“I’ve got it!”
Facing the obstruction of four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qi Ping quickly came up with a plan.
Under normal circumstances, when surrounded by four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he shouldn’t have had any chance to fight back at all. But now, since these four wanted to take him alive, they were fighting very conservatively, slowly wearing him down without rushing things.
Every now and then, they would even deliberately leave an opening for him, just to keep him from getting desperate enough to do something drastic and off himself.
On top of that, there was another factor—Bee Daoist’s fearsome reputation had already been well established.
He had slain a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had comprehended Sword Intent without taking a scratch himself, escaped from a formation while trapping a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and then, in a single battle, used formations to consecutively kill two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Faced with such a brutal track record, who knew if Bee Daoist had even more trump cards up his sleeve? Having cultivated for so long just to reach the late Foundation Establishment stage, who wouldn’t value their own life?
They had no desire to risk facing Qi Ping alone—after all, the rewards for the spirit herbs would be split evenly among them anyway.
Moreover, these four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators were also afraid that if they all gathered together, they might suddenly get trapped by some mysterious formation, allowing Bee Daoist to slip away.
So they had spread out to form a four-directional siege, taking turns attacking and exhausting Qi Ping. Even if one of them got caught in a formation, the other three could immediately give chase.
Under these circumstances, Qi Ping was given a golden opportunity—a chance to take one of them down with him in a self-detonation!
So, while swallowing spirit liquid and fighting off the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qi Ping began using the scattered spiritual energy around him to lay down formation seals, one after another.
Although the formation set up this way wouldn’t be as strong as one built with pre-refined formation foundations, as a second-grade trapping formation, it only needed to hold a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator for a few breaths at most.
Qi Ping wasn’t sure if his formation-laying movements had been noticed, or if the enemy had seen it but simply didn’t care.
Either way, since he was already inside the formation, he wasn’t afraid they wouldn’t come to him.
“Bee Daoist, surrender now!”
“Come back with us obediently. You’re a talented man. If you can atone for your crimes and turn over a new leaf, you might still have a chance to live!”
“If you keep this up, we really will go all out and kill you!”
The sounds of battle at the Foundation Establishment level rumbled on relentlessly. The terrifying shockwaves had already reduced the once-prosperous buildings in the area to rubble.
Qi Ping was surrounded by his swarm of bees, which formed the Zhou Tian Di Jia Formation around him, but his injuries were piling up heavier and heavier.
In the distance, the rogue cultivators watched the battlefield in utter shock. What was happening today was absolutely mind-blowing!
This cultivator called Bee Daoist—who was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage—had already killed two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in a row, and now he was single-handedly fighting four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators! Such a terrifying feat completely overturned their understanding of what was possible!
Usually, they could barely even catch a glimpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and yet today they were witnessing such a grand spectacle. Bee Daoist’s monstrous combat record left them utterly awestruck!
But Qi Ping seemed completely oblivious to all of this. He paid no attention to the increasingly severe injuries on his body either. He just quietly continued setting up a formation that could trap late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and amplify the power of his self-detonation.
After all, the Treant Clone’s body was meant to be burned up in the explosion anyway—injuries didn’t make much of a difference.
Before long, a flicker of joy arose in Qi Ping’s heart.
The formation was complete!
“The time is now!”
As soon as a middle-aged late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with a fire-attribute cultivation stepped into the formation’s range, Qi Ping activated it without a moment’s hesitation.
During the earlier attrition battle, this person’s cultivation foundation had seemed the most unstable among the four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators—his offense was decent, but he wasn’t particularly skilled in defense.
Xuan Gold Trapping Formation, activate!
Wild Heart! After many years, this support skill that could temporarily enhance a companion’s strength was once again unleashed by Qi Ping!
True-Interpretation Self-Detonation!
All of these changes happened in an instant—there was absolutely no warning whatsoever!
That middle-aged late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator had barely gotten close to Qi Ping when he suddenly felt an extraordinary formation snap into place around him! An immense binding force immediately pressed down on him!
Right after that, the swarm of bees surrounding Qi Ping erupted with a sudden surge of ferocity, recklessly swarming around him and launching relentless attacks!
Amplified by Wild Heart and the Zhou Tian Di Jia Formation, they unleashed over a thousand spine-tingling explosive earth spikes. The sheer impact and blasts continuously battered the spiritual energy shield around him, making it tremble and teeter on the verge of collapse!
But that only made things troublesome for him!
What truly filled him with dread was Qi Ping himself—at this very moment, a terrifying aura was erupting from his body at an insane speed!
Within just a single breath, a sense of deadly crisis surged in his heart!
He wanted to pull back immediately and get away from Qi Ping, but entangled by both the formation and the swarm of bees, there was no way he could break free anytime soon!
“What the hell are you trying to do?!” he roared in panic.
“You forced me into this! Hahahaha!” Qi Ping laughed like a madman.
Fueled by the surging power from his internal turmoil and the burning of his own body, he let his emotions run completely wild, almost like a lunatic. With his blood-red figure and deranged expression, the effect was pushed to its absolute peak!
What was Bee Daoist trying to do? A wave of confusion rose in everyone’s minds.
But in the next moment, an overwhelmingly oppressive force suddenly emanated from Qi Ping’s body.
Self-detonation!
He was going to blow himself up!
Crazy! He was an absolute madman!
Feeling the increasingly suffocating and terrifying power radiating from Qi Ping, the other three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators instantly retreated to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Swallowing spirit liquid and burning the potential of his own body—all just to boost the power of his self-detonation?
He’d even set up a trapping formation beforehand and unleashed his swarm at the same time, all to make sure his explosion would land with full force!
They had considered that Qi Ping might get so frustrated he’d do something reckless and end up killing himself, but they never imagined he’d be this insane! Going to such lengths just to take one of them down with him!
And most importantly—the power radiating from Qi Ping at this moment was way too terrifying! How was that normal for an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator?
How could they possibly know that Qi Ping possessed special powers like the Beast King’s Flame, Yang Fire Body, Xuan Gold Body, and more? On top of that, he’d consumed a massive amount of spirit liquid. With his custom-tailored True-Interpretation Self-Detonation technique triggering it all, how could this possibly compare to an ordinary self-detonation?
Even a normal self-detonation was enough to strike fear into anyone—let alone something like this!
“Don’t you come any closer!”
The middle-aged late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator trapped by Qi Ping was filled with sheer terror, struggling frantically to escape, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t break free from the formation and the bees.
But how could Qi Ping possibly let him get away? As Qi Ping’s figure drew nearer, a deafening, earth-shattering explosion rang out!
A wave of unprecedented destructive force swept across the area! Almost everyone’s body couldn’t help but tremble, cold sweat trickling down their backs.
“Is it over?”
After the explosion subsided, some of the remaining bees on the outskirts were still attacking relentlessly, leaving no chance of survival for anyone inside.
Until a shattered, fragmented body fell from the sky—and at that moment, everyone’s body trembled uncontrollably.
A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator… had fallen!
In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent! Only the surviving bees scattered in all directions, fleeing far away!
And right at the moment when Qi Ping’s Treant Clone self-detonated, his true body, which was back in his territory, opened its eyes at that very moment…
