Chapter 68: Grand Master Liaoru's Strength

Li Ye suppressed the doubts and panic in his heart, wanting to turn around.

At that moment, Tie Lanshan's cold voice sounded again:

"You'd better not move; I've already set up a formation here, otherwise you'd think why I would appear here."

"A formation?"

Li Ye was somewhat surprised—how could it be, when had Tie Lanshan set up this formation? But he really didn't dare to move.

Actually, Tie Lanshan standing behind lightly threw out flag after flag with both hands, his movements gentle; in the time it took to speak, he had already scattered six flags.

"Impossible, you shouldn't be setting up a formation here!" Tie Lanshan, facing the wall, said.

"Hehe, you can try?"

"I don't believe it; I have a formation-breaking awl in hand, even if you've set up the formation it's useless—you wouldn't dare disturb others, right? In that case, Formation Master Lan, let me go; I'll immediately leave the market and disappear from now on, how about that?"

Li Ye couldn't simply believe Tie Lanshan's words, but he knew tonight success was impossible, so he prepared to withdraw first and then devise another plan.

He knew Tie Lanshan wouldn't dare to publicize this, and he himself didn't dare let others know about it.

Although the cultivation world is full of deceit and the weak prey on the strong, these things have always happened in secret.

No one dares to do these things openly.

Once the news of his plotting against a friend's technique spreads, he will immediately have no foothold in the cultivation world, becoming a street rat that everyone shouts to beat.

At that moment, a flash of brilliant light suddenly caught his peripheral vision; his eyesight was good, and it was clearly a small flag.

Having known Tie Lanshan for so long, how could he not know what that was?

Damn it! He deceived me!

Li Ye felt shocked and angry, but he wasn't a fool; if a battle broke out here, he would likely be discovered.

Even if Tie Lanshan were discovered, it wouldn't matter much; even if the news that Lan Ming possessed the Qingdi Changsheng Gong spread, it wouldn't be too big a trouble.

Even then, the Treasure Gathering Pavilion might still lend a hand.

In less than a breath, Li Ye had already devised a plan, he suddenly stepped forward and thrust his formation-breaking awl hard at the Guardian Courtyard Grand Formation.

Li Ye's action let Tie Lanshan know his plan had been discovered; seeing him thrust the formation-breaking awl hard at the Cautious Garden's Guardian Courtyard Grand Formation, he hastily turned his head aside and shouted lowly:

"Grand Master Liaoru, why haven't you acted yet?"

"Grand Master Liaoru?"

Li Ye's heart jolted, but there was no one in sight.

"Hmph!"

"Still trying to deceive me?"

This time he hesitated no more; his formation-breaking awl unhesitatingly thrust toward the formation!

"Clang!"

A clear metallic clang rang in Li Ye's ear, and at the same moment Tie Lanshan's formation was completed.

A faint ripple flashed past, and Li Ye's figure vanished.

Tie Lanshan quietly exhaled, then quickly hid in the shadows.

Inside the formation, Li Ye blankly stared at the broken characters in his hand, feeling somewhat lost.

"Amitabha! The poor monk in the temple usually cultivates only the Dharma, not Zen; I never expected to gain a hint of Zen tonight—it seems that Daoist Lan indeed has an affinity with the Buddha!"

Grand Master Liaoru's voice slowly emerged from the Guardian Courtyard Grand Formation, his whole body bursting with yellow light.

The sight before him made Li Ye hardly believe it, and he stammered:

"You! You! How could you be inside the formation? How is that possible?"

Liaoru gave a slight smile, intoned a Buddhist proclamation: "In the cultivation world there is not only formation-breaking, but also formation-merging, and formation-merging surpasses formation-breaking!"

"I am unworthy, but I happened to obtain a formation-merging talisman! It can briefly allow one's body to merge into the formation!"

Li Ye's eyes lit up slightly, a spark of hope rose in his heart, and he hurriedly said:

"Grand Master, you and Lan Ming have only just met; your friendship likely isn't deep. Why don't we cooperate? I only want the Qingdi Changsheng Gong, and all the rest that Daoist Lan possesses shall be yours—what do you say?"

Although he said that, his spiritual power had already been quietly gathered; his right hand, hidden in his sleeve, lightly tapped his waist pouch, and a three-inch needle emitting a green glow—his high-grade magical artifact, the Spirit-Transforming Needle—was pinched in his hand.

This is his high-grade magical artifact, the Spirit-Transforming Needle; it specializes in breaking protective spiritual light, and those struck will lose spiritual power in a short time.

Grand Master Liaoru gave Li Ye a deep look, then slowly shook his head and said:

"Amitabha!"

Then his arm suddenly shot out from his wide yellow sleeve, a hand as large as a palm fan clenched into a fist, striking Li Ye's abdomen with lightning speed.

Li Ye's protective spiritual light proved fragile under this punch.

