The violent vibration of the exploding fire mines reverberated through the area, leaving Wang Rongyuan's head buzzing.
Yet, he remained completely unflustered. Burrowing deep into the soil, he summoned the Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan to hover directly above his head, instantly neutralizing any threat from the lingering explosions.
The Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan was an upper-grade fan-type artifact with nineteen layers of restrictions. Crafted from rank-eight golden jade leaves harvested from a rank-six golden jade tree, it was an incredibly versatile tool capable of flight, defense, and offense alike.
With a dozen ters of dense earth above him topped by an upper-grade golden jade artifact, Wang Rongyuan was secure. Even if a Foundation Establishnt stage cultivator showed up right now with a mid-grade spiritual artifact and started hacking at the ground, he could easily hold them off for a few exchanges.
Ignoring the exploding fire mines entirely, he silently operated his cultivation thod, using his divine sense to manipulate the spiritual seeds scattered across the surface to begin setting up a formation array.
Wood-attribute spirit root cultivators typically suffered heavy disadvantages in combat prior to achieving Foundation Establishnt. However, if they utilized spiritual seeds effectively, their combat potential possessed an incredibly high ceiling.
Furthermore, Wang Rongyuan possessed a dual affinity for both wood and earth, and he had spent many years during his youth studying formation arrays. While his old formation master had never taught him any profound, core secrets, the training had at least provided him with a rock-solid foundation.
By combining the Wang Clan's ancestral formation array techniques with the unique spiritual seeds of a wood-attribute cultivator, Wang Rongyuan's combat capabilities reached an entirely new level.
"Big brother, shouldn't we just retreat? We've thrown over a dozen fire mines already. If he's a tenth-layer earth-attribute cultivator, our fire mines are completely useless!"
Having hurled a small mountain of fire mines to absolutely no effect, the rank eight Qi Refining rogue cultivator was utterly exasperated.
"Retreat? Where do you think you can run? Can I even run? This is all your damn fault!"
The Wondrous Peak Mountain rogue cultivator was equally overwheld with frustration.
If this idiot hadn't exposed their identities in the first place—
A fierce, murderous glint flickered in his eyes as he glared at his third brother.
"There is no need to run. Since we have crossed paths, all of you can stay behind."
Now that the makeshift formation array anchored by the spiritual seeds was fully prepared, Wang Rongyuan stopped hiding and burst straight out of the earth.
The rank eight Qi Refining rogue cultivator was startled by the sudden appearance of the Wang Clan elder, instinctively unleashing a Fire Shot Spell toward him.
Wang Rongyuan did not even bother to dodge. He rely channeled a thread of spiritual energy to draw upon the falling water dropped by the Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator's cloud handkerchief, forming a fist-sized sphere of water.
The water sphere clashed directly with the Fire Shot Spell, the two elents neutralizing one another and evaporating into a cloud of white mist in mid-air.
"Weak. You are as weak as soone in the Qi Drawing realm, do you know that?"
Wang Rongyuan refrained from using the dicine King Pestle again. That particular weapon required the coordination of allies or a perfect opening for a sneak attack; using it in a direct, solo duel made it far too difficult to land an effective blow.
He raised his hand to activate the spiritual seed formation array, and the surrounding forest within dozens of yards instantly transford, filled with a chilling, murderous aura.
"A formation array? Which sect do you actually belong to? Or are you a cultivator from an independent clan?"
The Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator continued to press for answers, his curiosity getting the better of him, when Wang Rongyuan's expression suddenly shifted in alarm.
The Exploding Fire Fruit tied to his waist detonated under his own command, the force throwing his body violently to the side like a ragdoll and shifting him a short distance through the air.
Just as he moved, two needle-type artifacts concealed behind the raindrops falling from the cloud handkerchief darted forward, nearly piercing straight through the crown of Wang Rongyuan's head.
Realizing the sheer lethality his opponent still possessed, Wang Rongyuan dared not underestimate them in the slightest. Six massive vines erupted from the ground, converging tightly behind his back.
Acting like six legs, the vines hoisted him up and propelled him rapidly through the upper canopy of the forest.
This was another of the Wang Clan's secret techniques—Forest Wandering. By relying on the formation array to restrict the enemy's movents while utilizing Forest Wandering to bolster his own mobility, Wang Rongyuan could free up an imnse amount of ntal focus to control his artifacts.
