“The time has come. We can make our move!”
Hearing this, Qi Ping nodded, concealed his aura, and carefully followed Meng Yan’s figure up Tianqing Mountain.
“Although Meng Yan seems to have control of the situation, I still need to be careful!” Qi Ping warned himself inwardly.
If the Qingyuan Sect could use ruins or cave dwellings to set traps, other sects could just as well turn the tables and use the same tactics to counter-kill Qingyuan disciples.
After all, for that pair of sorceresses to be called the Black and White Twins, they must possess extraordinary methods.
Without knowing their style, it wasn’t impossible for them to have set a counter-trap for Meng Yan.
It just showed how dangerous the world of cultivation was. The slightest misstep could lead to death and the dissipation of one’s Dao. This was especially true for impulsive rogue cultivators, who sometimes acted with a simplicity bordering on foolishness.
You might think you are the mantis stalking the cicada, but how can you be sure there isn’t an oriole lurking behind you?
Fortunately, Tianqing Mountain had no shortage of trees, which considerably enhanced the perception of Qi Ping, a jungle Druid.
Coupled with his [Nature’s Sense] talent, the likelihood of him being cornered was small.
The complex terrain was also an excellent environment for escaping via bee transformation.
After following Meng Yan for about ten li, Meng Yan’s pace suddenly slowed, becoming extremely cautious.
He glanced at Qi Ping, who nodded in understanding.
They were almost there!
Qi Ping couldn’t help but grow more tense. This would be his first time facing off against geniuses from within a sect.
After proceeding with utmost caution for a while longer, they heard the sound of someone striking a formation ahead.
But when they looked, they saw only an utterly ordinary rock face.
“This must be the outer illusion array Meng Yan mentioned…”
Seeing such a high-level illusion array for the first time, Qi Ping was quite shocked.
Whether sensed spiritually or viewed with the naked eye, the area ahead felt no different from the surrounding forest environment.
This raised Qi Ping’s expectations and desire for formation techniques even higher.
He wanted to learn this particular cultivation art!
For Qi Ping, this was far more useful than alchemy. Alchemy had his bees as a lower-tier substitute, but formations could only be set up by Qi Ping himself.
Most crucially, formations could protect himself and his territory! Illusion arrays, trapping arrays, killing arrays, defensive formations… Qi Ping coveted them all.
“After I acquire a soul-related talent and settle the matter of breaking through to Foundation Establishment, I can start learning formations.”
Druids were close to heaven, earth, and nature, and formations often borrowed power from heaven and earth. To some extent, among the four primary cultivation arts, the art of formations should be the most suitable for a Druid.
However, while neither spirit sense nor physical senses could detect this level of illusion array, Qi Ping’s Druid intuition still allowed him to perceive that the area with the formation ahead was somewhat different from ordinary natural surroundings.
“Brother Qi, the cave dwelling of that Foundation Establishment cultivator is behind this formation. Those individuals should be inside attacking it. There’s no other anomaly inside for now. If that remains the case, we can probably charge in soon.”
Meng Yan glanced at the strange black stone in his hand and spoke softly to Qi Ping.
“Good. Can you determine their precise positions inside, Brother Meng?”
“That, I cannot do…” Meng Yan shook his head.
“Then shall I send these in to scout? If there’s no problem, we can charge in directly!”
As he spoke, Qi Ping took out about ten ordinary Golden Marrow Bees from his storage bag and showed them to Meng Yan.
Meng Yan took a look and nodded in agreement.
“Agreed. I’ll trouble you with this, Brother Qi.”
Having received confirmation, Qi Ping directed the ten Golden Marrow Bees to charge into the formation, following the location and route indicated by Meng Yan.
After navigating a winding path, the Golden Marrow Bees successfully broke through the illusion.
Once past the formation, the bees found themselves in a seemingly quite spacious mountain cave.
One man and two women came into the view of the Golden Marrow Bees. The trio was currently jointly assaulting a defensive formation inside the cave.
Just as Meng Yan had said: two women, one man, all emitting the aura of the late Qi Refinement stage.
Beyond that, there was nothing else in the empty cave.
After confirming there were no other dangers, the Golden Marrow Bees relayed the situation behind the illusion array to Qi Ping.
“Brother Meng, there are only two women and one man inside. No other dangers detected.”
“Good! Then after we enter, I’ll handle that pair of sorceresses first. You and Ya Ya go and eliminate that Tianhuo Pavilion disciple, then come assist me!”
“Agreed!”
With that, the two charged into the illusion formation.
Just as the Golden Marrow Bees broke through the illusion array and entered the cave, the twin sorceresses and the Tianhuo Pavilion disciple inside instantly noticed the intruding bees.
The sudden appearance of the bees immediately put them on alert.
They wouldn’t let their guard down just because the intruders were merely a few bees.
Besides, how could a few bees pass through the illusion array completely unscathed?
It had taken significant effort for the three of them to get in!
So something unexpected was definitely happening. They immediately each swallowed Qi-Restoring Pills and prepared for a fight.
Simultaneously, one of the sorceresses sent out a massive sword energy, instantly destroying the ten Golden Marrow Bees, which were only at the mid first-tier stage.
“Damn it! We’ve been spotted!” the white-clothed sorceress said.
“This is a trap! Didn’t you say you had already explored this place once before?” the other, black-clothed sorceress said angrily, turning her gaze to the Tianhuo Pavilion disciple.
“I did come here last time, and nothing unexpected happened! That’s why I sought you out!” the red-clothed Tianhuo Pavilion man explained, frowning.
“Then it’s probably aimed specifically at us… It might even be Meng—”
However, before the white-clothed sorceress could finish her sentence, Meng Yan’s towering, robust figure passed through the illusion formation and appeared before them.
This sudden turn of events caused the faces of the twin sorceresses to darken instantly. They had been tricked!
Meng Yan had been waiting for them to take the bait!
Last time, they had managed to escape by catching Meng Yan off guard with a joint surprise attack.
They had a deeply ingrained understanding of Meng Yan’s terrifying combat prowess…
Without a single word upon passing through the formation, Meng Yan looked at the sorceresses, and an Top-grade magical artifact great hammer instantly appeared in his hand. A terrifying Fire Law Intent instantly wreathed it, and a powerful pressure directly pressed down upon the trio opposite him.
Immediately after, Meng Yan swung the great hammer with a flexibility that was no less than that of a sword cultivator. The fearsome and violently forceful hammer strike caused the expressions of all three opponents to change drastically!
Qi Ping, who appeared right after, was also extremely shocked seeing Meng Yan radiating such terrifying power.
Meng Yan’s combat strength was truly exceptional!
Seeing Meng Yan go straight into action without another word, Qi Ping didn’t hesitate either. He immediately released Ya Ya, while simultaneously activating his Blazing Steps movement technique and Blazing Bolt spell. He shot towards the Tianhuo Pavilion man like a cannonball…
