Rumble!
Outside the valley, the light curtain of the Five Elements Maze Formation flickered violently, brightening and dimming. It was clearly enduring a sustained assault.
"Big brother! This formation's about to give way! The treasures inside will be ours any moment!"
A sharp-faced, monkey-cheeked eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator cried out excitedly, repeatedly stabbing at the light curtain with the flying fork in his hand.
The leader was a scar-faced, burly ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator. Greed gleamed in his eyes as he controlled a giant axe artifact to hack at the formation and shouted, "Put your backs into it! No one's controlling this formation, so it won't hold for long! That celestial phenomenon just now was extraordinary. Some incredible treasure must have appeared!"
The other two seventh-level Qi Refining cultivators were attacking just as hard.
The four of them had been the closest. As soon as they sensed that celestial phenomenon, they had rushed straight over.
They assumed some rare treasure had appeared, or perhaps an ancient cultivator's cave. Thrilled, they had begun attacking the formation in the valley, hoping to break through and seize their lucky find.
Under the simultaneous assault of four late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, even the Five Elements Maze Formation was beginning to buckle.
Just as the formation's light curtain teetered on the verge of collapse, a frigid voice rang out from within the valley, like a freezing wind from the Nine Nether:
"Who dares disturb my cultivation?"
The voice wasn't loud, yet it carried a chilling authority and a vast spiritual pressure!
The formation's light curtain rippled. A figure clad in gray robes and a dark-gray cloak slowly stepped out.
The hood obscured most of his face, revealing only a sharply defined chin and a pair of eyes as deep and cold as stars.
What terrified the scar-faced man and the others most was the spiritual pressure emanating from him. It weighed on them like a mountain—the unmistakable might of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
"F-Foundation Establishment senior?!"
"Spare us, senior! Spare us!"
"We didn't know a senior was cultivating in seclusion here! We thought some rare treasure had appeared, and greed clouded our minds. We... we offended you! Please spare us insignificant ants!"
The four Qi Refining cultivators were scared out of their wits. They stopped attacking at once, dropped to their knees with a thud, and kowtowed frantically, their whole bodies shaking like sieves.
They were consumed with regret.
They had thought some treasure had appeared. They had never imagined this was the secluded cave of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
They had even attacked a Foundation Establishment cultivator's protective formation. It was like an old man eating arsenic—practically begging to die.
At the same time, they were overwhelmed with shock. What sort of breakthrough in seclusion could bring about such a terrifying celestial phenomenon?
Could this senior be a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator trying to break through to the Golden Core Realm?
His strength was probably far beyond anything they could imagine!
Li Qingshan swept his gaze over them coldly. A flicker of killing intent passed through his heart, but in the end, he suppressed it.
Killing a few minor Qi Refining cultivators was pointless. It might only leave behind more traces.
"Get lost."
He uttered a single word, its pressure making the four men feel as though they'd been pardoned.
"Thank you for sparing our lives, senior! Thank you!"
They scrambled away on hands and knees, fleeing in panic without daring to look back, afraid the senior might change his mind if they were too slow.
Watching them vanish into the distance, Li Qingshan had just let out a breath and prepared to pack up and leave this troublesome place when his brows suddenly furrowed!
His spiritual sense detected two more presences speeding toward him!
One of them felt strangely familiar.
Sure enough, a moment later, two streaks of light descended, revealing the figures of a man and a woman.
The woman was strikingly beautiful, dressed in red, with her usual haughty arrogance between her brows. It was Zhang Hongxiu.
Beside her stood a black-clad, middle-aged cultivator with a cold expression and an aura at the peak of early-stage Foundation Establishment. He was clearly her bodyguard.
A cold glint flashed in Li Qingshan's eyes. He hadn't expected to run into Zhang Hongxiu here.
What a narrow road for enemies to meet—how their eyes burned with hatred!
Unfortunately, Zhang Hongxiu had probably long since forgotten the old man from the Waste Pill Hall.
After failing to establish her foundation, Zhang Hongxiu had recovered from her injuries and gone out to clear her mind. She hadn't expected to encounter such a celestial phenomenon. Convinced at once that a treasure had appeared, she had come to investigate.
The early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator beside her was the bodyguard her grandmaster, Zhang Yuzhen, had assigned to her.
As soon as Zhang Hongxiu landed, her greedy gaze swept over the valley before settling on Li Qingshan. Though she couldn't see his face, she sensed his early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation clearly.
It never crossed her mind to connect this "ordinary" Foundation Establishment cultivator with that useless old man from the Hall of Discarded Treasures.
"What was that celestial phenomenon just now? Did some extraordinary treasure appear? Did you take it?"
Zhang Hongxiu lifted her chin and demanded in her usual imperious tone, "Hand it over. It's not something you're worthy of owning!"
Even though she was only at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, and even though she was facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she remained arrogant and haughty.
After all, a Golden Core True Person stood behind her.
Li Qingshan sneered inwardly. What a narrow road for enemies to meet!
He altered his voice and rasped, "You're mistaken. There's no extraordinary treasure. The phenomenon just now was caused by my breakthrough."
"A breakthrough?"
Zhang Hongxiu scoffed, her face full of disbelief. "A breakthrough to Foundation Establishment could cause that much commotion? Do you take me for a three-year-old? You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Uncle Feng, seize him! We'll know the truth once we search his soul!"
At her words, the peak early-stage Foundation Establishment bodyguard at her side—the Uncle Feng she'd addressed—flashed a cold look and attacked without hesitation!
He summoned a blue flying sword that radiated a bone-chilling cold. Its powerful aura as a second-tier low-grade spirit weapon surged as it transformed into a fierce beam of sword light and shot straight toward Li Qingshan!
He went for the kill from the very first move, leaving no room for mercy!
Li Qingshan's eyes turned cold. He had wanted to avoid trouble, but his opponent kept pressing him and had gone straight for the kill!
He didn't dare hesitate. The Crimson Dragon Sword shot out at once to meet the attack!
Clang!
A sharp ring rang out!
The Crimson Dragon Sword was a first-tier top-grade magical artifact, but against a genuine second-tier low-grade spirit weapon, it was ultimately inferior in quality!
On top of that, Li Qingshan had only just established his foundation and hadn't fully grown accustomed to his true essence. The blue flying sword cleaved a deep crack into his sword, and its spiritual light dimmed by more than half!
"Hmph. A mere top-grade magical artifact dares block my spirit weapon? You don't know your own limits!" Uncle Feng sneered, pressing his attack even harder.
Driven back again and again by the spirit weapon, Li Qingshan found himself in dire straits. Chilling sword light crisscrossed around him like a net, and danger closed in from every side.
He had just broken through and hadn't yet learned any Foundation Establishment spells. On top of that, he wasn't familiar with fighting at this level. For a time, he was completely suppressed, barely managing to dodge with the Flying Rainbow Technique and his powerful spiritual sense.
Seeing this, Zhang Hongxiu looked even more pleased with herself. "Uncle Feng, finish him quickly!"
She assumed Li Qingshan was merely a lucky Rogue Cultivator who had established his foundation, and didn't take him seriously at all.
In the eyes of disciples from major sects like them, Rogue Cultivators who established their foundations were utterly incapable of putting up a fight.
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