Chapter 84: The Moment of the Hunt

Wang Ping, a hundred zhang away, broke out in a cold sweat: trace butterfly, sticky liquid, god-sealing stone!

These people came prepared!

If he hadn't been cautious, he might really have fallen here this time.

Tsk!

The allure of a million spirit stones is indeed strong, but he has already consumed six hundred thousand spirit stones; if they really succeed, and he later finds his storage bag lacking six hundred thousand spirit stones, wouldn't they immediately turn on each other?

Wang Ping's thoughts at this moment have gone a bit off track.

"Let me try! I cultivate an earth-attribute technique and also possess a top-grade defensive magic artifact; I don't believe the opponent can kill me with a single sword!"

One of the ten, a burly man, stood up and spoke.

The leader was delighted and said: "Having Tie Gu Daoist go is most suitable; I still have a top-grade defensive talisman here, giving the Daoist an extra layer of protection. I reckon that even if Lan Ming's attack power is astonishing, it won't reach the level of a Foundation Establishment cultivator; thus, we can safeguard the Daoist's life."

The leader, looking at the eight-chi-tall Tie Gu, inexplicably felt a sense of security; just from his build, as long as his head and heart aren't harmed, he couldn't possibly die instantly.

A hundred zhang away!

Wang Ping silently watched the cultivator named Tie Gu who was leaving, and finally realized that a single sword might really not be able to kill him.

At least the Azure Light Sword Technique, which fuses two sword lights, is needed to kill someone with a single strike!

Many people, including Tie Lanshan and his group, didn't know that in the battle at the market city, Wang Ping merely used the Azure Edge Sword to meet the enemy; he had not differentiated the sword light, nor fused it.

The leader, the cultivator holding the sticky liquid, and the old man possessing the trace butterfly—Wang Ping continually scanned the three with his peripheral vision.

The first strike, also the moment of highest success rate, must kill these three cultivators!

But for some reason, that cultivator gave him a bad feeling in his intuition.

He has now cultivated divine sense; if such a feeling truly arises in his heart, it indicates that person really has a problem.

Finally, Wang Ping changed his attack order; he decided to forgo killing the leader with his first strike.

Compared to him, aside from the cultivator called Tie Gu, the others are merely a matter of a single sword.

The first strike killing three cultivators could also break any possible joint-attack formation they might have.

Having made his decision, Wang Ping acted without hesitation.

Whoosh!

Three azure sword lights tore through the night sky of the wasteland, striking directly at the leader with fierce force.

The sudden appearance and incredible speed of the sword light left the nine cultivators ahead completely unprepared; when they instinctively turned to look, a azure sword light exuding intense killing intent shot toward their leader with fierce, pressing force.

Who would have thought that the leader showed no panic, and even displayed a faint, almost imperceptible sneer on his face.

Wang Ping, already approaching fifty zhang, likewise returned a smile; the leader stared, then sensed something wrong, and before he could speak to warn, the original sword light suddenly split into three, shooting toward the other three cultivators.

Azure Light Sword Technique!

The leader's mind suddenly conjured up this famed Daoist art of the West Chui Region.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The pitch-black, silent wasteland suddenly echoed with three mournful cries.

"Form the array!"

At this moment, the leader finally shouted a reminder for everyone to form the array.

The cultivators' reaction speed was extremely fast; almost instantly upon hearing the sound, they gathered together, and six people quickly formed the array.

Wang Ping, who had already flown over, did not go to the side of the cultivator with the sticky liquid.

Because he had just noticed that the remaining cultivators formed the array too quickly—almost as soon as his sword light touched the bodies of those three cultivators, the others began to move.

However, his sword light was too fast, and the leader's warning came too timely, so this extremely subtle movement was not very noticeable.

Even if placed before his Divine Sense Hammer, he would not perceive this subtle movement change.

But now, his divine sense perception is astonishing; the subtle movements of several people cannot escape his perception.

Seeing Wang Ping not appear beside the cultivator holding the sticky liquid, the leader lowered his eyelids, and a hint of regret flashed deep in his eyes.

But he immediately adjusted, laughing loudly:

"Lan Ming Artificer, I've long admired your great name!"

"Hehe! Is it that I've long admired those nearly a million spirit stones?"

Wang Ping asked with a mocking tone.

"Uh!"

The leader had prepared a lot to say, but for a moment he couldn't think of how to respond.

"Lan Ming! Since you know our purpose, just obediently hand over the spirit stones; we don't want your other belongings, and we won't pursue you anymore. What do you think?"

Among the remaining six, the cultivator with a sinister tone of voice now openly laid out the topic.

"Hehe! If you didn't surround me right away, you've already lost!"

Wang Ping didn't respond to that cultivator's words, merely left a light remark, then flashed over to the old man with the trace butterfly and lifted his spirit-insect bag beside his storage bag.

Then he quickly flew toward the cultivator called Tie Gu.

"Oh no! He's going to assassinate Tie Gu Daoist!"

"Don't panic! We maintain our formation and also move toward Tie Gu Daoist."

The leader gave the order calmly, but a hint of gloom had already flashed in his heart.