He summoned a dagger roughly the size of a child's palm and sent it hurtling directly toward the cloud handkerchief that was continuously producing rain in the sky, determined to seize back control over the battlefield environnt.
After all, he remained entirely uncertain whether the water dripping from that cloud handkerchief carried other hidden, detrintal effects.
With the makeshift spiritual seed formation array, he seized a fraction of environntal control.
By leveraging the wooden vines to execute Forest Wandering, he wrestled away a fraction of tactical initiative in this duel.
Right now, Wang Rongyuan was simultaneously manipulating three distinct artifacts: two lower-grade Donkey Mane Sachets with five layers of restrictions, and a mid-grade dagger carrying twelve layers of restrictions.
To an uninitiated observer, it would appear as though his ntal capacity was entirely drained, pushed to its absolute limits of control.
"Destroy those two worthless artifacts of his first!"
The Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator clearly lacked any understanding of the Wang Clan's sheer extravagance. Within the Wang Clan, Donkey Mane Sachets were treated strictly as disposable, single-use items.
When your clan raised the very donkeys required for the materials, you could afford to be exactly this overbearing.
While directing his third brother to deal with the Donkey Mane Sachets, the leader manipulated his cloud handkerchief to evade the incoming blue dagger.
At the sa ti, he directed the two needle-type artifacts to pursue Wang Rongyuan as he darted nimbly through the trees.
Seeing his opponent once again lured into making a flawed tactical decision, Wang Rongyuan felt entirely at ease.
As the blue dagger flying through the sky crossed paths with the cloud handkerchief, it suddenly shuddered violently, releasing a mass of blazing fire that sward directly over the fabric.
The Fire Ox Horn Dagger was crafted from the horn of a Qi Refining stage fire ox. Built upon the foundation of an upper-grade artifact, it had deliberately been restricted to only twelve layers during refinent specifically to ensure ease of manipulation.
Painting it blue was nothing more than a trick to deceive fools.
As a fire-attribute weapon, the Fire Ox Horn Dagger naturally countered woven and cloth-type artifacts. Furthermore, it possessed the innate ability to cast the fire ox's native Fire Shot Spell, allowing it to unleash a secondary burst of flas even if the initial physical strike missed.
In the blink of an eye, one of Wang Rongyuan's Donkey Mane Sachets and the Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator's cloud handkerchief were destroyed simultaneously.
Seeing that the Fire Ox Horn Dagger had accomplished its task, Wang Rongyuan instantly severed his connection to it, ignoring his remaining Donkey Mane Sachet as well.
The green-and-red dicine King Pestle was summoned once more, hurtling with imnse speed straight toward the rank eight Qi Refining rogue cultivator.
A direct execution.
The needle-type artifacts continued their relentless pursuit of Wang Rongyuan, but he didn't display a hint of panic.
With the vast majority of his ntal focus dedicated to guiding the dicine King Pestle, the small remnant of his awareness was more than enough to guard against any sudden sneak attacks.
"My cloud handkerchief! You miserable scoundrel, how dare you!"
The Wondrous Peak Mountain rogue cultivator scread in rage, but his third brother was already on the verge of death.
"Big brother, save !"
The rank eight cultivator hastily activated his defensive artifact, but his tool was a re lower-grade item. Faced with the raw power of the dicine King Pestle and its twenty-one layers of restrictions, it shattered instantly upon impact.
Like a massive boulder grinding a mountain peak into dust, the dicine King Pestle swung smoothly through the air. A cloud of pink and white mist erupted, and the headless corpse of the rogue cultivator collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Until the very mont of his death, his older brother had not lifted a single finger to save him.
"Now, you are the only one left," Wang Rongyuan finally spoke.
The remaining Wondrous Peak Mountain rogue cultivator chose to turn tail and flee wildly, seeking any avenue of escape.
However, even a makeshift formation array was still a functional array. The boundaries established by the spiritual seeds thoroughly extinguished any lingering hope he had of running away.
"Fellow Daoist, I am willing to acknowledge you as my master! I will beco your loyal servant! I beg of you, spare my life!"
