than doubled in size.
All of this happened without Zhang Ergou's awareness.
He was still in that profound and mysterious state, his hand movements becoming even more agile.
As the sun's rays descended and the morning light pierced through the forest, Zhang Ergou awoke from his cultivation state.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and Zhang Ergou casually flicked his palm.
*Crack!*
A tree as thick as a thigh snapped cleanly.
"Haha! Not bad, I've broken through again!" Zhang Ergou roared with laughter.
Just now, his palm hadn't directly contacted the tree.
The palm wind, imbued with spiritual energy circulating around his hand, had casually broken a thigh-thick tree.
What would be the consequences if this struck a person?
He exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling his own changes, and nodded with satisfaction.
His master had once warned him that in cultivation, building a solid foundation was the most crucial thing.
Therefore, Zhang Ergou was never in a hurry to break through, constantly suppressing his own cultivation to solidify his foundation.
Yet, even so, in just over a month, Zhang Ergou had advanced from the early stage of Qi Refining to the late stage.
If others were to know that this was the result of him suppressing his own cultivation,
They would surely exclaim that he was a monstrous talent.
After tidying up, Zhang Ergou walked out of the back mountain and headed towards the front peak of Chunyang Peak.
"Master, Sister Cuilan, good morning!" he greeted Chunyang Sanren and Liu Cuilan, who were standing in the courtyard.
"Master, where have you been these past few days? I haven't seen you at all," Zhang Ergou asked, looking up at Chunyang Sanren.
"Mind your own business, these are adult matters. Have you been slacking off in your cultivation while I was away?"
Chunyang Sanren did not wish to reveal where he had been.
"Heh, if you don't want to say, then don't. Who wants to listen anyway," Zhang Ergou grumbled.
"You scoundrel, are you looking for a beating!" With that, a large palm lunged towards Zhang Ergou.
"Master, spare me!" Zhang Ergou shrieked comically and dodged behind Liu Cuilan.
Liu Cuilan giggled, watching the two of them bicker.
"Master, you look so radiant this morning. Is something good happening?"
Sitting down, Zhang Ergou leaned against Chunyang Sanren, a fawning look on his face.
"Haha, of course something good has happened!" Chunyang Sanren seemed to be in a very good mood.
As he spoke, he recounted the entire story.
It turned out that last night, some disciples from Chunyang Peak who had been ambushed by Zhang Ergou returned and told Chunyang Sanren about the incident.
On Chunyang Sanren's way to reason with Xiayang Sanren,
He encountered Qiu Yang and Dong Yang, two other Sanren, who were also going to confront Xiayang Sanren.
It turned out they all had the same objective, so the three of them went together to confront Xiayang Sanren.
With witnesses and evidence, and unable to defeat him in a fight.
Xiayang Sanren had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. In the end, he compensated the three of them with a precious spiritual artifact each to settle the matter.
Spiritual artifacts were by no means comparable to ordinary weapons.
They were called spiritual artifacts because a spirit had already been nurtured within the weapon.
Spiritual artifacts were rare treasures, and to produce three at once, Xiayang Sanren must have been heartbroken!
The reason Chunyang Sanren was so happy was twofold: first, he had gained benefits from Xiayang Sanren,
And second, seeing his long-time rival in a predicament naturally brought him immense joy.
"Haha, your fellow disciples' injuries were not in vain, not in vain, haha!"
Chunyang Sanren guffawed, completely unconcerned that his own disciples had been injured while he reaped the benefits.
"Shameless!"
Zhang Ergou muttered under his breath.
He had always thought he was shameless enough, but he never expected this old man to be even more shameless than him.
However, thinking of Xiayang Sanren's embarrassment brought him a sense of satisfaction.
For the next few days, Zhang Ergou stayed put on Chunyang Peak, not going anywhere.
The Misty Sect gradually returned to a state of calm.
One day, after breakfast, Zhang Ergou dashed to the back mountain and left Chunyang Peak via a different path.
"You schemed against me, and you think you can just get away with it so easily? That won't do. Today, I'll pull off something even bigger!"
With a cold smile, Zhang Ergou stealthily put on his black robe again.
This time, he went directly to the area where Xiayang Peak and Qiuyang Peak's back mountains met.
Finding a place where the weeds were lush, Zhang Ergou quietly hid himself.
Silently waiting for prey to appear...