Chapter 158: You, today, by traveling this path, have committed a great taboo against me
A large black coffin stood before them, shrouded in deathly aura, with no sound coming from within.
"Old Ox, control it well, don't kill him," Chen Xun transmitted his thoughts directly to the black ox's mind. The ox nodded and waved its hoof, causing the black coffin to glow with black light.
Finally, sounds could be heard from within, but they were only the screams and pleas for mercy. The unknown was the true source of fear.
"You ventured out today, which greatly offended me. What do you think your punishment should be?"
"Huh? So, I offended you, senior? I am willing to make amends!" Qin Xianqin, not knowing where he was, showed a terrified expression. "I hope you can spare me for the sake of Old Ancestor Yanghua."
"Of course, Yanghua and I go way back. Naturally, I won't make things difficult for you," Chen Xun said boastfully, leaving the black ox astonished at the extent of his elder brother's connections.
"It seems we had a misunderstanding, senior. If you need anything, I will do my utmost to fulfill it," Qin Xianqin said, calming down a bit, relieved that his life was not in immediate danger, though the situation was still terrifying.
"Since you have Yanghua backing you, I won't bully you. Just hand over a pill formula," Chen Xun demanded.
"What?" Qin Xianqin broke into a cold sweat. He didn't have any pill formulas used by Nascent Soul stage cultivators. "Senior..."
"No? Then ascend to immortality," Chen Xun threatened.
"Senior, wait!!!" Qin Xianqin screamed desperately, the death aura pausing its advance. "What kind of pill formula do you need? I will gather it for you!"
"You, a mere Golden Core cultivator, naturally have no use for advanced pill formulas. But you need to give an explanation for offending me," Chen Xun stated.
"Of course, of course!" Qin Xianqin agreed, drenched in sweat. "I will certainly give you an explanation, senior."
"The Nascent Soul Pill formula, you should have that. It's within the limits of a Golden Core stage cultivator. I'm not being unreasonable," Chen Xun said with a smirk. They had done their research before coming here.
The three major sects were the wealthiest in the area. With most major cultivators gone to the north, it was the perfect time to "eliminate the strong and help the weak."
Moreover, based on the three storage rings they had acquired, these sects' Golden Core cultivators hoarded good items, especially a sect leader.
"I have it! I have it!" Qin Xianqin shouted in relief. Pill formulas could be copied infinitely and were not as valuable as alchemical inheritance or spiritual herbs. "What else do you need, senior? I will offer it with both hands."
In the face of life and death, everything else seemed trivial. He couldn't even use his spiritual senses and was utterly isolated.
He even felt Chen Xun was asking for too little. Pill formulas usually contained only the necessary ingredients and their ages, without crucial details like the order of adding ingredients or the technique of alchemy.
Even if one obtained all the ingredients, attempting to follow the formula without proper guidance would likely result in failure. Gathering another set of ingredients would be near impossible.
In the cultivation world, the real treasures were the detailed explanations by alchemists, not the pill formulas themselves.
"Hand it over, and I won't trouble you," Chen Xun's eyes gleamed as he transmitted to the black ox, "Old Ox, take action."
"Moo~" The black ox responded excitedly.
The pressure on Qin Xianqin lessened, allowing him to use his spiritual senses, but he still couldn't communicate outside. He struggled to retrieve a large stack of pill formulas from his storage ring, quickly selecting the Nascent Soul Pill formula without hesitation.
If this senior intended to kill and rob, he would already be dead. It must have been some taboo he had unknowingly violated.
The black ox waved its hoof, making the pill formula disappear, then used its power to inscribe it into a small booklet.
Chen Xun furrowed his brow. He didn't expect them to have it. They hadn't seen these formulas sold in Yuxu City, nor heard of any sect in Qian Nation possessing them.
Could it be that these Top Ten Sects have secretly manipulated these sects in their own countries...
The more he thought about it, the deeper he delved. Over the millennia, he had actually grown somewhat indifferent to the Top Ten Sects. Seemingly prosperous, the reality was that the major sects had always been oppressed, with their paths blocked.
It appeared to be chaotic, yet the cultivators here enjoyed relative freedom, with their paths unobstructed. However, the common people lived in dire straits.
Chen Xun's brow furrowed deeper as he pondered the overall situation. He simply couldn't understand the broader trends of the world, having been born a mere commoner.
"Forget it, my knowledge is limited," Chen Xun sighed inwardly. "I'll just go with the flow, maintain my own principles, and at least be free."
Everyone had their own rules. They were just immortal beings who wouldn't stay in one place for long, meddling in too many things could only lead to greater chaos in the world.
Chen Xun nodded silently, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
However, shortly after, the pill formula returned... Qin Xianqin panicked, thinking the senior was dissatisfied.
He immediately prostrated inside the black coffin and shouted loudly, "I hope Senior can forgive me!!!"
**Boom...**
**Rumble...**
He felt himself rising continuously, his spiritual energy suppressed fiercely again, and his heart nearly reaching his throat.
Qin Xianqin's chest heaved continuously, feeling a sudden heavy blow to his Golden Core. His eyes rolled back as he fainted.
Chen Xun and the big black ox drifted away, "Against people, not against sects," even for ruthless bandits, there were limits. They couldn't interfere in the affairs of evil cultivators, just a matter of fate; encountering them was fate, not something to force.
Half an hour later, under a large tree, Qin Xianqin lay there and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, slowly regaining consciousness. The moment he got up, the small illusion formation around him dispersed.
Qin Xianqin's eyes were filled with suspicion, his beard fluttering in the wind, gradually becoming calmer.
"This is wrong, he never wanted the pill formula!" Qin Xianqin scrutinized his surroundings, a sense of lingering fear rising. "There's not a trace..."
He felt uneasy; this was clearly a test, not just against himself but also against the Qingchi Sect.
"Damn it..." Qin Xianqin felt embarrassed. Although he hadn't lost anything, his earlier behavior would be a laughingstock if known.
He immediately calmed his mind, stabilized his heart, even regaining some color on his pale face. Qin Xianqin snorted coldly with his hands behind his back, soaring into the sky as if nothing had happened, returning to his sect.
From then on, Qin Xianqin developed a habit of checking the almanac before leaving. The elders of the sect were puzzled by this.
...
After May, in Anyun Nation, another domain of the three major sects, the Six Strings Sect.
On his way back, the sect master's mind was filled with a thunderous anger, "Who dared to take this road, violating my big taboo!"
Then the sect master screamed like a slaughtered pig, "Ah!!!"
Finally, he was dragged directly into the black coffin. Chen Xun and the big black ox began to reason again, obtaining another pill formula.
...
Another May, in Anyun Nation, one of the three major sects, the Unfixed Sect.
The sect master was still on his way back from a small gathering when he suddenly encountered a catastrophe from heaven, screaming in horror because he disturbed the senior's cultivation technique.
He was then dragged into the black coffin and buried underground.
He had a stubborn personality, and would rather die than submit, but in the end, he was still persuaded by the methods of the two ruthless bandits.
Crying and begging for mercy, he begged the senior to accept the pill formula.
Chen Xun and the big black ox left, leaving the three sect masters with a lifelong shadow. Being robbed on their own turf was beyond their imagination.
After that, the three sect masters developed an unspoken agreement. They arranged many disciples on the road for external reasons to maintain order.
When they met, the three men were cautious and suspicious, secretly speculating, "Could this humiliation have been orchestrated by you, wasting resources to hire a senior?"