After a brief discussion, the cultivators decided to send out three Golden Core Sages.
The Elixir Twilight Clan would go first and Sage Xu had decided to join the battle.
A transformed powerful demon jumped down from the tree and leaped toward Sage Xu.
It suddenly disappeared mid-air and reappeared to the left of where the sage was standing at.
The curved blade was swung toward the cultivator’s neck at an extreme speed.
Just three inches before the blade meet the neck, a light blocked it.
The sound of a blade hitting a sturdy metal echoed throughout the forest.
Next, an elixir cauldron the size of a fist appeared on top of the sage’s head.
A light veil dropped from the cauldron, covering the sage’s body to provide a layer of protection.
With a gentle thrust, the sage sent out a huge fist toward the beast.
The jackal swiftly avoided the attack and went into hiding once again.
In terms of the field, the jackal had the advantage.
Forests could give the most transformed powerful beast a great boost.
Despite that, Chen Jignzhai and the rest of the party weren’t worried about the battle. Instead, they were confident they could win.
Chen Jingzhai couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw Sage Xu throw the punch. “Does the Elixir Twilight Clan practices martial arts too?”
“It’s just a means of protecting ourselves,” Celestial Maiden Han replied through telepathy. “How do you think the mortals get to learn martial arts? They are all defensive arts of celestial clans. My junior brother is extremely proficient in empty-handed combat.”
Chen Jingzhai nodded as he could tell how good Sage Xu was from that punch.
The punch might seem weak, but it was filled with power.
If the punch had met its target, the latter would feel as if they were struck by lightning or the explosion of a cauldron.
The sage patiently waited after the demon went into hiding. After a while, the sage realized that the demon had no intention of making the next move and sighed. With a flick of his fingers, a thin crack opened on the cauldron, and flame was spat out of it.
The fire was as bright as the sun.
With the sage in the center, the flame spread in all directions.
The head was so high that the rest of the jackals were forced to back up a little.
Trees around the area were also lit in fire, forcing the demon to come out of hiding.
The moment it appeared, the sage kicked the ground to quickly approach his opponent and threw a punch toward it.
The right jab hit the demon’s arm, but, the sage frowned the moment they made contact.
The powerful demon didn’t even flinch and it suddenly disappeared.
Sage Xu now had a serious expression on his face. He controlled the fire with his hands and turned it into a net.
The net was then shot toward the demon, forcing it to come out of hiding again.
However, this time, the beast suddenly opened its mouth and shot a pair of fangs out.
The black fangs traveled at the speed of light and the sage quickly expanded his elixir cauldron to cover his entire body.
With a loud bang, a huge explosion occurred at where the sage was standing.
The fire did not die down from that. Instead, it had gotten even more intense.
Poison filled the air with the explosion while the fire kept burning in it.
After a while, the dust and fire had died down a little.
Sage Xu remained unharmed while the transformed powerful demon was still tied up by the fire net, unable to move.
“Looks like we’ve won the first match,” Chen Jingzhai said.
“It seems like it. Please, choose your reward,” the female jackal replied without a change of expression.
“I’ll take the Essence Gold Stone,” Sage Xu said and grabbed the stone through telekinesis with his Golden Core power.
The second battle started right away.
It was Miao Yun’s turn to participate.
Since she was still in the beginner Golden Core Plane, the opponent had sent out a powerful demon who had just transformed.
Just like other jackals, it had chosen to retain its legs. The only difference was that it had a pair of jackal ears as well which made its appearance weird.
The moment the jackal walked out, it suddenly disappeared.
Miao Yun frowned a little and clouds began to appear around her.
The cloud quickly spread out and continued to expand.
Soon, the forest was filled with fog that could even hinder the sensing ability of divine minds.
Amidst the fog, the demon launched its attack.
It was very fast, but unlike the previous jackal, it moved more stealthily.
Once it reached the attack range, it swung its sword from below towards the sky.
Unfortunately for the beast, Miao Yun could detect everything that was happening inside the fog. With a gentle wave of her arm, she suddenly disappeared, causing the demon to miss its target and now stood in the middle of the fog.