The force of this punch directly shattered Li Ye's bones and tendons throughout his body; he spat out a mouthful of blood and then doubled over in pain like a shrimp on the ground.

The needle pinched in his right hand also fell to the ground.

"Grand Master! Spare my life! I was merely overcome by greed for a moment; I haven't committed a grave error yet!"

Grand Master Liaoru shook his head and said:

"As a monastic, I do not indiscriminately kill; I will hand you over to Formation Master Lan!"

"No! Don't! Grand Master, as a monastic you are compassionate; can you spare my life?"

At this moment Li Ye's heart was filled with extreme terror; the usually unassuming Grand Master Liaoru was actually so frightening—that punch not only injured his body, but also nearly scattered his internal spiritual power.

You know he is a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator, approaching two thousand strands of spiritual power; he should not be powerless to retaliate.

Yet he couldn't react to that punch in time, not even having the moment to unleash his magical artifact.

Grand Master Liaoru ignored him, picked up the azure needle from the ground, then extended his right hand and tapped Li Ye's head; a strand of yellow spiritual power instantly sealed his core.

Afterwards, he lifted Li Ye and slowly walked out of the formation; opposite him, Tie Lanshan also emerged.

The two exchanged a glance, then silently left Cautious Garden.

……

In the basement, Wang Ping happily and tirelessly transported spiritual energy.

Now he had already controlled 468 strands of spiritual energy, reaching the peak of mid‑Qi Refining.

Next, he was about to enter late Qi Refining; at that moment, the remaining clumps of spiritual energy in his body finally sensed something was wrong and began to resist the new spiritual energy within Wang Ping.

Unfortunately, it was already too late; although Wang Ping's two hundred strands of spiritual energy were few, they were bolstered by the Qingdi Changsheng Gong, making them more united.

There was also something Wang Ping had never noticed before.

His spiritual energy was extremely pure; the low‑grade cultivation method Verdant Longevity Technique could not unleash its power, although it seemed

A simple switch of the technique could mobilize all the spiritual energy, but in fact it could not even unleash fifty percent of their power.

Now, at only mid‑Qi Refining, he felt he could rely solely on the technique and hard‑resist the late stage, and even the late stage's great perfection would be the same.

One strand equals four strands of an ordinary cultivator's spiritual energy; this level of purity is rare during the Qi Refining stage.

Moreover, in the past, moving and circulating spiritual energy always carried a hint of sluggishness, and this sluggishness would not disappear just because one's control over spiritual energy deepened.

Now, his over four hundred strands of spiritual energy can even briefly flow backward through the meridians; although there is some pain, it does not harm the body.

Wang Ping felt that once he truly broke through the Qingdi Changsheng Gong to late Qi Refining great perfection, or even to the great perfection of Qi Refining,

his battle power would likely double directly.

At that time, he felt that if he encountered Jing Wu Ming again, he would probably quickly slay him.

Unless the opponent unleashes the Dual Yin Fusion Arrow!

He greatly anticipated this moment.

He glanced casually at the basement door, Wang Ping thought that the news of his obtaining the technique must have spread by now!

But as long as the Treasure Pavilion cares about its reputation, it will not let other cultivators in.

This is also why he has not left the city.

What Wang Ping did not know was that the Alliance had also sent a Golden Core cultivator; although that cultivator had no intention of looking after Wang Ping, the person in charge of the Treasure Pavilion, being tactful, had issued a strict gag order, so even now, aside from Tie Lanshan, Li Ye and a few others having suspicions, no one in the outside world knows that he obtained the Qingdi Changsheng Gong.

Whoosh!

He tossed another Bigu Pill into his mouth, Wang Ping calmed all his thoughts, and continued cultivating the Qingdi Changsheng Gong.

He has performed this action countless times over the past thirteen years; the Bigu Pill in his mouth has become like chewing wax.

………

Heavenly Gang Institute! Li Ye lay on the ground with a calm face, as if he had resigned himself to fate.

Originally, among the eight people, aside from Zhang Zuo refining pills and Wang Ping in closed‑door cultivation, the other six were present.

Wu Yue, Wang Ye, and Ouyang Hua looked at Li Ye with complex expressions, while the venerable master lowered his head and turned his prayer beads!

Tie Lanshan stood by the window with his hands behind his back; if it weren't for consideration of the others' feelings, he would have struck Li Ye down on the spot.

He hates betrayal more than anything else in his life.

None of them asked why?

Cultivators who have reached the great perfection of Qi Refining, especially these loose cultivators, none of them have risen from the treacherous, perilous bottom by step‑by‑step killing their way up through deceit and danger.

Such matters are already commonplace to them, but when it happens beside a close friend, they ultimately find it hard to accept!

They differ from ordinary loose cultivators; they are outstanding in their respective fields, harboring pride, making it harder for them to find compatible friends!

Those cultivators they acknowledge are their bosom friends; therefore, once they encounter betrayal, they become even more furious.

"Kill him!" Wang Ye growled low.