Zhuo Lingling, with a beaming smile, escorted Yuan Ming and Gu Yue to the private room's doorway, where Yuan Ming declined the offer to walk him out of the building.

He certainly didn't want to draw too much attention by being so ostentatious.

The two made their way to the first floor lobby, weaving through rows of shelves and planning to head outside, when they noticed a noisy clamor at the entrance as a group of people swarmed in.

Leading the group was a man in his twenties, dressed in white robes, with a handsome, yet immature face, and strikingly white hair and beard. His thin lips gave off a somewhat frivolous air.

The young man had his arms around a girl in a red dress, laughing and chatting without any regard for the stares of the people around them.

The girl in the red dress had a soft beauty, with a curvaceous figure accentuated by her light, flowing dress that outlined her delicate frame, exuding a heart-stopping, seductive allure, much like a blooming Fire Lotus.

Yuan Ming had seen many beautiful women before, but he had never encountered such a vivid and fiery beauty and couldn't help but take a second glance.

Other guests inside the Longevity Immortal Tower did the same, their gazes inevitably drawn to the girl in the red dress.

She seemed well accustomed to being the center of attention, leaning nonchalantly against the young man and giggling coyly from time to time.

Following behind the pair were about seven or eight guards, probably bodyguards, subtly encircling the young man and his companion.

Among the guards, a Black Robed Elder stood out with his profound demeanor and eagle-like sharp gaze.

"A Foundation Establishment Cultivator!" Yuan Ming thought to himself in surprise.

This young man, merely at the Qi Refinement Realm, actually had a Foundation Establishment guard, indicating his status was certainly no small matter.

"Those people's cuffs are embroidered with a dragon-shaped pattern; they must be disciples from the Eastern Domain White Dragon Island. That young man in white must be Young Master Wula, the Island Master's son," Gu Yue whispered to Yuan Ming.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming scrutinized the young man in white and faintly sensed a rather pure Water attribute Mana fluctuation emanating from him.

"Young Master, look, look, that gemstone is so beautiful," the girl in the red dress said, eyeing a blue gemstone on a nearby shelf with anticipation.

"These are all common spiritual materials. Just take whatever you fancy, and later I'll show you upstairs where the real treasures are," the young man in white said with a careless chuckle.

"Thank you, Young Master!" the girl in the red dress beamed with joy as she picked up the blue gemstone.

"When can I be as debonair and wealthy, with beauties always by my side?" Gu Yue murmured wistfully.

Yuan Ming had little interest in such Cultivation World gossip. Seeing that the group had moved further inside and the door was now open, he decided to leave the Longevity Immortal Tower directly.

However, as he approached the door, a figure wearing a gray-white collar entered the building, brushing past him.

This person's face was covered in multicolored makeup, wearing a slightly ridiculous pointed hat, and odd, curled-toe shoes, akin to a clown from a martial arts circus troupe.

In the workshop, where people often wore unusual outfits, the appearance of the colorful-clad clown didn't attract much attention.

Yet, Yuan Ming stopped in his tracks and looked back at the person.

"Brother Yuan, you?" Gu Yue asked upon seeing this.

Yuan Ming remained silent. Just as they brushed past each other, the hairs on his back had suddenly stood on end, as if he had encountered some terrifying beast.

He churned his Divine Sense within his Sea of Consciousness, considering probing the clown but decided against it after hesitating.

Using Divine Sense to probe others was quite impolite; if this colorful-clad clown was indeed someone formidable, it could lead to trouble for him.

Instead of lingering in the store, the clown walked straight toward Wula and his group.

"Who goes there?" one burly guard stepped in front of the clown and demanded in a low voice.

The other guards, sensing a stranger approaching, also tensed up in preparation.

"Heehee..."

The clown let out a strange laugh. Without any noticeable movement, six Golden Light Blades with trailing afterimages shot from his fingertips, swooping across the necks of the two foremost guards.

It was only when blood spurted out that the guards realized what had happened, but by then their bodies were already sapped of strength, and they collapsed limply.

The six Light Blades continued without pause, speeding toward Young Master Wula, reaching behind him in an instant.

Wula, still embracing the enchanting woman and admiring a spiritual material, was completely oblivious to the danger approaching from behind.

Just as he was about to be pierced by the Golden Light Blades, suffering the same fate as the two guards, a large, dark-green shield the size of a table surfaced from beside him and blocked the blades at the last moment.

With a loud "clang," the six Golden Light Blades shattered into countless golden fragments that scattered in the air.

The dark-green shield was knocked back several feet and trembled a few times before stabilizing.

From beside the shield, a shadow flitted like a specter, and the Black Robed Elder emerged, shouting, "Young Master, retreat quickly!"

The colorful-clad clown let out a strange giggle, clapped his hands, and another dozen golden light blades flew out, all striking toward the Black Robed Elder.

Enraged, the Black Robed Elder naturally ignored the rule that forbade fighting in the workshop and pinched a formula, pointing at the dark green shield.

The already desk-sized shield enlarged by nearly half its size again, and its thickness increased significantly, clashing with the incoming golden blades for the second time.

Green and golden lights violently collided in front of the dark green shield, emitting a deafening explosion. Nearby shelves toppled haphazardly, and the floor tiles were ripped apart by the formidable mana, kicking up dust and debris. The interior of the Longevity Immortal Tower instantly became a mess.

