Battle of Foundation Establishment

While contemplating his future path, Wang Daoyuan traveled through the earth at a depth of thirty feet. Half an hour later, he had burrowed a hundred miles away.

Traveling underground at such a depth, despite the Earth Escape Talisman providing Spiritual Power, subjected his body to extreme pressure. He felt incredibly fatigued, and if he didn't return to the surface to rest soon, he feared he would pass out from exhaustion.

However, he didn't dare to brazenly emerge. After all, he was only about a hundred miles from the battlefield, and his enemies were skilled in controlling Spirit Beasts and insects. Revealing himself now would easily lead to his discovery.

He first ascended to a depth of fifteen feet below the surface, alleviating the strain on his body, and then began searching for a suitable resting place.

Mountains often contained underground caves, rock crevices, and burrows dug by Demonic Beasts. Thousands of years ago, Return Goose Mountain was teeming with Demonic Beasts; later, they were wiped out by human cultivators, leaving behind many empty dens.

Just as he was about to scan his surroundings, he spotted a rock crevice ahead. Although not very large, it was sufficient for one person to hide.

Entering the crevice, he found it to be quite spacious, capable of accommodating three to five people. Although it was deep underground and the crevice was winding and pitch black inside, for Wang Daoyuan, who was nearly crushed to death by the rocks, being able to catch his breath was a relief.

Moving through the rock did not consume Spiritual Power, it was merely extremely fatiguing. He had various elixirs for detoxification, healing, and restoring Spiritual Power, but none to alleviate fatigue.

Fortunately, he still had Crimson Blood Brew. Crimson Blood Ginseng could replenish Blood Essence and strengthen the body, having some effect in relieving physical fatigue. He took out a jar of Crimson Blood Brew brewed three years ago. This jar had been stored in his Spirit Pearl Space, making it a thirty-year aged vintage.

With one gulp, he felt refreshed and his body much lighter. It was indeed a thirty-year aged brew; the effect of eliminating fatigue was quite good.

After drinking half the jar in one go, Wang Daoyuan felt invigorated, his fatigue completely gone.

He took out an Earth Escape Talisman, about to continue his journey, when he suddenly felt enveloped by a powerful Spiritual Sense. The sheer force of this Spiritual Sense was far superior to Wang Daoyuan's; it must belong to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. As Wang Daoyuan prepared to flee, he heard a voice from above: "What a fragrant wine! It must be at least twenty years old to have such a mellow aroma. Hurry up and come out, fellow from underground. With your meager abilities, you can't possibly escape from me. Come up obediently, hand over all your Storage Bags, and if I'm in a good mood, I might even spare your life."

Wang Daoyuan had no intention of believing his nonsense and directly activated the Earth Escape Talisman, only to crash headfirst into the rock wall. The talisman he had just activated also burned up.

Wang Daoyuan was bewildered. Another burst of laughter came from above: "You insist on suffering. Come up obediently, or when I make my move, you'll wish you were never born."

Wang Daoyuan had no choice but to climb out along the rock crevice. Upon reaching the surface, he saw a burly man standing before him, his face full of coarse flesh, the picture of a fierce ruffian. His aura far surpassed that of Twelfth Uncle and Ninth Uncle; he was likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The burly man said, "Quickly hand over your Storage Bags, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise, you, a mere seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator, will have no path but death under the hands of a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator like myself."

Wang Daoyuan's mind raced: this burly man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but his aura was far weaker than the clan leader's. He must be in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Even so, a direct confrontation was out of the question.

Perhaps he could throw him a Storage Bag first, then find an opportunity to ambush him with a Talisman. He still had a few Tier Two Talismans, and it was quite possible to kill him.

Wang Daoyuan feigned a cowardly demeanor, trembling all over. With a shaky hand, he took a Storage Bag from his waist and handed it to the burly man, pleading with a mournful face, "My entire fortune is in here, senior. I beg you to spare my wretched life. I will never forget your great kindness."

The burly man took the Storage Bag and eagerly began to examine its contents.

His demeanor lacked any trace of a master's poise, making Wang Daoyuan suspicious. He felt the man might be acting, trying to lure him into making a move.

However, if the man was genuine and Wang Daoyuan didn't act after he finished examining the Storage Bag, he would have no chance.

The moment the burly man opened the Storage Bag, Wang Daoyuan unleashed a Golden Sword Talisman. A small golden sword shot directly towards the burly man's throat.

