Chapter Eighteen: The Celestial Treasure Wheel

Luo Long stared at Chu Jie’s ferocious, grinning face and exploded with rage, leaping to his feet. But just as he stood, a thunderous crack resounded around him—endless lightning crashed down in an instant. Luo Long’s body was hurled backward, his entire frame convulsed by the impact, left charred and scorched.

Hatred burned in Luo Long’s eyes—boundless, unyielding. Though Chu Jie’s body was equally bathed in the sea of lightning and blackened, he bore no real wounds. Chu Jie’s gaze fell upon a nearby flower: a peony the size of a human head, at its heart a fruit as large as a cherry, radiating beams of multicolored light. From the fruit itself, an intense brilliance welled forth.

This was a treasure herb of heaven and earth.

Chu Jie walked over slowly, crouched down, and reached out to pick the sacred peony.

“Chu Jie! Stop! If you lay a hand on that sacred peony, the Luo family will pursue you to the ends of the earth!” Luo Long shouted, eyes wide with desperation.

This sacred peony was a treasure exchanged for his third sister’s marriage alliance with the Li family—a peerless treasure of the Luo clan. Hatred—limitless and consuming—reddened Luo Long’s eyes. He bitterly regretted driving Chu Jie into the spiritual herb district. The area was rife with hidden wards; not even a supreme cultivator should have been able to act with such impunity. But Luo Long’s own carelessness had led him to order the servants to disable most of the restrictions, hoping to trap Chu Jie—and now he found himself hoist by his own petard.

Chu Jie’s eyes glimmered with a strange, wicked smile. “Luo Long, even if I let go now, would you let me go?”

With that, his fingers twitched, plucking the sacred peony and popping the cherry-sized fruit into his mouth. He arched his brow. “I’ve eaten your treasure herb—what can you possibly do to me?”

Luo Long spat blood in a rage. “Chu Jie! If I don’t kill you, I’m no man!”

“Then come and kill me,” Chu Jie replied with a smile.

Though Chu Jie was unafraid of the lightning, he remained wary of Luo Long, so he contented himself with plundering the spiritual herbs.

As one of the three great families of the outer city’s first ring, the Luo family had but this one spiritual herb district. Though these herbs were not as rare as the Profound Heaven Lotus, they were plentiful—verdant spiritual grass swayed everywhere, and among them glimmered the enchanting light of precious herbs.

Seeing Chu Jie approach several valuable herbs, Luo Long and the family elders nearly burst their eyes in fury, but the thunder raging above paralyzed them with fear.

“Chu Jie! That’s the Celestial Vine—don’t you dare!”

“My Starsea Ganoderma!”

“My Stone Spirit Essence—Chu Jie, I’ll never forgive you!”

The Luo family members screamed in desperation, but they were powerless against Chu Jie.

Chu Jie moved through the lightning with cold eyes, his mouth stuffed with the treasures of heaven and earth. His spiritual power surged so fiercely it began to spill from his skin, yet he showed no sign of stopping, intent on destroying every precious herb in the district.

“Chu Jie! Your spiritual energy is already full—if you consume any more, you’ll explode!” one elder beside Luo Long shouted.

Chu Jie curled his lip, glanced at a palm-sized ganoderma, and crushed it beneath his foot.

The elder winced in agony. “Chu Jie, you’re squandering heaven’s gifts! You deserve death!”

Chu Jie approached to within a few meters of the elder. “Is that so? And what of it? It was your Luo family who provoked me first.”

With that, the light on Chu Jie’s arm flared violently.

Sunflame Fist!

A fist shadow swept forward like a meteor.

Boom!

With his spirit energy bursting within, Chu Jie’s strike blasted open the ground for hundreds of steps, driving the elder into the earth. These elders were only first or second tier at the Gathering Spirit level—Chu Jie had nothing to fear from them.

With another thunderous impact, the elder’s body was sent flying. Without a backward glance, Chu Jie strode toward the next spiritual herb.

“Chu Jie! You’re courting death!” Luo Long sat cross-legged, his eyes filled with venom.

Chu Jie looked back, his expression calm. “And what of it?”

His aura surged, spiritual energy rippling through him, making his long hair stream in the wind.

Luo Long caught his breath. “Do you dare face me in battle?”

“Since stepping into this Bloodslaughter Dark City, I, Chu Jie, have known nothing but humiliation—every step forced by you and your kind!” Chu Jie advanced two steps, his eyes cold as death. “Luo Long, if you weren’t the Luo family’s young master, what could you use to contend with me?”