What Lan Ming Daoist said is quite right; not having surrounded him immediately, they have lost the initiative.

And the second trap he set up simply didn't work.

Lan Ming actually didn't open his storage bag to check, causing the trap he had placed inside the storage bag to lose its effect.

Each cultivator's storage bag contains a trap capable of harming the soul and divine sense.

This step is because he anticipated that someone among them might die; if a person dies, their storage bag naturally becomes the enemy's war asset.

Once Lan Ming puts it away, the storage bag will automatically open, containing inside a soul-extinguishing liquid capable of harming the soul and divine sense.

If even a drop sticks to it, it can harm a cultivator's soul.

He had planned everything, but who would have thought Lan Ming didn't take a storage bag, only taking a spirit insect bag, leaving him rather speechless.

That so-called tracking butterfly is nowhere near as miraculous as Fellow Cultivator Gu claimed; along the way, it's mostly thanks to his meticulous analysis that they've managed to get here.

I wonder why Lan Ming only took the tracking butterfly; could that flying butterfly have something special about it?

Just as the leader was flying and thinking, a miserable cry suddenly rang out ahead.

Right after the cry, Fellow Cultivator Tie's voice sounded: 'Hahaha! The famed Lan Ming is nothing but this numb! Your Azure Mang Sword will be mine!'

Just as everyone gasped in surprise, a ball of white light suddenly flared up in the darkness ahead.

'Hahaha! Spirit stones, a bag full of spirit stones! Hahaha! We've gotten rich! We've gotten rich!'

Actually, without Tie Gu speaking, they could already see that what had fallen on the ground ahead was indeed spirit stones.

A pile of spirit stones stacked together, that kind of spiritual energy fluctuation is so conspicuous in a place where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is almost extinct.

Just a rough glance from afar shows that pile of spirit stones numbers at least ten thousand.

This made their hearts jump a few times; upon hearing Tie Gu's voice at that moment, a sense of anxiety suddenly arose.

At that moment, they no longer bothered to keep formation; Zhu You Shan was the first to break from the group, and the other four quickly flew forward after him.

The leader, realizing something was off, shouted loudly: 'Come back! Beware of a trap!'

Unfortunately, they paid no heed, instead increasing their speed.

'Fellow Cultivator Tie! Quickly put down the spirit stones so we can divide them equally!'

Before Zhu You Shan even arrived, his voice had already reached them; the others also shouted loudly, telling Tie Gu to put down the spirit stones.

Huh?

Tie Gu suddenly flashed killing intent, staring at the few fellow cultivators flying this way, but in the end he concealed those intentions.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhu You Shan and the five others landed on the ground, seeing spirit stones scattered everywhere; the greed in their eyes grew stronger, even revealing the same killing intent that Tie Gu had just shown.

'Heh! Everyone's pretty much here now, right!'

A voice suddenly rang out in everyone's ears!

Lan Ming!

This time, Wang Ping didn't give them time to set up formation; the Azure Mang Sword clenched in Tie Gu's hand suddenly trembled, splitting into two sword lights.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Again, two figures collapsed to the ground!

Immediately after, the sword lights turned and stabbed toward two others, their speed far surpassing the previous attack.

Bang! Bang!

In a single breath, four of the five cultivators collapsed to the ground.

'Does my sword feel comfortable in your hand!'

Wang Ping's voice suddenly sounded in Tie Gu's ear.

Sword?

He instinctively looked at the sword he was holding.

Swish! Swish!

Two azure sword lights suddenly merged into the Azure Mang Sword in his hand.

In an instant, a piercing blade radiance shot forth from the sword in his hand.

Hum!

The Azure Mang Sword trembled violently; its immense force caused him to loosen his grip on the sword.

But he quickly realized this was wrong, and tried to grasp the Azure Mang Sword again.

Unfortunately, it was already too late! The Azure Mang Sword, having fused the two sword lights, shot up into the sky, then turned and came shooting back at him at great speed.

This time, the defense he was proud of, as fragile as paper before the Azure Mang Sword's edge, was pierced straight through.

'Uh… uh… how… could… this… be.'

Tie Gu asked, unwilling to accept it, but no one gave him an explanation.

Swish!

The Azure Mang Sword that had slain Tie Gu stabbed again toward the cultivator named Zhu You Shan.

'Spare…'

Pfft!

He lacked Tie Gu's formidable defense; after being pierced through by the azure light sword, he couldn't even utter the word 'life'.

In one and a half breaths, six cultivators perished outright!

Whoosh!

At that moment, the leader cultivator had just landed here.

Looking at the six fellow cultivators' corpses on the ground, the leader couldn't help but be astonished: Is this the demeanor of the Lan Ming formation master who could slay over thirty peers in a single battle?

'I'm curious, what exactly is the uneasy feeling you give me?'

With his hands behind his back, Wang Ping stood quietly in the darkness and asked calmly.

'You sensed it? No wonder you're the formation master of Lan Ming, the top Qi Refiner of the Western Drooping Land!'

The leader cultivator came to his senses, and in his reply to Wang Ping's question, there was actually a hint of admiration.