Wang Daoyuan did not use a Tier Two Talisman but instead employed a high-grade Tier One Golden Sword Talisman.

If the man was acting, and Wang Daoyuan attacked, it would appear as though he hadn't seen through the deception, treating this moment as a golden opportunity to strike. A normal person in this situation would undoubtedly use their strongest trump card to ensure a kill.

If the burly man wasn't acting and was genuinely focused on the Storage Bag, completely unguarded, then this Golden Sword Talisman would be enough to end his life.

Even if the man was acting, using a high-grade Tier One Talisman would signal that Wang Daoyuan had no other trump cards, concealing his true ace – the Tier Two Talismans. This time, he was calculating three steps ahead; let's see how many steps the opponent could anticipate.

As soon as the Golden Sword Talisman was unleashed, a mocking expression appeared on the burly man's face. A shadowy, earthen-yellow armor materialized around his body. The golden sword struck the phantom armor and dissipated instantly, while the armor remained completely intact.

This was the Earth Armor Technique, the most powerful defensive spell among common Tier One spells, bar none. With the cultivation of Foundation Establishment, the power of the Earth Armor Technique was naturally far beyond what an Earth Armor Talisman could achieve. Moreover, the burly man could continuously supply Spiritual Power to the Earth Armor Technique.

There were only two ways to break the Earth Armor Technique: first, to shatter it with absolute force through a frontal assault; second, to deplete the caster's Spiritual Power, causing the Earth Armor Technique to collapse on its own.

Both of these methods were difficult for Wang Daoyuan to achieve with his current strength. His only Tier Two mid-grade Talisman was not an offensive one but a Divine Movement Talisman. A single Tier Two low-grade Talisman might not be enough to break through the Earth Armor Technique.

The failure of the Tier Two low-grade Talisman made the burly man wary. He flew into the air using his sword, making it difficult for Wang Daoyuan's Talismans to hit him. At that point, he would be at the mercy of his attacker.

The burly man's face was filled with mockery as he said, "A mere junior at the seventh layer of Qi Refining dares to ambush me? Truly seeking death."

With that, the burly man produced a long, earthen-yellow sword and slashed at Wang Daoyuan. Wang Daoyuan had affixed five Golden Armor Talismans to himself and immediately activated them. He was enveloped by five layers of golden light. The sword struck the Golden Armor, but it only managed to break through two layers.

The attack power of this Foundation Establishment cultivator was unexpectedly low. Four years ago, when he lured out the Clear River Carp, that Foundation Establishment cultivator's casual strike had injured both him and Ninth Uncle; he had only taken a small portion of the damage, yet three layers of Defense Talismans were broken, and he himself was seriously wounded.

Although earth-attribute cultivators were good at defense but not offense, even a cultivator at the first layer of Foundation Establishment should have been able to break through four layers of Golden Armor with a single sword strike. If he had used sword control techniques, the flying sword would have likely broken all five layers of Golden Armor, and Wang Daoyuan would have been seriously injured.

After enduring this blow, Wang Daoyuan affixed three more Golden Armor Talismans to himself. However, the burly man still did not attack with his flying sword; instead, he attacked with his long sword, just like a Qi Refining cultivator.

Wang Daoyuan felt he had overestimated the Foundation Establishment cultivator before him. He clearly did not know sword control techniques. This was quite interesting. The strongest attack for a Foundation Establishment cultivator was sword control, which could completely dominate Qi Refining cultivators within a hundred feet. A master's full-power sword strike would be enough to break through seven or eight Defense Talismans, and Wang Daoyuan would still be severely injured.

This Foundation Establishment cultivator, lacking sword control techniques and cultivating earth-attribute arts, had nothing impressive to show in terms of offense, speed, or agility. His long sword was also merely a high-grade Tier One Magic Tool.

If the burly man had no hidden trump cards, then he truly couldn't defeat Wang Daoyuan anytime soon. After all, Wang Daoyuan still had over four hundred Talismans, with more than two hundred being Defense Talismans. And since the burly man could only break through two layers with one sword strike, he would need over a hundred strikes to break through all of Wang Daoyuan's defenses.

Such an attack, repeated over a hundred times, was something even the clan leader, let alone a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the first layer, could not accomplish. For a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator to render a Foundation Establishment cultivator helpless would be enough to make him famous.