Changsheng naturally did not want to die, but no matter how much he begged for mercy, cursed angrily, or threatened and bribed Xu Zifan, Xu Zifan remained unmoved. Even when he promised to give all his property and treasures to Xu Zifan, Xu Zifan was still unmoved and completely unyielding.
Having exhausted all other options, and with his spiritual energy surging violently and threatening to cause him to go mad, Changsheng could only resort to his last move. He struck his own crown with a powerful palm strike, immediately causing blood to flow from his seven orifices. He collapsed to the ground, dead.
Xu Zifan saw his soul escape from his body, reached out and caught it in his hand. Changsheng's soul struggled fiercely, but seeing that it was no match for him, it began to expand rapidly.
Xu Zifan took out a golden bowl and placed the soul inside. With a "bang," the soul exploded, but the power was contained within the golden bowl, and not a single bit escaped.
Xu Zifan put away the golden bowl, examined Changsheng's body, and seeing that he was truly dead, stroked his chin and stared at Changsheng for a long time. "That's all? Impossible. How could this old guy's confident move be so simple?"
He thought and thought, if a person isn't completely dead, of course they still have a soul, so using a method that can deal with the soul is sure to be right.
He sat back down and began chanting the Soul Refining Incantation.
This is a kind of incantation from the demonic path of the cultivation world. He obtained it by chance in a secret realm. Like Sun Wukong's headband, this soul-refining incantation can make the soul in front of him feel as if he is being burned by raging fire and pierced by thousands of needles. It can cause the soul to suffer so much pain that it will be scattered and even feel that being scattered is a kind of relief!
Xu Zifan had only been reciting for half a minute when Changsheng's soul suddenly sprang out from under the body's feet, writhing on the ground in agony.
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow. So he had used some kind of evil magic to split his soul in two, essentially creating a substitute. In times of crisis, he would make people think he was dead, and then quietly escape once the danger was over. He just hadn't expected to run into such a cautious person, and ended up getting caught.
Being punished by the Soul Refining Curse was worse than simply self-destructing!
The soul of the immortal screamed in agony. Xu Zifan casually set up a barrier to envelop it, and the noise could no longer be heard. He continued to chant the Soul Refining Incantation.
The soul of the immortal is purely black. A white soul is a pure soul, while a pure black soul means that he committed too many sins in his life, harmed countless people, and was an evil spirit that even heaven could not tolerate. Now, Xu Zifan's Soul Refining Curse may be the cruel torture he was destined to suffer.
Good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished; it's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet.
Everything in the world is clearly recorded in the Heavenly Dao, and sooner or later it will all come back to haunt us, even through reincarnation. The arrival of immortality upon Xu Zifan was the greatest tribulation of his life.
Changsheng has an obsession with living. He does all sorts of evil things in order to achieve immortality. Even when he is delirious and unconscious, he still wants to live deep down.
Even with his persistence, he couldn't last more than thirty minutes under the torment of the Soul Refining Curse; in the end, his soul was scattered!
Xu Zifan retrieved the beast cage and searched Changsheng's body for all his treasures. In fact, only two talismans and a defensive shield magic item remained. The rest had been used up when resisting Xu Zifan. These few items were left because he had been trapped in the beast cage and hadn't had a chance to use them yet.
Xu Zifan put it away without any hesitation; even a mosquito bite is still meat, and it's good to replenish the inventory.
Then he remembered the courtyard house. It was quite large, with many rooms, each one quite big. He quickly asked Shaohua to scan it.
[Shaohua: Host, I scanned the area during the battle just now. These are the locations where items are stored, marked in red.]
Xu Zifan opened the virtual screen and saw more than a dozen marked locations. Clicking on a mark revealed the full appearance of several items. He couldn't help but gasp. [This is Changsheng's lair! He's hidden so many things, far more than that old man in the mountain village. No wonder that old man was tricked so badly by Changsheng and could only hide in the ravine to refine zombies.]
[Shaohua: Host, they seem to have fared even worse after meeting you; their souls have already been scattered.]
Xu Zifan coughed lightly twice. [There's nothing I can do about it now. Who knew it would be such a coincidence? My merits will probably double now, right?]
[Shaohua: Host, I suggest you don't go back to see Jiang Tianxin yet. First, test how much your unlucky constitution has improved.]
As Xu Zifan walked towards the treasure's location, recalling the events, he asked, "[Did you notice just now? Although I was a bit unlucky and got ambushed twice during the battle, it didn't really have a big impact. The battle went quite smoothly, and I only need an hour of meditation to heal those minor injuries.]"
[Shaohua: Yes, host. Although you lost one magic weapon and another was somewhat damaged, you gained all of the Elder Changsheng's treasures and most of his wealth, avenged Qingfeng Temple, and eliminated an enemy who was secretly plotting against you. All things considered, it was a good deal for you.]
Xu Zifan's lips twitched, and he silently reflected on his actions. In this world, he didn't want to squander the things in the space, so he worked hard to earn money to rebuild Qingfeng Temple, collect other people's magical treasures to fill the temple's warehouse, and also told Jiang Tianxin and Jiang Dong to remember that Qingfeng Temple had few things and that they should work hard.