The colorful-clad clown and the Black Robed Elder moved extremely quickly; not until this moment did the guests in the store react, panicking and fleeing outside, just like the green-robed attendants of the Longevity Immortal Tower.

Most of them were mere mortals, who had never seen anyone dare to fight within the Longevity Immortal Tower.

However, there were still many Cultivators and mortals who loved excitement gathered around the entrance of Longevity Immortal Tower, observing everything that was happening inside.

Yuan Ming pulled Gu Yue along, and they too came to the outside of the building with the crowd.

The remaining six guards of the White Dragon Island formed a protective circle around Young Master Wula, and some tried to aid the Black Robed Elder. But the battle between the colorful-clad clown and the Black Robed Elder was so fierce that they couldn't get close. They tried to attack the colorful-clad clown with magic artifacts and spells, but before they could even touch him, they were blown back by the intense collisions.

In the deepest part of the denser dust, the golden light blades became increasingly powerful, each collision reminiscent of boulders striking each other.

The surface of the dark green shield flashed wildly with green light, constantly retreating, and it seemed to struggle against the bombardment of the golden light blades.

The Black Robed Elder was both shocked and enraged, but he did not panic. Supporting the dark green shield with one hand, he pinched a formula with the other, about to cast another spell.

Just at that moment, the elder's eyes suddenly felt intense pain, and a moment later, they burst open, his sharp eyes turning into two bloody hollows.

The excruciating pain made it impossible for the Black Robed Elder to continue the fight, and he collapsed onto the ground.

The colorful-clad clown's eyes flashed with bloodthirsty excitement, his tongue licked his lips, and he gestured with a flicking motion.

The Black Robed Elder's head exploded with a "bang," and a large amount of red and white matter splattered, the screaming abruptly stopping.

Yuan Ming was shocked that a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could be killed so easily, and his gaze unconsciously turned toward the corpse of the Black Robed Elder, under whose waist a small white bag peeked out, pinned under the corpse—it was a storage bag.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he silently withdrew from the crowd, turning away to a secluded area near Longevity Immortal Tower. A black light flashed on his brow, and a soul crow burst forth, entering the spiritual beast bag tied at his waist, colliding with Black Toad's head, and merging into it.

The Black Toad's eyes emitted strands of green light, signifying the newly awakened Corpse Control ability.

This ability could control not only corpses but also living beings, provided that the Divine Soul of the target was weak, such as mortals, or beings like Black Toad that would not resist their master.

A flicker of sapience crossed the Black Toad's eyes, and a purple-black vine grew out of its back, swiftly waving in flexible movements it could not achieve before, as if it were Yuan Ming's own arm, with his mana freely flowing inside the vine.

"Just as I thought," Yuan Ming muttered to himself, manipulating the vine to extend out of the spiritual beast bag.

He removed the storage ring from his hand, placed it on the purple-black vine, and the vine plunged into the ground with a "puff," quickly burrowing toward the area beneath the corpse of the Black Robed Elder, approaching the white storage bag.

A surge of mana emerged from the purple-black vine, entered the white storage bag, wrapped around everything inside, and pulled it out.

At the same time, Yuan Ming carefully operated the vine with the storage ring attached, enclosing the items inside the Black Robed Elder's storage bag,

a flash of white light passed faintly underground, and most of the items inside the Black Robed Elder's storage bag fell into Yuan Ming's storage ring, leaving only a few spirit stones.

The purple-black vine quietly returned the same way it came, merging back into the spiritual beast bag, leaving behind a storage ring slightly soiled with dirt.

Yuan Ming's heart pounded fiercely, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath, then grasped the storage ring, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

The series of events seemed complex but actually occurred within a few breaths.

He quietly returned to the crowd of onlookers; Gu Yue, always eager for excitement, was currently staring intently inside the building, not even noticing Yuan Ming had quietly left for a moment.

Inside Longevity Immortal Tower, Young Master Wula was already pale with fright. In his panic, he took out a blue bowl, and a blue light shield descended, enveloping his body.

Almost at the same time, the colorful-clad clown's deadly fingers pointed his way.

With a loud "clang," the blue light shield deeply dented inward, nearly being pierced, but ultimately it barely held.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming focused his Divine Sense on the dented part of the light shield, finally discovering some clues.

A slender strand of golden light was fixed on the blue light shield, invisible to the naked eye, and without sufficient Divine Power, it would be undetectable.

Tiny specks of golden light gathered from all directions, remnants of the earlier six golden light blades that had shattered, rapidly merging into the slender golden light.

The slender golden light did not thicken, but its power grew stronger and stronger. After a few breaths, it finally penetrated the blue light shield, stabbing Young Master Wula in the forehead.

A spot of blood-red appeared on Wula's forehead, and the next moment, his head exploded, his headless body swayed twice and fell backward.

The room fell silent, and inside and outside the shop, one could hear a pin drop.

The nearby crowd had not clearly seen how the Black Robed Elder and Young Master Wula had died, looking at the colorful-clad clown with eyes full of horror. Seeing this, the guards of White Dragon Island hurriedly fled in all directions, fearing they would be the next to have their heads explode.

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