The Fisherman's Profit?

The long blade carved a huge crack through the Bright Light Armor Yao Ling wore, then left a wound two or three inches long across her body. Enduring the pain, she kicked at the gray-robed old man. As he dodged, she flashed away from his second downward slash.

"Good thing I was prepared and summoned this armor in advance. Otherwise, that old bastard would have sliced me in half..." Before Yao Ling could think further, the gray-robed old man blocked her path again. With a faint smile, he seized her arm. She struggled desperately, but could not break free!

"Little girl, stop running. Let this old man give you a quick death. I have been lonely in the Heavenly Tomb for far too long. Having such a lively little girl accompany me would not be bad." The gray-robed old man sneered and thrust his long blade straight toward Yao Ling's chest.

"Shaking Light Soul Shocking Art!" Unable to free herself, Yao Ling's Clan Mark flashed on her forehead as she unleashed all her Soul power. Her eyes widened as she glared at the old man. That glare stalled his movements for half an instant. Seizing the chance, she struck his chest with her palm, blasting him back over a hundred yards.

"Xun'er's situation isn't looking good either." Yao Ling hurriedly took several pills from her Medicine Gourd, crushed them all into a paste, and applied it to her wounds. As she treated herself, she turned to look toward the other battle.

The black-robed old man unleashed all the Dou Qi in his body and frantically hurled out all kinds of Dou Skills. Xun'er and the others could only dodge desperately and defend passively. Had they not prepared plenty of high-grade pills beforehand to replenish some Dou Qi and barely hold on amid the fierce battle, they would likely have already suffered severe losses.

"That black-robed old man is probably an energy body at the Mid Half-Saint level. For now, it would be best to deal with this old bastard in front of me as quickly as possible."

In a one-on-one fight, an energy body at that level would not be enough to concern her. But if it joined forces with the gray-robed old man to besiege her, she would undoubtedly be in extreme danger!

"Little girl, I never expected your Soul power to be so strong." The gray-robed old man came to his senses and spoke sinisterly. "Interesting. This old man likes your unruly spirit. Being able to properly train a little beauty like you would be quite a pleasure."

"You old bastard with no respect for your age, say that again?" Flames of rage burst from Yao Ling's eyes at those lewd words. With a flick of her finger, several pills shot out and exploded before the old man, their violent shockwaves overturning everything within a hundred yards.

"Blowing up so many pills at once really is such a waste..." Before the gray-robed old man could finish, another dozen or so pills flew straight at him. He hurriedly steadied himself and changed his hand seal. A silver-white energy barrier rose, blocking all the shockwaves from the exploding pills.

"Heh, you old fossil really do have some skill!" When her attack failed, Yao Ling laughed wildly without a care for propriety. She then fiercely swung the Medicine Gourd at the gray-robed old man, and more than a hundred points of light surged out at once!

"Shaking Light Medicine Phoenix Formation!"

Over a hundred points of light wheeled and shifted through the air before finally forming the shape of a phoenix that flew toward the gray-robed old man. The phoenix slammed into the energy barrier and exploded with a thunderous crash, transforming into a pure Energy Storm. The blast caused all space within a hundred yards to collapse outright!

"Cough..." The gray-robed old man emerged from the gradually dissipating Energy Storm. His clothes were in tatters, his body was covered in wounds, and his aura had weakened to the extreme.

"Old bastard, be reborn properly in your next life." With all her strength, Yao Ling drove a fist into the gray-robed old man's chest. His body rapidly began to shrink. Within a few seconds, it had turned into a green energy core emitting a dim glow.

"Old Dun, how did you die?!" Seeing this, the black-robed old man roared. He could not accept the reality before him. The two senior elders had clearly agreed beforehand—why had they still not come over?

Several dozen miles away, beside a gravestone deeper within the Heavenly Tomb, a wrinkled old man opened his eyes and smiled faintly.

"Hun Diao, shouldn't we help those two?" another old man beside him asked tentatively.

"No rush. Let's see what other trump cards that little girl can bring out. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles." The elder called Hun Diao smiled, though his smile looked uglier than a grimace. "A High-level Half-Saint, Mid Heavenly Realm soul, at least two mid-tier Heaven-class Dou Skills, and she casually threw out over a hundred Eighth-Grade Seven-Colored Pills at once. This little girl is somewhat difficult to deal with."

"Hehe, I was thinking the same thing." The other old man laughed. "Once those two groups have fought themselves out, we can reap the fisherman's profit. Though Hun Dun and the others will have it rough."

"What are you saying? This is a necessary sacrifice they made for the great cause of the Hun Clan. Ten thousand years from now, the Hun Clan's chronicles will surely include both their names." Hun Diao desperately suppressed his laughter and spoke word by word. Once he finished, he could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter.

"Boom!"

More than a dozen Dou Skills struck the black-robed old man simultaneously. He let out a howl, and within mere seconds, transformed into a white energy core glowing with milky-white light. Everyone collapsed beside the energy body, gasping heavily for breath. The intensity of this battle was unprecedented even in their lives.

"Little Sister Xun'er, thank you for being willing to fight by my side." Once her breathing had calmed somewhat, Yao Ling spoke gratefully to Xun'er. "If you had truly abandoned me, I would have been buried in this Heavenly Tomb."

"You are too polite, Sister. Xun'er was merely repaying a life with a life. If Sister had not dealt with that stronger energy body, then even if Xun'er wanted to help you, there would have been nothing I could do." Xun'er replied graciously. "Sister contributed the most, so you may have the higher-grade energy core for yourself. The rest of us will divide this lower-grade energy core among ourselves."

"Mm." Yao Ling did not refuse. To her, the expenditure of Dou Qi, Soul power, and pills during this battle had all been terrifyingly immense. Of course, such an intense fight had also thoroughly solidified the somewhat unstable Dou Qi in her body caused by advancing too quickly. In the long run, it had paved a broad path for her future cultivation.

"These two energy cores are the only remains left behind after the deaths of those two unlucky juniors from my Hun Clan. So it would be better to hand them over to the two of us." Mocking words rang out. The group looked toward the source of the voice and saw two figures in white robes slowly emerge from the darkness. Their auras were several degrees stronger than those of the two energy bodies they had just killed!

"Dou Saints?" Xun'er's expression tightened. Two Half-Saint energy bodies had already exhausted them, and now two Dou Saint energy bodies had appeared. Misfortune truly never came alone!

"How could there be such a coincidence? You two senior elders must have been waiting a long time to reap the fisherman's profit, haven't you?" After tilting her head in thought, Yao Ling seemed to understand something and spoke coldly.

"Little girl, you are very clever. The Yao Clan has suffered a tremendous loss in losing such a talented genius, accomplished in both letters and martial arts." Hun Diao did not deny it, admitting it directly.

Before the words had even faded, the two white-robed old men changed their hand seals and sealed off all space within ten thousand yards.