As that extraordinary golden figure shot into the formation, curiosity gleamed in Qi Ping’s eyes.
“I wonder if Crow can suppress these three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators?”
The Golden Flame Crow was a king-tier spirit beast among third-order spirit beasts—the kind that even Golden Core cultivators at the same level would give a wide berth. Right now, it was only at the second order, so its suppressive effect on cultivators of the same rank should be even more pronounced.
And on top of that, it was high noon!
Golden sunlight poured down onto Crow, igniting clusters of golden flames all over its body!
Under the blazing sun, Crow’s Great Sun Battle Body surged with explosive power!
This was no coincidence—Qi Ping had chosen this time specifically with Crow’s strengths in mind.
The Golden Flame Crow was his strongest combat asset right now, so naturally, he’d pick the moment when the sun was at its peak. That way, if things got dangerous, Crow’s combat power and recovery would both be at their maximum.
By now, the three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators were already heavily worn down from breaking through two combined grand formations in a row. Their exhaustion wasn’t just in spiritual energy—it also ran deep into their souls and physical vitality. At this point, even going all out might not be enough to break through the third grand formation!
They were currently struggling just to hold their ground against the combined assault of the Fire Crow Formation and the Mysterious Gold Killing Formation.
Suddenly, a streak of gold shot toward one of them with lightning speed!
In that instant, the power of the Great Sun erupted, and violent flames exploded in rapid succession!
“What the—?!”
The cultivator under attack screamed in sheer terror. He desperately raised his Water Spirit Pestle to fend off the golden figure’s frenzied onslaught, but he was forced back step after step. The brutal, relentless attacks had already inflicted internal injuries!
A horrific, scorched claw mark ran across his left forearm—nearly severing the entire limb. If he hadn’t managed to reinforce it with spiritual energy in time, his forearm would’ve been completely torn off.
But just as he got a glimpse of a golden crow-shaped figure and opened his mouth to speak, a searing pain tore through his soul. His consciousness was abruptly dragged into a nightmarish vision.
The Hundred-Eyed Flower Fairy’s innate ability, the Hundred-Eyed Illusion Realm, targeted the will itself. At this moment—his formation-breaking efforts thwarted, his soul and body heavily drained, and his body ravaged by the Golden Flame Crow’s surprise attack—his will and soul were in an extremely fragile state. So when the second-order mid-grade Hundred-Eyed Flower Fairy chose this exact moment to unleash its ability, it almost instantly pulled the weakened late-stage Foundation Building powerhouse into its terrifying illusion realm.
The moment the cultivator’s consciousness entered the Hundred-Eyed Illusion Realm, he realized something was terribly wrong and immediately struggled with all his might.
But before he could break free from the illusion’s grip, his awareness began to fade.
Outside, Crow had already torn his head clean off. The skull was charred black, and his soul was rapidly reduced to nothing under the searing flames.
A late-stage Foundation Building cultivator—fallen!
All of this had happened in the span of just one or two breaths.
The sudden turn of events nearly stunned the other two late-stage Foundation Building cultivators senseless!
They were still tangled up in the trapping and killing formations, and in the blink of an eye, their companion—a late-stage Foundation Building cultivator—had been killed right before them!
“A Golden Flame Crow!”
Once they recognized Crow, their eyes widened in shock, and a deep sense of dread welled up from within.
How could there be a spirit beast of the Golden Flame Crow’s caliber here?!
This was a creature that, once fully grown, even Golden Core cultivators would avoid at all costs!
Right now, it was only at the second-order mid-stage, but its bloodline power was undeniable. And they were still trapped in the formation. And it was the middle of a blazing day!
It was like one death-buff piling on top of another!
And that wasn’t all—they’d also spotted a second-order mid-stage purple plant-type spirit beast, roughly the size of a child, off in the distance. It was that very beast that had just ensnared their companion’s soul, leaving his body defenseless.
They were doomed!