Trapped helplessly within the formation array, the Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator paced around frantically like an animal in a cage, his mind consud by absolute regret.
He should have fled the mont the encounter began.
Wang Rongyuan completely ignored his pleas, continuously directing the Fire Ox Horn Dagger to harry and wear him down.
He refrained from deploying the dicine King Pestle solely to conserve his spiritual energy, ensuring that if any unexpected variables arose, he would still retain enough strength to make an escape.
After trading several blows, Wang Rongyuan grew wary of any further complications. Frowning slightly, he summoned his ultimate trump card—an object that resembled a circular, brimd hat.
The Sound Shell Cymbal, a mid-grade artifact with ten layers of restrictions, was refined from the shell of a sound shell. Its defensive capabilities were diocre and its direct offensive power was non-existent, but it excelled as a specialized tool for focused attacks.
In a combat between cultivators, elental attributes could not overco the natural order of the heavens, but a well-tid special attack could certainly elevate a combatant to the level of a god.
Yet, the Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator had been biding his ti, waiting precisely for the mont Wang Rongyuan overextended himself again.
A third needle-type artifact, which he had kept completely hidden and motionless in the dark until now, shot forward like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Wang Rongyuan.
A sharp crack echoed through the trees.
The Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan held firmly in Wang Rongyuan's hand successfully intercepted the Wondrous Peak Mountain cultivator's final desperate counterattack. Wang Rongyuan had already maintained a highly cautious estimate of his enemy's capabilities, yet he had still not anticipated the existence of a third hidden needle.
Looking at the tiny puncture mark left upon the surface of the Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan, Wang Rongyuan noted it was a close call, silently rejoicing that he had learned of the man's background beforehand.
An upper-grade artifact with nineteen layers of restrictions could only be considered standard in terms of raw statistics, but the true value of the Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan lay in its defensive property, which was practically peerless within the Qi Refining stage—it could successfully block even an attack-type lower-grade spiritual artifact.
However, it could only withstand a single such blow. Once struck, the defensive integrity at the point of impact would dissolve entirely, causing the artifact's overall defensive capacity to plumt rapidly.
"What? How can you possibly manipulate three mid-to-upper-grade artifacts simultaneously?"
Seeing his absolute strongest strike fail to yield any results, the Wondrous Peak Mountain rogue cultivator's ntal resolve began to crumble entirely.
A resonant chi rang out.
The Sound Shell Cymbal unleashed its unique soundwave attack, surging directly toward the leader of the rogue cultivators. His movents as he attempted to evade the incoming Fire Ox Horn Dagger stalled for a fraction of a mont.
It was a miniscule disruption, lasting less than a quarter of a breath.
But it was more than enough.
The Fire Ox Horn Dagger pierced cleanly through the cultivator's heart. Wang Rongyuan imdiately deactivated Forest Wandering, dropping firmly back down to the forest floor to avoid squandering any further spiritual energy.
As for how he could manipulate three mid-to-upper-grade artifacts at once?
It was ultimately a matter of simple mathematics.
The twelve layers of restrictions on the Fire Ox Horn Dagger, plus the ten layers on the Sound Shell Cymbal, plus the nineteen layers on the Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan, equaled a combined total of forty-one layers of restrictions.
While managing them all simultaneously proved quite difficult, the Sound Shell Cymbal belonged to a class of special-attack artifacts that could be unleashed and cast aside almost imdiately after activation.
The outco of combat determined the boundary between life and death; one could never afford to overlook the finest details.
Lighting his hand, he commanded the spiritual seeds to drain the remaining physical essence from the fallen rogue cultivators' bodies, subsequently using the vines sprouted by the seeds to gather the spoils scattered across the battlefield.
Before long, Wang Rongyuan recalled his spiritual seeds and stored all the gathered items securely into his storage bag.
Tracing his fingers over the tiny puncture mark on the Golden Branch Jade Leaf Fan, he confird that it could be fully restored using the Earth Nurturing thod, allowing his mind to finally settle into complete relief.
"A net profit of one thousand two hundred spirit stones. This is enough to cover Yulou's living expenses for more than a decade, hahaha."
What hidden, malicious intentions could an elder like Uncle Rongyuan possibly harbor? He rely wanted to earn a little extra allowance to ensure his nephew was well fed.
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