Isn't this a bit problematic? It seems like they've led Shaohua astray, making him constantly calculate whether it's worthwhile for him, when in fact he's not that poor!
As Xu Zifan searched for the treasure of immortality, he pondered whether he should change his usual attitude. After all, it was a renowned Taoist temple.
Isn't he the abbot? Now that the Taoist temple is becoming more and more famous, he should step up and have the demeanor and bearing of a master, so that his subordinates can all learn from him. Otherwise, a bunch of rich kids will be calculating like this in the future, which will only make others speechless.
The treasures in Changsheng's collection numbered over a dozen. Compared to Xu Zifan's, they weren't particularly powerful, but in this world, they were among the top-tier items. Considering Changsheng's pitch-black soul, who knows how he obtained these things, and now they've all benefited Xu Zifan.
Changsheng probably doesn't trust banks in the real world, so he put his antiques, jewelry, gold bars, and most of his cash in the warehouse of his courtyard house. The contents of the 100-square-meter room alone could make him the richest man in the country! It was a collection of treasures that Changsheng had accumulated over a hundred years.
Xu Zifan put all of these into his spatial storage and had Shaohua record them for easy reference later. He also took the opportunity to look through every part of the courtyard house and was quite satisfied.
This is a house-type magical artifact with some spatial laws involved, like those small boats in the cultivation world that can be enlarged for transportation. This is a house that can be enlarged and shrunk. It can't be hidden like his spatial dimension; it can only be carried around. That's not a big deal, though. Even Jiang Tianxin's storage ring has to be worn on her hand. Just be careful not to get it stolen.
Moreover, this house can store things, making it even more useful.
Xu Zifan planned to decorate this courtyard house into a tranquil and fragrant haven for his girlfriend. He hadn't formally given her a gift yet, but this was perfect—a must-have for home and travel, and it would make things much more convenient and safer for Jiang Tianxin when she went out on missions.
As Xu Zifan pondered how to decorate the courtyard, he slowly walked back to the front hall, only then remembering that Xu Xiaoxiao and Xu Zhe were still there.
Xu Zhe had already fainted, his face ashen as if he were about to die. Xu Zifan was surprised that Xu Xiaoxiao was still holding on and remained conscious. Although she was covered in cold sweat, she did not faint.
When Xu Xiaoxiao saw him return, she trembled like a leaf. Only then did she realize how terrifying Xu Zifan truly was. An old Taoist priest as powerful as Changsheng had actually been tortured to death by Xu Zifan, leaving not even a trace of his soul—it was simply too horrifying!
After a long pause, she was finally able to utter a few breaths and immediately said, "I'm...sorry, spare...spare my...life...please...please..."
Xu Zifan had Shao Hua scan their physical conditions. Xu Zhe's heart had almost no blood flow and his brain was lacking oxygen. He would die if he wasn't treated soon, and even if he was, his condition wouldn't improve much. Xu Xiaoxiao had lost so much of her lifeblood and her body was severely damaged. If she didn't receive a miraculous cure, she would be bedridden for the rest of her life.
Xu Zifan could certainly save them; he had refined so many top-grade pills. But he wouldn't save them. He simply waved his hand to knock Xu Xiaoxiao unconscious, checked the situation outside, threw the two into the garbage dump in the back alley of the bar, then collected the abandoned courtyard's magical treasures and left.
After dealing with the enemy, he immediately called Jiang Tianxin.
Jiang Tianxin answered the call immediately, anxiously asking, "Zifan, where did you go? What happened? Are you in danger?"
Xu Zifan quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, I just ran into an enemy, but it's all over now. However, I don't plan to go back to the Taoist temple for the next few days, so don't worry, I'll be back in a few days."
How could Jiang Tianxin not be worried? She immediately asked, "Are you injured? Otherwise, why didn't you come back? I'll come and help you!"
"No need, it's really nothing, don't believe the video." Xu Zifan sent the video and immediately saw Jiang Tianxin's worried expression.
Seeing that he looked good and relaxed, Jiang Tianxin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked in confusion, "Zifan, what are you doing outside?"
Xu Zifan touched his nose and laughed, "I'm just unlucky. I feel like I should be better now, and I want to see how I am. I can't be by your side, otherwise I won't be able to tell."
Jiang Tianxin was taken aback. Although she had long known that Xu Zifan's birth date would bring him immense bad luck, she had no concept of it since she had never met him. She had heard Jiang Dong mention it a few times—things like bottles suddenly falling, curtains suddenly falling, car doors not opening, and burst water pipes. At the time, she was quite aware that her fate was the opposite of Xu Zifan's, which would help resolve his troubles. She hadn't expected it to be resolved so quickly, and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of enemy did you encounter?"
"That old Taoist priest named Changsheng is back. He even tried to use my uncle's children to get back at me. The situation was urgent at the time, so I didn't say much, and I was more confident in my abilities. Now that's all over, his soul has been scattered. Remember to tell Uncle Liao that they are still after Changsheng. I've rid them of a major threat. Ask Uncle Liao if he'll give me a reward or something."
Xu Zifan paused after speaking, then chuckled, realizing what he'd just said. He'd just decided to change things up, and now he was asking for more stuff again. He really was getting used to it!