Fully grasping their situation, their hearts sank into icy despair.
There was truly no way out now. Even if they called for help, it wouldn’t arrive in time—at this distance, even at full speed, reinforcements would take at least half a day to get here.
Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the hunters laying the trap would end up becoming the hunted.
They couldn’t figure out whether Qi Ping had known they were coming or if he was just being absurdly cautious.
If it was the former, fine. But if it was the latter—what the hell?!
Being this cautious meant setting up this many formations? Break one, and another pops up. Break that, and there’s still more. Now they didn’t even know how many layers of formations were left!
Did setting up formations cost nothing?!
This was beyond cautious—this was outright paranoia!
But at this point, no amount of realization could save them. There was no chance of turning things around.
And sure enough, under the combined suppression of the formations, the Golden Flame Crow, and the Hundred-Eyed Flower Fairy, the two remaining late-stage Foundation Building cultivators—already in a weakened state—were swiftly and thoroughly eliminated!
The only thing that left them restless even in death was the burning question: who exactly was this mysterious figure, seemingly an ally of the Bee Daoist?
Not only did he possess such extraordinary mastery over formations, but he also had a Golden Flame Crow as a spirit beast! And an unknown, incredibly powerful soul-type spirit beast to boot!
Were these really just the same rats who dared to oppose the Immortal Alliance from the shadows? Could someone this remarkable really exist among their ranks?
In their eyes, those “rats” were nothing more than failures rejected by the Immortal Alliance and the Qingyuan Sect—people who couldn’t even get a seat at the table!
Someone of Qi Ping’s caliber would be considered an outstanding figure even within the Qingyuan Sect or the Immortal Alliance. Though of course, whether he’d be able to keep his Golden Flame Crow if he joined was another matter entirely.
Such a person shouldn’t have come from those “rats” at all. So where did Qi Ping really come from?
Unfortunately, they would never get the chance to find out…
…
“It’s finally over!”
Watching the three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators fall, Qi Ping let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
There was no way he wasn’t nervous—this was his first life-or-death battle against late-stage Foundation Building cultivators. Fortunately, the outcome was excellent!
Crow had performed remarkably well. With the sun’s blessing, taking on these late-stage Foundation Building cultivators was more than manageable.
The Little Flower Fairy had also done a great job in her first real fight. Her timing, casting stability, and raw power were all top-notch—years of dedicated training had clearly paid off.
Overall, Qi Ping was very satisfied with how everything had gone.
But now wasn’t the time for a detailed after-action review. His first priority was to quickly clean up the battlefield, dismantle the unused formations, and—of course—not leave behind the storage pouches of the three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators.
After clearing the site and erasing all traces of battle, Qi Ping swiftly vacated the area.
He definitely couldn’t retrieve the remaining two-tenths of the loot now. With three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators dead, exposing his location over that would be a complete disaster.
After all, even during those massive sect wars, the number of late-stage Foundation Building casualties had been limited. Three dying at once? Even if it didn’t spiral into a full-blown catastrophe, it would definitely cause a major stir. Qi Ping didn’t even need to ask around to know that this would kick up quite a storm.
Especially when combined with the Bee Daoist’s actions from over two years ago—the waves it created would be far from small.
“I need to get my hands on a divination-type spirit beast as soon as possible,” Qi Ping thought to himself.
This time, by bringing back the eighth one-tenth share of loot and adding the possessions of the three late-stage Foundation Building cultivators, he finally had more than enough black market points to purchase a divination-type spirit beast.
…
After putting some distance between himself and the battlefield and finding a safe spot, Qi Ping immediately used his treant clone to refresh the bounty tasks. After spending two thousand spirit stones on refreshes, he managed to find bounties for two of the three—the third wasn’t on the list.
“Looks like only two of them are on the wanted list. Not bad at all.”
“7600 + 8100—that’s 15,700 black market points just from this! Nice!”
“Now I finally have enough to buy that divination-type spirit beast!”