“Luo Long, so long as I live, I will destroy your family and take your head myself!”

“The Luo family? For now, I am free to plunder all your spiritual herbs!” Chu Jie flashed a savage grin, heading for the next treasure.

Luo Long could no longer maintain his composure. “Chu Jie, let it go now, and I’ll spare your life!”

“Oh?” Chu Jie cocked an eyebrow.

Seeing Chu Jie’s interest, Luo Long rushed to add, “I swear before the heavens—I will never pursue you!”

Chu Jie stopped before a treasure herb with seven-colored leaves, tilting his head. “Do you mean it?”

Luo Long nodded frantically. “I swear it’s true!”

Chu Jie’s smile blossomed suddenly. “I don’t believe you.” With that, he crushed the rainbow-leafed herb underfoot.

“Ah! You’ll be the death of me! Chu Jie, I swear I’ll see you dead!” Luo Long howled with rage, launching himself forward—only to be struck down by lightning again after two steps.

Though thunder exploded around Chu Jie, he remained unscathed.

By now, the time was nearly up. Chu Jie surveyed the area, but found no way to escape. For dozens of miles, it was as if a great bowl of spiritual energy enclosed the land—no chance of flight.

But as he looked around, Chu Jie noticed something strange. Amid the endless green of the spiritual herb district, in a remote corner, lay a patch of bare earth, half a meter square. No spiritual grass grew there; not even a single structure stood. Even the thunder avoided this place, which piqued Chu Jie’s curiosity.

He walked slowly toward the empty patch.

Luo Long’s eyes narrowed, his fists clenched, anxiety written across his face.

As Chu Jie drew closer, he saw a vortex of spiritual energy slowly swirling at the center of the clearing.

There must be something unusual here, Chu Jie thought.

With a boom, light flared from his fist as he struck the ground.

The earth shook violently, the surrounding soil trembling, and a massive crater opened up. Brilliant light shot up from within. Chu Jie peered into the pit and saw a thumb-sized dragon of spiritual energy coiled on the ground.

It was the spiritual vein of the entire herb district!

Luo Long’s face changed dramatically. “Chu Jie, I beg you—do not touch that spiritual vein!” He could not help his desperation: if the herbs were ruined, they could replant, but if the spiritual vein was lost, the whole district would be finished.

Chu Jie turned. “Now you beg me for mercy?”

A blade of energy flared in his hand. He tore open his own arm, eyes fierce, and grabbed the dragon-shaped spiritual vein, pressing it into his flesh.

The Body of Nine Tribulations was overwhelmingly tyrannical. As soon as the spiritual vein entered his body, it was tightly bound, its energy greedily devoured.

Instantly, the spiritual energy of the herb district plummeted; the air thinned.

“Chu Jie, if you don’t leave now, I will kill you!” Luo Long threatened, his gaze shifting uncertainly.

Chu Jie paused, sensing something amiss in Luo Long’s look. He turned to the pit and noticed a faint light flickering at the bottom.

Reaching in, Chu Jie pulled out a treasure wheel, covered in interlacing runes and encircled by ordered strands of spiritual energy.

The treasure wheel sang with joy at his touch. Chu Jie’s blood from his wounded arm dripped onto it, and in an instant, the wheel recognized him as its master, floating around him in delight.

“Chu Jie!” Luo Long’s eyes seemed fit to burst.

This Heaven and Earth Treasure Wheel was the core of the herb district’s grand formation, one of the Luo family’s greatest treasures, buried here to nurture its spirit. Luo Long and the elders were its designated guardians.

Who would have thought Chu Jie would gain the upper hand?

Chu Jie smiled, feeling the connection with the treasure wheel as his eyes flashed with dazzling light.

With a leap, he landed atop the treasure wheel.

At once, the formation collapsed, and even the thunder in the sky began to fade.

“Chu Jie! I’ll kill you!” Luo Long’s veins bulged, his face twisted in fury.

He unleashed all his spiritual power, sending wave after wave of attacks surging forward.

Seeing the tide of spiritual force rolling toward him, Chu Jie only laughed, directing the treasure wheel to soar into the sky.

In the distance, more Luo family members came rushing over. Chu Jie called to Luo Long: “Prepare your head for me—I’ll come to claim it!”

With that, the treasure wheel beneath him flashed into a streak of light, carrying Chu Jie away in an instant.