The fog then started to gather around the beast and the pressure started to increase. It could not keep its transformation up in the end and was forced to revert to its original form before passing out.
“That’ll be all, I assume?” Chen Jingzhai grinned as he asked the leader of the jackals.
“Yes. You’ve won.” The jackal gritted her teeth. “How about we have a match between us?”
“Why should I?” Chen Jingzhai shook his head and used his spiritual power to grab the remaining two ores. “There’s no need for any more fights. But…”
“But?”
“I assume you’ve already known, but I’m the Master Uncle of the Luo Sheng Sword School, Chen Jingzhai, and I’m proficient in both elixir and item alchemies. I have quite a few Grade 3 elixirs and inferior Grade 3 magic treasures to sell. Why don’t we do a trade?”
“Really?” A hint of excitement could be seen in the female demon’s eyes. “But, I have no idea what to trade with. There’s no way we can trade with ores anymore. But, we do have a few things in our storage.”
“Why don’t you show us?” Chen Jingzhai smiled. “I’m pretty sure the disciples are willing to trade as well if they find something they need.”
“I see.” The female jackal nodded and ordered a few jackals to bring their items out.
Chen Jingzhai also released the jackal he had captured.
The leader of the jackal did not say anything to that, but the hostility in her eyes had died down a little.
“Master Uncle, are you really going to trade with them?” Celestial Maiden Han asked.
“Why not? This is such a rare chance. The elixirs and magic treasures aren’t that rare to us anyway. They might have something that we want.”
The rest of the group got a little excited as well after hearing that, especially the disciples from the sword branches.
Kong Guang kept staring at Chen Jingzhai, hoping that the Master Uncle would give him part of the Peacock’s Gut.
Chen Jingzhai pretended to not notice his disciple nephew’s stare and took his spiritual treasure-grade cauldron out. He put the Peacock’s Gut into it and heated it up with poisonous flame before asking Xing Lian to help him process the ore.
A spiritual treasure was so powerful that it only took a few seconds for the ore to be split into six equal parts. Chen Jingzhai took one and gave the rest to the Luo Sheng Sword School’s disciples.
“Master Uncle Xu, can I get a part of the Gold Essence Stone as well?” Qiao Haisheng eagerly asked.
“Of course. But, we’ll need Little Master Uncle to help us separate it,” the sage replied.
“No problem.” Chen Jingzhai nodded and asked Xing Lian to help divide the ore into six as well.
Five were given to the cultivators from the Elixir Twilight Clan while Qiao Haisheng got the last one.
Qiao Haisheng immediately absorbed the ore into his core and let his sword pill absorb the ore. To him, both the Essence Gold Stone and the Peacock’s Gut would improve him a lot, but the former was more compatible with him.
Chen Jingzhai then helped separate the Black Magnet into six for the Soaring Clouds Clan. After a moment of hesitation, Wang Yao decided to exchange his Peacock’s Gut for the Black Magnet.
The jackals finally returned with items from their storage after the humans had finished processing the ores. There were all sorts of bones from powerful beasts and some other ores as well. Chen Jingzhai also spotted a few spirit herbs and plants.
The humans did not get too close to the beasts. The other two clans had sent out a sage each to deal with the trade while Chen Jingzhai personally represented Luo Sheng Sword School. He first took a look at the corpse of an advanced Grade 3 demonic beast, the Demon Cloud Red Spider. Although the spider’s venom gland and spinnerets were removed, the corpse was still in perfect condition.
It was harder for demonic bugs to transform compared to demonic mammals. The dead spider had already awakened its bloodline power, which was why its corpse was strong enough to make a puppet out of it, which was perfect since Chen Jingzhai had obtained a few creation methods for Dao soldiers and puppets from the Starlight Demon Subduing Tower. Although the female demon wasn’t entirely happy about it, he managed to exchange the spider’s corpse with an inferior Grade 3 magic treasure.
That was only possible because the magic treasure that Chen Jingzhai had offered was a bracelet with both an attacking spell and a storage space. Since accessory-type magic treasures were rare to begin with, and with the additional storage, it was hard for the female jackal to refuse.
